University of Virginia Library

GAZETTEER OF VIRGINIA.

PRELIMINARIES.

VIRGINIA.

SITUATION, BOUNDARIES, AND EXTENT.

Virginia was one of the original thirteen, and is now one of the twenty
four United States of North America, it lies between 36° 31′, and 40° 39′
north latitude; and 6° 35′ west, and 1° 48′ east longitude from Washington
city it is bounded on the north and northeast by Pennsylvania and Maryland,
east by the Atlantic ocean, south by North Carolina and Tennessee,
and west by Kentucky and Ohio, its mean length from east to west is 355
miles, its mean breadth 185 miles, and its horizontal area 65,624 square
miles. The Atlantic bounds Virginia, from the extreme south-eastern angle
of Maryland, to the extreme north-eastern angle of North Carolina, a
distance of 112 miles; North Carolina bounds it on the south, from the Atlantic
west to the Iron Mountains, 340 miles, from this point the boundary
runs along the Iron Mountains in a north-easterly direction, to the northeast
angle of Tennessee, four miles, Tennessee then forms a border to the
Cumberland mountains 110 miles, then Kentucky, along the Cumberland
mountains to the Tug Fork of Sandy river, 110 miles, thence the boundary
runs down this stream to the Ohio 70 miles. The boundary follows the
Ohio from the mouth of Tug Fork of Sandy, to the point at which it emerges
from Pennsylvania, 355 miles; from this it runs south in common with the
western border of Pennsylvania, 64 miles, thence east along its southern
border to the north-western angle of Maryland, 58 miles, from this, south
to the head of the north branch of the Potomac 36 miles, and down the
Potomac to its mouth, 320 miles; it then crosses the Chesapeake Bay, and
runs east, along the southern boundary of Maryland to the Atlantic, 60
miles—presenting an entire outline of 1,635 miles.

Face of the Country—Natural and Political Sections—Virginia
exceeds all of her sister States in territorial extent, and is perhaps the most
strongly marked in her physical features. Like Maryland and North Carolina,
she has her sea and alluvial section, below the head of tide-water; her
middle and hilly section; and her central or mountainous section; but in
Virginia a fourth section must be added, which may be called the western
or Ohio section, its waters emptying into that stream.

These four sections are so distinctly marked in their features as to be recognized
in the fundamental law of the State, and must ever have important
political and moral effects. Adopting the limits indicated in the new constitution,
these four sections contain as follows, viz. First—The section
from the sea coast to the head of tide-water, thirty-six counties, and three
towns, to wit: Accomac, Caroline, Chesterfield, Charles City, Essex, Elizabeth
City, Fairfax, Greensville, Gloucester, Hanover, Henrico, Isle of
Wight, James City, King and Queen, King William, King George, Lancaster,
Mathews, Middlesex, Nansemond, New Kent, Northumberland,
Northampton, Norfolk, Princess Anne, Prince George, Prince William,
Richmond, Southampton, Spottsylvania, Stafford, Surry, Sussex, Warwick,

Westmoreland, York, and the city of Richmond, borough of Norfolk, and
town of Petersburg; which are all together entitled to 36 Representatives
in the House of Delegates. Second—The territory stretching from the
head of tide-water to the Blue Ridge, contains 30 counties, to wit. Albemarle,
Amelia, Amherst, Bedford, Buckingham, Brunswick, Campbell,
Charlotte, Cumberland, Culpeper, Dinwiddie, Fauquier, Fluvanna, Franklin,
Goochland, Henry, Halifax, Loudon, Louisa, Lunenburg, Madison,
Mecklenburg, Nelson, Nottoway, Orange, Patrick, Pittsylvania, Powhatan,
Prince Edward, and Rappahannock, which together have 42 Representatives
in the House of Delegates. Third—The Valley section contains 15 counties,
to wit Augusta, Alleghany, Bath, Berkley, Bottetourt, Frederick,
Hampshire, Hardy, Jefferson, Morgan, Page, Pendleton, Rockingham,
Rockbridge, and Shenandoah, which together elect 25 members of the House
of Delegates. Fourth—The Trans-Alleghany, or western section, contains
30 counties, to wit: Brooke, Cabell, Fayette, Floyd, Grayson, Greenbrier,
Giles, Harrison, Jackson, Montgomery, Monongalia, Kanawha, Lee, Lewis,
Logan, Mason, Monroe, Nicholas, Ohio, Pocahontas, Preston, Randolph,
Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Tyler, Washington, Wood, and Wythe;
which together elect 31 delegates to the House of Delegates.

Section First—There is little of Virginia actually level, this term being
strictly applicable only to the counties of Accomac and Northampton, on
the eastern side of the Chesapeake, and to Princess Anne, Norfolk, and
Nansemond on the west; containing an aggregate area of only about 2200
square miles, or less than the thirty-first part of the State.

The shores of the peninsula east of the Chesapeake, which constitute the
two counties of Accomac and Northampton, are low and flat, about 60
miles long, and from 10 to 15 wide, and bounded towards the sea by a
string of low sandy islets. The waters of the Chesapeake enter the sea
between cape Charles and cape Henry, forming a straight of fifteen miles
in width. Norfolk, one of the principle ports of Virginia, has a good harbour
in the southern part of the bay, near the mouth of James River.
The embouchure of the James forms a speacious haven, called Hampton
Roads, in which all the navies in the world might ride; this haven was
formerly open, but the strong fortifications, castle Calhoun, and fortress
Monroe, on the opposite sides of the entrance would now probably render it impracticable
for an adverse fleet to enter.—[See Old Point Comfort—Elizabeth
city county.]

Except in depth, extent, and position the Chesapeake does not differ
essentially from Pamlico and Albemarle sounds on the south, or Delaware
bay on the north. Virginia and Maryland occupy the centre of a physical
section, remarkable for its deep and wide rivers, and the tributaries of
the Chesapeake seem in this respect to imitate their great reservoir. The
Pocomoke, Nantikoke, Choptank, and Chester on the east; and the James,
York, Rappahannock, Potomac, Patuxent, and Patapsco on the west, all
widen into expansive bays before their final discharge. These minor
bays gradually become less deep and wide, as they approach the head of
tide water, but they retain the distinctive character of bays as far as the
tide penetrates.

West of the Chesapeake, the country gradually rises into hill and dale,
though much marshy and flat land skirts the wide mouths of the rivers,
and the minor bays which they form. The soil of the section under review
is strictly alluvial, for though the face of the country, on approaching

the primitive ledge which terminates the tides, is diversified by waving
hills, yet its structure is of the character styled by geologists ancient alluvial.
The greater part of the substrata are composed of sand and pebbles;
large masses of rock in their original position are rare, except at great
depths.

Section Second—The Blue Ridge traverses Virginia for 260 miles, in
a direction from S. W. to N. E. and except where passed by the James
and Roanoke rivers it is a continuous range. It constitutes a county limit
throughout its progress in this state. Falling from this finely delineated
chain, is an inclined plain, containing 15,386 square miles, terminated by
the head of the Atlantic tides. This beautiful section, if we merely regard
the fall of water, has a declivity of about 300 to 500 feet; but the fall of
water gives a very inadequate idea of the slope in the arable soil, which
towards the Blue Ridge rises in many places, to at least 1000 feet, in the
spaces between the rivers. The face of nature though exhibiting little of
grandeur, is extremely rich and pleasing in the endless variety of hill,
valley and river scenery. In the higher part, besides the magnificent back
ground of the Blue Ridge, the more distinct ranges of the Alleghany
may be seen towering above it, from the detached ranges in its neighborhood;
all of which tells that the solid structure of the section is Appalachian,
and that the outer ridges of that system influence the course of
the waters, as may be seen in the Roanoke, James, Rappahannock and
Potomac rivers.

This section is as healthy as any portion of the world, the water is excellent
and plentiful throughout, the lands fertile, producing in abundance
all the staples of the state; easily recovered when exhausted, and always
susceptible of high improvement by judicious management, the farms
are smaller than in the tide water district, the people are industrious and
intelligent, and from James river to the Potomac perhaps are the best
farmers in the state. Mr. Jefferson pronounced that portion of this section
which lies under the south west range of mountains, to be the garden
spot of America; and General Washington, when written to by Sir John
Sinclair to recommend to him some spot for a residence in America, after
passing in review the whole union, pronounced a residence some where
on the eastern side of the Blue Ridge, between the Potomac and the
James, to combine most advantages, and be the most desirable.

Section Third—The great valley section is in some respects the most
remarkable in Virginia; it extends from the Iron mountains, at the N. E.
angle of Tennessee, to the northern bend of the Potomac, at Hancockstown,
its mean length is near 300 miles; the mean distance between the
Blue Ridge and Alleghany about 43. This is a continuation of the Kittatinny
valley of Pennsylvania, and is a true table-land or mountain plateau.
The rise to this plateau is abrupt, the difference of the mean elevation
on the east, and west sides of the Blue Ridge being from 200 to 300
feet. The elevation of Lynchburg is only 500 feet, whilst that of Staunton,
near the sources of the Shenandoah is 1,152 feet; Lexington, in Rockbridge
county, 902 feet; Salem, on the Roanoke, in Botetourt county,
1,200 feet; and the Warm Springs, in Bath county, 1,782 feet; and the
mean elevation of the farms throughout the section in all probability exceeds
1000 feet. A stratum of limestone of varying breadth, runs nearly
parallel with the Blue Ridge, on its western side, which continues to accompany
it in its course through Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.

The surface of the great valley of Virginia is much broken and diversified,
but every where contains zones of highly productive soil; it
abounds, with few exceptions, with the purest and best water, and is so rich
in scenery, as to afford an endless variety of beautiful landscape. With regard
to declivity, the Valley presents some curious phenomena. The
northern and nearly one half of the whole surface declines to the N. E.,
towards the Potomac, and is drained by the Shenandoah, Cacapon, and
south branch of Potomac.

South of the sources of the Potomac and Shenandoah, is a middle valley;
which inclines to the east, and is drained by the James and Roanoke the
extreme southern part of the valley inclines to the north west; and is
drained by New river, and the great Kenawha. We thus perceive that
this table land is partly inclined towards the Atlantic, and partly towards
the Ohio; and that the inflected line which separates the sources of the
James and Roanoke, which flow into the former, from those of the great
Kenawha, flowing into the latter,—crosses the valley obliquely from the
Blue Ridge to the Alleghany.

Section Fourth—The extreme length of the Ohio section of Virginia,
from the northern boundary of Tenessee, to the northern angle of Brooke
county, is nearly 300 miles. The greatest breadth is nearly along the general
course of the great Kenawha, about 135 miles; but both extremes are
narrow; the mean width is about 94 miles. The area 28,337 square
miles. The surface is for the most part mountainous, and nearly every
where broken. The chains of the Appalachian system stretch over it, in
a course nearly parallel to that part of the Ohio which bounds Virginia.
The soil is even more variable in quality than the surface is in elevation,
every grade of sterility and fertility may be found. As the elevation of the
water, at the junction of the Ohio and great Kenawha is 533 feet, and that
point is only about 40 miles from the mouth of the great Sandy, the lowest
point in western Virginia, we may regard all the surface of the Ohio section
as rising above 500 feet. The elevation of Wheeling above the Ocean
is 634 feet; and the Ohio, the base of this great inclined plane, and the recipient
of the waters of western Virginia, rises upwards of 560 feet, nearly
to a level with lake Erie. The dividing ridge of the waters of the Ohio
and Atlantic, is the apex of the plain before us, and has its highest elevation
in the mountains, from which the sources of the James and Roanoke
rise on one side, and those of the great Kenawha on the other. Under the
heads of Giles, Pochahontas, and Monroe counties, which occupy the
highest part of the plain we are surveying, it may be seen, that the mean
elevation of the arable soil exceeds 1,600 feet. A similar, if not a higher,
mean height might be assigned to the sources of the great Kanawha, from
those of the Greenbrier to those of New river. From these elevated vallies
the sources of the Ohio flow, like radii from a common centre. The different
branches of the Monongahela rise in Lewis and Randolph counties,
and flowing north, through Harrison,, Monongalia, and Preston counties,
enter Pennsylvania; and uniting their waters, continue north, to meet those of
the Alleghany, and form the Ohio, at Pittsburg. The Ohio from Pittsburg
sweeps a curve first north westward, then westward for nearly 100 miles,
in a course nearly parallel with the Monongahela, the two streams flowing
in opposite directions. From the large curve of the Ohio below Pittsburg,
to the influx of the little Kenawha, there is only a narrow inclined plane of
about 30 miles width, between the Ohio, and the sources of creeks which

flow eastwardly into the Monongahela. Down this plain flow, Harmans,
Cross, Buffalo, Wheeling, Fish, Fishing, Middle Island, and some other
creeks of less note. Near the little Kenawha the plain widens, and the declivity
inclines from W. to N. W. this declination is also maintained in the
vallies of the great Kenawha, and great Sandy rivers.

The tributary waters of the extreme southern part of the Ohio section of
Virginia, though drained into the same recipient, are borne from the elevated
plateau, between the sources of the great Kenawha and Tennessee, and
before their discharge make the immense semicircular curve of the latter.

The difference of level between high-water mark on the Ohio river, and
the elevation we have noticed, is about a mean of 850 feet; but this elevation
is only the first in a series of planes, which rise one above another, until
a mean height of between 1800 and 2000 feet, is attained in central Virginia.
If we assume latitude 38° 10′ as the central latitude, it will at longitude 3°
west of Washington city, correspond nearly with the greatest elevation, and
estimating 400 feet as an equivalent to a degree of latitude, the counties
along the mountainous section of Virginia will have a climate, similar to
that in north latitude 43° on the Atlantic coast.

If from the foregoing elements, we embrace the whole of Virginia, we
have before us, a large section of the United States; extending over more
than 4° of latitude, and 8¾° of longitude, differing in relative level upwards
of 2000 feet, without estimating mountain peaks, or ridges. If we suppose
the actually settled parts of the United States, to be 630,000 square miles,
Virginia will embrace one ninth part. It is as we have seen traversed
from S. W. to N. E. by the Appalachian system of mountains in lateral
chains; of these the Blue Ridge is the most distinctly defined, but is only
one of six or seven chains that may be traced and identified across the state.
One of these chains, though omitted in some maps and broken into fragments
in others, is in nature little less obvious than the Blue Ridge; and is
distinct throughout its course in Virginia. This neglected Appalachian
chain stretches at a distance, varying from 15 to 30 miles, southeastwardly
from the Blue Ridge. It is known in New Jersey as Schooley's mountain,
and though entirely apparent through Pennsylvania, it has received no distinct
appellation in that state. In Maryland it is called the Parr Spring
Ridge, and is rendered very conspicuous where it is traversed by the Potomac,
by the fine conical peak called the Sugar Loaf. In Virginia it
traverses Loudon, Fauquier, Orange, Albemarle, Nelson, Amherst, Bedford,
Franklin, and Henry counties. West of the Blue Ridge, the mountain
chains are also very confusedly delineated on our maps, though they
are far from being so in nature; even on Tanner's large map of the United
States, the continuous chains cease with the Alleghany, whilst in fact
western Virginia is traversed by three distinct chains, west of this mountain;—indeed
the whole state, from the head of tide-water to the Ohio, is
formed of a series of mountain chains, and intervening vallies. This structure
is obvious to all who examine the map, with a knowledge of the influence
of the direction of the hills upon the inflection of the streams. Among
the mountain chains however, the Blue Ridge must ever be the most important,
physically and politically. This chain stands distinct and detached
from the rest, in a remarkable manner. Its highest points are the
Peaks of Otter, in Botetourt county, which may be seen at a great distance;
one of them is remakable for its symmetry, being conical, and terminating in
a limestone cube, the upper surface of which is scarcely sufficiently extensive

to contain a dozen persons. It has been supposed that these beautiful peaks,
are the highest points in the Appalachian system, S. W. of the Delaware,
if computed from their base; but the White Top peaks of the Iron mountains,
near the North Carolina line are now thought to be still more elevated.

The different portions of the state are strikingly distinguished from each
other in their appearance. The tide-water or eastern section, is in general
low, level, sandy, and unproductive,—in some parts exhibiting almost as desolate
appearance as the pine barrens of New Jersey. Above the falls of the
rivers, the country presents a bolder and more picturesque outline, and the
soil if not generally productive, is in most cases capable of improvement;
the alluvial lands on river and creek bottoms of this section are very fine;
those on James river will compare with any in the world for fertility. The
valley section contains a considerable portion of mountainous and sterile
land; but no part of the commonwelth presents larger tracts of fertile and
well cultivated soil, or better adapted to the cultivation of every species of
grain.

West of the Alleghany, a large portion of the country must for ever
remain in its primitive forest; it is generally mountainous and broken, but
interspersed with fertile vallies, well calculated to grazing, and raising
stock, and occasionally presenting rich bodies of limestone.

From the vast extent of this state and the variety of its surface, we should
of course expect a great diversity of climate. In the Atlantic country, east
of the mountains, the heat of summer is long and oppressive, the spring
short and variable, and the winter extremely mild,—snow seldom lying
more than a day after it has fallen. Droughts in summer and autumn are
common, and the people are subject to autumnal fevers. On the mountains,
the air is cool, and salubrious, and the inhabitants are tall and muscular,
with robust forms, and healthy countenances; fires are used during five
months in the year, the heat of summer during the day is considerable, but
the nights are always cool. On the western side of the mountain the climate
is cooler by several degrees, than on the same parallel of latitude on
the coast, the valley of the Ohio, is exceedingly hot in summer, while in
winter, the river is sometimes frozen for two months at a time, so hard as
to be passed on the ice, the autumn is dry, temperate, and healthy, and the
weather most delightful.

From the facts which have been stated with regard to the variety of soil,
and climate in Virginia; a corresponding variety in the staple productions
will at once be suggested. Every vegetable, from cotton to wheat, and the
fig to the apple, can be produced in abundance.

When discovered and colonized by Europeans, the region now comprised
in Virginia, was one continued dense, and vary partially broken forest. A
few savage tribes were found along the tide-waters, but the interior was
scarcely inhabited. It may be remarked that though the soil increases in fertility
as we advance from the seaboard, yet density of population is in a near
ratio to proximity to the place of original settlement, on James river. If
we make every just allowance for the space actually occupied by mountains,
and other unproductive tracts, still there would remain at least 50,000
square miles, capable of sustaining a mean distributive population, equal in
number to that which occupies any of the best inhabited of its existing counties,
(for example, Henrico, including Richmond,) such a ratio, would give
Virginia more than five millions of inhabitants,—a number far below the
population she could support.

The principal Towns are, Richmond, the seat of government, situated at
the falls of James river, on a site or elevation perhaps not to be surpassed
in beauty in the United States, having an extensive view of the river, and an
open, well cultivated, and fertile country for many miles in extent; it contains
16,060 inhabitants. Norfolk, on Elizabeth river, which flows into Hampton
Roads, had in 1830, a population of 9,816. Petersburg and Fredericksburg,
at the falls of the Appomatox and Rappahannock, the first containing
8,300 inhabitants, and the last 3,308. Lynchburg, on James river, 120 miles
above the falls, contains 4,630 inhabitants. Wheeling, on the Ohio, though
only the fourth town in size and population, containing 5,211 inhabitants, is
perhaps the most flourishing town in the state. Besides these—Winchester,
Shepperdstown, Martinsburg, Staunton, Lexington and Fincastle, in the
valley, Charleston, Abingdon and Brooke in the trans-Alleghany section deserve
to be noticed—Williamsburg in the eastern section, and the ancient
seat of government, is on the decline, but Charlottesville, near which the
state University is located, has rapidly improved.

The principal Rivers flowing into the Chesapeak bay, are, the Potomac,
Rappahannock, York and James; all of which are large and navigable.
The Shenandoah traces its quiet course down the valley, at the base of the
Blue Ridge, and unites with the Potomac at Harper's Ferry. The Roanoke
rises in the mountains, and passing into North Carolina, empties
its waters into Albemarle sound. The Monongahela, and great Kenawha
are both tributaries of the Ohio. Besides these, numerous other
streams intersect the country in every direction; and render it inferior to few
in facilities for transportation by water. The Chesapeake bay, one of the
finest on the continent, extends 190 miles from its mouth, into the states of
Virginia and Maryland; it is from 7 to 20 miles broad, and generally 9
fathoms deep.

Geology and Mineralogy.—If we trace a line from the mouth of
Potomac creek, through the Bowling Green and fork of the Pamunky, to
Richmond,—thence through Petersburg and Hicksford, to the Roanoke
near Weldon,—we shall embrace between it and the ocean, only tertiary,
and alluvial formations. The soil contains oxides of iron, shells and marle,
bones of sharks, whales, and other fish, carbonated wood, and other vegetable
remains. From this line to the Blue Ridge, the formation may be regarded
as essentially primitive; as most of the rocks are of that denomination.
In this space however, two belts of transition and secondary formation
have been found resting on the primitive rocks. One of these is the
sand-stone and coal formation of the counties of Goochland, Powhatan, and
Chesterfield; which is supposed to continue through the state, in a direction
parallel to its mountains; the other, a narrow stratum of limestone, which
has been found at the base of the South West mountains, at various points
between the Potomac and James, and which yields in several of its quaries
beautiful marble. In this primitive region, various valuable ores and pure
metals have been discovered, among them iron ore in masses, and layers,—
black lead,—copper, and gold. It is now well ascertained that a formation
in which the latter metal is frequently found, commences near the Rappahannock
in the county of Spottsylvania, and inclining with the mountains
from N. E. to S. E. runs through Spottsylvania, Louisa, Fluvanna, and
Goochland, to James river; and crossing this stream near the Point of fork,
passes through Buckingham into North Carolina, and thence on to the
Cherokee lands in Georgia. Many portions of this vein are extremely rich,

and the purity is so extraordinary, the ore so near the surface, and the machinery
necessary for its collection so cheap, that many individuals have engaged
in the search. [For a more particular discription, see the several
counties mentioned.] The dip of the rocks in this region is usually about 45°.

West of the Blue Ridge, the country may be considered as divided by a
line, sometimes corresponding with the Alleghany mountains, but in general
running east of them; and south of the head waters of the Roanoke,
stretching along the summits of the Bushy, Clinch, and Garden mountains.
East of this line, the primitive rocks appear only at the tops of high
ridges and mountains; the intervals between, and the sides of the mountains
being in general transition, but sometimes secondary formations. Among
the rocks of this region, are blue and gray limestone, slate, sandstone, gypsum,
buhrstone, and conglomerate or pudding stone,—iron ore of the best
quality is extensively distributed in this portion of the state, and valuable
lead mines are worked in Wythe county, near Austinsville. The dip of the
rocks is in this district less than in the primitive, but sometimes rises to 45°.

West of this line described lies the great secondary formation of the state.
The line of strata is more or less undulating, but in general nearly horizontal.
This portion of the state abounds in mineral wealth. Bituminous
coal, and iron ore are found almost everywhere;—beds of limestone are extensively
distributed, and the caverns which abound in them furnish large
quantities of nitre. The salt wells of the great Kenawha and Holston, are
even superior to those of Onandagua, in New York; and new springs are
every day developing themselves and being brought into operation, on the
little Kenawha, and in other places. When greater facilities of transportation
shall be given to this district of country, it may be confidently predicted
that no portion of the United States will present greater rewards to industry
and enterprize.

Mineral Waters.—The Hydro-sulphurous springs of Virginia have
been long celebrated. Perhaps they are surpassed in no portion of the
earth for efficacy, in most of the cases which result from diseased action of
the liver, or the stomach. They are known by the appellations of the Blue
sulphur, White sulphur, Salt and Red sulphur springs, to which have been
recently added, the Gray sulphur; and are situated, the two former in Greenbrier,
at the foot of the western slope of the Alleghany,—and the three last
in the county of Monroe. The Blue sulphur holds at least three active medicinal
qualities in its composition; its tonic quality admirably sustains and
husbands the debilitated system, while the alimentary canal and the glandular
organs are efficiently operated upon, by its cathartic and deobstruent
powers. The White sulphur acts, when taken in doses of two or three
glasses at a time, as an alterative, exercising on the system much of the
salutary influence, without the evil effects of mercury,—used in larger
quantities it becomes actively diaretic and purgative. The Salt sulphur is
more remarkable than the White, for the latter property; but not equal to it
in the former. The Red sulphur, in addition to the qualities which it has
in common with the last mentioned springs, is remarkable for its action on
the pulse, which it reduces considerably in a short time: this property renders
it highly valuable in pulmonary affections. The Sweet springs are
situated on Potts' creek (a branch of James river) about 22 miles east of the
Salt sulphur springs. They are of the class of waters called acidulous,
and are valuable as a tonic in cases of debility, and in all the varieties of
dyspepsia which are unaccompanied by inflammation. Their temperature is

about 73°. In the same range of mountains in which the Sweet springs are
situated, and from 35 to 40 miles to the northeast are the thermal waters,
known as the Warm and the Hot springs. The baths of the former are
of the temperature of 96°, and are famed for relieving rhumatism, and various
other complaints. The temperature of the latter, present every variety,
from 51 to 107°, and are celebrated for their efficacy in cutaneous,
rhumatic, dyspeptic, and liver complaints. Dr. Bell, in describing these
springs observes,—all that has been performed by the Bristol, Buxton, and
Bath waters in England, may be safely claimed as of easy accomplishment by
the Virginia waters just enumerated. If to the Hot, Warm and Sweet
springs,—We add the white, Salt, Red, and Blue Sulphur,—we may safely
challenge any district of country of the same extent in the world to produce
the same number and variety of valuable waters,—whether we have
regard to their mineral impregnation or temperature, or the time in which
they relieve entirely and permanently from a host of distressing maladies.

Besides the above waters, there are various others of more or less value in
Virginia. The springs at Bath, in Berkely county, have similar properties
with the Sweet springs, and a temperature somewhat higher. In Botetourt,
Montgomery, and Augusta there are also Hydro-sulphurous waters, similar
in character to those in Greenbrier and Monroe, but of less efficacy. [See
in the several counties named, a more particular description of these
springs.] It is astonishing that these waters should, as long as their value
has been known, never have been accurately analyzed; until the summer of
1834, Professor Rogers of William and Mary college analyzed the Warm
spring water, the result of which may be seen under the head of Bath
county.

Scenery and Natural Curiosities.—The scenery of Virginia is in
general highly picturesque. Without possessing the combination of highland
and water prospect, which gives such a charm to the shores of the
Hudson, or the soft lake scenery of the interior of New York; she surpasses
even that state in the beauty of her vallies, and the grandeur of her
mountains. The James and Kanawha vallies, offer at many points, in the
bold outlines of their hills, and their broad and fertile low-lands, images
which remind the traveller of the rich scenery of the Loire and the Garonne,
The mountains of the state are strikingly distinguished, not only by an
ever-varying succession of hill and dale, but by the beauty of their covering;
their vigorous growth of oak, chesnut and lynn, contrasting advantagiously
with the mountain districts of the northern and eastern states.

The Curiosities of Virginia, present to the traveller, objects of yet deeper
interest than her scenery. Among them may be enumerated:—the passage
of the Potomac, through the Blue Ridge, so happily described by Mr.
Jefferson,—that of James river through the same mountain;—the cliffs of
New river, which present for a distance of 20 miles, a succession of sublime
scenery—rivalled in our country only by that of Niagara, between the falls
and Queenstown;—the celebrated Natural Bridge of Rockbridge, and the natural
Tunnell of Scott county, "the most sublime of nature's works,"—the various
medicinal springs already noticed,—and the burning springs of Kanawha.
The blowing cave at the Panther's Gap in Rockbridge, admits perpetually
a strong current of air. Other extensive and beautiful caverns exist
in the limestone districts of the state; of the latter, two surpass the rest in
beauty and interest,—the one called Weyer's cave, from its discoverer,—the
other Allen's cave,—the former is situated in Augusta, near the little village

of Port Republic,—the latter is situated in Shenandoah county, a short
distance from Front Royall, on the right bank of the Shenandoah, about a
quarter of a mile from the river, and is said to surpass Weyer's in the grandeur
and beauty of its chambers. The description given by Goldsmith of
the grotto of Antiparos seems almost literally to apply to these interesting
works of nature; Weyer's cave penetrates to a distance of 2700 feet; and
Allens 1200; presenting a series of lofty passages, and spacious apartments,
encrusted with chrystals, and glittering with beautiful stalactites, exhibiting
some of nature's wildest and most beautiful fantasies. We feel in
traversing these magnificient apartments, as if we were visiting some of those
enchanted palaces in which of old the Knights of chivalry were spellbound,
or gazing on the bright visions, and revelling in the beautiful
scenes conjured up by the magic of eastern fancy. A cave on Jackson's
river, near Covington, is said to be much more extensive and intricate than
those mentioned, but not so beautiful. In Montgomery county on the north
bank of New river, 1¼ miles from Newbern, is situated what is called the
Glass Windows; a great curiosity, which presents the spectator with a scene
almost as magnificient as the natural bridge. The Falling Water, in Berkely
county, and Falling Spring, in Bath, are two beautiful cataracts,—the first
is situated on the bank of the Potomac, 6 miles north east from Martinsburg,
and falls over a large alluvial rock, which rises 200 feet above the surface of
the river,—the latter rises in the Warm Spring mountains, about 20 miles
south west of the Warm springs, and about three quarters of a mile from its
source, falls over a rock more than 200 feet above the valley below. The
ebbing and flowing springs of Bath and Washington counties, may be mentioned
as great natural curiosities,—the former situated in the valley of the
Cow Pasture river, 16 miles north east of the Warm springs; it ebbs and
flows to a remarkable extent—affording when the tide is full, sufficient water
for a gristmill,—when at ebb, only supplying a tanyard and a distillery;
the water is of the purest and best quality, and equal in the hottest seasons to
the temperature of ice-water. The Ice-mountain and Ice-cave, in Hampshire
county are very remarkable. On the north west side of the mountain, the
surface is covered with loose stones, which being removed to the depth of
three feet, an abundance of ice may be found at all seasons of the year.
The Ice Cave, is situated near the top of a hill, nearly 1000 feet high—affords
an abundant supply of excellent ice throughout the year. The most
remarkable cataract in the State, is the Falling Spring, in Alleghany county.
The stream has sufficient power, a few yards from its source, to turn a
mill wheel, and about a mile below, it has a perpendicular descent of 200
feet, over a precipice of calcareous rock; before it reaches the bottom, it is almost
converted into vapour, and the temperature is considerably reduced;
the stream unites with Jackson's river, about a mile below the cataract.
The Salt Pond lake, in Giles' county, not having been described in any account
of the state, deserves to be noticed. It presents the curious spectacle
of a beautiful sheet of water, about three miles in circumference, and a 100
fathoms deep, on the summit of a lofty mountain. Some of the aged people
in the neighborhood, remember when its bottom was a spot of marshy
ground, covered with pine and oak timber, and much frequented by deer
and elk in pursuit, as was supposed, of salt. In process of time, a small
pond was formed in the centre,—encreasing slowly at first, untill a stream
which flowed out high on the mountain, suddenly ceased, and then rapidly
rising above the tops of the trees, and finally to the top of the mountain,
which it overflows at an angle below the general level. The water is entirely
fresh, and abounds with lizards, but has no fish, The idea which
prevails of its alternate rise and fall is erroneous; it is 3700 feet above the
Ocean.

Lake Drummond, in the Dismal Swamp, is about 7 miles in extent, and
varies from 10 to 20 feet deep; it is about 24 feet above tide water; and in
times of drought, the only feeder to the Dismal Smamp canal. Its waters
are cool, and strongly impregnated with juniper, but pleasent to drink. Our
limits will not permit us to notice the carved or calico rock of Kanawha,
and various other curiosities of the state, which merit description but some
account of them will be found in the several counties in which they are located.[1]

MOUNTAINS.

Having taken a general survey of the whole of Virginia, we will now
give a more particular description of her mountain ranges, and the courses
of her streams. Our mountains are not scattered confusedly in groups, or
in solitude over the surface of the country; but are disposed in massive ridges,
commencing about 180 miles from the coast, and running parallel with
it, in a S. W. direction. The first continuous chain derives its name from
the deep blue colour by which it is distinguished. The North Mountains
are from 20 to 30 miles farther west, and these are succeeded by the great
Appalachian or Alleghany range, which divides the eastern and western
waters. The Appalachian system presents its widest base in Virginia, and
if we include its various lateral ridges, occupies a superficies of nearly one
hundred miles in breadth, nearly all of which is covered with mountains
and vallies. In the same direction generally are the veins of limestone,
coal, and other minerals, and the falls of the rivers. James and Potomac
rivers penetrate through all the ranges east of the Alleghany;—that is broken
by no water course, and is in fact the spine of the country between the
Atlantic on one side, and the Mississippi, and St. Lawrence on the other.
The passage of the Potomac through the Blue Ridge has been said to be
perhaps one of the most stupendous scenes in nature. You stand on a very
high point of land,—on your right comes the Shenandoah, having

ranged along the foot of the mountains for a 100 miles in search of a vent,—
on your left approaches the Potomac, also in quest of a passage,—at the
moment of their junction they rush together through the mountain and pass
to the sea. The first glance of the scene hurries us into the belief that the
mountains were created before the rivers, that in this place the latter were
dammed up by the former, and made a lake, which covered a considerable
portion of the valley,—that continuing to rise, they at length burst through
at the spot, and tore asunder the mountain from its summit to its base. The
piles of rock on each side, but especially on that of the Shenandoah, bear
evident marks of rupture and avulsion from their beds, by some powerful
force. The distant finishing which nature has given to the picture is of a
very different character; and a perfect contrast to the fore-ground. The
former is as placid and delightful as the latter is wild and tremendous.
You see through the rough and horrid cleft, a clear and beautiful view of
level and fertile country, bounded only by the limits of human vision.

The height of our mountains has not yet been estimated with any degree
of exactness. There is no doubt but the Alleghany, as it is the dividing
ridge for the waters, is more elevated above the ocean than the rest; but its
relative height, estimated from the base on which it stands, will not compare

with that of some of its kindred ranges;—the country rising a considerable
step behind each range. It has been before stated that the Peaks of
Otter, in the Blue Ridge, were supposed until lately to be the highest points
measured from their base, in North America; but it has since been ascertained
that the White Top Peaks of the Iron mountains are still more elevated.
The highest peak of the latter is only about 4,260 feet above the
Atlantic ocean,—which is not one fifth part of the height of the mountains
of South America, or one third of the height which would be necessary in
our latitude, to preserve ice unmelted in the open air throughout the year.
The range of mountains next beyond the Blue Ridge, which we call the
North Mountain, received the name of Endless mountain from the Indians,
on account of its great extent.

Alleghany mountain of the Appalachian system. It is an unanswerable
objection to giving the name of Alleghany to the whole system, that it
has been appropriated to a particular chain in Pennsylvania, Maryland and
Virginia. From the basin of the Kanawha, to that of the western branch
of the Susquehannah, through 4° of latitude, the Alleghany is a dividing
ridge between the waters flowing into the Atlantic, from those of the Ohio,
giving source, eastward to the branches of James river and the Potomac
and on the other side, or weastward to those of the Kanawha, Monongahela,
Youghioghany and Kiskiminitas. The ridges which form the particular
chain of the Alleghany, are not very distinctly defined, though the entire
chain constitutes so remarkable a feature in the geography of the United
States. The length of the Alleghany is, from Monroe county, in Virginia,
in the valley of the Kanawha, to Centre county, in Pennsylvania, in the valley
of Susquehannah, 300 miles. The height varies, but may be stated at

2500 feet, as a mean. Similar to all other chains of the Appalachian system,
that of Alleghany does not rise into peaks, but stretches in parallel ridges,
which, to the view from either side, presents gentle rounded, and swelling
knolls, or elegantly defined lines, which bound the distant horizon. The
component material of the Alleghany, is mostly graywake, though limestone
and other rocks occasionally occur. This chain is rich in iron and bituminous
coal. Some ridges have naked summits, but this feature is rare, the
ridges generally being clothed with timber in all their height. A few
mountain planes with tolerable soil for agriculture occur, but mostly the soil
is rocky and barren, and often marshy. Pine and oak the most abundant
timber.

Appalachian System.—The name given to the immense chain extending
along the whole Atlantic course of the United States, from Alabama to
Maine. In the southern states they are 200 miles from the sea, but to the
north they approach near the coast. They run generally in parallel ridges,
and the various divisions go by different names. In Tennessee they are
called the Cumberland Mountains,—in Virginia—Blue Ridge,—in Pennsylvania
the Alleghany and Laurel Mountains,—in New York,—the Catskill,—in
Vermont the Green Mountains, and in New Hampshire,—the
White Mountains. They are sometimes broken into groups and isolated
chains. Their highest summits are in New Hampshire, and between 6
and 7000 feet above the level of the sea. East of the Hudson they are of
granite formation. In the west and south they consist of granite, gneis, mica,
clay-state, primitive limestone, &c.

Blue Mountain.—This undistinguishing term has been applied to several
chains of the Appalachian system in the United States, but more particularly
to that one called by some tribes of Indians "Kaatatin Chunk," or
Endless Mountain. If we turn our attention to the Appalachian chain we
find them often only interrupted, where a cursory survey would lead us to
place a termination. Whether the Kittatinny Chain or "Blue Mountain"
could be detected eastward from the Hudson we are unprepared to determine,
but westward of that river, this chain is found distinct in the Shawangunk,
near Kingston, in Ulster county, New York. It thence ranges
S. W., meets and turns Delaware river at the extreme northern angle of New
Jersey, and continues its original direction to the Delaware Water Gap,
where the mountain chain is traversed by the river, and the former curves
more to the westward, enters Pennsylvania, over which it ranges about 150
miles to the northern angle of Franklin county, after having been pierced
by the Lehigh, Schuylkill, and Susquehannah rivers. Between Franklin
and Bedford counties the Kittatinny reassumes nearly its original direction in
the state of New York, and though in some places confounded with the Alleghany,
really continues a distinct chain over Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina
and Tennessee, into Alabama, S. W. of Susquehannah, the Kittatinny
rises, and extending first nearly west, between the tributaries of Coredogwinet
and Shoreman's rivers, is thence broken into ridges bounding on
the west, the valley of Conecocheague, gradually curves to the souhward,
and reaches Potomac, extending very little west of south. Rising again
beyond the Potomac, between the Opequan and Black creeks, it runs nearly
parallel with the Blue Ridge, is passed by the North Fork of Shenandoah,
and extends thence between the two main branches of that river.
Though scarcely appearing distinctly on our best maps, the chain of Kittatinny
is completely distinct, and continues over Rockingham, Augusta

and Rockbridge counties, Virginia, into Botetourt, to where it is traversed
by James river, below the mouth of Craig's creek. Rising again beyond
James river, the chain stretches along the higher sources of James and
Roanoke rivers, to the centre of Montgomery county, near Christiansburg.
Here it leaves the Atlantic slope, and merges into the valley of the Ohio,
by entering the subvalley of New river or Upper Kanawha.

Thus far, in all its range from the Hudson, the Kittatinny chain is broken
into links by the higher sources of the Atlantic rivers, and similar to the
Southeast Mountain and Blue Ridge, the base gradually rises, ascending
the vast inclined plain obliquely, until it reaches the highest apex between
the sources of Roanoke and those of Little river branch of New river. In
this region the lowest gap through which measurements have been made
for a projected canal, is 2049 feet above the level of the Atlantic ocean.
The base of the chain now commences to depress and inflecting to a course
considerably west of S. W., is traversed by New river or Upper Kanawha.
Beyond the latter stream, under the Local name of Iron Mountain, and discharging
to the eastward the tributaries of New river, and from the opposite
flank those of the south branch of Holston and Watauga, it reaches the
extreme N. E. angle of the Tennessee. At the latter point, the chain assumes
a direction very nearly S. W., and under the various local names of
Iron Mountain, Bald Mountain, Smoky Mountain and Unika Mountain, is
pierced in succession by Watuga, Doe, Nolechucky, French, Broad, Big,
Pigeon, Tennessee, Proper and Hiwasse rivers, and merges according to
Tanner's map of the United States, into Blue Ridge, in the northern part of
Georgia, between the sources of Coosa and Hiwassee rivers.

If the whole body of the Kittatinny and its mean elevation is compared
with the body and elevation of the Blue Rridge, the former exceeds in both
respects, from the Hudson to their termination in Georgia, though at the
high lands on the Hudson and in the Peaks of Otter, the Blue Ridge rises
to a superior elvevation from their respective bases.

As a distinct and defined chain the Kittatinny is upwards of eight hundred
miles in length. The height above the ocean varies from 800 to
2,500 feet. All the ridges in their natural state were wooded to their summits,
though the trees are generally stunted in growth at any considerable
height. In the vallies along both flanks the timber is often very large and
lofty; particularly the pines, oaks, hemlocks and liriodendron. On some of
the ridges good arable soil is found on the summits, but sterility is the general
character of the soil. Amongst the peculiar features of this chain, one
may be remarked, which gives it a very distinct character. In all its
length, it is no where strictly a dividing limit between river sources.
Without assuming any connexion with the mountains eastward of the Hudson,
the Kittatinny is pierced by the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill, Susquehannah,
Potomac and James rivers, flowing into the Atlantic ocean,
and by the Great Kanawha, and various branches of Tennessee, flowing into
the valley of the Ohio, or basin of the Mississippi.

Blue Ridge.—Of the distinctive chains of the Appalachian system, and
indeed of all the sections of this system, the Blue Ridge stands most apart
and prominent, though of much narrower base, and of less mean elevation
than either the Kittatinny or Alleghany. On a colored map of Virginia
the Blue Ridge has a very striking appearance, arising from the fact of
being a county limit in all its range over that state. Without tracing a
probable but hypothetical identity, between the mountains of Massachusetts,

Connecticut and Vermont, with the Blue Ridge, we first meet this chain
distinct at West Point on the Hudson river. Thence it rises into broken
but continuous ridges over New York and New Jersey, to the Delaware, in
a S. W. direction. Traversed by the Delaware immediately below the influx
of Lehigh, and inflecting similar to the Kittatinny, to S. W. by W., it
is pierced by the Schuylkill at Reading, by the Susquehannah below the
mouth of Swatara, by the Potomac at Harper's Ferry, by James river, between
Bedford and Amherst counties, Virginia, and by the Roanoke between
Bedford and Franklin counties in the same state. In its further
progress S. W. from Roanoke, the Blue Ridge becomes the limit of river
source to its final extinction in Alabama. The length of this chain from the
Hudson to Roanoke, is 450 miles, and from Roanoke to where it ceases to be
a distinct chain in Alabama, 350 miles, having an entire length of 800 miles
S. W. from the Hudson. The Hudson does not, however, terminate the
Blue Ridge to the N. E. Many river passages through mountains have
been noticed and celebrated, and, among others, the passage of this chain
by the Potomac at Harper's Ferry, but it may be doubted whether from all
the attendent circumstances, any similar phenomenon on earth combines so
many very remarkable features as the passage of the tide stream of the Hudson
through the two chains, the S. E. Mountain and Blue Ridge.

Profoundly deep, far below the utmost draught of the largest vessels of
war, the flux and reflux of the tides rush along a narrow and tortuous channel,
on both sides bounded by enormous craggy and almost perpendicular
walls of rock, rising from one thousand to twelve or fifteen hundred feet
above the water surface. Sailing along this astonishing gorge the mind involuntarily
demands by what operation of nature has this complication of
wonders been produced? Again, what in an eminent degree enhances the
surprise and admiration, is the fact, that this great river pass is made directly
through a mountain nucleus. In all the chains of the Appalachian system,
masses rise at different places, far beyond the ordinary height, and
spreading much wider than the mean base of the chain in which they occur.
The Peaks of Otter—the Peaks in the Catsbergs, in Windham, Green
county, New York, several peaks of the Green mountains in Vermont,
and above all, the White mountains of New Hampshire, are examples.
The Highlands, pierced by the Hudson, and passed by the tide from the ocean,
are however, every thing considered, by much the most remarkable of these
mountain peaks or groups to be found, not only in the United States, but
probably on this planet. Receding from the highlands, either to the S. W.
or N. E. the chain depresses so much, that on our maps, the continuity in either
direction, is generally not represented. There is, nevertheless, in the
vicinity of the Hudson, no real interruption of either the South Mountains,
or Blue Ridge, along their direction. The highest peaks being in the Blue
Ridge on both sides of the river. Of these peaks, the highest is Butter Hill,
which rises 1,535 feet above the ocean tides, and rising abruptly from the
water, affords a very fine and extended landscape to the N. W. and W.

After leaving the Hudson, Blue Ridge continues to N. E. about 20 miles,
and then, similar to other chains of the same system on both sides of that
river, rapidly inflects to a course a very little north of east, a direction
which it maintains above 250 miles in the states of New York, Massachusetts
and Vermont. For the first 70 miles of its northerly course, the Blue
Ridge discharges from its eastern flank numerous branches of Housatonic,
and from the opposing slope, Fishkill, Wappingers, Jansen's or Ancram

and Kinderhook creeks, flowing westward into the Hudson. With the
sources of Housatonic and Hoosack rivers, the features of Blue Ridge change;
hitherto from the Hudson, a line of river sources, it now looses that character,
and is broken into innumerable ridges by the higher sources of Hoosack
and Batten Kill, flowing into the Hudson, and thence by those of Paulet,
Otter, Onion, La Moille and Missisque rivers, falling into lake Champlain.
All these latter streams rise in the S. E. mountain, and flowing down a
western slope pass the Blue Ridge.

A hypothesis may be hazarded, that what is designated Green mountains
in the sourthern part of Vermont, and the ridge or series of ridges, known by
the same term in the northern part of the same state, are fragments of two
separate chains, though generally represented as the continuation of one
and the same chain. Regarding the great western chain, east of the Hudson,
in the state of New York, Massachusetts and Vermont, as the continuation
of Blue Ridge, the whole length of the chain in the United States, exceeds
1,000 miles. In relative elevation, the Blue Ridge is humble, though
in one part, Bedford county, Virginia, the peaks of Otter rise to 4,200 feet
above tide water. Generally, the ridges are from 700 to 1,000 feet above
their bases, and the base rising with the mountain, when the ridges are
seen from the elevated table land, from which flow Roanoke, Kanawha,
Yadkin and Tennessee, they are, in fact, less imposing than when seen from
the Hudson, Delaware, Susquehannah, Potomac or James rivers, though at
the former region, the real oceanic elevation is more than double what
it is near the more northern rivers.

From its prominence, and southwestwardly from the Hudson, its isolation,
Blue Ridge has been, though very erroneously, regarded and delineated
as the extreme southeastern chain of the system; in reality, however, it is
the third distinct chain advancing from the Atlantic ocean.

Cumberland Mountain is a chain of the Appalachian system, and
continues under this name through Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and
part of Alabama; whilst it is known in Pennsylvania as the Laurel chain.
This mountain though not so delineated on our maps, is continuous from
Steuben county, in New York, to Jackson, Morgan and Blunt counties in
Alabama,—along an inflected line of 800 miles. About the extreme eastern
angle of Kentucky, and S. W. of the Great Sandy, this chain becomes distinctly
known as the Cumberland mountain, and ranging S. W. seperates
Virginia from Kentucky; as far as Cumberland Gap, on the northern boundary
of Tennessee, continuing S. W., but with an inflection to the N. W.
this chain stretches over Tennessee,—dividing in its course the waters of
the Cumberland from those of Tennessee river, entering Alabama, and
crossing Tennessee river at its great bend, it gradually disappears among
the sources of the Black Warrior river. The Cumberland chain is in no
part very elevated,—ranging from 800 to 1,000 feet above the level of the
tide; but though humble as to relative height, it maintains otherwise all the
distinctive characters of the other Appalachian chains; extending in long,
regular and often lateral ridges, passable only at long intervals where gaps
occur, or where it is traversed by rivers. The ridges are wooded to the
summit.

Kittatinny Mountains, an extensive and important chain of the Appalachian
system. In Pennsylvania the Kittatinny is very definite, and
with an intervening valley between their ranges, parallel to the Blue Ridge.
It is the same chain, however, which first becomes definite in the state of

New York, west of the Hudson, and there known as the Shawangunk, and
extending S. W. over the upper part of New Jersey, enters Pennsylvania
at the Delaware Water gap. Thence inflecting to W. S. W., is traversed
by the Lehigh at the Lehigh Water gap, by the Schuylkill above Hamburg,
and by the Susquehannah, five miles above Harrisburg. From the
latter point the chain again inflects still more to the westward, between Cumberland
and Perry counties. At the western extremity of those two counties,
the chain abruptly bends to a nearly southern course, between Franklin
and Bedford counties, enters Maryland, by the name of Cove mountain,
being traversed by the Potomac river, between Williamsport and
Hancockstown, and stretches into Virginia, as the Great North mountains,
over Virginia, from the Potomac to James river, between Rockbridge and
Alleghany counties. This chain though broken, remains distinct, a similar
character prevails from James river to New river, between Wythe and
Grayson counties. After being traversed by New river, the chain again
assumes complete distinctness, leaves Virginia, and under the local name of
Iron mountains, Bald mountains, Smoky mountains and Unika mountains,
separates North Carolina and Tennessee, to the Unika turnpike on the
western border of Macon county, of the former state. Thence continuing a
little W. of S. W., crosses the N. W. angle of Georgia, enters Alabama,
and separating the sources of the creeks of Middle Tennessee river, from
those of Coosa, merges into the hills from which rise the numerous
branches of Tuscaloosa.

Thus, defectively as the Kittatinny, called expressly by the Indians Kataatin
Chunk, or the Endless mountains, are delineated on our maps, it is
in nature a prominent and individual chain, from N. lat 34° 31′ to 41° 30′,
and 2° 45′ E to 10° W long, Washington city. Ranging through 7° of lat.
and almost 13° of long., stretching along a space exceeding 900 statute miles,
and varying in distance from the Blue Ridge, between 15 to 25 miles, generally
about 20, though in some places the two chains approach, as at Harrisburg,
to within less than 10 miles from each other. In relative height the
Kittatinny exceeds the Blue Ridge, but as regards the plain or table land
on which they both stand, it rises gradually from tide water in Hudson
river, to an elevation of 2,500 feet in Ashe county, of North Carolina. From
James river to the Hudson, the chain ranges along the Atlantic slope, and
is broken by streams flowing through it on their course towards the Atlantic
ocean, but passing the higher valley of James river, the Kittatinny winds
over the real dividing line of the waters, and is thence traversed by New
river, Watauga, Nolechucky, French Broad and Tennessee rivers.

Kittatinny Valley, in the most extended sense of the term, is in length
commensurate with the mountain chain from which the name is derived;
it therefore extends from Hudson river to the northern part of Alabama, varying
in width from eight to 25 miles, with generally a substratum of limestone
towards Blue Ridge, and of clay slate on the side of the Kittatinny. Some of
the most flourishing agricultural districts of the United States, are included
in this physical section. The county of Orange, in New York, Sussex and
Warren, in New Jersey, are nearly all comprised within its limits. In
Pennsylvania it embraces the greater part of the lower section of Northampton;
nearly all Lehigh, Berks and Lebanon, the lower part of Dauphin,
with the greater share of Cumberland and Franklin. In Maryland the
eastern and left part of Washington. In Virginia, a large part of Berkley,
Jefferson, Frederick, Shenandoah Rockingham, Augusta, Rockbridge, Botetourt,

Montgomery and Grayson, and in North Carolina, the counties of
Ashe, Buncombe, Haywood and Macon.

The latitude and relative elevation of this great zone has already been
shown in the preceding article, and the peculiar features of its parts may be
seen under the respective heads of the counties it embraces, in whole or in
part.

Laurel Hill, or Laurel Mountain, is a local name given to several
of the western chains of the Appalachian system, and leads of course to confusion.
The chain in Pennsylvania extending from the Conemaugh to the
Youghioghany river,—and which seperates Cambria county, from Westmorland,
and Summerset from Westmorland and Fayette, is there called the
Laurel Hill, whilst another chain ten miles further west, is called the
Chesnut Ridge. Both these ridges continue out of Pennsylvania, and enter
Virginia, S. W. of the Youghioghany; but the names are reversed, and
the Chesnut Ridge of Pennsylvania is the Laurel Hill of Virginia. Such
is the wretched delineation of the Appalachian system, on all of our maps,
that no adequate idea of the respective chains, can, in many instances, be
obtained from them. The two chains mentioned in this article, though not
so represented, preserve their identity, in a manner similar to the Blue Ridge,
from New York to Alabama.

BAYS, HARBOURS, RIVERS, SWAMPS, &c.

To complete our view of Natural Virginia, we have only to consider her
waters these for convenience we shall arrange as we have the mountains,
in alphabetical order.

Albemarle Sound belongs to North Carolina, but as it is intimately
connected with some of the waters of Virginia, we will notice it,—It is an
estuary of the Roanoke and Chowan rivers, extending 60 miles in length
from east to west, along N. lat 36°, with a mean breadth of eight miles, but
protruding several deep minor bays. The Roanoke enters from the west,
and the Chowan from the N. W. at the extreme interior of Albemarle, which
spreads below the entrance of those rivers in a shallow expanse of water,
with a level, or rather a flat, country along each shore. Every small inlet
has its own comparative broad bay, by one of which, the Pasquotank, a navigable
inland communication by the Dismal Swamp canal, has been formed
between Albemarle sound and Chesapeake bay. Albemarle sound is separated
from the Atlantic ocean, by long, low, and narrow reefs of sand; but
having two channels of connexion southward with Pamlico sound, one on
each side of the Roanoke Island, and on the northward an opening to the
ocean by Currituck sound and inlet; both rivers are navigable to near their
sources. The climate of this basin differs very much between its extremes,
both from difference of latitude and of level. The latitude differs near 3¼
degrees, and the level not less than 1000 feet, giving an entire difference of
temperature of upwards of 5 degrees of latitude. The vegetable productions,
both natural and exotic, have a corresponding variety with the extent of climate.
On this basin, near the mouth, the orange and sugar cane are cultivated,
and on its higher branches, the apple, and wheat, rye, oats, and other
cerealia. The staple vegetable, however, both on the interior and islands
contiguous to this basin, is cotton, though admitting a very wide range of
staple, such as tobacco, indigo, &c. Rice is extensively cultivated.

Appomatox river rises in Buckingham and Prince Edward counties,

and flows thence by a very crooked channel, but by a general eastern course,
with the counties of Prince Edward, Amelia, Dinwiddie, and Prince George,
on the right, and Buckingham, Cumberland, Powhatan, and Chesterfield on
the left, and falls into James river after a comparative course of 90 miles.
The tide ascends the Appomattox, to the falls of Petersburg, about 20 miles
above the mouth, and thus far contains depth of water for large merchant
vessels. This stream drains a very fine section of Virginia, between lat.
37° 33′ and 37° 26′ north. It may be navigated as far as Broadway's, by
any vessel which has crossed Harrison's bar, in James river, and has eight
or nine feet water a few miles higher up to Fisher's bar; and by late improvements
it contains seven feet water to Petersburg, where navigation
ceases.

Bannister river rises by numerous branches in Pittsylvania county,
and flowing twenty-five miles in a N. E. direction, enters Halifax county, and
inflects to the S. E. about 30 miles, and falls into Dan river about ten miles
above the junction of the latter with the Roanoke. Bannister drains most
part of the peninsula between Dan and Roanoke rivers, below the eastern
boundary of Henry and Franklin counties.

Big Sandy, mentioned before as Great Sandy river, has its most remote
sources in the north western slopes of Clinch mountain, but receives tributaries
from a distance of 70 miles, along the upper parts of Russell, Tazewell,
and Logan counties. The eastern or main branch rises in Logan and
Tazewell, but the higher streams uniting, the main channel becomes, for a
distance of 30 miles, a line of demarcation between those two counties, to
where it passes Cumberland mountain. From the latter point to its influx
into the Ohio, the channel of Big Sandy separates Kentucky from Virginia,
flowing between Logan and Cabell of the latter, and Floyd, Lawrence, and
Greenup of the former state. The main or eastern branch of Big Sandy
has interlocking sources with those of Guyandot, Blue-stone, a branch of
Great Kanawha, Clinch branch of Tennesse, and its own West Fork.

The West Fork of Sandy rises in Russell county, flows thence westward,
traverses Cumberland mountain, and enters Pike county, Kentucky. Passing
over Pike into Floyd in the original direction, the channel curves to
northward, and unites with the eastern branch between Lawrence of Kentucky,
and Cabell of Virginia. The valley of Big Sandy is in its greatest
length from S. S. E. to N. N. W. about 100 miles, with a mean breadth of
about 30, area 3000 square miles; bounded to the westward by the vallies of
Kentucky and Licking rivers, to the northeastward by that of Guyandot,
and eastward by that of New river, or the upper waters of Great Kanawha.
The main stream enters the Ohio at Catlettsburgh in Greenup county, Kentucky,
and opposite to the extreme southern angle of the state of Ohio, N.
lat 38° 24′ and long 5° 33′ west of Washington.

Blackwater river has its extreme source in Prince George county, and
within 8 or 10 miles southward from the influx of Appomatox into James
river. Flowing thence southeastward over Surry and Sussex, it inflects to
the southward and separating Southampton on the right from Isle of
Wight, and Nansemond on the left, falls into the Nottoway river very nearly
on the border between Virginia and North Carolina, after a comparative course
of 70 miles.

Blue-stone, a small river in Tazewell and Giles counties, which rises
in the latter, and interlocking sources with those of Clinch and Big Sandy,

flows thence N. E. down a mountain valley into New river, which it enters
about five miles above the influx of Greenbrier.

Cheat river, a considerable branch of the Monongahela, rises on the border
of Randolph and Pocahontas counties, interlocks with Elk and Greenbrier
branches of the Great Kanawha, and after uniting with the south branch
of the Potomac, flows thence by a general northern course 70 miles, over
Randolph into Preston county, inflecting in the latter county to N. N. W.
forty miles to its junction with the Monongahela, at the S. W. angle of Fayette
county, Pennsylvania. The valley of Cheat lies between those of Monongahela
on the west, Potomac east, and Youghioghany east. The length
of this valley is about 100 miles, mean breadth not more than 18, and its area
about 1800 square miles. Cheat river is 200 yards wide at its mouth, and
100 yards at the Dunkard's settlement,—it is navigable 60 miles higher for
boats, except in dry seasons. The boundary between Virginia and Pennsylvania
crosses it, three or four miles above its mouth.

Chickahominy river rises between the vallies of the Pamunkey and
James rivers, about 20 miles N. W. from Richmond; it flows thence S. E. by
E.—having the counties of Henrico and Charles City on the right, and
Hanover, New Kent, and James City counties on the left; it falls into James
river after a comparative course of 60 miles.

Chesapeake bay, a deep gulf, opening from the Atlantic ocean, between
capes Henry and Charles; lat. 37° and long 1° east from Washington,
intersecting in the mouth of the bay, near midway between the capes, which
are about 15 miles asunder. The mouth of this fine sheet of water extends
westward 20 miles to the mouth of James river. Curving rapidly, above
the influx of James river, the Chesapeake extends almost directly north over
one degree of latitude, with a mean breadth of 20 miles, having received
from the westward James, York, Rappahannock, and Potomac rivers, and
from the opposite side, Pocomoke and Nantikoke rivers. Widened by the
union of so many tributaries, the Chesapeake is upwards of 40 miles wide
from the mouth of the Potomac to that of Pocomoke, and about 35 from the
most southern capes of the Potomac to the influx of Nantikoke river. Above
the entrance of the two latter streams, the main bay narrows to a mean
width of about 10 miles, and at some places under 5 miles, but with an elliptic
curve to the westward 115 miles to its termination, at the mouth of Susquehannah
river, having received from the westward above the Potomac,
the Patuxent, Patapsco, Gunpowder and Bash rivers, and from the eastward
Nantikoke, Choptank, St. Michaels, Chester, Sassafras and Elk rivers. The
entire length of Chesapeake bay is 185 miles; and it may be doubted whether
any other bay of the earth, is, in proportion to extent, so much diversified
by confluent streams as is the Chesapeake.

In strictness of geographical language, it is, however, only a continuation
of Susquehannah river, of which primary stream all the other confluents of
Chesapeake are branches. In the main bay the depth of water continues
sufficient for the navigation of the largest ships of war to near the mouth of
Susquehannah; and in Potomac that depth is preserved to Alexandria. In
the other tributary rivers large vessels are arrested before reaching the head
of tide water. If taken in its utmost extent, including the Susquehannah
valley, the Chesapeake basin forms a great physical limit; to the S. W.
with few exceptions, the rivers, bays and sounds, are shallow, and comparatively
unnavigable; but with the Chesapeake commences deep harbors,
which follow at no great distance from each other, to the utmost limits of

the Atlantic coast of the United States. The entire surface drained into this
immense reservoir amounts to near 70,000 square miles.

We know of no place in which we can better introduce an article upon the
Chesapeake Peninsula, a natural section of the United States, the peculiar
features of which are generally lost or confused among the political subdivisions
of our country. This physical section is bounded by the Atlantic
ocean S. E., by Chesapeake bay W., by Delaware bay N. E. and united to
the main continent by an isthmus, now traversed on the north by the Chesapeake
and Delaware canal. That work has in fact insulated the peninsula,
and given it water boundaries on all sides. Thus restricted, this peninsula
extends from Cape Charles N. lat. 37° 8′ to the Chesapeake and Delaware
canal at N. lat. 39° 32′. Greatest length very nearly in a direction north
and south 182 miles. The general form is that of an elongated ellipse,
which, in component material, features, and elevation, differs in nothing
essential from the Atlantic islands scattered along the coast of the United
States. Chesapeake bay is itself divided between Virginia and Maryland;
the shores on both sides south of the Potomac and Pocomoke rivers belong
to the former, and to the northward to the latter State. The southern part
of the peninsula is entirely in Virginia, and is a long, narrow promontory,
70 miles, by 8 to 10 miles wide. Above Pocomoke bay the peninsula
widens, and after an intermediate distance of 33 miles, is equally divided
between the States of Maryland and Delaware. In the widest part, between
Cape Henlopen, Sussex county, Delaware, and the western part of Talbot,
Maryland, the width is 70 miles, but narrowing towards both extremes, the
mean breath is about 27; area 4900 square miles. The surface is generally
level or very gently undulating. The ocean and Chesapeake shores are strongly
contrasted. Along the former, are narrow and low islands, with shallow
sounds, and no stream issuing from the land of any consequence. The
opposite shore of the Chesapeake is in an especial manner indented by innumerable
bays, and compared with the confined width of the peninsula, rivers
of great magnitude of volume. The character of the Atlantic is extended
along the Delaware bay; and entirely round the peninsula, much of the soil
is liable to diurnal or occasional submersion from the tides.

The general slope is southwestward as demonstrated by the course of the
rivers Pocomoke, Nantikoke, Choptank, Chester, Sassafras, and Elk. Politically
it contains all Sussex, Kent, and more than one-half of New Castle
county, of Delaware, all Worcester, Somerset, Dorchester, Talbot, Caroline,
Queen Ann, and Kent, and one-third of Cecil county, of Maryland, with all
Accomack and Northampton counties, of Virginia.

Chowan river, is in North Carolina, but formed by the union of three
streams of Virginia, the Meherin, Nottoway, and Blackwater rivers:

The Meherin rises in Charlotte county, Virginia, 1° 30′ west from Washington
City, lat 37°, between the vallies of Roanoke and Appomattox, and
flowing thence S. E. by E. by comparative courses 80 miles, passes into
North Carolina between Northampton and Gates counties, and 20 miles
farther unites with the Nottoway, above Winton, between Gates and Hertford
counties.

The Nottoway derives its remote sources from Prince Edward county,
Virginia, between those of Meherin and Appomatox. In a general eastern
course of 70 miles, the Nottoway separates Lunenburg, Brunswick and
Greensville counties from Nottoway, Dinwiddie and Sussex, and flows into
the central parts of the latter. Thence inclining S. E. 40 miles it receives

Blackwater river almost on the boundary line between Virginia and North
Carolina. Below the junction of the Nottoway and Blackwater, the name
of the former, and course of the latter, are preserved, and about 10 miles
within North Carolina and in Gates county, meet the Meherin to form
Chowan river.

A tide water river, or more correctly a bay, the Chowan, gradually
widens, but still retaining a moderate breadth, 25 miles to the influx of Bemer's
creek, there bends to near a southern course and more rapidly widens
for 25 miles to its junction with Roanoke, at the head of Albemarle sound.
Lat. 36°, passes up Albemarle sound, and intersects the eastern point of
Bertie county, North Carolina, between the mouths of Chowan and Roanoke,
0° 20′ long east of Washington City.

Including all its tributaries, the Chowan drains an area of 3,500 square
miles, which, as a physical section, comprises the northeastern part of the
basin of Roanoke. As a commercial channel, the Chowan, Nottoway, and
Blackwater extend almost directly from the mouth of Roanoke to that of
James river. There is at all seasons sufficient depth of water to admit sloops
of war to Murfreesboro' on Meherin, about 10 miles above the entrance
of Nottoway river.

Clinch river of Virginia and Tennessee, the great northeastern constituent
of Tennessee river, rises in Tazewell county, Virginia, and flows
thence by a general course of S. W. over Russell and Scott counties, 90
miles. Entering Tennessee, Clinch separates Claiborne county from Hawkins,
Granger and Anderson, Campbell from Anderson, and thence traversing
the latter, enters Roan, and unites with the Tennessee at Kingston, after
an entire comparative course of 180 miles. In the south part of Campbell
county Clinch receives from the N. E. Powell's river. The latter rising
in Russell county, Virginia, issues thence in a direction almost parallel to
the Clinch; traverses Lee county of Virginia, enters Tennessee, crossing
Claiborne and Campbell counties, joins the Clinch at Grantsboro, after a
comparative course of 90 miles. A short distance above its junction with
Tennessee river, the Clinch receives from the N. W. Emery's river. It
may be remarked that the course of the higher branches of Emery's river is
directly the reverse of that of Clinch and Powell's river. Uniting the vallies
of Emery's and Clinch river, the whole valley is about 220 miles long; but
the width is contracted comparatively, and fully estimated at 20 miles; area
4400 square miles.

In all their respective courses, Clinch and Holston pursue a parallel direction,
in few places 20 miles asunder, each receiving short creeks, from an
intervening mountain chain. On the opposite or right side, Clinch in succession
interlocks sources with those of Great Sandy, Kentucky and Cumberland
rivers. The relative elevation of the vallies of Clinch and Holston
differ but little from each other, and each stream above their junction, must
have, from their remote fountains, a fall of 1000 or 1200 feet.

Coal river, in western Virginia, rises in Logan county by two branches,
called relatively Great and Little Coal rivers. The former rises in the western
spurs of the Appalachian ridges, flows N. W. out of Logan into Kanawha
county, receives Little Coal river from the S. W. and finally falls
into the right side of Great Kanawha and Guyandot rivers. [See Kan. co.]

Craig's creek, or, more correctly, Craig's river, is the extreme S. W.
tributary of James river, rises in Giles and Montgomery counties, Virginia,
interlocking sources with a branch of Great Kanawha, and with the extreme

higher sources of Roanoke; and flowing thence to the N. E. over Botetourt
county, falls into James river after a comparative course of 40 miles.

Cowpasture river, Virginia, rising in the mountain valley between the
Kittatinny and Warm Spring mountain, interlocking sources with the south
branch of Potomac, but flowing in an opposite direction S. S. W. falling
into, or joining Jackson's river, to form James river, after a comparative
course of 50 miles.

Dismal Swamp. This remarkable swamp extends from north to south
nearly thirty miles; and averages from east to west nearly ten; it lies partly
in Virginia, and partly in North Carolina. Five navigable rivers, and some
creeks rise in it; of the rivers, two flow into Virginia,—south branch of
Elizabeth river, and south branch of Nansemond,—and three into North
Carolina,—the North river, the North West river, and the Pequimonds.
The sources of all of these streams are hidden in the swamp, and no traces
of them appear above ground. From this it appears, that there must be
plentiful subterraneous fountains to supply these streams,—or the soil must
be filled perpetually with the water drained from the higher lands which
surround it. The latter hypothesis is most probable, because the soil of the
Swamp is a complete quagmire, trembling under the feet, and filling immediately
the impression of every step with water. It may be penetrated to a
great distrance by thrusting down a stick, and whenever a fire is kindled
upon it, after the layer of leaves and rubbish is burned through, the coals
sink down, and are extinguished.

The eastern skirts of the Dismal Swamp are overgrown with reeds, ten
or twelve feet high, interlaced every where with thorny bamboo briars,
which render it almost impossible to pass. Among these are found, here
and there, a cypress, and white cedar, which last is commonly mistaken for
the jumper. Towards the south, there is a very large tract covered with
reeds, without any trees, which being constantly green and waving in the
wind, is called the green sea. An ever-green shrub, called the gall-bush,
grows plentifully throughout, but especially on the borders, it bears a berry
which dies a black color, like the gall of an oak,—and hence its name.

Near the middle of the Swamp, the trees grow much closer, both the
cypress and cedar; and being always green and loaded with large tops, are
much exposed to the wind, and easily blown down, in this boggy place,
where the soil is too soft to afford sufficient he'd to the roots. From these
causes, the passage is nearly always obstructed by trees, which lay piled in in
heaps, and riding upon each other; and the snags left in them pointing in
every direction, render it very difficult to clamber over them.

On the western border of the Dismal Swamp, is a pine swamp, above a
mile in breadth, the greater part of which is covered to the depth of the
knee with water: the bottom, however, is firm, and though the pines growing
upon it are very large and tall, yet they are not easily blown down by
the wind; so that this swamp may be passed without any hinderance, save
that occasioned by the depth of the water. With all of these disadvantages,
the Dismal Swamp, though disagreeable to the other senses, is, in many
places, pleasant to the eye, on account of the perpetual verdure which makes
every season like the spring, and every month like May. (See a more particular
description of Dismal Swamp, Norfolk county).

Dan river, belongs partly to Virginia, and partly to North Carolina, it
drains the greater part of Granville, Person, Caswell, Rockingham and
Stokes counties, of the latter state, and of Patrick, Henry, Pittsylvania, and

Halifax counties, of the former state. The extreme western sources of Dan
river are in Patrick county, Virginia, and in the S. E. spurs of the Blue
Ridge. The general course almost due east along the intermediate borders
of North Carolina and Virginia, to where the four counties of Pittsylvania,
Halifax, Person and Caswell meet. Here entering and flowing in Virginia
N. E. by E., falls into the Roanoke at Clarksville, having a mean breadth
of about 33 miles. This river drains 3,960 square miles.

Dividing creek, a small stream of Virginia, forming for a few miles the
boundary between Lancaster and Northumberland counties, and then falling
into the Chesapeake.

Elizabeth river, rises by numerous small branches in Princess Ann
and Norfolk counties, flows to the N. W. opening into a wide estuary, terminating
in the mouth of James river. The entire length of Elizabeth river
is only about 25 miles, but it gains importance as forming the fine harbor
of Norfolk, admitting to that port vessels of 18 feet draught, and again as
constituting with the Dismal Swamp canal and Pasquotank river, a chain
of inland navigation from Chesapeake bay to Albemarle sound.

Elk river, in western Virginia, rises amid the Appalachian ridges in
Randolph and Pocahontas counties, interlocking sources with those of Monongahela,
Little Kanawha, Wheat, Greenbrier and Gauley rivers. Leaving
Randolph and Pocahontas, and traversing Nicholas and Kanawha counties,
it finally is lost in Great Kanawha at Charleston, after a comparative
western course of 100 miles.

Gauley river, rises in Randolph, Pocahontas, and Greenbrier counties,
by numerous creeks which unite in Nicholas, and flow by a course a little
south of west, falling into the right side of the Great Kanawha river, at the
head of the Great Falls. The valley of Gauley river is about 60 miles
long, and lies between those of Elk and Greenbrier rivers.

Greenbrier river rises in the northern part of Pocahontas county,
over which it flows, and entering and traversing Greenbrier county, falls
into Great Kanawha, after a comparative southwestern course of 90 miles.
Greenbrier has its remote sources in the same ridges with those of Cheat
river branch of Monongahela, and those of the South branch of the Potomac.
The valley of Greenbrier lies between those of James and Gauley
rivers. It is an elevated region. The water level is from actual admeasurement,
1,333 feet at the efflux of Greenbrier into Great Kanawha. The
mean height of the farms above the ocean level cannot fall much, if any,
short of 1,500 feet.

Guyandotte river rises in Logan county, from the northwestern foot
of the Great Flat Top mountain, and flowing thence N. N. W. draining a
valley between those of Great Kanawha and Sandy rivers, enters Cabell
county and falls into Ohio river below Barboursville, after a comparative
course of about 100 miles.

Guyandotte, Little, falls into Ohio river between the mouths of Guyandotte
and Great Kanawha rivers, and for some miles above its mouth constitutes
the boundary between Mason and Cabell counties.

Hampton Roads, local name of the mouth of James river opposite the
mouths of Nansemond and Elizabeth rivers. Towards the Chesapeake
bay, Hampton Roads is defined on the north by Old Point Comfort, and on
the south by Point Willoughby, within James river the termination is indefinite.
This sheet of water is sufficiently deep for the largest ships of
war. The United States commissioners, appointed to examine the lower

part of Chesapeake bay in 1818, reported, that although extensive, Hampton
Roads admitted the erection of adequate defences against an enemy's fleet.

Holston river rises in the Alleghany mountains, in Virginia, and flows
S. S. W. into Tennessee, it then takes a course more to the south to Knoxville,
and 35 miles below that town, it unites with the Clinch, and the united
streams take the name of the Tennessee. It is navigable for boats of 25
tons burthen, more than 100 miles. On its banks are several iron-works;
and the adjacent country abounds with iron-ore, and contains several leadmines.
Valuable salt works exist near its sources.

Jackson river, the principal constituent of James river, rises by two
branches, the north and south forks, in the southern part of Pendleton county,
Virginia. Flowing thence southwestward and nearly parallel, and between
lateral chains of mountains, the two branches traverse Bath county, and entering
Alleghany, incline towards each other and unite, but the united stream
still pursues a southwestern course, receiving Dunlop's creek from the west
and Pott's creek from the south, after a comparative course from the source
in Pendleton of about 50 miles. With the junction of Pott's creek, the
whole stream inflects very abruptly to N. E. and flowing in that direction
15 miles, through rugged mountain passes, unites with Cow Pasture river
to form James river. The valley of Jackson's river, is an elevated region.
At Covington, the county seat of Alleghany county, where Dunlop's
creek falls into Jackson's river, the water surface is 1,238 feet above the
Atlantic level; it is therefore probable, that the greatest part of the arable
surface of the adjacent country exceeds a comparative height of 1,500 feet.
Lat 38°, and long 3° west, Washington, interest in the western part of
Bath county, about 6 miles north of the junction of the two main branches
of Jackson's river.

James river. The two streams which unite to form this fine river, may
be seen under the he head of Jackson and Cow Pasture rivers. Below the
junction of its two constituents, the united water is first known as James
river, which forcing a passage through between Pott's and Mill mountains,
enters Botetourt, and assumes a southern course 10 miles, to where it receives
Craig's creek from the south, and inflecting to S. S. E. flows in that
direction 15 miles, thence abruptly turns to N. E. by E. 20 miles, to the western
foot of Blue Ridge, and the reception of North river from Augusta
and Rockbridge counties. Assuming a S. E. course of 28 miles, James
river, now a fine navigable stream, traverses a gap of Blue Ridge about 15
miles N. E. the Peaks of Otter, and in a distance of 30 miles, separating
Amherst from Bedford and Campbell counties, and traversing another lateral
chain of mountains near Lynchburg, again turns to N. E. Continuing
the latter course 40 miles and separating Amherst and Nelson from Campbell
and Buckingham counties, James river assumes a course a little south
of east 70 miles by comparative course, having on the left the counties of
Albemarle, Fluvanna, Goochland and Henrico, and on the right the counties
of Buckingham, Cumberland, Powhatan, and Chesterfield, to the head
of tide water and the lower falls at Richmond.

Meeting the tide, James river, similar to most of the Atlantic rivers of the
United States generally, widens and presenting rather the features of a bay
than those of a river, turns to a little E. of S. E. 90 miles by comparative
courses, finally merges into Chesapeake bay, between Point Willoughby
and Old Point Comfort. The entire length of James river, from its source
in Pendleton, to its efflux into Chesapeake, is 368 miles, but following the

actual meanders it is probable that this stream flows not much if any less
than 500 miles.

The valley of James river, including all its tributaries, lies between lat
35° 40′ and 38° 20′, and in long. extends near 1° east to 3° 40′ west from
Washington. A line in a S. S. W. direction from Old Point Comfort to
the Alleghany mountain will pass along very near the middle of this valley
225 miles. The broadest part is along the extreme sources, from the
fountains of Jackson's river to those of Craig's creek 90 miles, but the
mean width amounts to about 45 miles and the area to 10,125 square miles.

In the natural state James river affords at, and a few miles above, its
mouth, depth of water for ships of any required draught, but the depth
gradually shallows, so that only vessels of 130 tons can reach Rockets, or
the port of Richmond. Though much has been designed above tide water
in meliorating the navigation, little has been actually accomplished. A
canal connects the tide below, and the navigable water above the
falls at Richmond. The following relative heights will show the gradual
rise of the James river. Columbia at the mouth of Rivanna 178 feet;
Scottsville, at the southeastern angle of Albemarle county, and below the
southeast chain of the Appalachian system 255 feet; Lynchburg, also below
the southeast mountain 500 feet; Pattonsburg, at the great bend above
Blue Ridge 806 feet; Covington, at the junction of Dunlop's creek and
Jackson's river, 1,222 feet; highest spring tributary to Craig's creek, 2,498
feet. Those heights are only the elevation of the water, and at every point
must fall short of that of the arable soil. Without any great risk of error,
an allowance of winter temperature equal to 6 degrees of Fahrenheit may
be made between the extremes of this valley on the same latitude.

Kanawha, Great, river. North Carolina and Virginia, has the most
remote source in Ashe county of the former, between the Blue Ridge and
main Appalachian chain, there known by the name of Iron mountain; the
two higher branches, after draining the northern part of Ashe, unite near
the boundary between North Carolina and Virginia, and continuing their
original course to the N. E. by N., enters Grayson county of the latter
state, breaks through the Iron mountain between Grayson and Wythe;
winds over the latter and Montgomery; thence inflecting to the N. N. W.
traverses Walker's and Peter's mountains. Below the latter chain, the
course of N. N. W. is continued to the mouth of Gauley river having received
also from the northeast Greenbrier.

Above Gauley river, the main volume of Kanawha is called New river;
but receiving the Gauley, and turning to N. W., this now large stream,
known as the Great Kanawha, is still farther augmented from the north by
Elk river, and from the south by Coal river, falls into Ohio river at Point
Pleasant, after a comparative course of 280 miles, 100 above Walker's
mountain, 100 from the pass through Walker's mountain to the mouth of
Gauley river, and 80 from the mouth of Gauley to the Ohio.

The higher branches of New river have interlocking sources with those
of Catawba and Yadkin on the S. E., and with those of Watauga and Holston
to the northwest. Below the Iron mountains the interlocking souces are
with those of Clinch and Sandy to the west, those of Roanoke to the east, and
those of James river N. E., as far down as the gorge of Peter's mountain,
westward of the latter pass. Greenbrier, coming in from the north has its
sources in the same region with those of the Potomac on the northeast, and
with those of the Monongahela to the northward. The valley of Kanawha

proper, below Gauley river, lies generally between the valley of Guyandotte
on the S. W., and that of Little Kanawha N. E., though the sources of Elk
river, also reach the vicinity of those of Monongahela.

The entire valley of Great Kanawha, including that of New river, extends
lat 36° 15′ in Ashe county, North Carolina, to 38° 52′ at the junction of
Kanawha and Ohio, and in long 2° 43′ at the higher source of Greenbrier,
to 5° 08′ west of Washington city. The length of this valley from the
Blue Ridge between Patrick and Montgomery counties, Virginia, in a
N. W. direction is 180 miles, the utmost breadth from the sources of New
river, to those of Greenbrier is 180, but the mean width is about 60, and the
area may be stated at 10,800 square miles.

The most remarkable feature in the valley of the Great Kanawha, as a
physical section, is relative height. At the mouth of Sinking creek, between
Walker's and Peter's mountains, 120 miles by comparative courses below
the sources, the water level is 1,585 feet above the Atlantic tides; at the
mouth of Greenbrier 1,333, and at the mouth into Ohio 525 feet. Comparing
the fall from Sinking creek to the mouth of Greenbrier 252 feet in
30 miles direct, that above Sinking creek must be 900 feet at least, consequently,
the higher branches of New river, in Ashe county, must rise at a
comparative height of upwards of 2,500 feet.

Little Kanawha, rises in Lewis county, and flowing N. W. by W., enters
Wood, and falls into the Ohio, at Parkersburg, after a comparative
course of 90 miles. The valley of this river is nearly commensurate with
Wood and Lewis counties, and has that of Great Kanawha south, Middle
Island creek to the north, and that of Monongahela, N. E. is 150 yards
wide at the mouth. It yields a navigation of ten miles only; perhaps its
northern branch called Junius' creek, which interlocks with the west fork
of Monongahela, may one day admit a shorter passage from the latter into
the Ohio.

Little river, of Montgomery county, rises in the western vallies of the
Blue Ridge, and flowing to the N. W., about 25 miles comparative course,
falls into New river, 12 miles S. W. by W. Christiansburg.

Mattapony river has its extreme source on the eastern border of Orange
county, near the Rapid Ann, about 25 miles westward Fredericksburg, but
the most numerous of its creeks are in Spottsylvania. These unite within,
and traverse Caroline, and thence forming a boundary between King William
and King and Queen, unite with the Pamunky, to form York river,
after a comparative southeastern course of ten miles. The valley of the
Mattapony lies between those of the Rappahannock and Pamunky, and is
traversed by N. lat 38° and the meridian of Washington.

Matchapungo Inlet, on the coast of the Atlantic, between Hog and
Prout Islands, Northampton county. It opens into a sheet or small gulf,
called Broad Water, 28 miles N. N. E. cape Charles, lat 37° 20′.

Meherin river, of Virginia and North Carolina, deriving its most remote
sources from Charlotte, but rising principally in Lunenburg and Mecklenburg
counties, and uniting on the western margin of Brunswick. Continuing
its original course S. E. by E. over Brunswick and Greenville, and
thence seperating a part of Greenville from Southampton, it enters North
Carolina, between Northampton and Gates counties, and joins the Nottaway
to form the Chowan, between Gates and Hertford counties. The entire
comparative course of the Meherin is about 95 miles, but the valley is narrow,
not exceeding 20 miles width at any part, (mean width hardly 10,) area

about 900 square miles, lying between the vallies of Roanoke and Nottaway.

Monongahela river, in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, is formed
by Monongahela proper, Tygart's Valley river, Cheat river, and the Youghioghany.
The Cheat is in fact the main stream, having its remote source
in the southern part of Randolph county, Virginia, at lat 38° 27′, interlocking
sources with those of Green river, and Jackson's branch of James river.
The remote sources of Tygait's Valley river, are nearly as far south as those
of Cheat, and also in Randolph county. The mountain ridge from which
both streams rise is known locally as Greenbrier mountain, and the valleys
from which the higher sources are derived, must be at least 2,500 feet elevated
above tide water in Chesapeake bay.

Monongahela proper, is the western branch, rising in Lewis county, Virginia,
with interlocking sources with those of Tygart's Valley and little
Kanawha. The three branches near their sources, pursue a general northern
course, but the two western, gradually approach each other, and
unite at lat 39° 28′, where they form a point of seperation between Harrison
and Monongalia counties. Thence assuming a northern course over the
latter county, finally leave Virginia, and form a junction with Cheat on the
boundary between Fayette and Green counties, Pennsylvania.

The Cheat in the highest part of its course, flows along a mountain valley,
in a northern direction, but gradually inclining to northwestward, as already
noticed under the head of Cheat river. Below the junction of the main
branches, the Monongahela, by a rather circuitous channel, pursues a general
northern course over Pennsylvania, about 50 miles, comparative length to
its junction with Youghioghany, 11 miles S. E. of Pittsburg.

The Youghioghany is a considerable branch, having its remote sources
in the western part of Alleghany county, Maryland Flowing thence
northwardly, enters Pennsylvania, and separating for some few miles, Somerset,
from Fayette county, receives a large tributary from the eastward;
Casselman's river, and turning to N. N. W. about 50 miles, comparative
course, is lost in the Monongahela at MacKeesport. Augmented by the
Youghioghany, the Monongahela below the junction, assumes the course of
the former, 18 miles by the channel, but only 11 direct distance to Pittsburg,
where it unites with the Alleghany to form the Ohio. The general course
of the Monongahela is almost exactly north, and almost as exactly along
long 3° W. Washington, 150 miles by comparative distance. The widest
part of its valley lies nearly along the line between Pennsylvania and Virginia,
80 miles, the mean width 40, and area 6,000 square miles.

If we allow only 1,500 feet elevation to the arable country on the head
branches of Cheat, Pittsburg being elevated 678 feet, will give a descent of
822 feet to the valley of Monongahela. The extremes of lat are thus almost
exactly compensated by declivity, and explain why the seasons near Pittsburg
and in Randolph county, Virginia, differ but slightly.

Though the two eastern branches, Cheat and Youghioghany, rise in
mountain vallies, and the whole country dramed by all the tributaries of Monongahela
is very broken and rocky, direct falls are rare and of no great elevation
when they occur. Cheat river, is navigable through Monongalia
and Preston, into Randolph county; both branches of Monongahela proper,
above their junction, and Youghioghany to Ohio, have falls. The whole valley
has gained recent increase of importance as being part of the route or
routes of proposed lines of canal improvement.

Monongahela river is 400 yards wide at its mouth; at the mouth of the

Youghioghaney 12 or 15 miles higher up, it is 300 yards wide; and continues
of that width to the mouth of Cheat river, a distance of 90 miles by water,
but only 58 by land. In this space the navigation is frequently interrupted
by rapids, but are passable by boats when the river rises a few feet. From
that point it admits light boats, except in dry seasons 65 miles further, to the
head of Tygart's valley,—presenting only some falls of a few feet, and lessening
in width to 20 yards. The western fork is navigable in winter 10 or 15
miles, towards the northern branch of the Little Kanawha, to which a good
wagon road might be made. The Youghioghany is the principal branch of
this river. This branch passes through the Laurel mountain about 300
miles from its mouth, and is that far, from 300 to 150 yards wide, and the
navigation much obstructed in dry weather by rapids and shoals. In its
passage through the mountain the fall is very great, admitting no navigation
for ten miles to the Turkey Foot. Thence to the great crossing, about
20 miles, it is again navigable, except in dry seasons, and is at that place 20
yards wide. The sources of this river are divided from those of the Potomac
by the Alleghany mountain. From the falls at which it intercepts the
Laurel mountain to Fort Cumberland, the head of navigation on the Potomac, is
40 miles of very mountaneous road. Willis' creek, at the mouth of which
was Fort Cumberland, is 30 or 40 yards wide, but beyond that, there is no
navigation.

Nansemond river rises in Isle of Wight and Nansemond counties,
but chiefly in the latter. It opens by a comparatively wide bay into Hampton
Roads, and is navigable for vessels of 250 tons to Sleepy Hole, for those
of 100, to Suffolk, the county town of Nansemond, and for those of 25 tons
to Milner's.

Nottoway river, of Virginia and North Carolina, has its most remote
source in Prince Edward county. Flowing thence S. S. E. between Nottaway
and Lunenburg counties, between Dinwiddie and Brunswick, turns
to eastward between Greensville and the western part of Sussex. Entering
the latter, and first curving northward winds to S. E., and traversing Sussex
and Southampton counties, receives Blackwater river from the north, and
entering Gates county, North Carolina, bends to S. W. 10 miles to its junction
with Meherin, to form Chowan river. The entire length of Nottaway
by comparative courses is 110 miles. The Nottoway valley is about 100
miles, by 20 mean width, comprising great part of Nottaway, Dinwiddie,
Sussex, Surry, and Southampton counties, and a smaller part of Lunenburg,
Brunswick, Greensville, Prince George, Isle of Wight, and Nansemond
counties, and a minor part of Gates county, North Carolina.

Occoquan river rises in Loudon, Fairfax, and Fauquier counties, traverses
and drains the western part of Prince William county, and thence
forming the boundary between Prince William and Fairfax counties, falls
into the Potomac, about 25 miles below Washington City, and nearly opposite
Indian Point. [See Prince William county.]

Ohio forms the boundary of Virginia for 355 miles. It is in some respects
the most remarkable river upon earth. The physical section of the
earth drained by it lies between lat 34° 12′ and 42° 27′, and long 1° and
12° west of Washington City. The course of the Ohio proper, from the
sources of Alleghany to its junction with the Mississippi, is by calculation
59° 30′ west, 680 statute miles.

The form of the valley of the Ohio approaches, in a very remarkable
manner, that of a regular ellipse, of which a line drawn from its most northern

to its most southern sources, from Orleans creek, Cataraugus county,
New York, to Bear Grass creek, Marion county, Alabama, 750 statute
miles,—would be the transverse diameter, and another line extending from
the Blue Ridge, where the sources of the Great Kanawha and those of
Watauga branch of Tennessee rise, to the northwestern sources of the Wabash,
450 miles, would be the congugate axis. Measured by the rhombs
following the elements in the following table, the area comes out more than
200,000 square miles.

Table of the extent in square miles of the valley of Ohio river:

                   

						square miles.
Between lat.	34°	and	35°	2¼	Rhombs,	8,986
Between lat.	35		36	6½	Rhombs,	25,655
Between lat.	36		37	7½	Rhombs,	29,205
Between lat.	37		38	8½	Rhombs,	32,700
Between lat.	38		39	8½	Rhombs,	32,250
Between lat.	39		40	8¾	Rhombs,	32,742
Between lat.	40		41	8	Rhombs,	29,488
Between lat.	41		42	2½	Rhombs,	9,085
Aggregate extent in square miles,						200,111

Allowing the greatest length to be 750 miles, the mean width will be 267
very nearly, or the mean breadth amounts to within a trifling fraction of
one-third of the greatest length, a compactness seldom equalled in rivers.

If the Alleghany is regarded as the primary and remote constituent of
Ohio, this great stream rises by numerous creeks in McKean and Potter
counties, Pennsylvania, and Alleghany and Cataraugus counties, New York.
Becoming navigable near the line of demarcation between the two states,
the stream, with partial windings, pursues the general course already stated,
to its junction with the Mississippi, affording a natural navigable channel of
between 1,200 and 1,300 miles. The opposing inclined plains of Ohio valley
are of unequal extent, nearly in the proportion of two to three, the larger
falling from the Appalachian system of mountains, and containing 120,000
square miles.

In their features also the two Ohio plains differ essentially. The southeastern,
declining from a mountainous outline, has a comparatively rapid
slope. The most elevated table land from which the eastern tributaries flow,
is that where rise the sources of Clinch, Holston, and Great Kanawha,
about 2,500 feet. The Appalachian table land declines in relative elevation
both to north and south of this nucleus, but there is no one part from the
sources of Alleghany and Genesee to those of Tennessee and Coosa, through
7° of lat but which exceeds 1,000 feet.

The elevation of Ohio at Pittsburg, where the Alleghany and Monongahela
unite, is 678 feet, and that of the low water at the confluence of Ohio
and Mississippi 283 feet; of course the Ohio below Pittsburg, has a fall of
395 feet in 948 miles, the length of the intermediate channel. The left tributaries
must have, from the preceding data, a descent of from 1,000 to
2,200 feet. Down this rapid declivity, advancing from north to south, are
found the streams of Clarion, Kiskiminitas, Monongahela, Great Kanawha,
Sandy, Kentucky, Cumberland and Tennessee, and several of lesser length
of course, whose sources do not reach the Appalachian vallies.

It may well excite surprise, that along this steep plain, direct falls are not
frequent, and where they do occur are of moderate direct pitch.

To an eye sufficiently elevated, and powers of vision sufficiently enlarged,
the whole valley of Ohio would appear one immense declivity, falling very
nearly at right angles to the general range of the Appalachian system, and
the rivers would appear to have cut deep channels seldom in a direction corresponding
to the plane of general descent.

Of these channels that of Ohio would appear as the principal. Persons
competent have carefully measured the height of the hills, in the vicinity
of Pittsburg, and found them about 460 feet above the low water level of the
rivers, or 1,138 feet above the level of the Atlantic tides. Above Pittsburg
to the hills, which rise like mountains from lake Erie, the ascent is at least
400 feet, and below Pittsburg the fall to the Mississippi has been shown to
be 395 feet. Without therefore estimating mountain ridges, the great inclined
plain of Ohio has a descent of upwards of a foot to the statute mile,
but what is something remarkable, the rivers, and particularly the Ohio itself,
do not fall gradually with the planes of their courses. The actual
channel from Pittsburg to the mouth is 948 statute miles, and the fall 4,716
inches, or not quite five inches per mile.

The waters in effect have abraded their channels, deeper toward their
sources than in proportion to length of course. It is this circumstance
which has contributed to give to the Ohio proper, the appearance of flowing
in a deep and immense ravine. The difference of climate arising from difference
of level, frequently exceeding a degree of latitude in less than a mile,
and radiated heat, with an exuberant alluvial soil, giving in spring a precocious
vegetation along the river bank, have superinduced great misunderstanding
respecting the temperature and seasons of this region.

Descending the Ohio, say from Pittsburg, the scenery along the banks
and hills, is in an eminent degree picturesque and varied, but these fine features
imperceptibly fade away, and long before reaching the Mississippi, totally
disappear, and leave a narrow horizontal ring sweeping round the
heavens, formed by the trees along the banks.

As a navigable channel, few, if any other rivers of the globe, equal the
Ohio. In the higher part of its course, the navigation is annually more or
less impeded in winter by ice, and in autumn by a want of water. Impediment
from ice prevails in all its course, but below the influx of Kanawha,
drought is of less injury, and below the rapids at Louisville, in a commercial
point of view, removed by a navigable canal.

The four most important of all mineral productions abound in the Ohio
valley, limestone, mineral coal, salt, and iron ore. Of all continuous bodies
of productive soil on earth, if climate and fertility are combined, the valley
of Ohio will, it is probable, sustain the most dense population. Not long
since there did not exist upon its immense surface 20,000 civilized human
beings. In 1831, it sustained about 3,000,000. Can the history of the
world afford any parallel to such increase?

Pamunkey river, the principal constituent of York river, is formed by
Pamunky proper and North Anna. The latter rises in Orange, the northern
part of Louisa and in Spottsylvania counties, and flowing thence
southeastward unites with the Pamunkey, between Caroline and Hanover
counties.

The Pamunky rises in the S. W. mountain, on the border between Albemarle
and Louisa, drains the southern and central part of Louisa, and
traversing Hanover, joins the North Anna. Below their junction, the united
waters, known by the name of Pamunky, preserve the original course

southeastward, about 45 miles comparative course, (but perhaps double
that distance by the bends,) to its junction with Mattapony to form York
river. The entire comparative length of Pamunkey, by either branch, is
about 90 miles. The broadest part of the valley but little exceeds 30 miles,
and is only about 15 mean width, area 1,300 square miles, lying between
those of James and Chickahominy on the right, and Mattopony on the
left.

Pig river, rises in the southeastern slope of the Blue Ridge, and
flowing thence eastward, between Black water and Irvine rivers, traverses
and drains the central part of Franklin county, and entering Pittsylvania,
turns to E. and falls into Roanoke, after a comparative course of 35
miles.

Pocatalico.—This river has its sources near the northern boundary of
the county of Kanawha, and flows through a body of forest land finely timbered:
much of it fertile, and sufficiently level for advantageous cultivation.
The alluvial lands on its borders, are generally rich, and of width sufficient
to form good farms. Pocatilico discharges itself into the Great
Kanawha, 20 miles below Charleston, and forty miles above the mouth of
the latter river; it is navigable by batteaux, which ascend from 20 to 30 miles,
and during the winter and spring months, large and heavy loaded boats
may descend with safety, as also rafts of timber of various descriptions.
Extensive beds of rich bituminous coal, are found near the Pocatalico, and
its branches, and iron ores apparently of good quality, are often dug out of
the hills.

Potomac river, of Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. This river
above Blue Ridge, is formed by the north branch, distinctively called Potomac,
Patterson's river, South Branch, Cacapon, Back creek, Opequhan and
Sheandoah, from the southwestward, and by a series of bold, though comparatively
small streams from the northward. The stream to which the
name of Potomoc is first applied, rises in the Alleghany chain, opposite to
the sources of Cheat and Youghioghany branches of Monongahela, at lat.
39° 10′ long. from Washington city, 2° 30′ W. Flowing thence N. E. 30
miles, receives from the north, Savage river, and bending to S. E. 10 miles,
traverses one or two minor chains of mountains, and returning to N. E. 18
miles to the influx of Will's creek, from the north at Cumberland. Now a
considerable stream, by a very tortuous channel, but direct distance 15
miles to S. E., the Potomac below Cumberland, breaks through several
chains of mountains to the influx of South Branch. The latter is in length
of course, and area drained, the main branch. The various sources of this
mountain river originate in Pendleton county, Virginia, lat. 38° 25′, between
the Alleghany and Kittatinny chains. Assuming a general course
of N. E., the branches unite in Hardy county, near Moorfields, below
which, in a distance comparative course of 40 miles to its union with the N.
Branch, the South Branch receives no considerable tributary. The volume
formed by both branches, breaks through a mountain chain immediately below
their junction, and bending to N. E. by comparative distance of 25
miles, but by a very winding channel reaches its extreme northern point at
Hancock's town, lat. 39° 41′, and within less than two miles south of the
southern boundary of Pennsylvania. Passing Hancock's town the Potomac
again inflects to S. E., and as above winds by a very crooked channel, but
by comparative course of 35 miles to the influx of Shenandoah from the
southward.

Shenandoah is the longest branch of Potomac, having a comparative
length of 130 miles, and brings down a volume of water but little inferior
to that of the main stream. It has its most remote sources in Augusta
county, Virginia, interlocks sources with those of Great Calf Pasture
branch of James river, and by Blue Ridge, is separated from those of Rivanna,
as far south as lat. 37° 55′, almost exactly due west of the eutrance of Potomac
into Chesapeake bay. The elongated valley of Shenandoah is part
of the great mountain valley of Kittatinny, and comprises nearly all the
counties of Augusta, Rockingham, Page and Shenandoah, with the eastern
sections of Frederick and Jefferson. The upper valley of Potomac, including
that of Shenandoah is in length from S. W. to N. E. 160 miles, where
broadest 75 miles, but has a mean breadth of 50 miles, area 8,000
square miles. The water level of Potomac at Harper's Ferry is 288 feet
above tide water; therefore we may assume at 350 feet the lowest arable
land in the valley above the Blue Ridge. This is equivalent to a degree
of latitude on the aerial temperature at the lowest point of depression. So
rapid is the rise, however, in crossing the valley to the foot of Alleghany
mountain, that an allowance of 1,200 feet is rather too moderate an estimate
for the extremes of cultivated soil.

Passing the Blue Ridge, with partial windings, the Potomac continues
S. E. by comparative courses 50 miles to the lower falls and head of ocean
tides at Georgetown. Having in the intermediate distance received the
Monocacy river, from the north, and some minor creeks from the south;
like the Delaware, below Trenton, and the higher part of Chesapeake
bay, below the mouth of Susquehannah the Potomac, meeting the tide, bends
along the outer margin of the primitive rock. It is indeed very remarkable
that the three bends, in the three consecutive rivers, follow almost exactly
the same geographical line: or flow from head of tide water, S. W.—
the Delaware 60, Chesapeake 40, and Potomac 45 miles,—the latter a few
miles below the place at which it retires from the primitive rocks, reaches
within six miles of the Rappahannock, below Fradericksburg. The two
latter rivers not far from parallel to each other, assume a comparative course
75 miles to the N. E., the intermediate peninsula being no where above 22
miles wide, and the distance from the south side of the mouth of the Potomac,
to the north side of that of the Rappahannock, is only 20 miles.

Combining the two sections above and below the Blue Ridge, the whole
basin of the Potomac embraces an area of 12,950 square miles, extending
from lat. 37° 50′ to 40°, and in long. 0° 45′ E. to 2° 45′ W. of Washington
city. The winding of its tide water channel renders the navigation of the
Potomac bay (for such it is below George Town,) tedious though not dangerous.
The channel has sufficient depth to admit ships of the line of 74
guns to the navy yard at Washington.

With its defects and advantages as an agricultural and commercial section,—the
basin of the Potomac is a very interesting object in physical and
political geography;—deriving its sources from the main Appalachian
spine, the Potomac has worn its channel through the intervening chains to
their bases; and performed an immense disproportion of the necessary task
to effect a water rout into the valley of the Ohio,—such a rout has been
commenced under the name of Chesapeake and Ohio canal, and is yet in
progress. The Potomac is eight miles wide at its mouth, four and a half at
Nomony bay, three at Acquia, one and a half at Hollooing point, and one
and a half at Alexandria.

Its soundings are seven fathoms at its mouth, five at St. Georges island,
four and a half at Lower Matchodie, three at Swan's point and up to Alexandria,
thence 20 feet of water to the falls, which are 13 miles above Alexandria.
These falls are 15 miles in length, and of very great descent, and the
navigation above them for batteaux and canoes is so much interrupted as to
be little used, It is however used in a small degree up the Cohongoronta
branch as far as Cumberland, at the mouth of Wills's creek; and is
capable of being made navigable at no grerat expence. The Shenandoah
branch interlocks with the sources of James river, near the Blue Ridge.

Rappahannock river, formed by two branches, Hedgeman's and
Thornton's rivers, both deriving their remote sources from Blue Ridge.
Hedgeman's river, after a comparative course of 30 miles, between Fauquier
and Culpeper counties, receives Thornton's river from the latter, and the
united waters continuing the course of the former S. E. 20 miles, join the
Rapid Ann. A navigable river at the junction of its two main branches,
the Rappahannock, continues to the S. E. 10 miles to its lowest falls, where
it traverses the primitive ledge, and meets the ocean tides at Fredericksburg.
Similar to the Delaware, and all the large western tributaries of Chesapeake
bay, the Rappahannock turns after passing the primitive rock, but after a
short curve to the southward, this stream resumes a S. E. course, which
with a rather tortuous channel it maintains to Leeds, in Westmoreland county,
where it approaches to within five miles of Potomac, at the mouth of Mattox
creek. Gradually widening, and with the features of a long, narrow
bay of 55 miles, the Rappahannock by a S. S. E. course, is lost in Chesapeake
bay between Windmill and Stingray points. The tide ascends this
channel to the falls at Fredericksburg, something above 100 miles, admiting
vessels of considerable tonnage. In all the distance below the union
of its two main branches, it does not receive any accession above the size of
a small creek. The entire basin is 140 miles by a mean width of 20; area
2,800 square miles. Extending in lat. from 37° 34′ to 38° 44′, and in long
from 0° 41′ east to 1° 22′ west of Washington.

Rapid Ann river, deriving its remote sources from the Blue
Ridge, and flowing thence S. E. 20 miles across the valley, between
Blue Ridge and South East mountain, turns thence N. E. 15 miles to the
influx of Robertson's river from the N. W. Passing South East mountain
and inflecting to a general eastern course of 30 miles, it joins the Rappahannock
10 miles above Fredericksburg, after a comparative course of 65 miles.
In nearly the whole of its length Rapid Ann separates Orange county first
35 miles from Madison, and thence 25 from Culpeper. At their junction
it is superior in volume to Rappahannock; and exceeding also in length, of
course, the Rapid Ann is the main stream.

Rivanna river, a branch of James river, is navigable to its intersection
with the South West mountain, which is about 22 miles. The navigation
has lately been opened by dams and canals, and it is now navigable to Pireus,
within one mile and a quarter of Charlottesville.

Rock creek, a small stream of Maryland, and of the District of Columbia,
gains importance only as it separates the city of Washington from Georgetown.
This creek has its extreme source about four miles westward of Mechanicsville,
Montgomery county, Maryland, heading with the east branch
of Potomac river, at an elevation above tide water at Georgetown of 500
feet. The entire length of the creek, following its valley, is about 28 miles.

The fall being upwards of 17 feet to the mile, and that fall being in many
places far above the mean, renders it an excellent mill-stream.

Roanoke river, of Virginia and North Carolina. Taken in the utmost
extent, Roanoke basin is the same as Albemarle, and includes the sub-basins
or vallies of Roanoke proper, and Chowan river. Advancing from south
to north, all the rivers beyond the Roanoke, have their most remote fountains
on the Atlantic side of Blue Ridge; but with the Roanoke a new feature
appears. The Blue Ridge is pierced by that stream, which derives its
higher fountains from the main Alleghany chain in Montgomery county,
Virginia, and within eight miles of the main channel of New river, and at
an elevation without estimating the mountain ridges, of at least 2,000 feet
Issuing by numerous creeks from this elevated tract, and uniting into one
stream near the border between Montgomery and Botetourt counties, it is
here literally "The Rapid Roanoke," having at Salem, in the latter county,
fallen 1,000 feet in little more than 20 miles. At Salem the water level is
1,002 feet by actual admeasurement, above mean Atlantic tide. Below Salem
the river inflects 20 miles in an eastern course, to its passage through
Blue Ridge, and thence S. E. 25 miles to its passage through South East
mountain. Passing South East mountain between Bedford and Pittsylvania
counties, the now navigable volume sweeps by an elliptic curve to northward,
and round to S. E. 50 miles comparative course, to the influx of Dan
river, entering its right side from the west part. Below the junction of
these two rivers, the united waters in a course a little south of east 60
miles by comparative distance, reach tide water at Weldon, having fallen
by a lengthened cataract over the primitive ledge. About midway between
the influx of Dan river and Weldon, Roanoke leaves Virginia and enters
North Carolina. Mingling with the tide, the Roanoke by a very tortuous
channel, but by comparative course flows South East 50 miles, and thence
eastward 25 miles to its junction with Chowan river at the head of Albemarle
sound. The entire valley of Roanoke, if measured along the main
stream or Dan river is 250 miles, but the rivers wind over this space by
channels of much greater length. By comparative courses it is 155 miles
from Salem to Weldon, whilst from a report made by the Roanoke company,
the intermediate channel is 244 miles. Taking these proportions, the
length of this river by its meanders is about 400 miles. Including the whole
Albemarle basin, it is 290 miles from its outlet into the Atlantic ocean, to
the fountains of Roanoke in Alleghany mountain, but with the Chowan
and Dan vallies united to that of the principal river, the basin is comparatively
narrow, being only 80 miles where broadest, and not having a mean
breadth above 50 miles, or an area exceeding 14,500 square miles. It is
not, however, its extent which gives most interest to the Roanoke or Albemarle
basin; it is at once a fine physical section and physical limit. The
difference of arable level, amounts to at least 2,000 feet, and no two regions
of the earth can differ in every feature more than do the truly beautiful hills
and vales on each side of the Appalachian chains, from the stagnant marshes
and level plains towards the Atlantic ocean. Along the lower Roanoke
commences, advancing from the north the profitable cultivation of cotton,
the fig tree begins to appear, rice can be produced, and in summer the advance
towards the tropics is felt, and very distinctly seen on vegetation.
Ascending the basin, the aspect of the northern states gradually appears,
both on the features of nature and on cultivated vegetables. Wheat, rye,
and other small grain, with meadow grasses, and the apple, flourish. The

summers are cooler, and the winters have the severity suitable to relative
elevation. Though the higher part of Roanoke is annually frozen, and for
a shorter or longer period rendered unnavigable in winter, with lower Roanoke
commences the region on the Atlantic coast where navigation remains
open at all seasons. It is true that even Albemarle sound has been occasionally
impeded with ice, but this phenomenon is rare. As a navigable
channel following either branch, the importance of this basin is lessened by
the shallowness of Albemarle sound—an irremovable impediment. At
present, however, there is in progress a scheme for connecting, by
rail-road, the navigable tide water below Weldon with Chesapeake bay.
In its actual state the rivers are navigable for boats to Salem on the Roanoke,
and to Danbury in North Carolina by Dan river. This was effected
by side canals, sluices and other artificial improvements.

Sandy river, of Virginia and Kentucky, is composed of two branches,
called relatively East fork and West fork. East fork, the main constituent
of Sandy, rises in the Appalachian valleys, interlocking sources with those
of Great Kanawha to the east, and with those of Holston and Clinch branches
of Tennessee river to the S. E. Issuing from this elevated region, and
draining part of Tazewell and Logan counties, Virginia, the Sandy river
pursues a N. W. direction by comparative courses 50 miles, to its passage
through Cumberland mountain. Becoming a boundary between Virginia
and Kentucky below the Cumberland chain, Sandy assumes a direction of
N. N. W. 70 miles, separating Logan and Cabell counties, of Virginia,
from Floyd, Lawrence, and Greenup counties, of Kentucky, to its final influx
into Ohio river opposite Burlington, Ohio. West Sandy rises in Russell
and Tazewell counties, Virginia, and assuming a N. W. direction pierces
the Cumberland chain, enters Kentucky, and after traversing Pike and Floyd
counties, bends to the northward and joins East Sandy in Lawrence county.
The valley of Sandy river has that of Tennessee river S., Kentucky S. W.,
Licking W., that of Ohio N., Guyandotte E., and Great Kanawha S. E.
It is about 100 miles long, mean width 35, and area 3,500 square miles.

Shenandoah river, one of the great southern branches of Potomac river,
is composed of two branches, called with no great relative correctness,
North Branch and South Branch. The southern and main branch rises in
Augusta county, as far south as latitude 38°, and long. 2° west of Washington
City. Flowing thence northeastward along the northwestern slope
of Blue Ridge, over Augusta, Rockingham, and Page counties, receives
the North Branch in the southern angle of Federick county, after a comparative
course of 90 miles.

The North Branch of Shenandoah river has its source in Rockingham
county, from which it flows by comparative courses N. N. E. 50 miles over
Rockingham and Shenandoah counties, enters Frederick, bends to the eastward,
and joins the South Branch as already noticed. Below the junction
of its two branches, the Shenandoah flows N. E. along the N. W. slope of
Blue Ridge 40 miles to its junction with the Potomac at Harper's Ferry.

Tennessee river, of the state of the same name, and of the states of
Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia, is
the great southeastern constituent of the Ohio. The very peculiar features
of the valley of Tennessee, demand a general and particular notice. This
valley is naturally divided into two physical sections; the higher or mountainous,
and the lower or hilly. The most remote sources of Tennessee are

found in those of Clinch, in Tazewell, and of Holston in Wythe counties,
of Virginia, interlocking sources with those of Sandy and Great Kanawha.
From this elevated origin, the main constituents pursue a southwestern
course between the two parallel chains of the Appalachian system, Cumberland,
and the main spine, both stretching in a similar direction with the
rivers, at a mean distance of about 70 miles asunder. Besides this principal
valley, another of less width between the main chain and Blue Ridge,
is also drained by the constituents of Tennessee; but this more eastern and
more elevated valley slopes to the N. W., at right angles to the mountain
chains. The latter mountain valley comprises the North Carolina and
Georgia part of the valley of Tennessee. Including both minor vallies,
upper Tennessee drains an elongated ellipise of 350 miles longer axis;
shorter axis 120 miles from the Blue Ridge at the sources of French Broad,
to Cumberland mountain, where it separates the sources of Powell's river
from those of Cumberland: mean breadth 80 miles, and area 24,000 square
miles. Descending from the extreme fountains in Virginia, the valley
widens as the mountain chains recede from each other, and again contracts
as the same chains gradually re-approach each other at the northwestern
angle of Georgia, and northeastern of Alabama. At the latter point, well
known by the name of Nickajack, all the large tributaries have united, and the
Blue Ridge and Cumberland chains have inclined to within less than 40
miles of each other. Below Nickajack, the now large volume of Tennessee
continues S. W. 60 miles, without receiving a single creek of 20 miles
course, the two bounding mountain chains still inclining upon each other,
till their approaching bases force the river through the Cumberland chain.
To one whose eye first glanced on the volume of Tennessee, below its passage
through Cumberland mountain, without previous knowledge of the
valley above, no adequate idea would occur, that before it, flowed the accumulated
waters of a mountainous region of 24,000 square miles extent. In
fact, to an observer, thus placed, the main volume of Tennessee would appear
as one of the constitutents of a river valley below the Cumberland
chain. About 20 miles below the passage of Tennessee river through it,
the Cumberland mountain receives the Blue Ridge, if such a term can be
correctly applied to the merging of two mountain chains. Here, along the
northern sources of Mobile basin, the Appalachian system changes its distinctive
character, and the confused masses of hills follow each other westwardly
toward the Mississippi. The Tennessee river deflects rather more
than does the mountain system, and flows N. W. by W. by comparative
courses 120 miles, to the northwestern angle of Alabama, and the northeastern
of Mississippi, where this large stream again bends at nearly right angles,
and pursues a course of a very little west of north 150 miles, to its entrance
into the Ohio, after an entire comparative course of 680 miles.

The second great section of Tennessee, and the lower part of the first,
below Nickajack, are comprised in the fine northern valley of Alabama.
The main volume flowing along the base of a physical line extending from
the Ohio valley in the vicinity of Pittsburg, to the northern part of the basin
of Mobile. The very striking coincidence of the river inflections between
the extremes of this region, must appear to the most inattentive observer
of a good map of that part of the United States. This regularity of
structure is evinced by the great inflections of Ohio, Kanawha, Kentucky,
Green, Cumberland, and Tennessee rivers. The Tennessee itself literally
occupies the base of the physical region indicated, as in all its comparative

course below Nickajack, or its entrance into Alabama, of 330 miles, it does
not receive a single stream above the size of a large creek, nor does the outer
selvedge of its valley on the left, in Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and
Kentucky, exceed a mean breadth of 20 miles. On the right, embosomed
between Tennessee and Cumberland rivers, and comprising central Tennessee,
and northern Alabama, spreads a physical region, extending from Cumberland
mountain to the lower reach of Tennessee river, 130 miles, with a
mean breadth of 80 miles, and an area of 10,400 square miles. This beautiful
tract is semi-circled by the main volume of Tennessee, and drained by
Elk river, Duck river, and innumerable creeks. Below Duck river, however,
Tennessee receives no stream from either side of any magnitude worthy
notice in a general view. Including all its sections, the lower valley
of Tennessee comprises an area of 17,600 square miles; and the whole valley
embraces a superficies of 41,600 square miles. This extent of Tennessee
valley, if compared with the whole valley of Ohio, spreads over nearly
one-fifth part, and gives to Tennessee the first rank among the tributaries
of Ohio. Amongst the peculiar features of the course of Tennessee, the
most remarkable is, that rising as far north as lat. 37° 10′, and curving
thence southward to lat. 34° 23′, it again recurves back to its original latitude,
and falls into the Ohio river almost exactly due west from its primitive
springs in Tazewell county; thus embosoming nearly the whole large
valley of Cumberland, and part of that of Green river. Geographically,
Tennessee valley lies between north lat. 34° 10′ and 37° 10′, and in long.
between 4° 15′ and 11° 40′ west of Washington. It is the first and largest,
advancing from the south, of those streams gushing from the elevated slopes
of the Appalachian ridges, and which flow westward into the great basin
of the Mississippi. In relative height, there is above 1,700 feet difference
between the highest and lowest extremes of Tennessee valley. The arable
surface of Tazewell and Wythe counties, from which the fountains of Kanawha
and Holston have their origin, must be at least 2,000 feet above the
Atlantic tides; whilst that of Ohio river, at the influx of Tennessee, but little
exceeds 300 feet. The difference is fully an equivalent for 4° of latitude,
and accounts for the rapid changes of climate experienced on lines of latitude
in Tennessee. The current of every branch of Tennessee is very rapid,
though direct falls are rare, and even dangerous shoals are not common.
Of the latter, those particularly called Muscle Shoals, between Lauderdale and
Lawrence counties, Alabama, are most remarkable and difficult to navigate.
The whole river, however, having a mean fall exceeding two feet to the
mile, is only favorable to down stream navigation, which it admits in most
of its branches to near their sources.

Tye river, a small river of Virginia, rising in the Blue Ridge, and flowing
southeastward into James river, after draining part of Nelson and Amherst
counties, and by one of its constituents, Piney river, forming for some few
miles the boundary between those counties.

York river of Virginia, formed by two main branches, Pamunky and
Mattapony. Below the union of its constituent streams, York river is rather
a bay, varying from two to three miles in width, extending to the S. E.
27 miles, and thence east 12 miles, into Chesapeake, between York and
Gloucester counties. Below the junction of Pamunky and Mattapony ririvers;
York bay does not receive a tributary above the size of a small
creek. It admits ships of any size to or near the Great Bend at Yorktown,
but above admits only coasting vessels. Including all its tributaries,

the valley of York river lies between those of James and Rappahannock.
The greatest length 120 miles from the mouth of York river to the extreme
source of North Anna river, in South West mountain; but, if taken
with this extent the mean width would not exceed 20 miles, and at the utmost
breadth, only about 45 miles. The area 2,600 square miles. Extending
in lat from 37° 15′ to 38° 16′, and in long from 0° 41′ E. to 1° 22′ W. of Washington.

Youghioghany river of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia, having
its most remote sources in Preston county of the latter state, but deriving its
most numerous southern tributaries from the valley between the Back Bone
and Laurel mountains, Alleghany county, Maryland. From this elevated
tract the main stream flows nearly due north 35 miles, enters Pennsylvania
between Fayette and Somerset counties, within which it thence flows
about eight miles direct course to where it is joined by Castleman's river, an
equal or probably a superior stream, entering from the N. E. Some of the
southern fountains of Castleman's river, rise in Alleghany county, Maryland,
but the greater part of its tributaries flow from Somerset county,
Pennsylvania, and rise in the same valley with the confluents of Youghioghany.
Below the union of the two main branches the Youghioghany
assuming a northwestern course, continues in that direction 60 miles to its
junction with the Monongahela at MacKees port, in Alleghany county.
Where Youghioghany is traversed by the United States road at Smithfield,
the water level is 1,405 feet above that of the Atlantic. The extreme heads
of this stream have an elevation exceeding 2,500 feet, the mouth being elevated
about 700 feet, the entire fall must be 1,800 feet. The whole valley
of Youghioghany is either mountainous or very hilly and broken.

CLIMATE.

The following article was received too late for insertion in its proper
place, but we insert it here as affording some evidence of attention and observation
upon a subject of which our men of science have been too negligent;
and which requires the joint and persevering labor of many hands
to afford any thing like accurate detail or valuable information.

At the discovery of our continent it presented an immense forest untouched
by human labor. The majestic rivers of the new world, swelling by
every shower, inundated the whole country, and left in their track numerous
marshes and extensive lakes. The woods were hid with rank luxuriance,
while the exuberant undergrowth of herbs, shrubs, and weeds, gave
to the prospect that gloomy and repulsive solitude which was so aptly described
by the first settlers as the wilderness. The earth could not retain
the heat of the sun, nor could this effect be produced by the mass of foliage.
The air stagnated in the forest. Offensive exhalations arose from the numerous
marshes, and the accumulated decay of vegetation, while the whole
land was rife with the pestilence of malaria.

We cannot always arrive at definite conclusions of the climate of any
country by barely measuring its degrees of distance from the equator. Its
character is controlled by many other direct causes. Extent of territory—
nature of soil—height of mountains and elevation above the sea, greatly
affect it. The extent of our northern seas, with the ice which continues
there from year to year, gives to every wind which blows over them an
intense cold. A chain of gigantic mountains spread their snow-capped

summits throughout the heart of our continent. The winds which blow
over them become deeply surcharged with cold, whose piercing severity is
not diminished until it has extended far down upon our southern sea coast.
Our daily experience attests the truth of this fact.

The climate of Virginia has not been stationary. To trace its characteristics
is to follow the varying passions of the coquette—now enticing by
seductive smiles—and now chilling by capricious frowns. Yet it is the
clime under whose genial influence we have been bred, and we can easily
forget its vicissitudes in the glittering canopy of life and beauty which it
throws around every scene. Those who have dwelt amid the sunny clime
of Italy—the fierce heat of Spain, and the elastic air of France, can appreciate
from the test of comparison, the softness of a Virginian day—and how
splenetic soever we may be, it never has gloom enough to make us "damn
it as a lord."

Captain John Smith, in his faithful and spirited History of the Colony of
Virginia, makes many allusions to its climate, and with a proper allowance
for his zeal in coloring the advantages of a settlement in the colony, we
may receive his statements as the honest opinions of a careful and accurate
observer.

"The sommer (says he) is hot as in Spaine, the winter cold as in France
or England. The heate of sommer is in June, July, and August, but commonly
the cool breezes asswage the vehemency of the heate. The chief
of the winter is halfe December, January, February, and halfe March. The
cold is extreme sharpe, but here the proverbe is true `that no extreme long
continueth.' Sometimes there are great droughts, other times much raine,
yet greater necessitie of neither, by reason we see not but that all the raritie
of needful fruites in Europe may be there in great plentie by the industrie of
man." In an earnest appeal to the friends of the colony, he again recommends
it for the "mildness of the ayre and the fertilitie of the soyle."

This sketch of the colony is studiously silent as to the existence of marshes,
though much of the ill health of the first emigrants, may be traced to
them.[2] In giving an account of the bays, rivers, and brooks, our author
incidentally remarks that "by the rivers are many plain marshes containing
some twenty, some one hundred and some two hundred acres. But little
of grasse there is but what groweth in low marshes." In the advance of
population and agricultural improvement, these marshes were gradually reduced.
Mr. Nathaniel Caussey, who had lived in Virginia with Captain
Smith, states in the year 1627, "that whereas the country was heretofore
held most intemperate and contagious by many, now they have houses,
lodging, and victuals, and the sun hath power to exhale up the moist vapors
of the earth where they have cut down the woods, which before it could not,
being covered with spreading tops of high trees, they find it much more
healthful than before." Captain Butler, a gallant pioneer of the new world,
and at one time governor of Bermuda, on his return to England from Virginia
in the year 1624, presented to Charles I, a pamphlet entitled, "The
unmasked face of our colony in Virginia as it was in the winter 1622."
In this work he draws a lamentable picture of the struggles of the infant
colony, and asserts "that the English plantations are generally seated on
marshes, lakes, and infectious bogs, which have subjected the planters to the

inconveniences and diseases prevalent in the most unhealthy parts of England."
This pamphlet excited much hostility against the Virginian Company,
which was artfully fermented by Charles I. who was then secretly
planning the ruin of that noble and patriotic association. Some of the
members of the company who had been in Virginia united in an address to
the public, in which they state "that they had found the air of Virginia to
be as wholesome and the soil for the most part as fertile as in any part of
England." The House of Burgesses in a curious memorial of resentment,
ill humor, and personal sarcasm, pronounced the charges of Capt. Butler to
be false and slanderous, and informed the king "that no bogs have been
seen here, by any that have lived here twice as many years as Capt. Butler
did weeks in the country—the places which he so miscalls being the richest
parts of the earth, if we had a sufficient force to clear their woods and to give
the fresh springs which pass through them a free passage. The soil is generally
rich and restores our trust with abundance. The air is sweet and the
clime healthful, all circumstances considered, to men of sound bodies and
good government."

In 1624 the Virginian Company in petitioning parliament for encouragement
and protection, earnestly recommended the colony "for that temperature
of climate which agreed well with the English." Smith often
makes similar comparisons, and it is evident from the writings of our earliest
historians, that the climate of Virginia differed but little from that of
England. The immense mass of vegetation which overshadowed the country,
filled it with fogs and vapors, assimilating it to that of England, and
rendering it extremely cold in its winters, and tardy in its summers. It was
less affected by the standard temperature of the sea than England, and was
marked with more striking vicissitudes. The cold winter of 1607, which
was felt throughout all Europe[3] was, in the lauguage of Smith, found "as
extreame in Virginia." There were also many unseasonable years, and
others singularly propitious to the agriculture of the country. The year
1610 was long recollected by the epithet of the starving time, while in the
year 1619 two crops of rare-ripe corn were made. Among many of the
acts of the House of Burgesses regulating the trade of the country, we find
one which prohibits the exportation of Indian corn "on account of the unseasonableness
of the last two summers."

As the country was gradually cleared of its forests and undergrowth, the
climate became dry, temperate, and warm. The act of the House of Burgesses
of 1705, which directed the capitol to be built at Williamsburg, recites,
"that this place hath been found by constant experience to be healthy
and agreeable to the constitutions of this his majesty's colony and dominion,
having the natural advantages of a serene and temperate air, and dry
and champaign land." A correspondent to the Royal Philosophical Society,
who wrote an account of Virginia about this period, says "that the winters
are dry and clear—the spring is earlier than that of England. Snow
falls in great quantities, but seldom lies above a day or two, and the frosts,
though quick and sharpe, seldom last long. July and August are sultry
hot, while September is noted for prodigious showers of rain. The north
and N. W. winds are either very sharp and piercing, or boisterous and
stormy, and the S. E. and south hazy and sultry."

From the want of accurate observations, and those careful collections of
meteorological facts which elucidate the character of all climates, our speculations
on that of Virginia must be necessarily vague and indefinite, and
for the nicer shades of its changes, we are forced to substitute the broader
features of its outline. Our climate is uniform only in its sudden vicissitudes.
Its consistency is impaired by many causes, which have produced
a difference of temperature dependant on the deeply marked geographical
distinctions of our sea board, tide water, valley, and mountainous regions.
My observations have been principally confined to that intermediate country,
between the Chesapeake and the South West Mountains, on the low and
moist lands of the Matapony, in latitude north 38° 6′, and about seventy
miles south of Washington City. While I am forced in my examination
of the temperature of other parts of the state, to rely on statements often inaccurate
in their conception and irrelevant in their details.

The standard temperature of every country is regulated by that of the level
of the ocean. According to the researches of Professor Leslie, the
mean temperature at the level of the sea, in our latitude, is between 67°
and 71°, which gradually diminishes from that level, until it reaches the
point of perpetual congelation. Pure air is not heated by the sun's rays
which pass through it. The solar rays must be stopped by the earth, collected
and reflected before any heat can be given to the atmosphere. In taking
a standard, we assume the sea, which affords a fairer criterion of uniform
temperature, than the mean heat of springs and wells. Neither does
the sea retain the extreme of heat or cold which we find in the earth. A
cold wind blowing over this volume of salt water, necessarily cools its surface,
which from its increase of specific gravity, sinks and gives place to
an inferior warmer wave. The action of the wind in rippling the surface
of the water, and the influence of tide and currents conspire in bringing
the warmer water to the level of the sea to mitigate the coldness of the
wind: this action continues till the whole water is so far cooled that it becomes
susceptible of frost. When frozen it is no longer warmed from the
inferior water, but blows on with increased rigor. A warm wind takes a
portion of cold as it passes over the surface of the sea, and becomes reduced
to the mean temperature of that body. The sea breeze so prevalent in Eastern
Virginia is cool, as much from the standard heat of the ocean, as from
its rapidity of motion. It is cooler in Virginia than in the West Indies,
and often since the opening of the country, spreads its elastic freshness to
the foot of the South West Mountains. There is a sensible and striking
difference between the temperature of Eastern and Western Virginia. The
former from its vicinity to the sea coast, becomes tempered into more gentleness;
while its earlier vegetation shows the greater power of its soil to
retain heat. In the latter the winters are longer and more severe, yet the
farmer may there admire the wisdom of that providence, which in increasing
the rigor of the frost, mellows and crumbles the land for the purposes
of agriculture, while the light soils of the east require no such agency.

In the course of five years, from 1772 to 1777, Mr. Jefferson made many
observations on the temperature at Williamsburg, and having reduced them
to an average for each month in the year, he has given us the results of the
greatest daily heat of the several seasons.[4] I have before me a series of
careful observations compiled by that accurate thinker, and accomplished

scholar, the late David Watson, (of Louisa county,) in a similar period of
five years, from 1823 to 1828. His residence was near the South West
mountains, and in a country comparatively thickly covered with wood. The
result of his observations and those of Mr. Jefferson, making a distance in
time of 52 years, and of southern latitude in favor of Williamsburg, is here
submitted:

MR. JEFFERSON'S.

                       

January,	38½°	to	44°
February,	41	to	47½
March,	48	to	54½
April,	56	to	62½
May,	63	to	70½
June,	71½	to	78¼
July,	77	to	82½
August,	76¼	to	81
September,	69½	to	74¼
October,	61¼	to	66½
November,	47¾	to	53½
December,	43	to	48¾

MR. WATSON'S.

                       

January,	36	to	44
February,	35	to	40
March,	44	to	49
April,	56	to	60
May,	61	to	69
June,	71	to	79
July,	80	to	84
August,	81	to	84
September,	74	to	77
October,	59	to	63
November,	46	to	54
December,	40	to	44

The coolest and warmest parts of the day were separately added, and an
average of the greatest cold and heat of that day was formed. From the
averages of every day in the month, a general average for the whole month
was deduced. In following this mode of analysis, there are many slight
features of discrepancy between the statements of Mr. Jefferson and Mr.
Watson, which considerably impair the correctness of the comparison. Mr.
Watson's thermometer was suspended in a passage, far removed from the
action of fire, in a house constructed of wood, and the calculation of his
table is based on observations made between the hours of 10 A. M. and 3
P. M. Mr. Jefferson is silent as to the situation of his thermometer, while
it appears that he has reckoned from the hours of 8 A. M. to 4 P. M.

The hottest period of these five years, observed by Mr. Watson, was in
July, 1825, when the thermometer on several days rose above 90°, and the
hottest month was in August, 1828. The coldest period was during the
month of January, 1827, and the warmest winter was in 1828-29.

My own observations made during a period of four years, from 1829 to
1834, cannot be calculated for an average temperature. Many days and
even months from my absence from home, were necessarily unnoticed.
Those periods which are recorded differ but little in their particular and
daily results, from those of Mr. Watson; while I have noticed his singular
omission—the prevalence of the winds, and the "fantastic tricks" with which
our climate so playfully disports. From my observations, I am induced to
place the mean temperature of our climate at 55°; thus varying according
to natural and artificial causes several degrees from the standard temperature
of the sea.

The year 1831 was characterised by many vicissitudes of heat and cold.
On the 27th February the mercury sunk to 7°, while in July and August
it frequently rose to 86° and 94°. The ensuing winters of 1831 and 1832
were uncommonly rigorous, snow fell in great quantities, and in many places
continued on the ground till the 4th of March. Early frost did much injury
to vegetation, while the cold was but slightly removed from the earth

until late in the ensuing summer. The spring of 1834 was attended by
severe frosts, which resembled in their destructive character, those which
had rendered the year 1816 proverbial. They committed great devastations
in April, and on the 15th, 16th, and 17th of May, the Indian corn on our
low lands, and the leaves of the garden and forest trees were scathed and
blighted to a degree precluding, in many cases, all hope of restoration.

In Virginia the transitions from heat to cold are sudden, and sometimes
to very extreme degrees; often in the day time the mercury will stand at
94° or 81°, and will fall in the course of a few hours to 60° and 50°. Mr.
Jefferson informs us that the mercury has been known to descend from 92°
to 47° in thirteen hours. I have frequently noted vicissitudes of a similar
kind, and when the change is accompanied by a S. E. wind and rain, the
air becomes cold, raw and disagreeable. We have few summers in which
a fire is not often required. On the 1st of May, 1827, there was a light
fall of snow at Gloucester Court House,[5] while it is not uncommon to see
slight frosts in August. In our winter the cold weather, though severe, is
short, and the frequent snows of the night are generally removed before the
sunset of the ensuing day. Water in ponds is slowly congealed, and rarely
makes ice thick enough for preservation, until it has been chilled by a
fall of snow—again, its production is very rapid; rivers half of a mile in
breadth, will be frozen over in the course of one night, sufficiently firm to
bear men and horses.[6] In the month of January, 1827, many of those
short yet wide salt streams, which wash the shores of Gloucester county,
were frozen to the extent of thirty or forty feet from the land. This rigorous
cold is rarely of much duration. Sustained, and principally created
by north and northeastern winds, it quickly yields to the shifting of the
wind to any other point. Some of our winters are so temperate and mild,
that the cattle can find a support in the woods. Vegetation has been observed
in all the winter months, and in the latter part of December diminutive
pears, peaches and apples, fully ripened, have been gathered from the
trees. A rose, exposed in an open garden, bloomed throughout the whole
winter of '28 and '29. In this winter the peach tree bloomed in the latter
part of January, and produced in its regular season a plentiful crop of fruit.
Many of our coldest days are succeeded by gentle and moderate evenings;
our severest cold is about the latter part of January, generally commencing
after a hard rain, and continuing on an average about six days, thus realising
the truth of that old Virginian proverb, "that as the day lengthens the
cold strengthens; a rapid thaw, often accompanied with rain and east winds,
then takes place, while warm days and moderate nights soon reduce its severity,
and open the way for the premature approach of spring. "Halfe
of March" is no longer winter. Spring has already scattered her vivid
mantle o'er the scene, while the whole air is redolent of life and fragrance.
Yet even its brightness is momentary—an unexpected frost often shows that
the frown of winter still lingers on the land, and we too frequently find a
practical illustration of Shakspeare's metaphor,

It is now stormy, variable and cold; now calm, gentle and warm, and now
dry, peaceful, and serene. Until the middle of May our climate presents
one incessant tumult of rain and drought, frost and heat; yet a spring uniformly
cold is far more favorable to our agriculture, than its usual uncertain
temperature for suppressing vegetation, it protects it from the blighting frosts
of March and April. Often during the spring months the weather is excessively
damp, cloudy and hazy. In March, 1833, the sun was obscured
for more than thirteen days, while every thing was chilled into gloomy melancholy.

The vegetation of this season affords us a criterion of the heat of the
spring, which may be received in aid of the more accurate results derived
from the thermometer. In the course of four years I have found these average
periods of time suststained by careful observations.

Peach blooms from March 7 to March 14.

Apple blooms from March 20 to March 29.

Cherry blooms from March 13 to March 17.

Plum blooms from March 26 to March 31.

Strawberry blooms from March 24 to March 31.[7]

About the latter part of May our summer has commenced: the air becomes
dry, warm and elastic, and the verdure of the forest assumes a more
deepened hue of vivid green. The superabundant moisture of the earth
acquired during the winter, is now thoroughly evaporated, and the temperature
of the season in dispelling lassitude, invigorates into activity. Summer
burns on with a bright and glowing splendor, alternately relieved by
gentle showers and refreshing breezes. Occasional droughts of many weeks
in duration, parch the luxuriance of the vegetation—they are succeeded by
copious and heavy showers of rain, which quickly restore the withered
prospect. The approach of autumn is marked by heavy fogs in the morning
and evening, which are soon dispelled, leaving that calm and serene
temperature, which gives to this season all the beauty of tranquil repose. In
every season there is a large and constant exhalation from the earth in the
shape of vapor, its volume being proportioned to the heat of the day. We
do not often observe this exhalation when the heat of the atmosphere differs
in a small degree from that of the earth; when the temperature of the air
is considerably lower, this vapor so soon as it has arisen is deprived of a
part of its heat, while its watery particles are more closely attracted into
union and become visible in the shape of fog. In the autumn of Virginia,
the heat of the day is sufficient to produce a large ascent of vapor. Undisturbed
by currents of wind it easily condenses, and is thickened by calm and
chilling nights into a heavy mist, which in the guise of a cloud finds its
resting place on the earth. Autumn of all other seasons, is least liable to
sudden and extreme vicissitudes. The approach of winter is alike gradual
and uniform, and though we have frequent light snows, the mildness of autumn
is rarely wasted away until late in December.

In reasoning from the researches of philosophy, we are taught to place
but little reliance on the uncertain narratives of tradition; they, however,
with a slow yet steady advance, acquire respect, and often mould theory into
fact, and fashion opinion into fixed principles. The common belief that our

climate has been changed into a milder temperature, has taken most of its
certainty from the statements of our old people, who are uniformly consistent
in this particular. The bloom of the orchard trees formerly restrained
by a protracted winter from premature expansion, rarely failed arriving at
the maturity of fruit; the earth remained covered with snow for many
weeks, and the winter did not, as now, dally with the wantonness of spring.
The marshes, uncleared lands, ponds and lakes, which conspired to absorb
the heat of the earth,[8] have been almost obliterated or greatly reduced.
There is a lesser quantity of snow, and more of rain, while the frequency
of violent storms of wind in the spring and summer, distinctly prove the
great mass of our local heat, and accumulated electricity.

The winds of Virginia are singularly fickle and capricious, possessing
neither the uniformity or regularity of those which blow at the tropics. Our
prevailing wind is the south west, which assumes, alternately, gentle and
severe characteristics. The frequency of southwestern winds above the
latitudes of the trades, flows as a necessary consequence, from the continuance
and direction of the vast currents of air. It moves unconfined and
unresisted over the sea, until it reaches that unbroken range of mountains,
which towers from one extremity of our continent to the other. It strikes
against them, and from its elasticity rebounds with great velocity, in a direction
opposed to the forcing powers of the trades, taking in its oblique movement
all those features which mark our southwestern wind.

During the spring the N. E. is the most common wind. The huge masses
of snow and ice at the north pole, are gradually melted by the heat of
the sun; great quantities of vapor during this time are exhaled and remain
suspended, augmenting both the weight and bulk of the atmosphere. That
wonderful and mysterious agent, electricity, in dispelling the vapor and
converting it into elastic air,[9] gives an impetus to that wind which issuing
from the poles, takes a northeastern direction as it advances southerly, (its
diurnal motion being less than that of the earth,) and falls surcharged with
snow and rain on every portion of our country.

Mr. Jefferson made 3698 observations on the various points from which
our winds blew, noting their changes two or three times in each day. The
prevalence of the S. W. winds, over those from other quarters is thus numerically
stated by him:

               

South West,	926.
North,	611.
North East,	548.
East,	521.
North,	409.
West,	351.
South East,	223.
South,	109.

He has also made a comparative view of the difference between the winds
at Monticello and Williamsburg. He has reduced nine months' observations
at Monticello, to four principal points, being perpendicular to, or parallel
with, our coasts, mountains, and rivers, viz: the N. E., S. E., S. W.,
and N. W. He has also reduced an equal number of observations, 421,
from his table above, taking them proportionally from every point.

My own observations made many times in each day, amount to 749, without
reducing them in the proportionate manner of Mr. Jefferson. I have
submitted them under the points and heads which he has adopted:

       

	N. E.	S. E.	S. W.	N. W.	Total.
Williamsburg,	127	61	132	101	421
Monticello,	32	91	126	172	421
Braynefield,	204	130	247	168	749

In an average of two years, I have found our winds thus yearly prevailing,
the dominant wind of each day being only reckoned, and not the usual
vicissitudes of local breezes, or squalls.

               

	Days.		Days.
South West,	122	North,	26
North West,	89	South,	21
North East,	61	West,	12
East,	30	South East,	4
	302		63
			302
			days 365

A curious phenomenon is sometimes witnessed during a severe wind from
the S. W.; a thin vapor or scud is seen moving with great velocity below
the clouds, from the N. E., there being two currents of air of directly
contrary courses in active motion at the same time.

In the early part of the spring and autumn, in dry seasons, about sunset
it is common to meet with currents of warm air, small in their extent yet extremely
rapid in their movements; they are considerably above the heat of
the human body, and are wayward and eccentric, both in their duration and
extent. Their existence has given rise to much speculation, and even the
experienced philosophy of Mr. Jefferson has succumbed to the mystery[10] of
their origin.

Our frosts are sometimes equally severe and unexpected. No body placed
near the earth has a temperature of its own, but is entirely regulated by
that of the earth. A violent storm of rain, by absorbing much of the heat
of the earth, is often followed by a destructive frost. When the power of
frost reaches a certain pitch, the vapors dispersed throughout the air, yield
their latent heat—the atmosphere becomes clouded, the frost is either destroyed
or mitigated, and the vapors descend in rain or snow.

Our hardest frosts never penetrate the earth more than three inches, and
though the leaves of the trees and shrubs are scathed or destroyed, and timber
sometimes splits in the direction of the fibres of the tree, its roots uniformly
remain uninjured. Those portions of vegetation which grow nearest
to the earth, and those in low and marshy situations, receive the severest
injuries. On the night of the 17th May, 1834, the leaves of the oak, hickory,

and all the forest trees, were blighted in most of their foliage; the sycamore
only remained unhurt. Frost during the winter, is a fatal enemy to
those plants which are nurtured in southern exposures; they are sometimes
covered with snow, which melting rapidly, is converted in the course
of the night into destructive ice. Our white frost is generally harmless, it
being simple dew slightly congealed.

Dew is found in Virginia in heavy masses, generally in the months of
August, September, and October; it lies in greater quantities on our flat
than high lands, being collected there during the absence of the sun from
the horizon, like the relics of a drizzling rain. It appears first on the lower
parts of bodies, because in the evening the lower atmosphere is first cooled
and most disposed to part with its vapor.

Virginia is subject to rains of vehement and long continuance; they fall
in the largest quantity about the breaking of the winter, and in March and
September. I have no data on which to reckon their depth[11] or their prevalence
over the fair and cloudy days of our climate. Our valley and western
regions, by the condensing power of their mountains, and our tide water
sections, by the attractive force of broad rivers, have more local rains
than the intermediate country, and do not suffer in the same proportion from
continued droughts. If a year be remarkable for rain, it is fair to conclude
that the ensuing winter will be severe, from the great evaporation of the
heat of the earth, and if the rains have been violent, sterility and barrenness
will follow in the next year in proportion, as the surface mould, so vital
to vegetation, has been scattered and wasted away.

Our Indian summer presents an ample field for the creations of fancy and
the conceits of theory. It generally follows excessive and protracted droughts,
and is dispersed by heavy rains. It has been traced to electric influence—
to the burning of mountains—to the existence of numerous impalpable atoms
of decayed vegetation, and has been assimilated to those light gray clouds
which overhang Peru. Adhuc lis est subjudice.

POLITICAL AND MORAL CONDITION.

Having given a summary account of the natural condition of Virginia,
reserving a more detailed account for the particular counties; we now proceed
to give a similar succinct description of the situation of her people, begining
with their number and classes.

POPULATION.

The number of people in Virginia has been as follows, at the several periods
mentioned, viz: in 1790,—747,610—in 1800,—880,200—in 1810,—
974,622—in 1820,—1,065,366—and in 1830,—1,211,375.—At the last period
the population was divided as follows, among the several counties, viz:

EASTERN DISTRICT.

                                                                                                                                   

Counties.	Population
Accomac,	16,656
Albemarle,	22,618
Amelia,	11,036
Amherst,	12,071
Bedford,	20,246
Brunswick,	15,767
Culpeper,	24,027
Cumberland,	11,690
Dinwiddie,	21,901
Elizabeth City,	5,053
Essex,	10,521
Fairfax,	9,204
Fauquier,	26,086
Fluvanna,	8,221
Franklin,	14,911
Gloucester,	10,608
Goochland,	10,369
Greensville,	7,117
Halifax,	28,034
Hanover,	16,253
Henrico,	28,797
Henry,	7,100
Isle of Wight,	10,517
James City,	3,838
King and Queen,	11,644
King George,	6,397
King William,	9,812
Lancaster,	4,801
Loudon,	21,939
Louisa,	16,151
Lunenburg,	11,957
Madison,	9,236
Mathews,	7,664
Buckingham,	18,351
Campbell,	20,350
Caroline,	17,760
Charles City,	5,500
Charlotte,	15,252
Chesterfield,	18,637
Meclenburg,	20,477
Middlesex,	4,122
Nansemond,	11,784
Nelson,	11,254
New Kent,	6,458
Norfolk,	24,806
Northampton,	8,641
Northumberland,	7,953
Nottoway,	10,130
Orange,	14,637
Patrick,	7,395
Pittsylvania,	26,034
Powhatan,	8,517
Prince Edward,	14,107
Prince George,	8,367
Prince William,	9,330
Prince Anne,	9,102
Richmond,	6,055
Southampton,	16,074
Spottsylvania,	15,134
Stafford,	9,362
Surry,	7,109
Sussex,	12,720
Warwick,	1,570
Westmoreland,	8,396
York,	5,354

WESTERN DISTRICT.

                                                                                   

Counties.	Population.
Alleghany,	2,816
Augusta,	19,926
Bath,	4,002
Berkeley,	10,518
Botetourt,	16,354
Brooke,	7,041
Cabell,	5,884
Frederick,	25,046
Giles,	5,274
Grayson,	7,675
Greenbrier,	9,006
Harrison,	14,722
Hampshire,	11,279
Hardy,	6,798
Jefferson,	12,927
Kanawha,	9,326
Lee,	6,461
Lewis,	6,241
Logan,	3,680
Monongalia,	14,056
Mason,	6,534
Monroe,	7,798
Montgomery,	12,306
Morgan,	2,694
Nicholas,	3,346
Ohio,	15,584
Page, (formerly E Shenandoah)	8,327
Pendleton,	6,271
Pocahontas,	2,542
Preston,	5,144
Randolph,	5,000
Rockbridge,	14,244
Rockingham,	20,683
Russell,	6,714
Scott,	5,724
Shenandoah,	11,423
Tazewell,	5,749
Tyler,	4,104
Washington,	15,614
Wood,	6,429
Wythe,	12,163

Total population of Eastern Virginia, 832,980; Western Va. 378,425.
Of the preceding were white persons,

                             

	Males.	Females.
Under 5 years of age,	65,793	62,411
From 5 to 10	51,805	49,964
From 10 to 15	43,287	41,936
From 15 to 20	36,947	40,479
From 20 to 30	60,911	62,044
From 30 to 40	36,539	36,456
From 40 to 50	23,381	23,750
From 50 to 60	15,261	15,447
From 60 to 70	8,971	8,765
From 70 to 80	3,674	3,857
From 80 to 90	1,108	1,098
From 90 to 100	184	158
From 100 and upwards	26	98
Total,	347,887	346,383

Of the colored population, were

                 

		Free.	Slaves.
	Male.	Female.	Male.	Female.
Under 10 years of age,	8,236	8,002	84,000	83,270
From 10 to 24,	6,126	7,031	68,917	66,921
From 24 to 36,	3,546	4,501	43,189	40,927
From 36 to 55,	2,721	3,379	30,683	27,206
From 55 to 100,	1,731	2,024	12,155	12,275
From 100 and upwards	27	24	133	144
Total,	22,387	24,961	239,077	230,680

RECAPITULATION.

               

Whites.	Free Colored.	Slaves.	Total.
694,270	47,343	469,757	1,211,375
Increase of population:
In 1800 the white males numbered,		514,280
Free colored,		20,124
Slaves,		345,796	880,200
Increase in thirty years,			331,175
Or thirty-seven and a half per cent.

In the same period, the free whites increased 180,020, or 35 per cent;
the free colored persons 27,224, or 135 per cent; and the slaves, 123,961,
or 36 per cent. For the ten years preceding the census of 1830, the rate
of increase of the whole population diminished considerably, and the relative
increase of the several classes varied from the foregoing results. On
the whole population, the rate was reduced from 37½ to 13½ per cent.; on

the free white, from 35 to 15 per cent; on the free colored, from 135 to 28¼
per cent.; and on the slaves from 36 to 10½ per cent. It is to be observed,
however, that, while the black population of the whole state has been diminishing,
when compared with the white, the reverse is true in respect to Eastern
Virginia, which is peculiarly the slave region; for, while, in 1790,
there was in that district a majority of 25,000 whites, the slave and free
colored population outnumbered them at every successive census, until, in
1830, the excess was upwards of 81,000. The facts thus exhibited show
that Western Virginia, which contains comparatively few slaves, has rapidly
increased its white population in the last ten years, the rate of increase
amounting to 25 per cent,; while, on the eastern side of the mountains, the
increase of the whites, in the same period, did not exceed 7½ per cent. The
greater multiplication of blacks in Eastern Virginia, notwithstanding constant
deportation to the southern and southwestern states, may be partly ascribed
to the mild treatment which they generally receive from their owners.
On the other hand, the evil effects of slavery, and the policy of adopting
some scheme for gradual abolition, are topics which have been freely
and earnestly discussed, and have already arrayed the Virginians into two
powerful parties. The slow progress of the white population, compared
with some of the other states, when so many propitious causes exist for its
advancement, has been urged as a prominent objection to slavery. Indeed,
the march of its aggregate population has fallen far short of the predictions
of former times. Mr. Jefferson, in his Notes, which were written in 1782,
estimated that the then existing stock, unaided by foreign emigration, would
be multiplied to 2,270,000 by the year 1835, exceeding, by upwards of a
million, the result of the last census. That the increase of numbers has
been restrained by powerful checks seems reasonable; but to point out their
true character and operation, belongs rather to the department of moral and
political philosophy.

This state is now divided into one hundred and eleven counties; whereof
sixty-six are on the eastern side, and forty-five on the western side of the
Blue Ridge mountains. Six new counties having been added since the taking
of the last census, and revision of the constitution; they were erected
by act of Assembly 1831-2, viz:—Page county, formed out of parts of
Shenandoah and Rockingham—Rappahannock, formed out of a part of
Culpeper county—Smyth, formed out of Washington and Wythe—Floyd,
from a part of Montgomery—Jackson, out of part of Mason, Kanawha and
Wood—and Fayette, formed out of parts of Greenbrier, Nicholas, and Kanawha
counties.

GOVERNMENT AND LAWS

Constitution.—The first constitution of this state was formed and adopted
in 1776, and continued in operation until October, 1829, when a convention
met at Richmond to alter and amend it, or frame a new one: on the
14th of January, 1830, the present constitution was adopted by a vote of 55
to 40. The amended constitution on being submitted to the legal voters of
the state was ratified by a majority of 10,492 votes, as appears by the following
statement.

           

	For.	Against.
Transalleghany District,	2,123	11,289
Valley District,	3,842	2,097
Middle District,	12,417	1,086
Tide-Water District,	7,673	1,091
Total,	26,055	15,563

Legislature.—The first election of members of the House of Delegates,
and Senate, under the amended constitution, took place on the several court
days in the month of October, 1830, in the different counties and boroughs
entitled to representation: and the first General Assembly convened at
Richmond on the first Monday in December, 1831.

By this constitution the legislative power is vested in a Senate and a
House of Delegates, which are together styled the General Assembly of
Virginia. The House of Delegates consists of 134 members chosen annually;—31
from the Trans-Alleghany district;—25 from the Valley district;—42
from the Middle district;—and 36 from the Tidewater district.
The Senate consists of 32 members;—13 from the counties west of the
Blue Ridge;—and 19 from the country east of that mountain. The Senators
are elected for four years, and the seats of one-fourth are vacated each
year.—In all elections to any office or place of trust, honor, or emolument;
the votes are given viva voce.—A reapportionment in both houses, is to take
place every ten years, commencing in 1841; until which time there is to be
no change in the number of delegates and senators from the several divisions;
and after 1841 the number of delegates is never to exceed 150, or
that of senators 36.

Executive.—The executive power is vested in a Governor elected by
the joint vote of the two houses of the General Assembly. He holds it
three years, commencing the 31st of March after his election, or on such
other day as may be from time to time prescribed by law; and he is ineligible
for the three years next after the expiration of his term of office. There
is a Council of State, consisting of three members, elected for three years by
the joint vote of the two houses; the seat of one being vacated annually.
The senior counsellor is Lieutenant Governor.

The present executive officers are

• L. W. Tazewell, Governor,

• Daniel A. Wilson, Lieut. Governor, Council.

• Wyndham Robertson, Council.

• Peter V. Daniel, Council.

• Lawson Burfoot, Treasurer of State,

• James E. Heath, Auditor,

• James Brown, Jr., Second Auditor,

• William Selden, Register of the Land Office.

Judiciary.—The Judges of the Supreme Court of Appeals, and of the
Circuit Superior Courts of Law and Chancery, are elected by joint vote of
both houses of the General Assembly, and hold their offices during good
behavior, or until removed by a concurrent vote of both houses; but two-thirds
of the members present must concur in such vote, and the cause of
removal be entered on the journals of each house.

The present Court of Appeals consists of

           

	Salary.
Henry St. George Tucker, President,	2,720
Francis T. Brooke, Judge,	2,500
William H. Cabell, Judge,	2,500
Wm. Brockenbrough, Judge,	2,500
Dabney Carr, Judge,	2,500

The Judges are entitled to receive, in addition to their salaries, 25 cents
a mile for necessary travel. The Court of Appeals holds two sessions annually;
one at Lewisburg, Greenbrier county, for the counties lying west of
the Blue Ridge, commencing on the 1st Monday in July, and continuing
90 days, unless the business shall be sooner despatched; the
other at Richmond, for the counties lying east of the Blue Ridge, commencing
at such times as the court may, from time to time, appoint, and continuing
160 days, unless the business shall be sooner despatched.

General Court.—The state is divided into 10 districts, and each district
into two circuits, and a Circuit Superior Court of Law and Chancery is held
twice every year in each county and corporation; the courts sitting until the
business is despatched.

There are 20 Judges, having each a salary of $1,500, and their names,
with the number of their respective circuits, are as follows:

• 1. Richard F. Baker,

• 2. John F. May,

• 3. Abel P. Upshur,

• 4. William Brown,

• 5. J. T. Lomax,

• 6. John Scott,

• 7. John B. Clopton,

• 8. William Daniel,

• 9. William Leigh,

• 10. Fleming Saunders,

• 11. Richard H. Field,

• 12. Lucas P. Thompson,

• 13. Richard E. Parker,

• 14. Daniel Smith,

• 15. Benjamin Estill,

• 16. James E. Brown,

• 17. Allen Taylor,

• 18. Edward D. Duncan,

• 19. Lewis Summers,

• 20. Joseph L. Fry.

County Courts.—Justices of the Peace who constitute these Courts are
elected by the Governor, upon nomination of the existing County Courts.
Four Justices constitute a Court for the trial of civil, and five for criminal
causes. Their civil jurisdiction in law and equity is concurrent with
that of the Circuit Superior Courts of Law and Chancery in cases of trover
or detinue, and others involving greater value than $50; and below that
amount but over $20, it is exclusive. Their criminal jurisdiction is concurrent
with that of the same Court in petit larceny, and all other offences
of free persons not exceeding the grade of misdemeanors, and in the case
of slaves exclusive as to all offences. The Justices receive no compensation;
but the lucrative office of Sheriff is conferred upon one of their body,
generally the eldest Justice, and for two successive years, when he gives
way to the next oldest in commission, &c. These Courts are established by
the Constitution, but their jurisdiction, is settled by law.

Right of Suffrage is extended to every white male citizen of the
commonwealth, resident therein, aged 21 years and upwards; who was
qualified to exercise the right under the former constitution and laws,—or
who own a freehold of the value of $25;—or who has a joint interest worth
$25, in a freehold,—or who has a reversion, or vested remainder in fee
expectant on an estate for life or years; of which he shall have been possessed
for six-months, unless obtained by descent, devise, or marriage;—or
who shall own and be in occupation of a leasehold estate, recorded two

months before he offers to vote, of an annual value of $20, and original duration
of at least 5 years;—or who has been housekeeper or head of a
family for 12 months, and been assessed with, and has paid taxes.

But paupers, persons of unsound mind, non-commissioned officers, soldiers,
seamen and marines of the U. States, and persons convicted of infamous
offences cannot vote.

As connected with this subject we insert here the Civil List of Virginia;—prepared
in compliance with a resolution of the House of Delegates
of the 8th of March, 1833.

CIVIL LIST,

Shewing the nature and extent of the duties of each officer of the Government
and their Salaries.

Governor, salary $3333 33.—The governor is ex-officio president of the
literary fund, the board of public works, the James river company, and the
northwestern turnpike company, for which several services he receives no
additional compensation.

Lieutenant Governor, $1000; two Councillors, $1000 each.—The lieutenant-governor
is not now a director of either of these boards. In case of
the death or resignation of the governor, he is entitled to the chief magistrate's
salary in lieu of his own. Neither the lieutenant-governor, nor the
other members of the council, have any perquisites of office.

Secretary of the Commonwealth, $1620 00; Assistant Clerk, $1000 00;
Copying Clerk, $200 00.—The secretary or clerk of the executive department
is also keeper of the seals and librarian, by virtue of his office. He
is entitled to a fee of $1 67 upon each testimonial granted from the executive
department, and to commissions, at the discretion of the joint library
committee, upon sales or exchanges of books belonging to the library fund.
These perquisites, it is understood, are very inconsiderable. Neither the
assistant nor copying clerk is entitled to any other compensation besides his
salary.

Clerk of the Council, $500 00:—Keeps the journal of the council, and
performs various other duties, for which he has no perquisites.

Door-Keeper to the Council, $500 00.—The door-keeper to the council
is also keeper of the capitol keys, but is entitled to no compensation besides
his regular salary. The incidental expenses of the executive department
during the past fiscal year, amounted to $1,193 61, including fuel,
stationery and postage.

President of the Court of Appeals, $2750 00; Four Judges of the
Court of Appeals, $2,500 each.—The president and judges are entitled, exclusive
of their salaries, to twenty cents per mile for travelling to and from
the respective courts they are required to attend.

Clerk Eastern Court, $1000 00; Clerk Western Court, $1000 00.—
This allowance of $1,000 to each of the clerks of the court of appeals, is
the maximum fixed by law, but the judges may in their discretion reduce
it. The clerks are entitled to their regular fees from individuals, but to no
other compensation from the state. The judges are authorized to appoint
a crier and tipstaff to each of the courts held at Richmond and Lewisburg,
and to fix their compensation. The crier at Richmond received, during the
last fiscal year, $729, and the tipstaff, $608 31; and the incidental expenses

for fuel, stationery, &c amounted, in the same period, to $193. The contingent
expenses at Lewisburg, owing to the short terms of the court, are
very inconsiderable.

Twenty Judges of the Circuit Superior Courts of Law and Chancery,
nineteen at $1,500, and one at $1,800.—The judge of the superior court
of Henrico receives $1,800 annual salary. The other judges, $1,500 each;
and all are entitled to 15 cents per mile for travelling through their circuits
and to the general court.

Clerk of the General Court, $500 00.—The fees of the clerk of the
general court are very inconsiderable.

Attorney Superior Court Henrico, $300 00; Clerk Superior Court Henrico,
$100 00.—An act concerning the superior court of Henrico, passed
29th March, 1823, fixes the compensation of the attorney and clerk of that
court, and makes them, in effect, salaried officers. The clerk is moreover
entitled to his fees for services rendered the commonwealth, which will probably
average about $40 per annum.

Attorney General, $1000 00.—The attorney general is entitled to fees
when recovered from defendants; but owing to the diminished number of
judgments against public debtors, his fees have not averaged more than $40
per annum for the last two years.

Treasurer, $2000 00.—The treasurer is ex-officio a director of the board
of public works, the James river company, the literary fund, and the northwestern
turnpike company. He is moreover, by virtue of his office, a director
of the Virginia bank, and treasurer of the Cincinnati fund, which is
in his possession. He has no perquisites of office.

First Clerk, $900 00.—The first clerk of the treasurer has charge of the
books in which the accounts of the commonwealth are kept, distinguished
from those which relate to speciffic funds, the latter being confided to the
second clerk. Both, however, perform indiscriminately the current duties
of the office. The incidental expenses of the treasury office during the last
fiscal year, embracing fuel, stationery, sweeper, &c amounted to $152 38.

Auditor of Public Accounts, $2000 00.—The auditor is ex-officio a director
of the James river company, the board of public works, the literary
fund, and the northwestern turnpike company. He is also, in conjunction
with the governor, lieutenant-governor, and second auditor, one of the commissioners
for transporting the free people of color. He has no perquisites
nor extra compensation, except a fee of 50 cents for each redemption of delinquent
land. The late laws on that subject have reduced these fees to an
average of thirty or forty dollars per annum. His general duties are to
audit all claims against the commonwealth, and to collect and disburse the
public revenue.

Clerk of Accounts, $1400 00.—The clerk of accounts has in his peculiar
charge the public books of account, prepares all the revenue statements
and the lists of balances, and performs a variety of duties connected with
his department.

First Clerk, $900 00.—The first clerk represents the auditor in his absence,
and during such time, is entitled to extra compensation at the rate of
$166 67 per annum. He has special charge of the vouchers upon which
warrants are issued, assists the auditor in the revenue settlements, and performs
various other duties.

Second Clerk, $750 00; Third Clerk, $600 00.—The second clerk has
charge of the delinquent land lists, and in common with the third clerk,

performs a variety of duties appertaining to the current business, such as
examining and correcting commissioners' books, insolvents in the revenue,
and militia fines, &c. &c. The auditor is also authorized to employ an extra
clerk, in his discretion, at the rate of $50 per month, growing out of
the accumulated labors of the office from revolutionary claims, &c. The
incidental expenses of the office in the last fiscal year, including stationery,
fuel, and sweeper, and excluding postage, amounted to $280 75. The postage
alone amounted to $1,050.

Second Auditor, $1800 00.—The second auditor is an ex-officio director
of the James river company, board of public works, literary fund, and northwestern
turnpike company, and audits all the accounts appertaining thereto.
He is moreover superintendent of the literary fund, and clerk to the board
of directors. He is also ex-officio secretary to the board of public works,
and one of the commissioners for removing free people of color. He is
entitled to no extra compensation.

First Clerk, $900 00; Second Clerk, $600 00.—The first clerk represents
the second auditor in his absence, and when necessary, acts as clerk
to the literary fund, and secretary to the board of public works; keeps the
books of the James river company and board of public works, and assists
the second auditor in the current business. The second clerk keeps the
books of the literary fund and northwestern turnpike company, and attends
to other duties. The incidental expenses of the office, and of the several
boards connected therewith, for the past fiscal year, embracing, fuel, stationery,
sweeper, pay of messengers, and clerks of boards, postage, printing, and
miscellaneous expenses, amounted to $1,172 64.

Register of the Land Office, $1500 00.—The register's duties are principally
defined in the general revised land law of 1st March, 1819. He
has no perquisites, his fees of office being required to be paid into the treasury.

First Clerk of the Land Office, $900 00.—The first clerk receives and
examines surveys, &c. and issues grants, &c.

Second Clerk, $600.—The second clerk is engaged principally in recording.
The incidental expenses of the land office the past fiscal year, including
fuel, stationery, parchment for grants, and sweeper, amounted to $625 29.

Public Printer, $2600 00.—$1,000 of the public printer's salary is paid
quarterly. The residue annually, after the completion of the sessions acts.
The salary is exclusive of extra printing. The amount paid during the
last fiscal year for printing legislative documents, extra copies of the acts
and journals of the library, &c. &c. amounted to $1,836 64, which is probably
about a fair annual average.

Superintendent of the Penitentiary, $2000 00; First and Second Assistant
Keepers $700 each; Third, Fourth, Firth, Sixth, and Seventh Assistant
Keepers, $600 each.—Neither the keeper nor assistant keepers receive
any extra compensation. The auditor is not informed as to the particular
distribution of duties among the assistants. The 6th and 7th assistants
were for the first time so denominated in the act of 8th March, 1833. They
were previously called turnkey and delivery clerk.

Clerk, $600 00.—The clerk keeps the accounts of the institution, and
acts as clerk to the board of directors. He has no perquisites.

Five Directors, at $150 each.—The directors are paid annually, at the
rate of $3 per day, for each day's attendance; not to exceed $150.

Surgeon to the Penitentiary and Public Guard, $900 00.—Attends the

sick convicts at the penitentiary and soldiers of the public guard, and is entitled
to no perquisites of office.

General Agent or Store-Keeper to the Penitentiary.—The agent for selling
penitentiary manufactures is allowed a commission of seven per centum
upon sales, in lieu of salaries to himself and clerks.

Adjutant General, $500 00.—For the various laws respecting the adjutant
general, see 1 Rev Code, pages 94 95, 96 and 98, and Supplement,
pages 60, 64, 81 and 84.

Vaccine Agent, $500 00.—The allowance is paid semi-annually, on the
order of the executive. The auditor is informed by the agent that there are
numerous applications for vaccine matter. No perquisites of office.

Superintendant of the Westham Magazine, $150 00.—It is understood
that no duties are now required of this officer, the magazine not being used.

Keeper of the Rolls and Clerk of the House of Delegates, $200 00.—
The clerk of the house of delegates is ex-officio keeper of the rolls, and it
is in the latter character, that he is entitled to the stated salary of $200 per
annum. As clerk, his allowance was fixed at $150 per week, by the act of
16th February, 1822. Out of this weekly allowance, the clerk of the
house of delegates employs an assistant in the office during the sessions of
the legislature, and defrays the expense of enrolling and engrossing the acts.
Besides his official duties during the session, he is required after the adjournment
of the legislature, to arrange and cause to be published, with
marginal notes and indexes, the laws of that body. His perquisites consist
in fees for certified copies of the acts of assembly, but it is understood that
they amount to a very inconsiderable sum. The incidental expenses of the
office of the clerk during the last fiscal year, including fuel, stationery for
the house of delegates, binding journals, parchment, &c. amounted to
$333 48.—Total amount of Civil List, $74,553 33.

Though not strictly within the terms of the resolution of the house
of delegates, it is perhaps required by its spirit, that the allowances to the
officers of the general assembly, so far as they have been fixed by law,
should be added.

The speaker of the senate is entitled, under the act of 16th February,
1822, to $6 per day, mileage and ferriages. The speaker of the house of
delegates, to $8 per day, mileage and ferriages. The clerk of the senate,
to $75 per week. The sergeant at arms to the senate, to $30 per week.
The sergeant of the house of delegates, to $28 per week, and fees for arrests.
The clerks of each of the committees to the house of delegates, to
$35 per week. The door keepers to both houses, each to $28 per week.
The printer to the senate, to $600 for the session. The only clerks of committees
of the house of delegates, whose allowances were fixed by the act
of 16th February, 1822, were those of propositions and grievances, elections
and claims, courts of justice, and roads and navigation. Other clerks of
committees have been occasionally appointed, and their wages paid by a
special clause in the annual appropriation law.

It may also be proper to add, that pursuant to the resolution of the general
assembly of 21st February, 1833, the executive has employed an agent
to examine certain revolutionary documents, with a salary of $1,200 per
annum.

LAWS.

On the third of July, 1776, the convention which met to adopt a constitution

for the state, having declared it independent, passed an ordinance declaring
that "The common law of England, all statutes or acts of Parliament
made in aid thereof prior to the fourth year of the reign of King
James the first, and which were of a general nature and not local to that
kingdom, should be considered as in full force, until the same should be
altered by the Legislature."

After this the Legislature re-enacted by special acts all of the statutes of
the British Parliament which they thought applicable and necessary; and
on the 27th December, 1792, declared that no statute or act of Parliament
should have any force or authority within this commonwealth,—saving all
judicial and remedial writs which might have been sued out before that act.

The common law, the constitution and statutes of Virginia, the constitution
of the United States and the laws and treaties made in pursuance thereof,
constitute the whole law of Virginia.

RELIGION.

Although the bill of rights, in 1776, declared that all men were equally
entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience,
yet the first constitution contained no express provision on the subject.
The legislature, in 1785, passed an act for establishing religious freedom,
and subsequently repealed all laws which recognized the Protestant
Episcopal Church as the legal establishment. The glebe lands, and other
church property, were vested in the overseers of the poor, for charitable
uses, reserving only to the living incumbents an estate for life, and exempting
the church buildings from confiscation. The new constitution of 1830
fully recognises absolute religious freedom as a part of the fundamental
law. The Episcopal church, which, after the loss of its revenues, suffered
almost total extinction in Virginia, has revived, in the last twenty years, by
the voluntary support of its friends, and is now distinguished by numerous
and wealthy members, and by a pious and intelligent clergy. In 1834 the
number of ministers in the State, including two bishops, was 59, churches,
58, and 2840 communicants. In the same year, the Presbyterians numbered
117 churches, 100 ministers, 11,413 communicants; the Methodists,
168 ministers, communicants 34,316 whites, and 7,447 colored, total 41,763;
the Baptists, 261 ministers, churches 450, and communicats 54,302, of
whom it is conjectured that one-half are slaves. The precise distinction between
the regular Baptists and the Reformers, called the disciples of Christ,
not being in all cases drawn, there is no coming to any thing like certain
knowledge, but it is supposed they do not exceed 10,000 in number, neither
are they so systematically arrayed as to afford any accuracy in their statistics,
either as to the number of teachers, congregations, meeting-houses,
&c. Attempts are now being made for a better arrangement of their affairs.
The increase of new members, for the last two or three years, has
been so great that it has not been possible to keep pace with the demand
for preachers, meeting-houses, &c. They have advanced in the U. States,
within 10 years, from a few in number, to something like 150,000. The
Catholics have 5 ministers, and 10 congregations; but the number of lay
members is not ascertained. It will be perceived that the Baptists and Methodists
are the most numerous sects in the state; and the estimate does not
include a considerable number of separatists from both communions. Besides
these, there are Friends, Lutherans, Dunkers, Unitarians, Jews, &c.

scattered through the state, whose numbers are not accurately known. The
Presbyterians have a theological seminary in Prince Edward, and the Episcopalians
one near Alexandria, both of which institutions have flourished
by private liberality. The state, in its political capacity, has always manifested
a strong jealousy of all ecclesiastical establishments; yet the Virginians
are generous in private contributions towards objects of religion and
benevolence. Sunday schools, and societies for promoting temperance, African
colonization, &c., have been extensively patronized in late years.

EDUCATION.

                   

Literary Fund—This Fund was established by the Legislature in 1809, by devoting the proceeds of all escheats, fines, and forfeitures, to the encouragement of learning. In 1816 it was encreased by the liberal appropriation of the debt due from the United States to Virginia, on account of advances made by the State in the late war with Great Britain. The permanent capital of this fund amounted, in September, 1833, to		$1,551,857 47
Of this there was invested in stocks, loans and debts,		$1,551,803 34
Leaving in the treasury to the credit of the fund,		54 13
To which balance must be added the undrawn school quotas, amounting to	$20,256 74
First deducting the amt invested in bank stock, of	7,150 00
		13,106 74
Which leaves a total balance to the credit of the fund of		$13,160 87
The revenue arising from this fund amounted, in 1833, to		$78,340 61
Of which there was expended		62,927 18
Leaving a balance, to encrease the capital, of		$15,413 43

When the Legislature appropriated the United States debt to this fund,
it at the same time gave $230,000, and an annuity of $15,000 from the fund,
to the University of Virginia.

Primary Schools—The sum of $45,000 annually has been appropriated
from the revenue of the Literary Fund, to the different counties, in proportion
to their white population, for the sole purpose of instructing poor
children in the elements of learning. This sum is placed under the management
and control of School Commissioners, appointed by the Court of each
county.

The primary school system has been modified from time to time since its establishment,—and
is now under the control of the Second Auditor, who
renders an annual report to the Legislature, of the disbursement of the fund,
founded on the returns of the county commissioners.—As the public bounty
is confined to the offspring of indigent parents, a plan is now partially in
operation, by which contributions may be received from individuals to establish
schools free for all classes of pupils; and strong hope is entertained
that the experiment will prove successful, notwithstanding the difficulties
which arise from the mixed population of one portion of the state, and the
scattered population and rugged surface of the other. Experience has already
demonstrated the utility of even the existing system, and thousands
who must have groped through life in the darkness of ignorance, have had
the cheering light of knowledge shed upon them by means of the primary

schools. We annex the Second Auditor's abstract of the number of poor
children taught in each county, the expense, &c. for the year 1832-3:

ABSTRACT of School Commissioners' Reports for the year 1832, received
between 30th September, 1832, and 1st October, 1833.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

COUNTIES AND TOWNS.	No. of School Commissioners in each county.	No. of common schools attended by poor children.	No. of poor children in each county.	No. of poor children sent to school.	Aggregate number of days attendance of poor children at school.	Average number of days attendance of each poor child at school.	Rate of tuition per diem in each county.	Average amount paid for each poor child, including all expenses.	Expenditures in 1832, for tuition, and all other expenses.
Albemarle,	15	49	600	181	13020	71	4 cts.	$3 15	$570 74
Amelia,	8	13	120	49	6147	125	4	5 57	273 08
Amherst,	15	25	250	85	5383	63	4	2 87	243 74
Alleghany,	8	10	80	42	2016	48	4	2 08	87 29
Accomac,	12	30	750	256	14895	54	3¾	2 31	592 22
Augusta,	15	65	600	437	21003	48	4	2 02	883 59
Bath,	10	17	100	99	3901	39	3¾	1 44	142 53
Bedford,	15	29	450	338	19656	58	4	2 55	861 65
Berkeley,	15	34	530	349	24518	70	3¼	2 45	854 14
Botetourt,	12	45	325	300	22843	76	4	3 28	982 58
Brooke,	9	29	410	268	19383	72	2½	1 98	530 13
Buckingham,	10	65	250	136	11488	84	4	3 67	498 90
Brunswick,	-	-	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Cabell,	7	17	200	117	6399	55	4	2 40	280 76
Campbell,	8	29	350	115	5968	52	4	2 12	244 57
Caroline,	8	29	450	157	11577	74	4	3 31	519 88
Charles City,	-	-	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Charlotte,	8	23	300	95	8072	85	4	3 79	360 16
Chesterfield,	11	30	500	178	14042	79	4	3 38	601 65
Culpeper,	15	49	500	330	22927	69	4	3 07	1012 93
Cumberland,	9	20	100	91	8647	95	4	4 14	376 73
Dinwiddie,	12	20	120	61	9658	158	4	6 77	412 94
Essex,	7	12	300	56	4420	79	4	3 26	183 92
Elizabeth City,	7	2	50	21	776	37	4	2 16	45 39
Fairfax,	9	23	500	183	10650	58	4	2 38	435 50
Fauquier,	-	-	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Franklin,	9	24	500	285	14093	49	3½	1 82	518 50
Fayette,	-	-	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Frederick,	9	100	650	428	31500	74	4	2 77	1186 85
Floyd,	6	6	150	33	1444	44	4	3 20	105 52
Fluvanna,	8	18	100	43	3711	86	4	3 88	166 83
Grayson,	7	41	350	307	13010	42	4	1 77	544 15
Greenbrier,	10	20	500	239	12106	50	4	2 25	537 90
Greensville,	-	-	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Giles,	6	19	225	128	7342	57	3½	2 20	281 66
Gloucester,	14	15	160	36	2645	73	4	3 48	125 42
Goochland,	11	25	250	57	6030	106	4	4 60	262 57
Halifax,	12	60	1000	242	16541	69	4	2 91	704 21
Hampshire,	14	48	800	545	22048	40	4	1 67	912 14
Hanover,	12	50	350	36	3486	97	4	4 59	165 20
Hardy,	15	21	250	100	7646	76	4	3 32	332 23
Harrison,	15	86	900	754	36200	48	2½	1 29	976 13
Henry,	5	10	90	65	4312	66	3¼	2 30	149 52
Henrico,	-	-	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Isle of Wight,	10	29	350	198	9902	50	4	2 24	442 98
James City,	-	-	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Jackson,	-	-	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Jefferson,	14	31	350	217	17105	78	4	3 25	705 26
Kanawha,	14	24	450	298	19217	64	4	2 73	814 72
King & Queen,	9	25	200	117	7129	61	4	2 73	320 22
King Ceorge,	6	8	150	56	5766	103	4	4 46	249 92
King William,	7	22	200	67	5418	81	4	3 52	236 10
Lancaster,	9	8	150	45	2506	56	4	2 84	117 91
Lee,	10	21	500	163	9726	60	4	2 48	404 34
Lewis,	9	34	500	235	11654	50	2½	1 30	304 99
Logan,	-	-	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Loudon,	15	75	900	420	29383	70	4	2 96	1230 18
Louisa,	12	27	250	123	12260	100	4	4 10	505 13
Lunenburg,	11	15	300	83	6256	75	4	3 40	282 41
Madison,	9	15	200	78	5984	76	4	3 18	248 10
Mason,	9	19	175	127	6697	53	3¾	2 23	283 41
Matthews,	6	13	90	62	6975	112	3	3 55	220 29
Mecklenburg,	10	80	300	151	14282	94	4	4 14	625 62
Middlesex,	9	10	150	133	11359	85	4	4 06	539 91
Monongalia,	9	80	1000	637	32341	51	2½	1 39	889 15
Monroe,	11	25	450	192	10454	54	3½	2 05	395 40
Montgomery,	8	9	300	68	4745	70	4	3 05	207 44
Morgan,	6	9	150	66	3783	57	3⅔	2 46	162 75
Nansemond,	11	20	150	66	5373	81	4	3 60	238 51
Nelson,	7	18	247	57	3689	65	4	2 96	169 06
New Kent,	9	9	150	28	2037	73	4	3 65	102 22
Nicholas,	7	18	150	99	5214	52	3	1 82	179 80
Norfolk County,	8	33	300	154	11423	74	4	3 13	482 36
Norfolk Borough,	6	30	100	80	22436	280	1½	4 28	342 55
Northampton,	9	16	130	99	6835	69	4	3 00	297 65
Northumberland,	9	17	190	89	5331	58	4	2 73	242 89
Nottoway,	8	16	150	40	5390	135	4	6 19	247 70
Orange,	11	40	240	90	7745	86	4	3 70	333 78
Ohio,	10	40	500	282	23032	81	21-12	1 84	520 06
Patrick,	12	19	150	135	8786	65	3	2 09	281 92
Page,	6	20	250	109	5469	50	4	2 17	237 25
Pendleton,	15	36	400	356	14298	40	3¼	1 45	515 43
Preston,	7	23	220	190	9374	49	3	1 61	306 14
Petersburg,	12	18	200	30	6900	230	3	7 62	228 57
Prince Edward,	10	15	150	38	3008	79	4	3 33	126 45
Prince George,	11	12	120	26	3028	116	4	5 30	137 80
Prince William,	8	18	400	178	11655	65	4	2 81	500 18
Princess Anne,	8	14	200	50	6124	124	4	2 36	267 94
Pittsylvania,	15	54	1100	368	19752	54	3¾	2 26	830 62
Powhatan,	6	20	80	23	2596	113	4	4 64	106 84
Pocahontas,	5	17	120	100	6018	60	3	2 11	211 29
Randolph,	9	22	350	197	7947	40	3⅓	1 37	280 64
Richmond County,	-	-	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Richmond City,	9	45	400	70	15750	225	3¾	8 42	497 70
Rockbridge,	12	44	460	320	21692	67	3¾	2 73	873 76
Rockingham,	13	85	700	351	22510	64	3½	2 54	890 05
Russell,	8	17	300	187	11608	62	3	2 24	418 44
Stafford,	9	15	250	152	8299	54	3¼	2 00	305 11
Shenandoah,	13	82	800	522	35675	68	4	2 89	1512 61
Scott,	7	23	475	143	5592	39	4	1 69	242 61
Smyth,	-	-	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Southampton,	11	26	250	212	12203	57	4	2 43	515 45
Spottsylvania,	12	30	200	120	8961	75	4	3 35	402 39
Surry	5	9	130	80	8449	105	4	4 67	374 27
Sussex,	11	25	200	95	7919	83	4	3 57	338 95
Tazewell,	-	-	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Tyler,	11	20	450	216	10958	51	2	1 20	259 46
Washington,	-	-	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Warwick,	9	2	37	5	198	40	4	4 08	20 42
Westmoreland,	-	-	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Williamsburg,	7	4	20	4	239	60	4	3 14	12 56
Wythe,	10	29	250	159	9437	59	3⅓	2 35	373 53
Wood,	9	34	400	288	11627	40	3	1 27	366 34
York,	7	11	120	83	7020	48	4	3 52	292 68
		2833	32804	16669	1083105				42033 06
		1	2	3	4				5

RECAPITULATION.

                       

Number of schools in 100 counties and towns, as per column 1,		2,833
Number of poor children in ditto, as per column 2,		32,804
Number of poor children sent to common schools in ditto, as per column 3,	16,669
Number sent to district schools, as per statement A,	412
Total number of poor children educated,		17,081
Amount expended for tuition at common schools, and all other expenses, for books, compensation to officers, &c. as per column 5,	42,033 06
Ditto, at district free schools, as per statement A,	963 21
Total expenditure for tuition, &c.		$42,996 27
Average number of days actual attendance of each poor child at common schools,		65
Average amount paid for each poor child, including books and writing materials, clerks' and treasurers' compensation, at common schools,		$2 52½
Ditto, at district free schools, per statement A,		2 33¾
Average rate paid for each day's actual attendance at common schools, including books, &c. and officers' compensation,		3 9-10

STATEMENT A.

Abstract of School Commissioners' Reports, shewing the operations of the
District Free Schools, in the Counties in which they have been established,
during the year ending 30th September, 1832:

         

COUNTIES.	No. of district in each county	No. of districts in which free schools have been established.	Annual compensation allowed teachers by school commissioners.	Annual compensation allowed teachers by inhabitants.	Total annual compensation to teachers.	Whole number of children at schools.	Actual amount paid by school commissioners, to teachers, for books, &c. for poor children.	Number of poor children at schools.
Franklin,	34	8	398 00	—	—	436	342 25	154
Monroe,	31	2	—	—	—	—	54 21	10
Washington,	49	24	914 00	3167 00	4081 00	1067	566 75	248
							953 21	412

The actual payments made by school commissioners to teachers, being
$963 21, the actual cost of each poor child, for the portions of the year
for which such payments were made, will average $2 33¾.

COLLEGES.

William and Mary—This institution, which is at Williamsburg,
formerly the capitol of Virginia, and next to Harvard College, the oldest
in the United States, derives its name from William and Mary, sovereigns

of England, by whom its charter was granted in 1691. It received
with its charter a grant of £1,985, 20,000 acres of land, and a penny
a pound on tobacco exported from Virginia and Maryland; and it was further
aided by private donations, particularly by the munificence of the Hon.
Robert Boyle. In 1693, the Assembly of Virginia ordered that it should
be built at Williamsburg, and made some additional grants, so that its annual
income became upwards of £3,000; but it was subsently greatly diminished.—"The
funds," as recently stated by the President of the college,
"consist of bonds, stocks, lands, and houses, amounting in all to about
$150,000, not yielding, however, a revenue in proportion to the amount."—
"No regular list of students or graduates, has been kept till within the last
few years; the number, therefore, of alumini we cannot determine; but it
is certainly greater than from any other college south of the Potomac.—
Owing to peculiar circumstances, the graduates have always been few.
Nine-tenths of the students have gone through one course without applying
for a degree." Many of the most eminent men of Virginia were educated
here. The condition of the college, at different periods, has been very
variable; but, after a period of declension, it has had, for some years past, a
considerable degree of prosperity. It is under the legislative government
of a board of 24 trustees who supply the vacancies in their own body.

The college edifice is a large misshapen pile of buildings. The college
library contains 3,500, and the students' library, 600 volumes.

The Rev. James Blair, D. D. was named president in the charter, but is
said not to have entered upon the duties of the office till 1729; he died in
1742, and was succeeded by the Rev. William Stith, who died in 1750.—
The Rev. James Madison, D. D. (Bishop of Virginia,) was president from
1777 to 1812. His successors have been the Rev. W. H. Wilmer, Dr. J.
Augustine Smith, and the Rev. Dr. Adam Empie.

Faculty in 1833—Rev. Adam Empie, D. D., Pres & Prof. Mor. Phil.

William B. Rogers, Prof. Chemistry and Nat. Philosophy.

Dabney Brown, Prof. Humanity.

Thomas R. Dew, Prof. History, Metaphysics, &c.

Robert Saunders, Jr. Prof. Mathematics.

Beverley Tucker, Prof. Law.

Number of students in the Senior and Junior classes in 1833, 26; irregular
students 15; law students 12; academical 37; total 90. Graduates
in 1829, 5, in 1830, 7; in 1831, 15; in 1832, 11.

Commencement is on the 4th of July.—One vacation, from commencement
to the last Monday in October.

Annual Expenses—for a Junior student; board and lodging $100; washing,
fuel, candles, &c. $20; three fees for the moral, mathematical and chemical
courses, and half a fee for the metaphysical course, $70; matriculation
$5,—total $195. For a senior student $185. The law course commences
at the opening of the college, and terminates on the Saturday before
the last Monday in April. Expenses, board, washing, and fuel, $90;
tuition $20, matriculation $5;—total, $115.

The grammar school opens on the 15th of October, and closes on the 1st
of August. Expenses, board, including every thing, $100; tuition $20;—
total $120.

Hampden Sydney, in Prince Edward county:

Washington College, in Rockbridge.

Randolh Macon, at Boydton, in Mecklenburg co: are all flouriching
institutions, and a full account may be seen of them in their respective counties.
We pass on to the principal literary institution of the state, the

University of Virginia.—The legislature of Virginia at the session
of 1817-18, adopted measures for establishing an institution then proposed
to be named Central College, and 24 commissioners were appointed to select
a site for it. They accordingly selected a pleasant and elevated spot nearly
two miles from Charlottesville, in the county of Albemarle, not far from the
centre of the population of the state. Their choice was confirmed by the
legislature in 1819, and an act was passed incorporating the institution by
the title of the University of Virginia, which went into operation in 1825.
It was erected and endowed by the state; and it owes its origin and peculiar
organization chiefly to Mr. Jefferson. It has a fine collection of buildings,
consisting of four parallel ranges about 600 feet in length, and 200 feet
apart, suited to the accommodation of 9 professors and upwards of 200 students;
which together with the real estate, cost $333,996. It posseses a
very valuable library of 10,000 volumes, and a philosophical apparatus,
which together cost $36,948. The state gives annually $15,000 for the
support of the institution. The whole annual income of the University is
about $18,500. The professors are paid partly by a fixed salary and partly
by fees received from the students; but the sums which they severally
receive are widely different, varying in ordinary years from $1,600 to
$3,500.

The plan of this University differs materially from that of other institutions
of the kind in the United States. The students are not divided into
four classes, with a course of studies embracing four years; but the different
branches of science and literature here taught are styled schools, and
the student is at liberty to attend which he pleases, and graduate in each,
when prepared. The first degree was conferred in 1828—the number of
graduates in that year was 10; in 1829, 12; 1830, 30; 1831, 20; 1832, 46;
total, 118; of these 16 were graduates in ancient languages; 14 in mathematics;
23 in natural philosophy; 9 in chemistry; 17 in moral philosophy;
22 in medicine; and 17 in law. The title of "Master of Arts of the University
of Virginia," was conferred on one student at the commencement of
1832, and on several in each year since. To obtain this title it is necessary
to gradaute in the several schools of mathematics, ancient languages,
moral philosophy, natural philosophy, chemistry, and by a recent enactment
in some two of the modern languages.

                 

Number of Students in the School of	Ancient Languages, from 1825 to '33, 519—in 1833, 58
	Modern Languages, from 1825 to '33, 425—in 1833, 22
	Mathematics, from 1825 to '33, 619—in 1833, 76
	Natural Philosophy, 1825 to '33, 410—in 1833, 83
	Chemistry & Materia Medica, '33, 407—in 1833, 69
	Medicine, & Materia Medica, '33, 238—in 1833, 40
	Anatomy and Surgery, Medica, '33, 183—in 1833, 35
	Moral Philosophy, Surgery, Medica, '33, 252—in 1833, 38
	Law, Philosophy, Surgery, Medica, '33, 201—in 1833, 37

Annual Expenses.—Board, including bed, washing, and attendance, during
the session from September 10 to July 20, $100; fuel and candles $15;
room-rent $8; use of library and public rooms, $15; fees to three professessors
(to one only $50; to two, $30 each; if more than two, $25 each,)
$75; total $213.

Faculty in 1834—Gesner Harrison, Prof. Ancient Languages.

George Blætterman, Prof. Modern Languages.

Charles Bonnycastle, Prof. Mathematics.

Robert Patterson, Prof. Natural Philosophy.

John P. Emmet, Prof. Chemistry and Materia Medica.

Augustus L. Warner, Prof. Anatomy and Surgery.

Alfred T. Magill, Prof. Medicine.

George Tucker, Prof. Moral Philosophy and Political Economy.

John A. G. Davis, Prof. Law.

Chairman of the Faculty, in 1834, Professor Bonnycastle.—The chair,
man is annually chosen from the professors, by the Visitors.

Board of Visitors, in 1834, Joseph C Cabell, Rector, Chapman Johnson,
John H. Cocke, Thomas J. Randolph, W. C. Rives, and William H. Brodnax.
The Visitors are appointed by the governor and council, every four
years, and choose their own rector. A more detailed account of this institution
is given in Albemarle county.

MILITARY ORGANIZATION, ARMS, &c.

Abstract of the annual return of the Militia of the State of Virginia, for
the year 1833—viz:

           

General Staff,		104
Cavalry,		7,635
Artillery,		5,301
Grenadiers, Light Infantry, Riflemen, and Infantry of the line,		89,079
Total Militia,		102,119
Decrease during 1833,	672

Which are divided as follows:

                 

Divisions,	5
Brigades,	22
Regiments,	154
Troops of Cavalry,	110
Companies of Artillery,	72
Companies of Grenadiers,	5
Companies of Light Infantry,	74
Companies of Riflemen,	120
Companies of Infantry of the line,	927

In these divisions the officers and men, are divided thus:

                                                           

Major Generals	4
Brigadier Generals	21
Adjutant Inspector and Quarter Master General,	1
Aids-de-Camps,	29
Division Inspectors,	4
Division Quarter Masters,	4
Brigade Inspectors,	22
Brigade Quarter Masters,	19
Colonels,	139
Lieutenant Colonels,	135
Majors,	135
Adjutants,	138
Quarter Masters,	141
Paymasters,	137
Chaplains,	2
Surgeons,	138
Surgeons Mates,	130
Captains,	1080
Lieutenants,	1095
Ensigns,	588
Cornets,	77
Sergeant Majors,	126
Quarter Master Sergeants,	115
Musicians,	860
Buglers and Trumpeters,	53
Sergeants,	3642
Corporals,	2158
Privates,	91128
Commissioned Officers,	4037
Non-Commissioned Officers, Musicians and Privates,	98082

Arms, &c. in the hands of the militia, and remaining in the Lexington
Arsenal, September 30, 1833, viz:

                           

Brass four pounders,	2
Brass six pounders,	5
Iron four pounders,	5
Iron six pounders,	26
Muskets,	37181
Bayonets,	36857
Carbines,	120
Rifles,	2174
Horsemans' pistols,	1991
Cavalry swords,	2053
Artillery swords,	353
Colors,	167
Drums and fifes,	375
Bugles, Trumpets, &c. &c.	22

Reports of Arms, &c. Remaining in the Armory at Richmond, on the 30th
September, 1833—viz:

                         

Brass mortars,		2
32	pounders, brass,	6
Long 6 pounders, brass,		1
24	pounders, iron,	4
12	pounders, iron,	36
6	pounders, iron,	129
4	pounders, iron,	43
Muskets,		38,472
Rifles, Virginia manufactory,		880
Rifles, received from the U. S.		1851
Carbines,		20
Pistols,		702
Cavalry swords, &c. &c.		3126

Regulations.—An act for the better organization of the militia, passed
1833-34, revises and consolidates all the existing laws on the subject of the
militia, with amendments, of which the following are the principal provisions:
the officers are required to be trained by the commandments of regiments,
instead of by the brigade inspectors; the musters are increased, so
that there will be one regimental muster in the spring, one battalion muster
in the fall, and a company muster in the spring and fall, each making four
musters in the year; volunteer companies having two extra additional musters,
making six in the year, but the regimental courts of enquiry have the
power within any regiment to dispense with any of the extra musters if
they think proper, and the power of substituting battalion musters, in the
spring, in lieu of the regimental muster, and also to prescribe the time and
place of muster; the commandants of regiments to prescribe the time and
place of the trainings of the officers, instead of the brigadier generals, as
heretofore. All companies are to be officered with a captain, four lieutenants,
five sergeants, and six corporals each; volunteer companies are permitted
to adopt their own by-laws, and the commandants thereof to appoint
the time for their extra musters; fines for failing to attend such extra musters
to be imposed by the courts of enquiry, to be collected by the sheriffs,
and paid to the treasurers of such companies, to be disposed of by the companies
as they may deem proper; all uniformed volunteer companies to be
armed. The act exempts from militia duty, (except in time of war, insurrection
or invasion,) all members of volunteer companies who produce to
their regimental courts of enquiry, certficates from their commanding officers
of seven years service. Companies of artillery equipped with ordnance,
to be allowed one dollar per day for each horse employed in drawing
their artillery and caissons, and the governor is authorized to require any
company of artillery to perform the duties of light artillery.

The uniform of the respective corps of the militia, to be the same with
that of the United States' army, unless the governor, by proclamation, shall
otherwise order; but volunteer companies now uniformed, are not required
to change their uniform. Battalion courts of enquiry to be held in October

or November, and regimental courts in November or December; the act
authorizing boards of the officers of the different regiments to be convened
at any time to transact any other business of the regiment other than the
assessment or remission of fines. The fines on non-commissioned officers
and soldiers for failing to attend musters, to be not less than 75 cents, nor
more than three dollars for each delinquency. Musicians may be allowed by
the regimental courts of enquiry, two dollars per day for each lawful muster,
the claims to be paid by the sheriff within three months thereafter, and
provision is made for the more prompt payment than heretofore of drafts for
the purposes of the militia. One stand of colors only is allowed to each
regiment, and colors and musical instruments are not allowed oftener than
once in ten years, nor unless sanctioned by the regimental court of enquiry.
The adjutant general is allowed the brevet rank of a brigadier general.—
The executive to cause the act, together with the articles of war, to be printed,
and one copy to be furnished to each commissioned officer. The act not
to take effect till the first of January, 1835.

LUNATIC ASYLUMS.

This state has two lunatic asylums one is located in eastern Virginia, at
Williamsburg, James city county, the other in western Virginia, at Staunton,
Augusta county. There were in the lunatic hospital at Williamsburg,
on the first of January, 1834, 37 male and 18 female patients—total 55.—
During the year 1833, nine died, and three were discharged. The aggregate
expense for the support of this institution during the past year, was
$9,250 87, according to the director's report. In the lunatic hospital at
Staunton, there were on the 28th day of December, 1833, 19 male, and 18
female patients—total 37; during the same year, one died. There was expended
for the support of this establishment, during the past year, $6,078
31, according to the report of the committee.

A considerable addition is now being made to the building of the last
mentioned asylum.

PENITENTIARY.

We believe this system has been as successful in few states, as in Virginia.
The annexed table exhibits the fact that it is only necessary to send back
again one in (nearly) every twenty-one; which seems to exhibit a very successful
reformation:—whilst the reports of its fiscal concerns prove that so
far from being a burthen, it brings to the State a small annual revenue. To
punish crime, and reform the criminal, without expense to the state, is the
object in view—our system certainly attains the latter completely, and approximates,
in a very beneficial degree, to the former:

A TABLE shewing the number of convicts, received in the Penitentiary
of Virginia, from the time it was opened in 1800, with the pardons,
deaths, escapes, and discharges in each year, until the 30th of November,
1833, and the number remaining on that day.

                                                                       

YEARS.	No. received.	No. pardoned each year.	No. died each year.	No. escaped each year.	No. discharged each year.	No. in the prisons on the 1st Jan. each year.	No. received for 2d, 3d and 4th offences and included in the whole No. received.
1800	21	—	1	1	—	—
1801	23	—	1	—	10	19
1802	44	—	1	—	16	41
1803	55	3	2	—	31	68
1804	41	1	1	3	33	87
1805	50	—	1	—	21	90
1806	40	5	5	1	34	118
1807	54	18	3	—	22	113	3
1808	37	11	—	—	29	124	1
1809	40	8	1	—	31	121	4
1810	25	11	3	—	20	121	1
1811	33	10	5	—	I8	112	1
1812	50	34	—	—	11	112	5
1813	52	17	5	—	33	117	-
1814	33	23	3	—	15	114	3
1815	45	9	6	—	14	106	6
1816	74	9	3	—	26	122	6
1817	77	16	3	—	39	158	4
1818	60	9	7	—	47	171	6
1819	80	12	11	—	34	168	5
1820	93	20	9	—	44	191	5
1821	81	13	15	—	55	211	4
1822	103	20	12	—	60	209	5
1823	83	12	14	—	66	220	9
1824	62	15	16	6	45	211	4
1825	34	1	23	—	47	191	3
1826	52	6	18	—	33	154	2
1827	43	4	17	—	28	149	2
1828	50	6	17	—	21	143	1
1829	55	4	21	—	24	149	-
1830	57	4	15	—	25	155	-
1831	49	5	25	—	22	168	4
1832	43	13	51	—	20	165	1
1833	37	11	9	—	19	124	1
	1786	330	330	11	993	Av'ge,122	86

These convicts were employed in the following occupations, viz.

                                                     

Boot and Shoe making,	14
Harness making,	2
Tailoring,	10
Blacksmiths,	8
Strickers,	8
Nailors,	3
Mill Stone makers,	2
Firemen,	1
Weavers,	17
Quillers and spoolers,	5
Wool carders,	2
Wool spinners,	2
Splicers,	3
Fuller and Washer,	1
Wheelwrights,	7
Carpenters,	6
Coopers,	7
Yard hand, pumps, &c.	2
Runners,	2
Nurses,	2
Cooks,	3
Clerk,	1
Invalids,	5
Total number of men,	113
Women (all colored persons) employed sewing,	9
Total of all colors of both sexes,	122
Number of slaves for transportation,	7

The act making solitude not more than half or less than one-eigth of the
term of conviction, and requiring each person to be confined in his dark
and solitary cell for six months immediately after being received, was in
force from the 1st of March, 1824, to the 9th of March, 1826. It was then
provided, that three months of solitary confinement should be suffered at
the commencement of each person's term, and three months more at the
close. This law continued in force until the 27th February, 1829; when
it was provided that the first three months should be omitted; but the three
months at the close of the term was continued until the 9th of March,
1833, when solitude was reduced to one-twelfth part of the whole term and
not to exceed one month at any one time. The wall round the prison was
not erected till 1824.

Of the number of prisoners received into the Penitentiary from 1st October,
1832 to 30th Sept. 1833, there were for—

                           

Murder,	4
Voluntary manslaughter,	5
Unlawful stabbing,	2
Stealing free negroes,	1
Arson,	2
Robbery,	1
Stealing slaves,	1
Horse stealing,	6
Grand latceny,	10
Forgery,	2
Passing counterfeit bank notes,	3
Bigamy,	1
Felony,	6
Total,	44

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT.

Virginia is considerably behind her sisters New York and Pennsylvania
in the extent of her improvements. For this several reasons may be
assigned; first, her habitual caution and prudence in legislation, requiring
demonstration of its utility before she will embark her capital in any new
enterprize; second, the sectional jealousies of different portions of the state,
the interest of several often conflicting, with regard to any specific improvement
proposed; third, the mismanagement of her first enterprizes in
this field, have contributed to dampen her ardour ever since. Of late she
seems to be more inclined to arouse from her lethargy. There is a permanent

fund devoted to the purpose of internal improvement; by a report
in Sept. 30, 1833 this fund amounted to $1,423,661 11, to which may be
added a disposable fund of $966,847 80, [of which however $61,111 11 is
at present improductive] making in all $2,415,586 50; from which the annual
income is $144,934 00. This fund is managed by 13 directors styled
the "Board of Public Works; of which board the Governor, Treasurer,
and First Auditor are ex officio members. The board meets annually on
the first Monday in January. The members receive $4 per diem, and 20
cents a mile for travelling.

The views of Governor Tazewell upon this subject are interesting:—

"Another great Corporation connected with the fiscal concerns of the
Commonwealth, is "the Board of Public Works." This institution was
established in 1816, and endowed with all the stocks then held by the state
in different Turnpike and Canal Companies, in the Bank of Virginia and
the Farmers' Bank of Virginia, and with all the interest the state might
acquire thereafter as a bonus or premium for the incorporation of other
Banks, or for the increase of their capital, or the renewal of their charters.
These funds and their proceeds, although nominally much greater, cannot
be justly estimated, in money, at more than about two millions of dollars,
which may now, therefore, be considered as constituting the capital stock
of the Corporation. The receipts from this capital are equal to about
$115,000 annually.

"The object of this institution, was to invest its annual profits, and the proceeds
of such part of its capital as it might be thought judicious so to invest,
in any work of Internal Improvement, promising when completed, to be of
advantage to the Commonwealth, and profitable to the other proprietors of
it. But aware of the difficulties that would attend the judicious selection of
such works, the authors of the Corporation established a rule, by which it
should be governed in every case. When any work of Internal Improvement
was proposed, if after the requisite surveys of it had been made, and
its cost estimated, by officers and at the expense of the Corporation, three-fifths
of the capital deemed necessary for the completion of such a work was
subscribed by individuals, the residue was to be taken by the Corporation, and
paid for by it rateably with the sums advanced by the private stock-holders.

"If this scheme had been carried into full effect according to the original
plan, it seems quite obvious, that all the funds of the Corporation would
have been ultimately invested in the stocks of comparatively small undertakings,
to the completion of which the enterprize and unaided capital of individuals
would have been perfectly adequate: while great works, the very
magnitude of which would prevent the combination of a sufficient number of
individuals to subscribe the proportion necessary to secure the co-operation
of the state, would never have been carried into effect. Thus, while some
partial improvements might have been made, no work of general and permanent
utility would have been accomplished, and the great object of the Corporation
must have been defeated. The discovery of this was at last made;
but not until more than $900,000 of the capital of the institution had been
invested in undertakings since abandoned, or in those the profits of which
are quite inconsiderable, or much less than the average rate of profit in the
country generally.

"To remedy this defect, a modification of the original plan was adopted.
The Commonwealth assumed upon itself, exclusively, the completion of certain
great Internal Improvements, in which, from their very nature, the cooperation

of a sufficient number of individuals could not be expected, leaving
all others, deemed of less general utility, to the support of the Board of Public
Works. Thus the subject of Internal Improvement has become divided
into parts—in one of which the state is concerned exclusively, while in the
other, the Board of Public Works is but a co-partner with individuals.

"The effect of this division of the public interests, has been attended with
some hazard already, and unless much discretion is used hereafter, will be
ruinous to the Board of Public Works, and seriously oppressive to the state
itself. The funds of the Corporation not being equal to the immediate accomplishment
of all the great objects in which the Commonwealth was concerned
exclusively, and to the advancement, at the same time, of the others
in which the Board of Public Works was interested as a co-partner with individuals,
to supply the deficiency, resort was had to loans. The payment
of the interest and the reimbursement of the principal of these loans were
charged, in the first instance, upon the stock for the benefit of which the
loans had been effected, but should this prove insufficient, the funds of the
Board of Public Works were made subject to these payments; and should
a deficiency still exist, the Treasury itself was made accountable for it.

"The example of relying upon loans for the accomplishment of such public
works being once set, was soon followed in the case of works to be constructed
at the joint charge of the state and of individuals. Large sums have
been borrowed to enable the payment of the subscription of the Corporation
to these works also. The payment of the interest and the reimbursement
of the principal of these loans, were charged, in like manner, upon the corporate
funds, in the first instance, but should these prove insufficient, the
Treasury itself, as before, is made chargeable with any deficiency.

"Thus it has happened, that while a considerable portion of the capital of
this Corporation has been invested in stocks absolutely unproductive, or
very nearly so, the whole of this capital is now charged with the payment
of the interest and reimbursement of the principal of large debts, for which
the Treasury itself is ultimately liable. As yet, the income of the Corporation
is equal to the satisfaction of all its expenses, and to the payment of
the interest charged upon it. It is believed also, that the capital is sufficient
to discharge the principal of all these debts. But should any additional
burthen be imposed upon this Corporation, at this time, it is probable
that its means would not suffice to meet all its engagements, without impairing
this capital. In that event, it is obvious that ere long, the whole
weight of all these engagements must fall upon the Treasury, when to preserve
the credit of the state, new and burthensome taxes must be imposed
upon the people.

"To prevent such a result, I recommend to you most earnestly, that no
new charge be imposed upon this Corporation, at present. In a few years,
it is expected very confidently, that all the works in which it is concerned
and which are now in progress, will be completed. Unless individuals
have been greatly deceived in their estimates of the effects of these works,
the funds invested in them will then become productive. The profits of
this capital, or its proceeds will then enable the easy and speedy reimbursement
of the debts with which the Corporation is now charged. The whole
funds of the Board will then become applicable to other undertakings; and
the work of Internal Improvement may again proceed with increased vigor
and advantage. But if a different course is pursued, the ruin of this Corporation
may be the too probable consequence—grievous taxation must follow

as the necessary effect of its ruin; and the work of Internal Improvement
will receive a shock from which it will not recover for a long period.

"As a fiscal agent, the Board of Public Works has been, and under judicious
management will continue to be, of great advantage to the Commonwealth.
So long as its plans meet public approbation, it will call into
useful action the unemployed capital of individuals, making this productive
to its proprietors, and beneficial to the community. The very debts which
it may be compelled to contract occasionally, will effect all the beneficial
results, without producing any of the evils attendant upon a public debt—
provided they are confined to a limit, within which the income of the Corporation,
after satisfying its expenses, will certainly pay the interest, and its
capital surely reimburse the principal. But if a different course is adopted,
this Institution, instead of being an useful fiscal agent, will be worse than
useless. It will then become positively mischievous, acting as a perpetual
drain of the Treasury and exhausting its funds, repleted often as its coffers
must be, by heavy exactions from the people."

Navigation East of the Appalachian System.—The eastern part of Virginia
is peculiarly favored in facilities for water transportation, in the immense
and deep bay of Chesapeake and its large tributaries, the James, the
York, the Rappahannock, and the Potomac. The earth affords no other
instance of so great a physical change in so short a distance, as that between
the shallow sounds of North Carolina, and the deep water of the Chesapeake;
in the latter the largest ships of war have adequate depth almost to
the very verge of the primitive rock; ships of the line ascend the main bay
nearly to its head,—the Potomac to Alexandria,—some distance into York
river,—and up James river to the mouth of Nansemond; sloops drawing
six or seven feet water penetrate into innumerable creeks upon both sides
of the bay. Nature seems also to have been especially liberal to this state
in the peculiar direction of the channels of her rivers, making her eastern
border a common recipient of all flowing east of the Appalachian System.
The rivers of Georgia and the Carolinas, from Alatamaha to Cape Fear
inclusive (and we might say without much violence to Roanoke) flow S. E.
or S. S. E.: but from the southern border of Virginia to the Susquehannah
they flow east, and the latter river south. Much has been done to improve
the navigation in eastern Virginia, but little when compared with
the extent of country and the number of lines of communication inviting attention.

James River is navigable for vessels of 250 tons to Warwick, and 125
tons to Rocket's, the port of Richmond. At that city commences the falls
or rapids, to pass which by a navigable canal, the old James River Company
was chartered in 1784, and were collecting tolls in the year 1794.
(See Richmond, Henrico County.) The Richmond canal entered a basin
on the western side of the city, it was 25 feet wide, and 3 deep, and extended
originally 2½ miles to its junction with the river, in which space there are
12 locks, and a fall of 180 feet. Three miles above the falls there was another
short canal, with 3 locks, overcoming a fall of 34 feet. These canals and
locks, with other slight improvements opened a tolerable navigation of 12
inches water to Lynchburg. In 1825 the James River Company declared
canal navigation complete to the head of Maiden's Adventure falls, in Goochland
County, a distance of 30½ miles from Richmond. The width of the
canal is 40 feet, depth of water 3½ feet, and the expense was $623,225; the
fall overcome was 140½ feet. This last improvement was probably in proportion

to its magnitude the most promptly executed work at that time accomplished
in the United States. Besides these there is another canal
through the Blue Ridge, about 7 miles long, and 30 feet wide, overcoming
a fall of 100 feet.

James River and Kanawha Communication.—The necessity of opening
a complete communication between the Ohio and Chesapeake by this line,
has been felt by all classes in Virginia, indeed it is admitted that without it
she must sink to a very low ebb when compared with her more enterprising
sisters, in wealth, population, and importance. There has already been expended
on this line of improvement $1,274,583, of which $638,883 86,
have been expended on the lower James River Canal, the old and new improvements,—$365,207
02 on the mountain canal,—$87,389,81 on the
Kanawha,—and $171,982 49 on turnpike roads and bridges from Covington
to the Kanawha; but these improvements though of great local advantage
to the sections of country in which they are situated, by no means establish
a continuous communication. To effect this all-important object the
Legislature in 1831-2, granted a charter of incorporation to the James
River and Kanawha Company, with a capital of $5,000,000. This charter
was at first liberal, but has since been most particularly and specially
favored by the Legislature, for the purpose of inducing individual subscription;
exempting the shares from taxation, making the charter perpetual,
allowing the Banks to subscribe, and subscribing for the state an amount
far beyond her usual proportion in improvements, &c. These advantages,
and the unremitting exertions of some patriotic citizens, have (it is believed)
procured the necessary amount of subscriptions, and it is probable that the
noble work will be commenced in the spring of 1835. No human foresight
can see the limit of the advantages attendant on its success, or the evils of
its failure.[12]

Dismal Swamp Canal is another important improvement, it is said to
have been the first canal commenced in the United States, and nearly the
last finished,—it is 22½ miles in length, 40 feet wide, and 6½ deep, it passes
from Deep creek to Joyce's creek at the head of Pasquotank river, and connects
the waters of the Chesapeake with those of Albemarle sound, it is

partly in Virginia and partly in North Carolina. This canal was finished,
upon a circumscribed plan in 1822. Its dimensions have since been enlarged.
Every quarter of a mile, the canal is widened to 60 feet for turnout
stations. The locks newly constructed correspond in dimensions with
those of the Chesapeake and Delaware canal; and the old ones may be so
altered when necessary, without great difficulty. The summit level is 16½
feet above the Atlantic at mid-tide, and is supplied by a feeder of five miles'
length from lake Drummond. The basin at Deep creek, is half a mile in
length, and 15 feet above the level of tide-water. The Northwest canal
connects Northwest river [which empties into Currituck sound in N. Carolina]
with the main canal, requiring a cut of 6 miles. This canal is 24 feet
wide, and 4 feet deep.

The Appomatox has been improved from its mouth 10 miles to Fisher's
bar, and around the falls 5 or 6 miles above Petersburg.

Danville and Dan river canals are a series of improvements upon the

upper branches of the Roanoke river, upon which in Virginia and North
Carolina, the Roanoke company have expended about $350,000.

Shenandoah Canals are on the river of that name, and near Port Republic
in Rockingham county. A fall of 50 feet is overcome by six short canals
with stone locks; by which this river is rendered navigable nearly 200
miles.

The Rappahannock has been improved by locks, dams, and canals, from
Fredericksburg to Fox's mills, about 40 miles. This work was done by a
joint stock company—$30,000 of the stock belonging to individuals, and
$20,000 to the state.

North-Western Turnpike. We extract an account of this road from Gov.
Tazewell's first message, sent to the Legislature Dec. 1st, 1834:

"Another great Corporation in which the Commonwealth is exclusively
concerned, is that styled `The President and Directors of the North-Western
Turnpike Road.' This was created by an act pased in the year 1831.
Its object was, to construct a road from the town of Winchester, in the
county of Frederick, to some point on the Ohio River to be thereafter selected;
and the Corporation was authorized to borrow, on the credit of the State,
a sum or sums of money not exceeding $125,000, for the accomplishment of
the object of its creation. During the last session of the General Assembly,

an act was passed, empowering the Corporation to borrow, on the credit
of the Commonwealth, for the purpose of the road, a further sum not
exceeding $86,000.

"Under the authority given to it by these several acts, the Corporation
has borrowed the sum of $121,000 only, as yet, which may be considered
as the present capital stock of this institution. For the payment of the interest,
and the final redemption of the principal of all the sums borrowed,
the nett proceeds and surplus tolls which may arise from the road, after
keeping the same in repair, were pledged and appropriated, by the terms of
the charter. But should these funds be found inadequate, the General Assembly
has stipulated to provide other and sufficient revenues for these purposes;
and until such other sufficient funds shall be provided by law, so
much of the revenue of the Board of Public Works, not otherwise appropriated,
is pledged, as may be necessary to supply the deficiency.

"Although great progress has been made towards the completion of this
work, it is not yet finished. No profits, therefore, have been derived from
it; but it has hitherto acted as a drain of the income of the Board of Public
Works, whose revenue is bound to provide for the payment of the interest
on the capital borrowed. It is expected, however, that this improvement will
be so far completed during the next year, that it may then be made productive;
and when finished, but little doubt is entertained, that the income derived
from its tolls, will not only keep it in repair, and satisfy the interest on
the capital borrowed to construct the work, but will suffice, in time, to reimburse
the lenders of this capital. It will then become a valuable fiscal
agent."

Railroads, though but of late introduction into the United States, have
attracted considerable attention in Virginia; one has been lately executed
styled the Chesterfield Railroad, near Richmond. The results of this road
are more brilliant in proportion to its extent, than those of any similar work
in the Union. It is about 13 miles long, and connects the coal-mines of
Chesterfield with tide-water. The whole capital invested in it, including
cars for transportation, stables, horses, &c. was $150,000. The trade on
it is already 50,000 tons per annum, and the receipts for transportation during
the year 1833 were $70,000. The stock is of course at a high premium.

The Petersburg and Roanoke Railroad was the second which went into
operation in the state, which it did in midsummer 1833; the cars running
daily between its extreme points. This road commences at Petersburg, and
extends 60 miles a little W. of S. to Weldon, in N. Carolina, and the foot
of the falls of Roanoke river; the line is very direct, and the graduation in
no place exceeds 30 feet per mile, and the curves have radii of from 2 to 4
miles. Great part of the profit arising from this road is derived from the
transportation of persons. The work was began on the line in 1831, and
completed June, 1833, aggregate cost $450,000. Before the construction
of this road Norfolk had always been regarded as the proper depot and outlet
for the trade of the Roanoke valley, and would no doubt have become
possessed of it by improvements connected with her Dismal Swamp Canal;
but this road having arrested most of the trade and carried it to Petersburg,
the country about Norfolk procured at the session of 1833-4 the passage
of an act authorizing the Portsmouth and Roanoke Railroad, which is to
terminate at the same point on the Roanoke with the Petersburg road, and
which is now under contract. The construction of the Portsmouth road
will probably carry the trade to the seaboard, to avoid the tedious navigation

of the James river, after it reaches Petersburg,—unless there should be a
road made from Richmond to Petersburg, (which is spoken of) by which
the trade coming by this route would have the advantage of the market of
both cities. We can scarcely believe that there will be trade enough to
employ profitably, both roads, as some suppose, but the travelling alone will
always enable the Petersburg road to pay something to its owners.

The Winchester Railroad, connecting the flourishing town of Winchester,
with the Baltimore and Ohio railroad at Harper's Ferry, is rapidly progressing,
and nearly completed.

The Richmond and Fredericksburg Railroad company have the law, and
will probably soon have the funds necessary for its completion, as the trade
would be considerable, and the travelling immense.

The following list exhibits a number of projected improvements, for which
the state has granted charters, and authorised a subscription of two fifths,
on the part of the literary fund, as soon as the individual subscription should
make up the other three-fifths, some of these improvements are now going
on actively, but in the most of them the stock has not as yet we believe been
taken:

                           

Name of Companies	Date of Act	Capital	Two-fifths.
Thoroughfare gap turnpike company,	13th Feb. 1833,	31000	12400
Lexington and Mountain canal turnpike co.	12th Feb. 1833,	10000	4000
Winchester and Potomac railroad co.	31st Jan. 1833,	300000	120000
Huntersville and Warm spring turnpike co.	20th Mar. 1832,	16000	6400
Thornton's gap and Warrenton turnpike co.	1st Mar. 1833,	30000	12000
Danville and Evansham turnpike co.	28th Feb. 1833,	50000	20000
Staunton and Jennings's gap turnpike co.	7th Mar. 1833,	6000	2400
Fincastle and Blue Ridge turnpike co.	26th Feb. 1833,	8000	3200
Smithfield, Charlestown and Harper's ferry turnpike company, (additional sub)	25th Feb. 1833,	10000	4000
Staunton & James river turnpike co., (additional sub)	7th Feb. 1833,	50000	20000
Rivanna and Fredericksburg turnpike co.	28th Jan. 1833,	30000	12000
Millborough and Carr's creek turnpike co.	22d Dec. 1832,	5000	2000
		$546000	$218400

Since this article was sent to press we have received the following table,
shewing the state of the Internal Improvement Fund at a much later date:

State of the Fund for Internal Improvement, 30th September, 1834.

                       

Productive.	Unproductive.		Totals.
Permanent funds, (as per statement B,)
Bank stocks and loans, and James river company's stock,	1,345,900 00		1,673,661 11
Internal improvement companies,	29,150 00	298,611 11
Disposable funds, (as per statement C,)
Bank stocks and loans,	185,373 03	50,000 00	1,159,601 43
Internal improvement companies,	230,575 00	593,653 40
	1,890,998 03	942,264 51
Total investments,			2,833,262 54
Cash in the treasury:
Belonging to the permanent funds, $30,496 30, and to the disposable funds, $15,243 53,			45,739 83
Total amount of the fund for internal improvement,			$2,879,002 37

           

The receipts into the treasury from 1st October, 1833, to 30th September, 1834, including the balance on hand the first mentioned date ($25,077 59) amounted to	338,190 64
The disbursements during the same period were,	292,450 81
Leaving in the treasury, as above stated,	$45,739 83
The probable receipts during the year ending 30th September, 1835, including the present balance on hand, will amount to	288,227 83
The probable charges and appropriations, under present engagements, will be,	353,600 27
Leaving a probable deficiency of	$65,372 44

Permanent Funds, 30th September, 1834.

                             

125½	shares in the Little river turnpike company, at par,	12,550 00
250	shares in the James river turnpike co., at par,	50,000 00
7947	shares in the Bank of Virginia, at par,	794,700 00
3381	shares in the Farmers' Bank of Virginia, at par,	338,100 00
900	shares in the Bank of the Valley, at par,	90,000 00
231	shares in the North-western bank of Virginia, at par,	23,100 00
82	shares in the Swift run gap turnpike co., at par,	4,100 00
125	shares in the Upper Appomattox co., at par,	12,500 00
	Certificates of James river co. 6 per cent. loans,	50,000 00
	Amount producing revenue,		1,375,050 00
70	shares in the Dismal swamp canal company, at par,	17,500 00
70	shares in the Chesapeake and Ohio canal company, (formerly stock of Potomac co.)	31,111 11
2500[13]	shares in the Chesapeake and Ohio canal company, (state subscription of 1833,)	250,000 00
	Amount unpxoductive,		298,611 11
	Total amount,		[14] $1,673,661 11

Disposable Funds in Stocks and Loans, 30th September, 1834.

                                                                                               

Stocks acquired by the application of the income of the fund for internal improvement, and disposable according to the 13th section of the act creating that fund, and by loans obtained under special acts of Assembly, viz.
61	shares in the Farmers' bank of Virginia,	at par,			6,100 00
100	shares in the Bank of the Valley,	at par,			10,000 00
418	shares in the Bank of Virginia,	at par,			41,800 00
500	shares in the Bank of United States, (loaned Dismal swamp canal company,)	at par,			50,000 00
34	shares in the James river company,	at par,			6,800 00
200	shares in the Staunton and James river turnpike company,	at par,			20,000 00
300	shares in the Lynehburg and Salem turnpike company,	at par,			30,000 00
140	shares in the Ashby's gap turnpike company,	at par,			14,000 00
371½	shares in the Shepherdstown and Smithfield turnpike company,	at par,			18,575 00
800	shares in the Roanoke navigation company,	at par,			80,000 00
160	shares in the Jackson's river turnpike company,	at par,			8,000 00
1600	shares in the Petersburg railroad company,	at par,			160,000 00
	Loans to the Dismal swamp canal company, at 6 per cent.				65,500 00
	United States 5 per cent. stock of 1821,	at par,			5,173 03
	Amount of productive stock,				515,948 03
	Loan to Richmond dock company, at 6 per cent.	at par,	37,500 00
375	shares in the Bank of Virginia, (loaned to Richmond dock company,)	at par,	12,500 00
				50,000 00
160	shares in the Lower Appomatox company,	at par,		16,000 00
126	shares in the Berryville turnpike company,	at par,		6,300 00
50	shares in the Cartersville bridge company,	at par,		5,000 00
186	shares in the Dismal swamp canal company,	at par,		46,500 00
160	shares in the Fairfax turnpike company,	at par,		5,400 00
643	shares in the Fallsbridge turnpike company,	at par,		32,000 00
300	shares in the Fauquier and Alexandria turnpike company,	at par,		30,000 00
672	shares in the Leesburg turnpike company,	at par,		33,600 00
80	shares in the Manchester and Petersburg turnpike company,	at par,		8,000 00
239	shares in the Middle turnpike company,	at par,		23,900 00
1000	shares in the Richmond dock company,	at par,		62,500 00
400	shares in the Snicker's gap turnpike company,	at par,		20,000 00
920	shares in the Swift run gap turnpike company,	at par,		46,000 00
48	shares in the Tye river and Blue ridge turnpike company,	at par,		2,400 00
	Amount carried over			387,800 00
	Amount brought over,			387,800 00	515,948 03
140	shares in the Monongalia navigation company,	at par,		8,180 00
69	shares in the Slate river company,	at par,	(still due, $4,692 00,)	2,208 00
200	shares in the Leesburg and Snicker's gap turnpike company,	at par,	(still due, 7,500 00,)	12,500 00
280	shares in the Lexington and Covington turnpike company,	at par,	(still due, 1,620 00,)	12,680 00
3800	shares in the Portsmouth and Roanoke railroad company,	at par,	(still due, 95,000 00,)	95,000 00
260	shares in the Rappahannock company,	at par,	(still due, 3,000 00,)	23,000 00
600	shares in the Rivanna navigation company,	at par,	(still due, 3,926 37,)	26,073 63
280	shares in the Smithfield, Charlestown and Harper's ferry turnpike company,	at par,	(still due, 1,750 00,)	12,250 00
240	shares in the Warm springs and Harrisonburg turnpike company,	at par,	(still due, 4,500 00,)	7,500 00
	shares in the Wellsburg and Washington turnpike company,	at par,	(still due, 471 56,)	6,661 77
4800	shares in the Winchester and Potomac railroad company,	at par,	(still due, 70,000 00,)	50,000 00
	Amount unproductive,		still due,		643,653 40
	Total amount of disposable funds,				$1,159,601 43

RECAPITULATION.

                         

In James river company shares,		6,800 00
Bank stocks,	57,900 00
Ditto, (loaned out,)	87,500 00
		145,400 00
United States stock,		5,173 03
Loans of money,		78,000 00
			235,373 03
Subscriptions to improvement companies,			924,228 40
As above,			$1,159,601 43
Note.—Variations since 30th September, 1833, viz:
Amount as then reported,		966,847 80
Add instalments on subscriptions paid during the year,		192,753 63
As above,		$1,159,601 43

MANUFACTURES.

Few countries possess greater advantages than Virginia, for success in
manufacturing; she has labour sufficiently cheap and abundant, inexhaustible
supplies of fuel, and almost unlimited water-power. But planting
and farming continue the favourite pursuits; her citizens seeming unwilling
to invest their capital in enterprizes new and hazardous, and for which
they have not been rendered competent by their habits and education.
There are however extremely valuable flour mills, and some nail, cotton
and other manufactories at Richmond, of which a more detailed account
will be given when we speak of that city. In speaking of Wheeling in
the N. W. part of the state, we shall give an account of her manufactories
of cotton and woollen cloths, glass, iron, nails, porter, &c. which are numerous
and valuable. The salt works on the Kanawha produce annually
about 12,00,000 bushels of salt, and the amount is only limited by the demand;
those on Holston produce from 150,000 to 200,000; and there are
others on a smaller scale which will be noticed in their proper places.

AGRICULTURE.

There is great diversity in the agriculture of the state, but it is for the
most part badly conducted. The old practice of cultivating land every
year until exhausted, and then leaving it to recover from its own resources,
still continues in many places. In others the three shift system prevails;—
that is first a crop of Indian corn, sceond, wheat, rye or oats, and third—the
year of rest as it is erroneously called, but in which in fact the stock are
permitted to glean a scanty subsistence from the spontaneous vegetation;—
after which it is again subjected to the scourging process of cultivation,
while little attention is paid to the application of manures or the artificial
grasses. This destructive system for the most part prevails from the sea
board to the head of tide-water, and on the south side of James River to the
Blue Ridge. On the north side of that river, especially towards the Potomac,
cultivation is much better; a regular system of rotation in crops is attended
to; grass seeds, generally red clover, (trifolium pratense) are sown
on the small grain; animal and vegetable manures are saved with care and
judiciously applied, gypsum is used to great extent and with very powerful
effect. In the valley district, also a good system of cultivation is pursued;
and irrigated meadows are common, and very productive. On both sides of
the Blue Ridge, maize or Indian corn, wheat, rye, oats, and buck wheat
are the principal grain crops. Tobacco is the principal staple of most of
eastern Virginia, but in the Valley is cultivated only in its southern portion,—and
not at all beyond the Alleghany. The grasses common to both
regions are the red clover (trifolium pratense,) orchard grass (dactylis glomerata)
timothy (phleum pratensa,) and herds grass, (alopecurus pratensis,)
the two former are cultivated on dry, the latter on moist soils. In the
eastern and southern counties, cotton is planted to considerable extent. On
the shores of the Chesapeake barley and the castor oil bean (ricinus communis)
are cultivated; and on some of the best lands above tide-water hemp
is raised to advantage.

The Trans-Alleghany country, being exceedingly mountainous, and remote
from market is chiefly devoted to raising live-stock. No more grain
is raised than is sufficient to supply the country itself, and the travellers
and stock-drovers who pass through it; but in summer the visitors of the

mineral waters, afford a very considerable market, consuming an immense
quantity of provisions. The climate and soil are very favourable to grass,
and afford excellent pastures. The greensward and white clover, (trifolium
ripens) spring up spontaneously wherever the timber is removed or deadened,
and on rich ground are very luxuriant. The cattle are fattened generally
on fine pastures of clover and timothy mixed.

It is difficult to speak with precision of the profits of agriculture in Virginia,
in many instances it yields a bare subsistence to the cultivator, in
others a neat income of two or three per cent; but where the lands are in
good heart, careful and judicious husbandry practised, and wheat and tobacco
the principal crops, there is no doubt that with slave labour a profit
of from 6 to 8 per cent may be annually realized from capital invested; to
accomplish this however, great attention and activity are necessary on the
part of the proprietor. Lands in the Valley, in consequence of there being
fewer slaves, are more equally divided among the whites; the young population
settle more at home, instead of moving to the west—and the lands are
generally better cultivated: these circumstances cause land to sell generally
higher in that section, and the country to be more prosperous, although
running streams are less frequent and communication with market more
difficult and expensive.

In 1831 according to official returns 4459 hogshead of tobacco were delivered
from the several warehouses in the state for exportation or manufacture,
and during the year ending in June 1832, upwards of 544,000 barrels
of flour passed the various inspections. The quantity of flour inspected
however constitutes but a very uncertain index of the amount produced.
Virginia flour, especially the Richmond brands, stand very high in foreign
markets, and in South America particularly, bear a price far above all other
flour. Most of the vegetable productions found in the southern and middle
states are common also to Virginia. West of the Alleghany the sugar
maple grows in abundance. There are some excellent native grapes, the
culture of which it is presumed will claim greater attention, since the winters
have been found too severe for the foreign vine. The subject of judicious
and scientific agriculture is receiving more attention every day.
The good work is promoted by agricultural societies, and Mr. Edmund Ruffin's
valuable production, the Farmer's Register, decidedly the best work
upon the subject, published in America.

COMMERCE.

The value of imports into the state of Virginia, between October 1st 1830,
and September 30th 1831, was $488,522, and the domestic produce exported
amounted to $4,149,986,—foreign produce exported $489,—total exports
$4,150,475. This immense difference between the imports and exports is
made up by imports from sister states, the precise amount of which it is impossible
to ascertain, but there is always a balance against us to the credit
of our northern friends.

At the same time the amount of tonnage employed was as follows:—

American entered, 2,2933, foreign entered, 9,983—total entered, 32,916.

American departed, 48,719, foreign departed, 11,879—total departed, 60,598.

FISCAL CONCERNS.

We give below from the last Treasurer's Report, the state of the Finances
of the Commonwealth on the termination of the last Fiscal Year.

Amount of Receipts and Disbursements on account of the Commonwealth,
in the Fiscal Year, ending with the 30th September, 1834.—Also the
balances to the credit of the Commonwealth at the commencement of the
year.

RECEIPTS.

                                       

To balance on hand 1st day of October, 1833, as per last annual report,		$185221 69
To amounts received in fiscal year, ending with 30th September, 1834, on the following accounts, viz;
Arrears of taxes,	2229 07
Clerks of county and corporation courts,	6777 80
Clerks of superior courts,	7248 90
Clerks of appeals,	199 50
Inspectors of tobacco,	4573 32
Miscellaneous receipts,	7542 68
Militia fines,	8867 59
Notarial seals,	3086 69
Privy seals,	53 20
Penitentiary agent,	7000 00
Register of the land office,	5111 15
Revenue taxes of 1833,	318272 74
Revenue taxes of 1834,	23630 64
Redemption of land,	5496 94
Unappropriated land,	2135 19
Washington monument fund,	1109 42
To amount received in fiscal year, ending the 30th Sept. 1834,		403334 83
		$588556 52

Receipts in each quarter,—1st, $324897 88, 2d, 25937 43; 3d, 35079 39;
4th, 17420 13.

DISBURSEMENTS.

By amounts disbursed in fiscal year, ending with 30th September, 1834,
on the following accounts, viz:

                                                                             

Arsenals,	5951 70
Criminal charges,	32240 20
Contingent fund,	13828 60
Contingent expenses courts,	22625 38
Civil prosecutions,	47 15
Cavalry equipments,	1084 43
Expenses representation,	599 75
General appropriation,	24417 91
General account revenue,	28031 00
General Assembly,	90140 88
Guards in the country,	1821 99
Interest on public debt,	2372 35
Interest on Chesapeake and Ohio canal stock,	12588 91
Jerman Baker,	1 80
Lunatic hospitals,	34500 00
Militia fines,	10641 67
Military contingent,	1668 76
Manufactory of arms,	1280 00
Officers of government,	78815 24
Officers of militia,	3707 40
Officers of penitentiary,	7826 32
Penitentiary criminal charges,	4754 27
Penitentiary house expenses,	3010 96
Penitentiary building,	8319 43
Pensioners,	2308 42
Public guard,	19224 92
Public warehouses,	2842 72
Public roads,	2000 00
Revolutionary half pay claims,	12167 00
Repairs of governor's house,	937 06
Repairs of the armony,	1515 01
Sinking fund,	132 90
Slaves executed,	3222 00
Slaves transported,	11190 00
Washington monument fund,	1000 00
Warrants on account,	4121 07
By amount disbursed in fiscal year, ending 30th Sept., 1834,		472337 20
By balance on hand 1st October, 1834,		116219 32
		$588556 52

Balances at the end of each quarter, 1st, $394876 48; 2nd, $252352 75;
3d, $177568 17; 4th, $116219 32.

REVENUE.

The following table taken from the last Auditor's Report, exhibits the
amount of Taxes arising on Lots, Lands, Slaves, Horses, Carriages,
and on Licenses to Merchants, Pedlars, Keepers of Ordinaries and Houses
of Entertainment, and Exhibitors of Shows, &c. for 1834:

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Counties.	Totals
Aecomack,	$3170 68
Albemarle,	6908 33
Alleghany,	488 24
Amelia,	2889 24
Amherst,	3116 85
Augusta,	6717 19
Bath,	848 07
Bedford,	4613 99
Berkeley,	3267 48
Botetourt,	3760 37
Brooke,	1287 74
Brunswick,	3751 56
Buckingham,	5132 87
Cabell,	635 66
Campbell,	6697 10
Caroline,	4533 33
Charles City,	1413 74
Charlotte,	4361 41
Chesterfield,	5252 08
Culpeper,	3330 94
Cumberland,	2985 88
Dinwiddie,	7042 78
Elizabeth City,	866 58
Essex,	2423 37
Fairfax,	2996 18
Fauquier,	7344 28
Fayette,	215 94
Floyd,	326 31
Fluvanna,	2132 60
Franklin,	2194 36
Frederick,	9119 67
Giles,	553 23
Gloucester,	2172 50
Goochland,	3407 87
Grayson,	468 97
Greenbrier,	1671 97
Greensville,	1983 27
Halifax,	6178 43
Hampshire,	2411 92
Hanover,	4689 40
Hardy,	2609 49
Harrison,	1708 27
Henrico,	14106 68
Henry,	1201 96
Isle of Wight,	$1876 54
Jackson,	227 22
James City,	670 28
Jefferson,	4848 08
Kanawha,	1585 13
King George,	1760 75
King William,	2563 03
King and Queen,	2296 31
Lancaster,	989 79
Lee,	650 61
Lewis,	689 91
Logan,	176 84
Loudoun,	8817 32
Louisa,	3840 38
Lunenburg,	2452 17
Madison,	2211 51
Mason,	799 17
Matthews,	950 07
Mecklenburg,	5104 96
Middlesex,	806 90
Monongalia,	1392 52
Monroe,	1203 65
Montgomery,	1289 69
Morgan,	536 84
Nansemond,	2064 18
Nelson,	2787 08
New Kent,	1257 88
Nicholas,	303 36
Norfolk County,	3728 33
Norfolk Borough,	5723 80
Northampton,	1982 74
Northumberland,	1242 08
Nottoway,	2580 87
Ohio,	2819 25
Orange,	3852 50
Page,	1341 42
Patrick,	849 31
Pendleton,	1090 98
Pittsylvania,	5265 82
Pocahontas,	373 29
Powhatan,	2792 87
Preston,	492 27
Princess Anne,	1907 50
Prince Edward,	3814 89
Prince George,	1941 49
Prince William,	$2668 48
Randolph,	639 47
Rappahannock,	1898 13
Richmond,	1177 08
Rockbridge,	3195 27
Rockingham,	4928 04
Russell,	669 51
Scott,	524 63
Shenandoah,	3534 16
Southampton,	3096 28
Spottsylvania,	4103 58
Stafford,	2025 81
Surry,	$1257 49
Sussex,	2711 55
Smyth,	989 04
Tazewell,	727 55
Tyler, (no returns,)
Warwick,	350 74
Washington,	2286 10
Westmoreland,	1560 26
Williamsburg,	382 16
Wood,	1190 11
Wythe,	1901 42
York,	823 45
Total amount of taxes included in above table,	$291580 67

                               

Tax on licenses to merchants, brokers, jewellers and auctioneers,	68346 66
Tax on licenses to pedlars,	6455 42
Tax on licenses to ordinary keepers,	16636 41
Tax on licenses to houses of private entertainment,	3305 20
Tax on licenses to venders of lottery tickets,	4129 69
Tax on licenses to shows,	2310 00
		101283 38
		392864 05
Deduct as the estimated amount of insolvents, overcharges, unascertained lands, and lands purchased for the commonwealth,		3000 00
		389864 05
Deduct sheriffs' commissions of 5 per cent.	19493 20
Deduct sheriffs' commissions of 2½ per cent. for prompt payment,	6871 09
		26364 29
		363499 76
Add estimated nett amount from the county of Tyler,		580 00
		$364079 76

BANKS.

State of the Bank of the Valley, including its Officers of Discount and
Deposite, on the 2d day of December, 1833.

                           

Specie,	$133,257 33
Notes of other banks,	127,398 94
Due from other banks,	222,823 50
Bills and notes discounted,	1,229,233 75
Bond account,	1,036 88
Real estate,	80,445 91
	$1,794,196 31
Capital stock,	690,000 00
Notes in circulation,	875,185 00
Due to other banks,	12,068 27
Discount,	31,461 52
Contingent fund,	34,738 17
Deposite money,	150,743 35
	$1,794,196 31

State of the North-western Bank of Virginia, at Wheeling, November
28th, 1833.

                                               

Capital stock Branch at Wellsburg,			$50,000 00
Bills discounted,	bad 1,100 00		366,306 74
	in suit 19,575 62
Real Estate,			2,820 00
Due by Commonwealth of Virginia,			770 00
Due by other banks,			18,782 06
Due by expense account,			539 25
Specie on hand,			36,674 00
Office notes,			1,530 00
Notes of other banks,			89,268 00
Bank notes stolen,		68,456 00
Bank notes recovered,		35,882 00
		32,574 00
Specie stolen,		840 00	33,414 00
			$600,104 05
Capital stock,			624,500 00
Bills in circulation,			179,450 00
Profit and loss,			9,040 14
Discount received and premiums,			8,886 65
Due to Union Bank of Maryland, loan,			20,000 00
Due to S. Jacob, cashier at Wellsburg,			377 14
Due to other banks,			50,900 39
Deposites,			66,949 73
			600,104 05

State of the North-western Bank of Virginia, Wellsburg Branch, November
30th, 1833.

                           

Bills discounted, (no bad or doubtful debts)	94,231 29
Due by other banks,	12,539 84
Due by John List, Cashier,	287 72
Due by expense account,	220 68
Specie on hand	19,877 52
Notes of other banks,	30,628 00
	$157,785 05
Capital stock,	50,000 00
Bills in circulation,	86,920 00
Profit and loss,	1,372 38
Discounts received and premiums,	2,183 33
Due to other banks,	5,429 23
Due to depositors,	11,880 11
	$157,785 07

Detailed statement of the Bank of Virginia, and its several Branches,
January 1st, 1834.

                                                                                                                                                               

[15] Debt outstanding:
Richmond,	2,498,175 44
Norfolk,	726,273 81
Petersburg,	1,037,956 94
Fredericksburg,	648,335 12
Lynchburg,	681,046 79
Danville,	340,529 22
Charleston,	268,085 13
	$6,200,402 45
Specie:
Richmond	179,076 16
Norfolk,	16,943 83
Petersburg,	86,750 15
Fredericksburg,	45,363 60
Lynchburg,	16,366 84
Danville,	55,561 85
Charleston,	35,863 40
	$435,925 83
Notes of other banks:
Richmond,	24,155 00
Norfolk,	33,745 00
Petersburg,	3,615 00
Fredericksburg,	34,541 15
Lynchburg,	13,323 39
Danville,	10,745 00
Charleston,	10,630 00
	$130,754 54
Charleston,	19,336 46
Balances due from other banks,
Fredericksburg,	90,029 06
	$109,365 52
Foreign bills of exchange:
Richmond,	145,766 52
Petersburg,	29,716 34
Fredericksburg,	1,587 23
	$177,070 09
Stock of James River:
Company 6 per cent stock,	100,000 00
Real estate:
Richmond,	114,465 89
Norfolk,	64,783 63
Petersburg,	78,658 52
Fredericksburg,	29,155 44
Lynchburg,	25,843 77
	312,907 25
Total,	$7,466,425 68
Capital stock:	2,740,000 00
Notes in circulation:
Richmond,	821,000 00
Norfolk,	186,140 00
Petersburg,	585,065 00
Fredericksburg,	375,360 00
Lynchburg,	435,240 00
Danville,	310,065 00
Charleston,	256,890 00
	$2,969,760 00
Balance due to other banks:
Richmond,	106,308 78
Norfolk,	15,774 24
Petersburg,	87,774 87
Lynchburg,	3,686 38
Danville,	900 14
	$214,444 41
Balance the treasurer U. States:
Richmond	15,759 94
Norfolk,	9,000 00
Petersburg,	25,669 26
Fredericksburg,	20 92
Lynchburg,	83 21
	$50,553 39
Deposite money:
Richmond,	999,070 42
Norfolk,	151,356 96
Petersburg,	95,016 33
Fredericksburg,	153,492 57
Lynchburg,	56,447 78
Danville,	27,129 22
Charleston,	9,174 60
	$1,491,687 88
Total,	7,466,425 68

                 

	Capital Stock.	Nett profits for the year.	Rate of per cent.
At Richmond,	1,000,000	171,715 49[16]	17	17	15	100
At Norfolk,	440,000	16,728 81	3	80
At Petersburg,	450,000	42,750 29	9	50
At Fredericksburg,	300,000	28,640 00	9	54⅔
At Lynchburg,	300,000	32,047 87	10	68⅓
At Danville,	150,000	15,687 17	10	46
At Charleston,	100,000	11,349 92	11	35
	$2,740,000	318,919 55	making an ag'ate of 11 64.

State of the Farmers' Bank of Virginia, and its several Branches, 1st
January, 1834.

                                                                                                 

Debt outstanding:
Richmond,	1,572,546 20
Norfolk,	692,482 78
Petersburg,	642,170 54
Fredericksburg,	562,310 61
Lynchburg,	576,851 93
Winchester,	378,614 26
Danville,	56,360 00
	$4,471,336 32
Specie:
Richmond,	204,831 20
Norfolk,	28,397 61
Petersburg,	40,139 70
Fredericksburg,	41,779 30
Lynchburg,	36,917 00
Winchester,	22,486 40
Danville,	717 70
	$375,268 91
Foreign Notes:
Richmond,	50,636 16
Norfolk,	37,204 52
Petersburg,	4,663 66
Fredericksburg,	4,365 00
Lynchburg,	9,205 00
Winchester,	22,239 97
Danville,	615 00
	$128,929 31
Bank stock:
Richmond,	23,715 50
Fredericksburg,	10,876 00
	$34,591 50
Real Estate:
Richmond,	91,918 09
Norfolk,	38,488 67
Petersburg,	35,791 48
Fredericksburg,	17,421 65
Lynchburg,	22,993 58
Winchester,	24,490 18
	$231,043 65
	$5,241,169 69
Stock:	2,000,000 00
Notes in circulation:
Richmond,	552,688 00
Norfolk,	155,600 00
Petersburg,	376,635 00
Fredericksburg,	257,325 00
Lynchburg,	397,640 00
Winchester,	147,720 00
	$1,887,608 00

                                         

Due to other banks:
	Richmond,	126,958 76
	Norfolk,	29,455 94
66,998 96	Petersburg,
	Fred'ksburg,	33,387 80
5,116 05	Lynchburg,
	Winchester,	11,625 31
1,124 65	Danville,
73,239 66		201,427 81
		73,239 66
		128,188 15
Deposite money:
Richmond,		811,080 29
Norfolk,		91,161 43
Petersburg,		137,383 33
Fredericksburg,		75,746 22
Lynchburg,		91,704 47
Winchester,		18,036 14
Danville,		261 66
		1,225,373 54
	Total	$5,241,169 69

Statement of bad and doubtful debts due the Farmers' Bank of Virginia,
on the 1st January, 1834, and also the contingent fund:

                           

Bad debt last year,		178,833 45
Doubtful,		155,231 26
		$334,064 71
Contingent fund,	105,015 14
Profit in stock,	53,038 50	158,053 64
Deficiency,		176,011 07
Bad debt as above,		178,833 45
Extinguished during the year,		46,507 53
		132,325 93
Doubtful as above,		155,231 26
		287,556 18
Contingent fund, including January, 1834,	159,488 39
Profit on 502 shares of stock, valued at par,	15,608 50	175,096 89
Total bad and doubtful debt provided for,		$112,460 30

From which should be deducted whatever may be received, from debts
reported doubtful, and any gain by loss of notes in circulation.

Amount of debts contracted at the Farmers' Bank of Virginia and its
Branches, during the year 1833, and which remained unpaid on 1st January,
1834.

           

Bank at Richmond,	965,387 13
Bank at Fredericksburg,	496,180 23
Bank at Petersburg,	357,122 26
Bank at Norfolk,	176,163 62
Bank at Winchester,	96,047 00
	$2,090,900 24

State of the Farmers' Bank of Virginia, including the branches 1st
January, 1834.

           

Debts outstanding,	4,471,336 32
Specie,	375,268 91
Foreign Notes,	128,929 31
Bank Stock,	34,591 50
Real Estate,	231,043 65
	$5,241,169 69

               

Profits of Richmond,	13 58 per cent.
Norfolk,	3 18 per cent.
Petersburg,	11 08 per cent.
Fredericksburg,	12 41 per cent.
Winchester,	6 71 per cent.
Danville,	3 97 per cent.
Aggregate profits,	1 07 per cent.
Contingent fund,	159,488 39

         

Stock,	2,000,000 00
Notes in circulation,	1,817,608 00
Due to other banks,	128,188 15
Deposite money,	1,225,373 54
	$5,241,169 69

   

In this estimate, the profits on bank stock purchased some years ago, and sold in 1833, are not included, not belonging to the usual business estimated—but being actually received, add that to the current profits, and the profits of Richmond, are	21 60 pr. ct.
In this estimate, the profits on bank stock purchased some years ago, and sold in 1833, are not included, not belonging to the usual business estimated—but being actually received, add that to the current profits, and the profits of Norfolk,	4 10 pr. ct.

REMARKS.

Arrangement pursued in the description of counties.

We have now completed our "General Description of Virginia;" having
presented in the first part a view of Natural Virginia, comprehending her
Situation, Boundaries, Extent, Face of the Country, Mineralogy and Geology,
Scenery and Natural Curiosities, Mountains, Bays, Harbours, Rivers,
&c. and in the second, her Moral and Political Condition:—under which
head we included, Population, Religion, Government and Laws, Arms
and Military Organization, Provisions for the Insane, Penitentiary, Internal
Improvement, Manufactures, Agriculture, Commerce, and Fiscal Concerns.
We now proceed to give a more detailed account of the same subjects,
taking the State, County, by County, in alphabetical order, and giving
the origin of the county, an accurate and generally minute account of its
topography, and a detail of the number, occupation, &c. of its Citizens,
and of each Town and Village. In order to present a more condensed and
connected view, than would have been possible by taking the counties of the
whole State at once into consideration, in the confused order which an alphabetical
arrangement would present; and as that arrangement was absolutely
necessary for covenience of reference, we have divided the State into
Eastern and Western Virginia, at the Blue Ridge, and made an alphabetical
arrangement of the counties of each portion separately. The Towns,
Villages, Post Offices, &c. are arranged in Alphabetical order in the counties
to which they respectively belong; the County Town, and other places
of more than usual importance, being distinguished by a larger type. An
Alphabetical Index of all the places mentioned, and general subjects treated
of is at the end of the volume.

Under the head of Eastern Virginia, we will consider all of the
counties east of the Blue Ridge.

EASTERN VIRGINIA.

ACCOMAC.

This county was created by act of Assembly in 1672, and formed out
of part of Northampton Co. It is the northernmost of the two counties
which compose the "Eastern Shore of Virginia," and extends from the
Atlantic to the Chesapeake. It is bounded E. by the Atlantic, S. by
Northampton Co. W. by Chesapeake bay, N. W. by Pocomoke bay, and
N. by Worcester Co. Md. It extends from 37° 28′ to 38° 2′ N. lat.
and from 1° 24′ to 1° 46′ E. long from Washington. Its greatest length
is from S. S. W. to N. N. E. 48 m's its mean width about 10 m's, its area
480 sq. miles. Much of its surface is composed of sand-banks and islands
upon the coast, its real arable superficies is only about 400 sq. miles, much
of which is fertile, and the surface level. It produces well, wheat, corn,
cotton, oats, &c. and peas, beans, potatoes, and other table vegetables in
great abundance. Population in 1820, 15,966, in 1830, 19,656, of the latter
4,495 were white males, 4,969 white females, and the rest people of colour.
This county belongs to the third judicial circuit and second district.—Taxes
in 1832-3, $3,081 22; in 1833-4, on lots $52 34—land, $1,858 87;—on
2385 slaves, $594 25,—2522 horses, $151 32—9 studs, $131 00—16
coaches, $33—31 carryalls, $36 70—461 gigs, $311 20—total $3170 68.
Amount expended in educating poor children, in 1832, $592 22—in 1833,
$692 92.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST-OFFICES, &c.

ACCOMAC C. H. or DrummondsTown,
is situated 214 m's E. of R.
and 206 S. E. of W. in lat 47°. 54,
Besides a brick Court House and
Jail, the town contains a Methodist
house of worship, and 39 dwelling
houses. There is one common school
in the place, and 4 attorneys, 2 physicians,
3 mercantile stores, 1 tannery,
2 saddle and harness makers, 3
tailors, 3 cabinet makers, 1 watch and
clock maker, 1 carriage maker, 2
boot and shoe factories; and 3 grist
mills in the vicinity. Population 240.

County Courts, are held on the last
Monday of every month:—Quarterly,
in March, June, August and November.
Judge Upshur holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on 12th of May, and 15th of October.

Bell Haven, P. O. 226 m's S. E.
of W. and 194 from R. situated in the
S. E. part of the county, 20 m's. from
Drummond's Town, and 194 S. S. E.
of Annapolis.

Horntown, P. V. 180 m's S. E.
of W. and 240 from R. situated on a
navigable stream, by which vessels
drawing from 6 to 8 feet water, ascend
within a mile of the town, and on
the post road leading from Drum-

mond's Town to Snow Hill, 26 m's.
N. N. E. from the former and 16 N.
W. of the latter. It contains 15
dwelling houses, 1 Methodist house
of worship, 1 common school, 2
taverns, and 4 mercantile stores, 1
house carpenter, 1 hatter, 1 wheelwright,
1 tanyard, 2 shoe and boot
manufactories, and 1 milliner and
mantuamaker. Population 150.

Modest Town, P. V. 192 m's.
from W. and 248 from R. situated 10
miles east of Drummondstown, 2
from navigable tide-water, and 3 from
the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 6
dwelling houses, 1 Baptist, and 1 Methodist
house of worship, 1 Sabbath
school, 2 mercantile stores, 1 tanyard,
1 boot and shoemaker, 1 smith shop.
Population 43 persons; of whom 1 is
a physician. This place abounds
with fish, oysters and clams. The
soil in the neighbourhood is fertile, and
produces well corn, wheat, rye, oats,
peas, beans, potatoes and other vegetables
in great variety.

Onancock Creek, P. O. 210 m's.
S. E. of W. and 209 from R. situated
on the Chesapeake shore, 8 m's. S. W.
by W. of Drummondstown.

Pungoteague, P. O. 218 m's from
W. and 202 from R. situated 1½ miles
from the head of Pungoteague creek,
and 12 m's. from Drummondstown.
The country around produces in abundance,
wheat, corn, oats, cotton, potatoes,
&c. The trade from the creek
of this name employs five regular
coasting vessels. The population of
the village is 100, it contains 1 physician.
There are 20 dwelling houses,
1 Methodist and 1 Episcopalian house
of worship, a common school, a tavern,
a grist mill, a mercantile store,
tanyard, tailor, boot and shoemaker,
and a smith shop. Warrant tryings
are held here on the 3d Monday in
every month.

ALBEMARLE.

This county was created by the Legislature in 1744, from a part of
Goochland County. It is bounded N. W. by the Blue Ridge, which separates
it from Augusta and Rockingham, N. E. by the southern part of
Orange, E. by Louisa and Fluvanna, S. by James River which separates it
from Buckingham, and S. W. by Nelson. Its length from S. W. to N.
E. is 35 miles, its mean width 20, and area 700 sq. m's. The parallel of N.
lat. 38° passes very nearly through the centre of the county, which is
likewise the case with long. 1° 30′ W. of Washington. The northern part of
this county is drained by the Rivanna and its constituent creeks, which
uniting below. Charlottesville, pass through the South West Mountain,
and enter Fluvanna some miles below. The southern portion of the
county is drained by the waters of the Hardware, which rises by 2 branches,
the one in North Garden, and the other in South Garden, which uniting at
the foot of the S. W. Mountain flow between the portions of it known by
the local name of Carter's and Green-Mountain, and passes also into Fluvanna,
before its junction with James River.

There is little of the soil of Albemarle absolutely barren, and in the
mountain valleys, and river or creek bottoms it is exceedingly fertile, whilst
the undulating hills which intervene are susceptible of almost unlimited
improvement by judicious cultivation. The scenery in all parts of the county
is exceedingly beautiful and picturesque; we know of no portion of the
state which presents such a number and variety of beautiful prospects as

may be seen from the hills of Albemarle. This county belongs to the
twelfth judicial circuit and sixth district. Population in 1820, 19,750—
in 1830, 22,618. Taxes paid in 1832-3, $6,842 58—1833-4, on lots $33543—lands
$4,092 65; on 6439 slaves, $1,609 75—5276 horses, $316 56—
16 studs, $239 34—96 coaches, $243 75—43 carryalls, $43 50—47 gigs,
$29 35—Amount expended in educating poor children in 1832, $590 74—
in 1834, $805 37.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST-OFFICES, &c.

Batesville, P. O. and Election
Precinct, generally called Oliver's
Old Store, situated on the Scottsville
and Staunton turnpike, 20 m's from
the former, and 25 from the latter. It
has 12 scattering dwelling houses, 3
general stores, 1 tan yard and 1
blacksmith shop. In the vicinity
there is 1 Baptist, and 1 Methodist
house of worship. The population is
70; of whom 1 is a physician.

Brown's Cove, P. O. 109 m's. N.
W. of R., and 136 from W. situated
in the northern part of the county.

Brooksville, P. O. situated at the
junction of the Rivanna and Rockfish
turnpike with the Scottsville and
Staunton turnpike; 101 m's N. W. of
R., and 20 S. W. of Charlottesville.

Carter's Bridge, P. O. situated
at the passage of Hardware through
S. W. Mountain, 133 m's. from
Washington, and 91 from R.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, P. T.
and county seat, 123 m's S. W. from
Washington, and 81 N. W. by W.
from R. It is beautifully situated,
N. lat 38° 3′, long. 1° 5′ W. of
Washington, a mile east of the University
of Virginia, and 3 m's. N. W.
from Monticello, in a fertile and well
watered valley, on the right bank of
the Rivanna river, at the intersection
of the main post roads leading from
Lynchburg, Staunton, and Lexington,
to Washington, Alexandria and
Richmond. It contains besides the
ordinary county buildings, 1 Episcopalian,
1 Presbyterian, 1 Baptist, and
1 Methodist house of worship, 3 large
and commodious hotels, 1 tavern, 2
bookstores, 2 druggist's stores, and
about 20 general mercantile establishments.
There is 1 Female Academy,
in which young ladies are taught
all the useful branches of education,
as well as the elegant accomplishments,
it is well conducted and flourishing,
having generally from 30 to
40 pupils; there is also an elementary
school for boys; and a school to prepare
youths for the University is
about to be established on a permanent
footing by a young gentleman
said to be entirely competent to its
proper management: if such be the
case it will certainly flourish, as such
a school is much wanted, and the temporary
schools hitherto established
have met with remarkable success.
The town has a circulating library of
well selected books.

An Agricultural Society which
boasts among its members the principal
farmers of this and the neighbouring
counties, holds its semi-annual
meetings here; at the fall meeting
there is an exhibition of live stock, and
domestic fabrics, and premiums are
awarded for the best productions.
The mechanical occupations are as
follows.—1 printing office, issuing a
weekly paper, and frequently engaged
in books and pamphlets, 4 tailoring
establishments which give employment
to a number of hands, 3 tan
yards, 3 saddlers, 1 tin plate worker,
2 cabinet makers, 3 wheelwrights, 1
chair maker, house and sign painter,
2 coach and gig manufactories, 2
jewellers, 2 boot and shoe factories,
which employs a number of hands, 1
hatter, 2 confectioners, 4 blacksmith's
shops, 1 brick yard, 2 book binders,

several house carpenters, bricklayers,
&c. The professional men are 6 attorneys
at law, 6 physicians and 3
surgeon dentists. The whole population
by an accurate census recently
taken expressly for this work is 957;
viz: white males 290—females 260—
free blacks 59—slaves 348.

The village is provided with a fire
engine, and company attached, and
boasts a large and well disciplined
corps of volunteers. The navigation
of the Rivanna has recently been
opened by locks and dams, and boats
with their lading can now ascend to
Pireus, within a mile and a quarter
of Charlottesville, which is a depot
for the produce of the northern and
middle part of this county, part of Augusta,
and will be for Rockingham
and the counties beyond it, when a
road which has been located and commenced
from Charlottesville to Harrisonburg
shall have been completed
A neat and permanent covered bridge
has recently been erected at a cost of
$4,000 over the Rivanna River, on
the post road leading from Charlottesville
to Alexandria, D. C. Several
lines of daily stages pass through this
town. Charlottesville is a healthy
place, and for the most part compactly
though irregularly built, the houses
are generally of brick, of which there
are about 200, large, handsome, and
comfortable dwellings. The surface
on which the town stands is elevated
from 5 to 700 feet above the tide of
the ocean, and the vicinity is salubrious,
and the soil fertile, producing in
abundance, wheat, corn, oats, tobacco,
&c. In the neighbourhood are several
extensive flour manufacturing,
grist, and saw mills, and 2 carding
machines. The country around is
thickly settled, abounding with handsome
and valuable farms, well cultivated
and rapidly improving.

County Courts are held on the 1st
Monday in every month;—Quarterly,
March, June, August, and November
Judge Thompson opens his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 10th of May, and 10th of October.

Covesville, P. V. 145 m's. S. W.
of W., and 103 N. W. by W. of R.,
situated in the western part of the
county, 22 m's from Charlottesville,
on the stage road leading from that
place to Lynchburg. It contains several
dwelling houses, 1 general store,
1 house of entertainment, 1 tan yard,
1 milliner and mantua, maker, and 1
Presbyterian house of worship. Population
30.

Dyer's Old Store, P. O. 138
m's S. W. of W. and 96 from R.

Everettsville, P. O. 116 m's.
S. W. of W., and 74 from R.; it contains
a tavern, 1 general store, a
blacksmith's and a wheelwright's
shop.

Earlysville, is pleasantly situated
1½ m's. E. of Longwood, and
13 N. of Charlottesville. It contains
7 dwellings, 1 tavern, 1 general store,
1 tailor, 1 wheelwright, 1 blacksmith's
shop, and 1 tan yard. Population
35.

Garland's Store, P. O. 137 m's.
from W., and 95 from R.

Hardin's Tavern, P. O. 130 m's.
S. W. of W., and 88 from R., situated
8 miles W., of Charlottesville; near it
the Methodists have a house of worship
called Shiloe.

Hydraulic Mills, P. O. 112 S.
W. of W. and 100 W. of R., 6 miles
from Charlottesville.

Laurel Spring, P. O. 167 m's.
from W., and 25 m's. W. of Charlottesville.

Lindsey's Store, P. O. 76 m's.
W. of R. and 108 from W.

Longwood, P. V. 94 m's. N. W.
by W. of R. and 136 S. W. of W. it
has several dwelling houses. Population
30. One physician.

Milton, 120 ms. S. W. of W. and
81 N. W. by W. of R. and 6 miles
S. E. of Charlottesville;—situated
on the right bank of the Rivanna, and
a mile and a half from the main stage

road leading from Charlottesville to
Richmond. It was formerly a place
of some trade, being the head of boat
navigation, but the imperfect state of
the navigation and the competition of
Scottsville and Charlottesville have
caused it to go to ruin. It contains
16 dwelling houses, 2 mercantile
stores, and 1 tanyard,—It has a pleasant
and romantic situation, upon a
high spur or abutment of Monticello
mountain, which places it far above
the level of the river.—On the opposite
side of the river, there is a Baptist
church and a grist mill. Population
60 whites and 10 free blacks.

Moreman's River, P. O. 143 ms.
from W. and 104 from R.—N. W. of
Charlottesville, and in the N. W. angle
of the county, it has a house of
private entertainment, one general
store and a blacksmith shop.

Monticello.—We have seen no
where so true, so accurate, or so beautiful
a description of the dwelling
place of the Great Apostle of Liberty,
as in Wirt's "Eulogy upon Adams
and Jefferson". We are glad to have
an opportunity of relieving the tedium
of dry statistic detail, by so rich a
specimen of taste. "Let us now turn
for a moment to the patriot of the
South. The Roman morallist, in that
great work which he has left for the
government of man in all the offices
of life, has descended even to prescribe
the kind of habitation in which an
honored and distinguished man should
dwell. It should not, he says, be
small, and mean, and sordid: nor, on
the other hand, extended with profuse
and wanton extravagance. It should
be large enough to receive and accommodate
the visiters which such a man
never fails to attract, and suited in its
ornaments, as well as in its dimensions,
to the character and fortune of
the individual. Monticello has now
lost its great charm.

"Those of you who have not already
visited it, will not be very apt to
visit it hereafter, and from the feelings
which you cherish for its departed
owner, I persuade myself that you
will not be displeased with a brief and
rapid sketch of that abode of domestic
bliss, that temple of science. Nor
is it, indeed, foreign to the express purpose
of this meeting, which, in looking
to `his life and character,' naturally
embraces his home and his domestic
habits. Can any thing be indifferent
to us, which was so dear to
him, and which was a subject of such
just admiration to the hundreds and
thousands that were continually resorting
to it, as an object of pious pilgrimage?

"The Mansion House at Monticello
was built and furnished in the
days of his prosperity. In its dimensions,
its architecture, its arrangements
and ornaments, it is such a one as became
the character and fortune of the
man. It stands upon an elliptic plain,
formed by cutting down the apex of a
mountain; and, to the west, stretching
away to the north and the south, it
commands a view of the Blue Ridge
for a hundred and fifty miles, and
brings under the eye one of the boldest
and most beautiful horizons in the
world; while on the east, it presents
an extent of prospect bounded only by
the spherical form of the earth, in
which nature seems to sleep in eternal
repose, as if to form one of her
finest contrasts with the rude and rolling
grandeur of the west. In the
wide prospect, and scattered to the
north and south, are several detached
mountains, which contribute to animate
and diversify this enchanting
landscape; and among them, to the
south Willis's mountain,[17] which is

so interestingly depicted in his Notes
From this summit, the Philosopher
was wont to enjoy that spectacle, among
the sublimest of Nature's operations,
the looming of the distant mountains;
and to watch the motions of the planets,
and the greater revolution of the
celestial sphere. From this summit,
too, the patriot could look down with
uninterrupted vision, upon the wide
expanse of the world around, for which
he considered himself born; and upward
to the open and vaulted heavens,
which he seemed to approach, as if
to keep him continually in mind of
his high responsibility. It is indeed
a prospect in which you see and feel,
at once, that nothing mean or little
could live. It is a scene fit to nourish
those great and high-souled principles
which formed the elements of his character,
and was a most noble and appropriate
post for such a sentinel, over
the rights and liberties of men.

"Approaching the house on the
east, the visiter instinctively paused to
cast around one thrilling glance at
this magnificent panorama: and then
passed to the vestibule, where, if he
had not been previously informed, he
would immediately perceive that he
was entering the house of no common
man. In the spacious and lofty hall
which opens before him, he marks
no tawdry and unmeaning ornaments
but before, on the right, on the left,
all around, the eye is struck and gratified
by objects of science and taste, so
classed and arranged as to produce
their finest effect. On one side, specimens
of sculpture set out in such
order, as to exhibit at a coup d' Oil,
the historical progress of that art,
from the first rude attempts of the aborigines
of our country, up to that exquisite
and finished bust of the great
patriot himself, from the master hand
of Caracci. On the other side the
visiter sees displayed a vast collection
of specimens of the Indian art, their
paintings, weapons, ornaments, and
manufactures; on another an array of
the fossil productions of our country,
mineral and animal; the polished remains
of those colossal monsters that
once trod our forests, and are no more;
and a variegated display of the branching
honors of those `monarchs of the
waste,' that still people the wilds of
the American Continent.

"From this hall he was ushered into
a noble saloon, from which the glorious
landscape of the west again bursts upon
his view; and which, within, is
hung thick around with the finest productions
of the pencil—historical
paintings of the most striking subjects,
from all countries, and all ages; the
portraits of distinguished men and
patriots, both of Europe and America,
and medallions, and engravings in
endless profusion.

"While the visiter was yet lost in
the contemplation of these treasures
of the arts and sciences, he was startled
by the approach of a strong and
sprightly step, and turning with instinctive
reverence to the door of entrance,
he was met by the tall, and animated,
and stately figure of the patriot
himself—his countenance beaming
with intelligence and benignity,
and his outstretched hand, with its
strong and cordial pressure, confirming
the courteous welcome of his lips.
And then came the charm of manner
and conversation that passes all description—so
cheerful—so unassuming—so
free, and easy, and frank, and
kind, and gay,—that even the young
and overawed, and embarrassed visiter
forgets his fears, and felt himself by
the side of an old and familiar friend."

Mr. Jefferson states in his Notes
that Monticello is 500 feet above the
Rivanna which runs at its base; it is
the most northern of the portion of the
South West mountain, called by the
local name of Carter's mountain.
The late proprietor injured the appearance
of Monticello very much by
cutting down the beautiful shade and
ornamental trees for the purpose of
cultivation; but it is believed that the

deep veneration entertained by the present
owner for the character of Mr.
Jefferson, and the respect he entertains
even for the inanimate objects
associated with his memory, will lead
him to restore it, as far as possible to
the condition in which he left it, and
attend carefully to the preservation of
every object which could be supposed
to have occupied his attention, or added
beauty to his residence. The curiosities
of which Mr, Wirt speaks were
presented to the University of Virginia,
the paintings we believe were
sold, the bust was bought by Congress
—A simple massive granite obelisk
marks the grave of Jefferson, with the
unostentatious inscription written by
himself, which speaks only of being
the "Author of the Declaration of
Independence, and the Founder of
the University of Virginia," thus
showing how much more highly the
venerable sage regarded the bursting
of the fetters which bound the freedom
of the people, and the emancipation
of the mind from the chains of
ignorance,—than all his civic triumphs.

Mount Alto, P. O. 156 ms. S.
W. by W. of W. and 97 ms from R.

Mount Israel P. O. 145 ms. S.
W. of W. and 103 from R.—17 ms.
N. W. of Charlottesville.

New York, P. V. 143 ms. S. S.
W. of W. and 101 from R.—It is
situated in the western part of the
county, near the foot of the Blue Ridge,
it contains 15 houses, 2 general stores,
1 tanyard, 1 jackscrew manufacturer,
1 boot and shoe maker, and 1 blacksmith's
shop—Population 70.

Scottsville, formerly Scott's
Ferry, is 150 miles S. W. of Washington,
and 83 W. of Richmond. It
is situated on the N. bank of James
river, 20 miles W. S. W. of Charlottesville.
This place has improved
rapidly in the last 4 years, and is yet
a flourishing village. It contains 120
houses, chiefly of brick; one Methodist
and one Presbyterian house of
worship, a male and a female school,
and two Sunday schools, nine general
and five grocery stores, and one
apothecaries shop. The principal
manufactures are clothing, leather
shoes, cabinet work, and earthen ware.
An inspection of flour and tobacco is
established in this place, of the former
the average quantity inspected and
sold is 3500 barrels. Scottsville carries
on an extensive trade in flour,
bacon, butter, lard, and other products,
with the counties of Nelson,
Augusta, Rockbridge, Rockingham,
Bath, Pendleton, and Pocahontas;
these products are exchanged for
groceries, gypsum, coarse cotton and
woollen cloths and money. The market
of Scottsville is ready and tempting
to the producer, the only fault of
its enterprising merchants being that
they pay prices too liberal for their
own prosperity, and this cause only
has lately given a temporary check
to the rising of the town. A tri-weekly
line of stages passes through
it, communicating with Richmond
and Staunton. Scottsville being situated
at the extreme northwestern bend
of the navigable water of James river,
would probably acquire an immense
increase of trade, if the James and
Kanawha improvement is carried into
effect. There is a savings institution
in the town. It has two resident
attornies and four regular physicians;
its whole population is about 600.

Shadwell Mills,—erected by Mr.
Jefferson, on the Rivanna near the spot
of his birth; they carry on an extensive
business, having a large merchant,
grist, and saw mill, with a
carding machine, &c. The main
stage road from Charlottesville to
Richmond runs by them.

Stoney Point, P. V. 71 ms. N.
W. by W. of Richmond, and 113
from Washington—in the N. E. part
of the county.

University of Virginia, P. O.
situated one mile W. of Charlottesville,
124 W. of S. W. from Washington,

and 82 N. W. by W. of Richmond.
This institution was founded
in 1819, under the immediate supervision
of Mr. Jefferson, and organised
in 1825, and had the same year 123
students, and has been gradually increasing
until in 1834 it had 208,—
Its Library contains nearly 10,000
volumes; its philosophical and chemical
apparatus are very complete, and
it has a handsome cabinet of minerals.
There is also an anatomical
and a general museum, and an astronomical
observatory, with the requisite
instruments. The importance of
this institution to the state renders it
necessary to give a fuller detail of its
management and regulations than of
similar institutions.

Matriculation—To be admitted
into the University, the Student
must be sixteen years of age; but
the Faculty are authorised to dispense
with this requisition in the case
of application for admission by two
brothers, one of whom is under the
age of sixteen.

If the applicant for admission has
been a student at any other incorporated
seminary, he cannot be received,
but on producing a certificate from
such seminary, or other satisfactory
evidence to the Faculty, with respect
to his general good conduct.

Every Student is free to attend the
Schools of his choice, and no other
than he choses; provided, that if under
the age of twenty-one, he shall
attend at least three professors, unless
he has the written authority of his
parent or guardian, or the Faculty
shall, for good cause shewn, allow
him to attend less than three. The
qualifications of the Student to enter
the Schools of Antient Languages,
Mathematics, and Natural Philosophy,
are tested by previous examinations.

Before a student matriculates, he is
furnished with a copy of the laws,
which he is required to read. On
matriculating, he signs a written declaration,
that he will conform to those
laws, and, if he be a resident student,
that he has deposited with the Patron
all the funds in his possession.

Course of Instruction—In
each school, there are three regular
lectures a week; besides which, there
are in most of them extra lectures
suited to the several classes into which
the school is divided. The mode of
instruction is by text-books and lectures,
accompanied by rigid examinations.
The course pursued in each
school, is as follows.

Ancient Languages. Professor
Harrison.—In this school are
taught the Latin and Greek Languages,
and Literature, and the Hebrew
Language. The instruction,
given by prelections and examinations,
comprises the following subjects.

1. The formation and composition
of words, and the laws by which they
are governed.

2. The primary and secondary
signification of words and the principles
by which they must be ascertained.

3. Syntax—The relations which
words sustain to each other in a sentence,
are taught at the same time and
in connexion with their endings, the
latter serving, with the aid of prepositions,
&c., as signs of the former
The importance of attending to the
order in which words are arranged
in a sentence, and of being careful to
read the words and members of a sentence
just as they stand in the Latin
and Greek authors, is insisted upon.
The other idomatic peculiarities are
carefully noticed.

4. Metres and Quantity.—These
are objects of constant attention.

5. The Greek and Roman History,
Geography and Literature, are
taught by prelections, and by commenting
on portions of the text-books
appointed to be read. These form
part of the studies of the senior classes.

The text-books are:

In the Junior Latin Class:—Horace,
Cicero's Epistles ad Diversos,
Terence, and Cæsar's Commentaries,
the last chiefly with a view to the written
exercises. Zumpt's Latin Grammar
is referred to The student should
have Lempriere's Classical Dictionary,
new edition by Anthon, in two
vols.; Adams' Roman Antiquities, and
the Ancient, with the corresponding
Modern Maps of the series published
by the "Society for the diffusion
of useful knowledge," or the "Æton
Comparative Atlas."

In the Senior Latin Class:—Juvenal,
Livy, and Tacitus. Of both Livy
and Tacitus the student should have
the whole works, so far as they remain.

In the Junior Greek Class:—Xenophon's
Anabasis, a play of Euripides,
or Æschylus, and Herodotus
Buttmann's Greek Grammar, is rererred
to —the "Larger" Grammar
of Buttmann, by Robinson, is to be
preferred. Donnegan's Greek and
English Lexicon, and Thiersch's
Greek Tables by Patton, are recommended.

In the Senior Greek Class:—Euripides,
Sophocles, Thucydides, and
Homer. In the prelections to this
class, it is attempted to introduce the
student into the higher departments of
grammatical criticism; references are
made to the large Grammar of Matthiæ,
and to the annotations of Porson,
Schaefer, Hermann, Erfurdt,
Elmsley, &c.

In Roman History, &c.—The students
are advised to read the early
part of Hooke's Roman History, with
Ferguson's Roman Republic, Niebuhr's
Roman History, and Heeren's
Manual: also, Montesquieu's "Grandeur
et decadence des Romains," and
Dunlop's History of Roman Literature.

In Grecian History, &c.:—The
History of Greece published by the
Society for the Diffusion of Useful
Knowledge, is the text-book. Reference
is made to Mitford, Gillies, &c.
In both Grecian and Roman History,
pains is taken to point out the ancient
authorities.

In Hebrew:—Biblia Hebraica, edit.
Van Der Hooght, by D'Allemand,
London; or the revised edition by
Aug Hahn, Leipsic; which is better.
Stuart's Hebrew Grammar, 3d edition,
and Gesenius's Hebrew Lexicon,
by Gibbs: [not the abridgement.]

It is expected of the students of Latin
and Greek, that they will read in
their rooms a list of such authors and
parts of authors, furnished by the
Professor, as cannot be read in the
lecture-room e. g. Cicero's Epistles
to Atticus, his Orations (selected,)
and Treatise "de Republica;" Sallust,
Terence, Plautus. Æschylus,
Virgil, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes,
Demosthenes, Æschines, Thucydides,
&c.

As an essential part of the course,
the students of each class are required
to furnish regularly, once a week, a
written exercise; which consists in
the conversion of Latin or Greek into
English, and of English into Latin or
Greek. The exercises are examined
by the Professor, and the errors
marked: thus corrected, they are returned
to the students, and the corrections
stated and explained in the presence
of the class. For these exercises,
the classic authors are used as
the text. The black-board is continually
used for the prupose of assisting
the student, by the aid of the eye, in
comprehending and retaining the illustrations
given.

Modern Languages. Professor
Blættermann.—The languages taught,
in this school, are the French, Spanish,
Italian, German, and Anglo Saxon;
and if desired, will also be taught,
the Danish, Swedish, Hollandish, and
Portuguese Languages. In each of
them, there are two classes, the senior
and the junior, together with a third
class for those who wish to qualify
themselves for degrees in this school,

as it is required that two degrees be
obtained in modern languages before
that of A. M. will be conferred. Besides
the oral translations in the lecture
room, the students are required
to write, as regular exercises out of
the lecture rooms, translations from
the foreign language into English,
and vice versa. Lectures on the
Literature of each of the nations
whose languages are taught, are delivered
twice a week, by the Professor;
as also lectures on Modern History,
and the political relations of the
different civilized nations of the present
day. The text-books used are
the principal classics in each language.

Mathematics. Professor Bonnycastle.—In
this school there are
commonly 5 classes. Of these, the
first junior begins with Arithmetic;
but as the student is required to have
some knowledge of this subject when
he enters the University, the lectures
of the Professor are limited to the
theory, shewing the methed of naming
numbers, the different scales of
notation, and the derivation of the
several rules of Arithmetic from the
primary notion of addition; the addition
namely, of sensible objects one
by one. The ideas thus acquired are
appealed to at every subsequent step,
and much pains are taken to exhibit
the gradual developement from these
elementary truths, of the extensive
science of mathematical analysis.
Lacroix's Arithmetic is the text-book.

In Algebra, the first problems are
analyzed with, and without, the use
of letters, to make the student sensible
of the advantages of these signs. In
teaching the rules for adding, subtracting,
&c., they are compared with
the correspondent rules in Arithmetic,
and the agreement or diversity is noticed
and explained. The text-book
is Lacroix's Algebra.

In Geometry, the first elements are
taught, and illustrated by the use of
models.

The second junior class continue
to read Lacroix's Algebra, and Bonnycastle's
Inductive Geometry. Is
the latter, they successively acquire,
the theorems of Synthetic Geometry—
the theory and practice of Plane and
Spherical Trigonometry, with the application
of the latter to Nautical Astronomy—the
theory of Projection—
and the theory of Curved lines and
Surfaces. Their subsequent studies
usually embrace a portion of the Differential
Calculus.

The senior classes continue the
Differential Calculus in lessons taken
from Young and from Bonnycastle's
Geometry, concluding the course of
pure Mathematics with the Integral
Calculus, the theory of which is taken
from Young, and the examples, from
Peacock.

There is, moreover, a class of Mixed
Mathematics, for such of the more
advanced students as choose to pursue
it; which consists of parts of Venturoli's
Mechanics, the first book of
Laplace's Mecanique Celeste, and of
the applications of the principles there
given to various problems.

And, lastly, there is attached to this
school a class of Civil Engineering;
wherein are taught the first principles
of Descriptive Geometry—of the construction
of draughts and plans—of
surveying—and, lastly, of the construction
of Roads, Canals, Bridges,
and other public works.

Natural Philosophy. Professor
Patterson.—The course of lectures
in this school is divided into
two parts, each of which is followed
by a general written examination of
the students. The first part treats of
the properties of ponderable bodies,
and includes Statics, Dynamics, Hydrostatics,
Hydrodynamics, Pneumatics,
Crystalization, Molecular and
Capillary Attraction, Strength and
Stress of Materials, and Acoustics.
The second part comprises Heat, including
Meteorology and the Steamengine,
Electricity and Galvanism,

Magnetism and Electro Magnetism,
Optics, Astronomy.

The text-books used are, Lardner
and Kater's Mechanics, Lardner's
Hydrostatics and Pneumatics, Brewster's
Optics, the Treatises on Heat,
Electricity, Galvanism, Magnetism,
and Electro Magnetism, in the Library
of Useful Knowledge, and Herschel's
Astronomy.

As the enactments require only an
acquaintance with arithmetic in order
to enter this school, mathematical demonstrations,
though not avoided by
the Professor, are not required of the
students of the general class. But the
candidates for graduation form a separate
class, and are taught the applications
of elementary mathematics,
(Algebra, Geometry, and Trigonometry,)
to Natural Philosophy. The
application of the higher calculus belongs
to the school of Mathematics.

The Apparatus provided for the
school of Natural Philosophy is very
extensive and complete, and thus enables
the Professor to illustrate every
part of his course by experiments in
the presence of his class. An Observatory,
with its appropriate astronomical
instruments, is also attached to
this school.

Chemistry and Materia Medica.
Professor Emmet.—There are
two classes in this school; one of
Chemistry, to which there are lectures
given twice a week, and the
other of Materia Medica and Pharmacy,
to which is given a lecture
once a week throughout the session.

In the Chemical lectures, all the
important applications of the science
to the mechanic arts, agriculture and
domestic economy are noticed, and,
when practicable, illustrated by experiment.
In the lectures on earths
and metals, the appropriate minerals
are exhibited and noticed with reference
to the sciences of Mineralogy
and Geology. At the close of the
history of inorganic matter, the atomic
theory and the laws of definite proportions
are fully explained and exemplified.
The latter part of the
course is occupied with the chemistry
of organic substances, and it comprises
the history, analysis and properties
of each substance; to which are
added general views of the connexion
between Chemistry and the physiology
of animals and vegetables.

In the lectures on Materia Medica
and Pharmacy, the subjects are treated
in the following order:—The operations
of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical
preparations, the effect which the
combining of different substances has
on their medicinal properties, the different
classifications of the Materia
Medica, and lastly, its several articles
treated alphabetically.

There is attached to this school, a
very extensive apparatus and a laboratory,
in which the students are occasionally
permitted to see the operations,
and to perform experiments. A
free use is made of the black-board in
these as in almost all the other classes
in the University.

Medicine. Professor Magill.—
The subjects taught in this school are
Physiology, Pathology, Therapeutics,
Obstetrics and Medical Jurisprudence.
The last forms a distinct
class, and comprehends other students
in addition to those of Medicine.
A full course of lectures is delivered
on each of the above branches. Dunglison's
Human Physiology is the
text-book on that subject; in Pathology
and the practice of Medicine,
Eberle's Practice of Medicine is recommended;
in Obstetrics, Burns, or
Dewees, or Gooch; and in Medical
Jurisprudence, Beck or Ryan.

Anatomy and Surgery. Professor
Warner.—In Anatomy, the
lectures are delivered from Subjects,
with which the school is regularly
supplied. The text-book is Horner's
Special Anatomy. In Surgery, the
text-book is Cooper's First Lines.
This and the two preceding schools
constitute the Medical Department of

the University; and the candidates for
the degree of "Doctor of Medicine,"
must pass examination in them all.
An extensive Museum is attached to
this department. It possesses one
advantage, at least, over the other
Medical Schools in the United States
in having a session of more than ten
months, instead of one of about four.

A full course of lectures in the
Medical Department of this University,
is considered as equivalent to a
full course in both the Philadelphia
and Baltimore Schools; so that a student
with a certificate from this University
of having attended a full course
of lectures here, is entitled to stand
for graduation at either of the above
named schools, after having attended
all the lectures there delivered for one
session only.

Moral Philosophy. Professor
Tucker.—There are two classes in
this school. The Junior Class studies
Rhetoric, Belles-Lettres and
Logic, the first half of the session,
and Belles-Lettres and Ethics, the last
half.

The Senior, studies Mental Philosophy,
the first part of the session, and
Political Economy the last. The examinations
are on the Professor's lectures,
Brown's Philosophy, Say's Political
Economy, and Adam Smith.

In the Junior Class, the examinations
are on the Professor's Lectures,
Blair's Lectures, Campbell's Rhetoric,
Stewart's Active and Moral
Powers.

There are also in this school, lectures
on logic and general grammar.

Law. Professor Davis.—In this
school are taught the Law of Nature
and Nations, the Science of Government,
Constitutional Law, the Common
and Statute Law, Equity, and
Maritime and Commercial Law.

This school is divided into two
classes. The text-books studied by
the junior class, are Vattel's Law of
Nature and of Nations, the Federalist,
the Virginia Report of '99, and
Blackstone's Commentaries. Those
studied by the senior, are Coke upon
Littleton, (Thomas's edition,) Stephen
on Pleading, Starkie on Evidence,
(the first vol.) Toller on Executors,
Chitty on Contracts, Bayley on Bills,
Fonblanque's Equity, and Mitford's
Pleadings; to which it is proposed to
add a treatise on Commercial and
Maritime Law.

On these books, prelections are delivered
by the Professor, in which it
is his object to supply what is deficient
and explain what is obscure in
the text, to refer in connection with it
to the leading cases and authorities,
American and English, illustrative of
the topic under consideration, and
generally, to offer such comments as
he deems necessary to its thorough
understanding. In these prelections,
the statute law of Virginia and the
United States, and its effects on the
pre-existing law are particularly explained.
Each prelection is preceded
by an examination on the last together
with its text.

On government, and on various topics
of National, Constitutional and
Municipal Law, not discussed in the
text-books, lectures are delivered; on
which also, the class are examined.

Students not wishing to study Municipal
Law, can enter for that portion
only of the junior course, which
embraces National Law, Government
and Constitutional Law; which portion,
those wishing to study Municipal
Law only, can if they choose
omit.

The students of this school have
instituted a Law Society, at the meetings
of which the Professor presides.
In it, questions connected with the
studies of the school are discussed,
fictitious cases litigated in the form of
regular pleadings, and the issues produced
decided in the appropriate mode,
and the members exercised in conveyancing
by having to prepare and submit
to the Society the necessary deeds
to effectuate supposed agreements, &c.

Religious exercises are performed
at the University every Sunday, by a
Minister of the Gospel, residing there,
whose services are rendered on the
private invation of the Professors, Ofcers
and Students.

Examinations.—There are two
public examinations of all the students,
each session, the one at such
convenient time about the middle of
the session as the Faculty shall appoint,
the other at the close of the session.

These are thus conducted. The
Professor of the School prepares, in
writing, a series of questions to be
proposed to his class, and affixes to
them numerical values, according to
his estimate of their relative difficulty.
On the assembling of the class for examination,
these question are for the
first time presented to them; and they
are required to answer them in writing,
in a prescribed time, without
communication with one another or
with other persons, and without any
reference to books. Their answers
are subsequently carefully examined
and compared, and a value attached
to each, not exceeding that of the corresponding
question. In the schools
of languages, subjects may also be selected
for oral examination, and the
values of these exercises are marked
at the time.

The students are then arranged into
four divisions, according to the
merit of their examinations, as determined
by the following method. The
numerical values attached to all the
questions are added together, and also
the values of the answers given by
each student. If this last number
amounts to three-fourths of the first,
the student is ranked in the first division;
if it be less than three-fourths
and as much as one-half, in the second;
if less than one-half and as
much as a fourth, in the third; if less
than a fourth, in the fourth division.
The examinations are conducted and
the results acertained by a committee,
consisting of the professor of the
school and two other professors.

The standing of each student at the
examinations is communicated to his
parent or guardian: and the names of
those who are in the first divisions
are announced on the public day, at
the close of the session, and published
in one or more of the newspapers of
the state.

Degrees—Three honarary distinctions
are conferred in this Institution;
a Certificate of Proficiency—
that of Graduate in any School—and
that of Master of Arts of the University
of Virginia.

The first, the Faculty may confer
on any student who shall, on examination,
give satisfactory evidence of a
competent acquaintance with any of
those particular branches which, according
to the regulations, may be
separately attended in a school. The
second, they are authorized to confer
on any student who shall, on examination,
give satisfactory evidence of
his proficiency in the general studies
of any of the schools. And the third,
is obtained by graduation, in the
schools if Antient Languages, Modern
Languages, Mathemetics, Natural
Philosophy, Chemistry, and Moral
Philosophy. But in all cases, to
obtain a diploma, or certificate of proficiency,
the candidate must give the
Faculty satisfactory proof of his ability
to write the English language correctly.

No particular period of study is
prescribed for the acquisition of these
honors. The student obtains them
whenever he can undergo the rigid
examinations to which the candidates
for them are subjected.

The title of Doctor of Medicine is
conferred on the graduate in the
Medical Department.

On the last day of the session, the
Visitors, Faculty, Officers and Students,
assemble in the Rotunda, and
the public are invited to attend. On
this occasion, the certificates and diplomas

are awarded to the successful
candidates, the results of the examinations
are announced, and orations
are delivered, and essays read by Students
appointed for that purpose.

Expenses, &c.—The expenses
for the session of upwards of 10
months, commencing the 1st of September,
and ending the 4th of July
following, are as follows:—

           

Board, including bed and other room furniture, washing and attendance,	$100
Fuel and candles, to be furnished by the Proctor, at cost, and 5 per cent commission, estimated, if only one student in the dormitory, at $30,—if two students in the dormitory at	15
Rent of an entire dormitory $16; for half, if occupied by two students,	8
Use of the library and public rooms,	15
Fees—if one professor be attended $50; if two, each $30: if more than two, each $25—say,	75
Total, exclusive of books and stationary, clothing and pocket money,	$213

In addition to the regular fee,
$20 is paid by students who attend
the Senior Class in the school of
Law.

Boarding-houses are provided within
the precincts, for the accommodation
of students; and no student is permitted
to board or lodge out of the
precincts, unless in the family of his
parent or guardian, or of some particular
friend, approved by the Faculty.
Except, that students above the
age of 20 years, may reside out of the
precincts, in such private boarding-houses
as the Faculty may approve.

Every student resident within the
precincts, is required, on matriculating,
to deposit with the Patron, all
the money, checks, bills, drafts, and
other available funds, which he shall
have in his possession, or under his
control, in any manner intended to
defray his expenses while at the University,
or on his return from thence
to his residence. Nor shall he matriculate,
till he shall have deposited a
sum at least sufficient, after deducting
the Patron's commission, two per
cent. to pay for the use of his dormitory
and the public rooms, to pay the
fees of the Professors whom he may
design to attend, to pay 3 months'
board to his hotel-keeper, to purchase
the text-books and stationary which
he may want at the commencement,
and $20 on account of fuel and candles,
and $10 to cover contingent
charges and assessments against him
for injuries to the buildings, &c.,
which two last mentioned sums are
credited in the final settlement of his
accounts. In like manner, he shall
deposit with the Patron all the funds
which he shall receive while a student
of the University, for the purposes
aforesaid. At the end of the
first three months of the session, he
shall deposit enough to pay his board
and other expenses for the next three
months; and at the expiration of the
second period of three months, he
shall deposit enough to pay his board
and other expenses for the residue of
the session.

Students resident out of the University,
are required, on matriculating,
to deposit with the Patron funds sufficient,
after deducting the Patron's
commission, to pay the fees of the
Professors whom they propose to attend,
the sum charged for the use of
the public rooms, and $10 to cover
contingent charges.

The expenses of the students resident
in the University, are limited as
follows:—for board, the use of dormitory
and public rooms, and tuition
fees, the sums before stated; for clothing
during the session, a sum not exceeding
$100; for pocket-money during
the session, not exceeding $40;

for books or stationery, whatever the
parent or guardian may think fit to
allow; for medicine and medical attendance
whatever may be necessary.
These limits are in no case to be exceeded,
unless under special circumstances,
the Faculty shall allow it.
Resident students are forbidden to
contract any debts whatsoever; but
for every thing purchased, they are
forthwith to pay, or to draw upon a
fund in the hands of the Patron applicable
thereto.

Students, wherever resident, are required
to wear the uniform prescribed
by the enactments; consisting of cloth
of a dark grey mixture, at a price not
exceeding $6 a yard.

The Faculty, at their discretion,
may allow any man, of undoubted
moral character, above the age of 23
years, to attend lectures in any of the
Schools of the University, and to reside
out of the precincts, exempt from
the rules and regulations prescribed
for the government of students: except
only, that he shall pay the usual
Professors' fees, and the usual compensation
for the use of the public
rooms, and shall observe all those
laws of the Institution which enjoin
respectful and orderly deportment.
But the privilege so allowed may be
withdrawn by the Faculty, at any
time, when in their opinion it has
been used to the evil example of the
students, and otherwise to the injury
of the Institution.

At the end of every month, a circular
is addressed by the Chairman
of the Faculty to the parent or guardian
of each student, in which are
stated his absences from the lectures
he was bound to attend, and other irregularities
of which he may have
been guilty, that month; together
with such information as to the student's
progress and conduct as it may
be deemed proper to communicate.

Accomplishments.—There are in
the University, teachers of Music, Fencing
and Dancing, authorized by the
Faculty to give instruction in those
accomplishments to such students, as
wish to acquire them.

A military corps has been formed
by the students, and an instructor appointed,
for the purpose of learning
military tactics. One afternoon in
the week is devoted to these exercises;
but it is at the option of the
student whether he will engage in
them.

TABLE, exhibiting the state of the several Schools of the University, from
its commencement.

                       

Number of Session.	Year.	Whole Number of Matriculates.	Antient Languages.	Modern Languages.	Mathematics.	Natural Philosophy.	Chemistry and Materia Medica.	Medicine.	Medical Jurisprudence.	Anatomy and Surgery.	Moral Philosophy.	Law.	Whole No. of Tickets Taken.
1st.	1825	123	57	73	73	35	35	26			15		314
2d.	1826	177	107	90	98	43	45	16			28	26	453
3d.	1827	128	53	59	62	24	38	16	4		12	18	286
4th.	1827-8	131	48	46	63	30	43	23	2	23	25	24	327
5th.	1828-9	120	39	26	45	33	38	22	11	27	23	27	291
6th.	1829-30	133	52	39	60	47	42	29	3	34	16	23	345
7th.	1830-31	133	57	46	78	57	37	25	4	23	38	17	382
8th.	1831-32	140	48	24	64	58	60	41	15	41	57	29	437
9th.	1832-33	158	60	23	78	82	70	38	10	36	42	37	476
10th.	1833-34	201	75	64	109	73	89	41		44	67	48	610
	Totals	1444	596	490	730	482	497	277	49	228	323	249	3921

N. B.—The number in the columns of Medical Jurisprudence are those
in addition to the Medical School.

Other information with regard to
the University will be found in the
General Description of Virginia.

Warren, P. V. situated on the left
bank of James river, at the mouth of
Ballinger's creek, in the southern angle
of Albemarle, 25 miles S. S. W.
of Charlottesville, 89 miles N. W. by
W. of Richmond, and 148 from W.
C.—This village was in a flourishing
condition till the year 1823, when
it began to decline, and the value of
property in it has since fallen very
much; it was at that time made a depot
by the farmers for their staples,
wheat, flour, tobacco, &c.—but they
have since found it more advantageous
to transport their produce to Richmond,
through Scottsville. This village
is beautifully situated, and the
fertility of the surrounding soil, and
grandeur of the landscape are objects
of universal admiration; the salubrity
of this neighborhood is unsurpassed
in the U. States—It contains several
dwelling houses—one free church—
one common school—two mercantile
stores—two taverns—and one cooper's-shop—Population
50; of whom
two are physicians.

Yancey's Mills, P. O. on the
Rivanna and Rockfish Gap turnpike
between Charlottesville and Staunton,
16 miles from the former, and 24 from
the latter—138 ms. S. W. by W. from
W. C. and 97 from R.—It contains a
tavern, one mercantile store and a
blacksmith-shop.—Liberty meeting
house, in the neighborhood, is free for
all denominations.

AMELIA.

Amelia was created by the Legislature in 1734, and formed out of part
of Prince George. It is bounded N. W. by Cumberland, or the Appomattox;

N. by the Appomattox or Powhatan county; N. E. by the Appomattox,
or Chesterfield; S. E. by Namozine creek, or Dinwiddie; S. by Nottoway;
and W. by Prince Edward.—Length from S. E. to N. W. 30 miles, mean
width 10—area 300 square miles. The surface is greatly diversified, the
soil on the hills, poor, and generally much worn, on the bottoms very fertile.
It is drained by various creeks which flow to the N. E. into the Appomattox—Populationin
1820—11,106; in 1830, free whites 3,293,—slaves, 7,518,
—free blacks, 2,200—total, 11,031.—It belongs to the second judicial circuit,
and first district. Taxes paid 1832-3, $3,063 02—in 1833-4, on lots
$38 74—land $1989 25—on 3109 slaves, $777 25—2345 horses, $140
76—8 studs, $104 00—21 coaches, $52 50—6 carryalls, $6 00—11 gigs,
$3 35;—Total, $3116 85. Amount expended in the education of poor
children in 1832, $243 74,—in 1833, $337 62.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

AMELIA C. H., P. O. 169 miles
from W. and 47 from R.—in N.
Lat 37° 13′ and long. 10° 11′ W. of
Washington; on the main Danville
road leading to Richmond. It contains
besides the county buildings
several dwelling houses, one tavern,
& several mechanics. Population 40.

County Courts are held on the
fourth Thursday in every month,—
quarterly in March, May, August,
and November. Judge May holds
his Circuit Superior Courts of Law
and Chancery on the 17th of April
and September.

Deatonville or Thompson's tavern,
P. O. 52 ms. S. W. of R. and
174 from W.—on the Geneto road,
and at the intersection of the roads
leading from Petersburg to Farmville,
—and from Richmond to Prince Edward,—54
miles W. of Petersburg,
162 of Farmville, 23 N. E. of Prince
Edward C. H. and 16 E. of Raine's
tavern, on the road leading from Petersburg
to Lynchburg: A road from
Fredericksburg, also comes in here
from the N. W.

Dennes' P. O. 55 ms. S. W. of R.
and 177 from W.

Elk Hill P. O. 64 ms. S. W. of
R. and 156 from W.

Finney Mills P. O. 52 ms. S.
W. of R. and 176 from W. 30 ms.
N. of W. from Petersburg, 8 S. E. of
Amelia C. H. 7 E. of Dennisville, 4
N. of the line of Nottoway county,
and 5 W. of Bevil's bridge, across
the Appomattox—Situated on Beaver
pond creek, a small but constant stream;
and one mile N. of Deep creek,—a
stream large enough to admit batteaux
navigation for 15 miles, from its junction
with the Appomattox; the flour
from Finney mills is carried in wagons
to this stream, thence to the Appomattox,
thence to Petersburg.—The
mills take their name from their former
proprietor; they turn two pair of
Corn, and the same number of Burr
stones; there is a cotton-gin in another
house; and a methodist meeting house
called the Tabernacle at the spot.
The mill is capable of grinding from
20 to 25000 bushels of wheat in the
ordinary grinding season.

Hallsville, P. O. 33 ms. S. W.
of R. and 155 from W.

Jetersville P. O. 54 ms. S. W.
of R. and 176 from W.

Lombardy P. O. 42 ms. S. W. of
R. and 164 from W.

Manboro' P. O. 48 ms. N. W. of
R. and 170 from W.—situated at the
intersection of the road leading from
Richmond to North Carolina, and
from Petersburg to the west.

Office Tavern P. O. in the western
part of the county, 43 ms. S. W.
by W. of R. and 165 from W.—on
the main stage road leading from
Farmville to Petersburg, and 4 ms.

N. W. of Amelia C. H.—The Clerk's
Office of the superior and county
courts is located in this place;—there
is also an extensive manufactory of
wheat machines, ploughs, &c.—and
in the neighborhood, one Presbyterian
and one Methodist house of worship.
The population amounts to 50
persons.

Painsville P. V. in the western
part of the county—46 ms. S. W. by
W. of R., 168 from W., 12 from Amelia
C. H., 18 from Genito, and 15 from
Jamestown. Painsville contains 7
dwelling houses,—one tavern,—one
mercantile store, one wheelwright,—
one smiths-shop,—one cabinet maker,
—and one free meeting house. A
Baptist church of about 40 white
members was established in 1832 near
the village. There is also a flourishing
Methodist church about three
miles from the village, and a Presbyterian
church about five ms.—There
are Union Sabbath Schools at these
churches, and a Female Benevolent
Society attached to the Baptist church,
which is auxiliary to the B. Education
Society.—This church also constitutes
an Auxiliary Bible Society,
and contributes also to the Baptist Association,
and the B. Triennial Convention
of the U. S. The Presbyterian
church has a Tract Society. A
Temperance Society holds its meetings
in Painsville. The country around
is thickly settled, and within
three miles are two mercantile stores
and a cotton factory—One attorney and
three physicians reside in Painsville,
its whole population is 57, of whom
32 are whites.

Wigwam, the residence of the late
distinguished William B. Giles,
about 62 ms. S. W. of R. and 156
from W.—about three miles from the
Appomattox. The buildings are of
wood, but prettily and neatly built,
and convenient,—the situation is itself
pleasant and retired, but does not command
a view of much of the surrounding
country—during Mr. Giles'
life he had a large classical school at
his residence, provided with excellent
teachers.

AMHERST.

Amherst was created by the Legislature in 1761, from a part of Albemarle.
It is bounded S. W. by Bedford county, or James river; S. by
James river or Campbell county; S. E. by James river, or Campbell and
Buckingham counties; E. and S. E. by Tye river, or Nelson county; and
N. E. by Blue Ridge or Rockbridge county. This county is nearly a parallelogram,
22 by 19 ms; area 418 sq. ms.—It is enclosed on two sides, the
S. W. and S. E. by the James river, and entirely drained by the tributaries
of that stream. The county generally slopes to the South, its elevation
above the Ocean is from 500 to 800 feet;—The soil is naturally fertile, and
of the same dark, rich red, which is found so susceptible of improvement
in Albemarle, &c.—but the system of Agriculture is bad; and when the
land is exhausted it is generally turned out; and the deep red gulleys washed
by the rain fill the traveller with feelings of the most gloomy desolation;
but it is hoped that the James river improvement by rendering transportation
cheaper will induce the farmers to cultivate in wheat, the lands which
are now turned out, when too poor for tobacco, and change the appearance
of the soil.—The scenery of Amherst is beautifully variegated with
mountain, hill, and river. This county belongs to the twelfth judicial

circuit, and sixth district. Population in 1820, 10,483,—in 1830, 12,071.—
Taxes paid in 1832-3, $2,063 62,—in 1833-4, $3,116 85.

Amount expended in educating poor children in 1832, $273 08—in 1833,
$259 06.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

AMHERST C. H., P. V. situated
on the stage road leading from Charlottesville
to Lynchburg, 15 ms. from
the latter, 136 ms. W. from Richmond,
and 180 from Washington, in N. lat
37° 29′, long 2° 12′ W. of W. C.
It contains besides the county buildings,
14 dwelling houses, 1 common
school, 2 taverns, 2 mercantile stores,
1 tanyard, and several blacksmithshops.—Two
attorneys and three regular
physicians reside in this village
Population 130.

County Courts are held on the 3rd
Monday in every month;—Quarterly
in March, June, August, and November.

Judge Thompson holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and
Chancery on the 1st of April and
September.

Buffalo Springs P. O. 147 ms.
W. of R. and 190 from W.—These
waters are chalybeate, and attract a
good deal of company in summer.

Knightsville P. O. 131 ms. from
R. and 185 from W.

New Glasgow P. V. 132 ms. W.
of R. and 175 S. W. of W.—in the
N. W. part of the county on an elevated
place, 20 ms. N. N. E. of Lynchburg.—It
contains 21 dwelling houses,
one free house of worship, 1 academy,
1 hotel, 4 mercantile stores, 1 tanyard,
1 sadler, 1 cabinet maker, 1 wheelwright,
and 1 smith-shop. New Glasgow
is pleasantly situated in a very
healthy and picturesque region;—the
soil around was originally good and
is susceptible of easy and high improvement.

Pedlar Mills P. O. 135 ms. W.
of R. and 198 S. W. of W.—in S.
W. part of the county, at the junction
of Horsley's creek and Pedlar river,
on the north side of that river, and 4½
ms. from its junction with the James:
—It contains a store, a merchant mill,
a tavern, a tailor-shop, a tanyard, and
a blacksmith-shop. It has 14 houses
and a population of 56 persons; one
of whom is a physician. Pedlar
river might easily be made navigable
to the mills.

Pryors Vale P. O. 141 ms. S.
W. of R. and 191 from W.

Rose Mills P. O. 127 ms. from
R. and 170 S. W. of W.

Sandridge's P. O. 142 ms. from
R. and 185 S. W. of W.

Waugh's Ferry P. O. 142 ms.
from R. and 205 S. W. of W.

BEDFORD.

Bedford was created by the Legislature in 1753, out of a part of Lunenburg
county. It is bounded E. and S. E. by Campbell county,—S. and
S. W. by Staunton river, branch of Roanoke, separating it from Pittsylvania
on the S. and Franklin S. W.—W. and N. W. by the Blue Ridge,
which separates it from Botetourt; and N. E. by James river, which separates
it from Amherst—Length between the James and Staunton 30 miles,
mean breadth 22,—and area 660 sq. ms.—lat from 37° to 37° 32′ N. and
long from 2° 10′ to 2° 50′ W. of W. C.—This county for the most part
inclines to the S. E.—The inclination terminating in the Peaks of Otter in

the N. W. part of the county;—from these Peaks elevated 4,260 feet above
the Ocean, Bedford slopes towards her two main boundary streams, the
James and Roanoke, and has also lesser inclinations towards her two smaller
streams, Goose creek and Otter river—The soil is generally well adapted
to farming, equal perhaps to any in Virginia, and had it never been doomed
to the curse of excessive tobacco culture, would not have been surpassed by
any portion of the state in improvement.—Tobacco has been the principle
staple; but many are now turning their attention to the improvement of their
land by clover and plaster, and find them astonishingly successful, and the
soil capable of high and rapid improvement.—There is a stratum of red
clay which is almost impervious to water, and gives durability to an improved
soil;—some of the lands on the water-courses are destitute of this
quality, and their value is diminished by the defect. The face of the country
is generally uneven and in many places broken, especially the south part,
from the great western road. The principal streams flowing through the
county are Otter and Goose creek, the former rises in the mountains about
the sides and base of the Peaks of Otter; the head of the south fork of the
latter rises between the celebrated Peaks, on the road passing through Jenning's
Gap, and half way from the base to the summit; it is a large spring
of delightful water and very powerful at its source, and is so increased by
other springs ere it reaches the base of the mountain, that it affords beautiful
sites for machinery: after uniting with the north fork it forms a considerable
stream, running nearly a south course until it unites with Goose
creek, which rises in the S. W. side of the Peaks, and runs first south and
then east. It affords many sites for water-works, and many mills are
erected on it.

The celebrated Peaks of Otter are situated on the south of the road
which passes through Jenning's Gap; the county line passes over the northern
or Flat Top Peak; this Peak was estimated by Mr. Jefferson to be
fourteen or fifteen feet highest, but it is the southern one which has attracted
most attention,—its pinnacle being formed of rock piled on rock for forty
feet. From this the traveller gazes with delight upon the country below,
studded with farms, diminished by the distance to the appearance of gardens,
and mountain rising above mountain in endless perspective, whilst
immediately beneath his feet the clouds may be pouring their genial showers
upon the foot of the mountain. John Randolph of Roanoke, is said to have
written some pious lines, upon witnessing this majestic and elevating scene.
The spot has been visited also by the eloquent Volney—There are two
other peaks in the same range of mountains, which have not been mentioned
by travellers or geographers, they are distant five and seven miles from the
two former, and are probably of equal height; the old hunters say, that the
most northern one, which is called the Apple Orchard, is the highest of
all; its name is derived from the appearance of the trees on its top, which
resembles an old deserted orchard. The top affords a level of four or five
acres of very rich soil, and has springs upon it. The other of these neglected
Peaks is called the Onion; it has nothing remarkable about it, except
its height. The soil in the lofty elevations of these mountains is astonishingly
fertile.

Chalybeate Waters, discovered in the south part of the county, have been
found to be beneficial in diseases of the skin and debility, but no care being
taken of them, they are little known or frequented.

There is a cave of some extent on the head waters of Goose creek, of
which little is known.

The timber of Bedford is generally oak,—white, black, red, Spanish, and
box oak,—there is also much good pine in some sections.—Few hogs, and
little cattle is raised for market; there are some fine horses raised, and more
attention has been lately attracted to this subject.

There are about thirty good manufacturing mills in the county, and as
many saw mills. About six miles of the James river canal, which passes
through the Blue Ridge, lie in this county.—This county belongs to the
eighth judicial circuit, and fourth district. Population 1820, 19,305—in
1830, 20,246—Taxes paid in 1833, $4,321 41—in 1834, on lots, $76 09—
land, $2538 50—slaves, (No. 4545,) $1136 25—horses, (No. 4670,) $280
20—studs, (No. 33,) $496 00—coaches, (No. 31,) $68 40—carryalls, (No.
7,) $7 00—gigs, (No. 20,) $11 25—Total $4,613 19. Amount expended
in 1833 for education of poor children, $861 65.

School Fund from 30th Sept. 1833, to 1st Oct. 1834.

                 

Number of school commissioners,	15
Number of common schools attended by poor children,	25
Number of poor children in the county,	450
Number of poor children sent to school,	330
Aggregate No. of days' attendance of poor children at school,	18182
Average No. of days' attendance of each poor child at school,	55
Rate of tuition per diem,	4 cts.
Average paid for each poor child, including all expenses,	$2 39
Expended in 1833, for all expenses,	$787 84

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Chambless' Store, P. O. 159 ms.
from R. and 237 from W.

Davis' Mill, P. O. 155 ms. S. W.
by W. from W.

Davis' Store, P. O. 149 ms. from
R. and 217 from W.

Dickinson's Store, P. O. 152 ms.
W. of R. and 230 from W.

Hendricks Store, P. O. 161 ms.
from R. and 239 S. of W.

LIBERTY, P. V. and seat of
justice, is situated on a branch of Otter
river, 26 ms. S. W. from Lynchburg,
145 ms. S. W. by W. from R.
and 223 from W.—lat 37° 17′ N.—
long. 20° 29′ W. of W. C.—The
Lynchburg and Salem turnpike runs
through the town, which contains besides
the county buildings, 70 houses;
—2 Baptist, and 1 free church,—1
masonic hall,—2 taverns,—5 mercantile
stores,—1 tobacco manufactory,—
2 tanyards,—3 house-carpenters,—1
wheelwright,—3 tailors,—2 blacksmiths,—and
2 turners.—The mail
arrives and departs fifteen times in a
week.—Liberty contains 9 attorneys,
and 4 regular physicians;—whole
population 350.

County Courts are held on the 4th
Monday in every month;—Quarterly
in March, May, August, and November.

Judge Daniel holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the tenth of May and October.

Mersey's, P. O. 170 ms. W. of R.
and 248 from W.—It contains 5 mercantile
stores, 1 tavern, 2 manufacturing
flour mills, 5 common grist mills,
2 carding machines, and 3 saw mills.
—The neighboring soil is good and
produces well all the staples of the
middle states.

Otter Bridge, P. O. 17 ms. S.
W. by W. of Lynchburg, 215 ms. S.
W. of W. and 137 from R.

OTTER PEAKS, situated on the
boundary line between Bedford and
Botetourt, by the road 30 ms. from
Lynchburg,—These summits are
4,260 feet above the Atlantic, and are
the highest Peaks of the Appalachian
chain, except the White Top peaks
of the Iron mountain, and some points
in New Hampshire.—See a description
of these in the preliminary description
of this county.

Saint James Church, P. O. 139
ms. from R. and 217 S. W. of W.

Tiber, or Goose Creek, P. O. in
the western part of the county is 10
ms. W. of Liberty, 233 ms. from W.
and 155 from R.—situated on the waters
of a beautiful stream called Goose
creek, with a fine view of the magnificent
Blue Ridge, and the towering
Peaks of Otter. It contains 10 dweling
houses, 1 free house of worship,
1 Benevolent Society, and 1 manufacturing
flour mill,—the principal mechanical
pursuits are the blacksmiths,
tanners, boot and shoe makers, wagon
makers, and brick layers. The soil
in the neighborhood is fertile, producing
wheat, corn, buckwheat, tobacco,
oats, hemp, and flax, in abundance.—
Grazing is also carried on by the farmers
in the neighborhood, and no soil
can be better adapted to grass and clover.—Tiber
has 1 physician, and a
population of 70 souls.

Wharton's Mills, P. O. 154 ms.
from R. and 227 S. W. of W.

White Oak Grove, P. O. 149
ms. from R. and 227 from W.

BRUNSWICK.

Brunswick was created by the Legislature in 1720, from a portion of
Surry and Isle of Wight. It is bounded N. W. and N. by Lunenburg,—
W. by Mecklenburg,—N. E. by Nottoway river, which separates it from
Dinwiddie,—E. by Greensville,—S. by Southampton co. of N. Carolina,
and S. W. by Warren co. of the same state. It is nearly a square, of 26
miles on each side; area 676 sq. miles extending in lat from 36° 32′ N.
to 36° 56′ N., and in long. from 0° 39, to 1° 04′ W. of W. C. The S. W.
angle touches Roanoke, and a small section is drained S. into that stream;
but the body of the county is comprised in the vallies of Meherrin and Nottoway
rivers, and declines to the east.—Population 1820—16,687—in 1830
—15,767.—Brunswick belongs to the second judicial circuit, and first district.—Tax
paid in 1833, $3618 91—in 1834, $3751 56.—Amoung expended
in educating poor children in 1832, no report—in 1833, $417 65.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Diamond Grove, P. O. 86 ms. S.
S. W. of R. and 179 from W.—on
the Meherrin river and main stage
road from Petersburg, Va., to Charleston,
S. C., 7 ms. S. of Lawrenceville;
situated in a rich and enterprising
neighborhood.

Gholsonville, P. V. on the left
bank of Meherrin river, 75 ms. S. S.
W. of R. and 197 from W.—one mile
S. of Lawrenceville and on the main
road leading S. from Petersburg—it
contains 5 dwelling houses, one Methodist
house of worship, 1 coach
manufactory, and a blacksmith-shop.
—It has one physician, and a population
of 60 persons.

Harrisville, P. O. 46 ms. from
R. and 168 from W.

Jonesboro', P. O. 92 ms. S. of R.
and 194 from W.

LAWRENCEVILLE, P. V. and
county seat, 69 ms. W. of S. from
Richmond, and 191 from Washington—lat.
36° 48′ N., and long. 0° 50′
W. of W. C.—Lawrenceville is a
beautiful and wealthy little upland
village, on a branch of the Meherrin
river, containing a handsome courthouse,
clerk's office, and jail, an elegant
masonic hall, and an Episcopal
church, 25 neat dwelling houses, 1
common school, 1 temperance and 1
missionary society, 4 mercantile stores,
2 taverns, 2 tanyards, 1 saddler, 1
boot and shoe factory, 2 tailors, and
3 smith-shops. Population 350, of
whom 4 are attorneys, and 1 a physician.

County Courts are held on the 4th
Monday in every month,—Quarterly
in March, May, August, and November.

Judge May holds his Circuit Superior
Court of Law and Chancery
on the 26th of April and September.

Lewisville, P. V. 78 ms. S. S.
W. from R. and 200 from W.—situated
on Gee's road, one mile N. W. of
Gee's bridge over the Meherrin river,
and near the dividing line of Lunenburg,
Brunswick, and Mecklenburg;
28 miles from Randolph Macon College,
and 9 from Lawrenceville.—It
contains 13 dwelling houses, 1 mercantile
store, 1 tailor, and 1 blackshith.
Population 33. There are several
Methodist houses of worship in the
immediate neighborhood. The country
is healthy, and well settled with
industrious and wealthy farmers; the
land is strong and well watered, and
produces all the staple articles of the
state.

Kennedy, P. O. 66 ms. S. S. W.
of R. and 188 from W.

Percivals, P. O. 67 ms. S. W. of
R. and 186 from W.

Sturgeonville, P. V. 60 ms. S.
S. W. of R. and 182 from W.—This
place takes its name from Sturgeon
creek, which runs near it.—It is situated
in the N. E. part of the county,
in a tolerably thickly settled neighborhood.
The land once good, is
now much worn out, but the inhabitants
are wealthy and hospitable;
wheat and tobacco are the staples.—
There are in the neighborhood of the
P. O., 1 Methodist, and 1 Presbyterian
house of worship, 1 Academy,
1 female school, 2 general stores, 1
blacksmith, 2 boot and shoe makers,
1 tanyard, and a house of entertainment.

White Plains, P. O. 94 ms. S.
S. W. of R. and 205 from W.—situated
on the great southern road; 80
ms. N. of Raleigh, N. C.

BUCKINGHAM.

Buckingham was created by the Legislature in 1761, and formed out
of part of Albemarle county.—It is bounded on the N. E.—N.—N. W.—
and W. by the James river, which separates it from Fluvanna, Albemarle,
Nelson, and Amherst; S. W. by Campbell; S. by the Appomattox, which
separates it from Prince Edward; and E. by Cumberland. Length 34
miles, mean breadth, 24—area 816 sq. miles;—it extends in lat from 37°
13′ to 37° 45′ N. and in long from 1° 12′ to 1° 55′ W. from W. C.

The head waters of the Appomattox flow along the S. border of this
county; but its general inclination is N. towards the James, which forms
about half of its entire outline. The only mountains in Buckingham are
Willis's mountain, a small range near its eastern border, and another in the
S. W. part near James river, called Ferguson's mountain; the remainder of

the county is generally level. Willis's river rises in the S. part of the
county—flows in an eastern direction, enters Cumberland, then turns to the
N. E. and empties into the James, 40 miles above Richmond; it is navigable
65 miles from its mouth,—a remarkable circumstance for a river of its
length;—its channel rather resembles a canal than a river. Slate river
rises in the S. part of this county, flows to the N. E. and empties into the
James 3 miles above New Canton, and 63 above Richmond.—Buckingham
is by no means wealthy in proportion to its extent,—a large portion of it is
barren and uninhabited; on the borders of the water courses the soil is fertile,
producing well all the staples, tobacco, wheat, corn, &c.—the intervening
ridges are extremely sterile and desolate.—The county contains 7 manufacturing
flour mills, capable of grinding from 200 to 250,000 bushels of
wheat annually, 5 wool-carding establishments, 8 tanyards, and 40 grist
mills.—Slate is found in abundance at the mouth of Slate river.—Iron-ore
is found near New Canton.—Gold is found in many places, and one mine
is said to be the richest in America. A Mineral Spring has been discovered
ten miles S. of New Canton, which is known as the Physic Spring,
the waters of which have not been analyzed, but are thought by physicians
acquainted with its qualities, to be useful in many diseases, especially those
of a chronic nature.—Buckingham belongs to the eighth judicial circuit,
and fourth district. Population 1820, 17,582—in 1830, 18,351. Taxes in
1832-3, $5053 25—1833-4, on lots, $67 06—land, $2937 55—on 5817
slaves, $1454 25—3781 horses, $226 86—13 studs, $188 00—88 coaches,
$265 75—13 carryalls, $13 00—6 gigs, $40 40.—Total $5132 87.
Amount expended in educating poor children in 1832, $498 90—in 1833,
$421 24.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST-OFFICES, &c.

Diana Mills, P. O. 75 m's W.
of R., and 160 from W.—situated on
Slate river, 5½ m's. above its junction
with the James, and 5 above Virginia
Mills. It contains 1 dwelling house,
and 3 stores which do a good business.
Slate river is a constant stream,
portions of which run through a fine
wheat and tobacco country. Population
at Diana Mills 12.

Diuguidsville, or Bent Creek,
P. V. 196 m's. S. W. by W. of W.
and 112 from R., situated in the S.
W. part of the county at the mouth of
Bent Creek on James river. A
neat village with considerable trade,
and containing 16 dwelling houses,
3 general stores, 2 groceries, a tavern,
a house of private entertainment,
and a tobacco warehouse;—at the
latter were formerly inspected from 8
to 1200 hogsheads of tobacco annually,
and it is yet much used as a place
of deposite by the planters, prior to
sending their tobacco to Richmond.
The mechanics of the place are a
tanner, saddler, wheelwright, blacksmith,
cabinet maker, tailor, bricklayer,
and stone mason: there are in
the neighbourhood 2 extensive manufacturing
mills, a grist and a saw
mill;—from 20 to 30,000 bushels of
wheat are annually purchased in the
village.—A horse mail arrives thrice
a week. Population 132, 1 of whom
is a physician.

Eldridges, P. O. 79 m's. W. of
R., and 154 from W.

Flood's P. O. 180 m's. S. W. of
W., and 96 W. of R.

MAYSVILLE, P. V. and County
Seat, 87 m's. W. of R., and 162 from
W.—in lat. 37° 22′ N., and long 1°
32′ W. of W. C., situated near the
centre of the county on Slate Creek,
35° N. of Lynchburg. It contains

besides the county buildings, about
50 dwelling houses, 1 Free church,
and 1 Presbyterian, 1 female academy,
and 2 elementary schools for
boys, 4 mercantile stores, 1 apothecaries
shop, and 3 taverns;—the mechanics
are 1 tanner, 2 saddlers, 2
boot and shoe manufacturers, 1 silver
smith and watch maker, 1 milliner
and mantua maker, 2 wagon makers,
2 cabinet makers, 3 tailors, 1 tin
plate worker, and 1 miller. There
are 5 arrivals of the mail in each
week. Maysville contains 5 resident
attorneys, and 3 regular physicians
Population 300.

County Courts, are held on the
2d Monday in every month; Quarterly
in March, May, August and
November. Judge Daniel holds
his Circuit Superior Court of Law
and Chancery on the 10th of August,
and September.

New Canton, P. V. in the northern
part of the county, 63 m's. W. of
R., and 138 from W., situated at the
mouth of Slate Creek, on an elevated
bank about a fourth of a mile from
James river, commanding a beautiful
perspective view down the river. It
was once a place of considerable
trade, but has been for sometime rapidly
declining. It contains 36 dwelling
houses, 3 mercantile stores, 1
tavern, 1 flour manufacturing mill,
1 tanyard, and 1 saddler. A Free
house of worship is situated a mile S.
of New Canton; and 4 m's. W. the
Virginia Mills, by which large quantities
of flour are manufactured,—they
are situated on Slate river, on which
several valuable slate quarries are
opened. An iron foundry has lately
been opened at New Canton, by which
is manufactured all qualities of iron.

Immediately on Slate river the
country is hilly, but soon becomes
very level;—the borders of the river
are very fertile, but the level country
beyond the hills extremely sterile,
except on the flats of creeks. New
Canton has 1 attorney, and 1 physician.
Population 50.

New Store, P. O. 81 m's. from
R., and 167 S. W. from W.

Oakville, P. V. in the S. W. part
of the country, 49 m's S. W. by W.
of New Canton, 103 W. of R., and
187 W. of W., situated at the intersection
of the roads leading from
Bent creek, to Prince Edward C. H.
and from Lynchburg to Stone Wall
Mills, 2½ m's. from the line of Campbell
Co. It contains but 2 dwelling
houses, and a store selling about
$10,000 worth of goods annually.

The land in the immediate neighbourhood
of Oakville is sterile but
level, the surrounding country is more
fertile, and well adapted to the staples
of the state Much tobacco, was
formerly raised in this section of
country, but the planters are turning
their attention more to the cultivation
of the other staples, and to improving
their land by clover, plaster, &c.
There is great variety in the soil,
some being dark and stony, some red,
and some gray,—the former is most
productive.

Physic Spring, P. O. 67 m's. W.
of R. and 153 from W.

Stone Wall Mills, P. O. in the
S. W. part of the Co., 108 m's. S. W.
of R., and 192 from W., situated on
James river, 15 m's. below Lynchburg.
It contains 2 dwelling houses,
1 manufacturing mill, 2 mercantile
stores, 1 tailor, 1 shoemaker, and 1
blacksmith. Located in a convenient
place for sending produce to market
by water; and surrounded by a
healthy and wealthy neighbourhood.
Population 20.

Warren, Ferry, and P. O. 87
m's. W. of R. and 172 from W.—in
the W. part of the Co., 10 m's. W. of
the C. H.

CAMPBELL.

Campbell was created by the Legislature in 1784, from a portion of
Bedford. It is bounded S. by Staunton, branch of Roanoke, which separates
it from Pittsylvania and Halifax, W. by Bedford, N. by James river
which separates it from Amherst, S. E. by Buckingham and Prince Edward,
and E. by Charlotte. Campbell approximates to a square of 24 m's.
on each side, with an area of 576 sq. m's; and extends in lat. from 37° to
37° 26′ N. and long from 1° 46′ to 2° 22′ W. of W. C. There are a few
small mountains in Campbell:—both its bounding rivers the Staunton and
James are navigable for boats far above its limits; thus opening communication
with Chesapeake bay and Albemarle sound. The surface is much
broken, but productive in grain, fruit, tobacco, pasturage, &c. Population
including the town of Lynchburg in 1820—16,570, in 1830—20,350.
Campbell belongs to the eighth judicial circuit, and fourth district. Taxes
paid in 1833, $6682 53—1834, on lots, $1666 74—land, $3093 82—
5128 slaves, $1282—3589 horses, $215 34—16 studs, $210 00—88
coaches, $167 10—26 Carryalls, $26 50—57 gigs, $35 60 —Total,
$6697 10. Amount expended in educating poor children in 1832,
$244 57—in 1833, $165 03.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST-OFFICES, &c.

Arnoldston, P. V. 219 m's S.
W. from W., and 141 from R., situated
at the junction of Otter river
with Staunton, on the main southern
road—20 m's from Lynchburg, and
25 from the Peak's of Otter, which
with several other picturesque mountains
are in view. The country
around is fertile, rich, well watered,
thickly settled and healthy. The village
contains several dwelling houses,
1 mercantile store, 1 wheelwright,
and a blacksmith shop, with various
other mechanics. There are five
grist and saw mills from 2 to 4 m's
distant; these mills are surrounded
with fine timber for building, &c.
Population of Arnoldston 15.

Brookneal, P. V. 162 m's S. W.
by W. of R. and 240 from W., situated
in the S. E. part of the county
on a beautiful eminence on the north
bank of Staunton river, opposite the
Seven Islands, a little above the junction
of Big Falling river, with Staunton
river. It contains 21 houses—10
of which are dwelling houses, 2 mercantile
stores, 1 Baptist house of worship,
1 tavern, tan yard, saddler, tailor,
boot and shoe factory, tobacco factory,
and 2 blacksmith shops; in the
vicinity. On Big Falling river is a
manufacturing mill. Population 109,
of whom 61 are whites, and 48 blacks,
and 1 a physician. The falls at this
place and for some miles above are
very considerable, on both rivers; and
fully adequate to the movement of any
machinery whatever. The Staunton
is the dividing line of Campbell
and Halifax, and has at this place a
ferry, and on the opposite side a tavern.
For some miles above Brookneal
there is very little flat land on
Staunton river, the hills which abound
with fine building rock, running to
the waters edge; but at Brookneal
the flat land becomes wider and continues
to widen for miles below.
These flats are very fertile, producing
most abundant crops of wheat, corn,
oats and tobacco; and some parts also
are well adapted to clover and grass
The uplands are of common quality,
and abound with good oak, and pine
timber. There are several fine beds
of soap stone, and iron ore in this vicinity.

CAMPBELL C. H., P. O. 210
m's. from W., 133 from R. and 12
m's. S. of Lynchburg. Besides the
ordinary county buildings it contains
12 dwelling houses, 2 taverns, 1
classical and 1 common school, 2
mercantile stores, 1 tanyard and several
mechanics. The public buildings
are large, neat and commodious, and
the village rapidly improving. The
mails arrive and depart 3 times a
week. The population is from 90 to
100; of whom 3 are attorneys and 1 a
physician.

County Courts, are held on the 2d
Monday in every month:—Quarterly
in March, June, August, and November.
Judge Daniel holds his Circuit.
Superior Court of Law and
Chancery on the 26th of April and
September.

Concord, P. O. 106 m's. W. of R.
and 192 from W., 12 m's, from Campbell
C. H., and 13 from Lynchburg
Concord is the name of a small section
of country in which the P. O. is
located, and derives its name from a
meeting house in the vicinity. The
country around is fertile and thickly
settled, and within 2 m's. of the P. O.
are 3 houses of public worship—
Presbyterian, Baptist and Methodist.

Falling Bridge, P. O. 122 m's.
S. W. by W. of R. and 203 from W.
in the S. E. part of the county, 20
m's. S. E. of Lynchburg.

Flat Creek, P. O. 129 m's. S.
W. by W. of R., and 207 miles
from W.

Greenhill, P. O. 152 m's. from
R., and 230 from W.

Leesville, P. V. 147 m's. S. W.
by W. of R., and 225 from W., situated
at the junction of Staunton river
and Goose creek. It contains 20
dwelling houses, 2 mercantile stores,
a tavern, tobacco factory and warehouse,
manufacturing flour mill,
hemp and wool carding machine and
cotton gin, 2 tanyards, a tailor, 3
blacksmiths and 2 boot and shoe factories.
Population 65; of whom 1 is
a physician.

LYNCHBURG. The town of
Lynchburg is situated on the S. or
right bank of James river, in the N.
W. corner of the county of Campbell,
120 m's. W. from R. and 198 m's.
S. W. from W. Its lat. is 37° 36′
N. and its long. 79° 22′ W. from
Greenwich.

The river in front of the town is
about 200 yards wide, and flows to
the S. E., giving the same direction
to the principal streets. The navigation
is difficult, the river being obstructed
by shoals, rocks and rapids,
throughout a considerable part of its
course above tide-water, and admitting
only the use of batteaux carrying
about 5 tons. Their form is peculiar
and excellent.

The river is crossed in front of the
centre of the town, by a plain wooden
bridge, from which, and in the same
direction, Water st. leads through the
middle of the town, crossing the other
streets at right angles.

On the N. W. side, the town is
limited by the abrupt bank of Black
Water creek, which flowing N. E. enters.
James river a little above the
bridge. The river banks on the
N. E. side are broken, precipitant
and elevated; presenting, in connection
with the distant view of the Blue
Ridge and the Peaks of Otter, a scenery
which has been universally admired
for its beauty and boldness.

In some situations, the banks of the
river disclose strata of earth in a manner
highly interesting and instructive
to the geological student. Lynchburg
stands in a primitive region,
abounding in several varieties of the
grantic rocks. Mica slate, hornblende,
chlorites, quartz, and various
ores of iron, are often met with; and
among the rarer minerals, lithomarge,
an oxide of titanium, cyenite, asbestos,
&c. Gold, in small quantities, has
been found in the neighbourhood.
The quarries produce a compact mica
slate, capable of being wrought easily
with the chisel into blocks, having

the closest resemblance to granite, and
affording a building material highly
valuable, but as yet too little appreciated.

The streets parallel to the river,
which have been more or less built
upon, are 10 in number. Of these,
the 2d or "Main street" is the principal.
Almost all the shops and stores
of the town are situated on this street;
and for the distance of about three
quarters of a mile, it presents continuous
rows of tolerably well built
houses. Main st. together with 3d,
(the next in order, proceeding from
the river,) occupies a bench on the
river bank, at an elevation of about
125 feet; while 4th st. is nearly 100
feet higher; lying only a little below
the common level of the country.
These streets are crossed at right
angles by 10 or 12 alleys, having
Water st. in the middle, which between
3d and 4th streets, is too precipitous
for the use of carriages of any
kind.

The number of houses is between
8 and 900. The court house, market
house, and other public buildings, excepting
a substantial stone jail, are in
a style of architecture which does no
credit to the place. The principal
hotels are the Franklin and the
Union, on Main st., and the Washington
on 3d st. Several of the private
dwellings would be considered
ornamental to any city.

The churches, in the order of their
erection, are the Methodist Episcopal,
the 1st Presbyterian, the 1st Baptist,
the Protestant Episcopal Church of
St. Paul's, the 2d Baptist, the Methodist.
Protestant, the 2d Presbyterian,
and a Friend's meeting house in the
vicinity of the town. These buildings,
5 of which stand on 3d st. are
mostly quite plain; 1 or 2 only having
any pretensions to architectural propriety
or ornament.

Among the mechanics of Lynchburg
are found—distributed in the
usual proportions of an inland town,
bakers, blacksmiths, cabinet makers,
carpenters, carriage makers, chair
makers, coopers, coppersmiths, gun
smiths, hatters, masons, painters, printers,
rope makers, saddlers, shoemakers,
silversmiths, tallow chandlers,
tanners, tailors, tinners, turners, tobacconists,
&c.

The principal manufacturing establishments
within the town, are
a large and excellent flour mill and a
saw mill, on Black Water creek, with
a number of others in the neighbourhood,
a carding machine on a rivulet
at the lower end of the town, several
brick yards, 2 extensive tanyards, and
a good many tobacco factories, for
stemming, manufacturing, &c. These
factories give employment to many
hundred hands. A cotton factory on
the right bank of Black Water creek,
erected by the Lynchburg Manufacturing
Company with a capital of
$100,000, and intended to run 2500
spindles, and give employment to
about 70 persons, is just getting into
operation. This is the first attempt
of any importance to carry on the cotton
manufacture in S. W. Virginia;
the success of the enterprise is confidently
anticipated, and the hope is
cherished that other capitalists may
be induced to embark in similar undertakings
among us, until at least
the wants of the country depending
upon Lynchburg are supplied with
domestic fabrics of our own production.

The Lynchburg Water Works, for
furnishing the town with an unfailing
supply of pure and wholesome water,
were constructed in 1828-29, under
the direction of Albert Stein, esq. Engineer,
at an expense of $50,000.
The height—unprecedented in this
country—to which it was necessary
to raise the water, renders this one
of the most interesting undertakings
of the kind in the United States.

An arm of the James, formed by an
island about 2 miles in length, is
crossed, a short distance above the

limits of the corporation, by a dram 10
feet high. A canal of half a mile in
length conveys the water to the pump
house on the river bank, at the foot of
3rd alley. A double forcing pump
on the plan of De la Hire, worked
by a large breast wheel, impels the
water through the ascending pipe
which is 200 feet long, to a reservoir
containing 400,000 gallons, situated
between 4th and 5th streets, and at
the elevation of 240 feet above the
level of the river. Fire plugs are
connected with the distributing pipes
at every intersection of the alleys with
2nd and 3rd streets, and afford an admirable
security against the danger
of fire. The height of the reservoir,
above these streets (the only ones
compactly built), gives a jet of water
by means of hose pipes, of from 60 to
80 feet elevation, and throws it, in
bold and continuous streams, over the
roofs of the highest houses. The
water is extensively taken by the inhabitants,
and the rents are already
accumulating a sinking fund for liquidating
the debt incurred in constructing
these valuable works.

The water power created by the
dam for the water works, is amply
sufficient for working a large additional
amount of machinery, and waits
only for a clearer perception by capitalists
of the manufacturing advantages
of this town, to be brought into
extensive use. The cheapness of labour,
the abundance of provisions,
and the extent and wealth of the
country looking this way for its supplies
of domestic as well as of foreign
goods, unite with the vast water power
actually prepared and ready for any
application, in inviting the attention of
men of capital and enterprise, to this
important subject.

Lynchburg has suffered much from
the want of good roads, by which the
products of the surrounding country
might be conveyed to her market.
The recent improvements, however,
are important. The road to Charlottesville,
distant 70 m's. N. E. has
been skilfully graduated, and in spite
of an uncommonly broken country,
is now traversed with expedition and
ease. The Richmond road is now
being turnpiked to Chilton's, 15 m's.
from Lynchburg—the only part of
the route that particularly required
this mode of improvement. An excellent
turnpike is now nearly completed
from this place to Lexington,
by the way of the Blue Ridge Canal
on James river. This road passes
near the Natural Bridge, 30 m's. from
Lynchburg. A similar road having
already been opened westward from
Lexington to Covington, the most direct
route from the lower country to
the Virginia Springs, will now be
found to lead through Lynchburg.
The Lynchburg and eastern turnpike,
running S. W. through New London
and Liberty, is now completed half
the distance. This is an expensive
macadimised road. It enters Lynchburg
at the lower end of the town; to
accommodate the wants of the other
end, an arm has been constructed
from Cocke, or West street, (the northernmost
alley,) intersecting the turnpike
a mile and a half from town.

The "Piedmont road," by Charlottesville,
Lynchburg, Danville, Salem,
N. C. &c. having lately been
made the route for the great southern
mail, the public at large have additional
inducements for improving the
portion of it between Lynchburg and
Danville. A good thoroughfare in
this direction would prove an important
accession to the commercial facilites
of this town.

A mail coach passes to and from
Richmond 3 times a week; the line
continues westward to Lewisburg in
Greenbriar county, passing by Liberty
in Bedford county, Fincastle in
Botetourt county, and the Sweet and
White Sulphur Springs, intersecting
the line from Richmond by way of
Charlottesville at the latter place
Just beyond the Blue Ridge, a branch

of this line extends to Salem, where
it joins the line passing up the Valley
from Staunton &c. Another mail
coach passes between this place and
Washington city, by way of Charlottesville
3 times a week; this line
extends on south into Georgia.

The commercial relations of Lynchburg
are extensive, embracing a large
tract of country to the south and west.
Exclusive of an important section of
Virginia, the N. W. parts of North
Carolina, and many counties in east
Tennessee communicate with the Atlantic
ports through this town. The
recent arrangements for carrying
through the long contemplated improvements
connecting the James and
Kanawha rivers, are likely to affect
the trade and prosperity of the place;
but whether prosperously or adversely,
time must develope. In the year
1832, a charter was obtained for "the
Lynchburg and New River Rail Road
Company," and a large amount of
stock taken. Circumstances caused
the abandonment of that undertaking;
yet so important is it for Lynchburg
to secure its S. W. trade, to the greatest
extent, that the connection of the
waters of the Tennessee with the
James river at this place, is an enterprise
that ought never to be lost sight
of. One of the richest sections of the
Union will find this its most direct
route to the Atlantic markets.

The staple article of trade in Lynchburg
is tobacco; for the inspection
and storage of which there are in different
parts of the town, 7 large warehouses.
So fertile and productive
were—and in a measure, still are—
the tobacco lands of the country trading
to Lynchburg, that in regard to
the quantity inspected, the place has
long been the largest tobacco market
in the world.

The following is a tabular view of the statistics of the Tobacco Trade of
Lynchburg for the last 12 years, including a statement of the inspections
at Richmond and Petersburg:

                           

For the year ending	LYNCHBURG.		RICHMOND		PETERSBURG
Oct. 1st,	Passed.	Refused.	Passed.	Refused.	Passed.	Refused.
1822,	10185	1750	7314	2393	13133	4527
1823,	14061	3057	7716	4561	10628	3352
1824,	12457	1790	8216	3808	8710	2309
1825,	14817	1957	9254	3041	5866	2067
1826,	11506	1649	8669	3070	1479	1482
1827,	16127	2465	11142	5087	2096	3346
1828,	13285	2621	10196	7407	1322	4025
1829,	10981	1946	7970	4626	1201	2407
1830,	11926	3539	8360	7007	2120	4515
1831,	11842	3743	8939	7419	2002	4634
1832,	9906	3909	5639	5494	1158	3804
1833,	7957	2173	4868	4617	2877	3605

With the exhaustion of the rich
soils that have heretofore produced
that staple, the amount of tobacco
grown, and the profits of the business,
must gradually diminish. Many
intelligent planters, foreseeing the
inevitable course of things, are by degrees
abandoning the culture of the
plant, and giving an increased attention
to the growing of wheat and the
improvement of their overcropped
lands. There is not in the Union a
soil superior to theirs if properly managed.
Their success in clover and
wheat will animate the spirit of agricultural
improvement, check the tide
of emigration, and by furnishing increased
quantities of merchantable

produce, afford the surest guarantee
for the permanent prosperity of their
market town.

The Lynchburg branch of the
Bank of Virginia has a capital of
$300,000, and that of the Farmers'
Bank of Virginia, a capital of $—
—. There are also two Savings
Banks, paying interest on deposites.
The beneficial effects of these admirable
institutions are widely felt.

The most important Benevolent
Societies of Lynchburg are, a Bible
Society, auxiliary to the American
Bible Society, instituted in the year
1815;—a Colonization Society, instituted
in 1826, which has been instrumental
in sending out many people of
color as colonists to Liberia,—and a
numerous and influential Temperance
Society.

Lynchburg has no incorporated
seminary of learning. The business
of education is left entirely to individual
enterprise. There is a good
classical and mathematical school, several
schools for both sexes, and others
for young ladies exclusively—of
which one is furnished with an extensive
and costly Philosophical Apparatus.

The town labors under the reproach
of having no public library.

In addition to the "Lynchburg Virginian,"
a semi-weekly paper of long
standing, another, also semi-weekly,
has lately been established.

The town was established in the
year 1786, but so slow was its progress
that in 1793, it contained but
five houses. The charter of incorporation
was obtained in 1805. Population
in 1830, 4,630, including 12
resident attorneys, and 15 practising
physicians.

Marysville, P. V. 147 m's S.
W. by W. of R., and 225 from W.,
situated in the S. part of the county,
20 m's S. W. of Lynchburg, and 15
m's S. of Campbell C. H., in a thickly
settled and wealthy neighbourhood,
on Seneca creek, a mile above its
junction with Staunton river. It contains
20 dwelling houses, 2 mercantile
stores, 1 manufacturing flour mill,
a tanyard, and various mechanics.
Seneca creek has lately been improved
by the Roanoke Company, and boats
can now come up to the mill. Popuation
50.

Moreman's P. O. 221 m's. from
W., and 143 from R.

New London, P. V. near the W.
border of Campbell, 209 m's. from
W. and 131 from R. New London
is an incorporated town, situated on the
Lynchburg and Salem turnpike, 11
m's S. W. of the former, and 50 E.
of the latter. It contains 25 dwelling
houses, 2 mercantile stores, 2 taverns,
and 1 handsome Methodist meeting
house, a rope walk, blacksmith shop,
wheelwright, tanyard, and 2 saddlers.
The New London Academy is situated
a mile W. of the town. At this institution
a student may be prepared to
enter any of the colleges or Universities
with credit. There were in
1834, 50 pupils:—the buildings consist
of a handsome and commodious
Academy, a presidents' house, and a
large brick church well enclosed.
The Bedford and Campbell Agricultural
Society, holds its meetings at
New London. There is a merchant
mill on Buffalo creek, about half a
mile west of the town, and another
about the same distance south, both
on a very extensive scale. Population
100.

New London was founded about the
year 1750, and about the time of the
American revolution contained perhaps
thrice its present number of inhabitants.
There was then established
at this place a United States armory,
and its artisans, which have since
been removed to Harpers Ferry:—
Five or six Scotch merchants, who
were largely engaged in business
about the commencement of the revolution,
refused to take the oath of allegiance,
broke up their establishments,
and left the country. These circumstances

combining with the establishment
of Lynchburg so near it on
James river, have given a shock to
the prosperity of the town from which
it cannot recover.

Under the old district system the
Superior Court was held at New
London.

RED HILL, situated in the S. E.
part of the county, on the borders of
this county and Charlotte, about three
miles below Brookneal; on the Staunton
river—The residence of PATRICK
HENRY, and the burial
place of himself and his lady.

Reedy Spring, P. O. 110 ms.
from R. and 196 S. W. of W.

Yellow Branch, P. O. 135 ms.
S. W. of R. and 213 from W.

CAROLINE.

Caroline was created by the House of Burgesses, in February, 1727,
(in the language of the act) "on the heads of Essex, King and Queen, and
King William."—The first court was held under a commission from Governor
Gooch, in May 1728.—It is bounded N. by the Rappahannock
which separates it from King George, N. W. by same river separating it
from Stafford,—N. E. by Essex,—E. and S. E. by King and Queen, and
King William,—S. S. W. by the Pamunkey, which separates it from Hanover,—and
W. by Spottsylvania.—Its shape is nearly a parallelogram, in
length 30 miles from N. E. to S. W. and in breadth 20;—area 600 sq. ms.
—lat. 37° 4′ to 38° 16′ N. and long. 0° 2′ to 0° 43′ W. of W. C.—The
surface is much broken, and the soil presents great variety.

The Rappahannock and Pamunkey are on the borders of this county,
and the Mattapony runs a little south of its centre, the low grounds of these
rivers are admirably adapted to the culture of Indian corn, wheat, and tobacco,—indeed
for the first they are said to be the best lands in the state.—
Its principal villages are Bowling Green and Port Royal, and its Academies
Rappahannock and Concord. Caroline was formerly divided into three
parishes, Drysdale and St. Mary's, created in 1727, and St. Margarett's, in
1744, in each of which a church was placed, only St. Margaretts remains:
—but there are many other churches and meeting houses in the county,
which belong principally to the prevailing denomination—the Baptist. The
people are religious, and remarkable for their wealth, hospitality and intelligence;—it
was the birth place of the republican John Taylor,—the
highly gifted Edmund Pendleton, and the chivalric General Woodford.
Population, 1820, 18,008—in 1830, 17,744.—Caroline belongs to
the fifth judicial circuit, and third district. Taxes paid in 1833, $4440 82
—1834, on lots, $62 71—lands, $2355 22—on 5581 slaves, $1395 25—
3015 horses, $180 90—11 studs, $133 00—on 71 coaches, $180 56—
4 stages, $6 50—93 carryalls, $97 25—218 gigs, $121 94—Total, $45 33
33. Amount expended in educating poor children in 1832, $519 88—in
1833, $539 84.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

BOWLING GREEN, P. V. and
county seat, 44 ms. N. N. E. of R.
and 78 from W. on the main road
leading from Fredericksburg to Richmond,
22 miles from the former.—
The public buildings are new, handsome,

and spacious, consisting of a
court house, clerk's office, and jail,
recently erected; one Episcopalian
house of worship, and in the vicinity
one church belonging to the (reformed)
Baptists. There are 29 dwelling
houses, 3 mercantile stores, 1 grist
and saw mill, 1 coach and wagon
manufactory, 2 blacksmiths, 1 tanyard,
2 tailors, 2 bricklayers, 1 house-joiner,
and 2 boot and shoe factories;
2 elementary schools, one for each
sex; 1 well organized Sunday
school, and 1 temperance society, also
a female benevolent association,
which has a fair annually, the profits
of which are appropriated to benevolent
purposes.

This village is located on a beautiful
level green, ornamented with fine
trees, it derives its present name from
the nature of its location, its original
name was New Hope.—The seat of
county justice was removed to this
place in 1805. The railroad now
under contract between Fredericksburg
and Richmond, is expected to
make this village a place of considerable
trade.—A line of stages running
N. and S. pass here twice a day; and
two cross mails from E. to W.—The
surrounding country is remarkable
for its healthiness and fertility, producing
abundantly all the staples of
the state. Population 317 persons,
of whom 6 are attorneys, and 2 physicians.

County Courts are held on the 2d
Monday in every month.—Quarterly
in March, June, August, and November.

Judge Lomax holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 1st of May, and 10th of September.

Chilesburg, P. O. 55 ms. from
R. and 83 from W.

Golansville, P. O. 43 ms. N. of
R. and 90 S. S. W. of W.—It contains
several dwelling houses, a mercantile
store, tanyard, blacksmith,
saddle and harness maker, tailor, tobacco
factory, manufacturing mill,
and a grist and saw mill. Population
21 whites and 53 blacks. The
scenery around is pretty and the
country healthy, the soil is good,
adapted to Indian corn, wheat, oats,
and tobacco of fine quality. There
are two mineral springs in the neighborhood,
supposed to contain iron and
sulphur.

Jemap, P. O. 69 ms. from R. and
68 from W. C.

Mill Farm, P. O. 44 ms. from
R. and 93 S. of W.

Oxford, P. O. 33 ms. from R. and
100 from W.

Port Royal, P. V. on Rappahannock
opposite Port Conway in
King George, 59 ms. from R. and 78
from W.—on the S. side of the river
22 ms. below Fredericksburg. It is
one of the oldest towns in Virginia,
and was rapidly declining until a few
years past, but is now improving. It
contains 236 houses, 2 houses of public
worship, 1 methodist and 1 Episcopalian,
6 mercantile stores, and 1
merchant mill. The mechanics are
a tanner, saddler, carriage maker,
and ship builder. Population in 1830,
600; 2 of whom are attorneys, and 2
physicians.

Port Royal was created a town by
the House of Burgesses in 1744.—It
possesses a fine harbor, which readily
admits vessels drawing eleven feet
water, it was formerly one of the
principal markets in the state for tobacco,
but has now lost this important
trade; it yet however exports large
quantities of wheat and Indian corn.
—Two steamboats regularly stop four
times a week at this place on their
route between Fredericksburg and
Baltimore.

Rappahannock Academy, P. O.
64 ms. N. N. E. of R. and 72 S. S. W.
of W., in the N. part of the county.
—This was a flourishing and useful
school a few years since, but we believe
there has been no teacher there
for some time past.—We now however

see an advertisement, which states
that the school will be opened on the
15th January, 1835, with teachers fully
competent to teach all the branches
of education usually taught in our
schools.

Sparta, P. O. 48 ms. from R. and
89 from W.

Turner's Store, P. O. 86 ms.
from W. and 36 N. of R.

Veilleboro', P. O. in N. part of
the county, 8 ms. N. of Bowling
Green, the seat of justice, 70 ms. 8.
S. W. of W. and 52 from R. on the
stage road leading from Fredericksburg
to Richmond, 14 miles from the
former.

White Chimneys, P. O. 30 ms.
N. of R. and 92 from W.

CHARLES CITY.

Charles City was one of the eight original shires into which Virginia
was divided by the House of Burgesses in 1734. It is bounded S.
by James river which separates it from Surry, Prince George, and Chesterfield,—E.
by the Chickahominy, which separates it from James City,—
N. by the same river separating it from New Kent, and W. by Henrico.
Length 26 miles, mean breadth 8; area 208 sq. miles: extending from lat.
37° 9′ to 37° 28′ N. and long 0° 5′ E. to 0° 22′ W. of W. C.—The surface
of the county is rolling.—This county being so advantageously situated
on tide water, transacts its mercantile business directly with the large
cities, and hence has not given growth to the number of little villages, with
which many of our counties are crowded. Population 1820, 5255—in
1830, 5500.—Six attorneys, five regular physicians, and sundry Thomsonians
reside in the county. There are 2 Episcopal, 1 Quaker, 3 Baptist,
and 4 Methodist churches in the county; also 1 classical academy, and several
inferior schools; 7 mercantile stores, 1 asylum for the poor, 5 grist mills,
2 saw mills, and various mechanics. Taxes paid in 1833, $1397 84—in
1834, on land, $798 88—1579 slaves, $394 75—836 horses, $50 16—3
studs, $52 00—33 coaches, $81 50—8 carryalls, $8 00—45 gigs, $28 45.
Total $1413 74.—In the primary schools no operations.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

CHARLES CITY C. H., P. O.
near the centre of the county 30 ms.
S. S. E. of R. and 152 from W.—
The only buildings are the court
house, clerk's office, jail, a tavern,
and a private dwelling.

County Courts are held on the 3d
Thursday in every month;—Quarterly
in March, May, August, and
November.

Judge Upshur holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 1st of April and 12th of
October.

CHARLOTTE.

Charlotte was created by the Legislature in 1764, from a part of
Lunenburg county. The Southwestern border of Charlotte is washed by
Staunton river, which separates it from Halifax. On the west, the line
which separates Charlotte from Campbell runs on a ridge of highlands
which give rise to waters flowing westwardly into Falling river, and eastwardly
into Turnip creek. On the N. and N. E. the line, which separates
Charlotte from Prince Edward, runs on a ridge of high lands, which give
rise to waters flowing north and northeastwardly into the Appomatox, and
south into the Staunton river. On the E. and S. E. the line, which separates
Charlotte from Lunenburg, runs on a ridge which gives rise to
waters flowing southeastwardly into the Meherrin, and westwardly into
tributary streams of Staunton. On the S. the line which separates Charlotte
from Mecklenburg, runs on a ridge, which gives rise to waters flowing
south into the Meherrin and northwestwardly into Bluestone. Length
22 miles, mean breadth 18, and area 600 sq. miles: extending in lat. from
36° 41′ to 37° 16′ N. and in long from 10° 33′ to 2° 05′ W. of W. C.—
Charlotte county contains by actual surveys as entered on the commissioner's
books, about 310,000 acres of land, valued, together with buildings,
under the equalizing laws, to something near 2,275,000 dollars; the average
price per acre under that calculation including buildings is $8 75.
The buildings being valued at nearly 356,000 dollars; the average price
per acre without the buildings is about $7 60.—The census taken in the
year 1830, gives to the county, 15,252 souls—shewing about 20 acres to
each individual in the county.

The general surface of the county is greatly diversified with hills and
vales, embracing every variety of soil, and is watered by numerous creeks
and rivulets all tributary to Staunton river, except the head branches of the
Meherrin, on the E. and S. E. The principal streams of Charlotte flowing
into Staunton and its tributaries, are the following.

The first, beginning in the western part of Charlotte, is Turnip Creek,
the head waters of which rise in the neighborhood of the Red House, near
the Campbell line, it runs south and enters Staunton river just above Cole's
Ferry. This is not a large stream, yet it affords considerable bottom or
flat land, especially at and near its mouth. It is from 15 to 20 miles in
length.

The next in order, proceeding southeastwardly is Cub Creek, the head
branches of which are in Campbell county, from the place which it enters
the county to its junction with Staunton, the distance is from 30 to 40
miles. It has many tributary streams;—those on the west are Bear Creek,
rising near the Red House. Turkey Cock and Louse Creek,—the two first
are inconsiderable streams, the last is from 10 to 12 miles in length and at
and near its junction with Cub creek, a little above Baldwin's mills,
affords much valuable bottom lands. Those on the E. are Little Cub,
Horsepen, Rough creek, and Terry's creek. Cub creek with its tributary
streams waters a large and valuable portion of the upper end of Charlotte,
affording a considerable quantity of rich bottom land and hill sides well suited
to the growth of the various kinds of grain, and in many places, producing
tobacco of the finest quality. It enters Staunton river 3 or 4 miles below
Cole's Ferry.

Next is Wallace's creek. Its head spring is near the road leading from

Charlotte court house to Cole's Ferry, it flows through a neighborhood of
very good land, and enters Staunton just above Morton's Ferry: it is from
9 to 10 miles in length.

Next in order is Little Roanoke; which rises in the northeastern part of
Charlotte, near the Prince Edward line, and runs southwest through the
county and empties into Staunton river about 4 miles below Clark's Ferry.
It is from 25 to 30 miles in length. This stream with its tributaries, waters
a great part of the lower end of Charlotte, as well as a valuable part of
the upper end. It is a low, flat and sluggish stream, affording very little
fall of water, and contains as much bottom land as any in the state of its
size and length; particularly at its mouth; where there is a body of rich
low grounds, including those on Staunton, of fully a thousand acres.
Randolph's Lower Quarter, situated below its mouth, itself contains between
7 and 800 acres in one body. The principal tributary stream, to
Little Roanoke, on the west, is Wardsfork; which rises in the neighborhood
of Chickentown in the upper end, and with its tributaries, waters
the best tobacco land in the county; indeed the lands on this stream are
remarkable for their universal fertility. It flows into L. Roanoke on a
low bed at right angles—hence a large body of low grounds, the largest
in the interior of the county, was for a long time under water and considered
irreclaimable. These grounds remained common until within a
few years past, and were so injurious to health as to be considered a public
nuisance. About the year 1817 James W. Bouldin purchased a tract of
land immediately in the fork, containing bottom lands on both streams, and
commenced reclaiming. About the year 1819 his brother Judge Bouldin
purchased a tract above on L. Roanoke, and commenced draining: the
plan of draining as it relates to the courses and location of the ditches on
both purchases was laid out and executed under the direction of James W.
Bouldin. By these means, certainly the largest, if not the finest body of
low grounds, in the neighborhood of the Courthouse, is, from a wilderness
of bogs, mire and stagnant waters, rendered arable and comparatively
healthy.

The next tributary on the west is Dunnivant; which rises in the neighborhood
of Edmond's Store, and flows through a neighborhood of good
land, into L. Roanoke, just above Dabbs' Bridge.

On the E. the first tributary stream is Hell's creek, though a small
stream, it affords much good bottom land, particularly towards its mouth.
It enters Little Roanoke just below L. Roanoke bridge.

Next in order are Spencer's and Spring creeks, rising on the dividing
ridge, which separates Charlotte from Prince Edward and Lunenburg.
They unite just before they flow into Little Roanoke. Just below their
junction and at their mouth, there is a large body of valuable flat land.
That which lies above, immediately on L. Roanoke, is of the pipe clay
soil and was formerly liable to inundations. Much has been done for its
recovery from water and to improve its quality, still it is not equal to land
above and below it.

Next is Ash Camp, it rises in the neighborhood of Keysville, in a poor
country, but as you descend this creek, the quantity and quality of the bottom
lands increase.

Next is Twitties' Creek. It rises on the ridge, which separates the
waters of Meherrin from those of Staunton river. This is a longer and
larger stream than those just mentioned. It affords a considerable quantity

of flat lands, yet with some few exceptions, the plantations on this
stream are not remarkable for their productions. It enters Little Roanoke
on a tract of land on which the late Judge Paul Carrington, Jr. resided;
it is considered very valuable. The first brick house in the county
was built on this tract.

The next streams are the Horsepens. They rise on the same ridge, the
branches of which water a great part of the southeast of Charlotte. The head
streams rise in and run through a body of as poor lands as any in the
state, but as you approach their mouths, the quantity and quality of good
lands increase, and after they unite the Horsepen affords much valuable
low grounds. It enters L. Roanoke just above John Randolph's Lower
Quarter.

Reynold's Creek is a tributary to this stream. It rises on the road that
leads from the Double Bridges in Lunenburg to Moseley's Ferry. It runs
through a neighborhood once of very fine lands, but much exhausted by
cultivation; it enters the Horsepen just below Bedford's Bridge.

Next to L. Roanoke on the S. we come to Sandy Creek. In this portion
of the county the soil and quality of the lands are essentially different from
those in other parts. The soil is universally sandy or gravelly, and upon
a slight view, it would appear to those who lived on lands of a different
texture, to be very unproductive; but it is known to be as productive for
all kinds of grain and grass as any in the county, similarly situated, and
of late years tobacco is produced of fine quality by judicious cultivators.
Those who live on these lands, say that they vegetate quickly, are soon
exhausted, but revive speedily, when proper measures are used. Several
valuable plantations lie on Sandy Creek, near its mouth. It is a short
stream, and enters Staunton a little above Moseley's Ferry.

After leaving Sandy Creek, the county becomes very narrow to its
southern extremity, a ridge running between Bluestone and Staunton to its
termination. The first tributary, to Staunton after leaving Sandy Creek, is
Buffaloe. This stream rises in the neighborhood of Jeffrey's Store and
runs into Staunton river, a few miles below Moseley's Ferry.

The next are Cargil's and Hogan's Creeks. Two small streams watering
the extreme south of the county. Hogan's Creek with its branches
water some very valuable land.

Bluestone affords to this county some very valuable land, originally very
fine, having a red clay foundation with mulatto soil.

Staunton river gives to this county as much valuable bottom lands, as
it does to any county on its waters. On the western extremity of the
county, at the mouth of Falling river, lived and died the distinguished
Patrick Henry. His residence was on the termination of the ridge,
which separates Charlotte from Campbell. It is called Red Hill, from
which there is a very handsome southern view of a very large body of
rich low grounds, estimated at 500 acres. It is now the property of his
two youngest sons. The remains of the orator and his lady repose on the
spot.

The next most conspicuous place on the river, proceeding southwardly,
is called Ward's Neck, situated just above the mouth of Cub Creek, between
that and Cole's Ferry, it is embraced by a large bend or curve of
the river, corresponding with the Cove in Halifax, which lies just below
it on the opposite side of the river. It affords several beautiful situations

for buildings, on elevated, fertile and level table lands, skirted by the richest
and most fertile low grounds or river bottoms.

The next place just below Clark's Ferry, is the residence of the late
John Randolph of Roanoke. Proceeding southwest from the Courthouse,
on the main southern stage road, when getting within a mile of
Clark's Ferry, a left hand road leads up a gentle assent to the summit of
the only hill in the county, dignified by the name of mountain. On this
summit stands the buildings, late the residence of this illustrious orator.
They are situated literally in the woods; for there is not a vestige of land
cultivated in view—they consist of two plain wooden buildings, of one story
each, with two rooms on a floor, within a few steps of each other; the
back building, which he mostly occupied, is entered through a piazza, on
a pebble floor, the roof of which is supported by unhewn posts taken immediately
from the forest. Notwithstanding the simplicity of the outward
appearance of these buildings, within the furniture, plate, paintings
and library corresponded with the elevated characted of their owner, essentially
rich but plain. A few steps to the west of the front building
under a large pine tree, is interred the body of that Man, whose inimitable
eloquence once electrified the people of the United States, and whose fame
almost reached the remotest bounds of the civilized world.

Immediately below Mr Randolph's, near the junction of the L. Roanoke
with Staunton river, on an elevated and beautiful site, stands the residence
of the late Judge Paul Carrington, Sen. It is now the property of his
youngest son. Judge Carrington was a member of the bar of the county
of Charlotte, when the county court was organized in the year 1765, he had
been a practising lawyer and a member of the House of Burgesses, when
this county was a part of Lunenburg. After the British Governor, Lord
Dunmore, had abdicated the government of Virginia, a convention met
in Richmond in the year 1775, to organize a provincial form of government
and plan of defence for the colony. This plan of defence was submitted
by them to a committee of public safety. Paul Carrington was one
of that committee. He subsequently became a Judge of the Court of Appeals,
in which office he remained until a few years previous to his death.

After leaving the lands at the mouth of the L. Roanoke, the quantity
and quality of the low grounds decrease, so far as the county of Charlotte
reaches on the river.

Upon a general view of the soil, it may be said, that it is generous and
free—that most of the wood, on the streams and hill sides has been cut
down, the hill sides much exhausted, yet the bottom lands are generally
productive, more especially where they are, in the hands of judicious cultivators.
Our ridges contain the only forests, and they are mostly poor and
barren—valuable only for their timbers. These remarks hold good generally,
except those tracts in possession of large land holders, on some of
which, there are still some good bottom and high lands uncleared, particularly
on L. Roanoke, Cub creek and Wardsfork.

Agriculturalists say with confidence, that it is found by a proper course
of cultivation, that all exhausted lands, originally good, especially those
with red clay foundations are recoverable, and can be brought back to their
original fertility—if so, it is confidently hoped that a spirit of improvement
in agriculture may prevail, which will effect this object.

Minerals.—There is a singular vein of stone running through the county
nearly from N. to S. It is composed of a series of round stones of various

sizes, sometimes very large;—the vein in some places is barely perceptible,
consisting of only a few round pebbles, in others it protrudes a
rugged mass of rocks. Gold and Silver have been diligently sought, but
not found.

Elections.—There are 3 precinct elections in the county—1 at Harvey's
store in Chicken-town, 1 at Fuqua's store, above Louse creek, both in the
upper end of the county; and 1 at M'Cargo's in the lower end, near Williesburg.

Poor.—The County Court has lately purchased land and erected buildings
about 7 miles from the C. H. for the accommodation of the poor. The
present inmates are 6 males, and 9 females. This arrangement is expected
to lessen considerably the poor rates of the county.

Society.—The great men who have resided in Charlotte, and the many
pious and good men which she has produced, operating by their example
and exertions upon an intelligent community, have given to Charlotte society
a tone of dignified and lofty sentiment, not often met with, and not
soon to be laid aside.

Two Agricultural Societies have lately been formed in the county; 1
at Charlotte C. H., the other near Wyliesburg in the lower end. These
societies embrace the most wealthy and enterprising citizens of their respective
neighbourhoods.

The Main Western Road, from the east, leading by Prince Edward C.
H. enters this county near the sources of Spring creek, after entering the
county, the main or right branch crosses Cub creek at Harvey's bridge,
thence by the Red House to Lynchburg and Campbel C. H. The left
leads on by Rough creek church, crosses Cub creek, at Rawlins' bridge,
after which it branches, the right goes on the ridge, on the head waters of
Louse creek and Turkey cock, and intersects with a road leading from
Cole's ferry, by the Red House, to Lynchburg. The left, at Rawlins'
bridge, leads on by Chappel's shop, and Gaines'; crosses Louse creek at
Dennis', thence to Fuqua's store—after which it again branches the first
right leads on to Hat creek in Campbell, the next to Booker's ferry and
Red hill, crossing Turnip creek at Oliver's, just below Bruce's mill. The
left to Cole's ferry.

The next road that enters the county from the east by Prince Edward
C. H. is the main southern stage road—it enters the county near the head
waters of L. Roanoke, crosses that stream at L. Roanoke bridge, crosses
Dunnevant, at Spencer's, thence to Charlotte C. H., a little above which, it
branches the right leading across Woodsfork to Price's old field, where it
again branches, the right leading to White's tavern, where a left leads to
the Red House, where it intersects with the main western road. The left
at Price's old field leads to the road leading from Rough creek church to
Booker's ferry, and to Cole's ferry. The left above Charlotte C. H. is the
continuation of the stage road, and leads to Morton's ferry, and to Clark's
ferry.

The next road that passes through the county from the east, is by
Moor's old ordinary in Prince Edward, it enters the county at Clark's,
where it immediately branches. The right leads to L. Roanoke bridge;
and thence to the main western road near Chicken town: the left at Clark's
leads to Keysville, thence to Charlotte C. H. At Keysville it branches,
the right leading on the ridge between Ash camp and Tuelties' creek to

Bouldin's old store,[18] thence to Charlotte C. H. and thence it intersects with
Booker's ferry road at Harris's.

The next road, that enters the county from the east, is one that crosses
the Double Bridges in Lunenburg; it enters the county near Hayleysburg,
thence by Eubank's store to Brigdewater's, near which place it branches.
The left leading on the ridge separating the waters of Meherrin from a
branch of the Bluestone, to Mack Goode's. The right or main road at
Brigewater's leads by Leciprus' store, and M'Cargo's to Wyliesburg,
when it branches; the right leads across Sandy creek by Brock's, to Moseley's
ferry; the left leads to Callicote's, thence to Brook's where it intersects
with the Mosely ferry road, to Jeffries' store, to Blank's ferry, and to Clarksville
and Abbeyville, in Mecklenburg. Population in 1820, 13,290—1830,
15,252. Charlotte belongs to the 9th judicial circuit, and 5th district.

Taxes paid in 1833, $4,239 97—in 1834, on land, $22,177 77—5288
slaves, $1,322—3569 horses, $214,14 12, studs, $280—113 coaches,
$283 65—24 carryalls, $24—99 gigs, $57 85. Total $4,361 41. Am't.
expended in educating poor children in 1832, $360 16—in 1833, $467 96.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Finewood, P. V. 114 m's. S. W.
of R., and 205 from W., situated in
the lower end of the Co. on the waters
of Bluestone creek, on the road
leading from Charlotte C. H. to Boydton,
Randolph Macon College, &c. in
Mecklinburg, in a fertile and healthy
neighbourhood.

Friend's Grove, P. V. 195 S. S.
W. of W., and 104 S. W. of R., 7
m's. E. of the C. H., and 4 from
Keysville. It contains 1 mercantile
store, a tobacco factory giving employment
to 30 hands, and a blacksmith
shop.

Harvey's Store, P. O. 108 m's.
S. W. of R., and 199 from W.

MARYSVILLE, P. O. and Seat
of Justice, 30 m's. S. E. of Lynchburg,
96 m's. S. W. of R., and 187
from W. in lat. 37° 03′, N. long. 1°
52′ W. of W. C., situated on the
main southern stage road, on a ridge
between Little Roanoke and its tributary
Wardsfork, about 4 m's. from
their junction. The Public Square
contains a large C. H. built on a plan
furnished by Mr. Jefferson, a jail of 2
stories, with a jailor's house, also of 2
stories, immediately in front of it; all
of brick except the jail, which is of
ponderous hewn stone:—besides these,
the village contains 40 dwelling
houses, a Baptist and a Presbyterian
house of worship, 2 well kept taverns,
5 mercantile stores, 1 classical and 1
common school, a temperance society,
and a bible society hold their quarterly
and annual meetings in this place.
The mechanics, are a tanner, 3 saddlers,
and 2 tailor shops both of which
employ a number of hands, 3 blacksmiths,
4 wagon makers shops, each
of which employ 8 or 10 hands, and
1 carriage maker, 1 cabinet maker, 3
boot and shoe factories, besides several
house carpenters and bricklayers.
The mail is delivered thrice a week.
Population 475 persons; of whom 4
are attorneys, and 3 physicians.

County Courts are held on the first
Monday in every month;—Quarterly

in March, May, August and November.
Judge Leigh, holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 16th of April and September.

Harvey's Store, P. O. 108 m's.
from R. and 199 from W.

Keysville, P. V. on the head of
Meherrin river, 99 m's. S. W. of R.
and 190 from W. It contains 7 dwelling
houses, 1 mercantile store, a tavern,
2 wagon makers employing many
hands, 2 blacksmiths, 1 boot and
shoe factory, an excellent wool-carding
machine on an extensive scale,
and a cotton gin. Population 70.

Red House, P. O. 112 m's. S. W.
of R., and 194 from W.

Rough Creek Church, P. O.
105 m's. S. W. of R., and 196 from
W., situated 9 m's. W. of the C. H.
between Cub creek, and its tributary
Rough creek: at this place there are
2 stores, a Presbyterian church, a
blacksmith and tailor, several private
dwellings, and a resident physician.
This has been, and still is in some
measure, a favourite place of resort
for the people of the upper end for
political or social purposes.

Roanoke Bridge, P. O. 89 m's.
S. W. of R. and 180 from W., situated
on the waters of L. Roanoke in a fertile
and healthy district,—contains a
store, a mill, and a blacksmith shop.

Wheeler's Spring, P. O. 99
m's. from R., and 190 from W.

Wyliesburg, P. O. 107 m's. from
R., and 222 from W., situated on the
road leading from the Double Bridges
to Moseley's ferry, 18 m's. S. of the
C. H. It contains at this time a store,
a blacksmith, and a resident physician.
This is a place of meeting
for the lower end, as Rough creek
church is for the upper end of the
county. The road leading by Charlotte
C. H., and Reed's mill to Clark's
ferry, is the dividing line of these 2
divisions.

CHESTERFIELD.

Chesterfield was created by the House of Burgesses in 1748, from
a part of Henrico. It is bounded N. by the James which separates it from
Henrico, and Charles City,—E. S. E. by the Appomattox, which separates
it from Prince George,—S. and S. W. by the same river, separating it from
Dinwiddie S. and Amelia S. W.—and W. N. W. by Powhatan. Extreme
length from the junction of Appomattox with James, to the western angle
38 miles, mean breadth 12,—area 456 square miles. Lat 37° 10′ to 37°
31′ N. and long 0° 22′ to 1° 05′ W. of W. C.—The surface is broken,
and the soil is poor except on the rivers.—The most profitable railroad in
the world is in this county, from James river to the coal mines, a distance
of 13 miles. We subjoin an account of these mines from the pen of a traveller:

"These coal mines are on the south side of James river, about twelve
miles above the city of Richmond. At this city the granite rock makes its
appearance. It forms the bed of the river, and affords an inexhaustible
water power. On the road to the Chesterfield mines, rocks are not seen
until you get near the mines. The country is rolling, and has the aspect
of barrenness and poverty—yet good husbandry would soon give to it freshness
and beauty.—The elevation is gradual to the west, and as far as I could
judge, the summit level, at the mouth of the Maidenhead mine, is about
300 feet above the tide water in James river.

"Within the circumference of about a mile square, there have been several

mines opened and seven or eight are now wrought. The rock is not
many feet below the surface, and is from two hundred and fifty to four hundred
and fifty feet thick. The prevailing rock is a light grey coarse sand
stone—rather hard and some of it sparkling with chrystalized quartz. This
rock alternates with a bluish clay in a state of considerable compactness,
and with shell.—Much of these last two are so filled with the sulphate of
iron, minutely disseminated, that they soon decompose in the atmosphere.
There is no trace of the lime rock, nor as yet of the old red sand stone. It
is doubtful, however, whether they have reached the bottom of the coal formation.
At the bottom of one of the shafts, the floor upon which the coal
rests is called granite—but from the description of the rock, I concluded it
must be the hardest of the seinite rocks.

"The coal here is bituminous. The basins appear to be small, and the
colliers complain of the faults and troubles in them. The coal seams are
from a few inches to several feet in thickness—one has been found nearly
twenty feet thick. The dip rarely exceeds forty-five degrees. Wooldridge's
mine is the deepest and the only one which has a steam engine to raise the
coal and the water out of the pit. The others employ mules. The mines
are worked day and night, except Sundays—when the water is drawn as
often as necessary to keep the works below from being flooded. Drifts are
cut from the foot of the shafts, and some of those have been carried out several
hundred yards. These are said to be from ten to twenty feet wide, and
from five to twenty or thirty feet high. Mules are employed in the mines
to draw the coal to the foot of the shafts. These are fed and stabled in the
chambers of the mine. Nevertheless, they keep fat. And what is certainly
not a little remarkable to a novice, these mines abound in rats. They go
down, it seems, on the ropes, attracted into these tartarean abodes by the
provisions and provender, which are sent down for the negroes and mules.
The negroes prefer this to labor in the field.

"All these mines raise about two hundred tons of coal in each twenty-four
hours. This coal is sent daily, (Sundays excepted,) in a team of seventy
to a hundred cars, over a fine rail-way thirteen miles, to the river.

"There are several valuable coal mines on the north side of James river,
in the western part of Henrico county. Coal has likewise been discovered
in Goochland and Powhatan counties."

Chesterfield belongs to the seventh judicial circuit, and fourth district.
Population in 1820, 18,003—in 1830, 18,637. Taxes paid in 1833, $5231
31—in 1834, on lots $292 31—land, $2572 88—on 5266 slaves, $1316 50
—3134 horses, $188 64—12 studs, $390 00—123 coaches, $291 35—2
stages, $6 00—46 carryalls, $52 00—234 gigs, $133 40. Total, $5252
08. Amount expended in educating poor children in 1832, $601 65—in
1833, $561 64.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Bellona Arsenal, a United
States military post, situated on beautiful
elevated ground, on the south side
of James river, 14 ms. above Richmond,
135 from W. and 2 south of
Bellona P. O., Henrico county. It
was established in 1816-17, since
which time it has been garrisoned by
a company of U. S. Artillery. It has
been a depot for a considerable quantity
of military stores, and during a
great portion of the time since its construction,
a number of artificers have
been employed in repairing and fabricating

small arms and other munitions
of war. Immediately adjacent
to the Arsenal, is Bellona Foundry,
owned by Major John Clarke, who
for a number of years past has been
casting cannon,—under an annual
contract with the government.—The
guns made at this place are said to be
unsurpassed in quality by any made
in the United States. In consequence
of the continuous expense and inconvenience
of transportation to and from
the arsenal—of the extreme difficulty
arising from its isolated location, of
obtaining and retaining the mechanics
necessary for an arsenal of construction—of
the unsafe condition of the
property at a point, where from its
contiguity to the coal pits, a greater
number of negroes could be collected
in a few hours, than at any other place
in the commonwealth and of the reputed
unhealthiness of the place,—an
order has lately been issued for abandoning
the post and removing the
troops and property to Fort Monroe
at Old Point Comfort.

Colesville, P. O. 36 ms. S. W.
of R. and 158 from W. in the S. W.
angle of the county.

Goodsbridge, P. O. 38 ms. S. W.
of R. and 160 from W.

Hallsboro', P. V. 17 ms. from
R. and 139 from W.—situated on the
Buckingham road leading from Richmond
to Lynchburg, 15 ms. from
Scottsville in Powhatan county,—in a
healthy and pleasant neighborhood.
The soil in the vicinity is rather poor,
and most adapted to the culture of
oats and corn.—It contains several
dwelling houses, 1 large Baptist meeting
house, (called "Bethel,") a large,
comfortable, and convenient tavern, a
mercantile store, and a common school.
The Lynchburg stage passes every
day in the week.

Hatchersville, P. O. 11 ms.
from R. and 133 from W.

Manchester, P. V. 123 ms. from
W. and 1 from R,—pleasantly situated
on the margin of James river,
opposite to Richmond, to which it is
united by Mayo's bridge across the
rapids. It contains about 360 houses,
2 houses of worship, 1 Methodist and
the other Baptist, 2 common schools,
6 grocery stores, 1 cotton seed oil
mill, 1 cotton factory, with a capital
of $70,000, 8 tobacco manufactories,
1 poor asylum, and 1 merchant mill.
The principal mechanical pursuits
are, house-carpentry, cabinet making,
(to considerable extent,) coach making,
blacksmith's work, &c. Population
1500 persons; of whom two are attorneys,
and three physicians.

The Chesterfield and Manchester
Rail Road connects the strata of bituminous
coal on James river, with its
tide water, at Manchester;—It extends
13½ miles in a single track, with several
turn-outs, and 1½ mile branchroads
to the coal beds.—The company
was incorporated by the Legislature
in 1829, commenced work in
January, 1830, and was opened for
use in July, 1831. This road was
so profitable as to afford a dividend of
TEN PER CENT to the stockholders
in the first six months;—A result
which has not been equalled by any
improvement in the United States,
perhaps in the world. The cost of
the road was $8,000 per mile; and
including wagons, horses, &c. the
whole disbursement of the company
has been about $140,000: or $10,370
per mile.

Vadensburg, P. O. 20 ms. S. of
R. and 142 from W.

CULPEPER.

Culpeper was created by the Legislature in 1778 from a part of Orange.
It is bounded N. and N. E. by the North Fork of Rappahannock river,
which separates it from Fauquier N. and Stafford E. N. E.—E. and S. E.
by the Rapid Ann river, which separates it from Spottsylvania E. and
Orange S. E.—S. and S. W. by Orange,—W. and N. W. by the new
county of Rappahannock.—We give its dimensions as they existed prior to
the separation of Rappahannock, and expecting to receive information of
the extent of the latter by the time it comes to press, by reference to that
county, the present extent of Culpeper may be ascertained. Length of the
old county from the junction of Rapid Ann and Rappahannock to its northern
angle in the Blue Ridge 42 miles,—mean breadth 16, and area 672
square miles; extending in lat. from 38° 15′ N. and long. from 0° 35′ to 1°
20′ W. of W. C.—We do not as yet know precisely to what lat. and long.
the eastern boundary of Rappahannock extends. Besides its two boundary
streams, Culpeper is watered by a number of creeks and rivers flowing N.
E. into the Rappahannock, S. E. into the Rapid Ann; but the former being
much longer, indicates the general slope of the county to be in that direction,
the chief of them is Aestham river which rises in Madison and crosses
Culpeper; and next in importance, Mountain creek, which rises near the
Madison line, flows nearly parallel to Hazel, branch of Aestham river, and
empties like it into the Rappahannock. The surface is finely diversified
with hill and dale, and contains large bodies of excellent land; of the same
general character which pervades the counties generally on the eastern foot
of the Blue Ridge. Population in 1820, 20,942—1830, 24,027. Culpeper
belongs to the 11th judicial circuit, and sixth district. Taxes paid in
1833, $3309 95—in 1834, on lots, $136 40—land, $1930 29—on 3222
slaves, $805 50—3119 horses, $187 14—9 studs, $122 00—43 coaches,
$99 75—33 carryalls, $40 75—16 gigs, $9 10. Total $3330 94.
Amount expended in educating poor children in 1832, $1012 93—in 1834,
$735 01.

Historical Sketch.—Culpeper county, at all times respectable, but
chiefly distinguished in the revolutionary war, for the services of her Edward
Stevens, her John Green, and her gallant Minute Men, who, as
Mr. Randolph said, in one of his speeches in the United States Senate,
"were raised in a minute, armed in a minute, marched in a minute, fought
in a minute, and vanquished in a minute;"—was first created in 1748, out
of a part of the county of Orange. Every thing therefore of a prior date
which relates to the present county, must be sought either in Orange, or in
Spottsylvania, from which Orange was taken in 1734, or in Essex, from
which Spottsylvania was taken in 1720; or lastly, in the old county of
Rappahannock, which was divided in 1692; and Essex and the county of
Richmond made out of it; with a direction that the records belonging to
the county court of Rappahannock, prior to that division, which was in fact
an extinction of it, should be kept in Essex.—In 1793, Madison was taken
from Culpeper, and in 1833, she was still further reduced in importance
and extent by the act of assembly, which created a new county and revived
in it the name of Rappahannock, with this difference, that it is now the soil
from which that valuable stream derives its sources, instead of that through
which it flowed in the full majesty of its accumulated strength. The boundaries
of Culpeper, at the present time, are the same that formerly existed,

except the dividing line between it and Rappahannock. That, unfortunately,
is so described, that it is impossible to say with certainty, what it is. The
act directs that the boundary line of Rappahannock shall begin "at the corner
of Madison and Culpeper counties upon the top of the Blue Ridge of
mountains, and run thence with the line of said counties to the point where
it is intersected by Hugh's (Hughes's) river, above the junction of Hugh's
(Hughes's) and Hazel rivers; thence with Hugh's (Hughes's) river to the
junction of the aforesaid rivers, thence to a bend in the river near a point
called the Giant's Castle; thence to Horner's mill upon the Fauquier and
Culpeper line," and thence with the lines of the bordering counties to the
beginning. Unluckily Hughes's river crosses the Madison line into what
was formerly Culpeper, at the point which seems to be indicated by the
foregoing description, in the natural construction of the words,—flows some
distance, bends, and recrosses into Madison,—making a sort of insulated
area between the river and the county line—and then some distance below
crosses again into Culpeper, at a point still above the junction with the
Hazel. In the natural construction of the language, Culpeper still retains
jurisdiction over soil that is thus entirely detached from the body of the
county, and which for convenience sake ought to belong to Rappahannock.
The commissioners for running and marking the county line have performed
their duty fully, as it seems to us, and yet have not touched this question;
which will perhaps occasion some difficulty, in various ways, unless
the assembly shall interpose to make it clearly a part of the one or the other
county.

Culpeper, in its original shape, comprehended all "the debateable
ground" between the Crown of England and Lord Fairfax, that lay on
the eastern side of the Blue Ridge, and was formerly the subject of a very
interesting controversy, that deserves still to be remembered for the explanation
it affords of some things, which otherwise would be inexplicable.
Charles the Second, while a fugitive from his kingdom, granted to Lord
Hopton and others "all that entire tract of land, situated within the heads
of the rivers Rappahannock and Quiriough or Potomac, the courses of the
said rivers, as they are commonly called and known by the inhabitants and
descriptions of those parts, and Chesapeake bay, together with the rivers
themselves, and all the islands within the banks of them," and on the 8th
of May, 1669, after his restoration, and after that patent had been surrendered,
"in order that he might regrant the lands with alterations,"—again
granted the same tract of country to the Earl of St. Albans and others—
These afterwards sold their right to Lord Culpeper; and James the Second,
in the fourth year of his reign, but after he had in fact ceased to reign, confirmed
the patents, and granted the same tract to the Lord Culpeper, his
heirs and assigns, forever. Such was the origin of the proprietary title to the
Northern Neck of Virginia:—but if any doubt as to its validity could have
existed, it was entirely removed, not only by universal acquiescence during
the colonial government, but by solemn decisions of the highest judicial
tribunal in the commonwealth after the establishment of an independent
government here. From Lord Culpeper this magnificent estate descended
to his heir, Lord Fairfax; who (or his descendant, with the same title of
nobility) afterwards removed to Virginia, and made it his residence. As
the proprietors of the Northern Neck thus owned, the land lying between
the Rappahannock, from its head to the bay, on the one side, and the Potomac,
from its head to the bay on the other,—and the Crown retained its title

to all the lands not included within those limits or otherwise granted away,
—it was perfectly clear, in the first settlements,—which commenced on the
seaboard,—to whom the settlers were to apply for a title to their lands.
Below the falls, the Rappahannock was a well defined natural boundary:
and as the land happened to lie on the north or the south side of it, the title
was to be derived from the Proprietary or the Crown. But where the settlements
upon that river extended towards the mountains, it was discovered
that it was formed by the confluence, a short distance above the falls, and at
the point which is now the extremity of Culpeper county towards the sea,
—of two streams so nearly equal in magnitude, that it might well be doubted
which of them led to the "head" of the Rappahannock. The one formed
of several tributaries that might well dispute among themselves the honor
of being the main branch of that arm of the river, has its source at Chester's
Gap in the Blue Ridge, and in its whole course from thence to the
point of the Great Fork of the Rappahannock, (as it is called to distinguish
it from the Little Fork, formed above by the junction of this stream with
Aestham's river,) separates the present counties of Fauquier, and (to a very
small extent) Stafford, on the north, from Rappahannock and Culpeper on
the south. The other, formed in like manner, has its source at that point
in the Blue Ridge where the four counties of Orange, Madison, Rockingham
and Shenandoah meet; and in its whole course from thence to its confluence
with the former, it separates the present counties of Orange, and
(to a very small extent) Spottsylvania on the south, from Madison and Culpeper
on the north. If the latter were the main branch of the Rappahannock,
and consequently the boundary of the proprietary tract,—grants of all
the lands lying in what—from 1748 to 1793—was Culpeper co, (and now
makes the three counties of Culpeper, Madison and Rappahannock,) were
to be obtained from the proprietors of the Northern Neck: if the former,
then from the Crown. And by drawing one line on the map of the state,
from Fairfax's store, at the head of the North Branch of the Potomac, on
the Back Bone of the Alleghany mountains, between the counties of Hardy
and Randolph, to the former,—and another from the same point to the latter,
(head of the Rappahannock,) it will be found that the title depended
upon the same considerations, to a larger tract of country on the western
side of the Blue Ridge, than even these three counties on the eastern.

As early as the year 1705, upon the presentation of a patent for lands
lying within the limits of this debateable ground,—to be signed by the proper
agents of the royal government in this colony,—the agent for the proprietor
of the Northern Neck objected to it—and thereupon an order of
council was made, that neither the Crown or the proprietor should issue
patents for such lands, until the dispute should be settled, and that commissioners
mutually chosen should view the two branches of the Rappahannock,
which we have before described. They were accordingly chosen,
and reported that the streams appeared to be of equal magnitude:—and
some other persons (styling themselves Wood's trustees,) by the request of
the proprietor's agent, certified the same thing. After this the colonial
government seems to have treated the territory on the south side of the
North Fork of the Rappahannock, rising at Chester's Gap, as belonging
to the Crown:—for in 1720, an act of assembly was passed, creating the
county of Spottsylvania, which, in declaring its boundaries, directed a line
to be run over the high mountains to the river on the north west side thereof,
thence down the said river until it comes against the head of Rappa-

hannock, thence to the head of Rappahannock river; and down that river
to the mouth of Snow Creek. And in 1734, an act was passed for dividing
Spottsylvania, which directed that all that territory of land adjoining
to and above the dividing line thereby established, bounded S. by the
line of Hanover county, (as it was then called,) northerly by the grant of
the Lord Fairfax, and westerly by the utmost limits of Virginia, should
be "thenceforth created into one distinct county, and be called and known
by the name of the county of Orange. In 1748, an act was passed for
dividing the county of Orange, which created the county of Culpeper,—
and until the creation of Rappahannock in 1833, Culpeper always extended
to that North Fork and to Chester's Gap, and in fact, in tracing the titles
to land in the old county of Culpeper, it is found, that the patent, during this
period, was usually granted in the name of the King—sometimes in the
name of Lord Fairfax. In 1733 that lord obtained from the King instructions
to the colonial government to appoint commissioners to settle the dispute
about the boundaries, and to issue no more patents for lands lying
within the contested districts, until the dispute was ended; but these instructions
were not communicated to the governor and council until 1730. In
that year Lord Fairfax arrived in the colony with the instructions; and in
the course of that and the succeeding year, a survey, in pursuance of them,
was made of the Northern Neck, by the commissioners, who, differing in
opinion, made separate reports; which, in 1733, were referred to the committee
of the council (in England) for plantation affairs, upon whose report,
the King, on the 11th of April 1745, determined that all the lands contained
between the head springs of the Potomac and the south branch of the Rappahannock,
as we have before described it,) and the mouths of the 2 rivers,
belonged to Lord Fairfax. In the meantime the commissioners had made
their reports to the colonial government, which, from the alarm thereby occasioned
to the holders of lands within the unsettled limits, who had derived
their titles from the Crown, produced remonstrances and counter petitions
before the governor and council:—and they confirmed the survey and report,
that were most favourable to Lord Fairfax, upon the terms, that he
should establish all the grants that had been made by the Crown; to which
effect an order was made by the Lord on the 21st of December 1738. The
royal order in council, already mentioned, also recited that Lord Fairfax
had consented, and indeed proposed, "that all the grantees of lands under
the Crown within the boundaries aforementioned, should quietly enjoy their
lands according to their respective grants, and likewise to do and consent
to all such acts as should be thought necessary to confirm and decree such
grantees in the quiet possession of their said lands; and thereupon directed
that the colonial government should not make any grants of lands within
the said boundaries, or molest or disturb Lord Fairfax in the quiet possession
and enjoyment of the lands contained therein; provided the said lands
should be subject to the grants made of any parts thereof by his majesty,
or any of his royal predecessors, and that the Lord Fairfax should comply
with his proposal before mentioned. And in 1748, an act of assembly was
passed which gave the form, and sanction and validity of law to this compromise,
as it might properly be called,—establishing the head spring of
Rappahannock, commonly called Conway, as the proprietor's southern
boundary, and confirming the titles of grantees from the Crown. At the
same session the whole of the land, on the eastern side of the Blue Ridge,
which had been the subject of this important and protracted controversy,
was created into a separate and distinct county; and it was named after Lord
Culpeper, the ancestor of the then present proprietor.

At the C. H. of the county a town was established by an act passed in
1759, which was called after the proprietor of the county himself, Fairfax,
and has continued ever since to be the seat of justice for the county, by the
same name. It was recently, by an act passed in 1834, incorporated; and
at this time contains a C. H., jail, and clerk's office, on the public square,
all handsome buildings, an episcopalian and a presbyterian church built of
brick, and a masonic hall built of wood, with a large wooden meeting
house in the immediate vicinity, belonging to the Baptist denomination —
its streets are broad and laid out in a rectangular form, and are well supplied
with pumps. There are 3 taverns, besides some boarding houses, 9
stores; 1 watch maker and jeweller's shop, 2 saddlers, 4 shoe makers, 4
tailors, and mantuamakers, 1 hatter, 3 blacksmiths, 2 carpenters and cabinet
makers, 1 considerable establishment for making wagons, &c. and
another quite extensive for making coaches, carriages, &c. The Piedmont
line of post coaches, passes through this place. It contains also 7 lawyer's
offices, 3 doctor's shops, and a parsonage house, which the vestry of the
Episcopal church have purchased, and the ladies have nearly paid for, by
that ingenious method of making much out of little, which has been latterly
practised with such general success—a fair. There are in the immediate
vicinity of the town 3 schools, all on private foundations, and 1 market
house, also on private foundation.—2 respectable tanyards are kept up in
sight of the town. There is a printing establishment, from which issues a
weekly paper, under the title of the Culpeper Gazette; and another very
recently established, that sends forth weekly, The Messenger.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICE, &c.

Amissville, P. O. 121 ms. from
R., and 69 from W.

Colvin's Tavern, P. O. 90 ms.
from R., and 80 from W.

FAIRFAX, P. O. and seat of Justice,
88 ms. N. W. of Fredericksburg,
76 S. W. of W. and 94 from R.,
in lat 38° 26′, long 1. 04′, W. of C.

County Courts are held on the 2nd
Monday in every month.—Quarterly
in March, May, August and November.
Judge Field holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 3rd of June and 4th of November.
[See above, on this page.]

Grantley's P. O. 116 ms. from
R., and 59 ms. S. of W.

Griffinsburg, P. O. 103 ms. from
R., and 85 ms. S. W. of W., situated
on the main road leading from Thornton's
Gap in the Blue Ridge, to
Fredericksburg, 18 ms. from the
former, and 50 ms. from the latter, 8
ms. from Fairfax, and 10 from
Woodville, in Rappahannock. It
contains a tavern, store, and blacksmith
shop.

Jeffersonton, P. V. 109 m's
from R., and 61 S. S. W. of W., situated
near the right branch of the Rappahannock,
in the N. E. angle of the
county, and on the Piedmont stage
route from Washington to Milledgeville,
Georgia. The town is built on
one street, and contains 43 dwelling
houses, 1 Baptist house of worship, 1
Female association, for the purpose
of educating young men for the ministry,
1 Elementary school with 50
scholars: also, 3 mercantile stores, 3
taverns, 1 tanyard, 1 hat manufactory,
3 boot and shoe factories, a wagon
maker, carriage maker, and 3 house
carpenters. Population 300; of whom
2 are physicians. Lee's Sulphur
Springs, a place of considerable resort

in summer, are only 2½ ms. from Jeffersonton.

Locust Dale, P. O. 86 ms. from
R., and 86 ms. S. S. W. of W.

Midway, P. O. 95 ms. from R.,
and 68 S. S. W. of W.

Richardsville, formerly Smith's
Tavern, P. O. 95 ms. from R., and
71 S. W. of W., situated on the stage
road from Fredericksburg to Fairfax,
18 ms. distant from each, in the gold
region and near some of the best mines
yet discovered in Virginia.

Racoon Ford, P. O., situated immediately
on the banks of Rapid Ann,
15 ms. by water above its confluence
with the Rappahannock, 30 W. of
Fredericksburg, 15 N. E. of Orange
C. H., and 10 S. E. of Fairfax. It
contains 8 dwelling houses, a mercantile
store, house of entertainment,
merchant mill, grist mill, saw and
shingle mill, wool carding machine
and cotton gin, boot and shoe factory,
a tailor, blacksmith, wagon maker,
and carriage maker. Population 35
whites, and 45 blacks. Total 80.

Rexeville, P. O. 101 ms. from R.
and 79 S. W. by W. of W., situated
handsomely on a healthy, and high
position, in the midst of a fertile country,
on 1 of the north branches of the
Rappahannock, and immediately on
the stage road, which leads from
Washington to Charlottesville, 60
ms. from the latter. It contains 12
dwelling houses, a mercantile store,
new house of entertainment, tanyard,
shoe factory, cooper's shop, wheelwright,
blacksmith; and has a school
in the neighbourhood. This little
village is rapidly improving, the vicinity
being occupied by wealthy and
industrious farmers.

Rock Mills, P. O. 113 ms. from
R., and 75 S. W. of W.

Stevensburg, P. V. in the southern
part of the county, 95 ms. from R.
and 83 ms. S. W. of W.—beautifully
situated between the Rapid Ann, and
Rappahannock river, on the stage
road from Fairfax to Fredericksburg,
7 ms. distant from the former, and 30
from the latter. It contains 20 dwelling
houses, 2 mercantile stores, and
1 house of worship, free for all denominations.
Population 150 persons;
of whom 2 are physicians. This
place was formerly much resorted to
by inhabitants of the lower counties
during the sickly seasons.

Thornton's Gap, P. O. 120 ms.
N. W. of R., and 102 ms. N. W. by
W. of W., situated in the western part
of the county in the gap of the Blue
Ridge.

Thompsonville, P. O. 104 ms.
from R., and 75 S. W. by W. of W.
It contains 7 dwelling houses, 2 houses
of worship, 1 Baptist, and 1 free for
all denominations, 3 mercantile stores,
and 2 blacksmith's shops; there are
3 merchant mills in the vicinity. Population
70. There is a benevolent
society, which holds its meetings at
this place.

Waylandsburg, P. V. 102 ms.
from R. and 84 S. W. of W., situated
on Crooked Run, which separates
Madison from Culpeper, near the
road between Fairfax and Orange C.
H., 8 ms. W. of the former, 74 from
the latter, and 8 N. E. of Madison C.
H. It contains 18 houses, 1 of which
is a merchant mill with 4 pair of stones,
and 1 a saw mill. Population 13.

CUMBERLAND.

Cumberland was created by the House of Burgess's in 1748, from a part
of Goochland. It is bounded N. by James river, which separates it from
Fluvanna, and Goochland, E. by Powhatan, S. E. and S. by the Appomattox

which separates it from Amelia, and Prince Edward, and W. by Buckingham.
Length 32 ms., mean breadth 10, and area 323 sq. ms. extendingin
lat. from 37° 12′ to 37° 39′ N. and long. from 1° 13′ to 1° 40′ W. of
W. C. The slope of this county is N. E., and the central part is drained
by Willis's river, which empties into the James, a few miles above Cartersville.
This stream is navigable by boats to Curdsville, a small town in
Buckingham: (See Buckingham). This county is also watered by 4
creeks, which rise in the upper part within 3 or 4 miles of each other, near
Rains' tavern. Bear branch empties into Willis's river. Great Guinea after running about 20 miles in the county empties into the Appomattox.
Angle creek about 12 miles long, and Green creek, about 3; both of which
afford much fertile bottom lands;—and Little Gunea, all flow into the Appomattox.
The Appomattox waters, and bounds the southern part of the
county from Powhatan to Buckingham, about 30 miles, and the James
river on the north, by making a considerable bend, bounds and waters
about the same distance.

The surface is undulating, and the soil productive. The staples are indian
corn, wheat and tobacco. The latter has been considered the principal
article, but of late the farmers have turned their attention more to the
cultivation of wheat; by which the lands have much improved, and the improvement
is still progressing.

Iron and coal have recently been discovered, on the Appomattox, near
Farmville. The prevailing religious sects, are Presbyterians, Baptists, and
Methodists.—there are 10 houses of public worship, and 4 resident ministers.—there
are 4 flour manufacturing, and a number of grist mills in the
county. Population 1820, 11,023—1830, 11,690. Cumberland belongs
to the 8th judicial circuit, and 4th district. Taxes paid in 1833, $2,881 80, in
1834 on lots, $59 13—land, $1,458 19—3850 slaves, $962 50—2,161 horses,
$129 66—7 studs, $134—50 coaches, $123 15—34 carryalls, $46 55—
107 gigs, $68 70. Total $2,985 88. Expended in educating poor children
in 1832, $376 73—in 1834, $196 38.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST-OFFICES, &c.

Ca Ira, P. V. in the W. part of
the county, 72 ms. S. W. of R., and
148 from W., situated 45 ms. E. N.
E. of Lynchburg, on the N. side of
Willis's river, 5 ms. W. of Cumberland
C. H., 16 N. E. of Farmville, and 18
ms. from Buckingham C.H. surrounded
by a fertile country. Willis's river
is navigable to Curdsville, in
Buckingham, 12 ms. above this place,
and 60 ms. from its mouth. Ca Ira
contains about 40 dwelling houses, 3
mercantile stores—selling $40 000
worth of goods annually, a merchant
mill, which grinds from 28 to 30,000
bushels of wheat in the grinding season,
a tobacco warehouse, at which
from 3 to 500 hogsheads of tobacco
are annually received, a house of worship
free for all denominations, 2 taverns,
and a masonic hall.—there are
also among the mechanics, 2 tailors,
2 wheelwrights, 2 blacksmiths, and 2
plough manufacturers.

This village was until lately unhealthy,
and nearly depulated upon
two different occasion: this was attributed
to the pond attached to the manufacturing
mill, which covered 200
acres of ground, and nearly surrounded
the village, and produced
very severe bilious attacks. The
dam has now been removed 2 ms. up
the stream, and the water brought
down by a navigable canal: the old
pond has been filled up, and its site

cultivated, which yields immense
crops to the owners; and health is restored
to the village. Population 210
Three mails a week are received.

Cartersville, P. V. on the right
bank of James river, 47 ms. W. of R.
and 122 from W., situated in a fertile
and healthy country. It contains 50
dwelling houses, 1 house of worship
free for all denominations, a common
school, a merchant mill, which grinds
from 20 to 30,000 bushels of wheat
annually, 5 mercantile stores, 3 groceries,
2 builders of thrashing machines,
2 tanyards, 1 saddler and
many other mechanics, such as wheelwrights,
plough makers, blacksmiths,
shoe makers, &c. Considerable trade
is carried on in wheat and other produce
of the surrounding country.—
Population 300 souls; of whom 1 is
an attorney, and 2 physicians.

CUMBERLAND, C. H. P. V.
55 ms. from R., and 140 from W.
situated on a high and healthy ridge
between Willis's river and the Appomattox;
commanding a beautiful view
of the Blue Ridge. It contains besides
the county buildings, 5 dwelling
houses, 1 mercantile store, 2 taverns,
a saddler, boot and shoe factory, tailor,
and various other mechanics.
There is a house of worship in the
vicinity, free for all denominations.
The surrounding county is tolerably
fertile, producing corn, wheat, oats,
tobacco, &c. Population 30 whites
and 60 blacks. Total 90.

County Courts are held on the 4th
Monday in every month;—Quarterly
in February, May, July, and October.
Judge Daniel, holds his Circuit Superior
Court of Law and Chancery,
on the 1st of April and September.

Langhorn's Tavern, P. O. 61
ms. W. of R., and 146 from W.

Raines', P. O. 69 ms. W. of R.,
and 154 from W.

Stoney Point Mills, P. O. in
the southern part of the county, 61
ms. S. W. by W. of R., and 146 from
W., situated on the Appomattox river,
60 ms. above Petersburg, 16 ms. below
Farmville and 5 ms. S. of Cumberland
C. H. It contains 20 houses, 1
large manufacturing mill, 2 mercantile
stores, a wheelwright, blacksmith,
cooper, and tailor Tobacco of as
good quality as any in Virginia, is
raised in this neighbourhood. The
soil is susceptible of high improvement.
The water power is sufficient
for machinery of any extent. Population
90 persons; 1 of whom is a
physician.

DINWIDDIE.

Dinwiddie was created by the Legislature in 1752, from a part of
Prince George. It is bounded E. by Prince George,—S. E. by Sussex,—
S. by Nottoway river, which separates it from Brunswick,—W. by Nottoway,—and
N. W. by Amelia. Dinwiddie is in form a hexagon, with a
diameter of about 28 miles;—area about 616 sq miles. It is divided nearly
into equal parts by the parallel of 37° N. lat.—its long. lies between 0°
33′ and 1° 3′ W. of W. C. The northern part of the county, about one-fourth
of the whole, slopes north and is drained by the Appomattox. The
remainder inclines S. E. is drained by Monks Creek, Stoney, Sapony, and
other tributaries of Nottoway river.—The surface is undulating.—Population
in 1820, 13,792—in 1830, 21,801. Dinwiddie belongs to the second
judicial circuit, and first district. Taxes paid in 1833, $6538, 50—in
1834, on lots, $2736 59—land, $1863 68—5962 slaves, $1496 50—2673
horses, $160 38—7 studs, $258 00—134 coaches, $348 25—49 carryalls,

$49 55—233 gigs, $135 83. Total, $7042 78. Expended in educating
poor children in 1832, $412 94; in 1833, $217 68.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

DINWIDDIE C. H. & P. O. situated
on Stoney Creek, 15 ms. S. W.
of Peterburg, 40 from R. and 162
from W. County courts are held on
the third Monday in every month.
Quarterly, March, May, August and
November. Judge May holds his
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on 1st April and September.

Goodwynsville, P. O. 47 m's.
S. S. W. of R. and 169 from W.

Harrisville, or Wyoming, 54
m's S. of R. and 176 from W., situated
in the S. E. corner of the county,
near Nottoway river, on the main
southern stage road. It contains a
mercantile store, blacksmith shop,
and wheelwright. In the vicinity
there are 2 extensive manufacturing
mills; and the surrounding country
is very thickly settled.

PETERSBURG, Port of Entry,
and P. O. 22 miles S. of R. and
144 S. S. W. of W. lat. 37° 13′ and
long. 24° W. of W. C.: situated on
the right or southern bank of Appomattox
river—12 ms. above its junction
with James river in the northern
angle of the county, where it joins
Prince George and Chesterfield; so
that a part of the town is in each of
those counties. This depot is well
situated to sustain a high commercial
rank amongst the ports of Virginia.
The harbor admits vessels of considerable
draught, and the adjacent
country is well peopled and cultivated.
The falls of Appomattox near which
the city stands, affords an illimitable
water power, whilst a canal obviates
the impediment to navigation. Previous
to the year 1815 the buildings
were nearly all of wood, but in the
summer of that year nearly all those
situated on the most commercial
streets were consumed by fire. Since
that event the town has been rebuilt
with neat and substantial brick houses
and, in value as well as appearance,
is very much improved. The number
of houses besides the county
buildings, which are handsome, may
be estimated at about 800. There
are 7 houses of public worship, belonging
to Episcopalians, Methodists,
Baptists and Presbyterians,—a Masonic
Hall, female orphan asylum, several
common schools and one free
school; the latter is on the Lancasterian
plan and was endowed principally
by a legacy left to the town, for
that purpose by a benevolent individual,
(David Anderson,) and is
called the "Anderson Seminary."
There are six tobacco factories, six
manufacturing flour mills, 1 brass and
cast-iron foundry, 2 earthen-ware potteries,
2 cotton-seed-oil mills, numerous
mercantile stores, and 4 druggist
shops. The principal mechanical
pursuits are—2 printing offices, by
which 2 weekly papers are issued,
and considerable book-work-printing
done, 4 carriage manufacturies, 5
wheelwrights, 4 cabinet makers, 3
jersey wagon makers, 3 brick molders,
1 stone cutter and mill stone
maker, 2 tanneries, 5 saddlers, 15
blacksmiths, 4 coppersmiths and tinplate
workers, 3 jewellers and watch
makers, and many house carpenters,
tailors, hatters, milleners, and mantua
makers. Petersburg is now rapidly
increasing in business in consequence
of its Rail Road, to the Roanoke
river, which is about sixty miles long,
and affords an opening by which
large quantities of produce are brought
to this market from the upper Roanoke
and from the interior of North
Carolina, and by which goods are
with much facility returned in exchange,
as the cars run daily to the
Roanoke and back again. The grade

of the road, with the exception of two
or three planes, with an ascent of
twenty-seven or thirty feet per mile,
is very favorable to the use of the
locomotive engine; and their success
with this kind of power has not been
surpassed in the country. They have
now three engines upon the road, a
part of which have been at work upwards
of nine months, and made their
trips with as much regularity as could
have been expected from horse power.
One of those, the "Liverpool,"
is probably, for her weight, the most
effective engine of the country. This,
and one of the other engines on this
road, were constructed by M. Burry,
of Liverpool, who has also furnished
two engines for one of the Schuylkill
rail roads, which we are informed work
equally well. The proprietors of
this road consider it as part of the
great line of communication from
north to south, and look to its ultimate
connexion with the Charleston rail
road, by similar works through North
Carolina. Another channel by
which much produce is brought to
this market, is the Upper Appomottox
Canal,—through which there
is a constantly increasing trade.
To this market there have been
brought in one year 40,000 bales of
cotton, 5,000 hogsheads of tobacco,
and more than 100,000 bushels of
wheat, besides many other articles.

Petersburg is also much indebted
for her prosperity to her cotton factories;
of which at present, there are
three—The first established was that
of the Petersburg Manufacturing
Company, in the year 1828. This
factory commenced spinning in the
fall of that year with 500 spindles,
and the number was gradually increased,
until it now runs 2500, which
daily spin about 1200 pounds of yarn,
or three hundred and sixty thousand
pounds per annum. This yarn is
made of the best cotton brought to
the market, and the most of it is sold
in yarn itself without further manufacture;
some part of it is woven at
the factory into a heavy cotton cloth
called "oznaburgs," and is stamped
"Virginia cloth," in consequence of
the likeness between this and the cotton
cloth formerly so well known in
this state by that name. This factory
gives employment to none but
white persons, and has constantly
employed about 110 operatives, who
are mostly young girls, of good character
and industrious habits, who receive
in weekly wages about thirteen
thousand dollars per annum.—The
Merchants' Manufacturing Company
has two factories, one of which is
on a small scale, and has for some
years been in operation, the other recently
erected, has but lately begun
to spin; it has a commodious house
well planned, and runs 3500 spindles
and a number of looms capable of
weaving from 1500 to 2000 yards of
cotton cloth per day and employs
about 200 operatives. It is in contemplation
to erect, ere long, two other
cotton factories, on a large scale, and
as the water power here is great, the
raw material plenty, and operatives
readily procured, it is probable that
at no distant day, Petersburg will be
a considerable manufacturing town.
—From the town, a considerable foreign
trade is carried on with England,
France, Holland, and Germany,
and goods of all descriptions are here
plenty and cheap. Large ships load
at City Point. The navigation from
City Point to this place until lately
was bad, affording not more than four
feet water—but within a few years
works have been completed on the
river, which have deepened it to
about seven feet.—At one time this
town was considered unhealthy, but
by draining and filling up marshes,
and by other improvements, it has
now become as salubrious as any part
of lower Virginia; and has the character
of being hospitable and patriotic;
and a very delightful place of
residence. The Bank of Virginia

and Farmers' Bank of Virginia have
each a branch at this place. It possesses
also an insurance office, and
custom house. Population 1830,
8,322. Corporation courts are held
on the third Monday in every month;
Quarterly in March, May, August
and November. Judge May holds
his Circuit Superior Court of Law
and Chancery on the first of April
and September.

Poplar Grove, P. O. 39 ms. S.
of R. and 161 from W.

Richieville, P.O. 62 ms. S. of R.
and 164 from W.

Sappony Creek, Cross Roads,
and P. O. 44 ms. from R. and 166
from W. In the southern part of the
county, 22 ms. S. S. W. of Petersburg.
The creek is a branch of Stoney
Creek, and the latter of Nottoway
river.

ELIZABETH CITY.

Elizabeth City was one of the eight original shires into which Virginia
was divided in 1634.—It is bounded E. by the Chesapeake, S. by
Hampton Roads, N. by Back river, which separates it from York, and W.
by Warwick.—Its form is nearly that of a square, about 18 miles on each
side;—area 64 square miles. It extends from 37° 02′ to 37° 08′ N. lat.
and from 0° 37′ to 0° 47′ E. of W. C. Population, 1820, 3,789—1830,
5,053.—It belongs to the 3d judicial circuit, and 2nd district. Taxes paid
in 1833, $794 24—in 1834, on lots, $184 62—on land, $316 63—912
slaves, $228 00—408 horses, $24 43—3 studs, $71 00—7 coaches, $16
00—49 carryalls, $49 55—233 gigs, $135 83. Total, $7042 78. Expended
in educating poor children in 1832, $45 39—in 1834, no report.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

HAMPTON, P. V. and county
seat, 96 ms. from R. and 199 S. E. of
W. Hampton is a sea port, situated
on Hampton Roads, 2½ miles from
Fortress Monroe, 18 from Norfolk, 24
from York Town, and 36 from Williamsburg.—It
contains about 130
houses; 2 Methodist, 1 Baptist, and 1
Episcopalian meeting house, 1 Academy
and 1 private school, 6 dry good
stores, 10 grocery stores, 2 taverns, 3
castor oil manufactories, (2 in town
and 1 adjacent.). The principal mechanical
pursuits are, shoe making,
blacksmiths' work, house-carpentry,
and ship-building. Hampton has for
some time been declining:—There is
no commerce or inland trade to support
it. Hampton is the place of residence
for nearly all the pilots for
James river, and the neighborhood of
Norfolk; and when trade was brisk,
they circulated nearly all the proceeds
of their labor in their own town; but
the Fortifications at Old Point Comfort,
and the Rip Raps, have been for
some time past the principal source of
revenue to the inhabitants both of the
town and county, by the wages given
for negro laborers. Hampton is as
healthy as any town in lower Virginia.
Population in 1830, 1120.—
There are 2 attorneys, and 4 physicians.

County Courts are held on the 4th
Thursday in every month;—Quarterly
in March, June, August and
November.

Judge Upshur holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 24th of April and 19th of September.

Old Point Comfort, or Fortress
Monroe, cape and P. O. 12
ms. in a direct line a little W. of N.
Norfolk, 3 ms. S. E. of Hampton, the

county seat, and 202 ms. S. S. E. of
W. C. The promontory, particularly
called Old Point Comfort, is almost
exactly on lat 37°, and with the opposing
point, Willioughby, on the
right shore, forms the real mouth of
James river, the intervening strait separating
Lynhaven bay from Hampton
Roads.

The channel which leads in from
the Capes of Virginia to Hampton
Roads, is, at Old Point Comfort, reduced
to a very narrow line. The
shoal water, which, under the action
of the sea, and reacted upon by the bar,
is kept in an unremitting ripple, has
given the name of Rip Raps to this
place. When the bar is passed, Hampton
Roads, which extend to Norfolk,
about eighteen miles distant, into
which James river, Elizabeth river,
and Nansemond Mouth empty, afford
the finest anchorange in the world,
and in them its navies might ride with
perfect safety. With a view of making
this a secure retreat for ships of
war and for our commerce, in any future
contest with a naval power, Fort
Monroe was built on the point, on the
right side of the channel at the entrance
of the Roads—and the castle
of the Rip Raps is directly opposite
the point, at the distance of about 1900
yards. The two forts will completely
command the channel, and it will
be impossible for a single ship of war
to pass without the permission of the
power holding the fortresses. They
are so constructed as to present immense
batteries of cannon upon an
approaching ship, from the moment
she comes in reach, from the Capes,
and throughout all the bendings of
the channel it must still be under the
power of the cannon: for the forts
present a new aspect at every turn,
and in all probability the interdicted
ship would be a wreck, or a conflagration,
from the hot shot thrown into
her, before she completed half the circuit
of the channel.

There is much salutary experience,
bought however dearly, in the lessons
of the late war. These waters were
then the resort of the British fleets,
and while all American vessels were
either driven from their own harbors,
or captured, the enemy made himself
at home here—sent detachments to
Baltimore and Washington—ravaged
the shores of the Chesapeake—burnt
our Capitol and Navy Yards, and
laid the whole country under contribution.
The erection of the two
Forts at this central point of our seaboard,
gives us a refuge to our naval
force, if driven in by superior numbers,
and will, in effect, not only occlude
Hampton Roads to the enemy,
and shut him out from James river
and Norfolk, our naval depot, but
must deter him ever venturing up the
Chesapeake bay. If such an attempt
were made, the first calm would put
the most powerful fleet of an enemy
completely at the mercy of a few steam
frigates or steam batteries, which, by
means of their self-moving power,
would be enabled to take such position
as suited them, and to set fire to
the ships of the enemy with hot shot,
or cut them off in detail. The shelter
of these forts, too, would enable a
few ships, lying in security under their
guns, to sally out and take advantage
of any storm which might separate a
blockading force, exposed to the accidents
of an open sea.

These circumstances give great importance
to the works which are to
form the gates at Hampton Roads—
and, as a consequence, in a great degree
to the whole Chesapeake bay.
Fort Monroe is already finished, and
is at this moment in admirable condition,
if its armaments were completed.

The Rip Raps structure, is a monument,
worthy of the people who have
lavished their means in its erection,
and of the genius of the engineers by
whom it was planned. The area of
the structure, as originally staked off
includes five acres; a great part of
which was 22 feet below the surface

of the sea, and that nearest the surface
18 feet. To get a foundation above
water for the Fort or Castle, an Island
has been raised, by throwing rocks
into the water, until, by gradual accumulation,
it has emerged above the
tides. The rock of which this Island
is formed, has been brought from great
distances, and at a vast expense.

After a foundation was obtained for
the Castle above high water, the building
of the Castle was begun, and carried
up so as to form the first embrasures.
It was found that the settling
of the artificial mound of stone cracked
the walls. The building was,
therefore, discontinued; but immense
masses of granite have since been
brought and lodged upon the lines of
the work, that the weight of the material,
might be employed in consolidating
its foundations. For some
years this marine pyramid sunk between
six and eight inches; during
the last year but one, although pressed
with the weight of all the material
gathered for the superstructure, it settled
about three inches.

The present aspect of the place is
rough and savage, and when the surge
rushes in among the hollow piles of
granite, and the wind whistles among
the naked spars, which are planted
round the walls for the support of the
scaffolding, the music of the surrounding
elements of sea and air, is quite
in keeping with the dreary, desolate
spot, which, at a distance, looks like
a Gibralter, beaten down by cannonade,
and fallen prostrate in the sea.

Nothing could add more to the
grandeur, of what has been justly
called the American Mediterranean,
than the elevation of the Castle at
Rip Raps—the rising of this giant of
the flood, from the waves, as contemplated
by Commodore Warrenton,
Commodore Elliot, General Armistead,
General Bernard, General Swift
and Major McRee, the commissioners
and engineers, in whose design the
work originated. The ancients tell
us that Venus rose from the sea, but
it would seem a much fitter element,
to give birth to the god of war; and
never was there a nobler scene, or
nobler temple, than that appropriated
for his cradle, by the American people
at the Rip Raps. He will appear
here, not like the goddess of love,
borne in a shell upon a summer's sea,
but upon a tower of strength amidst
the noise of restless surges,—a fit
emblem of the American people,
whose martial strength belongs alike
to the land and to the ocean.

It is a circumstance worth notice,
that the material for the structure of
the Castle of the Rip Raps is drawn
from most of the commercial states of
the Union. In walking over the piles
you behold the dark grey granite of
Maine—the whitish blue and the black
speckled granite of Connecticut—the
red free stone of the same state—the
pied granite of the Susquehannah—
the deep blue of the Little Falls of
Potomac—and the ash colored of the
James river.

In this edifice, which is to form a
strong hold in a central position—defend
our great naval depot, and to protect
our naval power over the ocean;
and especially to afford a place of refuge
to the commerce of the nation,
each commercial state may point to a
portion of the blended strength which
it has contributed to the common
structure. The castle, at the Rip
Raps, should then be called, as well
from its use, as from its origin, the
Castle of the Federal Union—and
when attacked by foreign or domestic
assailants, it should run up with
the ensign of "the Federal Union,"
the watch word "it must be preserved."

ESSEX.

Essex was created by the Legislature in 1692, from a part of (Old)
Rappahannock Co. It is bounded E. by the Rappahannock river, which
separates it from Richmond,—S. E. by Middlesex,—S. and S. W. by King
and Queen,—W. and N. W. by Caroline,—and N. by the Rappahannock,
which divides it from King George and Westmoreland. Length 28 miles,
mean breadth 10, and area 280 sq. miles. Lat 38° intersects the meridian of
Washington, about one-third of the length of the county from its northern
extremity. Surface in the western part moderately hilly, and soil generally
sandy and barren except on the rivers and creeks. Population 1820,
9,999—1830, 10,531. Essex belongs to the fourth judicial circuit, and
second district. Taxes paid in 1833, $2452 26—in 1834 on lots, $55 10
—land, $1124 96—3235 slaves, $808 75—1476 horses, $88 56—studs,
$118 00—38 coaches $101 75—1 stage $3—21 caryalls, $24 10—178
gigs, $99 15. Total $2996 18. Expended in education of poor children
in 1834, $183 72—in 1833, $300 74.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Bowers, P. O. 62 ms. N. E. by
E. of R. and 121 from W. in the
southeastern part of the couuty.

Dunnsville, P. O. 56 ms. S. E.
from R. and 115 from W.

Loretto, P. V. 69 ms. N. E. from
R. and 92 from W. situated on the
mail route from Tappahannock to Fredericksburg,
about 40 miles from the
latter and 20 from the former; and a
mile from the Rappahannock river.
It contains 20 dwelling houses, 1
Episcopal church, 2 mercantile stores,
a tavern, shoemaker, blacksmith, tailor,
bricklayer, painter, and several
hourse carpenters. Population 50
persons, of whom one is a physician.

Lloyds, P. O. 62 ms. from R. and
97 from W.

Miller's Tavern, P. O. 40 ms.
from R. and 119 S. of W.

Montague, P. V. 67 ms. S. E. by
E. from R. and 126 from W. A.
small village in the southern part of
the county, on the stage road from
Tappahannock, to Urbanna, and 2
m's from the Rappahannock river
Population 50; of whom one is an
attorney, and one a physician.

TAPPAHANNOCK, P. V. and
seat of justice; situated on the right
bank of the Rappahannock, 50 miles
N. E. of R. and 109 S. E. of W.
lat. 37° 58′ N.; long 11° 10′ E. W.
C. The situation is low and flat, but
as there is not much marsh land in
the neighborhood, it is not very sickly.
It was formerly a place of considerable
trade, as large vessels can
ascend some distance above it, but
like most of the villages on tide water
in Virginia it is not increasing,
because the business formerly transacted
by them directly with foreign
countries, is now transacted through
the medium of the cities. It is about
50 miles from the open Chesapeake
bay. It contains 29 dwelling houses,
4 mercantile stores, 2 druggists, one
house of worship free for all denominations,
2 hotels, a female seminary
of the first order, which has been established
15 years, and received an
unusual share of public favor; in this
all the usual female accomplishments
are taught, whilst every attention is
paid to the moral and religious duties
of the pupils, by the pious and accomplished
lady who presides over
the establishment.—The mechanics
are, a jeweller, milliner and mantua
maker, 2 tailors, a saddle and harness
maker, a coach maker, and 2 boot and
shoe makers.—There is a Ferry

across the Rappahannock at this point.
Population 1830, 280. Three attorneys,
and five physicians reside here.
County courts are held on the third
Monday in every month: Quarterly
in March, May, August and November.
Judge Brown holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and
Chancery, on the 4th of May and
October.

FAIRFAX.

Fairfax was created by the Legislature in 1742, from a part of Prince
William. It is bounded E. partly by the Potomac river, which separates it
from Prince George's Co., of Maryland, and partly by the District of Columbia,—S.
by the Potomac and Occoquan river, which separates it from
Prince William,—W. by Loudoun,—and N. by the Potomac, separating
it from Montgomery Co. Maryland. Length from S. E. to N. W. 25 ms.
mean breadth 180—area 450 square miles; it extends in lat. from 35° 36′
to 39° 03′ N. and in long. from 0° 03′ to 0° 33′ W. of W. C. The surface
is hilly and broken; the soil is in some places good, but much of it
is sterile. Population 1820, 11,404; in 1830, 9,204. Fairfax belongs to
the 6th judicial circuit and 3d district. Taxes paid in 1833, $3070 00—
in 1834 on lots, $56 72—land, $2144 63—1896 slaves, 474 00—2618
horses, $157 08—6 studs, $35 00—44 coaches, $90 00—31 caryalls,
$31 00—12 gigs, $7 75. Total, 2996 18. Expended in educating poor
children in 1832, $435 50—in 1833, $440 70.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Centreville, P. V. in the western
part of the county, 143 ms. from
R., and 27 S. W. of W. This village
is situated on the Fauquier, and Alexandria
turnpike road, about 6 ms. from
the line dividing the counties of Loudoun,
and Prince William. It derives
its name from its central position, being
about equi-distant from Leesburg,
Middleburg, Warrenton, Washington,
Georgetown and Alexandria. Its situation
is elevated and highly picturesque,
affording one of the best mountain
prospects in the state of Virginia.
It has always been remarkable for the
salubrity of its air, and the health of its
inhabitants. It contains 30 dwelling
houses, 1 Methodist meeting house, 2
taverns, 3 mercantile stores, 1 common
school, and a well organized
Sunday school. The mechanics are
2 tanners, 1 saddler, 4 boot and shoe
manufacturers, 1 wheel wright, 2 blacksmiths,
1 cabinet maker, 2 house carpenters,
and 1 tailor. For some time
past this village has been declining;
but the spirit of industry and enterprize
at present manifested by its inhabitants,
justifies the hope of a more
favourable state of things. Population
220; of whom 2 are attorneys, and 3
physicians.

Dronesville, P. O. 140 ms. from
R., and 17 from W.

FAIRFAX C. H. P. O. 140 ms.
from R., and 28 ms. S. W. by W. of
W. It contains besides the ordinary
county buildings, 50 dwelling houses,
for the most part frame buildings, 3
mercantile stores, 4 taverns, and 1
common school. The mechanics are
boot and shoe makers, saddlers, blacksmiths,
tailors, &c. Population 200
persons; of whom 4 are attorneys and
2 physicians.

County Courts are held on the 3rd
Monday in every month;—Quarterly
in March, June, August and Nov'r.

Judge Scott holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 25th of May and October.

MOUNT VERNON, is situated
8 ms. from Alexandria, and 15 ms.
from Washington. The house erected
on this consecrated spot, is of wood,
cut in imitation of free stone. The
centre part was built by Lawrence
Washington, brother to the General:
the wings were added by General
Washington. It is named after Admiral
Vernon, in whose expedition
Lawrence Washington served. The
house is 2 stories high and 96 feet in
length, with a portico fronting the river,
extending the whole length of the
house surmounted by a cupola; the
grounds are in the same state as left
by General Washington.

The house contains on the ground
floor, 6 rooms and a spacious passage,
4 of these are of ordinary size at the
north east is a large room, very lofty,
with a handsomely sculptured ceiling,
which contains a very handsome marble
mantle-piece sent to General
Washington from Italy,—also a very
fine organ, on which instrument the
late Mrs. Washington was an accomplished
performer, this room is only
used for large dinner parties, &c.
The room, at the south east end of the
house, is used as a family dining
room, and contains busts of Monsieur
Neckar, Paul Jones, and General
Washington,—also a handsome library,
fitted in the wall, with glass cases;
the books chiefly collected by General
Washington.

The house fronts N. W., the rear
looking to the river. In front of the
house is a lawn, containing 5 or 6
acres of ground, with a serpentine walk
around it, fringed with shrubbery,
and planted with poplar. On each
side of the lawn stands a garden: the
one on the right is the flower garden,
and contains two green houses, (one
built by Gen. Washington, the other
by Judge Washington,) a hot house,
and a pinery. It is laid off in handsome
walks, with box-wood borders,
remarkable for their beauty. It contains,
also, a quantity of fig trees producing
excellent fruit—the other is a
kitchen garden, containing only fruit
and vegetables.

About 200 yards from the house, in
a southerly direction, stands a summer
house, on the edge of the river
bank, which is lofty and sloping, and
clothed with wood to the water's edge.
The summer house commands a fine
prospect of the river, and the Maryland
shore,—also of the White House
at a distance of 5 or 6 ms. down the
river, where an engagement took
place during the late war, with the
British vessels which ascended the river.
Proceeding from the summer
house about 150 yards, in a westerly
direction, you come to the vault—a
plain excavation in the bank, faced
with brick, and surrounded with a
rough white-washed paling. Several
lofty oaks stand around it, and small
red cedar trees grow on the top of the
tomb. The door and door posts are
covered with names of visitors. In the
vault are buried General Washington
and his WIFE, Judge Washington
and his wife, with many relations
of the family.

The estate, as owned by Judge
Washington, consisted of between 3
and 4000 acres, now divided between
the Judge's nephews. John Augustine
Washington, owns Mount Vernon
with the grounds immediately around
the house, and 1200 acres of land.
The fallow deer abound in the
woods. The timber of which is composed
chiefly of white and black oak,
with dogwood, hickory, ash, cedar,
&c., the soil is thin, and rather poor,
cultivated chiefly in Indian corn, rye,
barley, &c. Judge Washington cultivated
the millet to a considerable extent,—he
kept many sheep, and found
them profitable. There are 2 fisheries
on the place, where shad and herring
are caught in large quantities.
Mount Vernon is healthy during all

the year except the fall, when agues
and bilious fevers prevail. An intelligent
visiter, connected with the public
press, some years since gave to the
world an interesting sketch of a visit
to Mount Vernon, he remarks, "we
were conducted over long gravel
walks, bordered with box, which is
arranged and trimmed into the most
fanciful figures, and which at the age
of 20 years and upwards, still possesses
the vigour and freshness of
youth. At the extremity of these extensive
alleys and pleasure grounds,
ornamented with fruit trees and shrubbery,
and clothed in perennial verdure,
stands two hot houses, and as
many green houses, situated in the
sunniest part of the garden, and shielded
from the northern winds by a long
range of wooden buildings, for the accommodation
of servants. From the
air of a frosty December morning, we
were suddenly introduced into the
tropical climate of these spacious
houses, where we long sauntered
among groves of the coffee tree, lemons
and oranges, all in full bearing,
regailing our senses with the flowers
and odours of spring."

"One of the hot houses is appropriated
entirely to rearing the pine
apple which grows in great perfection,
long rows of which we saw in
a flourishing and luxuriant condition.
A stalk produces but a single apple,
which grows near the ground, in the
centre of a cluster of tall and spear-shaped
leaves. Many bushels of lemons
and oranges of every variety
are annually grown, which besides
furnishing the family with a supply
of these fruits at all seasons, are distributed
as a delicacy to their friends,
or used to administer to the comforts
of their neighbours in cases of sickness.
The coffee plant thrives well,
yields abundantly, and in quality is
said to be equal to the best Mocha.
The branches under which we walked
were laden with the fruit, fast advancing
to maturity. Among the
more rare plants we saw the night
blooming cereus, the guava, from
which the jelly of that name is made,
alloes of a gigantic growth, the West
India plantain, the sweet cassia in
bloom, the prickley pear, and a thousand
others. They are all tastefully
arranged in large boxes made for the
purpose, and nurtured with unceasing
attention, requiring the constant services
of two assistants besides the
chief gardener. To the north of the
range of buildings before mentioned,
is an extensive kitchen garden, surrounded
with a hedge of cedar, so
regularly trimmed, as to present the
appearance of a verdant wall. At
every step in these pleasure grounds,
the thought occurred that the illustrious
projector is no more. "There
was a garden, and in the garden, a
new sepulchre," says the Scripture.
The lesson on human pursuits and
human pleasures, inculcated by this
concise and beautiful narration of the
Evangelist, never struck me more
forcibly than when we left the gate,
and walked towards the tomb of
Washington. In passing the house,
the chamber in which he died was
pointed out to us; and imagination
aided by these memorials, soon presented
the whole scene in such distinct
and vivid colors that we seemed
almost to follow his remains to the
grave. The family vault in which
the dust of the hero reposes, is at the
distance of perhaps 30 rods from the
house immediately upon the bank of
the river. A more romantic and picturesque
site for a tomb can scarcely
be imagined. Between it and the
Potomac, is a curtain of forest trees
covering the steep declivity to the
water's edge, breaking the glare of
the prospect, and yet affording glimpes
of the river, when the foliage is the
thickest. The tomb is surrounded
by several large native oaks, which
are venerable by their years, and
which annually strew the sepulchre
with autumnal leaves, furnishing the

most appropriate drapery for such a
place, and giving a still deeper impression
to the memento mori. Interspersed
among the oaks, and over
hanging the tomb, is a copse of red
cedar, but whether native or transplanted,
I could not ascertain, its
ever-green boughs presents a fine
contrast to the hoary and leafless
branches of the oak, and while the deciduous
foliage of the latter indicates
the decay of the body, the eternal verdure
of the former furnishes a beautiful
emblem of the immortal spirit.
The sacred and symbolic cassia was
familiar to Washington, and perhaps
led to the selection of a spot where
the ever green flourished."

Pleasant Valley, P. V. 138 ms.
from R., and 30 ms. W. of W., situated
on Little river turnpike road, 10
ms. above Fairfax G. H. It contains
10 dwelling houses, a tavern, store,
and blacksmith shop. Population 20.

Prospect Hill, P. O. 132 ms.
from R., and 9 W. of W.

FAUQUIER.

Fauquier was created by the legislature in 1759, from a part of Prince
William. It is bounded N. by Loudoun, N. E. and E. by Prince William,
E. and S. E. by Stafford, S. and S. W. by the Rappahannock, which separates
it from Culpeper, and W. N. W. by the Blue Ridge, which separates
it from Frederick:—greatest length 45 ms. mean breadth 16, and area 720
sq. ms.—It extends in lat from 38° 24′ to 39° 02,′ and in long from 0° 32,′
to 1° 5′ W. of W. C. This county possesses very valuable beds of magnesia,
soap stone, and several gold mines, worked upon an extensive scale.
The northern part of the county slopes north, and sends it waters to Goose
creek; but from the neighbourhood of Cobler mountain, near Salem, a ridge
runs to the S. E. extremity of the county, which divides its waters those on
the N. E. side flowing N. E. into the Occoquan, and those on the S. W.
flowing in a S. E. direction until they reach the Rappahannock. The surface
is agreeably diversified, and the soil when judiciously cultivated, susceptible
of high improvement, and very productive. Population 1820,
23,103—1830, 26,086. Fauquier belongs to the 6th judicial circuit, and
3rd district. Taxes paid in 1833, $7,282 69—in 1834, on lots, $293 42—
land, $4,558 74—5,903 slaves, $1,475 75—7132 horses, $427 92—28
studs, $311 00—76 coaches, $191 50—52 carryalls, $62 26—35 gigs,
$23 75. Total $7,344 28. No report of school commissioners.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Arnold's Old Place, P. O. 129
ms. from R., and 73 from W.

Barnetts' Mills, P. O. 93 ms.
from R., and 68 from W., situated on
the north side of the Rappahannock
river, about 6 ms. above its junction
with the Rapid Ann. It contains 12
dwelling houses, a Presbyterian house
of worship, a mercantile store, an extensive
flour manufacturing mill, 40
feet square, and 5 stories high, which
makes annually from 3 to 4000 barrels
of flour, a grist, and a saw mill
which saws from 2 to 300,000 feet of
plank annually. The mechanical
pursuits are various, such as millers,
mill-wrights, coopers, boot and shoe
makers, blacksmiths, &c. Population
30.

The Rappahannock is at this place
100 yards wide, and is now being
made navigable for boats to Fredericksburg,

by the Rappahannock Coripany.
The navigation is to extend
50 ms. above Barnett's mills, and will
greatly enhance the value of water
power at this and other points on the
river. The water power at this
place is created by a dam 5 feet high,
situated half a mile above the mills,
and conveyed to them by a canal cut
in some places through the solid rock,
to the depth of 25 or 30 feet, the fall
gained by the dam and canal is 16
feet. There has recently been erected
at this place a stamping mill, for the
purpose of stamping gold ores, obtained
from a mine about half a mile
distant, worked by a company. The
ore of this mine is thought by experienced
judges, to contain gold enough
to afford a good profit upon the investment
necessary to keep the mine
in operation,—It is even said that ore
yielding fifty cents a bushel, may be
worked profitably—and picked ore
from this mine has yielded $8 per
bushel by actual assay. We learn
also by a recent communication, that
the miners in searching for gold have
recently discovered a beautiful soapstone
which has already become an
article of commerce, and is likely to
be very profitable, when the improve
ments on the river shall have been
completed sufficiently for its transportation.

Blackwell's Mill, 116 ms. N.
N. W. of R., and 60 ms. S. W. by
W. of W., situated 6 ms. W. of Warrenton,
40 N. of Fredericksburg, and
50 ms. S. W. of Alexandria, on the
east side of Carter's Run, about 2 ms.
above its junction with the Rappahannock,
on the main road leading
from Warrenton to Chester's Gap: at
the end of the progressing improvement
of navigation, which, when complete
will make the mill, the main deposit
of all the grain raised west of it,
as far as the Blue Ridge, a distance of
18 ms, of fine wheat growing country.
This mill stands unrivalled in its section
of country, for the immense
amount of wheat which it purchases.
It manufactures 30,000 bushels annually.
There is also a good saw
mill, with an abundance of pine timber
at hand, 1 general store, and 10 dwelling
houses. The country around is
densely populated;—the soil susceptible
of high improvement, especially
by the use of clover and plaister.
Population at the mill 30.

Doddsville, P. O. 105 ms. from
R. and 68 from W.

Edgefield, P. O. 105 ms. from R.
and 73 from W.

Elk Marsh, P. O. 101 ms. from
R. and 57 from W.—situated in the
southern part of the county, 22 ms.
N. W. of Fredericksburg.

Elk Run Church, P. O. 90 ms.
from R. and 68 from W.—situated in
the S. E. part of the county, 20 ms.
N. N. W. of Fredericksburg.

Farrowsville, P. V. in N. W.
part of the county, 130 ms. from R.
and 64 W. of W.—situated on the
head waters of Goose creek, 4 ms. below
Manassa's Gap.—It contains a
tavern, 2 mercantile stores, and a house
of public worship free for all denominations.
Population 20.

Fayetteville, P. O. situated 50
ms. S. W. of W., in the southern part
of the county.

Foxville, P. V. 108 ms. from R.
and 64 W. of W.—situated on the
banks of the Rappahannock, 30 ms.
from Fredericksburg. It contains 2
extensive manufacturing mills, 2 wool
carding machines, 1 mercantile store,
and several blacksmiths, and coopers.
Large quantities of good slate are
found in the neighborhood; in which
there is also a mineral spring—said
to be white sulphur—which is now a
place of considerable resort.—The
surrounding country is fertile and
thickly settled with intelligent and independent
farmers.

Germantown, P. O. 95 ms. from
R. and 61 from W.—about the centre
of the county.

Griggsby's Store, 127 ms. from
R. and 61 from W.

Lee's Sulphur Spring, on the
Rappahannock, near Thompson's
Falls, on the road from Warrenton
to Jeffersonton, in Culpeper. This
spring has been only known for a
few years, but has become exceedingly
popular, and attracts such a concourse
in summer, as to have induced
their enterprising proprietor (John
Hancock Lee) to go to very great expense
in erecting large, pleasant, and
commodious buildings, and laying out
the grounds with great beauty, taste,
and variety of ornamental trees, &c.

McRaeville, P. O. 127 ms. from
R. and 53 from W.

Morrisville, P. V. in the southern
part of the county.—95 ms. from
R. and 63 from W.—situated on the
stageroad which leads from Falmouth
to Washington, the county seat of
Rappahannock county, 19 ms. from
the former, 18 from Warrenton, and
20 from Fredericksburg. It contains
a general store, tavern, hatter, tailor,
wheelwright, and blacksmith.—The
Baptists hold a monthly meeting at
this place. Population, 20 whites,
and 18 blacks.

New Baltimore, P. V. 122 ms.
from R. and 45 S. of W. from W.—
situated in the eastern part of the
county, on the post road leading from
Warrenton to Alexandria, 5 miles
from the former. It contains 17 dwelling
houses, 1 flourishing Academy,
incorporated 5 years since by the Legislature,
and now in high estimation,
2 mercantile stores, a tanyard, wheelwright,
blacksmith, boot and shoe
factory, and 2 wheat fan factories on
an improved plan—A. Colonization
Society, auxiliary to the State Society
has recently been formed.—In the
vicinity there is a Baptist house of
worship, called Broad Run meeting
house. Population 115 persons; of
whom 2 are physicians.

Oak Hill, P. O. 122 ms. from
R. and 58 S. W. by W. of W.

Orleans, P. O. distances omitted
on the post office list.

Paris, P. V. 131 ms. from R. and
58 S. W. by W. of W.—situated in
the northern part of the county, at the
foot of Ashby's Gap, in the Blue
Ridge, and immediately at the junction
of the roads leading from Alexandria
and Fredericksburg to Winchester.—It
contains 25 dwelling
houses, 3 mercantile stores, 1 house
of public worship, free for all denominations,
1 common school, 2 saddlers,
1 cabinet maker, 1 tailor, 1 turner,
2 smith shops, 1 wheat fan maker,
2 wagon makers, 1 chair maker,
and 3 boot and shoe factories.—This
village enjoys a pure atmosphere,
good water, and good health at all
seasons; a disease of a local character
has never been known to invade
it.—The people are intelligent and
industrious, famed for their moral deportment
and hospitality.—The practice
of gaming and horse racing, once
the favorite amusements of the place
and its vicinity, have now entirely
gone out of vogue. The valley in
which Paris is located extends 5 or 6
miles southward of the village. The
land of the surrounding country is
fertile, producing all the principle staples
of the state, and worth at an average
price about twenty dollars an
acre, falling however in value as it
recedes from the mountain. Population
200 persons; one of whom is a
physician.

Rectortown, P. V. 129 ms. from
R. and 53 S. W. by W. of W.—situated
a mile to the S. E. of Goose
creek, in a very healthy and fertile
neighborhood. It contains 24 dwelling
houses, 1 Methodist house of
worship, 2 mercantile stores, 1 tavern,
1 saddler, 1 wagon maker, 3 blacksmiths,
1 cabinet maker, 1 boot and
shoe maker, 1 tailor, 3 extensive merchant
mills, 1 saw mill, and 1 carding
machine. Population 100; one physician.

Somerville, P. V. 85 ms. from R.

and 73 W. of W.—situated near the
S. E. border of the county, on the
main stage road leading from Falmouth
to Winchester, 19 ms. from
the former, 20 ms. S. E. of Warrenton,
19 from Brentsville, 7 N. W. of
Spottedville, and 5 S. E. of Elk Run;
and at the intersection of the roads
leading to those places. In the vicinity
of the post office, is one large
and flourishing male seminary, in
which is taught all the usual branches
of education taught in our schools,
and averaging generally from 60 to
80 pupils; a tavern, mercantile store,
blacksmith's shop, running several
forges, and a cotton gin. The country
around is moderately fertile and
thickly settled.

Salem, P. V. in the northern part
of the county, 117 ms. from R. and 63
W. of W. This village is laid out
with one main street running E. and
W.—nearly half a mile in length,
and two cross streets, as yet unimproved.—It
is situated on the stage
road leading from Warrenton to Winchester,
13 miles from the former, and
30 from the latter place, on a handsome
ridge, which divides the waters
which flow through Goose creek into
the Potomac, from those which flow
into the Rappahannock. It contains
33 dwelling houses, 3 mercantile
stores, 1 Academy, used as a place of
public worship by all denominations,
until a large and handsome brick
meeting house, which is now being
erected, shall be completed, 1 common
school, 1 well organized Sunday
school, and 3 taverns.—The mechanics
are, saddlers, tailors, boot and
shoe makers, coach makers, wagon
makers, blacksmiths, bricklayers,
stone masons, plasterers and fancywall
painters, house-joiners, &c. The
principal article of trade is lumber,
great quantities of which are brought
from the country for some distance
round. There is a tri-weekly stage
running from Fredericksburg to Winchester,
and a cross mail 3 times a
week from Buckland to this place.
Population 250 persons; of whom
one is a physician.

Walnut Branch, P. O. 111 ms.
from R. and 55 S. W. of W.

WARRENTON, P. V. and seat
of justice, 107 ms. from R. and 51 S.
W. by W. of W., in lat. 38° 41′ N. &
long. 0° 46′ W. of W. C.—It is a beautiful
village situated near the centre of
the county; and contains (besides the
ordinary county buildings which are
spacious and handsome, and erected
at an expense estimated at $30,000,)
200 neat and closely built dwelling
houses, 3 houses of public worship,
Methodist, Presbyterian, and Episcopalian,
4 primary schools, 3 taverns,
4 private boarding houses, 2 printing
offices, each issuing a weekly paper,
4 wheelwrights, 1 coach maker, 3
saddlers, 1 hatter, 2 boot and shoe
factories, 2 cabinet makers, 5 house
carpenters, 4 blacksmith shops, 2 tailors,
2 clock and watch makers, 3 bakers,
1 tanner and currier, 3 breweries,
1 tin plate worker, 2 milliners, 1
mantuamaker, 1 house and sign painter,
and 2 plough manufactories. This
village has a regular market, which
is held in a neat little building, the
upper part of which is used as a Town
Hall. Population 1300; of whom
3 are resident ministers, 9 attorneys,
and 8 physicians. The Winchester,
Fiedericksburg, Alexandria, & Charlottesville,
post roads intersect each
other at right angles in Warrenton,
which makes it quite a thorough-fare.
Many travellers going south prefer
this route as it gives them an opportunity
of viewing the rich counties at
the foot of the Blue Ridge, Fauquier,
Culpeper, Orange, Albemarle, &c.
and of visiting the University of Virginia.
There is an excellent McAdamised
turnpike from Warrenton to
Alexandria.

County Courts are held on the 4th
Monday in every month;—Quarterly
in March, May, August, and November.

Judge Scott holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 1st of April and September.

Weaver's Mill, P. O. 114 miles
from R. and 59 S. W. by W. of W.

Wheatley, P. V. 105 ms. from
R. and 64 S. W. by W. of W.—situated
25 miles above Fredericksburg,
upon the Rappahannock, which divides
the town and throws a part into
Culpeper.—On the Culpeper side
there are 8 dwelling houses, 1 extensive
flour manufacturing mill, capable of
grinding 50,000 bushels of wheat in
the ordinary grinding season, 1 cotton
gin, and wool-carding machine, 2 mercantile
stores, a cooper's shop, blacksmith
shop, and a boot and shoe factory:—on
the east or Fauquier side
there are 3 dwelling houses, 1 grist
and 1 saw mill. Population of the
whole place 90. The Rappahannock
river is at this place 100 yards wide,
and has in the distance of a mile, a
fall of 44 feet, commencing above the
village and terminating below. This
the Rappahannock Company will
evade by a canal which they have
commenced on the Fauquier side.—
Vast quantities of building stone of
excellent quality, may be found on
both sides of the river.

FLUVANNA.

Fluvanna was created by the Legislature in 1777, from a part of Albemarle
county.—It is bounded N. by Louisa, W. by Albemarle, S. by
James river, which separates it from Buckingham, and E. partly by Goochland,
and partly by a bend of James river, separating it from Cumberland.
It is in shape a parallelogram, approaching to a square, its border in common
with Albemarlc is 26 miles, its mean breadth 16,—area 416 sq. miles.
It extends in lat from 37° 40′ to 37° 58′ N. and in long, from 1° 12′ to 1° 43′
W. of W. C. The Rivanna river enters it from Albemarle, and flowing
S. E. divides the county diagonally, leaving nearly half on the north side,
and empties into James river at Columbia. The surface is for the most
part broken, but between the Rivanna and James there is a large tract of
barren, level land which runs for some distance into Albemarle. The soil
on the rivers is good—that on the James equal perhaps to any of the celebrated
low grounds on that river. The lower part of the county,—included
in a line drawn from the mouth of little Bremo creek to the N. E. angle
of the county—has a dark greyish soil resembling disintegrated granite
which produces the best chewing tobacco in the state. An eminent tobacco
manufacturer of Richmond has offered the inhabitants of this district to
take all of their tobacco, (lugs included,) at $10 a hundred, and pay all
costs and charges for its delivery in Richmond.

The vein of gold which runs through Louisa, Goochland and Fluvanna
into Buckingham, is worked near Palmyra, the county seat of Fluvanna.
Population 1820, 6,704—in 1830, 8,221.—This county belongs to the 11th
judicial circuit and 6th district. Taxes paid in 1832-3, $2092 18—in
1833-4, on lots, $37 31—land, $1316 83—2093 slaves, $523 25—1623
horses, $97 56—7 studs, $84 00—10 coaches, $26 25—20 carryalls, $24
05—30 gigs, $23 35. Total, $2132 60. Expended in educating poor
children in 1832, $166 83—in 1833, $359 73.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Columbia, P. V. 52 ms. N. W. by
W. of R. and 122 from W.—situated
on the left bank of the Rivanna, at its
junction with the James.—It contains
20 dwelling houses, 4 mercantile
stores, 2 taverns, 1 house of public
worship, free for all denominations, 1
common school, 2 tailors, 3 boot and
shoe factories, 2 cabinet makers, 1
wheelwright, 1 house carpenter, and
1 smith's shop. Population 85 whites,
one of whom is a physician, 54 free
colored persons, and 38 slaves. Total,
177.

Laurel Spring, P. O. 61 ms. N.
W. by W. of R. and from W.

Lindsey's Cross Roads, P. O.
80 ms. W. of R. and 123 from W.

PALMYRA, P. V. and seat of
justice, 59 ms. N. W. by W. of R.
and 136 S. W. of W., in lat 37° 47′
N. and long 1° 29′ W. of W. C.—
situated on the Rivanna river, 14 ms.
from its junction with the James
Besides the county buildings which
are of brick, and have been recently
erected, it contains 14 dwelling houses,
1 methodist house of worship, 1
mercantile store, 1 tavern, 1 merchant,
grist and saw mill, 1 woollen factory,
2 saddlers, 2 tailors, 1 boot and shoe
factory, 1 tanyard, 1 cabinet maker,
and several carpenters and coopers
A handsome and permanent bridge is
erected across the Rivanna. This
village is thriving.

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

Judge Field holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 1st of April and September.

Union Mills, 68 ms. N. W. by
W. of R. and 122 from W., situated
on the left bank of the Rivanna, on
the post road, 25 miles from Columbia,
and 16 from Charlottesville, in
the midst of beautiful mountain and
river scenery. At this place there
are located, a merchant mill, grist and
saw mill, and a cotton factory, called
the Virginia Union Factory.—
This factory owned by Messrs. Timberlake
and Magrvder, is a large and
commodious brick building; it runs
1500 spindles, besides the necessary
machinery for carding, &c.—it contains
12 power looms, in which several
hundred yards of substantial cloth
are made per day. The cotton yarn
of this establishment is in high repute
throughout the state. More than 100
operatives are employed by the enterprising
proprietors in the different departments
of their establishment.—
The place contains comfortable houses
for the accommodation of 18 or 20
families, a tanyard, and a methodist
house of worship; besides the elegant
dwellings of the proprietors.

Wilmington, P. V. 55 ms. N.
W. by W. of R. and 132 from W.,
situated on Rivanna river, 14 miles
above its mouth. There are located
here 2 taverns, 2 mercantile stores,
and a blacksmith shop.

Winn's Tavern, P. O. 68 ms. N.
W. by W. of R. and 142 from W. in
the western part of the county.

FRANKLIN.

Franklin was created by the Legislature in 1784, from parts of Bedford
and Henry counties. It lies S. W. of Staunton river, and is bounded
by the county of Botetourt on the N., Bedford on the N. E. and E., Pittsylvania
on the S. E., Henry on the S., Patrick on the S. W., by the Blue

Ridge, separating it from Floyd on the W. and a small part of Montgomery
and part of Botetourt on the N. W. Length 30 miles, mean breadth 25,
and area 750 square miles. It contains in lat from 36° 46′ to 37° 13′ N.
and in long. from 2° 41′ to 3° 18′ W. of W. C.

Black Water river and Pig river rise in the Blue Ridge on the west,
and run nearly parallel with each other through the county to the east.
Black Water emptying itself into the Staunton at the junction of the Bedford,
Pittsylvania and Franklin lines; and Pig river emptying itself in the
same stream in the county of Pittsylvania.—Neither river is navigable.

The streams called creeks are all small, though of sufficient size for the
usual purposes of machinery. The principal of these are Snow creek, rising
in the mountain and running east into Pig river—Maggotty, rising in
the Blue Ridge, running to the east into Black Water—Chesnut creek, running
to the east into Pig river—Gill's creek, rising in the Blue Ridge and
running to the east into Black Water—Runnett Bag, rising in the Blue
Ridge and running to the S. E. into Smith's river, in the county of Patrick,
and Nicholas creek, running south into Smith's river.

There are some small mountains—Chesnut mountain south of the court
house about twelve miles, and the Grassy Hill, on the north, about a mile
from the court house, are the largest. The others are small and deserve no
particular notice. About half a mile east of this place an immense rock
rises very abruptly, particularly on the north, at least two hundred feet above
its base, from which the county town takes its name—it is known as the
Bald Knob, from its barren surface of rock—whose area is about eighty
feet in length, by a mean breadth of about fifteen.

The Staunton or Roanoke river, from the point where it passes through
the Blue Ridge, forms a natural boundary of the county, separating it from
Bedford.—The Blue Ridge from the same point forms another natural
boundary on the north, separating Franklin from Botetourt, until it loses
itself in the Alleghany at the Bent mountain, which then forms the boundary
separating Franklin from Montgomery and Floyd, until it reaches the
Patrick line.

The staples are principally tobacco, wheat, Indian corn and iron. The
Washington Iron Works, on Pig river, within half a mile of Rocky Mount,
yield annually about 150 tons of iron of a very superior quality. Iron ore
is found in various parts of the county.

The slope of the county is E. S. E. The elevation of the surface is
about equal to that of the adjoining county of Bedford, or about 650 feet
above the tide of the ocean. The general face of the country is rolling—
the soil of a medium quality, with a clay foundation, and generally well
adapted to farming. Population 1820, 12,017—in 1830, 14,911.—Franklin
belongs to the tenth judicial circuit, and fifth district. Taxes paid in
1832-3 $2182 19—in 1833-4, on lots, $19 35—land, $1131 12—2612
slaves, $653 00—3459 horses, $207 54—14 studs, $146 00—8 coaches,
$21 00—9 carryalls, $9 00—12 gigs, $7 35. Total, $2194 36. Expended
in educating poor children in 1832, $518 50—in 1833, $1188 55.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Boon's Mills, P. O. 184 ms. S.
W. of R. and 262 S. W. by W. of
W.

Calloway's Mill, P. O. 193 ms.
S. W. by W. of R. and 271 from W.

Cooper's P. O. 172 ms. S. W. by
W. of R. and 250 from W.

Dickenson, P. O. 201 ms. S. W.
of R. and 279 from W.

Haleford, P. O. 169 ms. from R.
and 242 from W.

Helm's, P. O. 203 ms. from R. and
281 S. W. of W.

Hunter's Hall, P. O. 196 ms.
S. W., by W. of R. and 274 from W.

Rocky Mount, P. V. and seat of
justice 185 ms. from R. and 263 S.
W. of W.—situated on a branch of
Pig river, a tributary of Roanoke, in
lat. 36° 57′ N. and long 2° 50′ W.
of W. C. It contains besides the
usual county buildings, about 30
dwelling houses, 3 general stores, and
2 taverns.—The mechanics are 2 tailors,
a saddler, cabinet maker, 2 blacksmiths,
a boot and shoe manufacturer,
a printing office, which issues a weekly
paper, and a tanyard.—In the vicinity
there is an iron furnace and
forge, which give employment to 100
operatives, and manufacture about 160
tons of bar iron and castings annually.
Population (exclusive of the persons
employed in the iron manufactory)
175 persons; of whom 3 are attorneys,
and 1 a physician.

County Courts are held on the 1st
Monday in every month;—Quarter-
ly in March, June, August and November.

Judge Saunders holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 9th of May and October.

Shady Grove, P. O. 217 ms. from
R. and 305 S. W. of W.

Taylor's Store, P. O. 173 ms.
S. W. by W. of R. and 251 from W.
situated 12 ms. E. of Rocky Mount.

Union Hall, P. V. 201 ms. from
R. and 276 S. W. of W.—situated near
the Blue Ridge mountain, between
Pig and Black Water rivers, on the
main stage road leading from Henry
C. H. to Lynchburg, at the intersection
of the road from Pittsylvania C.
H. to Rocky Mount. It contains 15
dwelling houses, 1 Methodist house of
worship, at which an English school
is kept, and one well organised temperance
society. The mechanics are
a tanner, tailor, blacksmith, and tobacco
manufacturer. In the vicinity
on Pig river is an extensive manufacturing
flour mill, and a wool and cotton
manufactory. Population 25 persons;
of whom one is a physician.

Woodpecker's Level, P. O. 208
ms. from R. and 286 S. W. of W.—
situated in the western part of the
county, 23 ms. east of Rocky Mount.

GLOUCESTER.

Gloucester was created by the Legislature in 1652, from a part of
York county. It is bounded N. by the Piankatank river, which separates
it from Middlesex,—E. by Mathews and an arm of the Chesapeake formed
by the mouth of York river, and Mob Jack bay,—S. by York river, which
separates it from York county,—S. W. by the same river, separating it from
James City county and New Kent, and N. W. by King and Queen county.
Length 28 miles, mean width 10, and area 280 square miles. It extends
in lat. from 37° 15′ to 37° 35′, and in long, from 0° 14′ to 0° 42′ E. of W.
C. The principal products of this county are corn, cotton, and wheat,—
much barley was formerly raised, but from some unknown cause the lands
have ceased to be adapted to its cultivation. Population 1820, 9,678—in
1830, white males, 217—females, 2197—total, 4314—slaves, males, 2885
—females, 2806—total, 5691—free colored persons, males, 275—females,
328—total, 603. Number of families, 911; average number in each family

11; number of persons to the square mile, 35. Gloucester belongs to the
fourth judicial circuit, and second district. Taxes paid in 1832-3, $2180
91—in 1833-4, on lots, $389 00—land, $790 66—3042 slaves, $760 50
—1220 horses, $73 20—4 studs, $76 00—64 coaches, $139 60—9 carryalls,
$10 00—214 gigs, $118 65—total, $2172 50. Expended in educating
poor children in 1832, $125 42—in 1833, $334 73.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Glenn's P. O. 89 ms. E. of R.
and 148 from W.

GLOUCESTER C. H. P. V. 82
ms. E. of R. and 166 from W.—situated
near the centre of the county. 2
miles from the head of Ware river,
and 14 from Gloucester ferry. It
contains a court house, clerk's office,
a criminal and a debtors jail, 8 dwelling
houses, 1 incorporated Academy
for males, called `Newington,' and
one female Academy, 4 mercantile
stores, and 1 tavern. The mechanics
are a wheelwright, 2 carriage makers,
3 blacksmiths, a boot and shoe factory,
and 2 tailors. There are eight
houses of public worship, within the
circumference of 14 miles from the
court house, of which 2 are Episcopalian,
2 Baptist, and 4 Methodist.
Population 120.

The mail between Washington City
and York Town passes this office
four times a week, and between Richmond
and Mathews twice a week.

County Courts are held on the first
Monday in every month;—Quarterly
in March, May, August and November.

Judge Brown holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 24th of May and October.

GOOCHLAND.

Goochland was created by the Legislature in 1727, from a part of Henrico.
It is bounded, on the W. by Fluvanna, N. by Hanover and Louisa,
E. by Henrico, and S. by James river, which separates it from Powhatan
and Cumberland. It is 30 miles in length by about 10 in mean breadth,
containing 300 sq. miles. It extends in lat. from 37° 31′ to 37° 51′ N. and
in long from 0° 47′ to 1° 20′ W. of W. C.

The general surface of the county is undulating, in some places rather
broken. In diverging from the river it becomes more level and uniform,
particularly in the upper part of the county. There is great diversity of
soil, though much that is now exhausted and abandoned for all purposes of
cultivation, was naturally of good and improvable quality. By far the finest
portion of the county is that in the vicinity of James river. Perhaps there
is no other tract of similar extent in eastern Virginia, that combines equal
natural advantages with so much fertility of soil and beauty of scenery.
The width of the low grounds which form the ravine of the river, and the
bold features of the adjacent highlands, present a pleasing and striking contrast.
Added to this, an improved system of husbandry has been generally
adopted throughout this section within a few years, the good effects of which
are decidedly manifest. But though the lands in the vicinity of the river
are undoubtedly much finer than in other parts of the county, yet they are
in many places of excellent quality, and easily susceptible of improvement.
The chief products are corn, wheat, tobacco and oats. Wheat and tobacco

are the staple commodities for market, though the extent to which the latter
is cultivated has been much circumscribed of late years.

Goochland is well watered, particularly in the lower part by good streams,
which mostly empty into James river. On many of these, there is water
power to a considerable extent, but none of it is employed for domestic manufactures.
Saw and grist mills are numerous.

Roads and Canals.—The most important local improvement in the county
is the Tuckahoe canal, which was excavated about the year 1828. It was
projected for the purpose of conveying the coal on Tuckahoe creek to
Richmond, and is exclusively within the county. It communicates with
the James river canal by means of a lock. Being constructed upon economical
but efficient principles, the stock has proved to be exceedingly valuable.
The only good road in the county, and one of the best between the
Blue Ridge and Tide Water, is the main stage road leading by the court
house, from Richmond to Charlottesville. A laudable pride is felt, to keep
this highway in good repair. There are sections of other roads, preserved
in good order; but generally speaking, the road laws are executed with
very little attention to public convenience. The Three Chopped road is
almost as much famed for its often impassable condition as the well known
bog of the Choppawamsic.

Minerals.—The mineral wealth of Goochland is considerable. Bituminous
coal is found in great abundance in the lower or eastern part of the
county, both on Tuckahoe creek and on James river. In the upper portion
of the county, gold has been discovered in many places, from which some
profit has been realised.

Churches.—There are from 15 to 20 houses of public worship in the
county, the greater part of which belong to the Baptists, who constitute the
prevailing sect. The other religious societies are the Methodists, Presbyterians,
Episcopalians and Friends.

Streams.—Tuckahoe creek, a stream of some size, forms in part the lower
boundary of the county. In its vicinity, a few miles from James river,
there is an extensive body of coal, of excellent quality. To facilitate the
transportation of this mineral to market, the Tuckahoe canal was opened
in 1828, to communicate with the James river improvement. The stock of
this canal is probably the most valuable canal stock in Virginia, the dividend
being 33 per cent per annum. On Tuckahoe creek and its branches
there are many grist and saw mills, the latter of which furnish a great
quantity of lumber for the Richmond market. The stream is about 15 or
20 miles in length, pursuing generally a S. E. course to its junction with
James river. The country which it waters is of medium quality—some of
it very good.

Dover creek, about ten miles long, emptying into James river at Dover
mills. Its general course is southerly. The soil on either side, after leaving
the river for a mile or two, is of inferior quality, and not a little of it
an entire waste.

Genito creek empties into James river at Jude's ferry. At about two miles
from the river it is divided into the eastern and western branches, on the
former of which there is a saw mill, and on the latter two grist mills. The
land along this stream is mostly of excellent quality. General course south,
and about eight miles in length.

Beaverdam creek, one of the principal streams in the county, empties into
James river about five miles below the court house, after pursuing a very

devious course. The principal branches of this stream, are the eastern
and western forks, and Horsepen creek. It drains a considerable portion
of country, much of which is distinguished for its fertility, and the durable
qualities of the soil. The flats along the creek are generally wide, and
yield great crops of Indian corn. The highland is remarkably well adapted
to the growth of wheat. Though the land is rolling throughout the whole
length of Beaverdam creek, there is not much water power, and of course
very few mills on the stream. On the Horsepen, there is an excellent grist
mill, and a saw mill.

Little creek, a small stream entering into James river three miles above
the court house. It is five or six miles long; general course to the south.
Its passage is through a portion of beautiful country.

Lickinghole creek is a considerable stream which discharges itself into
James river four miles above the court house. It was formerly navigable
for batteaux for two or three miles to a manufacturing mill, but its bed has
now become so obstructed by hammocks, as to impede their progress, except
for a short distance. It is divided into two branches, the larger and smaller,
both of which pass through a country of tolerable fertility. There are but
few mills on this stream. Length about 15 miles, pursuing a somewhat
southeasterly direction to its entrance into the river.

Byrd creek, the largest stream in the county, empties into James river
about 7 miles below Columbia. It is divided into two branches, Big and
Little Byrd, which unite near the mouth. The Big Byrd rises in Fluvanna,
and flows a S. E. course, running through a hilly country, especially near
its termination. The lands on this stream as well as the Little Byrd are generally
thin, but abound in fine timber. There are several grist and saw mills.
It is on the smaller branches of the Byrd that gold has been found.

Islands.—Sabot island contains 500 acres, and is situated opposite to
Dover mills. The soil is in a high degree fertile.

Pleasant's islands, a short distance above Judes ferry, and three miles below
Maiden's Adventure falls. The land is extremely fertile, and some of
the original growth was Horse Chesnut, (Æsculus flava,) a very uncommon
forest tree in Eastern Virginia. The two islands contain nearly 200
acres.

Bolling's island, in Rock Castle neck, about ten miles above the court
house, contains 500 acres, and possesses a soil of great fertility.

Elk island, a few miles above Cartersville, contains 1000 acres, and is
much celebrated for the strength and fertility of its soil, half of this island
sold a few years since for the enormous price of $75,000.

Ferries.—Manican town ferry, a few miles above Powell's.

Judes ferry, at the mouth of Genito creek.

Michaux' ferry, one mile below the court house.

Population in 1820, 10,007—in 1830, 10,360. Goochland belongs to the
7th judicial circuit, and 4th district. Tax paid in 1832-3, $3358 09—in
1833-4, on land, $2228 36—3156 slaves, $789 00—2156 horses, $129
36—5 studs, $76 00—44 coaches, $113 50—30 carryalls, $35 80—63
gigs, $35 85—Total, $3407 87. Expended in educating poor children in
1833, $186 42.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Beaverdam, P. O. 24 ms. W. of
R. and 139 S. S. W. from Washington,
on the mail route leading to
Charlottesville, and one mile north of

James river. There are here a tavern, a
store, and a blacksmith's shop. It is
situated in a populous neighborhood,
not far from Beaverdam creek, whence
its name. It is surrounded mostly by
a beautiful, undulating country, well
adapted to the production of Indian
corn, wheat, and clover. Tobacco
was formerly one of the staples, but
of late years its culture has been nearly
discontinued.

Dover Mills, P. O. on Dover
creek, near the Charlottesville road,
21 miles west from Richmond, 135
from W. and 10 miles below the C.
H. A store is kept here, and recently
a tavern has been built. The mill
possesses advantages greater perhaps
than any other in the county. Being
situated at the bank of the James
river canal, it has every command of
water power, and facility for transportation
to market. A large quantity of
wheat is yearly manufactured into
flour, and it is in many respects a
place of much activity in business. It
is in the midst of one of the finest
wheat growing portions of the county,
and also affords a market for some
of the produce of the contiguous parts
of Louisa and Hanover.

Fife's P. O. 39 ms. W. of R. and
116 S. S. W. of W.—situated in the
western part of the county, on the
Charlottesville road, near its intersection
with the mail route from Fredericksburg
to Cartersville on James
river, and Salisbury, N. C. A store
is kept here. The soil of the surrounding
country is of variable quality;
some of it well adapted to the
growth of tobacco.

GOOCHLAND, C. H. 127 miles
from W. and 28 above R. on the
Charlottesville or river road, and one
mile north of James river. The place
has a village-like appearance, and
contains a tavern, store, tailor's shop,
&c. The public buildings are built
in a neat and durable manner. A
portion of the adjacent country exhibits
rather a hilly and broken suface,
but the soil is mostly of good quality,
and some of it exceedingly fertile.

County Courts are held on the 3d
Monday in every month:—Quarterly
in March, May, August and November.

Judge Clopton holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 17th of April and 1st of
October.

Johnson's Spring, P. O. on the
Three Chopped road, 28 miles from
R. and 150 from W. The land in
the vicinity is of inferior quality,
much exhausted by injudicious cultivation.

Mitchell's, P. O. on the Three
Chopped road, 50 ms. from R. and
153 S. S. W. of W. There is a store
at this place. The land in the vicinity
is of tolerable quality, well adapted
to the growth of tobacco, of which a
considerable quantity is prepared for
market.

Powell's, P. O. 15 ms. W. of R.,
137 from W. and 16 below the court
house, on the Charlottesville mail
road. At this well known place, a
tavern has been kept a number of
years by William Powell. The good
order and excellent accommodations
which distinguish his house, deserve
a notice in any account which may
be given of this place. It is situated
in a thickly settled neighborhood, in
about two miles of James river. The
land in the vicinity is of medium
quality, adapted to the culture of oats,
of which a large quantity is consumed
at the adjacent coal pits.

Saunderson's, P. O. 160 ms. S.
S. W. of W. and 42 from R.

Shannon Hill, P. O. on the
Three Chopped road, 52 miles from
R. and 147 S. S. W. of W. The
adjoining land is of medium quality,
well adapted to the production of tobacco,
in common with much of the
upper part of the county, in which it
is located. There are located here
besides the post office, a new and commodious
tavern, a mercantile store,

blacksmith shop, and a boot and shoe
factory. There are several Baptist
houses of worship in the vicinity.
Considerable quantities of gold have
lately been discovered in the neighborhood,
both on the surface and in
mines. One mine has recently sold
for $10,000.

Watkinsville, P. O. situated on
the Three Chopped road, leading from
Richmond to Charlottesville, 36 miles
from R. 158 from W. and 7 N. of
Goochland C. H. near the head of
Beaverdam creek, about half a mile
from the northern boundary of the
county, on the ridge which separates
the waters of the James from Southanna
river. The land in the neighborhood
is naturally very fine, well
adapted to the growth of wheat and
clover. It contains 8 dwelling houses,
1 mercantile store, a tavern, tailor's
and blacksmith's shops. Population
25.

GREENSVILLE.

Greensville was created by the Legislature in 1784, from a part of
Brunswick. It is bounded north by Nottoway river, which separates it
from the county of Dinwiddie and part of Essex,—E. by Sussex and Southampton
counties,—S. by Northampton county, of North Carolina,—and
W. by Brunswick. Length 22 miles, mean breadth 14, and area 308 square
miles. It extends in lat. from 36° 30′ to 36° 48′ N. and in long, from 0°
20′ to 0° 46′ W. of W. C.—Meherrin river enters it on the west from
Brunswick, traverses it in a southeasterly direction, and cuts off about one-third
of the county to the north; and being bounded on the north by Nottoway
river, it has considerable commercial advantages. The county slopes
to the S. E. Population in 1820, 6,858—in 1830, 7,117. Greensville belongs
to the first judicial circuit and first district. Taxes paid in 1832-3,
$1983 73—in 1834, on lots, $21 51—land, $922 06—2420 slaves, $605
00—1425 horses, $85 50—4 studs, $158 00—49 coaches, $133 75—8
carryalls, $8 10—84 gigs, $49 35—Total, $1987 27. No report from
school commissioners.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

HICKSFORD, P. V. and seat of
justice, 63 miles S. of Richmond and
185 from W.—situated on the right
or south bank of the Meherrin river,
in lat. 31° 37′ N. and long. 0° 35′
W. of W. C. It contains 12 dwelling
houses, including 3 taverns, and
3 general stores, court house, clerk's
office, and jail. The Petersburg
Railroad passes within one hundred
yards of this village, on its east side.
The railroad bridge, across the Mcherrin
river, is one hundred yards
long, supported by two hundred stone
piers, and two abutments of the same
material. Population 35 whites, one
of whom is a physician, and 30
blacks—total 65.

County Courts are held on the 1st
Monday in every month;—Quarterly
in March, May, August and Oct'r.

Judge Baker holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 15th of April and 23d of
October.

Sandy Mount, P. O. in the southern
part of the county, 75 miles from
R. and 197 from Washington.

Poplar Mount, P. O. 56 miles
S. of R. and 178 from W.—situated
on the south side of Nottoway river,
on the road leading from Hicksford

to Petersburg, 12 miles S. of the former,
and 32 from the latter, and 8
miles east of the Petersburg rail
road. The surrounding country is
wealthy, and the soil fertile, producing
well all the staple commodities of the
state, tobacco, cotton, wheat, Indian
corn, &c.—which is sold in the Petersburg
market.

HALIFAX.

Halifax was created by the Legislature in 1752, from a part of Lunenburg
county. It is bounded on the north by Staunton river, which separates
it from Campbell,—N. E. by the same river, separating it from Charlotte,—E.
by Mecklenburg,—S. by Granville county, of North Carolina,—
and W. by Pittsylvania. Its length is 33 miles, mean breadth 23, and area
759 square miles. It extends in lat. from 36° 30′ to 37° 02′ N. and in long,
from 1° 38′ to 2° 12′ W. of W. C. Though the Roanoke curves semicircularly
round the northern and eastern border of this county the slope is
almost directly eastward. Dan river enters at the S. W. angle of the county,
and flowing N. E. by E. over the county, receives within it Banister
river from the N. W. and Hycootee from the S. W. and thus augmented,
joins the Roanoke at the extreme eastern angle of the county. It is well
watered, and has an excellent soil. Much first rate tobacco is raised in the
county. Population in 1820, 19,060—in 1833,—28,034. Halifax belongs
to the ninth judicial circuit, and fifth district. Tax paid in 1832-3, $6216
14—in 1834, on lots, $23 66—on land, $3218 43—7727 slaves, $1931 75
—5769 horses, $346 14—20 studs, $312 00—78 coaches, $203 20—81
carryalls, $82 15—102 gigs, $61 10—Total, $6178 43. Expended in
educating poor children in 1832, $704 21—in 1833, $690 76.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Barksdale, P. O. 246 ms. S. W.
of W. and 156 S. W. by W. of R.
situated between Dan and Banister
rivers, 14 miles north of Halifax C.
H. This village contains several
dwelling houses, 1 Baptist house of
public worship, 1 common school, a
Sabbath school, a missionary and temperance
society, an apothecary, wheelwright,
boot and shoe factory, and a
blacksmith. The post office located
at this place is perhaps the oldest establishment
in the county. The land
of the surrounding country is light
and sandy, remarkably free and productive,
but easily exhausted. The
staple commodity is tobacco.

BANISTER, P. V. and seat of
justice, situated on the south side of
Banister river, 130 miles S. W. by
W. of Richmond, and 220 S. W. of
Washington; in lat. 36° 44′ N. and
long 1° 58′ W. of W. C. and about
10 miles below the head of navigation.
Besides the usual county buildings,
it contains 25 dwelling houses,
with a number of out houses, mechanic's
shops, &c. 2 spacious houses of
public worship, 1 Episcopalian and
the other Methodist, a large and handsome
Masonic Hall, (which has lately
been erected of brick, in an elevated
and advantageous situation, about
the middle of the village,) several
handsome and commodious taverns, 3
general stores, and 1 grocery. The
mechanics are a saddler, coach maker,
2 wheelwrights, 3 blacksmiths, 2 tailors,
1 cabinet maker, and 2 boot and
shoe manufacturers. There are in

the vicinity 2 extensive flour manufacturing
mills, 2 saw mills, and 2
cotton gins. The face of the country
on each side of the village is very
much broken, which causes it to be
very long and narrow, and the houses
to be built in a scattering manner,
except immediately around the court
house, where all the stores and mechanic's
shops are located. The village
is remarkable for its health, being
well elevated by a gradual ascent
of three quarters of a mile from the
river. It is situated on the main road
from Fredericksburg to the south
Seven stages pass through weekly,
and eleven mails are received at the
post office. There is a race course
in the neighborhood, over which races
are run once a year. Population
250 persons; of whom 3 are attorneys
and 3 physicians.

County Courts, are held on the
4th Monday in every month.—Quarterly
in March, June, August and
November.

Judge Leigh holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 1st of April and September.

Bennett's Store, P. O. 146 ms.
S. W. of R., and 236 from W.

Bentleysville, P. O. 115 ms.
from R., and 230 from W.

Black Walnut, P. O. 141 ms.
S. W. of R., and 230 from W.

Bloomsburgh, P. O. in the southern
part of the county, 13 ms. S. of
Bannister, 233 ms. S. S. W. of W.,
and 143 S. W. by W. of R., situated
2 ms. S. of Dan river, and 8 ms. from
the North Carolina line, on the main
S. W. stage road leading from Washington
City to Salisbury, N. C. and
Milledgeville, Georgia. There are
located here a dwelling house, and a
mercantile store; and in the vicinity,
2 houses of public worship, 1 Baptist,
and the other Presbyterian. The
country around is densely settled, and
the land fertile, producing in abundance,
tobacco, wheat, Indian corn,
cotton, &c.

Brooklyn, P. V. 148 ms. S. W.
of R., and 238 from W. It contains
12 dwelling houses, 1 mercantile
store, 1 druggist shop, 1 tanyard, 1
boot and shoe factory, 1 coach and
wagon maker, 1 tailor, 2 blacksmith
shops and 1 house carpenter. The
situation is high and healthy. Population
60 persons; 1 of whom is a
physician.

Centreton, P. O. 139 ms. S. W.
by W. of R., and 229 from W.

Meadsville, 139 ms. S. W. of W.
and 229 from R., situated at the head
of navigation on Banister river, 20
ms. from its junction with Dan river,
and 10 from the C. H. It contains
12 dwelling houses, 2 general stores,
1 tobacco warehouse, 1 iron foundry
and plough manufactory, 1 cabinet
maker, 1 tanyard, 1 tailor, 1 blacksmith,
2 extensive flour manufacturing
mills, a wool carding machine,
and a cotton gin. Population 70 persons;
1 of whom is a physician.

Mount Laurel, P. O. 115 ms. S.
W. of R., and 206 from W.

Republican Grove, 149 ms. S.
W. of R., and 239 from W.

Scottsburg, P. V. 135 ms. S. S.
W. of R., and 235 from W. It contains
several dwelling houses, 1 tavern,
1 mercantile store, and 1 smith's shop.
Population 40.

Warren's Store, P. O. 115 ms.
S. W. by W. of R., and 205 from W.
situated in the western part of the
county.

HANOVER.

Hanover was created by the legislature in 1720, from a part of New
Kent County. It is bounded N. by the Pamunkey which separates it from

Spottsylvania, Caroline, and King William counties, E. by New Kent, S.
by the Chickahominy to its source, separating it from Henrico, and by
Goochland, and W. by Louisa. Its length is 45 ms., main width 14,
and area 630 square ms.; and it extends in lat. from 37° 29′, to 38° 05′ N.
and in long. from 0° 15,′ to 0° 57′ W. of W. C. The North Anna river
bounds the county from its N. W. angle to its N. E. angle,—the South
Anna enters the county near its S. W. extremity, and unites with the former,
about the middle of the northern county line, and near the south eastern
extremity of Caroline; the two then take the name of Pamunkey, and
uniting with the Mattopony at the south eastern extremity of King William
County, form York river. The Chickahominy rises at the point at which
Hanover, Goochland, and Henrico meet, and forming the county line of
Hanover, it afterwards separates New Kent from Charles City, and turning
S. enters James river between the latter county and James City. The
surface of Hanover is hilly, and the soil of every extreme, from best river
alluvion, to barren sand. Population in 1820, 15,267—1830, 16,253. It
belongs to the 7th judicial circuit, and 4th district. Taxes paid in 1832-3,
$4,488 37—in 1833-4, on lots, $5 11—on land, $2,617 04—4,655 slaves,
$1,163 75—3,160 horses, $189 60—12 studs, $320 00—116 coaches,
$263 00—1 stage, $2 00—28 carryalls, $28 00—178 gigs, $100 00. Total
$4,689 40. Expended in educating poor children in 1832, $165 20—
in 1833, $255 12.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Cold Harbour, Election Precinct,
near the S. E. angle of the
county.

Dentonsville, P. O. 22 ms. N.
of R., and 144 from W.

Green Bay, P. O. 94 ms. S. S.
W. of W., and 52 ms. from R.

HANOVER C. H. P. V. 20 ms.
from R., and 102 from W., situated
on the north side of Machunp's creek,
immediately on the main stage road
leading from Richmond to Fredericksburg,
46 ms. from the latter place,
on the top of the first range of hills
inclining down to the creek, and about
1 mile above the junction of the creek
with the Pamunky river. It is situated
in a pleasant and wealthy neighbourhood,
the river running almost
entirely round it, making very extensive
and fertile flats, highly productive
in all kinds of grain usually cultivated
in Virginia. The flat lands
were naturally rich, and are now undergoing
considerable improvement
from the use of marle, which abounds
on almost every estate in the neighbourhood.
The marle in many instances
is found several miles from
the river, in very large and extensive
beds, and very rich. This place contains
a C. H., Clerk's office, and 2
jails, a very large and commodious
tavern with various other houses, 1
mercantile store, 1 blacksmith, and 1
boot and shoe maker. Population
about 50 persons of whom 1 is an attorney.

"Hanover C. H. is famed for being
the arena on which the famous Patrick
Henry figured in early life. It
was here that those speeches were delivered
by him that fired the bosoms
of his countrymen; and fixed and confirmed
them in the manly spirit that
so soon displayed itself in the expedition
that was undertaken against Governor
Dunmore, commonly called
the gunpowder expedition. It was
here that the first company of armed
men were formed and organized in
opposition to British tyranny, in Virginia;
and in the walls of the present
C. H. that the splendid and manly eloquence

of the illustrious Henry was
first heard, felt and fully acknowledged
by his countrymen. It was here that
his vivid fancy taking wing rose to
some of the most sublime heights that
human genius is capable of attaining,
It was here that on one occasion he
received in common with his countrymen
intelligence of the premeditated
aggressions against his country, by
England, and inspired with the indignation
which such a communication
was calculated to produce on the mind
of so intelligent, high minded and patriotic
a spirit, he could not contain
himself for a moment, and not seeking
the customary rostrum he took advantage
of the first convenient elevation
which presented itself, and spoke
in a strain, such as they had never before
heard from man. The effect was as
he desired, he awakened and aroused
them to a just estimate of the lawless
rule premeditated by the British ministry.
The after events of his history
are too well known to need commentary.

To Hanover, also, the world is indebted
for one of the first orators and
politicians now figuring in the arena
of American politics—Henry Clay—
Clay was born and reared within 3
ms. of Hanover C. H. and the veneration
in which this spot is held may
be judged from the fact, that passengers
in almost every stage which passes
from time to time, are in the habit
of getting out and visiting the C. H.,
and lingering away the passing hours
in reminiscences of the master spirits
that have rendered them illustrious.

These same venerated walls have
also in more modern date, been made
to resound with the argumentative
genius, and sonorous voice of the departed
Morris, who was also a native
of this old and venerable county."

County and Corporation Courts are
held on the 4th Tuesday in every
month:—Quarterly in Feb. April,
July, and October.

Judge Clopton holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 26th of April, and 15th of September.

Hanoverton, P. O. 31 ms. N. E.
of R., and 94 S. S. W. of W., situated
on the right bank of the Pamunky
river.

Montpelier, P. O. 24 ms. N. of
R., and 112 ms. from W., situated on
the main stage road, leading from
Richmond to Louisa C. H. 60 ms.
from the latter.

Negro Foot, Election Precinct,
in the western extremity of the county,
nearly equal distance from the
northern and southern boundary.

Newfound Mills, P. O. 36
ms. N. of R., and 102 ms. S. S. W.
of W.

Taylorsville, P. O., 28 ms. N.
of R., and 106 from W.

Thompson's Store, P. O. 46 ms.
N. of R., and 92 from W., situated in
the northern part of the county.

Old Church, P. O. 15 ms. N. of
R., and 122 from W.

Verdon, P. V. 30 ms. N. of R.,
and 105 from W. between the North
Anna, and Little river, immediately
on the latter; and at the intersection
of the roads leading from Hanover
C. H. to Louisa C. H., and from the
Bowling Green, in Caroline, to Richmond—12
ms. from the first—20 from
the second, and 35 ms. both from
Louisa C. H. and Goochland C. H.
In the vicinity are several dwelling
houses, 1 mercantile store, 1 cotton
manufactory, 2 wheelwrights, 2 blacksmiths,
and various other mechanics.
Population 50.

Woodlawn, P. O. in the N. W.
part of the county, 30 ms. northward of
R., and 105 ms. S. W. by W. of W.
C., situated immediately on the main
stage road, leading from R., to Louisa
C. H., 23 ms. from the latter; and at
the head of several small streams, on
the N. side of the South Branch of the
Pamunky river.

HENRICO.

Henrico is bounded on the S. W. by James river, which separates it
from Chesterfield; on the N. W. by Goochland; on the N. E. by Hanover
and New Kent; and on the S. E. by the county of Charles City. Its mean
length is 27 ms.; mean breadth 10¾ ms., and area 291 square ms., extending
in lat from 37° 57′ to 37° 4′, and long. 0° 20′ to 0° 49′ W. of W. C.
Henrico was one of the primitive counties or shires into which the colony
was divided in 1634. Its territory was of course, at that time, very extensive,
but repeated partitions in order to form other counties, have reduced
it to its present comparatively small size. With the exception of the lands
on James river, which are very fertile, the soil is generally light and unproductive.
There are also some good farms on the Chickahominy, a
small stream which divides the county from New Kent and Hanover, and
enters James river above Jamestown. The surface is moderately undulating,
terminating in abrupt precipices both on the Chickahominy and James
river bottoms. Richmond, the metropolis of Virginia, is situated in the
centre of the county in reference to its length from N. W. to S. E. (See
Richmond City.) About a mile below town, the famous Indian King
Powhatan had one of his principal lodges. The estate has been long in
the possession of the Mayo family, and is known by the name of its former
Indian proprietor. The population of Henrico, in 1800, exclusive of Richmond,
was 9,149—and in 1830, according to the last census, 12,737—shewing
an increase of 3,588, or nearly 40 per cent. in 30 years. Of its population
last ascertained, there were free whites, 5,716—slaves, 5,932—free
colored, 1,089. Total 12,737. Taxes paid in 1833, $13,470 16—and in
1834, on lots, $7,729 77—on Land, $3,170 73—on 7,580 slaves, $1,895—
3,290 horses, $197 88—4 studs, $270 00—266 coaches, $698 25—62
carryalls, $65 10—104 gigs, $79 95. Total $14,106 68. No report
from school commissioners. The county is intersected by 3 good turnpike
roads, having toll gates,—the Brook, Mechanicsville, and another leading
to Petersburg on the north side of James river. There are few or no
schools worthy of notice, except a Baptist Seminary, about 4 ms. from
Richmond. The mass of the population are poor and uniformed, and are
somewhat remarkable for a keen jealously of metropolitan influence.

County Courts are held on the 1st Monday in every month, and Quarterly,
March, June, August and November.

Judge Clopton, holds his Superior Court of Law and Chancery on the
8th of May, and 22d of October.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

RICHMOND CITY, the metropolis
of Virginia, is situated in the
county of Henrico, on the north side
of James river, and immediately at
the great falls, or head of tide water
Lat. 37° 32′ N., long. 25° 54′ W. of
W. Its location is uncommonly delightful,
and has often excited the admiration
of strangers. Perhaps the
most glowing, and yet most faithful
picture which has ever been drawn
of its natural beauties, is from the pen
of the eminent and lamented author of
the British Spy. "I have never met,
says that enchanting writer, "with
such an assemblage of striking and interesting
objects. The town dispersed
over hills of various shapes; the river
descending from west to east, and obstructed
by a multitude of small islands,

clumps of trees, and myriads of
rocks; among which it tumbles, foams
and roars; constituting what are called
the falls; the same river at the lower
end of the town, bending at right angles
to the south, and winding reluctantly
off for many miles in that
direction; its polished surface caught
here and there by the eye, but more
generally covered from the view by
the trees; among which the white
sails of approaching and departing
vessels exhibit a curious and interesting
appearance then again on the opposite
side, the little town of Manchester
built on a hill, which sloping
gently to the river, opens the whole
town to the view, interspersed as it is
with vigorous and flourishing poplars;
and surrounded to a great distance
by green plains and stately
woods;—all these objects falling at
once under the eye, constitute by far
the most finely varied and most animated
landscape that I have ever
seen." The truth and beauty of the
foregoing sketch may be realised from
numberless positions or points of view,
extending from the high hills to the
west, which overlook the James river
canal, as far as the Church Hill, the
eastern barrier of the city. From the
latter elevation, perhaps the landscape
combines greater variety and grandeur,
than from any other point
Shockœ hill, however, is the favorite
residence of the citizens. This is
divided from the other by the valley
of Shockœ creek, and is a high and
spacious plain occupied by the principal
public buildings, and by numerous
private edifices, some of which
are of elegant and expensive construction.
The Capitol, or State
House, stands in the centre of a beautiful
park or square, near the brow of
the hill, and from its size and elevated
position is the most conspicuous object
in the city. The exterior of the
building is of admirable proportions,
and its fine columns of Ionic architecture
seen from a distance, have a very
imposing effect. It was formed from
a model of the Maison Carree at
Nismes,—brought by Mr. Jefferson
from France. Its interior construction,
however, is neither elegant nor
convenient. In a large open saloon
or hall, in the centre of the building,
is a marble statue of Washington, executed
with great skill by Hodoun, a
French artist. There is also a bust of
Lafayette, occupying one of the niches
in the wall. Besides the statue it is
still in contemplation to erect a superb
monument to the memory of Washington
on the capitol square. The
fund which was dedicated to this object
was originally raised by private
subscription, and is now loaned out
at interest by direction of the legislature.
Its present amount is about
$18,000. When this monument is
erected, it will add to the attractions
of one of the finest promenades in the
Union. The square which contains
about 9 acres, is enclosed by a handsome
railing of cast iron, and is ornamented
by gravelled walks, and a
variety of forest and other trees. The
Governor's House is a plain, neat
building, adjoining the square, and on
a part of the public domain. The
City Hall, which is also contiguous
to the State House, is a costly and
elegant building of Doric architecture.
It is devoted to the use of the
City Courts and Council, and other
officers of the Corporation. The
other public buildings, are the Penitentiary
and Manufactory of Arms—
both extensive establishments, and
well adapted to their respective purposes.
The Bank of Virginia and
Farmer's Bank, are connected under
one roof, and together constitute a
handsome edifice on the principal
street.

Richmond is not deficient in benevolent
institutions. Besides a very
spacious Poor House, which stands
in the suburbs of the city,—there is
a Female Orphan Asylum, supported
in part by funds of the corporation,

and partly by private liberality. Its
funds have been principally raised
however for several years past, by an
annual fair held at the City Hall.
This institution is incorporated by the
legislature, and is under the management
of female directors. There is
also a school for the education of poor
children of both sexes, upon the Lancasterian
system, founded in 1816,
which with some fluctuations in its
progress, is still in a prosperous condition.
It is now under the superintendance
of trustees appointed by the
City Council, and is sustained by an
annual contribution from the Literary
fund of the state, together with an appropriation
from the city treasury. A
suitable building was erected for the
accommodation of the school, soon
after its first establishment, and hundreds
have received from it the benefits
of elementary instruction, who
would probably have been otherwise
the victims of ignorance and depravity.

The City has not been so fortunate
in other institutions for the cultivation
of the mind. A few good schools it is
true have occasionally existed, where
a competent knowledge of the classics
and some of the sciences might be obtained,
but none of these sources of instruction
have been commensurate
with the wants of the citizens. It is
a remarkable circumstance, that the
metropolis of the state, containing as
it does considerable wealth aud population,—many
distinguished and well
informed men, and much boasted refinement,
should yet be destitute of a
single academical institution. As far
back as 1803, a charter was obtained
from the state by some of the prominent
citizens, for the establishment of
an academy by lottery and private
subscription. A few thousand dollars
were raised,—a site was injudiciously
selected a mile beyond the limits of the
city—and the basement story of the
building erected, but no further progress
was made. Within the present
year, however, the vacancies in the
Board of Trustees have been filled,
and there is some prospect of reviving
the institution.

Besides this marked deficiency in
the means of educating youth, there
are few or no associations of an intellectual
character among persons of
maturer years. Whilst the northern
cities can boast of their literary and
scientific societies, the capital of the
ancient dominion scarcely contains
one which deserves the name. An
honorable exception, it is true, may be
mentioned in the "Virginia Historical
and Philosophical Society," which
was established in 1831, and has since
been incorporated;—but as its members
are principally dispersed through
the state, and few of the citizens of
Richmond manifest any zeal in its
welfare, it can scarcely be considered
an association of the city, either in its
origin or character. About 20 years
since a Museum was erected principally
by individual enterprize; which
was designed as a repository of the
fine arts, and of natural curiosities.
This institution however, has for a
long time languished for want of patronage.

Societies however of a moral and
religious cast, are numerous, active,
and flourishing. Various associations
exist for promoting temperance,
for colonizing the free people of color,
for aiding missionaries, for the distribution
of the Bible and religious
tracts, and for various other objects of
a similar character. The encouragement
also which is given to Sabbath
schools is extensive and beneficial.
The means of religious instruction
are very considerable, and probably
in due proportion to the wants of the
city. The Episcopalians have 3
churches or houses of worship;—the
Presbyterians 2, the Baptists 3, the
Methodists 3, the Roman Catholics 1,
and this last congregation are now
constructing a new and elegant building,
which will probably rival any in
the city for the style of its artichecture.

The Baptists Seceders or followers
of Alexander Campbell, have
1 place of worship,—the Unitarians
and Quakers 1 each,—and the Jews a
handsome Synagogue in a retired and
handsome situation.

The Monumental Church, one of
the three belonging to the Episcopalians,
and of which the venerable
Bishop of Eastern Virginia has long
been the Rector,—has acquired a melancholy
celebrity from the circumstance
that it occupies the site of the
Richmond Theatre, which was destroyed
by fire in December 1811; on
which tragical occasion the Governor
of the Commonwealth, and 70 or 80
respectable persons of both sexes perished
miserably in the flames. Long
will that mournful event be remembered
by those who survived or witnessed
its horrors!—Either from the
deep impressions which it produced
or from other causes,—the taste for
theatrical exhibitions has not kept
pace with the increase of wealth and
population. The commodious Theatre
which succeeded the old one,—
which is placed in a far more eligible
situation, and is of much safer construction,
is only occasionally patronized
when the appearance of some
attractive star, or celebrated performer
is announced.

Richmond was first established by
act of Assembly, as early as 1742, and
became the seat of Government of the
state in 1779. Various legislative
acts have passed from time to time
enlarging its corporate powers and
privileges. Nine persons are annually
chosen from each of the three
wards into which the city is divided,
who when assembled elect out of their
own body a recorder, and 11 aldermen,
who exercise judicial functions.
The same persons also elect from
their own body, or from the citizens
at large, a Mayor, who is both a judicial
and executive officer. The remaining
15 members constitute the
legislative council of the city, and as
such, are authorized to raise and appropriate
money, and to enact all such
ordinances as are necessary for the due
exeeution of the powers conferred by
the charter. The valuation of real property
within the city according to the
assessment of 1833, was $6,614,550.
The revenue raised for corporation
purposes may be stated in round numbers
at $60,000, besides which, the
city contributed as its quota of the
state tax in the year 1833, nearly
$9,000. This large amount of taxation
is principally derived from real
and personal property, and from licenses
to merchants, ordinary keepers,
&c. The number of wholesale
merchants, paying license tax in 1833,
as appears by the returns of the State
Commissioner was 20;—retail ditto
326, auctioneers 7, lottery ticket venders
7, ordinary keepers 43, and keepers
of houses of private entertainment
9. According to the same returns
there were 739 horses and mules, 157
coaches, 9 carryalls, and 54 gigs.

The expenses of the city are considerable.
The principal items of appropriation
are $12,000 for a sinking
fund, to pay the interest, and redeem
gradually the corporation debt; $4,000
for the poor; $1,700 to the Lancasterian
Free School and Orphan Asylum;
$4000 for repairing the streets;
and $8,500 for the support of a night
watch. The remaining expenses are
on account of the public markets, fire
companies, salaries of officers, paving
of streets and various contingencies.
The city debt at this time amounts to
$136,150;—$95,000 of which, bearing
an interest of 5 per centum only,
was incurred on account of the water
works. These works were commenced
in September 1830, under the direction
of Albert Stein, an accomplished
Engineer from Holland, and were
completed as far as originally designed,
at the end of the ensuing year.
Since that time, a second pump and
wheel, and a third reservoir have
been added; making the cost of the

whole work about $100,000. The
pumps are each calculated to raise
from the river, and propel into the resevoirs
at a distance of 800 yards, and
at a considerable elevation 400,000
gallons of water in 24 hours. These
pumps are designed to operate alternately,
either being competent to fill
the reservoirs in sufficient time. The
reservoirs will each of them contain
1,000,000 gallons,—and double lines
of pipes extend from them to the pump
house on the margin of the river.
The main pipe from the resevoirs to
the intersection of H. and 1st streets
is 2,058 yards in length; and the
smallest pipes extend from this thro'
the principal streets, lessening in diameter
to the point of greatest depression
from the level of the resevoirs, a
distance of about 3 ms. Fire plugs
are placed at convenient distances
along the line of pipes, and afford an
ample supply of water for extinguishing
fires. In the lower part of the
city the pressure is sufficient to force
the water to the tops of the houses
through hose, without the aid of engines.
Three hundred and forty
houses and tenements are already
furnished with water, and the rents
which are daily increasing, amount
at this time, April 1834, to $4,000.
The annual expense of superintendance,
&c. is $1,000. These works
may justly be considered the pride of
the city. The water which they supply
is not only pure and wholesome,
but for a considerable part of the year
is sufficiently clear to be used without
filters.

     

The exports of domestic produce from Richmond to foreign countries are very considerable. In the year 1833, their value in American vessels, was	$2,466,360 00
And in foreign vessels,	498,131 00
Making the ag'rt. of	$2,964, 491 00

The value of domestic produce
shipped coastwise to the principal
Northern Cities, cannot be ascertained
correctly. It is believed to be at
least equal if not greater than the
amount exported to foreign countries,
and if such be the fact, the total value
of produce shipped, may be estimated
at nearly $6,000,000. The import
trade, however, bears no proportion to
the other. The value of merchandize
imported into the district of Richmond
from foreign countries for the
year 1833, amounted to only $209,963,
and the duties paid to the Government
of the United States to $75,120.
Of this latter sum, $7,197 was paid on
merchandize brought by foreign vessels.

In 1833, 5 schooners, 9 barks, 37
brigs, and 30 ships, in all 81 vessels,
cleared from the port of Richmond for
foreign countries, the tonnage whereof
amounted to 22,331, or an average of
275 tons to each vessel. In the same
year 4 schooners, 6 brigs, 2 barks,
and 3 ships entered from foreign
countries,—making in the aggregate,
3,412 tons, or 227 to each vessel.

No inconsiderable part of the produce
shipped from the city is brought
down the James River Canal. This
important improvement commences
at Maiden's Adventure, on James river
about 30 miles distant, and terminates
in a deep and commodious basin
in the heart of the town. The tolls
paid to the James River Company on
produce descending in the year 1833,
amounted to $43,949, and on various
articles carried up the Canal to
$10,139, making in the aggregate,
$54,088. Among the items brought
down, may be enumerated upwards
of 15,000 hhds. of tobacco, 152,000
barrels of flour, 133,000 bushels of
wheat, 677,664 bushels of coal, 1,374
tons of bar and pig iron; and 2,230900
lbs. of manufactured tobacco.
Among the ascending articles may be
mentioned, nearly 31,000 sacks of
salt, 297 tons of bar and pig iron, and
upwards of 3,000 tons of plaster,
lime, &c.

The proximity of the coal mines to

Richmond, constitutes that mineral a
valuable article of commerce. Besides
the quantity brought down the
canal, there were more than 2,000,000
of bushels (4 pecks to the bushel)
transported on the Chesterfield Rail
Road in 1833, the tolls on which
amounted to $87,813 30. The Chesterfield
Rail Road, terminates on the
Manchester side of the river, and deserves
to be honorably mentioned as
the first successful enterprize of the
kind in the state of Virginia. It was
planned and executed under the direction
of Moncure Robinson, a distinguished
Engineer, and it owes
much in its original design and final
accomplishment, to the perseverance
and patronage of Mr Mills, one of the
few proprietors of its stock, and an
owner of one of the extensive coal
mines at the upper termination of the
road.

James river from Richmond to the
ocean, presents a tedious and somewhat
obstructed navigation. This
with the circumstance that she is surrounded
by rival towns, each having
its peculiar advantages of location,—
will probably prevent the metropolis
from ever attaining a high degree of
commercial importance. There is no
doubt, however, of its final destination
as a manufacturing city,—as there is
probably no spot in the Union endowed
by nature with finer facilities
for that kind of industry. From the
commencement of the rapids a few
miles above, the fall is upwards of
100 feet to the level of tide water, and
in all this space there is scarcely a
limit to the extent of water power
which exists. In the city and its vicinity,
there are already several flourishing
establishments which deserve
to be mentioned. The Gallego Flour
Mills having been destroyed by fire
in the spring of 1833, their present
proprietor, Mr. Chevallie, is rebuilding
them at a more convenient site on
the bank of the James river basin, and
upon a much more improved and enlarged
plan. The mill house which
is nearly completed, is 6 stories high
from the foundation and covered with
tin. It is 94 feet long by 83½ wide,
and is calculated for 20 pair of stones
to be worked by 3 water wheels.
Connected with it is another building
80 feet square, and 4 stories high, in
which the wheat will be received and
cleaned. The two together present a
front on the basin of 163½ feet, and
the whole appearance is very imposing.
The old Gallego Mills ground
upwards of 200,000 bushels of wheat
in the 8 months preceding their destruction.
It is probable that the operations
of the new establishments will
be much more extensive. The Gallego
brand, and indeed that of the
City Mills generally, has acquired
much celebrity in the South American
markets and elsewhere.

Haxall's Mills, have also a high
reputation: they are 5 stories high
and of nearly equal dimensions with
Chevallie's. They work 14 pair of
stones, with 4 water wheels, and grind
about 200,000 bushels wheat annually.
This year that quantity will probably
be exceeded, as it is contemplated
to add 4 additional pair of stones.

Rutherford's Mill works 8 pair of
stones by 2 water wheels, and grinds
about 90,000 bushels of wheat annually.

Mayo's Mill in Manchester opposite
to Richmond, works 6 pair of
stones by 3 water wheels, and grinds
also about 90,000 bushels of wheat
annually.

In the city and its vicinity, there
are 5 corn or grist mills, 2 manufactories
for cut nails, and rolling and
slitting iron, 2 saw mills, and 1 iron
foundery, whose operations are extensive.

The Richmond Cotton Manufactory
is a large and important establishment.
It was established by Cunningham
& Anderson, in the year
1829, and sold by them with all its
appendages, to the Richmond Manu

facturing Company, incorporated by
an act of the Virginia legislature in
the winter of 1831. The building is
of stone and brick, 4 stories high, 146
feet long, and 44 feet wide, situated
upon the north bank of the James, a
few hundred yards west of the Armory,
receiving its water power from the
James river canal, immediately below
the Penitentiary. The water is also
conveyed from the canal in iron pipes
of 6 inches bore to the building, thence
up the stair-way to within 5 feet of
the eaves, from which in case of accident
by fire, every floor except the
upper one, can be flooded in a few seconds,
by simply turning a cock and
using a hose. In this factory are employed
from 60 to 70 white operatives
and 130 blacks, from the age of 14
and upwards,—a large proportion of
both descriptions are females. It
runs 3,776 spindles, and 80 looms,
together with all the necessary preparatory
machinery for spinning and
weaving, of the most approved kinds,
and consumes about 1,500 pounds of
raw cotton per day.

The fabrics are heavy,—negro
shirtings 29 inches wide, 4-4 sheetings
and ¾ shirtings of No. 16 yarn,
and cotton yarns from No. 5 to 20—
all of which are celebrated for their
superior quality. The capital employed
is $120,000.

The Gallego Manufacturing Company
was incorporated in January
1834, and the capital subscribed is
$150,000. The buildings which it is
supposed, will be commenced the present
year, will be located near the
Gallego Mills. The Franklin Company
for the manufacture of paper,
has also been recently incorporated,
and the capital nearly subscribed.

Besides the manufactures produced
at the Penitentiary on state account,
the city has its due proportion of the
various mechanic trades, and private
manufactories. Of printing establishments
there are as many as 11, (perhaps
an undue proportion) from 2 of
which there are issued daily, political
and commercial papers,—from 1, a
semi-weekly political,—from 3, weekly
Religious,—and from 1, a monthly
journal devoted to literature, &c. The
others are either Book or Job Offices.
The number of professional men is
also considerable, and it is the more
remarkable that so many members of
the medical faculty should find employment
in a city proverbial for the
salubrity of its climate. Situated at
the point of demarcation between the
upper and lower districts, it is fortunately
exempt from many of the maladies
which are peculiar to both regions.
It is neither visited by the
enervating autumnal diseases of eastern
Virginia, nor by the more violent
and inflammatory attacks which belong
to the upper country. The yellow
fever that scourge of cities more
populous and commercial, has never
prevailed.

               

The population of Richmond has nearly trebled in 30 years. By the census of 1800, the free whites numbered,	2,837
Slaves,	2,293
Free colored persons,	607
	5,737
By the census of 1830, the free whites amounted to	7,755
Slaves,	6,349
Free colored,	1,956
	16,060

The several classes have increased
in nearly corresponding ratios.

Richmond has been frequently reproached
for a want of hospitality, and
if this virtue consists in unreserved
and indiscriminate attention to strangers
and visitors,—the reproach is
probably not altogether unfounded.
It must be acknowledged too, that the
manners and customs of what are
called the leading classes, are not
characteristic of the old Virginia character,
which was frank, simple and
unostentatious. In almost all consid-

erable towns, even in republican
America, artificial castes or classes
exist, which are founded principally
upon the possession of wealth, or the
mysterious refinements of fashion,
and have but little reference either to
moral or intellectual distinction. It
is probable that this vice of cities is
one of the chief sources of that prejudice
which is felt towards them by the
people of the country. These remarks,
however, are not to be construed
into a sweeping censure upon
towns,—for although in all dense
populations, there is always a greater
or less degree of human infirmity,—
there is also an equal concentration of
the more virtuous and noble qualities
of our nature.

Corporation Courts are held for the
City of Richmond, on the Friday before
the last Monday in every month:
Quarterly in February, May, August
and November. Terms of the General
Court are held on the 1st Monday
in July and December. Circuit Court
of United States, at Richmond, on
the 22nd of May and November. The
Federal District Court on the 15th
of May, and November.

Bellona, P. O. 2 ms. N. of Bellona
Arsenal, Chesterfield Co. and
10 ms. of R., situated on the main
road, leading from Richmond to
Charlottesville.

Short Pump, P. O., situated 12
ms. from R., and 134 from W.

HENRY.

Henry was created by the Legislature in 1776, from a part of Pittsylvania
county. It is bounded N. by Franklin,—E. by Pittsylvania,—S. by
Rockingham Co. North Carolina,—and W. by Patrick. It is nearly in
the form of a rhomb; and its mean length 20½ miles, mean breadth 17½
and area 357 square miles. It extends in lat. from 36° 30′ to 36° 50′ N.
and in long from 2° 41′ to 3° 08′ W. of W. C. Its extreme southwestern
angle is crossed by the two branches of Mary's river, but the greater part
of the area of the county is included in the valley of Smith's river, which
enters the county near its N. W. angle and leaves it near the N. E. angle.
Population in 1820, 5,624,—in 1830, 7,100. Henry belongs to the tenth
judicial circuit and fifth district. Tax paid in 1832-3, $1117 16—in
1833-4.—On lots, $9 66—on land, $642 26—on 1538 slaves, $384 50—
1409 horses, $84 54—5 studs, $51 00—6 coaches, $16 50—8 carryalls,
$8 00—11 gigs, $5 50. Total, $1201 96. Expended in education of
poor children in 1832, $149 52—in 1833, $277 11.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Dixville, P. O. 199 ms. S. W.
by W. of R. and 291 from W.

Leatherwoods Store, P. O. 284
ms. from W. and 192 from R.

MARTINSVILLE, P. V. and
county seat, situated near the left bank
of Irvine or Smith river, about 70
ms. S. W. of Lynchburg, 207 ms. S.
W. by W. of Richmond, and 299
from W. C. Besides the ordinary
county buildings which are spacious
and handsomely built of brick—the
court house being enclosed with a
brick wall and having a well of excellent
water attached. It contains 8
dwelling houses, 2 taverns, 2 mercantile
stores, 1 tanyard, and several
mechanic shops. This little village
is fast improving,—it is remarkable
for the good health of its inhabitants;

being situated on a beautiful eminence,
commanding an extensive view
of the surrounding country, and well
supplied with excellent springs. Several
buildings are being erected. Population,
50 whites of whom 3 are physicians;
and 34 blacks.

County Courts are held on the 2nd
Monday in every month: Quarterly
in March, June, August and November.

Judge Saunders holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 1st of May and October.

Traylorsville, P. O. 305 ms.
S. W. of W. and 213 from R.—situated
in the western part of the county,
6 miles from Martinsville and 16
from the North Carolina line, on the
main southern post read leading from
Salem, N. C. to Fincastle, Botetourt
Co., in a romantic position, among
hills, rivers and creeks. It commands
a magnificent view of the
Blue Ridge, and its collateral ranges.
There is great variety in the soil in
the neighborhood, the land being of a
free, productive character, and well
watered; but not very fertile except on
the water courses. At this place there
are strong indications of gold and iron,
which are thought to be abundant in
this section of country. There are
located here a mercantile store, saddler,
house of entertainment, and a
blacksmith shop. Population 25 persons:
one of whom is a physician.

ISLE OF WIGHT.

Isle of Wight was one of the eight original shires, into which Virginia
was divided in 1634. Its rame was originally Warrosquyoake
shire. It is bounded N. by James river, which separates it from James
City, and Warwick counties,—E. and S. by Nansemond,—W. by Blackwater
river, which separates it from Southampton,—and N. W. by Surry.
Its length is 37 miles, width 11; and area 407 square miles; and it extends
in lat. from 36° 38′ to 37° 07′ N. and in long. from 0° 02′ to 0° 36′ E. of
W. C. This county inclines to the N. E. and S. W. towards the James
and Blackwater. It has many creeks and swamps upon its surface, and
a great variety of soil, though it is generally thin and sandy.

Population in 1820, 10,139—1830, 10,517. It belongs to the first judicial
circuit and first district. Tax paid in 1832-3, $1840 95; in 1833-4—
on lots, $94 34—on land, $906 62—2178 slaves, $544 50—1176 horses,
$70 56—7 studs, $68 00—25 coaches, $59 90—6 carryalls, $6 00—219
gigs, $125 62. Total, $1876 54. Expended in educating poor children
in 1832, $442 98; in 1833, $375 40.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Corowaugf, Swamp, Creek, and
P. O. in the S. W. part of the county,
85 miles S. W. of Norfolk, 101 ms.
from R. and 223 from W.

ISLE OF WIGHT C. H. P. O.
situated near the centre of the county,
89 miles S. E. by E. of R. and 35
ms. a little N. of W. Norfolk.

County Courts are held on the 1st
Monday in every month; Quarterly
in March, June, August and November.

Judge Baker holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the fourth of May and seventh of
October.

Mayfield, P. V. 72 ms. from R.
and 195 from W. This little village

stands upon one of the handsomest
and most highly improved situations
in the county, about 14 miles W. of
Smithfield, 13 S. of Surry C. H. 12
N. of Isle of Wight C. H. and 28
N. of Jerusalem, the seat of justice
of Southampton county.

Smithfield, P. V. in the northern
part of the county, 80 ms S. E. by E.
of R. and 204 from W. C. It is situated
on the south side of Pagan creek,
a bold and navigable stream, 3 ms.
from James river and 15 above Hampton
Roads, on an elevated bank, about
25 feet above the waters of the creek,
commanding a beautiful view of both
land and water scenery,—the country
for 10 ms. on the opposite side of
James river is in full view.

It contains 350 houses, some of
them handsome, 10 general stores,
and one apothecary shop, 3 spacious
houses of public worship, 1 Episcopalian,
1 Baptist and 1 Methodist, 1
hotel kept in the best style, and several
boarding houses, a male and a
female academy, in which are taught
all the branches of polite education, 4
other schools containing generally
150 pupils jointly, children being
sent here to school from the surrounding
country, and some from great
distances, in consequence of the healthiness
of the place. The mechanical
pursuits are 1 saddler, 1 cabinet
maker, 2 tailors, working constantly
several hands, 2 coach making establishments,
1 extensive tannery; and
in the vicinity 2 cotton manufactories.
The Bacon curing business is carried
on here to great perfection, more
extensively and perhaps more profitably
than in any other place in the
U. S. The bacon cured here has
long been celebrated for its superior
flavor, and the manner in which it is
cured;—large quantities of it are
shipped annually in coasting vessels;
it commands the preference in all the
markets, and it is a source of great
revenue. The village is located on
the main post road leading from Petersburg
to Norfolk 60 ms. from the
former, and 40 from the latter Population
850 persons; of whom 3 are
attorneys and 3 regular physicians.

JAMES CITY.

James City was one of the eight original shires, into which Virginia
was divided by the Legislature in 1634. It is bounded on the N. and N.
W. by New Kent, W. by the Chickahominy river, which separates it from
Charles City; S. by James river, which separates it from Surry, and E.
by Warwick and York counties, and York river, separating it from Gloucester.
Its length is 23 miles, its mean breadth 8; and area 184 square
miles; and it extends in lat from 37° 09′ to 37° 25′ N. and in long from
0° 03′ to 0° 24′ E. of W. C. The surface of the county is in undulating
hills. Population in 1820, 3,161—1830, 3,838. It belongs to the third
judicial circuit; and second district. Tax paid in 1832-3, $655 44, in
1833-4 on land, 303 41—1001 slaves, $250 25—397 horses, $23 82—2
studs, $30 00—8 coaches, $17 00—2 carryalls, $2 00—81 gigs, $43 80.
Total, $670 28. In 1832 no school commissions report. Expended in
1833 in educating poor children, $54 23.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

James Town. This town the first
British settlement in America (1607,)
now no longer exists as a place of
resort to the merchant or artizan; but

the spot on which it stood must ever
be full of interest to the Antiquarian
and the Historian. The land on
which it stood has been for a number
of years in the family of the Amblers,
and has been for some time past in
cultivation. The only relic of the
olden time, which is pointed out to
the traveller, as he hurries past with
the swiftness of the wind in the fleet
and beautiful and modern steamers
which navigate the James, is an
old chimney, which we believe belonged
to a church. This old town,
stood on a point of land projecting
into James river in the southern part
of James City Co., in lat. 37° 12′ and
long. 0° 14′ E. of W. C.

Stith, in his history of Virginia,
(p. 160) says that in the latter end of
June 1619 Sir George Yeardley, then
Governor, called the first assembly
that was ever held in Virginia, at
Jamestown; which at that time and
for many years afterwards was called
James City. Counties not being then
laid off, the representatives of the
people were elected by townships:
the Boroughs of Jamestown, Henrico,
Bermuda Hundred and others,
sending their members to the assembly;
from which circumstances, the
lower house was first called the House
of Burgesses. The acts of this assembly,
says Stith, were remitted to
England and presented to the London
Company, to be read in the court on
the 20th March following; for the
company had then the regal power of
confirming or annulling the acts of
assembly.

We refer to the compendious history
of Virginia, in the first part of
this work, for more information concerning
the history of James Town.

WILLIAMSBURG, P. T. and
seat of justice for James City county,
situated on the summit level between
the rivers of York and James; six
miles distant from each, though navigable
streams for small vessels approach
on either side, within one
mile of the city, 60 miles E. of R.
12 N. of York Town, and 163 miles
from W.—lat. 37° 16′ and long. 0°
20′ E. of W.; immediately on the
line dividing the counties of York
and James City, embracing a part of
each county in the corporation. This
little city, though it has not advanced
much in wealth or population, has
many very interesting claims on the
student of the U. S. It was the
cradle of our political existence, and
for a long time the seat of government
of "infant Virginia." It now
contains about 200 dwelling houses,
some of which are going fast to decay,
and more than 1500 inhabitants,
many of whom are wealthy. It is
pleasantly laid out in parallel streets,
with a pleasant square in the centre
of more than 10 acres, where is situated
the Court-house, Clerk's Office,
and Markethouse, lately built, through
which runs the principal street, east
and west, one mile in length and more
than 100 feet in width. There is also
a beautiful green square fronting the
old Palace, which was formerly the
residence of the Colonial Governor.
At one end of this street stands the
remains of the old Capitol, which
was consumed by fire, in April, 1832,
and at the other William and Mary
College. The place where this city
now stands, and the adjacent country,
was first known by the name of the
Middle Plantations, and was settled
in 1632, by drafts from the adjoining
settlements, principally from James
Town, 7 miles distant. This place
became the seat of government of
this colony in 1698, some short time
previous to which a great fire occurred
at Jamestown, which consumed
the public records, and a larger part
of the town, and continued as such
until 1779, when it was removed to
Richmond. The old Raleigh Tavern,
where many important committees
of the Legislature met—where
some of our most distinguished patriots
concerted measures for aiding

in the arduous struggle for liberty,
and where, it is said, Richard H. Lee
and others originated the plan to establish
corresponding committees
throughout many or all of the colonies,
is yet remaining, and is occupied
as a public house; over the portico
of which is placed a bust of Sir
Walter Raleigh. William and Mary
College, which was founded in 1693,
during the reign of William and Mary,
who granted to it a donation of 20,000
acres of land; is situated at this
place, and with various fortunes of
advance and recession, has continued
to exist as a respectable Literary Institution.
Besides this donation it
received a penny a lb duty, on certain
tobaccos, exported from Virginia
and Maryland, which had been levied
by the statute of the 25th of Charles
II. The Assembly also gave it, by
temporary laws, a duty on liquors
imported, and skins and furs exported.
From these resources it received
upwards of £3000, communibus annis.
The buildings are of brick and
sufficiently large for the accommodation
of 100 students. By its charter
dated the 8th of February 1692, it
was placed under the direction of not
less than 20 Visitors, and to have a
President and 6 Professors, who were
incorporated. It was formerly allowed
a representative in the General
Assembly. Under this charter a professorship
of the Greek and Latin
languages, a professorship of Mathematics,
one of Moral Philosophy, and
two of Divinity were established.
To these were annexed, for a sixth
professorship, a considerable donation,
by Mr Boyle of England, for the instruction
of the Indians and their
conversion to christianity. This was
called the professorship of Brafferton,
from an estate of that name in England
purchased with the monies given.
The admission of the learners of
Latin and Greek filled the College
with children. This rendering it
disagreeable, and degrading to young
men already prepared for entering on
the sciences, they were discouraged
from resorting to it, and thus the
school for Mathematics and Moral
Philosophy, which might have been
of some service, became of very little.
The revenues too were exhausted
in accommodating those who came
only to acquire the rudiments of science.
After the revolution, the Visitors,
having no power to change those
circumstances in the constitution of
the College, which were fixed by the
charter, and being therefore confined
in the number of professorships, undertook
to change the object of the
professorships. They excluded the
two schools for Divinity, and that for
the Greek and Latin languages, and
substituted others. At present it has
19 acting Visitors, and is under the
superintendency of a President and 5
Professors, embracing the Professor
of Humanity, who has charge of the
classical department. There is also
a Law department in this Institution.
Fronting the building is a beautiful
green square, of about 4 acres, In
the walk leading from the gate to the
College, stands the marble statue of
Norborne Berkeley, (Lord Bottetourt,)
who was formerly Governor of
Virginia, and a man distinguished
for love of piety, literature, and in the
early part of his administration
good government, which was removed
from the old Capitol in 1797, where
it was first erected, at the expense of
the colony, in 1774. It is much
mutilated, though it still presents a
specimen of superior sculpture. A
very respectable Female Academy,
and 3 other private schools are established
in this place.

There is also here a Lunatic Hospital,
sufficiently large for the accommodation
of 60 patients, in separate
rooms or cells; and an addition is
now making to enlarge the building,
by an increase of 24 cells. The hospital
is neatly kept and the patients
are well attended. Besides the court

house, and other public buildings
mentioned, there is a public jail, an
Episcopal church, Methodist chapel,
and one Baptist meeting house. The
public buildings were no doubt erected
at great expense, but now present
the appearance of decaying grandeur.
There are also 16 stores, 1 manufactory
a short distance from the city, 4
merchant mills in the vicinity, 3 tanyards,
1 saddler's shop, and a number
of mechanics, who are generally
employed, 2 benevolent societies, 9
attornies, and 5 regular physicians.
This city is remarkably healthy for
9 months of the year. It has the
reputation of being unhealthy the
maining 3 months, though for many
years past it has been quite the reverse.

County Courts are held on the 2d
Monday in every month;—Quarterly
in March, May, August and November.

Judge Upshur holds his Circuit
Superior Courts of Law and Chancery
on the 7th of April and the 22d
of October.

KING & QUEEN.

King & Queen was created by act of the Colonial Legislature in 1691,
in the third year of the reign of William and Mary, and formed out of a
part of New Kent county. It is bounded by Caroline on the N. W.—Essex
N. E.—Piankatank river, separating it from Middlesex, E.—Gloucester
S. E.—James river S.—and Matapony river, separating it from King William
S. W. and W.—Its length is 40 miles, mean width 11, and area 335 sq.
miles—Extending in lat from 36° 27′ to 37° 56′ N. and in long. from 0°
18′ E. to 0° 13′ W. of W. C. The surface slopes southward towards Matapony
river, or southeastward towards Piankatank. Large and extensive
banks of marle run entirely through the county, which furnish an inexhaustible
source of improvement to this once barren soil. many of the most
enterprising farmers have tried it, and the land which previously produced
only six to eight bushels of maize or Indian corn to the acre, now bring 20
and 25; and as might be anticipated from such a result a considerable spirit
of improvement has been excited among the farmers. Marshes abound in
this county, and if reclaimed would doubtless prove valuable.—No county
in the state contains memorials of greater magnificence than King & Queen,
—on the Matapony a beautiful stream which borders the southern part of
the county, till it empties into the York river, are the vestiges of many ancient
and once highly improved seats.—Among these we might enumerate
Laneville—Pleasant Hill—Mantapike—Mantua—Rickohoe
—White Hall, &c.—known as the former residences of the Braxtons, Corbins,
Robinsons, &c. The prevailing religion of King & Queen, is that
of the Baptists, who have seven churches, and five ministers. The Methodists
have four houses of public worship. There is one free for all denominations,
and one belonging to the reformed Baptists (or Campbellites.)
There are four classical, and many common schools; one extensive manufacturing
flour mill, and 25 others, and 2 tanyards. Population 1820, 11,798
—in 1830, 11,644. This county belongs to the fourth judicial circuit and
second district. Taxes paid in 1833, $2340 91—in 1834, on lots, $1 79—
on land, $1042 18—3064 slaves, $766 00—1439 horses, $86 34—5 studs,
$82 00—50 coaches, $127 00—1 stage, $2 50—10 carryalls, $12 30—

315 gigs, $176 20—Total, $2296 31. Expended in educating poor children
in 1832, $320 22—in 1833, $329 37.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Bruington, P. O. 36 miles N. E.
of R. and 240 from Washington;—
situated in the N. E. part of the
county.

Carlton's Store, P. O. 44 ms.
E. of R. and 137 from W.

Clarkston, P. O. 32 ms. N. E.
of R. and 115 from W.

Dunkirk, P. O. some times called
Todd's bridge, 54 ms. N. E. of R.
and 140 S. W. of W.—It is situated
on the left bank of Mattapony river,
at the head of tide water, 60 miles above
York Town, on the main post
road leading from Richmond to Tappahannock,
22 miles from the latter.
It now contains only one mercantile
store, and two dwelling houses. This
place was at one time a village of
considerable trade, it was the depot
for the merchandise, and much of the
agricultural produce of the contiguous
upper country; but its extreme
sickliness combined with other causes,
has nearly obliterated it from existence.
There is a toll bridge across
the Mattapony at this place, owned by
a private individual.

KING & QUEEN C. H. 49 ms.
from Richmond, and 142 from Washington,—situated
on the flat lands of
the Mattapony, about three quarters
of a mile from the river. It contains
besides the usual county buildings, 4
dwelling houses, 2 miscellaneous
stores, a tavern, a magazine, and a tanyard.
There is in the vicinity a flour
manufacturing mill and a grist mill
which also has machinery for grinding
and packing cotton. Population 14
whites; of whom 1 is an attorney, and 1
a physician, and 40 colored—total 54.
This village is proverbially unhealthy,
being nearly surrounded by marshes,
—to this circumstance may be attributed
the small amount of its population.

County Courts are held on the 2d
Monday in every month,—Quarterly
in March, May, August and Nov'r.

Judge Semple holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 1st Monday in May and
November.

Little Plymouth, P. V. 57 ms.
N. E. by E. of R. and 150 from W.
situated in the southern part of the
county. It contains 7 dwelling houses,
one female sem na y, which averages
from 25 to 30 pupils, one common
school two coach and gig manufactories
2 mercantile stores, and 2
smithshops. Population 50 persons;
of whom one is a physician.

Newtown, P. V. 38 ms. N. E. of
R. and 99 S. W. of Washington—
situated in the northern part of the
county 3 miles north of the Mattapony
river. It contains 20 dwelling
houses, one house of public worship
belonging to the reformed Baptists (or
desciples of Campbell,) 1 male seminary,
averaging 30 pupils, 2 mercantile
stores, a tailor boot and shoe maker,
and a blacksmith, &c. Population
75.

Patrick, P. O. The distances
not mentioned on the P. O. list.

Shackleford's, P. O. 67 ms. from
R. and 160 S. of W.

Stevensville, P. O. 31 ms. N.
E. of R. and 130 S. of W.

Walkerton, P. O. 30 ms. N. E.
of R. and 123 S. of W.—handsomely
situated on the west bank of the Mattapony
river, 10 miles from King &
Queen C. H. and from Dunkirk. It
contains 3 dwelling houses 1 miscellaneous
store, and 1 extensive flour
manufacturing mill.

KING GEORGE.

King George was created by the legislature in 1720, from a part of
Richmond County. It is bounded N. by the Potomac river, separating it
from Charles County, Md. E. by Westmoreland, S. by the Rappahannock
river, which separates it from Essex and Caroline, and W. by Stafford.
Its length is 18 ms. mean breadth 10, and area 180 sq. ms. It extends in
lat. from 38° 11′, to 38° 23′ N. and in long. from 0° 03′, E. to 0° 13′ W.
of W. C. The surface is hilly and soil diversified. Population in 1820,
6,116—in 1830, 6,397. It belongs to the 5th judicial circuit and 3d district.
Tax paid in 1832-3, $1,724 87—in 1833-4, on lots, $4 68—on land,
$1,023 09—on 1,931 slaves, $482 75—1,353 horses, $81 18—4 studs,
$37 00—32 coaches, $75 95—14 carryalls, $14 00—73 gigs, $42 10.
Total $1,760 75. Expended in educating poor children in 1832, $249 92,
in 1833, $225 27.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Hampstead, P. O. in the S. E.
angle of the county, 96 ms. N. E. of
R., and 86 ms. S. W. of W. Hampstead
is called a village on the post
office list, but is in truth merely an
old established post office, perhaps
the oldest in the county, and equally
long known as a stand for a store.
It is situated 1 mile from Boyd's
hole on the western shore of the Potomac,
and about 6 ms. N. E. of King
George C. H. in a rich country: the
staples of which are, corn, wheat and
cotton. There are no manufactures
in the Northern neck; agriculture is
the pursuit of the whole population.
Within a mile and a half of Hampstead,
there is a Protestant Episcopal
church of the largest class of country
churches, built of brick:—it is called
St. Paul's, and its congregation embraces
all the middle and lower part
of the county. The Rev. Mr. Goldsmith
is its present pastor.

KING GEORGE C. H. P. O.
situated near the centre of the county,
88 ms. N. N. E. of R., and 78 ms. S.
W. of W. There are besides the
usual county buildings, 14 dwelling
houses, 1 general store, and 1 tavern.
The mechanics are, tailors, boot and
shoe makers, saddlers, blacksmiths,
&c. Population 50 persons; of whom
1 is a physician.

County Courts are held on the 1st
Thursday, in every month:—Quarterly
in March, June, August and
November.

Judge Lomax holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery,
on the 1st of May and 8th of October.

Millville, P. V. 97 ms. from R.,
and 87 ms. S. of W. This village
contains 8 dwelling houses, 2 general
stores, 1 grist mill, 1 blacksmith and
1 shoemaker shop, and 19 inhabitants.
Millville is situated on the head water
of Rosier's creek, which divides
King George and Westmoreland
counties, so that a part of the village
is in each county.

Port Conway, P. V. and Sea
Port, 60 ms. from R., and 79 ms. S.
of W., situated on the N. side of the
Rappahannock, opposite to P. Royal,
in Caroline, in the S. W. part of the
county. It contains 13 dwelling
houses, 2 mercantile stores, and several
mechanics. The land in the vicinity
is considered fertile, and well
adapted to corn and wheat, the only
crops cultivated to any extent. The
location is a beautiful one for a large
town, the land extending back for 2
ms. in a perfect level. Some years
since there was a tobacco warehouse,
and inspection at this place, and con-

siderable trade carried on in that article,
but of late years the farmers
have abandoned its cultivation, and
turned their attention to wheat and
corn. Population of Port Conway
35.

KING WILLIAM.

King William was established by the legislature in 1701, and formed
out of a part of King & Queen Co. It is bounded on the N. W. by the
county of Caroline, on the S. and W. by the Pamunkey river, which separates
it from Hanover and New Kent, and on the N., and E. by the Mattapony
river, which separates it from the county of King & Queen. Its
mean length is 32 ms.—its mean breadth 8½ ms., and it contains 270 sq.
ms. It extends in lat from 37° 30′, to 37° 57′ N., and in long from 0°
09′ E. to 0′ 19′ W. of W.

This county lies very much in the figure of an isosceles triangle, extending
from its boundary line with Caroline as its base, for a distance of 45 ms.
between the two rivers Pamunkey and Mattapony, to their confluence at
West Point, the head of York river. These two branches of York river
fertilize a large portion of this narrow county, and afford the most convenient
navigation, as well as fine shad and herring fisheries. Excellent
oysters and crabs are taken in great abundance a few miles below West
Point, and even at West Point, where the water is strongly impregnated
with salt. The Pamunkey is navigable by schooners carrying about 1,600
bushels, from the Oyster-shell Landing, 2 ms. by land, below Dabney's
Ferry; which last point is considered the head of tide water, and is about
35 ms. above West Point, and 16 ms. N. of the City of Richmond. The
Mattapony is navigable by vessels of somewhat larger burthen, (say 2,000
bushels) from Aylett's, a small village, on the S. bank of the river, about 30
ms. above West Point, and 28 ms. N. of the City of Richmond, and 20 ms.
from Tappahannock, in the county of Essex. Navigation is extended a
few miles above Aylett's, to Dunkirk bridge by boats and small schooners,
with light loads. With very trifling expense or trouble, the navigation
might be made good to Dunkirk for any vessel that could reach Aylett's
and the river might be readily and cheaply cleared out, so as to afford good
boat navigation many miles higher.

The crops are chiefly of corn, and wheat, although oats and cotton are
profitably cultivated. Tobacco (as in most of the tide water counties) has
been almost abandoned. Very profitable business may be, and no doubt
will be done by shipping wood and timber for market from this county.

Rumford Academy is the only public seminary in the county worthy of
notice. It is an excellent brick building, calculated to accommodate 40 or
50 pupils with board, situated immediately on the road leading from Aylett's
to the C. H. and 5 ms. distant from either place, in a very healthy
and agreeable part of the county. This has been always esteemed an institution
of considerable merit, and has generally enjoyed an excellent
school, in which the usual branches of an academic education are taught.
It is now in good hands, and may be justly recommended to the public.
There is a Post Office at this Academy.

This is a very religious county, with but little, if any appearance of bigotry,
intolerance or fanaticism. The Baptists are the most numerous sect,

of whom the Reformers constitute the larger portion. There is a very respectable
congregation of Methodists, who have a large and excellent house
for public worship, called Powell's chapel. There are also a few Presbyterians,
who usually attend religious worship at the Acquintaine church.
There are 4 brick churches, viz.—Mangohick, Cat tail, Acquintaine and
West Point Church. These churches are for the most part used by the
Baptists, but free for all denominations. There is also an excellent Baptist
meeting house called Beulah, used exclusively, it is believed by what
are commonly denominated the old Baptists. Population in 1820, 9,697—
in 1830, 9,319, whereof 3,389 were whites—and 5,930 blacks. This
county belongs to the 4th judicial circuit and second district. Taxes paid
in 1833, $2,565 87—in 1834, on lots, $20—on land, $1,238 76—3,319
slaves, $829 75—1,655 horses, $99 30—7 studs, $100 00—67 coaches,
$152 00—14 carryalls $14 00—222 gigs, $126 26. Total, $2,563 03.
Expended in educating poor children in 1832, $236 10—in 1833, $162 49.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Aylett's P. V. 27 ms. N. E. of
R., and 110 from W., situated at the
head of navigation on the banks of
Mattapony river, a branch of York
river, about 30 ms. from its junction
with the Pamunkey, to form York
river. It contains 15 dwelling houses,
3 mercantile stores, and 4 groceries.
The mechanics are, tailors, house
carpenters, wheelwrights, blacksmiths,
&c. Population 50 whites, and 60
colored. Total 110 Aylett's, in
proportion to the inhabitants it contains,
is a place of considerable trade.
Many thousand bushels of grain, are
shipped annually to the neighboring
markets, and coastwise. Vessels of
easy draft of water can ascend up the
Mattapony, and load at this village;
but down about 8 ms. below the bar
in the river, vessels of the burthen of
3 to 4,000 bushels meet with no obstruction
in the navigation. In the
vicinity of this place are several manufacturing
flour mills, and 5 houses
of public worship, 1 Episcopalian, 2
Methodist, and 2 Baptist.

Rumford Academy is situated 4
ms. distant, and is a seminary of respectable
standing. The soil of the
surrounding country, is light, sandy
loam, and better adapted to the culture
of maize, cotton and peas, than
wheat, or tobacco: and immediately on
the river flats is quite productive. The
inhabitants of the neighbourhood are
intelligent, and in easy circumstances.
Several handsome mansions are located
near it, built in a modern and
handsome style, and their fine appearance
adds importance and beauty to
this little village.

Brandywine, lies at the intersection
of the road leading from Aylett's
to Newcastle ferry, with the road leading
from Mechanicsville to the C. H.
7 ms. from Aylett's, 4½ from Newcastle
ferry, 10 ms. from the C. H. and
5 from Mechanicsville.—It has an
excellent tavern, a grocery, and gig
maker.

Enfield, P. O. 108 ms. from W.
36 from R., and about 300 yds from
Mechanicsville, and 3½ ms. from
Dabney's ferry, on the road leading
from that ferry to Aylett's. It contains
2 stores, a blacksmith, shoemaker,
cabinet maker, saddler and harne's
maker, and a carpenters shop.

Green Mount, P. O. 33 ms. from
R. and 104 ms. from W.

KING WILLIAM C. H., 27 ms.
N. E. of R., and 120 W. of S. from
W. C., situated between the Mattapony
and Pamunkey rivers, 2 ms. from
the former, and 5 from the latter, 6
ms. distant both from Rumford Academy
and the Piping Tree, 7 ms. from

Brandywine, and 10 ms. from Aylett's.
It contains, besides the usual county
buildings, 8 dwelling houses, several
mechanic shops, and 1 mercantile
store. Some of the lots and buildings
present a state of high improvement,
and tasteful management, especially
the public lots and buildings, consisting
of a C. H., Clerk's office, and 2
jails—all constructed of brick, and
handsomely inclosed with an iron
railing. The lot is laid off in a square
which is beautifully set with grass,
and shaded by a grove of locust trees.
Population 75 persons, of whom 1 is
an attorney, and 2 are regular physicians.

County Courts are held on the 4th
Monday in every month.—Quarterly
in March, May, August and November.

Judge Semple holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 1st of April and September.

Lanesville, P. O. 7 ms. below
the C. H., has 2 stores, and several
mechanics.

Mangohick, P. O. 102 ms. from
W., and 40 from R. There is here
a store, blacksmith shop, gig maker,
shoemaker, and tailor's shop. Distant
10 ms. from Aylett's.

Piping Tree, P. V. 20 ms. N.
E. of R., and 127 from W., situated
on the Pamunkey river, 10 ms. S.
of Aylett's, though called a village,
yet it is not remarkable for any thing
more than a comfortable tavern house
and ferry on the road leading direct
to R.

Rumford Academy, P. O., 115
ms. a little S. of W. from W., and 32
N. E. of R., situated on Mattapony
river, 6 ms. below Aylett's, and 6 ms.
above the C. H. The mail arrives
twice a week. (See above in description
of the county.)

LANCASTER.

Lancaster was created by the legislature in 1652;—we are not informed
from what county it was taken. It is bounded N. by Richmond and Northumberland
counties, E. by Northumberland, and the Chesapeake, S. and W.
by the Rappahannock river, which separates it from Middlesex. Its length
is 24 ms., mean breadth 8, and area 300 sq. ms., and it extends in lat. from
27° 35′, to 37° 55′ N., and in long from 0° 22′, to 0° 40′ E. of W. C. It
is deeply indented on its Rappahannock border with several small but very
convenient bays. Population in 1820, 5,517—in 1830, 4,801. It belongs
to the 5th judicial circuit and 3d district. Tax paid in 1832-3, $971 25—in
1833-4, on land, $462 86—1,385 slaves, $346 25—638 horses, $38 28—
2 studs, $16 00—29 coaches, $60 00—7 carryalls, $7 00—108 gigs,
$59 40. Total, $989 79. Expended in educating poor children in 1832,
$117 90.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

LANCASTER C. H., P. V., situated
near the centre of the county,
83 ms. N. E. of R., and 145 ms. S
S. E. of W. Besides the usual county
buildings, it contains about 30
dwelling houses, 3 mercantile stores,
and 1 tavern. Various mechanical
pursuits are carried on. Population
80 persons; of whom 1 is an attorney,
and 1 a physician.

County Courts are held on the 3rd
Monday in every month.—Quarterly
in March, May, August and November.

Judge Lomax holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery,
on the 25th of May, and 28th of
October.

Kilmarnock, P. V. situated on a
small creek of Chesapeake bay, 90
ms. N. E. by E. of R., and 153 ms.
from W., about 16 ms. N. of the
mouth of Rappahannock river, and
1½ ms. from the navigable waters of
Chesapeake bay. It contains 40
dwelling houses, 3 mercantile stores,
and 1 tavern. Various mechanical
pursuits are carried on; and in the
neighbourhood in different directions,
are 4 houses of public worship, 1
Episcopalian, 1 Baptist, and 2 Methodist.
Population 130 persons; of
whom 1 is a physician.

Nuttsville, P. V. in the northern
part of the county, 138 ms. S. S. E.
of W., and 76 N. E. by E. of R., situated
7 ms. above Lancaster C. H.,
in a N. W. direction, and about 2 ms.
from the Rappahannock river. This
place was established 35 or 40 years
since, by a person by the name of
Wm. D. Nutt, (hence Nuttsville) and
the Post Office was located here in
1818. It has 2 dwelling houses, 1
country store, a blacksmith and tailor
shop.

Pain's Roads, P. O. 52 ms.
from W., and 72 ms. from R., situated
between the Rappahannock, and Carrotoman
rivers, 15 ms. from the mouth
of the former, and 5 ms. from the
mouth of the latter. In the neck
called Carrotoman, which runs N.
and S. for the distance of 10 ms. between
those 2 rivers. Some 8 or 10
years back, this was a place of considerable
trade, but at present, it contains
only 4 or 5 dwelling houses, a
school, a Baptist meeting house, and
2 boot and shoe factories. Population
40. The soil is fertile, producing
well. The principal crops are wheat,
Indian corn, and cotton. Though
situated between 2 large commercial
rivers, not more than 1 mile from
either, the view is entirely obstructed
by an immense growth of oak, and
pine woods, an article of considerable
value in the trade of this section of
country.

LOUDOUN.

Loudoun was created by the Legislature in the year 1757, and formed
from a part of Fairfax county. It is bounded on the N. by the Potomac,
which separates it from Frederick county, Maryland, and on the N. E. by
the same river, separating it from Montgomery county, Md.,—E. by Fairfax,—S.
by Prince William and Fauquier,—and W. by the Blue Ridge
which separates it from Frederick and Jefferson counties. Its length is
from S. E. to N. W. 22 miles, mean breadth 21, and area 468 square miles;
and it extends in lat. from 38° 42′ to 39° 18′ N. and in long. from 0° 20′
to 0° 54′ W. of W. C.

The most prominent feature of this county is its ranges of mountains.
The blue Ridge divides this county from Frederick and Jefferson, the line
running on the summit. It presents here that uniformity and general appearance,
which characterizes it, throughout this State, having gaps or depressions
every eight or ten miles, through which the public roads pass.
Its altitude here varies from about 1000 to 1400 feet above tide water, and
from 300 to 700 feet above the adjacent country; and its course is about
S. S. W. Another range of nearly equal height, and similar features, called the
Short Hills commences at the Potomac river about 4 miles below Harper's
Ferry, running parallel to the ridge and extending about 9 miles into the

county, where it is broken by a branch of Kittoctan Creek passing through
it; beyond which it immediately rises again, and extends about 3 miles
further, where it abruptly terminates. A third range called the Kittoctan
mountain commences at the Potomac river, opposite the Point of Rocks in
Maryland, about 12 miles below Harper's Ferry, and runs parallel to the
Blue Ridge, nearly through the county; and forms a valley of about 10
miles wide, from the northern to the southern boundary of the county.
This mountain does not probably exceed an average of more than 300
feet above the surrounding country, though some of its peaks may attain
an altitude of 600 feet. It rises near the Potomac into one of its highest
peaks, and in the same range becomes alternately depressed and elevated
several times, until it reaches the neighborhood of Waterford, where it divides
itself into several branches, and presents the appearance of an elevated
and hilly country, deeply indented by the severals streams that rises in
its bosom.

On reaching the Leesburg and Snicker's Gap turnpike road, a distance
of 11 or 12 miles, it expands to 3 miles in width, and continues much the
same until after it is broken by Goose Creek, and its tributary the N. W.
Fork, when it gradually loses itself in the hills of Goose Creek and Little
river, before reaching the Ashby's Gap turnpike. Immediately S. of
Aldie on Little river, another range commences called the Bull Run mountain,
and extends in a single range into Fauquier county. This range
might properly be considered a continuation of the easternmost range of the
Kittoctan, as its course and some of its features correspond very nearly
with it, save only that it is higher than any of the ranges of the latter, except
the western. No range of mountains or even hills of much elevation
exists E. of the Kittoctan, that being the first range met with above
tide water. Three or four detached hills, with an elevation of 100 or 200
feet above the adjacent country, are on the waters of the N. W. Fork of
Goose Creek, and are all that are deemed worthy of notice.

It may be perceived, on reference to the map, by the course of the waters,
that the general slope of the county is to the N. E. The streams that
rise in the Blue Ridge mostly run to the E., until they approach the Kittoctan
mountain, where they either turn more to the N. or S. to pass that
range by the N. W. Fork and Goose Creek, or by the Kittoctan creek
that falls into the Potomac, above the Point of Rocks. E. of the Kittoctan
mountain the streams generally pursue a N. course. The Kittoctan
creek is very crooked, its basin does not exceed about 12 miles from N. to
S. and includes the whole width of the valley between the mountains, except
a small portion in the N. E. angle of the county; and yet its whole
course measuring its meanders would exceed 35 miles in length; and it
has a fall of 180 feet in the last 18 miles of its course, and is about 20 yards
wide near its mouth. Goose Creek where it enters the county from Fauquier,
is a considerable stream and pursues generally a N. E. course, and
receives many small streams, until it passes the first range of the Kittoctan
mountain, where it receives a large tributary, the N. W. Fork. The latter
stream rises in the Blue Ridge, and pursues a S. E. course, and unites
with the Beaver Dam, coming from the S. W. immediately above the Kittoctan
mountain, where their united waters pass by a narrow valley to
Goose Creek. After receiving the N. W. Fork, the main stream pursues
generally an E. N. E. course for a few miles further, where it receives the
Little river from the S. This stream rises in Fauquier county W. of the

Bull Run mountain, and enters this county a few miles above Aldie, and
pursues a N. and N. E. course until after passing that town, when it turns
more northwardly and falls into Goose Creek. The now increased stream
meanders a little more to the N. E. and N. and finally falls into the Potomac,
4 miles N. E. of Leesburg. Its length in this county is about 30
miles, and it has a fall of 100 feet, in the last 22 miles of its course. It
drains nearly one half of the county, and is about 60 yards wide at its
mouth.

Broad Run the next stream of consequence, E. of Goose Creek, rises in
Prince William county, and pursues a N. course with some meanderings
through this county, and falls into the Potomac about 4 miles below the
mouth of Goose Creek. Sugar Land run, a smaller stream, rises partly
in this county, though its course is chiefly in Fairfax county, and falls into
the Potomac at the N. E. angle of this county. In the S. E. angle of the
county several streams rise and pursue a S. and S. E. course, and constitute
some of the upper branches of Occoquan river.

This county is not rich in minerals, though there are some small indications
of Iron ore in several places. A furnace formerly existed at the E.
base of the Kittoctan mountain, on the margin of the Potomac river, but
has been out of blast for a good many years, owing to the scarcity of fuel.
The ore in the vicinity is said to be abundant, and the water power there used
was obtained from the Kittoctan creek, W. of the mountain, by excavating
a tunnel through one of its spurs, 500 feet through the rock and 60 feet
below the surface of the hill. Magnetic iron ore has been found in some
places, and that, or some other similar substance, has an effect upon the
needle of the surveyor's compass, and renders surveying very difficult
where great accuracy is required. In some instances the needle has been
known to be drawn 7° from its true course. This effect is more or less
observed nearly throughout the Kittoctan mountain, and in many other
places in the county. In one place it is said that silver has been obtained
in small quantity, and in another place there is an indication of copper ore,
but whether sufficiently rich to justify working, remains to be tested.
Small angular lumps of a yellowish colored substance have been found in
a few places, embedded in rock, and supposed to contain sulphur, from the
strong sulphurous smell given out on its being exposed to a strong heat.
Limestone has not been found in many places near the surface of the
ground in this county. It is found in Digg's valley and some other places,
and quarries are worked N. E. of Waterford, on the E. side of the Black
Oak Ridge, and at the base of the Kittoctan mountain, where Goose Creek
first approaches it. Near the latter place, marble is found of an excellent
quality, but has not been worked much. In the vicinity of Leesburg and
N. of it, and between the Kittoctan mountain and the Potomac river, a
colcareous rock is found in abundance, apparently formed of pebbles
cemented together, and similar in formation to that used for the pillars of
the Representatives Hall in the Capitol at Washington, and commonly
known as the Potomac marble; when burnt it produces an inferior lime.

There are several mineral springs in the county of the class called
Chalybeate, and several springs and wells that are affected with lime.

Many varieties of stone are found in this county, among which are
granite very abundant, horne blende, gneiss, quartz, and as before observed,
limestone and marble. Much of it however, on or near the surface, appears
to be a variety of granite and horne blende. The latter kind is frequently

found in round or oval masses, and in that form it is almost impossible
to break it. White flint is met with frequently, and blue flint occasionally,
throughout the county, on or near the surface, but seldom in large
masses or deep in the ground. Small pointed stones of different kinds of
flint, and supposed to be Indian darts, are occasionally found, as also some
rare varieties of stones, of a singular form, and exhibiting some curious
phenomena. Some few years ago, a stonemason broke a stone on the Kittoctan
mountain, and found it to contain a shell resembling an oyster shell
filled with sand petrified.

The different strata of rocks and earth, throughout the county, have a
direction parallel with the mountain, and an elevated position inclining to
the west, evidently shewing some general cause in their formation.

Perhaps no county in the State is better watered for all purposes except
manufacturing in times of drought. The springs are generally small and
very numerous, and many of them are very lasting tho' liable to be effected
by drought. In such cases by absorption, and evaporation, the small
streams are frequently exhausted before uniting and render the larger ones
too light for manufacturing purposes. Many of our farms might be
divided into fields of ten acres each and have running water in each of
them in ordinary seasons. But one spring in the county is large enough
to turn a mill, and that is near Leesburg, on which is a large merchant
mill capable of manufacturg 75000 bushels of wheat in a year.

The most common growth of timber found here, is the white, black,
Spanish, red, and box oak; hickory and green maple; white and yellow
poplar; black and white walnut, ash, sassafras, dogwood, chesnut, and
chesnut oak on the mountains, peach oak (so called from the resemblance
of its leaves to that of the peach tree;) in low grounds and near the margin
of streams, is the sycamore, red, and slippery elm, birch and some
beech; the persimmon, black and red haw or white thorn is common and
the Virginia thorn, suitable for hedging, is found in the eastern part of the
county. Common locust is found in part of the county; the quaking asp
is occasionally met with, and so is the yellow pine; and on some of the
cliffs of Goose Creek and Beaver Dam, the hemlock or spruce pine is to
be found. The wild May cherry or service berry, the witch hazel, fringe
tree, red bud, papaw and spicewood are not uncommon. Three varieties
of the large grape commonly called fox grape, and several kinds of lesser
grapes, are found here, and were formerly very common.

Almost every kind of fruit common to this climate succeeds well, especially
apples, peaches, cherries, plums, quinces and grapes: the farmers
generally are very remiss in improving their orchards by selecting good
fruit, but lately more attention has been paid to that subject and the good
effects are becoming visible.

This county contains all the varieties of soil, from a rich alluvian to that
of an unproductive clay. That part of it lying E. of a line drawn from
the Potomac river near Leesburg by Aldie to the Fauquier line, is much
more unproductive than that part to the W. partly on account of an inferior
soil, and partly in consequence of that wretched system of farming
hitherto too much practised in Virginia, of cropping with corn and tobacco,
without endeavoring to improve the quality of the soil. Some of
it that formerly produced 30 or 40 bushels of corn to the acre is now
thrown out to the commons, and considered useless. A good deal of this
part of the county is very level, and has a clay soil, and is more productive

in grass than grain. The other section or about three-fourths of the
county has generally a good soil, and is very susceptilbe of improvement.
The quality of the grain is good. Gypsum, or plaster of Paris, and clover
act wonderfully in improving the soil, as well as barnyard manures.

The staple articles are flour, wheat, pork and beef. Most of the wheat
is manufactured into flour in the county, and the rye, corn, oats, and buckwheat
is mostly consumed at home. Much excellent pork is fattened in
this county, and many hundred head of cattle are annually grazed to supply
the Baltimore and District markets. All kinds of vegetables common
to this climate succeed well.

The citizens of this county are characterized by a commendable spirit of
internal improvement. A charter has been obtained and some subscriptions
towards forming a company to improve the navigation of Goose Creek
and some of its tributaries by a lock and dam system, and a charter also
to form a company to make a rail road from the mouth of the Kittoctan
creek opposite the Point of Rocks in Maryland, to Upperville in Fauquier
county.

A very considerable contrast is observable in the manners of the inhabitants
in different sections of the county. That part of it lying N. W. of
Waterford was originally settled principally by Germans, and is now called
the German settlement, and the middle of the county S. W. of Waterford
and W. of Leesburg, was mostly settled by emigrants from the middle
States, many of whom were members of the society of Friends. In these
two sections the farms are generally from one to three hundred acres each
and are mostly cultivated by free labor. In the S. and E. parts of the county
the farms are many of them much larger and principally cultivated by slave
labor.

Very extensive prospects may be seen on some of the summits of the
Blue Ridge. From the east side nearly all Loudoun, with a good deal of
Fairfax and Fauquier, is in full view, also a considerable part of Culpeper,
and Prince William counties in this State, with Frederick and Montgomery
counties of Maryland, and even some of Prince George county E. of
Washington City. From the W. side of the summits may be seen Shenandoah,
Frederick, Berkley, and Jefferson counties in this State—with
Washington county, Maryland, and some of the mountain summits of
Pennsylvania.

Population in 1820, 22,702—in 1830, 21,939. This county belongs to
the sixth judicial circuit and third district. Taxes paid in 1833, $8720 78
—in 1834 on lots, $622 63—on land, $6205 41—3021 slaves, $755 25—
8399 horses, $503 94—41 studs, $381 00—74 coaches, $160 00—123
carryalls, $15 29—47 gigs, $37 80. Total, $8817 32. Expended in
educating poor children in 1832, $1230 18—in 1833, $1073 60.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Aldie, P. O. 149 ms. from R., and
41 ms. from W., situated at the junction
of Snicker's Gap turnpike, with
Little river turnpike, on Little river,
at the point which it passes between
Kittoctan and Bull Run mountains.

Arcold, P. O. 38 ms. W. of W.
and 146 from R., situated on the main
stage road, leading from Alexandria
to Winchester, and distant from the
former 29 ms., about a mile and a
half from Arcold is Gum Spring, a
small village containing 8 dwelling
houses, 2 mercantile stores, 1 tanyard,

1 blacksmith shop and a distillery.
Population 20. This section of country
is thickly settled, though the land
is generally poor.

Bloomfield, P. V. 51 ms. N. W.
by W. of W., and 168 from R., situated
within a mile of Snickersville. It
contains 12 dwelling houses, 2 mercantile
stores, 1 tanyard, 1 tin plate
worker, 1 tailor, 1 cabinet maker, 1
boot and shoe factory; and in the vicinity
there is a Baptist house of worship
in which a school is kept. Population
40.

Edward's Ferry, P. O. This
ferry is across the Potomac, at the
point at which the road crosses that
river between Rockville, in Montgomery
county, Maryland and Leesburg,
on the upper side of the mouth
of Goose creek, 21 ms. a little N. of
W. from Rockville, 4 ms. N. E. of
Leesburg, and 31 ms. N. W. of W.
The P. O. is on the Maryland side.

Griggsville, P. V. 40 ms. W. of
W., and 162 from R. This place
received a charter of incorporation a
few years since, but has not progressed
in improvement,—1 family, a
store and a P. O. are all it yet contains,
although it is situated in a fertile
and densely settled country, 9 ms.
W. of Leesburg, the couuty seat, 12
ms. S. of Waterford, and the same
distance S. E. of Hillsborough, 8 ms.
E. of Snickersville, 6 ms. N. E. of
Middleburg, and 8 ms. W. of Aldie.

Goshen, a small village in the
southern part of the county, about 35
ms. W. of W.

Hamilton's Store, P. O. 159
ms. from R. and 37 from W.

Hillsborough, at the eastern
foot of the Blue Ridge, in the northern
part of the county, 43 ms. N. N.
W. of W., and 165 from R. It is
pleasantly situated in the midst of a
fine fertile country, and business like
neigborhood, about 4 ms. E. of the
Blue Ridge mountain, on the public
road leading from Harper's ferry to
Leesburg, 10 ms. from the former,
and 13 ms. from the latter. A line
of stages passing from Harper's ferry,
to Leesburg, passes through this
place, and unites at the latter place
with one leading to Washington—4
mails a week are received at Hillsborough.
It contains 30 dwelling
houses, 3 mercantile stores, 1 Methodist
house of worship, 1 Academy, 2
flour manufacturing mills, 1 tavern
and a temperance society. The mechanics
are a tanner, saddler, boot
and shoe manufacturer, tailor, hatter,
cabinet maker, 2 wagon makers, and
1 blacksmith. Population 172 persons;
of whom 1 is a physician.

Holme's Mill, P. O. 40 ms. W.
of W. and 162 from R.

Hoysville, P. O. 43 ms. from W.
and 165 from R. The country around
is thickly settled and generally
healthy; the quality of the land is
equal to any in Virginia; the princiral
products of the soil, are wheat,
rye, corn, and oats, which are raised
in great abundance. Hoysville lies
to the E. of Kittoctan mountain, and
1½ ms. from Kittoctan creek, about 2
ms. S of Potomac river, and 3 ms.
distant from the Point of Rocks, at
which the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal,
and the Baltimore and Ohio Rail
Road meet. There are several flour
manufacturing mills in the neighborhood,
and mechanics of almost every
description.

Hughesville, P. O. 4 ms. from
Leesburg, and 36 ms. N. W. of W.,
and 158 ms. from R.

LEESBURG, P. V. and Seat of
Justice, 31 ms. N. W. of W. C. and
153 N. of R. in lat 39° 07′, and long.
0° 0′ W. of W. C. It is a well built,
and neat village, located near a small
ridge of mountains. The environs
are waving and well cultivated, and
delightfully variegated by hill and
dale. It contains about 500 houses,
22 general stores, 3 houses of public
worship, 1 Presbyterian, 1 Episcopalian,
and 1 Methodist, a Bank (branch
of the Valley bank,) in a large handsome

banking house, 2 apothecaries
shops, 3 schools for males, 1 classical,
and 2 English, 3 for females, 2 of which
have attained some celebrity, and 4
taverns. The mechanical pursuits
are 3 tanners, 3 saddlers, 4 boot and
shoe factories, 3 tailor establishments,
4 house carpenters, 1 cabinet maker,
3 tin plate workers, 1 copper smith,
1 white and lock smith, 3 blacksmiths,
2 silver smiths, 1 coach maker,
1 turner and chair maker, 1
wagon maker, 2 hat factories, 2 printing
offices, each issuing a weekly
paper; and all other necessary mechanics
for an inland town. The
public buildings are large, convenient,
handsome and substantial. The C.
H. in the centre of a square well enclosed
with a brick wall, the market
house and jail of brick. The town
is situated a quarter of a mile E. of
Kittoctan mountain, on a high and
healthy plain, 1½ ms. N. of Potomac
river, and 2 ms. N. of Goose creek,
surrounded by a fertile and well cultivated
country adapted to the growth
of wheat, Indian corn, and tobacco—
the former the staples. The streets
are well paved, and the town, supplied
with fine water, in pipes of
wood, from a spring issuing at the
base of Kittoctan mountain. It is
governed by a Mayor and 12 Councillors,
and is not excelled for morality
by any town in Virginia. Population
1,700 persons; of whom 5 are
practising physicians, 2 dentists and
7 resident attorneys.

County Courts are held on the
2nd Monday in every mouth:—
Quarterly in March, June, August
and November.

Judge Scott holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 21st of April and September.

Lovettsville, P. V. in the N.
W. part of the county, 48 ms. N. W.
of W. and 170 from R. It contains
14 private dwellings, 4 mercantile
stores, 1 German reformed church,
and 1 Presbyterian church now being
erected, 2 boot and shoe factories, 1
cabinet maker, 1 tailor, 1 saddler, 1
milliner and mantua maker, and 1
tavern. It is situated 7 ms. distant
from Harper's ferry, 2 ms. from Potomac
river, 6 ms. from the Point of
Rocks, 7 ms. from Waterford, and 8
ms. from Hillsboro. This village is
in a flourishing condition, being located
in the centre of a German
neighborhood, the inhabitants of which
are industrious and wealthy.

Middleburg, P. V. on Goose
creek, the S. S. W. part of the county,
46 ms. N. W. by W. of W. and 143
ms. from R., situated 12 ms. from the
top of the Blue Ridge, at Ashby's
Gap, the corner of Loudoun and
Fauquier counties, ¼ of a mile from
the Fauquier line, and 16 ms. from
Leesburg, the County Seat. It contains
70 dwelling houses, 7 mercantile
stores, selling on an average
$80,000 worth of goods per annum,
2 houses of public worship, 1 methodist,
and 1 free for all denominations,
1 classical school, 1 English school
for males, 2 female academies and 2
hotels. The mechanical pursuits are
1 tanner and currier, 2 coach manufacturers,
2 boot and shoe factories, 2
wagon makers, 2 blacksmiths, 1 chair
maker, 2 tailors, 1 cabinet maker, 2
house carpenters, 2 saddlers, and 3
milliner, and mantua makers. Middleburg
is a growing and prosperous
village, surrounded by a beautiful and
fertile country. Its situation is elevated
and airy,—the houses are not
crowded, but scattered regularly over
several gradually rising eminences.
The face of the surrounding country
is diversified and picturesque,—both
from the aspect of its rolling or waved
surface, and the richness and fertility
of soil. There are within the circumference
of 10 ms. 18 flour manufacturing
mills, all plentifully filled,
by the annual harvest. The land
producing on the average acre, about
25 bushels of superior wheat.—
The village and neighborhood are

plentifully watered, large flowing
streams abounding in the country
around. The village itself contains
numerous and inexhaustible wells of
the purest and best water. There
are some sulphur and other medicinal
springs in the neighbourhood,
which have not had that attention
paid to them which they deserve, but
which in a few years will most probably
become public resorts. Population
430 persons; of whom 2 are
attorneys and 4 practising physicians.

Mount Gilead, P. V. 37 ms.
N. W. of W., and 159 ms. from R.
It is situated nearly in the centre of
this fertile and wealthy county, on the
Kittoctan Mountain, at the intersection
of two public roads, one leading
from Snickers Gap to Alexandria—
the other through a line of towns
from the S. to Philadelphia. The
site of this village is a beautiful eminence,
which rises to a moderate
height, in a wide gap, or opening in
the mountain. From the bleak winds
of the north it is protected, by a much
higher summit of the same mountain.

The prospect from this place is
most varied and extensive. To the
E. and S. is a beautiful rolling mountainous
country. But it is on the W.
side of the village that the curious
may behold the finest scenery in nature.
Here a valley opens to view
about 10 ms. wide, extending between
the Kittoctan, and Blue mountains as
far as the eye can reach; diversified
by hills and dales, fields and forests
it is equalled only in scenery of romantic
grandeur and sublimity, by
the distant mountains which border it.

Here, also, being the lower part of
the mountain, is the natural as well
as artificial passage to mill, market,
court, &c. for the citizens of the surrounding
country.

Combining so many natural advantages,
this place was purchased
by the present proprietor in 1821.—
It has since been laid out for a town,
22 lots have been disposed of, and 10
dwelling houses are in different stages
of progression.

The ground plot of the town consists
of 3 parallel streets, 2 of which
are more than ½ a mile long, intersected
by 8 other streets at right angles.
The distance from Leesburg,
Middleburg, Union, and Aldie, is respectively
about 8 ms. and as those
are the nearest towns it has to compete
with, considering the density of
the population, and the productiveness
of the country, it is calculated
that two good establishments of every
kind of business would be well supported
here. And the superior
healthiness of the place will ensure to
tradesmen and mechanics the greatest
advantages; to boarding school
and infirmary institutions the most
eligible situation. It contains at present
1 mercantile store, 1 handsome
school house built expressly for the
purpose, and the Methodist society
hold their meetings for worship therein;
an infirmary, which is an infant
institution intended for the restoration
of persons laboring under chronic
diseases, and which has been attended
with unusual success,—2 boot and
shoe factories, 1 cooper's shop, 2 cabinet
makers; and in the vicinity there
is a large and spacious house of public
worship (Baptist). This place
must rise in importance as it is located
in a healthy, fertile district; a
canal or slack water navigation is
about to be constructed on Goose
creek, 1 branch of which will terminate
within less than a mile of the
corporation. Population 62 persons;
of whom 1 is a practising physician.

Montville, P. O. 46 ms. N. W.
of W. and 154 ms. from R., situated
upon the Snicker's Gap turnpike
road, distant 1½ ms. both from the waters
of Goose creek, and Beaver Dam.
There is over the latter, an excellent
one arch stone bridge, and over the
former, a superior wooden arched
bridge. Montville contains several
dwelling houses, 1 mercantile store,

2 taverns, 1 manufacturing flour mill,
2 smith shops, 2 boot and shoe factories,
and various other mechanics.
Population 71.

The land in this neighborhood is
remarkably good, and is valued in
market at 35 and 40 dollars an acre.
The principal pursuit of the inhabitants,
is agriculture,—cattle grazing
is also followed to some extent.
There are several quarries in the
neighborhood, 1 called Mounts quarry
is of superior whetstone, and situated
on the banks of Goose creek; near
which there are very strong indications
of slate. The neighborhood
abounds with lime of the best quality,
and various other minerals.

Noland's Ferry, P. O. 43 ms.
N. W. of W., and 165 from R. The
P. O. is situated a little above the
mouth of Monocacy river.

Oatland Mills, P. O. 37 ms. N.
W. of W. and 154 from R. But for
its locality, this P. O. would deserve
no further notice than is taken in this
work of many others of the same importance:
but although of little account,
in point of revenue, it is of
great utility to a populous neighborhood,
and furnishes one of the desiderata
for this Gazetteer, as the large
body of land which is included in the
Oatland tract, affords a tolerable criterion
of the soil for some miles N.
and S. of it. Bordering on the Kittoctan
mountain, the soil is stiff and
stony, except such as is adjacent to
water courses, or the base of hills,
where it receives the benefit of large
supplies of decayed matter, rendering
it loamy and inexhaustible, but in the
main, it is of a generous quality, receiving
plaister and clover as its staple
manure, which it so pertinaciously
retains, as to defy the washing of
the heaviest rains; and still it is an
anomaly, that some of the richest portions
of this soil will not produce
wheat—while rye, oats, and corn, seldom
fail to equal the most sanguine
hopes of the cultivator. There is,
perhaps, no section of country E. of
the Blue Ridge, which better deserves
the appellation of pasture land, than
this; for there are very few parcels
where the white clover does not grow
spontaneously in the greatest abundance.
In this section of country nature
has been sparing of her mineralogical
favors. Iron ore is found in
some places, but neither so rich or
abundant as to cause it to be worked.
Marble, such as the shores of the Potomac
abound with, is scattered in
shallow strata, but is also unworthy of
attention. Lime stone is obtained in
the greatest abundance, and is well
adapted, as a manure, to the soil.
The Oatland Mills consist of a set of
merchant stones, capable of grinding
40 barrels of flour per day,—a pair
of country stones, and another for
plaister,—with an oil mill and 2 wool
carding machines, all under different
roofs, but in buildings so closely connected
as to combine the convenience
of a single one,—there is also a saw
mill adjacent; all of which are worked
by Goose creek, a bold stream emptying
into the Potomac river, 12 ms.
below. Across this creek, a few rods
from the mills, is an excellent bridge
of 120 feet span, lately erected at the
cost of the county. Through the indefatigable
zeal of the Honorable C.
F. Mercer, a topographical survey of
Goose creek has recently been made,
with a view of rendering it navigable
by a canal, intersecting the Chesapeake
and Ohio Canal; and an estimate of
the probable cost, also made, which
will not exceed $30,000,—a part of
this sum has been subscribed by persons
in the immediate neighborhood,
and a hope is entertained, that the residue
will be taken by the District of
Columbia, to secure the vast amount
of produce which must otherwise find
a market at Baltimore by way of the
Rail road.

Philmont, P. V. 41 ms. from W.
and 163 from R., situated on the
Snickersville turnpike road, 12 ms.

S. of Leesburg, the County Seat, 10
ms. from Snicker's ferry, 42 ms. from
Alexandria. It contains 6 dwelling
houses, 1 common school, 1 mercantile
store, and 2 saddlers. The country
around is fertile and wealthy, settled
for the most part by Quakers.
Wheat is the principal article produced.

Purcell's Store, P. O. 41 ms.
N. W. of W., and 163 ms. from R.

Roseville, 38 ms. from W. and
146 ms. from R.

Snickersville, P. V. in the western
part of the county, 49 ms. W. of
W., and 165 from R. This is a
thriving and healthy village, advantageously
situated at the south eastern
base of the Blue Ridge mountain, in
the midst of a densely populated and
business-like neighborhood. It contains
16 dwelling houses, 1 house of
public worship, free for all denominations,
1 common school, 1 Masonic
hall, 2 taverns, 2 mercantile stores, 2
boot and shoe factories, 1 tailor, 1
wagon maker, 3 blacksmiths, and 1
copper and tin plate worker. This
section of the county is remarkable
for the fertility and productiveness of
its soil. A good turnpike from Winchester
to Alexandria, passes through
it, and intersects at the former place
with one from Washington to Winchester,
which passes through Leesburg.
An excellent line of stages
which extends from Washington to
Cumberland, in Indiana, passes thro'
this village, Winchester and Leesburg.
Six mails a week are received at the
P. O. Population 98 persons; of
whom 1 is an attorney, and 2 are
practising physicians.

Upperville,[19] P. V. in the extreme
south western end of Loudoun,
54 ms. W. of W., and 135 ms. from
R., situated on the Ashby's Gap turnpike
road, between Winchester and
Alexandria, distant 23 ms. both from
Leesburg and Warrenton, not more
than 200 yards from the Fauquier
line, and 3 ms. from the Blue Ridge.
It contains 64 dwelling houses, 3 mercantile
stores, 2 taverns and 1 hotel,
1 manufacturing flour mill, 3 houses
of public worship, 1 Baptist, 1 Methodist,
and 1 free for all denominations,
and another is now being erected
by the Episcopalians,—1 Academy,
in which the languages are
taught, and 1 common school. The
mechanics are, a tanner, hatter, 3
boot and shoe manufacturers, 2 mill
wrights, 1 saddler, 2 house joiners, 1
tin plate worker, 1 bricklayer, 2 stone
masons, and 2 plasterers. Upperville
is surrounded by a very populous
and fertile country, remarkably
well watered, and the land adapted to
the growth of corn and wheat, and to
grazing, which last is extensively
carried on. This place is distant from
Alexandria, 46 ms., and 54 from W.,
and its produce is principally carried to
the former. Should the contemplated
improvement of the navigation of
Goose creek go into operation, it will
afford an easier mode of transportation,
and add greatly to the wealth,
and industry of this neighborhood,
giving the former a choice of markets,
besides lessening by more than one
half, the expense of transportation.
Population 300 persons; of whom 1
is an attorney, and 2 are regular physicians.

Union, P. V. in the western angle
of the county, 51 ms. N. W. of W.,
and 173 ms. from R. It contains 25
dwelling houses, 3 houses of public
worship, 1 of which belongs to the
Methodist denomination, and the other
2 are free for all, 1 common school, 2
mercantile stores, 1 tavern, a carding
machine worked by horse power,
and to which there is also attached a
pair of burr stones. There are 1
temperance society and various mechanical
pursuits. The situation is
healthy, in a thickly settled neighbourhood,
16 ms. from Leesburg, and

equi-distant from Middleburg, Upperville
and Snickersville. Population
135 persons; of whom 1 is an attorney,
and 3 are regular physicians.

Waterford, P. V. in the northern
part of the county, 37 ms. N. W. of
W. C., and 159 ms. from R. Waterford
is a fine flourishing little village,
situated 6 ms. N. W. of Leesburg,
the County Seat, on the Kittoctan
creek. The land is equal to
any in the state of Virginia, admirably
adapted to clover and plaister, and
is excellent wheat and corn land,
which two articles are the staple productions
of the county. Waterford
contains 70 dwelling houses, 2 houses
of public worship, 1 free for all denominations,
the other a Friends'
meeting house, 6 mercantile stores, 2
free schools, 4 taverns, 1 manufacturing
flour mill, and 1 saw, grist and
plaister mill, and (in the vicinity) 2
small cotton manufactories. The mechanics
are 1 tanner, 2 house joiners,
2 cabinet makers, 1 chair maker and
painter, 1 boot and shoe manufacturers,
2 hatters, 1 tailor, &c. Population
about 400 persons; of whom 3
are regular physicians.

Wood Grove, P. O. in the northern
part of the county, 44 ms. N. W.
of W., and 166 ms. from R.

LOUISA.

Louisa was created by the Legislature in 1742, and was taken from the
upper portion of Hanover county. It is bounded N. by Orange and Spottsylvania—N.
E. by Spottsylvania,—E. by Hanover,—S. by Goochland
and Fluvanna, and W. by Albemarle. Situated between 37° 45′ and 38°
6′ N. lat., and between 0° 42′ and 1° 17′ W. long. from Washington.
This county is near the centre of Virginia and near the centre of the region
between tidewater and the Blue Ridge. Its mean length is from the
line of Albemarle to that of Hanover, 30 miles: its mean breadth, from
the upper part of Goochland to that of Spottsylvania, 18 miles: area 550
sq. miles.

Water Courses.—The South Anna, an arm of the Pamunky, runs forty
miles through this county in a S. E. direction. On the Orange and Spottsylvania
line, the North Anna runs an equal distance, bounding Louisa on
the N. and N. E. Little river, and Newfound river, rise in Louisa, and
having entered Hanover, run, the former into the North-Anna, the latter
into the South-Anna. Hopes are entertained of rendering all these navigable
to some extent: the South-Anna to the upper part of the county,
within 10 miles of its source; and the North-Anna nearly as high. There
are 35 rivulets, (here called creeks:) of which 24 are tributary to the North-Anna,
10 to the South-Anna, and one to Little river.

Soil, products, face of the country, minerals, &c.—The soil was originally
of at least middling fertility: but by every species of mismanagement
(amid which over-cropping, frequent grazing, bad ploughing, scanty manuring,
and the culture of tobacco, stand conspicuous,) it has become
pitiably barren. On high land six bushels of wheat, or ten of Indian corn,
are the average product of an acre. Wheat yields about 3½ or 4 bushels to
one of seed.

The chief agricultural products are wheat, maize (or Indian corn) and
tobacco: the last is diminishing in quantity every year; owing more to the
exhaustion of the lands suitable to its growth, than to a persuasion of its

impoverishing tendencies. The forest land is covered with oak of several
kinds, hickory, poplar, gum, maple, dogwood, and especially with yellow
pine. The most usual undergrowth is chinquepin, and sometimes whortleberry.
When the soil is exhausted by cultivation, and suffered to lie idle,
it shoots up thickets of yellow pine; which in 15 or 20 years form a cover,
that affords a means of restoring the soil.

There are no mountains. The ground is hilly, or rolling: a circumstance
combining with injudicious ploughing, and with the light, sandy
texture of the soil, to accelerate its impoverishment. Every hard rain
sweeps off much of the richest earth. Towards the upper part of the
county is a singular tract of country, of about 8 or 10,000 acres, called
"Green Spring land," (from the mineral spring of that name situated in it.)
This tract lies in an irregular circle, of from four to six miles diameter:
and far exceeds all other high land in the county, both in native fertility,
and in susceptibility of improvement. Its soil is a dark grey, containing
very little sand, or stone of any kind; and resting, at a depth of 12 or 15
inches, upon a stratum of compact, firm, red clay, scarcely penetrable by
water. Thus the "Green-Spring land" avoids the two great characteristic
defects of Louisa land—too large an intermixture of sand, and a too gritty
and porous foundation. It is particularly suited to wheat; yielding 8 or 10
bushels to one of seed, without manure; and capable of being made to yield
15, 20, or 30 to one. This oasis is not heavily timbered its oak and
hickory are rather stinted: it has little or no pine; and a good deal of
black-jack—elsewhere a symptom of sterility.

The "Green-Spring" water is impregnated chiefly or wholly with sulphur
and magnesia, forming a mild sulphate of magnesia (Epsom salts.)
It has been ascertained to have no iron. This water was once in high
vogue, and much resorted to by invalids and people of fashion. But the
accommodations for company have now, for 25 or 30 years, been discontinued;
and visitors are compelled to throw themselves upon the hospitality
of the neighborhood. The water is deemed good for dyspepsia, affections
of the liver and lungs, and several other complaints.

This spring is situated in the upper part of the county 60 miles from
Richmond, 18 from Louisa C. H., and 25 from Charlottesville. Since the
death of the former proprietor (Col. Morris) the place has gone to decay.
There were several spacious buildings for the reception of visitors, but
some have been consumed by fire, some have fallen down, and only a few
houses in a state of rapid decay remain. The issue of the spring is small,
but the stream runs constantly and with force. The water is clear and
transparent, but quite unpleasant to the taste.

Gold has, within two years past, been found abundantly in Louisa.
Through the heart of the county, runs that belt of gold land which pervades
Virginia, Carolina, and Georgia in a direction nearly from N. E.
to S. W. (viz. S. 49° 30′ W.). Its breadth here is from 1 to 3 miles. No
vein has yet been profitably worked. The richest deposites have been
found upon Contrary creek, in the northern part of the county. The ordinary
depth at which these are found, is from one to four feet; and none
deeper than 12 feet. In one of them (called "Tinder's mine") at the depth
of 10 or 12 feet, the value of about $20,000 has been found, and near
$10,000 of this were obtained within six days, in November, 1833, by
about 25 hands. There are nine deposites on or near the creek just mentioned,
which have been more or less worked, and altogether have yielded

near $40,000. Contiguous to one of them, (Walton's) a promising vein
of rich ore has been opened, by a perpendicular shaft of 50 feet, and then a
horizontal tunnel of 10 or 12 feet. This is the only instance in Louisa of
a vein wrought upon scientific principles.

Towards the S. W. part of the county, also, promising indications both
of deposites and veins have been found: but none of them have been extensively
wrought. The usual indicia of vein-gold are cellated quartz,
with talcose slate, sulphuret (or pyrites) of iron, &c. The deposites
(which are thought to be broken down or partially decomposed veins) are
indicated commonly by the same signs; and are usually in quartzose
strata (or layers,) 6, 10, or 12 inches thick; resting upon beds of slate.
The apparatus for obtaining deposite gold is very simple and cheap: consisting
(besides the digging tools) of a small stream of water; a sort of
trough called a rocker, in which the earth is shaken in water, to separate
it from the gold; a few tin-pans, and some quicksilver, to collect the fine
particles of gold by its attraction. At the mines on Contrary, one hand
ordinarily obtains from one to five dwt. per day. One dwt. to the hand is
considered profitable. There were from 60 to 70 hands employed in the
county, on an average, during the year 1833, in searching for gold. Several
mining companies having now been chartered by the Legislature, much
more capital and labor will doubtless soon be employed.

Iron ore is plentiful through the gold region. It was partially wrought
before the Revolution, to supply a furnace in Spottsylvania: and might be
worked to advantage now, were not wood scarce in the vicinity. Graphite,
or carburet of iron, (improperly called black lead,) has been found in
considerable quantities on the eastern branch of Contrary and on Cub creek;
the former 2 or 3 miles and the latter 6 or 7 miles below the gold region.

A range of granite from 5 to 8 miles wide, extends nearly across the
county in much the same direction as the gold range, and in part coinciding
with it; though generally the granite lies higher up the country, tapering
off in the form of an ellipse, 6 or 8 miles to the S. W. of the Court
House. Good millstones have been made of this rock. It is intermixed
with the coarser and less pure granite, called gneiss. The rest of the
county, without the granite region, is of the secondary formation; chiefly
slate, with quartz, mica, and some gneiss. Yet granite occasionally appears
miles distant from the range just described. On the eastearn or rather
south-eastern edge of the granite formation, about 5 miles N. E. of Louisa
C. H., is a quarry of stone novaculite or Virginia oil-stone, highly valued
for whet-stones. This quarry is a seam, or vein, 50 or 60 feet long and of
unknown depth, in the centre of a peculiar formation, which extends for
three-quarters of a mile in length, by a half-a-mile in breadth, partly within
and partly without the granite range. The Virginia oilstone is exquisitely
fine, and free from grit, yet sufficiently soft.[20] It is composed of feldtzpar,
chrystallized silex, and sometimes hornblend, (three of the four elements
of granite.) Another whetstone quarry is ten miles S. of Louisa
C. H., near what is called the Rack-punch, or Arrack-punch spring: but
this is coarse compared with the former, being a sort of sandstone.

Population in-1830; 16,151, or 29 to the square mile. The following

table shews the population, and its three comparative classes, at the three last
enumerations.

       

Years.	Whites.	Slaves.	Free Col'd people.	Total.
1810	5,253	6,430	157	11,840
1820	5,967	7,560	219	13,746
1830	6,468	9,382	301	16,151

The slaves have increased more rapidly than whites; the free colored
people more rapidly than either. The following table shews at what rate
per cent the whole population and each of its three classes, have increased,
both during the whole 20 years preceding the last census, and during each
half of that period:

       

Periods.	In. of Whites. per cent.	In. of Slaves. per cent.	In. Fr. Col'd. per cent.	In. whole pop. per cent.
From 1810 to 1820	13½	17½	39	16
From 1820 to 1830	8½	24	37	17½
From 1810 to 1830	23	46	91	36½

The county contains about 1400 dwelling houses, besides those occupied
by slaves. None of them can pretend to elegance or grandeur; for the
greater number is of one story, and wooden, either framed or made with
logs. Scarcely 20 are made of brick: and even painting is rare.

Trades, occupations, &c.—Louisa contains 15 regular practising physicians,
4 lawyers, 12 ministers of the gospel (all of whom, however, have
other pursuits also;) 4 saddler's shops, 14 tanneries, 3 carriage maker's
shops, 5 tailors' shops, 1 silversmith, about 30 grist mills, at several of
which good wheat-flour is made, and occasionally for the Richmond market.
There is no cotton or woollen manufactory; but there are several
machines for picking cotton and carding wool. The great mass of the
population is agricultural. There are about 20 stores where merchandize
is sold.

Religion and morals.—The county contains about 2960 professing
christians, viz. 1450 Baptists, 1340 Methodists, 140 Reformed Baptists,
20 Presbyterians, and 10 Episcopalians. Houses of worship, 25, besides
two stations, or permanent camps, for camp-meetings. These rural churches
are of the plainest structure, usually framed of scantling, merely shingled
and weatherboarded, without ceiling or plastering on the inside; and
costing from 150 to 450 dollars.

The people in general are of moral and industrious habits. They have
been noted for their simplicity in dress and equipage: what is called Virginia-cloth
being more frequently worn by them, than in most of the neighboring
counties. There are 13 temperance societies in the county, comprising
altogether about 1200 members. There is a female colonization
society, and several Bible, Tract, Missionary, and Sunday school societies.

Schools, state of learning, &c.—There is but one permanent classical
school in Louisa. There are several for teaching the plainer branches of
knowledge; and three female boarding schools. The county has usually
furnished about 5 students annually to the University of Virginia.

Pauper system.—Until 1832 the poor were maintained at their own
houses, or in the houses of their friends, by a specific sum yearly allotted

to each by the overseers of the poor. This sum was usually so squandered
or misapplied, as to produce not more than half the due amount of comfort
and relief to the pauper: while at the same time many who were not
proper objects of charity, palmed themselves as such upon the overseers.
From both these causes, the poor tax arose to double its necessary or proper
amount. In 1818 it was 35 cents on each tithable person; in 1828,
54 cents: in 1829, 55 cents; and in 1831, 62 cents. In 14 years its whole
amount had risen from $1615 to $3502; and this by such steady and regular
strides as shewed a likelihood of continued advances. Alarmed at so
rapid an increase of the burthen, the county court resolved, as a means of
checking it, to establish a Poor House. In 1831, about 200 acres of land
were purchased, with a neat two-story brick house and some useful outhouses;
to which several others were added at the county charge. The
whole, cost less than $2000. The poor, who chose to receive parish aid,
were brought to the institution in January, 1832: it being determined that
relief should be afforded to none out of the Poor House. A superintendent,
discreet, trusty, and kind, is employed for $200 per annum, and a small
supply of meat and corn to his family. The inmates at the time this article
was written were 29. They are well fed, clothed, and lodged; and more
comfortable in all respects than they could be under the former system.
The tax for their support on each tythable person in 1832, was reduced to
35 cents, and in 1833, to 13 cents. Formerly the number of paupers
ranged from 50 to 90; costing the public, on an average, about $38 or
$40 each. The present average is less than $26 each. Such as are able,
labor upon the farm attached to the establishment; and the females, who
cannot work without doors, have cotton and wool furnished them to card
and spin.

History, civil and political condition.—Louisa was laid off as a county
(taken from the upper part of Hanover,) by an act of the General Assembly
in May, 1742, and named after a princess of the royal family of Great
Britain. In 1761 a portion was cut off from its upper end and added to
Albemarle; leaving the boundaries of Louisa as they now stand. This
county has been the scene of no important historical incident. Its citizens
bore their full share in the Indian and French war of 1755, and in the war
of the Revolution. Tarlton, with his cavalry, passed up by the Court
House in 1781 on his expedition to Albemarle: and when La Fayette had
united with Wayne at the Racoon Ford on the Rapidan, and turned to pursue
the British general from whom he had been retreating, he made a
forced and rapid march across this county, from Brock's Bridge on the
North-Anna to the Fluvanna line, in order to intercept the enemy. The
road which he opened for this purpose is still known as "the Marquis's
road;" passing southwesterly 3 or 4 miles above the Green Spring. In
the same year, two tories who had attached themselves as marauders to the
British army, were summarily hung by one Holland and another man,
near the Goochland boundary, 21 miles S. from Louisa C. H., with the
countenance and before the eyes, of 20 or 30 of the neighboring people.
Louisa has produced no very distinguished men. Yet she first sent
Patrick Henry as a delegate to the House of Burgesses in 1765, soon after
his removal from Hanover; and she again elected him in 1776 and '7,
till he returned to his native county.

Since the extension of the right of suffrage in 1830, there are about 900
persons qualified to vote: but not even 800 have ever actually voted; and

the usual number polled is 5 or 600. There are two places of voting, or
"election precincts," besides the Court-House.

Louisa belongs to the eleventh judicial circuit and sixth district. Taxes
paid in 1832-3 $3839 20,—in 1833-4—on land, $2,110 92—4764 slaves,
$1191 00—3036 horses, $122 16—7 studs, $85 00—76 coaches, $175 35
—44 carryalls, 44 00—91 gigs, $51 95. Total, $3840 38. Expended
in educating poor children in 1832, $505 13—in 1833, 442 96.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES &c.

Boswellville, P. O. on the road
leading from Richmond to Charlottesville,
64 ms. from the former, and 21
from the latter. It is 12 miles above
Louisa C. H. and 5 from the Green
Springs.

Bradleysburgh, P.O. 64 ms. N.
W. by W. of R. and 109 from W.
situated in the northern part of the
county.

Cuckooville, P. V. 112 miles
from W. and 46 from R., situated
on the road which leads from Richmond
to Louisa C. H., 8 ms. from
the latter. It contains a tavern, mercantile
store, boot and shoe factory,
blacksmith shop, and 1 house of public
worship, which belongs to the
reformed Baptists, or Campbellites.

Dabney's Mills, P. O. in the E.
part of the county, 84 ms. S. W. of
W. and 52 N. of R.—situated on the
North-Anna river, which divides
Louisa from Spottsylvania county.—
There are located here a tavern, a
tanner and currier, tailor, blacksmith,
and a saw mill.

Gardner's Cross Roads, P. O.
40 ms. N. W. of R. and 96 S. W.
of W.

Jackson, P. O. 37 ms. N. W. of
R. and 98 from W.

Locust Creek, P. O. formerly
Chinquepin Grove, 101 ms. S. W. of
W. and 33 from R.

LOUISA C. H. P. V. 110 ms. S.
of W. and 54 N. W. of R.—situated
precisely in lat 38° N. and long. 1°
W. of W. C. It contains besides the
Court-house, jail, and a large house
of worship, 4 stores, a silversmith,
blacksmith, 2 carriage makers, 2 tailors,
a shoe maker, cabinet maker,
saddler, 2 taverns, a milliner, 2 lawyer's
offices, and a physician's. It is
30 miles from Charlottesville.

County Courts are held on the 2d
Monday in every month. Quarterly
in March, June, August and November.

Judge Field, holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 10th of April and September.
The dockets of both courts are short.
The amount of litigation being small
by reason of the economy and independence
of the people. The clear
amount of the clerks' fees in both
courts, after deducting insolvencies
and the expenses of collections, is less
than $1,200 per annum. The sherifalty
is farmed for $350 per annum.

Mechanicksville, P. O. situated
within half a mile of South-Anna
river, immediately on the road leading
from Richmond to Charlottesville,
65 ms. from the former, and 20
from the latter—12 ms. above Louisa
C. H. and 5 from the Green Springs.
This village contains several dwelling
houses, 1 house of public worship,
free for all denominations, 1
mercantile store, 1 tavern, 1 common
school, and mechanics of various descriptions.
This place was founded
in 1825, and takes its name from the
number of mechanics located here.
Wagons, carts, &c. are manufactured
to great perfection, and in great numbers.
The surrounding country is
wealthy, and considered one of the
best wheat districts below the mountains.
The land is level and fertile.
Population 40.

Newark, P. O. in the eastern part
of the county, 60 ms. N. W. of R.
and 113 from W. C.—situated on the
road leading from Richmond to Charlottesville—25
ms. from the latter.

Pottiesville, P. O. 89 ms. from
W. and 47 from R.

Thompson's Roads, P. O. 45
miles N. W. of R. and 101 from W.
situated on the stage road leading
from Fredericksburg to Cartersville,
50 miles S. of the former, and 20 N.
of the latter, 40 miles E. of Charlottesville,
7 from Yanceyville, and
15 from Louisa C. H.—There are 2
dwelling houses, 2 cabinet maker's
shops, 1 boot and shoe factory, and 1
Baptist house of worship, called South
Anna meeting house, located at this
place. It is situated on the south side
of South Anna river, within the distance
of half a mile from its banks.

Poindexter's Store, P. O. 68
miles N. W. of R. and 135 of W.,
situated within half a mile from South
Anna river, 10 miles from Louisa C.
H. and 25 from Charlottesville. This
place contains a general store, carriage
maker, blacksmith shop, and
one Baptist house of public worship.

Yanceyville, a small village on
the South Anna river, 44 miles from
R., 8 from Louisa C. H. and 40 from
Charlottesville. This village contains
a tavern, general store, blacksmith
shop, boot and shoe factory, manufacturing
flour mill, and a meeting house,
free for all denominations.

LUNENBURG.

Lunenburg was created by act of the Legislature in 1746, and formed
from a part of Brunswick county. It is bounded N. by Prince Edward,—
N. E. by Nottoway river, which separates it from Nottoway county,—E. by
Brunswick,—S. by Meherrin river, which separates it from Mecklenburg,
and W. by Charlotte.—Its length is 25 miles, mean breath 16, and area 400
square miles; and it extends in lat. from 37° 46′ to 37° 04′, and in long.
1° 8′ to 1° 22′ W. of W. C. A ridge runs through the county, from E. to
W. N. W., from which the waters flow N. E. and S. E. into the Nottoway
and Meherrin. The general slope of the county is S. E. by E. Population
in 1820, 10,667—in 1830, 11,957. Lunenburg belongs to the ninth
judicial circuit, and fifth district. Tax paid in 1833, $2392 18—in 1834,
on land, $1056 91—3813 slaves, $953 25—2236 horses, $134 16—7
studs, $100 00—46 coaches, $128 00—26 carryalls, $26 00—88 gigs,
$53 85—Total, $2452 17. Expended in educating poor children in 1832,
$282 41—in 1833, $212 20.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Brydie's Store, P. O. in the northern
part of the county, 82 ms. S.
W. of R. and 204 from W.

Columbian Grove, P. O. 98 ms.
S. W. of R. and 220 from W., situated
on Saffold's road, 4 ms. N. of
Saffold's bridge across Meherrin river,
10 ms. E. of Lewiston, the county
seat, and 58 W. S. W. of Petersburg.
The lands in the neighborhood are
tolerably fertile, producing corn, wheat,
cotton and tobacco, the latter article is
the staple commodity, and grows to
great perfection on the low lands,
creek bottoms, and margins of streams.

Double Bridge, P. O. 87 miles
S. W. of R. and 206 from W.

Haleysburgh, P. O. 210 miles
from W. and 95 from R.

LEWISTON, P. V. usually called

Lunenburg C. H., 91 ms. S. W. of
Richmond, and 213 from W. C.—in
lat. 36° 50′ N. and in long. 1° 16′
W. of W. C. It is situated about the
centre of the county, in an elevated
and healthy part of it, on the stage
road leading from Petersburg, to Williamsburg,
N. C. and the stage passes
through on every day except Sunday.
It contains 20 dwelling houses, besides
a handsome court house of brick,
with a portico, and four large columns
in front, jail and clerk's office, 2 mercantile
stores, and 2 taverns. The
principal mechanics are wheelwrights,
saddle and harness makers and blacksmiths.
This town was lad off in the
year 1817, by act of assembly of that
year. There was at that time but one
family living here. The distance
from Petersburg is 65 miles, from
Hampden Sydney College 28, and
from Randolph Macon College 30
miles. Population 75 persons; of
whom two are attorneys, and one a
practising physician.

County Courts are held on the 2d
Monday in every month;—Quarterly
in March, June, August and November.

Judge Leigh, holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 4th of May and October.

Laurel Hill, P. O. 94 ms. S. W.
of R. and 216 from W.

McFarland's, P. O. 79 ms. from
R. and 201 from W.

Meherrin Grove, P. O. 92 ms.
S. W. of R. and 194 from W.

Oak Grove, P. O. 88 ms. from
R. and 210 from W.

Pleasant Grove, P. O. 89 ms.
S. W. of R. and 204 from W.

Wattsboro', P. O. in the western
part of the county, 97 ms. S. W. of
R. and 219 from W.

MADISON.

The county of Madison was created by the Legislature in the year
1792, and was taken entirely from the county of Culpeper. It is bounded
on the north by the counties of Rappahannock and Culpeper, on the south
by the county of Orange, on the west by the counties of Rockingham and
Page, (the top of the Blue Ridge being the dividing line,) and on the east
by a part of Culpeper and Orange. Its length is 23¼ miles, and its breadth
12½; and it contains an area of about 290 miles square, extending in lat. from
38° 14′ to 38° 38′ N. and in long. from 1° 09′ to 1° 30′ W. of W. C. In
the western part of the county there are several large mountains extending
from the Blue Ridge into the county in an easterly direction from
five to ten miles; the principal of these are, the Ragged mountain, the
Double Top mountain, the Forked mountain, and the Bluff mountain;
they are more elevated than the Blue Ridge. From these large
and lofty mountains, there are a number of small mountains projecting from
them into the county, some of which, are very fertile, and produce in great
abundance, wheat, rye, oats, corn, hemp, and tobacco: wheat may be considered
the staple of the county. In the mountain region small quantities
of tobacco are made, and when well managed, it is of superior quality, and
of fine texture and flavor. Between these mountains there are fine valleys
of rich bottom land. Fruit of almost every description common to the climate,
particularly apples, grow to great perfection and in great abundance,
in the mountains of Madison.

Hughes' river rises in the Blue Ridge, in the north part of the county,
and constitutes a part of the dividing line between Madison and Rappahannock.
The Robinson river rises in like manner in the Blue Ridge, and

winds its course between the Ragged and Double Top mountains; it affords
a quantity of fine low grounds. The high lands properly managed are very
productive in small grain. This part of the county is thickly inhabited
by industrious, independent farmers. The Rapid Ann (formerly called the
Staunton river) rises in the Blue Ridge, between the Double Top mountain
and the Bluff mountain, it winds its course in a southeastern direction and
passes through a beautiful rich valley, for 8 or 10 miles, where the small
mountains break off abruptly. The pine lands commence about that point
and extend with a mixture of hickory, oak, chesnut, locust, poplar, &c. to
the lower end of the county, a distance of between 15 and 20 miles. The
Robinson and Rapid Ann rivers form a junction immediately at the lower
end of the county. The Rapid Ann, from 10 to 15 miles above the union
with the Robinson, receives several tributary streams, to wit the Conway
or Middle river, the South river and the Blue Run. At the lower end of
the county, in what is called the Robinson fork, Gryan's run passes through
a rich tract of country and empties into the Robinson river. The German
ridge, which is a spur of the Double Top mountain, lies east of the Rapid
Ann river a short distance, and runs south nearly parallel with the river,
until it breaks off at the Rapid Ann meeting house. On the east of this
little mountain there are several bold, fine springs, which constitute the head
waters of the white oak run, which empties into the Robinson river, about
two miles north of Madison C. H. and near the German Lutheran church.
This small stream which extends 8 or 10 miles from its source to its junction
with the Robinson river, affords a large body of beautiful rich bottom
land, it contains a dense and wealthy population. This river passes within
half a mile on the west of Madison C. H. In the county there are several
other small streams, such as Dark run, Cedar run, between Madison
and Culpeper, the Big run and Whetstone run, which empties into the Rapid
Ann, near where the small mountains break off. In the county of Madison
there is but one incorporated town, called "The Town of Madison," it
contains the county seat of Justice. It is a thriving little village, located
very near the centre of the county, on a high, elevated ridge, and commands
a beautiful and picturesque view of the Blue Ridge and all of the little
mountains extending into the county. The Thoroughfare mountain is a
small mountain, about 8 miles N. E. of Madison C. H. and the Lost mountain
about 5 miles S. E. of the C. H. They are entirely detached from the
other mountains, and are nearly 20 miles east of the Blue Ridge. The
public buildings have been recently erected of brick. The C. H. is built
in the Corinthian order, and the workmanship executed in superior style.
There are a number of private schools in the county of Madison, but no
public seminary of learning. About the mountains there are many indications
of iron ore, particularly about the Forked mountain. Lead has been found
on some parts of the German ridge, and it is said recently that some signs
of gold have been seen in the lower end of the county, but no particular
search or examination has been made. There are two springs in the German
ridge and near it, which are strongly impregnated with sulphur, but
the water has never been analyzed and no attention seems now to be paid to
it. This county is generally well watered, it has a pure climate, portions
of it very rich soil, susceptible of a high state of improvement by clover
and plaster, and for beauty and sublimity of scenery, surpassed by few spots
in Virginia. It contains 12 manufacturing flour mills, 20 grist mills, from
10 to 15 saw mills, a number of tanneries, wheelwrights, carpenters, blacksmiths,
saddlers, carding machines, and 15 general stores and groceries.
There are in this county 5 resident physicians and 2 attorneys, 6 ministers
of the gospel, and 15 churches or meeting houses, and a number of itinerant
preachers, principally of the Methodist persuasion. The different religious
sects in this county are the Baptists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Lutherans
and Methodists—the Baptists being the most numerous. Population in
1820, 8,490—in 1830, 9,236. It belongs to the eleventh judicial circuit,
and sixth district. Taxes paid in 1833, $2179 70—in 1834, on lots, $39
46—on land, $1350 54—2247 slaves, $561 75—1171 horses, $118 26—
7 studs, $76 00—23 coaches, $47 25—3 carryalls, $3 00—22 gigs, $15
25—Total, $2211 51. Expended in educating poor children in 1832,
$248 10—in 1833, $316 82.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Criglersville, P. O. 10 ms. N.
of the court house.

Graves, P. O. situated in the western
part of Madison, 108 miles from
R. and 110 S. W. of W.

James City, P. O. 87 ms. from
W. and 105 from R.—situated on
Crooked run, on the north side of
Thoroughfare mountain, nine miles
distant both from Madison and
Culpeper court houses, on the line
which divides the two counties of Culpeper
and Madison. It contains one
large, well kept tavern, called Madison
Inn, one mercantile store, one
boot and shoe factory, a tailor, blacksmith
shop, and a merchant mill.—
There is a Baptist house of worship
in the vicinity. Population 50.

MADISON, P. V. and seat of justice,
situated near the centre of the
county, 110 miles N. N. W. of R.
and 96 S. W. by W. of W. in lat.
38° 22′ N. and long. 1° 15′ W. of
W. C. This village, besides the ordinary
county buildings, contains 34
dwelling houses, 6 mercantile stores,
2 taverns, 2 houses of public worship,
of which one belongs to the Episcopalians,
and the other is free for all
denominations, (of which the principal
part are Baptists, Methodists, Episcopalians,
Presbyterians, and Lutherans,)
and 2 well organized Sunday
schools. There are in the vicinity
5 manufacturing flour mills. The
mechanics of the village are 2 tanners
and curriers, 2 saddlers, 2 boot and
shoe makers, 1 wheelwright, 3 blacksmiths,
1 coppersmith and tin plate
worker, 1 wagon maker, 1 house
joiner, 1 cabinet and wheat tan maker,
and 4 tailors. The town is healthy,
and improving. It has 2 resident attorneys
and 4 practising physicians;
whole population 290.

County Courts are held on the 4th
Thursday in every month;—Quarterly
in February, May, July and October.

Judge Field holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 12th of May and October.

Rapid Ann Meeting House, P.
O. situated in the western part of the
county, 102 miles from R. and 104
S. W. of W. This little village contains
8 dwelling houses, besides shops,
&c., 3 houses of public worship, 1
Baptist, 1 Episcopalian, and 1 free for
all denominations, 1 common school,
3 mercantile stores, 1 house of entertainment,
1 tanyard, 2 wagon makers,
1 chair maker, 1 boot and shoe factory,
1 blacksmith shop, &c. Population
73 persons; of whom one is a
physician.

MATHEWS.

Mathews was created by act of Assembly, in 1790, and formed from a
part of Gloucester county. This county is a peninsula, extending into the
Chesapeake bay, united to the main by a narrow neck of land scarcely a
mile wide, and its boundaries are almost entirely of water. It is bounded
on the north by Piankatank river, which separates it from Middlesex, and
by the Chesapeake; on the south by the Chesapeake and Mob-Jack bays;
on the east by the Chesapeake; and on the west by North river and Mob-Jack
bay and a narrow neck of land uniting it to Gloucester—extending in
lat from 37° 22′ to 37° 30′ N. and long from 0° 33′ to 0° 48′ E. of W.
C. This county is indented by numerous inlets from the bay, which cut
and divide the land into a number of small necks, that are bounded on each
side by a creek or river. The principal rivers are the Piankatank, East,
and North rivers. The former is a bold stream, about a mile wide at its
mouth, and extending itself 30 or 40 miles into the interior, terminates in
the Dragon swamp. East river is about the same width of the Piankatank
at its mouth, which opens into Mob-Jack bay; it runs about 8 or 9 miles
up, in the centre of the county, four miles from its mouth it sends off a
branch, named Pudding creek, at the head of which is situated the court
house. North river likewise enters into Mob-Jack bay; it does not differ
much in size from the two rivers just described, and runs up into Gloucester,
for the distance of 15 miles. These rivers are all salt, of course, as
they derive their waters from the bay, a little fresh water mingles with them
at their heads, but does not materially affect their saltness, except after very
heavy and long continued rains. Besides these rivers, there are creeks
almost too numerous to be named. Muddy creek is at the upper part of the
county, and forms part of the line of separation from Gloucester: it is a very
inconsiderable creek, and enters the Piankatank. Cob's creek is rather
larger, it is about a mile long, and enters the same river 3 or 4 miles above
its mouth. Queen's creek is much more considerable in size, being a fourth
of a mile wide, and three miles in length; it enters the Piankatank at its
mouth. About three miles below Queen's creek, is the mouth of Slut's
creek, which opens into Milford Haven, it is of the same size with Queen's
creek. Two miles below are Lilley's and Billup's creeks, they are small
and near each other; they enter Milford Haven. A part of the bay which
flows in between the main land and Gwyn's island, and extends from the
mouth of Piankatank to Billup's creek, is called Milford Haven, and is a
secure harbor for vessels. At the lower extremity of the Haven is situated
a small, uninhabited island, named Bigby's, between which and the main,
is a passage called the Thoroughfare. A short distance below this is Garden
creek, which is a small stream that enters into the Chesapeake. Off
the mouth of this creek is a shoal, extending five miles out in the bay, named
the Wolf Trap, and on which is stationed a light boat. Winter Harbor
is a creek or inlet from the bay, which is narrow at its entrance, after running
a few hundred yards widens, and diverging extends itself into small
branches, which run a mile or two in the land. Horn Harbor is another
inlet just below the former, being much larger but not extending itself any
farther in the land. Dier's creek is an inconsiderable stream, just below
Horn Harbor. The point of land lying below Dier's creek, is the lowest
extremity of the county, named New Point Comfort; it is a sandy point
which juts out into the bay, and on which is erected a Light House. After

leaving New Point Comfort and ascending on the south side of the county,
about one mile above is Harper's creek, which is small. Pepper creek two
miles above is more considerable. Two or three miles higher up, is the
mouth of East river, between which and the mouth of North river is a
point called White's. Entering the North river a short distance from its
mouth, is Godsey's creek, and 4 or 5 miles higher is Black Water creek,
opening in the North river and running a mile or two into the interior.

This county is only 20 miles long, and in its widest section not more than
8, and area 127 sq miles, varying from that width, down to a point, so that
it will be seen from the sketch of the water courses, that the land is divided
into many sections or necks:—thus Chapel neck is a small body of land
lying between North river and Black Water:—White's neck lies between
North and East rivers, and consists of a considerable body of land which
terminates at White's point. The land lying between Cob's and Queen's cr. is
called Cow neck, and terminates in two points denominated Iron and Burton's
points. Between Queen's and Slut's creeks, is situated Crab neck, at
the north corner of which neck is a place called Cricket hill. Lying between
Lilley's and Billup's creeks, is Lilley's neck. Between Winter and
Horn Harbors, is a small point of land named Potatoe neck. The body of
land which is situated between Horn Harbor and East river, extending from
thence to the lowest extremity of the county is known as Point Comfort.

The most remarkable feature in the topography of this county is its extreme
levelness. The banks of the Piankatank river are somewhat elevated
and from thence the land descends in an almost uninterrupted plain, until it
terminates in the waters of the bay. It was evidently at some period covered
by the sea, or bay, as the whole face of the country incontestibly
proves. There are about 60,000 acres of land in this county, which is of
a medium quality as regards feltility. It produces corn and oats, but is not
so well adapted to wheat, from its extreme humidity; the country lays so
remarkably level, that it is a very laborious and difficult operation to drain
and lay dry the land. The soil is generally a sandy loam, with a substratum
of clay; there is little or none of silicious earth, nor does it contain any
calcareous matter. Marl has been found in some parts of this county, and
if sought, could no doubt be obtained in most places by digging to a sufficient
depth. In digging wells, coccle shells, oyster shells, and the shells of
many testaceous animals, not known at the present day, are found 20 feet
below the surface; together with wood, roots, weeds and a variety of undecomposed
vegetable substances. Recently, the leg bone of an animal, supposed
to be an ox, although much larger than that animal now exists, was
found twenty feet below the surface, which is lower than the bed of the contiguous
river. These facts present matter for interesting speculations to the
minds of the geologist and naturalist.

The natural growth of timber on this land is oak, which ship carpenters
say, will vie with the live oak, pine, chesnut and gum. The land after
cultivation, if permitted to lie out, invariably puts up a growth of pine.

Mathews contains a population of 7666 souls, of which number 3481 are
slaves, and 190 free negroes. The people of this county are engaged in
ship building, maritime and agricultural pursuits. Until recently the two
former occupied their principal attention; so entirely were they engaged in
ship building some years back, that the cultivation of the soil, was almost
entirely neglected, and it was necessary to import corn for home consumption—hence
it is that this county has been behind others in agricultural

skill; lately vessel building has decreased, and agriculture receives more
attention. About 20 years ago, there were annually built one hundred vessels
of various sizes and denominations, from large ships down to the smallest
craft; at the present period there are built, every year, from 20 to 30
vessels of different burdens. There are belonging to this county about 200
ship carpenters, a great number of them find employment in the Navy
Yards and other places during the summer months, and return to their
homes on the approach of winter. The low price at which vessels are built
render it rather unprofitable, and the workmen cannot all find employment
at home.

East river is a port of entry, and has a Collector, and Inspector of the
revenue attached to it; there are 1700 tons of shipping belonging to this
port, among which is one ship, one brig, and a number of schooners and
small skippers. Some of them make voyages to almost every part of the
commercial world, hence it is, that many of the young men are trained to
the perils of the sea.

This county is supplied with meal by means of wind and tide mills, there
being 10 wind and 2 tide mills, with only one common grist mill; consequently
the people do not feel much inconvenience from long, dry seasons,
except in procuring water for the cattle. The land, lying almost on a dead
level, there cannot be any fresh water streams running through it, and consequently
in dry seasons every cattle hole, at which the stock was watered
dries up, and they suffer much from thirst. Sometimes, in excessive drought,
the inhabitants have difficulty in procuring water to drink themselves. Wells
are generally dug 8 or 10 feet deep, so that the water they contain is that
which filtrates through the earth, and when the ground becomes dry, the
water ceases to flow; but recently wells have been dug 30 feet, when large
veins of water have been found, which are inexhaustible. There are a few
springs of excellent water, but they are rare. The manufacture of castor
oil has been carried on by only one press, a few years since the palma
christi bean was extensively cultivated, but it is now reduced.

On the east side of the county is an island comprehended within its limits
and known by the name of Gwyn's island; it contains 2000 acres of land,
and 200 inhabitants. It is surrounded by the waters of the Chesapeake; it
has two points, that to the north is called Cherry Point, and that to the south
Sandy Point. There is a tradition, that Pocahontas, in attempting to swim
across the Piankatank river, was near drowning, but was rescued from a
watery grave by an individual, to whom, as a reward for his services, she
gave this island. After Lord Dunmore was driven from Williamsburg, he
took up his quarters on this island, where he remained some time.

The predominant religion of the people is the Methodist; there are in
this county seven meeting houses belonging to that denomination, two of
which belongs to the reformed Methodist; there are two Baptist meeting
houses, the congregations attached to which are rather thin; there are a
few Episcopalians and Universalists, who, however have no places for public
worship; the latter never had any church, and the churches held by the
former, under the old established English church, have fallen into dilapidation
and decay. There is a Sunday school kept at almost every house of
public worship in the county, and several common schools, but no academy.
Population in 1810, 4227—in 1820, 6920—in 1830, 7666. It belongs to
the fourth judicial circuit and second district. Taxes paid in 1833, $955 98
—in 1834, on land, $380 13—1694 slaves, $423 50—559 horses, $33 54

—18 coaches, $46 10—14 carryalls, $16 20—86 gigs, $50 60—Total,
$950 07.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Bell Isle, P. O. in the northern
part of the county, 13 ms. S. E. of R.
and 182 S. S. E. of W.

MATHEWS C. H. or Westville,
P. V. and seal of justice, is situated
near the centre of the county. It lies
in 37° 35′ N. lat and 0° 40′ E. long
of Washington, 100 ms. E. of R. and
184 from W. C. Westville contains
about 30 houses, 4 mercantile stores,
1 tanyard, 3 boot and shoe factories, 1
tailor, 2 blacksmiths, 1 saddler, 1 carriage
maker, and 1 tavern. The public
buildings are a very neat, new C.
H., 2 jails, 1 for criminals and the
other for debtors, and a clerk's office.
These houses are all well built of
brick. Westville is a port of entry;
there are 2 regular packets which ply
between this place and Norfolk weekly,
and 1 that runs from it to Baltimore.
Population 150, including 3
regular physicians.

County Courts are held on the 2d
Monday in every month,—Quarterly
in March, May, August and Nov'r.

Judge Semple holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the Tuesdays after the 1st
Mondays in April and October.

North End, P. O. in the W. part of
the Co., 91 ms. E. of R. & 175 from W.

MECKLENBURG.

Mecklenburg, was created by the legislature in 1764, and formed out
of a portion of Lunenburg.—It is bounded on the N. by Meherrin river,
which divides it from the county of Lunenburg, on the E. by a line runniug
S. from the Meherrin to the Roanoke river, where it intersects the North
Carolina line. On the S. by the state of N. C. on the W. by Aron's creek,
and the Dan and Staunton rivers, which divide it from Halifax, and by a
line running N. 31° E. 15½ ms. which divides it from the county of Charlotte.
It extends from 36° 30′, to 36° 59′ N. lat. and in long. 1° 08′, to 1° 40′ W. of W.
C.—Length 36, mean width 18, and area 736 sq. ms. The rivers Dan
and Staunton are separated by a narrow slip of land called the fork of Halifax,
for 8 ms. which in that distance is no where more than 1 mile wide,
and in several places not more than 100 yards, and has three passages
uniting the 2 rivers before their final junction at Clarksville where they
form the Roanoke.

The Dan from Aron's creek, as the river meanders to its junction with the
Staunton at Clarksville, is 12½ ms., and its course is E. S. E. the course of
the Staunton is S. E. by E. and its distance as the river meanders from the
Charlotte line, to Clarksville, is 9 ms. The course of the Roanoke from
Clarksville to the S. E. corner of the county, where it intersects the N. C.
line, is E. by S.—Thus the Roanoake and Dan divide the county into two
unequal parts; that on the S. side of the river is somewhat the largest, but
much the narrowest, and lies in the form of a rectangular triangle, the
legs of which are the N. C. line; and Aron's creek, and the rivers Roanoke
and Dan form the hypothenuse, throwing about 200 sq. ms. of this county,
on the S. side of the river. There are on the Roanoke, about 12,000 acres
of very fertile low grounds, which are valued on an average, at $30 00 per

acre—the average width of the river is about 250 yards, and it has a descent
or fall, of about 2 feet in a mile the greatest falls are those at the
Horseford, and Butcher's creek falls, each of which has a fall of about 5
feet, in the distance of a mile. Fish are not very abundant in this river, but
in the proper season a few shad are caught on the slopes fixed in the river,
and with small seins—the other fish are jack, chub, perch, round fish,
&c. This river is navigable for boats, carrying 9 or 10 hogsheads of tobacco.
The river Meherrin which forms the northern boundary of the
county, is (below the forks of the N. and S. Meherrin) about 40 yards wide
on an average, and the decent, or fall of the river is about 3 feet in a mile.
The bed of this river, is about 10 feet higher than the bed of the Roanoke.
The quantity of low grounds on it, is not more than 1,000 acres, valued at
an average price of $20 00 per acre. This river would be one of the
easiest to render navigable of any in the state, by means of lock and dam
navigation, from the head to Bellfield, in Greensville, where the Petersburg
Rail road crosses the river. The principal creeks in the county, on the S.
side of the river, head in Granville, N. C., and are Aron's creek, which
divides it from Halifax, on which are located 3 grist and 2 saw mills; and
Buffalo creek on the margin of which, is 1 grist mill. On the latter creek
are situated those valuable medicinal springs, called the Buffalo springs
which in the watering season are visited by a number of persons from the
south eastern part of the state, who do not choose to go as far up the country
as the mountains: those 2 creeks empty into the Dan river. On Blue
Creek, half a mile below Clarksville, is situated 1 saw and grist mill.
Grassey Creek has 1 grist mill on it, and receives before it empties into the
river the water of Beaver pond creek this creek empties into the Roanoke
three fourths of a mile above Field's ferry. Nutbush has 1 grist mill locaated
on it, and empties into the river, 1½ ms. below Haskins' ferry. Cotton
creek enters the river 1¾ ms. below Alexande'rs ferry, and Smith's
creek, 2 ms. below St. Tammany. Those creeks which empty into the
Staunton, on the N. side of the river, are the Big, Little, and Middle Bluestone.
Big Bluestone heads in Charlotte, and Little and Middle Bluestone
empty into it before it reaches the river. Kettle Creek also empties into
Bluestone. Island creek is rather a biou or arm of the river, which breaks
or runs out below Skipwith's ferry, and again enters the river, about 5 ms.
below Clarksville; but before it empties into the river again, it receives the
Sandy creek. On Butcher's creek is situated 2 mills, and empties into the
Roanoke at Butcher's creek falls, about 10 ms. below Clarksville. Allen's
creek is the largest and longest creek in the county, and discharges more
water than any other,—it has 3 mills on it, and receives on its passage to the
river Coleman's, and Mine creeks from the W. and Laton's creek, Cox's
creek and the Long Branch on the E. Coleman's and Cox's creek have
each 1 mill on them. Allen's creek divides the lands of the county on the
N. side of the river, into two nearly equal parts, it enters the river about 2
ms above Alexander's ferry. On Miles' creek is located 3 mills and emptics
into the river at Goode's ferry. Dockery creek empties into Miles' creek.
Aven's creek and Parham's creek empty into Flat creek, which has 1
mill on it, and empties into the river 2¾ ms. below Goode's ferry. Great
creek has 1 mill on it, and empties into the river 7½ ms. below St. Tammany.
Robin's creek empties into the Roanoke, near Haskins' ferry. Most
of the larger creeks which empty into Roanoke, head within 2 or 3 ms of
the Meherrin. There are several other small creeks which empty into
Roanoke, or into the large creeks before they get to the river. The creeks
which empty into Meherrin river, are Finnewood, which rises in Charlotte,
Otter creek, Blackstone creek, Buckhorn mountain, and Stith's creek. Taylor's
creek rises in this county, and empties into the Meherrin 1 mile below
Gee's Bridge, in the county of Brunswick. The quantity of low grounds
which lie on the creeks and branches, may be estimated at about 4,000
acres, and is supposed to be worth an average price of $20 an acre.

The most eastern mountain in the state is in this county, and lies on the
Meherrin river, at the mouth of Mountain creek,—it is called Watkins'
mountain. This county is neither mountainous or level, but is beautifully
undulating, with hills and vallies it is more hilly near the Meherrin river
than elsewhere. The ridge which divides the waters of the Roanoke, from
those of the Meherrin, is 210 ft. higher than the bed of the Roanoke, and
200 higher than the bed of the Meherrin.

The soil of this county is generally fertile, although the ridges are thin
and poor, yet it is generally a free soil. The lower, or eastern part of the
county, is generally a light gray, or sandy soil, but free and productive;
producing corn, oats cotton and tobacco of excellent quality, and as abundantly
as any other part of the county; it is in truth, the best cotton land in the
county, but it is not so good for wheat as the other parts. There is a strip
of land, running nearly through the centre of the county, from N. to S.
about 10 ms. in width, commencing 1 mile below Allen's creek and continuing
for 3 miles above Butcher's creek the land is stiff and red,—it consists
of some of the best tracts of land in the county, though upon the ridges
near Allen's and Butcher's creeks, some of it is sterile, but generally it is
the best wheat land in the county, and produces a rich heavy crop of tobacco;
and in wet years excellent crops of corn and oats. The land in the
upper part of the county above this red belt, is a light grey, gravelly soil,
and produces abundantly corn, oats, wheat and tobacco, but very little cotton
is made in this section. The land on the S. side of Roanoke, is generally a
light grey, fertile soil; and near Buffalo creek is a very free, productive
grain land; on, and near Grassy creek, both above and below, it is not so
good,—on Nutbush, Cotton, and Smith's creek, it is generally very good
and productive in grain, cotton and tobacco, The land on Bluestone, Cox's
creek, Miles' creek, and Flat creek, is the best in the county, except the
Roanoke plantations. The land on Allen's creek and Butcher's creek,
although it contains a few of the best upland tracts in the county, is generally
inferior to other parts.

The minerology of this county is but little known. There are some old
pits, which are said to have been dug during, or before the revolution, by a
mining company; and it is said that considerable quantities of silver were
obtained from them; but nothing has been attempted with them within the
last 50 or 60 years,—they are situated on Mine creek, near the centre of
the county. There are indications of coal and iron to be found in several
places, but no exertions have ever been made to discover the quantity, or
value of it. There is a vein of granite, running through the county from
S. W. to N. E. and in many of the hills, much gray rock. On most of the
districts there is much common white flint rock, and in many places a species
of rock which is of a yellowish gray color, which pulverizes very
easily, and makes a fine grit for polishing metals. The timber is oak, pine
and hickory,—the pine is principally confined to the lands about the centre
of the county, between Cox's creek, and Bluestone, the oak is principally

red oak, black jack and Spanish oak, with some white oak and post oak.
The grape vine is very abundant. The under growth is chinquepin, dogwood,
sassafras, shumack, &c. The best qualities of the high land, has for
its growth, post oak, hickory and black jack, or red oak; the thinner soils
are covered with white oak, Spanish oak and pine. The low grounds produce
considerable quantities of poplar, sycamore, birch, beech, ash, elm,
&c. with some paupau, red bud and buckeye. The products of agriculture
in this county are principally corn, wheat, tobacco and oats, with some cotton.—The
quantity of tobacco, may be estimated at 3,500 hogsheads annually;
the culture of cotton has been much reduced within the last 3 or 4
years, and at this time does not much exceed 100 bales for exportation;
wheat is produced in considerable quantities for exportation—and the culture
of it is increasing since the Roanoke has been rendered navigable, and
would be still further increased, if the Meherrin was rendered navigable,
which it is expected will shortly be undertaken.

The amount of agricultural capital employed in the county may be stated
as follows:—

       

Value of the land at cash price,	$2,150,000 00
Value of slaves, at cash price,	2,750,000 00
Horses, cattle and plantation implements,	275,000 00
	$5,175,000 00

It may be safely assumed, after deducting the clothing, feeding and tax
of the slaves,—the feeding and tax of the horses and other stock, and the
repairs of plantation tools, that the profit on the whole agricultural capital,
counting the increase of the slaves, stock, &c. is equal to about 15 per cent.
per annum; of which the whites, who are not actually employed in the field,
must be supported, which leaves but little,—not over 3 or 4 per cent. of
clear profits to the county.

The tobacco, cotton and wheat, is nearly all sold in Petersburg, Richmond
and Clarksville, but a considerable quantity of wheat, is manufactured
into flour and some of it is sent down the Roanoke, to the lower parts of N.
Carolina, and to Norfolk.

Randolph Macon College is situated in this county, 1 mile W. of
Boydton, and bids fair to be a very valuable and respectable literary institution;
it has not been 2 years since its first establishment, and it has at present
3 professors, besides the President of the college,—an excellent
preparatory school attached to it; and at the present session 87 students
in college, and 66 in the preparatory school; it is considered to be principally
under the direction and care of the Methodist church, but not entirely so,
as several of the Trustees do not belong to that church.

There is in Boydton a female Academy, which deservedly ranks high as
a boarding school for young ladies; and 2 other very respectable boarding
schools for young ladies in the county; but the general plan of education
in this county, is the old fashioned mode of building a little log house in
each neighborhood, where there are as many scholars to be had as will employ
a teacher, at about $100 or 150, and the price which is generally paid
for tuition, is from $7 to 10 for each pupil, for the scholastic year of from 10
to 11 months. The number of common schools in the county is 62, and the
average number of pupils to each is 16,—making 990 pupils in the common
schools,—there are 64 in the young ladies boarding schools, 66 in the R.

M. preparatory school, and 87 in the college,—making the whole number
of students in the county 1,207.

The most numerous denomination of Christians in this county is the Methodists
they have 26 meeting houses. The next most numerous sect is
the Baptists, which has 15 meeting houses: the next is the Presbyterians,
which has 3 meeting houses. The last denomination is the Episcopalians,
which has 2 churches in the county. There are in this county 23 mercantile
stores, which sell on an average $210,000 worth of dry goods, annually
only. This county purchases yearly about 360,000 weight of pork from the
western drovers. The principal mechanical pursuits of the county, are carpenters,
blacksmiths and wheelwrights the first being the most numerous:
of the second, there are 47 shops in operation, and several of the latter.
There are 4 tanyards, several saddle and harness makers, 3 carriage and
gig manufactories, 3 cabinet makers, several boot and shoe factories, and 4
tailor's shops,—there are 26 licensed taverns, 9 manufacturing flour mills,
31 grist, and 8 saw mills, also 19 regular physicians and 9 practising attorneys,—2
United States mail stages pass through this county 3 times a week,
1 from N. to S. and the other from E. to W. crossing each other at Boydton.

There are on the Dan and Staunton rivers 2 ferries, Nelson's ferry which
crosses the Staunton at Abbeville, and Skipwith's which crosses the Dan
and Staunton at the lowest point of Union, before their final junction, 1 mile
above Clarksville, and there are 7 which cross the Roanoke, Sommerville's
which crosses the river at Clarksville,—Field's which crosses 6½ ms. below
Clarksville,—Taylor's 4¾ ms. below Field's, and 3 ms. S. of Boydton,—
Haskins' 7½ ms. below Taylor's,—Alexander's 9 ms. below Haskins',—
Goode's 3 ms. below Alexander's, and St. Tammany or Blanton's ferry,
which crosses the river at St. Tammany's 4 ms. below. Population in 1820,
19,786—in 1830, 20,477.—This county belongs to the 9th judicial circuit
and 5th district. Taxes paid in 1833, $5,014 74—in 1834, on lots,
$153 93—land, $2,354 69—6,421 slaves, $1,605 25—4,219 horses,
$253 14—13 studs, $384 00—99 coaches, $243 50—35 carryalls,
$35 15—118 gigs, $75 30. Total, $5,104. Expended in educating poor
children in 1832, $625 62—in 1833, $764 02.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Abbeville, or Abbeyville, P. O.
situated on the left bank of the Staunton
river, about 20 ms. above the influx
of Dan river, and 126 ms. S. W.
of R., and 227 S. S. W. of W.

BOYDTON, P. V. and County
Seat, 118 ms. S. W. of Richmond, and
224 ms. from Washington, a flourishing
and healthy village, situated
near the centre of the county, 6 ms.
N. of Roanoke river. Besides the
usual county buildings, it contains 80
dwelling houses, 4 mercantile stores,
2 hotels, 2 houses of public worship,
(1 Methodist and 1 Presbyterian,) 1
female school, 1 tanyard, 1 saddler, 1
boot and shoe maker, 2 tailors, 2 cabinet
makers, 2 smith's shops, 1 watch
maker and silver smith, 1 coach and
gig manufactory, 1 confectionary, and
1 milliner and mantua maker. Randolph
Macon College is situated 1
mile W. of the village; and a grammer
school 2½ ms. S. of the College.
The mail passes through this place 3
times a week, from Petersburg to
Williamsboro, N. C., and from Milton,
N. C. to Lawrenceville, Va. The
celebrated Buffalo Springs are situated
30 ms. W. of Boydton. Population

400 persons; of whom 4 are attorneys
and 3 practising physicians.

County Courts are held on the 3d
Monday, in every month.—Quarterly
in March, June, August and
November.

Judge Leigh holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 12th of May, and October.

Christiansville, P. V. 111 ms.
S. W. of Richmond, and 212 ms. from
W., situated in the upper end of the
county, about 12 ms. N. of the C. H.
The mail stage from Petersburg to
Williamsboro, N. C. passes this place
3 times a week. It contains 6 dwelling
houses, besides mechanic's shops,
&c., 2 mercantile stores, 1 tavern, and
a house of entertainment, 1 house of
public worship, (Episcopalian) 1 incorporated
Academy—and 1 common
school, 1 tanyard, 1 saddler, 2 smith
shops, 1 tailor and 1 wheelwright
shop, &c. Population 48 whites, and
about 100 blacks. The soil in the
neighborhood is a stiff red clay, and
tolerably fertile, producing corn,
wheat, cotton, tobacco, &c. The
growth of timber is principally Spanish
oak.

Clarksville, P. V. 138 ms. S.
W. of Richmond, and 236 ms. from
Washington City, situated on the S.
side of Roanoke river, directly opposite
the junction of Dan and Staunton
rivers, which form the Roanoke, in the
southern part of the county. It contains
14 private dwelling houses 2
houses of public worship, (1 Baptist
and 1 Presbyterian,) 1 Academy, 1
well organized sunday school, and
9 mercantile stores. The mechanics
are, 1 tanner, 2 saddlers, 2 blacksmiths,
1 wheelwright, 1 coach maker,
5 house carpenters, 1 cabinet maker,
1 brick maker, 1 bricklayer and
stone mason, 1 plough manufacturer,
and 1 boot and shoe manufacturer.
There are 2 places for stemming
tobacco, 1 warehouse, and another
being erected. From 1,700 to 2,000
hogsheads of tobacco, are inspected
annually. About 15 boats constantly
run from Clarksville to Weldon N.
C. Population 200 persons, of
whom 2 are regular physician.

Greensburg, P. V. or Greensboro
108 ms. S. S. W. of Richmond, and
219 ms. from Washington City, situated
in the N. part of the county, on
the N. side of Cox's road, 8 ms. N.
of Boydton, the County Seat, and distant
18 ms. both from Clarksvile and
Lunenburg C. H. Greensboro has
been a place of considerable business,
but at present is occupied as a private
establishment by a farmer with the exception
of a house of private entertainment
for travellers and a post office.

Hailstone, P. O. 124 ms. S. S.
W. of R., and 230 ms. from W.

Lombardy Grove, P. O. 81 ms.
S. W. of R. and 237 from W. Lombardy
Grove is merely a country
seat, the P. O. is kept at a considerable
mercantile house, and is situated
immediately on the stage road leading
from Belfield, Va. to Milton, N. C.
in a fertile and populous neigborhood,
237 ms. from W. and 115 from R.

Mill Grove, P. O. 217 ms. S. S.
W. of W. and 106 ms. S. W. of R.

Palmer's Springs, P. O. in the
western part of the county, 103 ms.
S. W. of R. and 225 from W.

Randolph Macon College, situated
about a mile from the village of
Boydton, in Mecklenburg county was
founded by the Virginia Conference
of the Methodist Episcopal church,
and is considered to be specially under
the superintendance and patronage
of that denomination. It is however,
strictly a literary institution,
there being no theological professorship
in it, nor is it contemplated to
have such at any future time. The
avowed object of its founders, is to afford
a liberal education at a very reduced
expense, and for the means to
enable them to do so, they rely solely
on private subscriptions and donations,—the
state having contributed
nothing towards it.

The buildings are of the best brick,
and are covered with tin, on an improved
plan. They are extensive and
elegant, furnishing according to calculation,
accommodation for 200 students.
"The studies taught are divided
into 4 departments: 1st That
of Languages 2nd That of Mathematics
3rd That of Natural Philosophy
and Chemistry: and 4th That
of Ethics;" and it is contemplated to
establish a "department of agriculture,"
agreeably to a provision of the
charter; in view of which the Trustees
have purchased 300 acres of excellent
land adjoining the College.
There is also attached to the institution
a preparatory school, the principle
of which is a member of the Faculty
of the College;—the school of
course, being under the same immediate
government as the College.

This institution was chartered by
the legislature of Virginia, in 1830,
and was opened with a few students
in 1832. The members have been
rapidly increasing however, and it
now (April 1834) has 150, with a
flattering prospect of a still greater
number. Indeed its prosperity may
be regarded as certain; especially if
the Trustees shall be able to endow it
liberally, as it is proposed to do. The
College edifice stands on a beautiful
eminence, from the summit of which
a commanding view of the surrounding
country may be seen; while from
its base, springs of pure and living
water constantly gush. The situation
is as healthy as it is beautiful—
a fact which is of course essential to
its prosperity.

Spanish Grove, P. O. 116 ms.
S. W. of R., and 217 from W.

Saint Tammany's P. O. 97 ms.
from R., and 219 from W.

South Hill, P. O. 232 ms. from
W., and 110 from R.

Tanner's Store, P. O. 93 ms.
from R., and 215 ms. S. S. W. of W.

White House, P. O. in the south
western part of Mecklenburg county,
137 ms. S. W. of R. and 243 from W.

Whittle's Mills, 105 ms. S. W.
of R., and 227 from W.

MIDDLESEX.

Middlesex was created by act of Assembly in 1675, and formed out of
a part of Lancaster county. It is bounded on the N. W. by Essex,—N.
E. by the Rappahannock, which separates it from the counties of Richmond
and Lancaster,—S. E. by the Chesapeake bay and S. W. by the
Dragon Run, and Piankitank river, which separates it from the counties
of King & Queen, Gloucester, and Mathews. This county comprises a
long and narrow point between its two bounding rivers. Its greatest
length from N. W. to S. E. or from the Essex line to Stingray Point is
about 39 miles, its mean breadth 5; and area 175 sq. ms. It extends in
lat from 37° 30′ to 37° 48′ W. and in long. from 0° 13′ to 0° 40′ E. of
W. C. Within ten miles of the Chesapeake bay the two rivers Piankitank
and Rappahannock gradually approach each other, and emptying into
the bay, form a point to which the name of Stingray has been given.
Many navigable branches of the Rappahannock river make up into the
county, affording convenience to the farmer in sending his produce to Baltimore
and Norfolk, at which markets the produce of this county is most
generally sold. The lands lying immediately on the Dragon, Piankitank,
and Rappahannock are fertile. The Piankitank river is navigable about
14 miles from the bay. Thence to its source, a distance of about 60 or 70

miles, it is called the Dragon Run; on either side of which, there is a space
varying from a quarter of a mile to half a mile in width, covered with
valuable cypress, and other timber, and of inexhaustable fertility. This
land is at present valueless to its proprietors from the frequent inundations,
caused by the obstructions to the flow of water in the bed of the Run.
The attention of the Legislature has been called to the removal of these
obstructions, and thereby bringing into market an immense quantity of
timber, and the produce of a large district of land which would thus be
made arable.—But the want of energy in the owners of the adjoining
farms has hitherto prevented, and it is feared, will continue to prevent the
execution of any plan for effecting these desirable objects. The prevailing
religion of this county is the Baptist.

Population in 1820, 4,057—in 1830, 4122. Middlesex belongs to the
fourth judicial circuit and second district. Taxes paid in 1833, $799 06
—in 1834.—On lots, $14 70—on land, $364 23—on 1140 slaves, $285 00
—451 horses, $26 06—2 studs, $30 00—11 coaches, $29 25—7 carryalls,
$7 00—85 gigs, $49 66 Total, $806 90. Expended in educating
poor children in 1832, $539 91—in 1833, $416 42.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Churchville, P. O. 76 ms. from
R. and 135 from W. situated 6 ms.
from the Essex line and 7 from Urbanna.

Healy's, P. O. situated on the
Piankatank river, 12 ms. below Urbanna.

URBANNA, P. V. and county
seat, 83 ms. a little N. of E. from
Richmond, and 142 a little E. of S.
from W. C.—situated on the northern
shore, and near the mouth of one of the
branches of the Rappahannock called
Urbanna creek. It is a sea port, located
18 ms. above the mouth of the
river,—a small but healthy village.
It contains besides the ordinary county
buildings, 9 private dwelling
houses, 4 mercantile stores, 2 taverns,
1 cabinet maker, 1 tailor, and 1 carriage
maker. Population 175 persons,
of whom 2 are resident attorneys,
4 regular physicians, and 7
officiating ministers of the Baptist
church. Urbanna for many years
seemed rapidly going to decay, but of
late has much improved in population,
the number of its stores, &c.—
There is much travelling through
this place, to and from the adjoining
counties, by persons who take the
steamboats here for Fredericksburg
and Baltimore. The northern mail
(via Tappahannock,) and the southern
mail (via York,) are each transmitted
twice a week through this county,
stopping at Churchville, Urbanna,
and Healy's post offices.

County Courts are held on the 4th
Monday in every month. Quarterly
in March, May, August and November.

Judge Semple holds his Superior
Court of Law and Chancery on the
Tuesday after the 3d Monday in April
and October.

NANSEMOND.

Nansemond was created by act of Assembly in the year 1645, and
formed from a part of the county of Upper Norfolk. It is bounded on the
N. by Hampton Roads,—E. by Norfolk county,—S. by Pasquotank county

of North Carolina,—W. by Blackwater river which separates it from
Southampton,—and N. W. by the county of Isle of Wight. Its length
diagonally from S. W. to N. E. is 40 miles, mean breadth 16, and area
640 square miles,—and it extends in lat from 36° 30′ to 36° 54′ N. and in
long. from 0° 6′ to 0° 41′ E of W. C.

Rivers.—The Nansemond is the largest river in the county, about 31
miles in length from its mouth to Cohoon's mill, where it heads—it empties
into Hampton Roads, and is 7 miles wide at its mouth. Its course is N.
N. E. and runs nearly in the middle of the county as far as it goes. It
is navigable to Suffolk for vessels of from 75 to 100 tons, and for small
craft and lighters to Cohoon's mill. Nansemond river affords the finest
oysters, crabs, and fish.

Western Branch Creek is a branch of Nansemond river, about 10 miles
in length;—it heads at Urquhart's mill, and empties into the Nansemond
about 7 miles below Suffolk. Vessels of 75 to 100 tons burthen can be
navigated as far as Milner's five miles above its mouth. Just below Milner's,
this creek forks, sending a branch to Scott's mill. it is navigable for
vessels from 35 to 40 tons as far as Scott's mill, which is distant about 5
miles from its mouth. The course of the Western Branch is nearly E.

Chuckatuck Creek rises at Chuckatuck mill—is about 10 miles long, and
empties into James river. It is navigable for vessels of 35 to 40 tons
for 6 miles. It courses E.

Black Water river is the dividing line between Nansemond and Southampton
for the distance of about 12 miles. course S. E.—any vessel
which can come in at Ocracoke Inlet, can be navigated to South Quay.

Somerton Creek is formed by the junction of Knuckle and Bear Swamps,
in the county of Nansemond, it then runs about 8 miles in this county:
course S. W.—and empties into Chowan river, about 2 miles from the
Nansemond line.

Lake Drummond is supposed to be from 15 to 18 miles in circumference:
it differs but little in its diameter from N. to S. or E. to W. The
water has perhaps gained more celebrity than it merits it is slighty
diuretic. in some seasons of the year it will affect the bowells also a little,
like any other water if confined, and impregnated with so much vegetable
matter. It contains a quantity and variety of fish. The brown perch and
chub are large and very fine: there are other varieties of perch, not so
highly prized,—also pike, gars, catfish, eels, &c. Few wild fowl are
found on this beautiful lake, which is somewhat remarkable, and the few
which frequent it are principally ducks. Nearly the whole of the lake is
within this county;—perhaps a mile of the eastern extremity may be in
Norfolk county: the depth of water is from 12 to 14 feet a few hundred
yards from the margin. The bottom of the lake is hard and firm.

The Dismal Swamp Land Company's Canal, from the basin (which is
on the bank of Cedar Creek,[21] a branch of the Nansemond,) to the lake is
10 miles;—running for 6 miles nearly S. E. and then S.—width from 10
to 12 feet;—depth from 3 to 4 feet. The water of the canal flows into the
lake: it is connected with the Dismal Swamp Canal Company through
the waters of the lake. From tide water to the lake the distance is 10
miles.

The Dismal Swamp Land Company's land (with the exception of a small

part which is in the county of Norfolk,) is situated in the county of Nansemond—quantity
of acres forty thousand. The growth consists of juniper,
cypress, gum, ash, maple, pine. The quantity of shingles usually
exported by the Company is from 2½ to 3 millions per annum, amounting
to $40 or $50,000—governed by fluctuation in prices.

Agriculture is at a low ebb, although certainly improving within a few
years. More attention has been paid to making and using manure from
farm pens. The benefit of marl has been fully tested, yet although abundant
on the river and creek banks, is still used in a limited way. The
principal crops are corn, oats, peas, some wheat and cotton. The staple is
Indian corn.

Tar, turpentine and staves are not so abundant as formerly;—they still
form the principal and leading articles of trade in the county.

Population in 1810, 10,324—1820, 10,494—in 1830, 11,784. Nansemond
belongs to the first judicial circuit and first district. Taxes paid in
1833, $2067 73—in 1834 on lots, $175 20—on land, 920 12—2320
slaves, $580 00—1411 horses, $84 66—6 studs, $66 00—45 coaches,
$97 07—1 stage, $1 00—4 carryalls, $4 00—231 gigs, $136 15 Total,
$2064 18. Expended in educating poor children in 1832, $238 51—in
1833, $438 97.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Chuckatuck, P. V. 110 ms. from
R. and 214 from W. Chuckatuck
can scarcely be termed a village, but
is more properly a thickly populated
neighborhood, embracing about one
square mile; the central part of which
is at the head waters of a creek bearing
the same name, and which makes
into James river about 8 ms. from this
place. It is situated on the stage road
leading from Smithfield, Isle of Wight
county, to Suffolk, the county seat, 10
miles distant from both places, and
about 20 from Norfolk by the nearest
land route. It contains 20 dwelling
houses, 3 mercantile stores, 1 tavern,
and 1 house of public worship, (Methodist.)
There are about 125 inhabitants,
including the operatives employed
in the Smithfield and Chuckatuck
Cotton Manufactory, erected by
a company. This establishment runs
1000 spindles propelled by water
power. It is in successful operation,
and largely contributes to the business
appearance and support of this place
Within this square mile is an old
venerable Episcopalian brick church,
around which there are some hand
some and valuable farms. The population
is about 300 persons; of whom
1 is a physician. The neighborhood
possesses great advantages, having a
level and fertile soil, fish and oysters
of the finest kind in abundance, and
navigation at the doors of its inhabitants.

Somerton, P. V. near the southern
side of the county, and within 1 mile
of the North Carolina line; 120 ms.
S. E. of Richmond and 242 from W.
C. This little village has 6 dwelling
houses, with 1 mercantile store, 1
house of public worship, (Methodist,)
1 common school, 1 tavern, 1 cabinet
maker, 1 tailor, 1 blacksmith, and 1
milliner and mantua maker. Somerton
is situated on the stage road leading
from Norfolk, Va to Fayetteville,
N. C., 45 ms. from the former; also
on a road making indirectly from
Murfreesboro', N. C. to Smithfield,
Va. Population 40 whites and 60
blacks. The country around is fertile
and thickly settled, having within
the circumference of a few miles
40 farm houses.

SUFFOLK, P. V. and seat of jus-

tice, situated on the right bank of
Nansemond river, 28 ms. N. W. by
W. of Norfolk—102 ms. S. E. by E.
of Richmond, and 224 a little E. of
S. from W.; in lat. 36° 43′ N. and
long 0° 27° E. of W. C. Suffolk
is a flourishing and wealthy little village,
containing, besides the usual
county buildings, about 300 houses,
20 general stores, 4 houses of public
worship, (1 Episcopalian, 1 Baptist,
and 2 Methodist,) 1 Dorcas society, 2
well organized temperance societies,
and 5 common schools. The mechanics
are, 1 tanner, 2 saddlers, 3
boot and shoe manufacturers, 3 tailors,
3 cabinet makers, 2 house carpenters,
3 blacksmiths, 2 wheelwrights, &c.
Population 1200 persons, of whom 2
are attorneys, and 2 regular physicians.
The Portsmouth and Roanoke
rail road passes through the
centre of this town—distance from
Portsmouth 17 miles—from Portsmouth
to the termination at the Roanoke
77 miles.

County Courts are held on the 2d
Monday in every month. Quarterly
in March, June, August, and November.

Judge Baker holds his Superior
Court of Law and Chancery on the
15th May and 30th September.

South Quay, P. O. 95 ms S. S.
E. of Richmond and 217 from W. C.
South Quay is situated on Black
Water river, which is a branch of the
Chowan river of N. Carolina, and
makes the dividing line between Nansemond
and Southampton counties.
It contains about half a dozen houses,
and its principal pursuits are agriculture.
There is a post office and also
a surveyor's office for the collection
of the revenue. The latter having
been established in consequence of
the importance attached to the place
during the Revolutionary and late
war as a Quay, or depot for goods—
its inland advantages recommending
it as such. There are only two families
residing here, consisting of 40
or 50 persons; 2 of whom are attorneys.
In the immediate vicinity are
several physicians, both scientific
and Thompsonians, meeting houses,
schools, mercantile stores, and mills;
and the neighborhood is somewhat
densely settled. Should the contemplated
rail road between Portsmouth
and the Roanoke be completed, of
which there is every probability, the
value of this place will doubtless be
greatly enhanced, as it will pass immediately
by South Quay. This,
together with the Dismal Swamp
canal, which connects the Carolina
and Virginia waters, already having
a very sensible influence on this part
of the country.

NELSON.

Nelson was created by act of Assembly in 1807, and formed out of a
part of Amherst county. It is situated immediately between the Blue
Ridge and James river. Bounded by Albemarle N. E. and E.—by James
river separating it from Buchingham S. E.—and Amherst S., and S. W.—
by the Blue Ridge, separating it from Rockbridge W.—and Augusta S.
W. The longest line is diagonal from the extreme southern to the extreme
northern angle—about 40 ms.—greatest width 28—and area 560 sq.
ms.—extending in lat. from 37° 32′ to 38° 02′ N. and in long. from 1°
50′ to 2° 7′ W. of W. C. Its declivity is S. of S. E.—and it is drained
by' the different branches of Rock Fish and Tye rivers.

This county is very broken and mountainous, particularly as it approaches
the Blue Ridge. Between the ridges of mountains are many beautiful

vallies, very fertile and productive; upon the James are extensive low
grounds, from a quarter to half a mile in width, very rich and fertile:—in
the northwestern part of the county, on the head waters of the Rockfish
river, and on the southwestern, on the waters of the Tye river, are large
tracts of low grounds, and nearly level bodies of fine productive lands.
The staple products of the country are, wheat, Indian corn, tobacco, rye,
oats and potatoes—to the production of which the soil is well adapted.
Tobacco was at one time the principal production for market, but the cultivation
of that article has of late years greatly diminished, and has been
succeeded by the less exhausting cultivation of wheat and rye.

This county is watered in the S. W. by Tye river, and in the N. E. by
Rockfish river, both have their sources in the Blue Ridge, and after running
entirely through the county empty into the James. They are by the
aid of artificial improvement, capable of batteaux navigation to within 10
or 12 miles of the Blue Ridge. The mountains in this county afford evident
indications of being filled with iron and copper ore, and contain several
chalybeate springs, one of which in the S. E. is much frequented, and
has been found very beneficial in all cases of debility. The mountains of
this county generally contain a very rich soil, capable of producing fine
crops of tobacco and corn, and partially adapted to the production of potatoes
and hemp.—There is no county in the State which affords, by the exhaustion
of the soil, more lamentable proofs of an injudicious system of
husbandry; but there is now a spirit of improvement among the planters
and farmers; they are beginning to use clover and gypsum freely, the
beneficial influence of which is very manifest,—and in a few years there
is but little doubt that this county will be among the most fertile, productive
and wealthy counties in the State.

Besides the rivers before referred to, there are numerous creeks penetrating
this county, in every direction, affording many sites for mills and
other machinery. There are three manufacturing mills.—The forest of
the county consists of oak, pine, chesnut, chesnut oak, hickory and poplar.—In
the spring, summer and autumn, the scenery exhibited by the
mountains and vallies, is truly beautiful and picturesque, but in the winter
gloomy and desolate. The health of the county is equal to that of any
county in the State.

Population in 1820, 10,137—in 1830, 11,251. Nelson belongs to the
twelfth judicial circuit and sixth district. Taxes paid in 1833, $2723 88
—in 1834, on lots, $63 36—on land, $1586 57—2983 slaves, $745 75—
2375 horses, $142 50—16 studs, $184 50—16 coaches, $41 30—15 carryalls,
$16 15—11 gigs, $6 95. Total, $2787 08. Expended in educating
poor children in 1832, $169 06—in 1833, $192 45.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Dawson's, P. O. 107 ms. N. W.
of R. and 149 S. W. of W.

Faber's Mills, P. O. in the W.
part of the county, 170 ms. S. W. of
W. C. and 103 W. of R. It contains
1 mercantile store, 1 distillery,
1 blacksmith shop, 1 tailor, 1 boot
and shoe factory, 1 wheelwright, 1
manufacturing flour mill, 1 saw mill,
1 woollen manufactory, and 10 dwelling
houses; in the vicinity there is a
Baptist house of public worship.
Population 50.

Greenfield, P. O. 152 ms. from
W. and 110 from R.

LOVINGSTON, P. V. and seat

of justice, 118 ms. a little N. of W.
from R. and 160 S. W. of W. C., in
lat 37° 44′ and long. 1° 52′ W. of
W. C.—situated on a branch of Tye
river, near the centre of the county,
on the stage road leading from Charlottesville
to Lynchburg, nearly equidistant
between the two places, 40
ms. nearly S. from Staunton, and 36
ms. nearly N. from Buckingham C. H.

"It is a thriving little village, beautifully
situated in a cove, at the head
of which is Loving's Gap to the N.
and commanding a view of a fine
country to the S. The surrounding
hills are truly romantic. The Sugar
Loaf mountain is situated about 4 ms.
from town, the top of which is often
visited by parties to enjoy the rich
scenery of an extended eastern and
southern view, and the prospect of an
unbroken chain of the Blue Ridge
mountain of more than 60 ms. in extent.
The view from Hanblet's mountains
which is near town, is among
the most interesting in the State
The Blue Ridge, the Sugar Loaf, the
Tobacco Row, and many other mountains
are in full view, whilst the
southern prospect unfolds to the vision
plantation beyond plantation,
woods beyond woods, hill beyond hill
in rich succession, until the scene
closes, where earth and sky meet, in
the far distant horizon."

"Lovingston contains 124 houses,
among which are the court house,
clerk's office, and jail, enclosed by a
brick wall, which is entered through
two arched gates. There are 6 mercantile
stores, 1 apothecary shop, 2
schools, 2 taverns, 1 tanyard, 2 saddlers,
1 blacksmith, 2 cabinet makers,
1 milliner and mantua maker, 1
wheelwright, 1 house joiner, and 1
chair maker. The different christian
denominations are Methodist,
Baptist, and Presbyterian. The court
house is used as a place for public
worship. Population 250 persons,
of whom there are 3 attorneys, and 2
practising physicians."

County Courts are held on the 4th
Monday in every month; Quarterly
in March, May, August and November.

Judge Thompson holds his Circuit.
Superior Court of Law and
Chancery on the 29th of April and
September.

Mount Horeb, P. O. 111 ms. W.
of R. and 160 from W.

Murrell's Shop, P. O. 110 ms.
W. of R. and 177 from W.

New Market, or Tye River
Warehouse, P. O. in the southern
part of the county, at the influx of Tye
river into the James, 108 ms. W. of
R. and 165 from W. It contains a
tobacco inspection, at which from 3
to 500 hosgheads are annually inspected,
1 mercantile store, 1 tavern,
a grist and saw mill, a blacksmith
shop, and 12 or 14 dwelling houses.
Population 65 persons, of whom 2
are physicians.

Tye River Mills, P. O. in the
western part of the county, 131 ms.
N. W. of R. and 173 from W.—situated
on the Blue Ridge, near Tye
river, and Tye river turnpike, 10
miles N. W. of Lovingston, in a
populous neighborhood. The farmers
of the surrounding country are
wealthy and the land fertile, producing
well all the staples of the country.
There are several mills and
mercantile stores in the neighborhood.

Variety Mills, P. O. in the
eastern part of the county, 112 ms.
N. W. of R. and 167 from W. It
contains 4 dwelling houses, 1 manufacturing
mill, 1 grist mill, 1 mercantile
store, 1 tanyard, and 1 cooper
shop. Population 25.

Warminster, P. O. in the eastern
part of the county, 160 ms. S. W. of
W. and 100 W. of R.—situated on
the left bank of James river, ¼ mile
from its margin, where it receives the
waters of Swan creek, 50 ms below
Lynchburg. Though called a village,
it consists at present of but 3

dwelling houses, and 2 store houses,
and a masonic hall nearly in ruins,
which is sometimes used as a place of
public worship. A classical school
has been annually kept here, or in
the immediate vicinity. White population
15, colored 10. One physician
has generally resided here. Warminster
was established by enactment
in the year 1788, and for a number of
years carried on a profitable commerce
with the surrounding country
to the extent of 40 or 50 miles. The
foundations of several of the largest
estates in Virginia were laid here;
but with the progress of population
in other quarters of the State—with
the division of the old county of Amherst,
and the subsequent establishment
of the towns of New Glasgow
and Amhert C. H., Lovingston and
New Market, Bent Creek, and other
places, trade has been carried to every
man's door, so that the country which
was once tributary to Warminster,
now carries its support to other places
with greater natural advantages.—
This place, in consequence, has for
some years past been retrograding in
the number of its inhabitants and
houses; many of the lots have been
purchased by the proprietor of the
estate, in the midst of which it is situated,
and have been thrown into the
adjacent fields.—An inspection of tobacco
was authorised by the same
law which established the town, and
was continued for some years with
considerable success, and abandoned,
like most of the smaller inspections
on James river. The statute book
likewise presents several enactments
authorising lotteries for raising money
to build an academy, a church, and
for opening roads to this place: but
it is not known that any of these
were ever carried into effect. The
valley of James river though fertile
here, is narrow, and the interior country
on either side is not productive.
The roads to it from every quarter
are bad, and it is not probable that even
the contemplated central improvement
would increase the village beyond
its present size. It may be remarked
however that its situation is
picturesque in a high degree. From
a cliff opposite, on the right bank of
the river, is an extensive and interesting
view, taking in the fertile valley,
winding for several miles above
and below, with the seats on the adjacent
heights; the small village
half concealed by trees in the midst
of the cultivated plain below, the near
prospect embraced by ranges of
mountains beyond, and the Blue
Ridge, predominant over the whole,
in the distant horizon.

NEW KENT.

New Kent was created by an act of the House of Burgesses in 1654,
and formed from a part of York county. It is bounded N. by the Pamunkey,
which separates it from King William—N. E. by the York, separating
it from King and Queen,—E. by James City,—S. by the Chickahominy,
which separates it from Charles City and Henrico,—and W. by Hanover.
Its length diagonally from east to west, is 33 miles, its mean breadth
7, and its area 231 sq. ms.—It extends in lat. from 37° 19′ to 37° 36′ N.
and in long. from 0° 11′ E. to 0° 24′ W. of W. C.—New Kent is composed
of two narrow inclined planes; leaning towards its bounding rivers, its
surface is hilly. Population in 1820, 6,630—in 1830, 6,458. New Kent
belongs to the fourth judicial circuit and second district. Tax paid in
1832-3, $1271 91—in 1833-4, on lands, $618 84—1753 slaves, $438 25

—834 horses, $50 04—2 studs, $22 00—29 coaches, $68 25—12 carryalls
$12 50—50 gigs, $48 00—Total, $1257 88. Expended in educating
poor children in 1832, $102 22—in 1833, $161 64.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

NEW KENT C. H. P. V. near
the centre of the county, 133 miles
S. W. of W. and 30 E. of R. in lat.
37° 26′, and long. 0° 06′ W. of W.
C.—situated on the south side of the
main stage road leading from Richmond
to Williamsburg, and 3 miles
S. of Pamunkey river, the nearest
point of which from the C. H. is the
old town of Cumberland, situated immediately
on the south side of the river.
Besides the usual county buildings,
this village contains 10 dwelling
houses, 6 mercantile stores, and 4 taverns—no
house of public worship,
the C. H. being made use of for that
purpose—The stage from Richmond
to Williamsburg arrives here on Mondays,
Wednesdays, and Fridays, and
leaves here for Richmond, on Tuesdays,
Thursdays, & Saturdays. There
are 2 other mails a week—1 from
Hanover C. H. and another from
King William C. H., the former on
Tuesdays, the latter on Wednesdays.
New Kent C. H. may be considered
a healthy place, there being no ponds
or other stagnant waters within four
miles of the village. Population 41
persons; of whom one is a physician.

County Courts are held on the 2d
Thursday in every month;—Quarterly
in March, May, August and November.

Judge Semple holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 2nd Monday in May and
November.

NORFOLK.

Norfolk was created by act of the Legislature in 1691, and formed out
of a part of lower Norfolk. It is bounded on the N. by Hampton Roads
and the Chesapeake,—E. by Princess Anne,—S. by Currituck and Camden
counties of North Carolina,—and W. by Nansemond. Its length from
south to north is 32 miles, its mean width 17, and area 544 sq. miles,—extending
in lat. from 36° 30′ to 36° 59′ N. and in long. from 0° 33′ to 1° 2′
E. of W. C.

The northern part of this county is drained through Elizabeth river into
the Chesapeake, and the southern through the Dismal Swamp, and Lake
Drummond, into the Pasquotank, and thence into Albemarle Sound, North
Carolina (See an account of the Dismal Swamp in the General Description
of Virginia, page 41, the more particular description there promised
for this county, not having come to hand.)

The Dismal Swamp Canal is 22 miles long, and has been a work of
such labor and difficulty, as cannot be appreciated by those who have not
seen it in progress. The public reports show that nearly $800,000 have
been expended on the work. The tolls of the year ending November 30th
1832, were $33,290, and those of 1829 were only $13,040, showing an increase
of $20,250. Lake Drummond, near the centre of the Dismal
Swamp, and three miles from the Canal, is in times of great drought the
only feeder, it has a surface of about six square miles, and varies from 10
to 20 feet deep. Its surface when full is 21½ feet above tide water, and 6

above the level of the water in the upper level of the canal, which has five
locks, two of the north end rising 13 feet. The N. W. lock, 10 miles S.
has 3½ feet rise to the summit level; Culpeper lock, 6 miles distant, 3½ feet
fall; and the south descending lock has 13 feet fall. This canal opens a
communication between the port of Norfolk, and Portsmouth, and the waters
of Albemarle and Pamlico sounds. The north end empties into Deep
creek, a branch of Elizabeth river, 4 miles in length; and the south into
Joice's creek, a branch of Pasquotank river. The Dismal Swamp is 20
miles through, in the direction of the canal.

As the Portsmouth and Roanoke Rail Road, which is now under contract,
is likely to exercise a very important influence upon the destinies of
the whole section of country through which it will pass, we give a description
of its location and plan of construction, from the report of its engineer
Walter Gwynn, Esq.

"The line which I have selected as the basis of my estimate, commences
at the intersection of the western boundary of Portsmouth and the centre
line of High street, and proceeds over an extremely level and unbroken
surface to an eligible site for crossing by a bridge, a branch of the Nansemond
river, a few hundred yards north of the termination of the Dismal
Swamp Land Company's Canal. Thence continuing the line to Suffolk
several spring branches are crossed, requiring the construction of small
stone drains and some heavy cuttings and fillings. After leaving Suffolk
the character of the country changes and becomes somewhat bold—and in
order to diminish the quantity of excavation and embankment several undulations
in the plane of the Rail Road are unavoidably made—the inclinations
are, however, gentle, and the line reaches Blackwater without encountering
any other difficulties than an increased expenditure on this portion of
it. From Blackwater a level is maintained for some distance, the line passes
along the borders of the Swamps which make up to the Highlands, and
crossing the Nottoway, on the lands of Mr. Rochelle about seven miles below
Jerusalem, it ascends at the rate of 20 feet per mile, passing near Mr.
Gurley's to the Cypress Bridge Road. Thence, leaving Vick's Chapel a
little to the south and making a slight undulation to avoid some filling, the
line arrives at Capt. Barns' Quarter, on the summit of the ridge dividing the
waters of the Nottoway from those of the Meherrin. From Captain Barns'
a descent is effected on a grade of 20 feet per mile to Buckhorn Run.
Thence the line is continued, on a level, across the Meherrin, about a mile
above Branch's Bridge. It then ascends, varying from an inclination of
20 to 12 feet per mile, until the summit of the Rail Road is attained, giving
an elevation, above the level of tide water, of 144 feet.

"Descending from the summit, the Line crosses the Petersburg Rail
Road, (on a level with that Road,) about two hundred yards south of Capt.
Garey's. It afterwards crosses the head of Raccoon Swamp, and terminates
on the North bank of the Roanoke River, opposite Weldon. Its direction
is S. 70 W., and its length 77 miles, being only half a mile longer
than the distance on a direct line between Portsmouth and Weldon.

"The greatest inclination does not exceed 20 feet to the mile, and throughout
the whole extent of the Road there are but few deviations from a straight
line, and these are effected on the arcs of circles whose radii are in no instance
less than 5730 feet, and are most generally 11,460 feet in length.

"Gentle inclinations and easy curvatures (when it is necessary to vary
from a straight line) are points of essential importance in the location of

Rail Roads—these desirable objects as well as a line extremely favorable to
the advantageous employment of Locomotive Engines are here attained.
Indeed, considering the straightness and the moderate ascents and descents,
the performance of an Engine (of given power) will be greater on this,
than on any other Rail Road now constructed in the United States. We
are therefore enabled to use light Engines, thereby diminishing very considerably
the great and leading items in the expense of transportation on
Rail Roads, viz. wear and tear and repairs.

"The Engine which it is proposed to use will not exceed five tons weight,
and its performance on this Road will be equal to that of a six ton Engine,
on a Road with 30 feet grades. From this general view it will be seen,
that the face of the country is eminently suitable to the proposed work.
The intervening Swamps and the alluvial bottom lands of the Nottoway,
Blackwater and Meherrin, offer no serious obstacles.—The bottom is every
where composed of solid materials, affording a firm foundation for any embankment
or other structure it may be necessary to place on it.

"Construction of the Road.—It will not be necessary on the present occasion
to discuss the relative merits of the various modes of construction—
and the variety of materials which have been used in the formation of Rail-Ways.
Suffice it to say, that the almost universal substitution of wood for
stone, and the iron-edge-rail, establishes its preference in the first instance
even where stone is abundant and timber scarce. Among the many reasons
for this preference of wood, are—its elasticity, its sufficient stability, and its
diminution of the wear and tear of engines and cars. It follows, then as a
necessary consequence, that I recommend for your Rail Road the use of
timber, which is found in abundance, of excellent quality on almost every
part of the line.

"The superstructure, then, which I propose to adopt, will be heart pine
rails, nine by five inches, plated with iron bars two inches wide, and half
an inch thick, resting on white or post oak sills, ten by twelve inches, and
eight feet long, placed across the road, five feet apart from centre to centre.
The rails will be placed parallel to each other four feet eight and a half
inches apart, let into the sills and properly secured by white oak wedges.
The sills will be notched for the reception of the rails and wedges and hollowed
out in the middle, so as to admit of the construction of a path over
them, which will add considerable stiffness to the road, at a very moderate
expense—and adapt it to the use of either horse or locomotive power, or both.

"Width of Road Bed.—I have estimated for a single rail-way, which
for the present will afford sufficient accommodation to the trade and travel.
The ditches, however, will be cut and the waste earth disposed with a view
to a double track, whenever it may be deemed necessary. The graduated
surface of the road-bed in excavations, will vary from 18 to 16 feet in width,
the slopes being 45°. The graded surface on embankments will present
a uniform width of 12½ feet, with side slopes of 33⅓° or 1½ base to 1 perpendicular.

"Between Suffolk and Spikes' Run we shall pass several small streams
by means of stone drains. The stone for this purpose can be readily obtained
at Port Deposites, and the work done now, on as reasonable terms
as at any other period. Farther on, wooden structures will be thrown over
the water courses, with a span affording sufficient room for the erection
hereafter of stone or brick culverts. The bridges across the Blackwater,
Nottoway and Meherrin Rivers will be supported by abutments and piers

of masonry, the stone for which can be transported by water from Norfolk
to their respective sites, and will not at most exceed $5 per perch (of 25
cubic feet) delivered. On approaching the Roanoke, rock is found tolerably
convenient to the line, and will probably be used in crossing the Oconeechee,
Troublefield, and Raccoon Swamp."

Population in 1820, 15,465, including that of the borough of Norfolk—
exclusive of the borough, 6,987—in 1830, 24,814. Norfolk belongs to the
first judicial circuit, and first district. Tax paid in 1832-3, (no report)—
in 1833-4, on lots, $1403 63—on land, $1220 23—3280 slaves, $770 00
—1572 horses, $94 32—6 studs, $52 00—33 coaches, $73 00—27 carryalls,
$28 00—133 gigs, $87 15—Total, $3728 33. Expended in educating
poor children in 1832, $482 36—in 1833, $573 40.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Deep Creek, P. V. 123 ms. from
R. and 226 from W. Deep creek, is
a branch of Elizabeth river. The
village is situated near the creek, at
the northern extremity of the Dismal
Swamp canal. It stands on each side
of the canal, near its northern outfall
lock, and has indeed been created by
the canal. It is now a flourishing
depot, being located nearly equidistant
between the towns of Norfolk and
Portsmouth. It contains 25 dwelling
houses, 6 general stores, 2 taverns, 1
house of public worship, free for all
denominations, 1 grist mill, 1 saw
mill, 2 boot and shoe factories, and 2
tailors. Its commercial business is
nearly confined to a trade in large
juniper or white cedar shingles, rails,
pales, and timber for coopers. It
gives constant employment to ten or
twelve respectable schooners, which
load in the creek, a mile below the
locks, and trade to Philadelphia, New
York, and other places. These shingles
and other juniper lumber, are the
produce of the Dismal Swamp, though
much of the Swamp has no trees of
large growth, but is covered with an
almost impenetrable thicket of reeds,
grass, and bushes; some parts of it,
however, are timbered with gum,
beach, pine, and oak; and other parts
with juniper and cypress: these latter
growing where the water and mud
or decayed vegetable matter is deepest.
The whole surface of the Swamp
is composed of these two substances,
and is of various depths, sometimes of
20 feet,—in this (sponge as it is called
here) are imbedded innumerable
old trees of juniper, from which much
of the lumber shipped from Deep
Creek is made. It is no uncommon
thing to find under the roots of a tree
that has been cut for the purpose of
making shingles, another and larger
old fallen tree, entirely covered with
sponge and trees of new growth,
which is in a perfectly sound state,
and nearly or quite as good for shingles,
as the green timber. These
shingles, and the other lumber, are
brought out of the Swamp, either
through ditches cut for the purpose,
in narrow, long lighters, or are carted
out by mules, on roads made of poles
laid across the road, so as to touch
each other, forming a bridge or causeway.
There are very many miles of
such road. The laborers carry the
shingles, &c. to these roads from the
trees, on their heads or shoulders.—
The border of Deep creek is a salt
marsh.—In opening a communication
from the north outfall lock, through
this marsh to the creek, a very large
and solid pine stump was found, evidently
in the place where it grew. It
is in the way of the navigation, and
at very low tides, is uncovered. This
is the more surprising, as pines do
not (in other instances) grow in salt
marshes, but delight in a dry, sandy

soil. Much labor has been spent, to
little purpose, in attempting to remove
it. Pine stumps are also found
in Albemarle sound, evidently in the
same situation in which they grew,
though now a number of feet under
water, and below the surface of the
Ocean.

Another geological trait in this part
of the state is worthy of notice. Wells
dug in the sand to the depth of six,
eight, or ten feet, afford good water;
but if carried a few feet lower, the
stratum of sand is passed, and one of
offensive mud is encountered, which
destroys the well.

There is a traditionary anecdote
connected with Deep creek, which
deserves to be noticed. During the
war of the Revolution, a French vessel
was pursued into this creek by an
English vessel, and some remains of
the Frenchman still continue, to obstruct
navigation, and confirm the story;
but the tradition adds further, that
before the French crew abandoned
and sunk their ship, they charged a
gun with specie, and threw it overboard,
to prevent its falling into the
hands of the English, and much time
has been spent in a vain search for
that gun.

Great Bridge, P. O. situated on
the southern road 12 miles S. S. E. of
Norfolk, 126 S. E. by E. of R. and
229 from W.

NORFOLK BOROUGH, Sea
Port, and P. O. 114 ms. S. E. by E.
of Richmond, and 217 S. S. E. of
Washington—in lat 36° 52′, and
long. 0° 44′ E. of W. C.—situated 8
miles above Hampton Roads, on the
north bank of Elizabeth river, near
the junction of its southern and eastern
branches. It covers about 600
acres of ground. Norfolk harbor
admits vessels of 18 feet draught, and
renders the Borough the most commercial
depot of Virginia. Its harbor
is perhaps surpassed by none in
the world, being spacious, safe from all
winds, and of easy access to the ocean,
for vessels at all seasons of the year.
It is completely fortified from foreign
enemies by the fortress on Craney
Island, and by the works erected at
the outlet of Hampton Roads, by the
U. S. Government. It is within a
few hour's sail of the Potomac, Rappahannock,
York, and James rivers.
The advantages which it possesses
have attracted the attention of the
General Government, which has expended
immense sums in the erection
of a Navy Yard, Dry Dock, and Marine
Hospital, on a scale, and in a
style, suited to the great naval depot
of this Union. The close connection
existing between Norfolk and North
Carolina, by means of the Dismal
Swamp Canal, causes large quantities
of produce from that state to find their
way through this channel to market.
In addition to this, the Portsmouth
Rail Road, (to be completed in 1835,)
will open to its enterprising citizens
an extensive back country, abounding
in every production of our soil and
climate. Previous to the late war,
Norfolk monopolized almost all the
trade with the British West Indies,
which was a source of much profit to
her merchants. From that period,
however, with the exception of the
years 1816, '17 and '18, during which,
the restriction was removed, her commerce
has been in a languishing condition;
till the opening of the canal,
and other causes, again brought it into
healthy action. Large quantities
of corn, lumber, and naval stores are
annually shipped from this port to
Europe, the West Indies, and South
America. It is already an extensive
cotton market, and destined to deal in
that article to still greater extent. The
city presents a handsome view from
the water. The streets, in consequence
of the numerous creeks running into
the town from every direction, are
laid out without any regard to order
or regularity; many buildings, with
stone fronts, and in improved style,
have been erected within a few years,

and real estate has greatly increased
in value within the same period. Its
health, too, has improved in a remarkable
degree, owing doubtless to the
paving of the streets, proper draining,
and better water, by means of cisterns,
which last are very common. The
domestic government consists of a
Mayor, Alderman, & Common Council;
the first and last being chosen
annually by the people. The public
buildings are, a custom house, court
house, almshouse, academy, and primary
school house, a maritime hospital,
Mason's lodge, 8 houses of public
worship, (2 Episcopalian, 2 Methodist,
1 Baptist, 1 Presbyterian, 1
Catholic, and 1 for colored people)
There is 1 theatre, 1 free school, 18
private seminaries, 2 printing offices,—each
issuing news papers—a
news room, and an extensive, public
library. A lyceum, and infant school
house, of beautiful design, have been
erected by the liberality of private individuals.
There are 3 Banks,—U
States Bank, Virginia Bank, and
Farmers' Bank of Virginia—ten
steamboats ply from Norfolk to Baltimore,
Richmond, and other places
There are 10 hote's, 3 steam mills, 3
tanyards, 2 rope walks, and every
mechanical pursuit is carried on.

An Admiralty Court, a Superior
Court of Law, and a Monthly Court,
conduct the administration of justice.
There are also, a mechanic's society,
a humane, and a marine society, 2
volunteer companies of Infantry, 1 of
Artillery, 1 Rifle, and 1 Cavalry company.
A cemetery covering several
acres of ground has been laid out by
the corporation, and tastefully planted
in evergreens, which adds much to
the beauty of the place. Norfolk,
except Williamsburg, is the oldest incorporated
town in Virginia, deriving
its charter from the British Government.
The market abounds in fish,
oysters, vegetables, &c of the choicest
kinds. The chief imports are, coffee,
rum, salt, sugar, and molasses. Popution
about 10,000 persons. It contains
14 attorneys, and 16 physicians.

The following table partially exhibits
the effects of the fluctuation in the
trade of Norfolk, upon its population:

         

It contained in	1810,	1820,	1830,
Whites,	4,776	4,618	5,131
Free colored,	592	599	928
Slaves,	3,825	3,261	3,757
Total,	9,193	8,478	9,816

showing an increase of 1,338, in the
latter period. The relative increase
of the whites and slaves being very
nearly equal, at about 11 per cent.

Corporation Courts are held on the
4th Mondays in every month;—Quarterly
in March, June, August and
November.

Judge Baker holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 10th of June and 18th of November.

Expended in educating poor children
in 1832, $342 50—in 1833,
$340 55.

North West River Bridge,
P. O. in the S. E. part of the county,
on a small tributary of Currituck
Sound, 24 miles S. E. of Norfolk, and
about an equal distance N. of Elizabeth
City in N. Carolina, 138 miles
from R and 241 from W.

PORTSMOUTH, P. T. and seat
of justice, opposite to the Borough of
Norfolk, on the left bank of Elizabeth
river, and at the mouth of its southern
branch, 219 miles S. S. E. of W. and
116 from R. Portsmouth affords one
of the finest harbors in America:—
ships of the largest class may lay
with safety at its wharves. The U.
S. Navy Yard is directly on the southern
extremity of Portsmouth, and
within the boundaries of the town.
The Government has made here a
large and costly dry dock, of the best
materials and workmanship, capable
of admitting a seventy-four into its
bosom. This portion of the town is
called Gosport, and resembles the
Northern Liberties of Philadelphia
Charlestown, or Newtown, another

suburb, rapidly improving, stands on
the opposite side to Gosport. Population
in 1830, 2000.

County Courts are held on the 3d
Monday in every month;—Quarterly
in March, June, August and Nov'r.

Judge Baker holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 1st of June and 10th of November.

NORTHAMPTON.

This county was one of the original shires of 1634, under the name of
Accomac shire, and was changed to its present name in 1643.—It is bounded
N. by Accomac,—W. and S. by Chesapeake bay, and E. by the Atlantic
Ocean. Its length from S. to N. is 32 miles, its mean width, if the Atlantic
Islands are included, 10, and its area 320 square miles. It extends in
lat. from 37° 05′ to 37° 33′, and in long from 1° to 1° 28′ E. of W. C.—
Paramore's, Hog's, Prout's, and Smith's islands cover the Atlantic coast of
nearly the whole county.

"The county of Northampton is the southern extremity of the long, low
peninsula which forms the eastern side of the Chesapeake, and which comprehends
eight counties in Maryland and two in Virginia. Separated as
these counties are from the rest of the state, by the spacious bay, which the
eye can scarcely see across, and being among the first settled parts of the
colony, they are a more unmixed people than is often to be found in our
country, and retain more of the usages, and even language of former times,
than perhaps any part of the state. The ancient hospitality of Virginia is
here found unimpaired; and the inhabitants have a high relish for good living,
which they are also enabled to indulge by a soil and climate extremely
favorable to gardening, and by an abundance of excellent fish, oysters, and
crabs. They preserve great neatness in their houses and persons, which is
a characteristic of persons living in a sandy country. The whole county
is as level as a bowling-green, and the roads are good at all seasons of the
year. This circumstance has probably increased the social character and
habits of the people, as it certainly has their pleasure carriages. The number
of gigs in the county, is near three hundred, which is considerably
greater than that of the free holders. It is computed that the county pays
about $10,000 a year for its carriages.

"The soil of this county is thin, light, and always more or less mixed
with sand; but as it commonly rests on a stiff clay, and the land is too level
to be carried off by the rains, or to "to wash," to use a term of the upper
country, the inhabitants are very much encouraged to pursue an improving
course of husbandry; yet in truth they are but indifferent farmers. They
cultivate the same land incessantly, one year in Indian corn, and the next
in oats, (their two principal crops,) and their lands improve under this severe
process, provided they are not also pastured. Whenever a field is not in
cultivation, it puts up every where a rich luxuriant crop of a sort of wild
vetch, called the magotty-bay bean, which shades the land while it is growing,
and returns to it a rich coat of vegetable manure. It is by means of
this fertilizing plant, and the aliment which is plentifully furnished by the
vapors from the sea, that the product of these lands is so much greater
than a stranger would be led to expect from the appearance of the soil. The
land is so easily cultivated, that there are few parts of the state in which

more is produced to the man, or the horse, though more may be produced
to the acre. On the best farms, an hundred barrels to the hand are often
obtained. The fig and the pomegranate flourish without protection during
the winter. The former attains the size of a stout tree, some times twenty
feet high, and its delicious fruit is in greater abundance than the inhabitants
can consume. They have not yet learned the art of curing it, or perhaps
the species they have, is not suited to that operation.

"Wind mills are in use here, but tide mills, at the mouth of small inlets,
are preferred when attainable. These inlets deeply indent the shore, both
on the `bay and sea side,' and while they are convenient for fishing, shooting
wild fowls, and as harbors for their boats and small craft, they give a
pleasing variety to the landscapes, which are indeed as pretty as is compatible
with so unvarying a surface. Upon the whole, we know of no part of
the state in which the comforts of life are enjoyed in greater number, or
higher perfection. They have too, the sea and land breezes of the West
Indies; which temper the sultry heats of summer; and their only annoyances
seem to be a few musquetoes, a good many gnats, and now and then
a bilious or intermittent fever. There is here an article of culture which
is not much met with in other parts of the state—it is the palma christi,
called castor bean. It now constitutes a part of almost every farmer's crop,
to the extent of eight to ten acres or more. The quantity of the nut or
bean produced, is the same as the land would produce in corn. Each bushel
yields about two gallons and a half of oil, and sells, at the press, for $1 25
a bushel. This plant is now cultivated in many of the counties on the
Western Shore, and the oil it affords has become a considerable article of
export, being preferred to that of the West Indies.

"Among the curiosities of this county, are the ancient records of the
county from 1640, and a marble tomb, or sarcophagus, about five feet high,
and as many long, from which we transcribe the following singular inscription:

Population in 1820, 7,705—in 1830, 8,644. Northampton belongs to
the third judicial circuit, and second district. Taxes paid in 1832-3, $1967
49—in 1833-4, on land, $99 18—1970 slaves, $492 50—1506 horses,
$70 36—8 studs, $140 00—13 coaches, $28 00—17 carryalls, $17 00—
250 gigs, $224 70—Total, $99 2 74. Expended in educating poor children
in 1832, $297 65—in 1833, $234 33.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Capeville, P. O. situated 12 ms.
south of Eastville, the county seat, 6
N. of Cape Charles, and 176 from
Richmond. It is a small village, containing
12 houses, 2 mercantile stores,
1 boot and shoe factory, and several
other mechanics. It is a place of
great resort, for the neighbors of several
miles around, to obtain early
possession of the news, from vessels
arriving on the coast. Population 25.

EASTVILLE, P. V. and seat of
justice, 244 ms. S. S. E. of W. C.
and 174 E. of Richmond, in lat. 37°
30′ and long. 1° 15′ E. of W. C.—
situated about the middle of the county,
between the Chesapeake bay and
the Atlantic Ocean, 2 ms. from the
water on either side, equi-distant from
the northern and southern extremity
of the county, and 18 ms. north of
Cape Charles. Eastville is divided
by a small valley, which runs through
the centre of the town, and has two
principal streets, running at right angles.
It contains, besides the usual
county buildings, 21 dwelling houses,
4 mercantile stores, 2 taverns, 1 new
and handsome brick Episcopal church,
1 common school, and 1 bible society. The mechanical pursuits are, 1 coach
manufactory, which completes about
$6000 worth of work annually, 1
coach and harness maker, 1 cabinet
maker, 2 blacksmiths, 2 boot and shoe
manufactories, 3 tailors, 1 house and
sign painter, and 1 hatter. There are
in this village, 3 castor oil manufactories,
and 2 others in the country, the
whole making and exporting about
20,000 gallons of oil annually. Its
principal commerce is with Baltimore,
Philadelphia, and New York. Property
has increased rapidly in value
whithin the last three years, having
in Eastville more than doubled. The
inhabitants are not to be surpassed for
their morality, and hospitality to strangers.
Eastville is healthy. Population
217 persons; of whom 2 are attorneys
and 3 regular physicians.

County Courts are held on the 2d
Monday in every month;—Quarterly
in March, June, September and November.

Circuit Superior Courts of Law
and Chancery are held on the 15th
of May and 21st of October by Judge
Upshur.

NORTHUMBERLAND.

Northumberland, was created by the legislature in 1648; we do not
know from what county it was taken. It is bounded on the N. by the Potomac
river, N. E. and E. by Chesapeake bay, S. by Lancaster, S. W. by
Richmond, and W. by Westmoreland. Its length is 30 ms.; mean width 12¼,
and area 246 sq. ms. It extends in lat from 38° 40′, to 38° 05′ N. and in
long from 0° 2′, to 0° 45′ E. of Washington City. The southern portion
inclines southeastward to the Chesapeake, and the northern portion, northeastward
towards the Potomac. Population in 1810, 8,308—1820, 8,016—
1830, 7,953. It belongs to the 5th judicial circuit, and 3d district. Tax
paid in 1832-3, $1,233 34—in 1833-4—on lots, $22 00—on land,
$586 77—1,571 slaves, $392 75—826 horses, $49 56—6 studs, $46 00—
25 coaches, $54 50—6 carryalls, $6 00—158 gigs, $84 50. Total,
$1,242 80. Expended in educating poor children in 1832, $242 80—in
1833, $320 97.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Burgess' Store, P. O. in the
southern part of Northumberland Co.
101 ms. N. E. of R., and 160 ms from
W.

NORTHUMBERLAND C. H.
or Heathsville, P. V. 151 ms. S. S.
E. of W. and 92 N. E. of R. This
little village contains besides the ordinary
county buildings, 60 dwelling
houses, 4 mercantile stores, 1 large
and handsome Methodist meeting
house, 1 Sunday school, 1 Academy,
1 manufacturing flour mill, 1 tanyard,
1 gig maker, 1 hatter, 1 saddler, 2
tailors, 2 boot and shoe factories and
1 confectionary.

This village is pleasantly situated,
about a mile and a half from the head
of Coan river, which is navigable,
and empties into the Potomac. It is
perhaps the handsomest village in the
Northern Neck.

County Courts are held on the 2d
Monday in every month.—Quarterly
in March, May, August and November.

Judge Lomax holds his Circuit
Superior Courts of Law and Chancery
on the 3d of April, and 17th of
October.

Tan Yard, P. O. 101 ms. from
R. and 162 ms. S. S. E. of W.

Wicomico Church, and P. O.
about 6 ms. W. of Smith's Point, and
9 ms. E. of Bridgetown, 160 ms. S.
E. of W. and 98 ms. from R.

NOTTOWAY.

Nottoway, was created by the legislature in 1788, and formed from a
part of Amelia Co. It is bounded on the N. by Amelia, E. by Dinwiddie,
S. by Nottoway river, which separates it from Lunenburg and Brunswick,
and W. by Prince Edward. Its length is from S. E. to N. W. 19¾ ms.;
mean breadth 15, and area 297 sq. ms. It extends in lat. from 36° 54′, to
37° 14′, and in long from 1° 3′, to 1° 26′, W. of W. C. The northern
part of this county is drained by creeks which flow through Amelia into
the Appomattox river, and the southern part by the Nottoway and its tributaries.
Population in 1810, 9,770—1820, 9,658—1830, 10,141. Nottoway
belongs to the second judicial circuit, and 5th district. Tax paid in
1832-3, $2,492 51—in 1833-4, on land, $1,270 54—3,566 slaves, $891 50
—1,698 horses, $101 88—5 studs, $90 00—60 coaches, $151 50—20
carryalls $20 00—84 gigs, $55 45. Total, $2,580 87. Expended in
educating poor children in 1832, $247 70—in 1833, $163 33.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Blacks and Whites, P. O., 60
ms. S. W. of R., and 182 ms. from W.

Jeffries' Store, P. O. 197 ms.
from W. and 75 ms. from R.

Morganville, P. O. 56 ms. S.
W. of R., and 178 from W.

NOTTOWAY C. H. P. V. 67
ms. W. of R. and 189 ms. from W.
situated on Nottoway river, 1 mile N.
of Hendersonville, in the business
part of the county. It contains a C.
H., clerk's office, and a criminal and
debtors jail, besides 15 dwelling
houses, 1 mercantile store, 1 hotel,
1 saddler, 1 tailor and 1 blacksmith's
shop. In the vicinity on Nottoway
river there is a manufacturing flour
mill. A daily stage passes this place
on its route from Petersburg to N. C.
Population 70 persons; of whom 1 is

an attorney and 1 a regular physician.

County Courts are held on the 1st
Thursday in every month.—Quarterly
in March, May, August and November.

Judge May holds his Circuit Superior
Court of Law and Chancery on
the 10th of April and September.

ORANGE.

Orange was created by act of Assembly in 1734, and formed out of a
part of Spottsylvania Co. It is situated at the eastern base of the Blue
Ridge; bounded by Spottsylvania, E. and S. E.; Louisa, S. Albemarle, S.
W. Blue Ridge, separating it from Rockingham, W. by Conway river,
separating it from Madison, N. W. and by Rapid Ann river, separating it
from Culpeper N. Its length diagonally from E. to W. is 56 ms.; mean
width 10 ms.; and area 560 sq. ms.—Extending in lat. from 38° 07′, to 38°
25′ N. and in long. from 0° 42′, to 1° 45′ W. of Washington City. The
northern part in its entire length, is bounded by, and drained into Rapid
Ann, or S. W. branchof Rappahannock; its declivity is eastward. The S.
E. angle gives source to the North Anna, and the S. W. to the extreme
northern sources of the Rivanna river.

The surface is hilly and the country is nearly equally divided by the S.
W. mountain. No country can excel it in the salubrity of its atmosphere,
or the purity of its water, which in some instances is highly chalybeate,
from the large masses of iron ore found imbedded in its soil. The quality
of its soil is in general very fertile. In the upper or mountainous division,
it is of a deep orange color, (whence its name) very productive and well
adapted to the use of plaister and clover, the fertilizing effects of which, are
visible upon many of the farms in this section. In the lower or S. E. division,
the soil, which is of a white, sandy character, is much less fertile
and not so easily improved as the red mountain land. There is a vein of
limestone passing through this county, in a line nearly parallel with the
mountains, which has in some places been opened and worked to advantage.
Its mineral wealth is very great, a vein of copper ore, has been discovered
in the Blue Ridge, not far rom Swift Run Gap, which is supposed
to be valuable. Iron abounds in the vicinity of the mountains, and in the
lower section of the county, not far from the Spottsylvania line, gold has
been obtained, in considerable quantities. There are at present several
mines in successful operations; the principal of which, are Grymes', the
Greenwood, Coalter's and Grasty's, at which latter place, the Virginia
Mining Company, has been at considerable expense in erecting machinery
for grinding the rock.

There is an Indian Mound in this county, on the lands of Mr. Jacob
Walters, on the Rapid Ann river, near the boundary between Orange and
Madison. This mound has been discovered, for nearly 120 years: but
no description of it has hitherto been published. The bodies lie with their
heads towards the N. The mound is probable between 12 and 15 ft. higher
than its base, and of very considerable length. The bodies lie in tiers,
one above another, and about 2 ft. apart. It is supposed, that some Indian
battle was fought here at some remote period, and there is every appearance
of some of the bodies having been burned before interment, as there

are frequently found among the skeletons burned bones, and pieces of coal.
The sight is truly awful to one who is not in the habit of seeing the bones
of human beings. The mound is about 30 ft sq and appears to contain
between 3 and 400 of these skeletons. Pieces of scalping knives and tomahawks,
are frequently found near this spot of Indian interment. The staple
productions of this county are wheat, rye, oats, corn, hemp, flax and tobacco.
The wheat is mostly ground into flour at the mills within the county, of
which there are 8.

Houses were erected in 1833 for the reception of the poor, where they
are supplied with all the comforts of life at the annual expense to the county
of about $2,000. There is an institution in this county, which was incorporated
some years since, under the name of the Orange Humane Society,
for the education of indigent youths:—it has a capital of upwards of $20,000,
which is loaned out to individuals upon good, real and personal security,
the interest arising from which, is applied to the education of such youths
of promise as are destitute. Orange is entitled to send 1 member, under the
new constitution to the assembly. Population in 1820, 12,913—1830,
14,637. Taxes paid in 1833, $3,796 15—in 1834, on lots, $16 98—on
land, $2,419 94—3,768 slaves, $942 00—3,138 horses, $188 28—11 stus,
$150 00—44 coaches, $91 45—24 carryalls, $24 00—35 gigs, $19 85.
Total, $3,852 50. Expended in educating poor children in 1832, $333 78
—in 1833, no commisioner's report.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Barboursville, P. V. at the
north western foot of the S. W. mountain,
105 ms. S. W. of W. and 76 ms.
N. W. of R., situated at the intersection
of the main stage road, leading
from Washington to Milledgeville,
Georgia, and the road from Swift Run
Gap to Richmond. It contains 2
mercantile stores, 2 houses of private
entertainment, 2 tanyards, a saddler,
tailor, wheelwright, blacksmith, boot
and shoe maker, house of public worship,
free for all denominations, and 2
Sunday schools. The situation is
handsome, and well chosen for a village,
12 ms. S. W. of Orange C. H.
17 ms. from Charlottesville, and 6
ms. from the elegant seat of the venerable
ex-president Madison. A mail
from the N., and 1 from the S. arrives
here every day, and a horse
mail twice a week. Population 50
persons; of whom 1 is a physician.

Burtonsville, P. O. in the eastern
part of the county, 98 ms. N. W.
of R. and 108 from W., situated on
the S. bank of the Rapid Ann river,
and immediately on the main road
leading from Fredericksburg to Swift
Run Gap, 50 ms. above the former,
and 14 ms. below the latter, 16 ms.
above Orange C. H. and 6 ms. below
Stannardsville, 10 ms. S. of Madison
C. H. and 28 ms. S. of Culpeper C.
H. at the intersection of the roads
leading from the two last mentioned
places to Charlottesville, and Swift
Run Gap, about 11 ms. W. of Mr.
Madison's residence, and 25 N. of
Charlottesville. Burtonsville was
formerly extensively known, on account
of its commercial business, but
at present it has only a private residence,
and P. O. The soil of the surrounding
country is good, and well
adapted, to the culture of tobacco, Indian
corn, wheat, Rye, &c. and susceptible
of easy and high improvement
by the use of clover, plaster,
&c. The neighbourhood is well
watered and healthy, with an industrious
and thriving community.

Chesnut Hill, P. O. 85 ms. from
R. and 87 ms. from W.

Cavesville, P. O. situated 6 ms.
above Barboursville, on the road
from Swift Run Gap, to Richmond,
82 ms. N. W. of R. and 111 ms.
from W.

Gordonsville, P. O. 70 ms. N.
W. of R. and 102 ms. S. W. of W.,
situated at the eastern foot of the S.
W. mountain, and on the sources of
the North Anna river, about 50 ms.
S. W. by W. of Fredericksburg, and
10 ms. S. of Orange C. H. It contains
several dwelling houses, a mercantile
store, tavern and smith's shop.

Locust Grove, P. O. 86 ms. from
R. and 76 ms. S. W. of W.

Poplar Run, P. O. 83 ms. from
R., and 95 ms. S. W. of W.

ORANGE C. H. P. V. 80 ms.
from R. and 92 ms. from W., situated
about equi-distant from the N. E. and
N. W. angles of the county; 3 ms.
from the Rapid Ann river, and 8½
ms. from the North Anna, or north
branch of the Pamunkey. This is
one of the most flourishing inland
villages below the mountains. It
contains besides the ordinary county
buildings, 51 dwelling houses, mostly
of brick, and built in a handsome
style, 9 mercantile stores, 2 houses of
public worship, built of brick, (1 Episcopalian,
and 1 Methodist,) 1 female
academy, 2 common schools and 2
hotels. The mechanics are 1 hat
manufacturer, 2 cabinet makers, 1 silver
smith and jeweller, 3 blacksmiths,
1 boot and shoe manufacturer, 1 tanyard,
1 house and sign painter, 2
bricklayers, 3 house carpenters, 1
wagon maker, 2 tailors, 1 coach maker,
1 saddle and harness maker, 1
turner, and 1 printing office, from
which a weekly paper is issued. The
facilities of stage accommodation in
this village are perhaps not to be surpassed
in the state. Thirty mails are
received at the P. O. in each week; 2
mail stages run daily through this
place from Washington City to the
W. and one tri weekly, 4 horse coach
from here to Richmond. Population
503 persons; of whom 4 are attorneys
and 3 regular physicians.

County Courts are held on the 4th
Monday in every month. Quarterly
in March, May, August and November.

Judge Field holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 28th of April and September.

Orange Spring, P. O. 104 ms.
from R. and 94 ms. from W.

River Bank, or Ellisville P. O.
97 ms. from R. and 104 ms. S. W. of
W., situated at the junction of Hickory
creek with the North Anna river.
It contains 10 dwelling houses, 1
mercantile store, 1 manufacturing flour
mill, 1 grist and saw mill, 1 tanyard,
1 saddler, 1 tailor, 1 boot and shoe
maker, 1 blacksmith, 1 wheelwright,
1 cabinet maker, and 1 house carpenter.
This place is rapidly improving
and bids fair to become a flourishing
village. Population about 100.

Stanardsville, P. O. 92 ms.
from R. and 114 S. W. of W., situated
in the extreme western part of the Co.
near the Blue Ridge, immediately on
the Hillsborough road, leading from
Louisa C. H. to Harrisonburg, in a
healthy and pleasant neighborhood.
It contains 21 dwelling houses, 5
mercantile stores, 2 taverns, 1 tanyard,
1 saddler, 1 boot and shoe factory, 1
tailor, 2 smith shops, 1 wheelwright,
1 hatters shop, and 1 gun smith. Population,
whites, 90 persons; of whom
1 is a physician,—colored 52. Total,
142.

Thorne Hill, P. O. 92 ms. from
R., and 104 from W.

Verdierville, P. O. 91 ms. from
R., 81 ms. from W.

PATRICK.

Patrick county was established by the Legislature in 1791, and taken
from Henry Co. Patrick is a border county, extending along the State line
between Virginia and North Carolina, a distance of between 45 and 50
miles. It is bounded on the N. by the Blue Ridge mountains, which in
running W. approach so near the Carolina line, as to make the county very
narrow at its western extremity. In fact the county formerly extended to
the point where the mountain intersected the state line; but a considerable
portion of its former western extremity has been added to the county of
Grayson, for the convenience of the people residing therein. The contiguous
counties on the N. and W. are the trans-montane counties of
Floyd and Grayson; on the E. it is bounded by the counties of Franklin
and Henry. Its width varies from 30 to 80 miles, averaging something
like 20 miles; and its area is 541 sq ms. It extends in lat. from 36° 30′
to 30° 47′ N. and in long from 2° 56′ to 3° 40′ W. of W. C.

The general face of the county is broken, but not as much so as that of
most of the piedmont counties to the eastward of it. It is intersected
however by several considerable mountains ranging from E. to W. The
principal of these is the Bull Mountain, which unites with the main mountain
at its western extremity, and runs eastwardly nearly to the eastern boundary
of the county, dividing it (not very unequally) from W. to E. The
Court House is situated on the S. side of this mountain at the distance of
3 or 4 miles from its summit, which is as near as a suitable situation could
be procured, on account of the spurs of the mountain.

There is another mountain (which may be considered a spur of the
Blue Ridge) called Carter's mountain. It leaves the main mountain S.
of the Bull mountain and ranges nearly parallel with it, inclining a little
more to the S. This mountain is not very long, extending in length not
more than 8 or 10 miles. It lies very near the Courthouse, immediately S.
of it, and terminates nearly opposite to it. The No Business mountain
runs also parallel with the Bull mountain, on the S. side of it, but lies detached
from the main mountain near the eastern end of the county. It is
probably 7 or 8 miles long, and ranges pretty much in a line with Carter's
mountain, there being however an interval of 4 or 5 miles between the
eastern end of the one and the western end of the other. These are all
the mountains which have acquired a distinct name and character; there
are however a great number of spurs and knobs, which though nameless,
might well deserve some distinguishing appellation. These generally
extend out from the Blue Ridge in various directions and for various distances.

The principal water courses are the Dan, Smith's river, the Moyos, and
the Ararat, with their tributaries;—all which not only intersect the county,
but have their sources in the mountains which form its northwestern border.
The Dan rises in a plain on the top of the Blue Ridge, some 8 or 10
miles from the declivity of the mountain, and running to the S. waters an
extensive and level body of land called the meadows of Dan. It then
breaks through the mountain, or rather tumbles down the mountain, and
struggling on for 8 or 10 miles among stupendous cliffs and precipices,
reaches the level country, not far from the State line, and crosses into North
Carolina. This stream crosses the county within about 10 miles of its
western extremity.

The Ararat also rises on the flat table land on the top of the mountain,
not very remote from the head of the Dan, but takes a different direction.
It runs to the S. W. and crossing the state line near the western extremity
of the county, takes its way through the county of Surry, N. C. and empties
into the Yadkin.

Smith's river has its source in the Blue Ridge to the N. of the Bull
mountain, and traversing that section of the county lying between the Bull
and Blue Ridge mountains from W. to E., crosses near the eastern extremity
of the Bull mountain into the county of Henry.

There are two Mayos, the South Mayo and North Mayo. The South
Mayo rises in the main mountain, between the Bull mountain and Carter's
mountain, and running southeastwardly between those two mountains, passes
by the Court House, and crossing the south side of the country diagonally,
enters North Carolina near the southeastern corner of the county.

The North Mayo rises in the Bull mountain, on its S. side, and running
eastwardly for some distance between that mountain and the No Business
mountain, turns to the S. around the eastern extremity of the last named
mountain, and enters North Carolina, first passing through a small corner
of the county of Henry.—The two Mayos unite soon after leaving Virginia,
and finally empty into the Dan.

There are many creeks tributary to the rivers already enumerated, a few
of the principal of which shall be given. First those which empty into
Dan. This stream receives before it descends the mountain, Ivy Creek,
as large as itself: after it descends the mountain, it receives a number of
small streams not worthy of notice;—near where it crosses into North
Carolina, it receives Archy's creek from the S. W. and soon after crossing
the line it receives little Dan from the N. which also rises in Patrick.
The Ararat receives after it descends the mountain, Doe run and Johnson's
creek, from the N. and Clark's creek from the S. Smith's river receives
Rock Castle creek, Widgeon creek, and several other smaller ones
from the N. and Sycamore and Goblin Town creek, from the S. The
South Mayo receives Spoon creek from the N., and Russell's creek from the
S., besides other smaller ones. The North Mayo receives Mill creek from
the the S., and Roger's creek from the N.

There is a great diversity of soil in the county of Patrick. The numerous
water courses which intersect it in every direction afford more or less bottom
land of good quality, and a large portion of the upland is strong, though often
steep and rocky. The soil and climate below the mountain are adapted to the
culture of corn, wheat, rye, oats, tobacco and hemp. The land on the top of
the mountain before alluded to, as being contiguous to the head of Dan, and
designated as the meadows of Dan, is generally fertile, and while the climate
is too cold for the successful culture of corn or tobacco, it is admirably adapted
to the production of small grain and grass. This body of land is at present
included in large surveys, made on speculation, which have not generally
come into market; notwithstanding which it is rapidly settling and, without
doubt, is destined to be the most flourishing part of the county. The access
to it, though somewhat difficult on the S. and E., is entirely easy on
the N. and W., as the descent of the mountain in those directions, is scarcely
perceptible. The staple article of produce, on the south side of the
Bull mountain is tobacco. On the N. side of that mountain there can
scarcely be said to be a staple. The people live independently, mostly
within themselves and generally sell their surplus grain, pork, beef, brandy,

&c. The principal portion of the slave population is on the south
side of the county, which may in some measure account for the article of
tobacco being more raised on that side than on the other. The mountain
section of the county is beginning already in some degree to be, and
is destined soon to be entirely, a grazing country: admirably calculated
for the raising of cattle, horses and hogs.—The tobacco raised in the
county is mostly manufactured and sold in the southern and western
States. Immense quantities of this article are annually sent to the States
of South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama, and sold at good prices for cash.
Nearly every planter who raises tobacco to any extent is a manufacturer;
but there are some who make a business of it, and purchase the article in
the leaf from their neighbors, without prizing, at a very liberal price.

Land is quite cheap compared with land of similar quality farther eastward,
and in consequence there has been for some years back an annual
accession of population by immigration from the lower counties. This
accession has however been more than counterbalanced in the last two or
three years, by the prevalence of the Missouri mania, which has carried
many of our best citizens to that State, and which still prevails though in
an abated degree.

The climate of this county is truly delightful. The bracing air of the
mountain, combined with the mild breath of the south, renders the atmosphere
pure and at the same time soft,—and we do not believe there is a
healthier climate in the world. For many years in some neighborhoods
there was not a physician within twenty miles; (which our correspondent
writes,) "you may consider either as the cause or effect of the health of my
vicinity, which ever you like." There are no manufactories in the county,
except those of tobacco, already referred to; and a forge owned by John
A. Hairston, Esq. on Goblin Town creek, on the north side of the Bull
mountain, near its eastern extremity. This forge has been in operation
for many years, and the enterprising proprietor, in conjunction with two
connections, men of capital as well as himself, is now erecting a large furnace
within a short distance of the forge, which will go into operation
during the next fall or winter. The supply of ore is abundant, convenient,
and of the best quality. Iron ore abounds in other parts of the county
also.

"The scenery presented by the passage of Dan river down the mountain,
and into the flat country, is awful and sublime in the highest degree. The
river rises in a plain, traverses it for 8 or 10 miles, till it reaches the declivity
of the mountain, dashes down it by a rapid succession of perpendicular
falls, and winds its solitary way, unapproached by any footstep
save that of the mountain hunter, and hemmed in on every side by immense
mountains, descending almost perpendicularly to the water edge for
the distance of several miles, before its banks afford room for settlements.
The Pinnacles of Dan are found in this interval. To approach them you
must ascend the mountain at some convenient gap—upon reaching the top
of the mountain, the country becomes comparatively level. The visiter
goes along the top under the guidance of some mountaineer, who knows
the locality of the pinnacles; he meets with no obstruction except fallen
logs, and a most luxuriant growth of weeds, till suddenly he reaches the
declivity of the mountain. An immense basin presents itself to his
view, surrounded by lofty mountains, almost perpendicular, of which
the ridge on which he stands forms a boundary. The depth of the
basin is beyond his view and appears to him to be incalculable. From

the midst of the basin two pinnacles, in the shape of a sugar loaf, rise to a
level with the surrounding mountains, and of course with the beholder.
They appear to be masses of rock rudely piled on each other, with barely
soil enough in the crevices to nourish a few bushes. There is no visible
outlet to the basin, the narrow chasm through which the river makes its
escape being out of view. If the visiter wishes to ascend the main pinnacle,
(one being much larger than the other,) he descends from his station,
the face of the mountain which is very steep, to a distance which he
imagines sufficient to carry him down the highest mountain,—when he
reaches a narrow ridge or pass-way not more than thirty feet wide, connecting
at the distance of thirty or forty yards, the pinnacle to the main
mountain,—and to his astonishment the river appears at an incalculable
distance below him. The ascent of the pinnacle then commences and an
arduous and somewhat perilous one it is. A narrow pathway winds up
among the rocks, and in many places, the adventurous climber has to pull
himself up a perpendicular ascent of five or six feet by the bushes. When
he reaches the top, however, he is amply repaid for his labor in ascending.
The prospect, though necessarily a limited one, is picturesque and sublime
in a high degree. The view of the basin is then complete. The mountains
surrounding it nearly of an uniform height; no outlet visible and the
beholder perched upon the summit of an immense natural pyramid in the
centre. The river is seen occasionally as it winds around the base of the
pinnacle. It attempts to pass on the west side where the narrow ridge by
which the visiter approaches arrests its course; it then winds entirely
round the pinnacle close to its base until it comes to the opposite or southern
side of the narrow ridge, passing between the two pinnacles it then passes
round the western and southern side of the smaller pinnacle, and makes
its escape as it best can from its apparently hopeless imprisonment. The
summit of the pinnacle is about twenty or thirty feet square,—and strange
to relate, small bushes of the aspin grow upon it—which is found no where
else growing wild in this section of country. The echo produced is
somewhat remarkable. If a gun be fired off on the top of the pinnacle,
you hear nothing for several seconds, when suddenly in the direction of the
narrow pass through which the river flows, a rushing sound is heard,
which although not a correct echo, seems to be the sound of the report
escaping through the pass."[22]

"The other natural curiosity to which reference has been made is "the
Bursted rock," which is not very far from the Pinnacles, and forms a part
of the frowning and sublime scenery which overhangs the Dan, in its
passage through the mountain. You approach it as you do the pinnacle
along the level top of the mountain, till suddenly your course is arrested
by a perpendicular descent of many hundred feet. The face of the precipice
is a smooth rock. Far below every thing appears in ruins rocks
piled on rocks,—the timber swept from the earth; and every appearance
indicates that a considerable portion of the mountain has been, by some
great convulsion of nature, riven and torn from the rest and precipitated
into the valley, or rather chasm below.

Population in 1810, 4,695,— 1820, 5,089—1830, 7,395. Patrick belongs
to the tenth judicial circuit and fifth district. Taxes paid in 1833,
$816 40—in 1834 on land, $441 77—980 slaves, $245 00—1629 horses,
$97 74—7 studs, $52 00—3 coaches, $8 80—3 carryalls, $3 00—2 gigs,
$1 00. Total, $849 31. Expended in educating poor children in 1832,
$281 92—in 1833, $203 39.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Arrarat, P. O. 282 ms. from R.
and 358 S. W. by W. from W.

Penn's, P. O. in the eastern part
of the county, 17 miles N. E. of
Taylorsville, 224 ms. from R. and
316 S. W. of W.

TAYLORSVILLE, or Patrick
C. H. P. O.—situated on Mayo river,
90 ms. S. W. of Lynchburg, 35 S.
of Christiansburg, 241 S. W. by W.
of R. and 333 S. W. of W. in N.
lat. 36° 38′ and long. 3° 14′ W. of
W. C. It contains besides the usual
county buildings, 40 dwelling houses,
2 mercantile stores, 3 taverns, a tanyard,
saddler, tailor, manufacturing
flour mill, and 2 tobacco factories.

County Courts are held on the
Thursday after the 2d Monday in
every month;—Quarterly in March,
June, August and November.

Judge Saunders holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 21 of April and September.

PITTSYLVANIA.

Pittsylvania was established by the Legislature in 1767, and formed
from a portion of Halifax. It is bounded on the N. by the Staunton river,
which separates it from Bedford and Campbell,—E. by Halifax,—S. by
Caswell and Rockingham counties of North Carolina,—W. by Henry and
Franklin. Its mean length is 35½ miles, breadth 25½; and its area 891
sq. miles. It extends in lat. from 36° to 37° 05′, and in long. from 2°
12′ to 2° 35′ W. of W. C. This county is watered by Staunton river on
the N., Dan on the S. and Banister in the centre. Much of the soil is excellent,
and large crops of tobacco are produced. Population in 1810,
17,172; 1820, 21,313; 1830, 26,034. It belongs to the tenth judicial circuit,
and fifth district. Tax paid in 1833, $5089 04—in 1834 on lots,
$167 21—on land, $2794 18—5905 slaves, $1476 25—5458 horses,
$327 48—25 studs, $286 50—53 coaches, $136 75—35 carryalls $38 50
—62 gigs, $38 95. Total, $5265 82. Expended in educating poor children
in 1832, $830 62, in 1833, $913 88.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES &c.

Berger's Store, P. O. 164 ms. S.
W. by W. of R. and 242 from W.

Calland's P. O. 179 ms. S. W.
of R. and 271 from W.

Chesnut Grove, P. O. in the
southern part of the county, 180 ms.
S. W. by W. of R. and 272 from W.
situated 13 ms. S. of Competition, the
seat of justice. It contains 7 dweling
houses, a general mercantile
store, and a grocery, Methodist house
of worship, tobacco factory, tailor,
boot and shoe maker, cabinet maker,
and a blacksmith shop. The situation
is healthy, the soil of the surrounding
country productive, and

principally adapted to the cultivation
of tobacco, Indian corn, rye, oats, &c.
Population 30 persons, of whom 1 is
a physician.

Crafton, P. O. 156 ms. S. W. by
W. of R. and 236 S. S. W. of W.
It contains 7 dwelling houses, 2 taverns,
2 blacksmith shops, a tailor,
and boot and shoe maker. Population
28.

Chalk Level, P. O. 169 ms. S.
W. of R. and 247 from W.

COMPETITION, P. V. and seat
of justice, is situated near the centre
of the county, on a branch of Banister
river, 167 ms. S. W. by W. of R.
and 259 S. W. of W. in lat. 36° 50′
and long. 2° 20′ W. of W. C. Besides
the ordinary county buildings,
it contains 125 dwelling houses, 3
mercantile stores, 3 taverns, 1 house
of public worship, (Methodist,) and 2
common schools. The mechanics
are, 1 watch maker and silversmith,
1 tailor, 1 boot and shoe maker, 2
blacksmiths, 1 wheelwright, 2 tanners,
and several saddlers in the vicinity.
This town is rapidly improving.
Several large and handsome
brick buildings have lately been erected.
The situation is considered
healthy. The land of the surrounding
country is fertile, producing well
all the common staples—Indian corn,
wheat, tobacco, &c. Population 200
persons, of whom 3 are attorneys,
and 2 practising physicians.

County Courts are held on the 3d
Monday in every month; Quarterly,
in March, June, August and November.

Judge Saunders holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and
Chancery on the 20th of May and
October.

Danville, P. V. 168 ms. from
R. and 258 from W. Danville is a
flourishing village, situated at the
falls on the right bank of Dan river,
near the S. border of the county, and
about 5 ms. from the N. C. line
Dan river is navigable for batteaux
40 ms. above this place. Danville
was incorporated in pursuance of an
act of the Legislature in 1831-2.

It contains about 115 houses, 9
miscellaneous stores, 3 groceries, 2
commission houses, 2 tobacco warehouses,
2 Branch Banks, (Virginia
and Farmers,) 1 masonic hall, at present
used as a place of public worship
by all denominations, 1 male
and 1 female academy, in a flourishing
condition, also a private seminary
for young ladies, with upwards of 40
pupils,—1 well organized sunday
school, 1 apothecary shop, 2 tobacco
factories, 1 oil mill, 2 manufacturing
flour mills, 3 saw mills, 1 iron foundry,
and 2 taverns. The mechanical
pursuits are, 1 printing office, issuing
a weekly paper, (Danville Reporter,)
2 tanyards, 1 saddler, 2 boot and shoe
factories, 4 tailors, 3 cabinet makers,
1 chair maker, 2 milliners, 1 plough
factory, and 3 blacksmiths. The
principal staples of this market are
wheat and tobacco. Population supposed
to be about 1000. It contains
3 attorneys, and 7 regular physicians.

Hill Grove, P. O. 150 ms. S. W.
by W. of R. and 228 from W., situated
4 ms. S. of Ward's bridge on the
post road leading from Lynchburg to
Danville, 30 ms. S. of the former, and
40 N. of the latter place. This section
of country is healthy, and well
watered; the soil moderately fertile,
well adapted to the culture of tobacco
and grain. The growth of timber is
generally oak, pine, hickory, &c.

Liberty Hall, P. O. 121 ms. S.
W. by W. of R.

Monroeton, P. O. on the right
bank of Staunton river, in the extreme
north western angle of the
county, 161 ms. S. W. by W. of R.
and 239 from W. This place some
10 or 12 years ago, promised fair to
become a town of some magnitude.
It was laid off in lots, and a considerable
number of them sold, several
houses were built and occupied, and
one or two stores established; but by

some fatality, it had no sooner commenced
its career, than it begun to
decline, and every one of the first
settlers left the place, and most of the
houses were thrown down; others
moved off and rebuilt where they
were of more service, and it now
contains only 2 families, 1 tannery,
and 1 manufacturing flour mill.

Mount Airy, P. O. 164 ms. S.
W. of R. and 242 from W., situated
in the lower end of the county,
in a healthy and flourishing neighborhood,
about 5 miles from Halifax
county line, at the intersection of the
roads leading from Lynchburg to
Danville and Milton, and the road
leading from Charlotte to Franklin
C. H., 39 ms. from the former, 32
from Danville, and 16 N. E. of Pittsylvania
C. H. It has 1 mercantile
store, several dwelling houses, a saw
and grist mill, and 2 cotton machines
are in the neighborhood, and 3 houses
of public worship, 1 Episcopalian, 1
Methodist, and 1 Baptist. The face
of the surrounding country is level,
population not very dense,—the soil
fertile, and well adapted to Indian
corn, wheat, oats, and tobacco.

Paytonsburg, P. O. distant 148
ms. from R. and 248 from W., situated
on the road which leads from
Danville to Richmond, 30 miles below
the former. It contains several
dwelling houses, 1 mercantile store,
1 tavern, 1 tan yard, 1 saddler, 1 tailor,
and a blacksmith shop, with several
private families. The situation
is eligible and handsome.

Robertson's Store, P. O. 174
ms. from R. and 252 S. W. of W.

Smith's Store, P. O. 162 miles
from R. and 244 S. W. of W.

Spring Garden, P. O. 160 ms.
from R. and 250 S. W. by W. of W.
It is situated 18 ms. N. of Danville,
and 8 E. of Competition. It contains
a country store, house of entertainment,
and a blacksmith shop. There
is a Baptist house of worship in the
neighborhood, called "Shockoe meeting
house." The soil in the immediate
neighborhood is not very fertile,
The productions are tobacco,
wheat, corn, oats, &c.: that of the
surrounding country is more so, being
well adapted to wheat; large
crops of which will probably be
raised as soon as the Roanoke improvements,
which are now in a state
of forwardness, shall have been completed.

Sugar Tree, P. O. 20 ms. to the
S. W. of Competition, 187 ms. S. W.
by W. of R. and 280 S. S. W. of W.
It contains 4 mercantile stores, 1
Methodist house of worship, 1 common
school, and 1 sunday school, 1
manufacturing flour mill, and 1 blacksmith
shop. The lands in this
neighborhood are generally good, except
immediately on the public road.
There are several small streams
which pass through this part of the
county and empty into Dan river.

Watkins' Store, P. O. in the S.
W. angle of the county, 192 ms. S.
W. by W. of R. and 285 from W.

Williams' Store, P. O. 152 ms.
from R. and 242 from W.

POWHATAN.

Powhatan was created by the Legislature in 1777, and formed out of a
part of Cumberland county. It is bounded on the N. by James river,
which separates it from Goochland—on the E. by Chesterfield—on the S.
by the Appomattox river, which separates it from Amelia, and on the W.
by Cumberland. It is situated about 37° 30′ N. lat. and 1° long. W. of
W. C., extending about 30 miles in length, and averaging about 14 in

breadth, with an area of 280 sq. ms. The face of the county is level as a
territory; although undulating with small sinks and swells, or bottoms
and hills running from the main ridge, which passes through the centre of
the county E. and W. to the James and Appomattox rivers. The James
river washes the whole extent of the northern frontier from W. to E. and
the Appomattox the southern frontier in like manner and direction. The
creeks are numerous: those which empty into James river beginning near
the Cumberland line, on the N. W. and proceeding E. to the Chesterfield
line are, Muddy creek, which rises in Cumberland, runs in a meandering
direction N. and empties into James river between Cumberland and Powhatan.
On this creek there is a manufacturing mill, called Muddy creek
mills near Cartersville. Deep creek rises in Cumberland, runs N. E. receiving
the tributary waters of Little Deep creek, Indian Camp creek,
Moore's creek, Mosby's and Horsepen Branches, Swann's creek, and Sallee's
creek, all empty into James river some 7 or 8 miles below the mouth of
Muddy creek. On Sallee's creek are situated two grist mills. Jefferson
creek rises in Powhatan, runs N. and empties into James river, at the town
of Jefferson. Mohawk creek, rises in Powhatan runs N. and empties into
James river, one mile above Michaux's Ferry; on this creek is situated one
grist mill. Fine creek rises near Powhatan C. H. runs 8 or 10 miles N.
E. and empties into James river. On this creek is situated the Fine creek
manufacturing and grist mills. Jones' creek rises in Powhatan, runs 12
miles E. and N. E. and empties into James river. On this creek are situated
a manufacturing and grist mill, also another merchant mill running
2 pair of burrs, to which is connected a grist and saw mill, with 1 general
store. On this creek are also located a cotton factory and 2 other grist
mills, with 1 saw mill. Burner's creek rises in Powhatan, runs 7 or 8
miles N. E. and empties into James river, near the line between Chesterfield
and Powhatan.

Those in the southern part of the county beginning at the lower end
and proceeding upwards or westwards are—Swift creek, which rises in
Powhatan, runs S. E. through Chesterfield into Appomattox; on this
creek in Powhatan are situated the Cedar Grove manufacturing and grist
mills. Hurricane creek rises in Powhatan, runs S. and empties into
Swift creek, 3 miles long. Skin Quarter creek rises in Powhatan, runs 8
miles S. W. and empties into Appomattox. Butterwood creek rises in Powhatan,
runs 7 or 8 miles S. W. and empties into Appomattox; on this creek
Haskins' mill, near Genito, is situated. Genito creek rises in Powhatan,
runs S. W. and empties into Appomattox—3 miles long. Lower Fighting
creek rises near Rocky Oak meeting house, runs S. W. receiving Scott's
creek and Hobson's creek, unites with Upper Fighting creek, and empties
into Appomattox. Upper Fighting creek rises near the Buckingham road,
runs S. E. receiving. Tucker's and Blunt's creeks, unites with Lower
Fighting creek, and empties into Appomattox. Between the mouth of
this creek and the Cumberland line, there are many branches, and small
creeks running through almost every plantation.

There are two principal roads running through the county—the Buckingham
road, on the high ridge between the two rivers, and the Manakin
Town road, between the Buckingham road and James river, together with
numerous cross roads.

The soil of Powhatan is various both in quality and appearance. The
old farms have been much exhaused by long and injudicious cultivation,

but a revival of a geological spirit, with the use of clover and plaster,
seems to authorise the prediction that in twenty years the land of this county
will again become fertile. The James and Appomattox rivers bounding
two sides of the county at full length, afford great quanties of rich low
grounds, and thousands of little branches and creeks intersecting and
variegating every portion of the county, render the soil quite productive
generally. The principal crops are corn, oats, wheat and tobacco. The
last two are the staple products.

There are some coal mines in the lower end of this county. A pit has
been for several years regularly and profitably managed by the judicious
owner, Capt. Wm. Finney, in whose immediate neighborhood another
vein of coal has been discovered on the land of Mr. Edward Scott. Indications
of coal have also been discovered on the surface of the earth in
many places in the lower end of the county.

There are ten male schools now in operation in this county, under the
superintendence of competent teachers for the instruction of youth in the
ordinary branches of education. There are also two female schools under
the management of judicious and able teachers.

The Baptists, Methodists and Presbyterians, are the only regularly formed
churches. There are some Episcopalians, but no officiating minister of
that denomination. The old Episcopal churches, Peterville and Manakin
Town, have become free for the use of all denominations. There is also
a church recently established in the lower end of the county called the
Reformed Baptist, now composed of 12 members. There are also many
Unitarians in the county, but no established church of that faith.

Powhatan belongs to the seventh judicial circuit and fourth district.
Population in 1820, 8,292—1830, 8,517 persons, of whom more than half
were slaves and free blacks. Tax paid in 1833, $2752 46—in 1834 on
lots, $45 58—on land, $1512 58—3049 slaves, $762 25—1791 horses,
$107 46—3 studs, $100 00—86 coaches, $198 75—16 carryalls, $16 00
—89 gigs, $50 25. Total, $2792 87. Expended in educating poor children
in 1832, $106 84—in 1833, $45 36.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Ballsville, P. O. 48 ms. from R.
and 147 from W.

Flat Rock, P. O. in the eastern
part of the county, 25 ms. W. of R.
and 147 from W.

Genito, P. V. 29 miles S. W. by
W. from R. and 151 from W., situated
on the E. or left side of the Appomattox
river, in the southeastern
part of the county, and 36 ms. from
Petersburg. It contains 6 dwelling
houses, 1 mercantile store, a tavern,
blacksmith, and a tailor's shop. A
permanent bridge is thrown across
the Appomattox at this place, at
which is situated a large manufacturing
flour mill. Population 25 persons;
of whom 1 is a physician.

Jefferson, P. V. is pleasantly
situated on the south bank of James
river, 35 ms. above R. 144 from W.
and 7 ms. from the county seat. It
has a direct water communication
with Richmond, being situated only
12 ms. above the head of the James
river canal. The elevation of this
place affords the most beautiful prospect
of the surrounding country, of
any town or village on James river.
From a farm half a mile below and
in sight of Jefferson, may be seen the
farms and residences of 8 wealthy

and extensive farmers in the county
of Goochland, besides some four or
five in the county of Powhatan, and
from the same place there is a desirable
prospect of James river, both
up and down. It is a place of considerable
trade for its size. The exports
are principally wheat and tobacco.
They ship annually about
40,000 bushels of wheat, and 250
hhds. of tobacco. It contains besides
a public ferry, 2 stores, 1 manufacturing
mill, 1 tailor shop, 2 shoemakers,
and 1 saddler and harness maker.
The mail from Richmond arrives at
this place 3 times a week. It has
besides houses of deposite, 8 dwelling
houses; with a white population
of 50—and a population of 70 colored
persons.

SCOTTSVILLE, P. V. and seat
of justice, 32 ms. W. of R. and 139 S.
S. W. of W. in lat 37°32′ and long 0°
56′ W. of W. C. This village contains,
besides the Court House, Clerk's
office and jail, 20 dwelling houses, 3
miscellaneous stores, a tanyard, saddler,
boot and shoe maker, 2 tailors, 1
blacksmith shop, and 3 taverns.

County Courts are held on the 3d
Monday in every month;—Quarterly
in March, May, August and Nov'r.

Judge Clopton holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 8th April and 1st October.

Smithsville, P. V. 38 ms. W. of
R. and 132 from W., situated between
two creeks—Deep creek on the W.
and Sallee's creek on the E. It contains
several dwelling houses, a
house of public worship, (Presbyterian,)
called "Mount Carmel," 1
country store, 1 house of entertainment,
a plough maker, and blacksmith
shop; in the vicinity and on
Sallee's creek, there is located a
manufacturing flour mill, the proprietors
of which have it in contemplation
to extend the navigation of
the creek to James river. There are
several benevolent societies organized
in this vicinity. Population 30.

Sublett's Tavern, P. O. in the
eastern part of the county, 23 ms. S.
W. of R. and 145 from W.

PRINCE EDWARD.

Prince Edward was created by the legislature in 1753, and was formed
out of a portion of Amelia Co. It is bounded S. E. by Lunenburg, S.
and S. W. by Charlotte, W. by Campbell, N. W. and N. by Buckingham,
N. E. by Cumberland and Amelia, and E. by Nottoway. Its length from
E. to W. is 35 ms.; mean breadth 12 ms. and area 420 sq. ms.—Its mean
lat. is 37° 12′, and long from W. C. 1° 30′ W. The Appomattox river,
separates this county from Buckingham and Cumberland.

This county is well watered by numerous creeks, emptying into the Appomattox
river. They come in the following order, viz.: Vaughan's, and
Harris' creeks: Buffaloe—This creek was examined a few years ago, and it
was contemplated to make it navigable for boats, in conjunction with the little
Roanoke, in Charlotte. The Engineer made an unfavorable report.
Briery, Bush and Sandy creeks. These creeks all run nearly parallel.
Briery is a sluggish stream, Buffaloe and Bush swift. The Appomattox
is a fine stream, narrow but very deep.

The soil in this county is very good. The gray land predominates. It
is of a sandy texture, and well adapted to corn and tobacco. Much of the
land presents the same appearance as the state does generally. It has been

exhausted by continual culture, without any regard to system. A large
quantity of it is unenclosed. The pine in this county, as in most parts of the
state, takes possession of the worn out land, and renders much aid in restoring
the lands.

Prince Edward is rich in minerals and fosils. In the last few years
there have been many developments of its mineral wealth. Numerous
beds of calcarious rock or marl, have been discovered; and from indications,
it is probable that it may be found in large quantities.

Near Farmville, and in other parts of the county there are very strong
indications, that coal of the finest quality may be obtained. It may be found
by digging a little way, and it is to be regretted, that regular attempts have
not been made to explore these mines of wealth. If the navigation of the
Appomattox is improved, at no distant day, coal may be a source of much
wealth to this county.

Copper ore has been found in various parts of the county very pure.
There are some indications of gold, but not very strong.

There is one solitary mountain in this county, "Leigh's mountain." It
is an axact cone, and adds something to the scenery. It is between Bush
and Sandy rivers.

Farmville, is a town of considerable commercial importance. It is situated
at the head of batteaux navigation on the Appomattox: however, boats can
get up much higher. This is the fourth tobacco market in Virginia, and
in point of the quality of its tobaacco, it is the first. More than half a million
of dollars are annually paid here for tobacco. The trade of Farmville
is drawn from Halifax, Lunenburg, Charlotte, Nottoway and a part of Campbell.

Hampden Sydney College was founded in 1774 for the purpose of cherishing
those ideas of civil and religious liberty which were beginning at
that time to be diffused. It was chartered in 1783 and received its present
name from those two martyrs to liberty, J. Hampden and A. Sydney. It
was established and has ever been supported by the private munificence of
public spirited individuals. It has an elevated and pleasant situation, 1
mile from the C. H. and 80 ms. S. W. of Richmond. The healthiness of
its situation is well known, there having been but one death among the students
since its foundation. The annual income of the funds of the Institution
has not, until recently exceeded $600; but within the last 5 years, it
has received a contribution of $30,000, of which $20,000 have been set
apart for a permanent fund. The only assistance it has ever received from
the state was 2 small tracts of escheated lands, which were of very little value.
Although the Institution has had to encounter many difficulties for
want of funds, yet it has generally been in successful operation and has educated
upwards of 2,000 young men; many of whom have been of eminent
usefulness, and some of great abilities. More instructors have emanated
from this Institution than from any other in the southern country. Connected
with the College is a Literary and Philosophical Society, and an Institute
of Education. There are also several societies among the students,
which are of great aisistance to them in the prosecution of their studies.
The legislative government of the College is vested in 27 trustees who fill
up vacancies in their own body.

The Presidents of Hampden Sidney have been

Rev. S. S. Smith, from 1774 to 1779.

Rev. J. B. Smith, from 1779, to 1789.

Pres. pro. tem. 1789, to 1797.

Rev. A. Alexander, D. D. 1777, to 1806.

Rev. M. Hoge, D. D. 1807, to 1820.

J. P. Cushing A. M. 1821.

Besides the President there are Professorships of Chemistry, Natural
Philosophy, Mathematics, and Language. The number of students for the
last 15 years has averaged about 100. The number of matriculates this
year is 69. It has a valuable and extensive Chemical and Philosophical
Apparatus and a library of about 5,000 vols.

The buildings connected with College are the College edifice, 190 ft. by
50, 4 stories high and containing 48 rooms for student's, a chape, a library
and 3 other public rooms; a President's house and a steward's establishment—all
of brick, and 2 other houses for Professors. Annual expenses—
for tuition, board, room rent, washing, $150.

Commencement is on the 4th Wednesday in September. Vacations—
1st the month of October; 2d the month of May.

The Union Theological Seminary is located in Prince Edward Co. in
the vicinity of the C. H. and near Hampden Sydney College. The Institution
had its origin in efforts made by the presbytery of Hanover, and the
Synod of Virginia, as early as 1812, to give to their candidates for the ministry
a more complete theological education. It did not however go into
operation in a regular form until the year 1824.

The Seminary is under the controul of a board of 24 directors chosen
once in 4 years by the Synods of Virginia and North Carolina.

Its funds are derived from the free contribution of Presbyterians in various
parts of the country, and amount to nearly enough to provide for the
support of 3 Professors.

Its buildings are of brick and consist of 2 Professor's dwellings, and a
central edifice, 196 ft. long and 4 stories high, containing a chapel, library,
lecture rooms, museum, depository, dining hall, rooms for 100 students, and
for the family of a steward. The library is small, containing only 3,000
vols. but is highly valuable from the care employed in its selection.

Its officers are the Professors of the Institution, namely, those of Christian
Theology, of Ecclesiastical History and Polity, of Oriental Literature
and such others as may be chosen. These constitute a faculty for internal
government, of which the Professor of Christian Theology is ex-officio
chairman.

Its students are only those who design to become ministers of the gospel.
Any such person can become a member of the Institution, who is a member
of any Christian church, who sustains before the faculty a satisfactory
examination on personal experience of religion, who has graduated at some
reputable College, or gained in some other way a liberal education.

The course of study in the Institution embraces the Hebrew and Chaldee
languages, Jewish Archiology, Sacred Geography, Biblical Criticism,
Biblical Literature, Biblical Interpretation, Theory and Practice, Biblical
History, Ecclesiastical History and Polity, Church Government, Natural
Theology, Evidences of Revelation, Canon Christian Theology, Confession
of Faith, Pastoral Theology, and the Composition and Delivery of Sermons.

Since 1824, 127 students have belonged to the Institution, and its chairs
have been filled as follows:—

Theology—John H. Rice, D. D. inaugurated 1824,—died 1831.

Oriental Lit—Hiram P. Goodrich, inaugurated 1828.

Theology—George A. Baxter, inaug. 1832.

Church History—Vacant.

Assistant—Elisha Ballantine.

The people of this county are generally intelligent and well informed.
The Presbyterian denomination are more numerous than in any other Co.
in the state. Population in 1820, 12,587—in 1830, 14,109, or 55 to the
sq. m. giving an increase of 1,530 in 10 yrs; of the last amount there were
whites, 5,514, and 8,593 blacks, giving an increase of 3,079 over the free population:
many of which are free blacks and mulattoes. The free negroes in this
county are more numerous than in any other county in the state. Prince
Edward belongs to the 9th judicial circuit, and fifth district. Tax paid in
1833, $3,844 73—in 1834, on lots, $118 28—land, 1,751 76—4831 slaves,
$1,207 75—2,685 horses, $161 10—6 studs, $102 00—122 coaches,
$336 60—44 carryalls, $49 40—144 gigs, $88 00. Total, $3,814 89.
Expended in educating poor children in 1832, $126 45—in 1833, $207 33.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Burkesville, P. O. in the southern
part of the county, 66 ms. S. W.
by W. of R. and 188 from W.

Carter's Store, P. O. in the S.
W. part of the county, 81 ms. S. W.
by W. of R. and 172 ms. from W.

Farmville, P. V. 68 ms. S. W.
by W. of R. and 159 from W., situated
on the N. border of the county,
near the head of batteaux navigation,
and on the S. side of Appomattox river.
This village was incorporated
in 1832, with 7 trustees, having power
to tax, &c. It contains 2 tobacco
warehouses, at which are inspected
annually from 4,000 to 4,500 hogsheads;
this inspection affords a larger
proportion of fine French tobacco,
than any other in the state. There
are 5 tobacco factories, giving employment
to 250 hands, 10 mercantile
stores, 2 houses of public worship, (1
Presbyterian and 1 Methodist,) 2 taverns,
1 printing office, 1 female
school, 1 cabinet maker, 2 smith shops,
1 tailor, 1 wheelwright, 1 boot and
shoe factory, 1 saddler, 1 tan yard, 2
confectioners, and 2 milliners and
mantua makers. The navigation of
the river from this place to Petersburg
is good at all seasons of the year, and
gives employment to about 40 batteaux,
with 3 men in each, carrying
from 5 to 7 tons. Farmville is growing
in importance and trade. It is at
the present time one of the finest towns
in proportion to its size and commerce
in Virginia. Population 800 persons;
of whom 2 are physicians.

Hermitage, P. O. 91 ms. S. W.
by W. of R. and 182 ms. from W.
situated in the western part of the Co.
on a considerable eminence which
commands a beautiful view, at the intersection
of the roads leading from
Charlottesville, to the S. and from
Petersburg to Lynchburg. It has
Vaughan's creek on the S., and a mill
creek on the N. side. It contains
several dwelling houses, and 1 mercantile
store, &c. The lands in the
neighborhood, are of a light, gray,
sandy soil, producing wheat, corn,
oats and tobacco tolerable well.

Jamestown, P. V. 60 ms. S. W.
by W. of R. and 167 from W., situated
in the N. E. angle of the county
on the S. side of Appomattox river, 8
ms. below Farmville, 3 ms. below the
dividing line of Prince Edward and

Amelia, and 60 ms. from Petersburg
and Lynchburg. This village was
laid off in 1796 into 8 squares, each
containing 4½ acre lots. The mercantile
business of this place was at
one time very flourishing; the inspection
of tobacco was carried on to a
limited extent for several years, but
has been discontinued; since which
time the village has ceased to flourish.
It contains at this time, several dwelling
houses, 1 house of public worship,
free for all denominations, 2 miscellaneous
stores, and 1 house of entertainment.
The surrounding country,
is healthy,—the land much broken,
and the soil peculiarly adapted
to the growth of fine tobacco, which
with wheat constitutes the staple.

Marble Hill, P. O. 83 ms. S. W.
by W. of R. and 174 ms. from W.

Merriman's Shop, P. O. 94
ms. from R. and 185 ms. from W.

Moor's Ordinary, 90 ms. S. W.
by W. of R. and 181 ms. from W.

PRINCE EDWARD C. H. P.
V. 75 ms. S. W. by W. of R. and 166
ms. from W. This village contains
21 dwelling houses, besides the usual
county buildings, and about the same
number of public and private offices;
a large and handsome Presbyterian
church built of brick, beautifully situated
about a quarter of a mile from the
village, 1 tanyard, 1 coach manufactory,
and various other mechanics.
There are 2 flourishing academies;
the female seminary, deserves the
high reputation which it enjoys,—
The present number of pupils is about
80. The course of studies, requires
3 years to complete it; in addition to
the instruction afforded by the 2 principals
and their 5 assistants, the pupils
have the advantage of instruction
in science, and the languages from the
Professors of Hampden Sydney College,—the
other institution alluded to
is for males, and prepares pupils to
enter the Colleges with credit the
annual number is between 40 and 50.

County Courts are held on the 3rd
Monday in every month;—Quarterly
ly in March, May, August and November.

Judge Leigh holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 26th of April and September.

Prospect, P. O. 80 ms. S. S. W.
of R. and 171 ms. from W.

Sandy River Church, P. O. in
the S. E. part of the county, 79 ms.
S. W. by W. of R. and 170 ms. from
W. This place takes its name from
a small tributary of the Appomattox.
It was built in the year 1768 by the
church of England. Since the revolution,
it has been kept up by the citizens
of the neighborhood of all denominations.
In the immediate vicinity
of the church, there is a house
of entertainment, a mercantile store,
several mechanics, and 1 physician.
The land of the surrounding country
is generally good; the principal product
is tobacco, and the neighborhood
is wealthy.

Walker's Church, P. O. in the
southern part of the county, 88 ms.
S. W. by W. of R. and 177 from W.

PRINCE GEORGE.

Prince George was created by the Legislature in 1702, and formed
from a part of Charles City Co. It is bounded on the N. by the Appomattox
which separates it from Chesterfield, and James river which separates it
from Charles City,—E. by Surry,—S. by Sussex,—and W. by Dinwiddie.
Its length from E. to W. is 21 ms. breadth 12, and area 312 sq. miles. It
extends in lat from 37° to 37° 15′ N. and in long from 0° 5′ E. of W. C.

to 0° 25′ W. of W. C. Very little of this county slopes towards its
border near the Appomattox and James, by far the greater portion slopes
S. E. towards Blackwater river, the sources of which lie in this county,
Population in 1820, 8,030—in 1830, 8,367. This county belongs to the
2nd judicial circuit, and 1st district. Tax paid in 1833, $1,868 85—
in 1834, on lots, $80 79—on land, $916 53—2,478 slaves, $619 50—
1,177 horses. $70 74—3 studs, $46 00—49 coaches, $133 80—20 carry,
alls, $20 00—96 gigs, $54 15—Total, $1,941 49. Expended in educating
poor children in 1832, $137 80—in 1833, $205 16.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

CITY POINT, Port and Post
Village, on the right shore of
James river, at the junction of the
James and Appomattox, in the N. W.
part of the county, 12 ms. below Petersburg,
34 ms. S. E. of R. and 156
ms. from W. City Point of itself, is
a very inconsiderable village, being a
place of no trade, except in a small
retail way. It is however a considerable
port, as an appendage of the
towns of Petersburg and Richmond.
At City Point there are 4 or 5
wharves, projecting a short distance
into the river, within 30 yards of
which is a sufficient depth of water
to swim the largest ship that ever
floated. "Not only is a large foreign
shipping business done here, but the
white sails of domestic commerce,
daily gladden the eye, as it passes
and repasses this port, freighted in its
progress upwards with the wealth
and productions, and exports of every
clime, while its return carries to every
port of our happy Union, the produce
of our soil and of our mines."
Exclusive of the ordinary shipping,
there are steam, freight, tow and passage
boats, which make this a stopping
place in their passage up and down
the river. In short City Point,
though small in itself is a considerable
out port to the City of Richmond,
and the town of Petersburg, and when
the Petersburg Rail road, and the
James and Kanawha improvement
shall be in full operation, it is more
than probable that this little village,
will present an appearance that will
reflect credit, on the enterprize of Virginia
capitalists and insure to the Old
Dominion that commercial importance
to which she is so justly entitled,
and which will be so beneficial to
every class of the community; but
more especially to the farmers, whose
products, will meet a ready sale, at
such prices, as cannot fail to reward
their industry. City Point, contains
about 25 houses, 3 taverns, 3 groceries,
a school and hospital.

Prince George is famed for the
manufacture of her hollow ware, i. e.
flour barrels, &c., her marshes for soras
and wild ducks, &c. and her rivers,
creeks and mill ponds for fine chub,
perch, sturgeon, rock fish, shad, &c.
Population between 90 and 100 persons;
of whom 1 is a physician.

PRINCE GEORGE C. H. is situated
near the centre of the county.

County Courts are held on the 2d
Tuesday in every month:—Quarterly
in March, May, August and November.

Judge May, holds his Circuit Superior
Court of Law and Chancery
on the 25th of May and October.

Templeton, P. O. 36 ms. S. W.
of R. and 158 ms. from W., situated
immediately, on the post road, which
leads from Petersburg, to Jerusalem,
in Southampton Co. 15 ms. from the
former, and 35 ms. from the latter.
There is an ordinary kept here which
has been in existence for 30 years.
The situation is high and salubrious,
remote from any water course, or
marshy land.

PRINCESS ANNE.

Princess Anne was created by the legislature in 1691, and formed from
a portion of lower Norfolk county. It is bounded on the N. by the Chesapeak,
E. by the Atlantic, S. by Currituck Co. N. Carolina, and W. by
Norfolk county. Its length from S. to N. is 30 ms.; mean breadth 12, and
area 360 square miles. The parallel of N. lat. 36° 45′ and long 1° E. o
W. C. intersect near the centre of the county. The northern part of this
county, slopes N. and pours its waters into Lyn Haven bay,—the western
part, into the eastern branch of Elizabeth river,—the southern part into
Back Bay, and Currituck Sound.

Population in 1810, 9,498,—1820, 8,730—in 1830, 9,102. This county
belongs to the first judicial circuit and first district. Tax paid in 1833,
$1846 85—in 1834 on lots, $16 63—on land, $1115 45—1744 slaves,
$436 00—1757 horses, $105 42—6 studs, $83 00—17 coaches, $38 25—
16 carryalls, $17 25—154 gigs, $95 50. Total, $1907 50. Expended
in educating poor children in 1832, $267 94—in 1833, $115 63.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Kempsville, P. V. 10 ms. S. E.
by E. of Norfolk, 124 from R. and
227 from W. situated on the eastern
branch of Elizabeth river, at the head
of tide water. It contains 27 dwelling
houses, 1 miscellaneous store,
and several groceries, 1 Baptist house
of worship, and 1 common school.
The mechanics are a tanner and currier,
several carpenters, wheelwrights,
blacksmiths, &c. Large quantities
of lumber are sent in rafts and lighters,
from this place to Norfolk; also
much navy-timber, staves, wood, &c.
Population 200 persons; of whom 3
are physicians.

London Bridge, P. O. in the
northeastern part of the county, 15
ms. N. E. of Norfolk, 8 S. W. of
Cape Henry, 130 from R. and 233
from W.

PRINCESS ANNE C. H. P. V.
137 ms. from R. and 240 from W. in
lat. 36° 44, N. and long 0° 57′ E. of
W. C. It contains, besides the usual
county buildings, 17 dwelling houses,
2 Methodist houses of public worship,
2 elementary schools, 1 miscellaneous
store, several carpenters, and
various other mechanics. The principal
pursuit of the inhabitants is
farming. Population 150 persons;
of whom 1 is an attorney, and 2 are
physicians.

County Courts are held on the
1st Monday in every month. Quarterly
in March, June, August and
November.

Judge Baker holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 25th May and 22d September.

PRINCE WILLIAM.

Prince William was established by the Legislature in 1730, and
formed from a portion of Stafford and King George counties. It is bounded
N. and N. E. by Bull Run, and Occoquan river, which separate it from
Loudoun and Fairfax,—E. by the Potomac, separating it from Charles
county Maryland,—S. by Stafford,—S. W. and W. by Fauquier. Its mean
length is 30¾ miles, mean breadth 12, and its area, 370 square miles. It

extends in lat from 38° 30′ to 38° 55′ N. and in long. from 0° 15′ to 0°
45′ W. of W. C.

Occoquan river rises in Loudoun, Fairfax, and Fauquier counties,—
traverses and drains the upper part of Prince William. It is an important
tributary of the Potomac, and falls into that river 25 ms. below W. C.
and nearly opposite to Indian Point. Its principal branches are Bull Run,
Broad Run and Cedar Run. Bull Run from its source to its mouth, is
the dividing line between the counties of Fairfax and Prince William. It
joins the Occoquan about 7 miles above the town of Occoquan, and 14
miles from the Potomac river. Broad Run has its source in Fauquier
county, and after passing through the chain of the Bull Run mountain, at
the pass of Thoroughfare, and by the town of Buckland, joins the Cedar
Run about a mile below Brentsville, the county town of Prince William
Cedar Run rises in Fauquier county, and passing near Warrenton,
joins Broad Run near Brentsville. These streams, and indeed many of
their branches, afford fine seats for manufacturing establishments. At the
junction of Broad and Cedar, the river receives the name of Occoquan.
Its general direction towards the Potomac is S. E.—and its length about
25 ms. At 18 ms. from the junction it meets the tides at the town of Occoquan.
Here it reaches the hills, which are the boundary of the Potomac
valley, and down them the river is precipitated about 72 feet, in the
distance of one and a half miles. In these hills is the chain of rocks
which crosses all the rivers of Lower Virginia at the head of tide water.
The action of the water in the course of ages, has washed the earth from
the channel, and the rocks lie in its bed in every rude variety of position.
The banks of the river here present every where jutting rocks, and sometimes
great precipices. The pine finds sustenance among the crevices
and gives a relief and a grace to scenery that would otherwise be savage.
Immediately below the town of Occoquan the banks subside into a plain;
and at two miles, the ancient town of Colchester is passed. Five miles
below Colchester a junction is effected with the Potomac, between High
and Freestone Points. At its mouth the Occoquan is five miles wide; at
the head of the tide, it is about 75 yards; here however it is hemmed in
by the hills, and as the volume of its waters is very great, in floods it is
very deep, (viz. from 12 to 20 feet.). Below the town of Colchester it
suddenly widens to two or three miles. The earth and rubbish brought
down by the floods are deposited, and at such times the navigation is obstructed
for vessels drawing more than 5 feet water. There is however
nothing which opposes serious obstacles to clearing the bar, whenever the
wants of the people inhabiting the country drained by its waters shall require
it. The subject has already attracted some attention, and the navigation
of the river and its important branch Cedar run, which it has been
proposed to effect, above the tide by the lock and dam system, has been
the occasion of some proceedings in the legislature.

Population in 1810, 11,311—1820, 9,419—1830, 9,320. Prince William
belongs to the sixth judicial circuit and third district. Tax paid in
1833, $2697 07—in 1834 on lots, $183 15—on land, 1772 65—1737
slaves, $434 25—2383 horses, $142 98—5 studs, $48 00—27 coaches,
$59 50—15 carryalls, $15 00—16 gigs, $12 95. Total, $2668 48,
Expended in educating poor children in 1832, $500 18—in 1833, $565 32

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

BRENTSVILLE, P. V. and seat
of justice, 104 ms. from R. and 48
S. W. of W.—The Court House,
clerk's office and jail are handsomely
situated on the main street, in a public
square of three acres. Besides
them, the village contains 19 dwelling
houses, 3 miscellaneous stores 2
handsome taverns, built of brick and
stuccoed, 1 house of entertainment, 1
house of public worship, free for all
denominations,—a bible society, a
sunday school, a temperance and a
tract society, which have been of considerable
utility for the last 5 or 6
years. There is in the vicinity a
common school in which the rudiments
of English education are taught
Brentsville is of recent establishment,
having been located around the
site of the new court house in 1822,
at which time it was completed, and
the courts removed from Dumfries.
It has progressed with its improvements
perhaps more rapidly than has
been observable with other county
towns within the same period after
their establishment, though it may be
considered nearly stationary for the
present. The wasteful tenure of the
Bristoe estate, the property of the
commonwealth, in the midst of which
it is located, has in a manner cut it
off from the benefits of a thriving
neighborhood. This tract, containing
near 7000 acres and naturally
the best land in this section, has been
ravaged of all its timber, and for the
most part "ploughed down to be barren,"
by an unmerciful course of
cultivation, under a numerous tenantry,
for upwards of 70 years. Most
of the lost around the place have become
freed from their lease, by the
direliction of the tenants, who have
left them an immense common: but
by an act of Assembly of 1833-4,
authorising the sale of this estate on
such terms as the president and directors
of the Literary Fund may direct,
there is no doubt but the desert
will soon be made to blossom under
the labors of individual enterprise,
and Brentsville will take a new start
towards prosperity. Situated at the
head of Occoquan river, which could
easily be made navigable for boats at
a cheap rate, and laying near two
large runs, (Broad and Cedar) which
here from the Occoquan. Brentsville
is 14 miles from Dumfries, 18
from Occoquan mills, and equidistant
33 ms. from Fredericksburg and
Alexandria, 12 from Hay Market,
and 20 from Warrenton. It is within
9 or 10 ms. of the Warrenton and
Alexandria turnpike. Population
130 persons, of whom 3 are attorneys
and 3 regular physicians. The
place is healthy and has a beautiful
prospect of the Bull Run and Watery
range of mountains, and the more
distant Blue Ridge.

County Courts are held on the 1st
Monday, in every month.—Quarterly
in March, June, August and
November.

Judge Scott holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 1st of May, and October.

Buckland, P. V. in the northwestern
part of the county, 5 ms. S.
W. of Hay Market, 116 from R. and
42 from W. This village has an
elevated and romantic situation on
Broad Run, a never failing stream,
on which two extensive flour manufacturing
mills are situated,—the one
in the town and the other on its edge.
A turnpike runs through the village
which extends 35 ms. below to Alexdria,
and 8 ms. above to Warrenton.
This village and its suburbs contains
22 dwelling houses, 1 general store,
1 large and extensive distillery, 1
apothecary shop, 1 house of public
worship free for all denominations,
and 2 houses of entertainment. The
mechanics are, 1 tanner and currier,
1 wagon maker, 1 boot and shoe

manufacturer, 1 cooper, 1 hatter, 1
millwright, 1 blacksmith, 1 tailor and
saddler. Buckland is an incorporated
town, and for beauty of situation
and circumjacent scenery is perhaps
not to be surpassed by any other in
the county. There is one well organized
sunday school, and 1 common
school. Population 130 whites;
of whom 1 is a physician; and 50
blacks.

Dumfries, P. V. 33 ms. S. S. W.
of W. and 89 from R., situated on
Quantico creek, near the Potomac
river. It contains 80 dwelling houses,
3 mercantile stores, a Baptist and a
Methodist house of worship, 1 school
house, 2 taverns, 1 manufacturing
flour mill, 1 woollen manufactory, 1
temperance society, a tanyard, 2 saddlers,
5 house carpenters, and 2 blacksmith
shops. During the freeze in
the winter when the steam boat between
the city of Washington and
Potomac creek is obstructed by ice,
the great northern and southern mail
from W. C. to New Orleans, is carried
through this town. The road in
its neighborhood between Fredericksburg
and Alexandria, is in a worse
condition than perhaps any in the
middle States, so utterly impassable
at times that the mail cannot travel.
This road being the principal source
of the irregularities of the mail at
the south, a canal was undertaken,
and about three-eights of a mile
completed, but the whole scheme
failed for the want of the proper direction
of the funds. The mouth of
Quantico, 2½ miles from Dumfries, is
the best winter harbor on the Potomac.
The river seldom freezes lower
than that point.

Dumfries is one of the oldest towns
in the United States, and once could
boast of much commerce, but owing
to a variety of circumstances, like
many old settlements, it is now in a
great measure abandoned, and many
of its excellent dwellings are in a
state of rapid decay. Population
500 persons; of whom 1 is an attorney
and 2 are regular physicians.

Hay Market, P. O. situated in
the northern part of the county on
the head of Occoquan creek, 120 ms.
from R. and 43 from W.

Liberia, P. V. 112 ms. from R.
and 33 S. W. of W. C. It contains
a store, ware house and blacksmith
shop, and a little distance from these
under the same name, 7 other buildings.
This place was established in
1825, and the post-office in 1829. It
is 7 ms. distant from Brentsville, in a
N. E. direction. A mail goes once
a week from this place to Centreville
5 ms. N. of it, at which place it intersects
the S. W. mail from W. C.
The trade of the place is in dry
goods and groceries, and the purchase
of country produce. The
country around is thickly settled, and
the inhabitants are distinguished for
their moral deportment. The land
of the surrounding country was of
universally good quality, but has been
much abused by a system of miserable
cultivation; it is yet susceptible of
a high degree of improvement, by
the use of clover and gypsum, of
which many farmers have commenced
the use.

Occoquan, P. V. 23 ms. S. W. of
W. and 99 from R., situated in the
N. E. part of the county on the south
side of Occoquan river. It was established
by act of Assembly in the
year 1804. The site on which this
town is situated is extremely rugged
and ill-suited for building. The
town is regularly laid out, the streets
generally cross each other at right
angles. It contains about 50 dwelling
houses, several mercantile stores,
and various mechanics,—a cotton
manufactory in complete operation,
and one of the first established in the
State, now running 1000 spindles, 1
extensive manufacturing flour mill,
grinding in the ordinary season 150
barrels per day,—with the necessary
appendages of grist, saw, and plaster

mills. A handsome and permanent
bridge is erected across the river at
this place; over the bridge and thro'
the town runs the great mail route
from Washington to the south. This
village is in a flourishing condition,
and with confidence looks forward to
further improvement. The principal
trade of the town is with the counties
of Fairfax, Loudoun, Fauquier, and
Stafford. The Occoquan at this
place has a fall of 72 feet in 1½ ms.
affording excellent sites for manufactories.
This is the market for many
of the most important shad and herring
fisheries on the Potomac. The
scenery at and near Occoquan has
frequently been the theme of praise.
The traveller moving along the plains
of lower Virginia, his eye accustomed
to the tame prospect of the alluvial
country, suddenly finds himself in a
ravine, descending a hill, the precipitous
ridges of which inspire him
with terror. Should curiosity prompt
him to tarry the rest of the day amidst
this wild scene, the sacrifice will be
amply repaid.—The botany of this
neighborhood is very rich; here are
in close proximity plants of the
mountain and of the marshes. The
mosses are numerous and beautiful.
In the marshes, near the mouth of
the river, are many interesting plants.
In the river in this vicinity there is a
quarry of valuable whetstones, a bank
impregnated with alum, and a cave
which has never been satisfactorily
explored.

Thoroughfare, P. V. 47 ms. S.
W. of W. and 124 from R., situated
near the western boundary of the
county, 9 ms. N. E. of Warrenton;
with a turnpike to Alexandria 36
ms. distant. It lies immediately under
the Bull Run mountain, which
runs N. and S. and takes its name
from a small stream which passes
through it. About 3 miles N. of this
place Broad Run, one of the best
streams in this section of country for
size and constancy, passes through
the same mountain. Upon this
stream there are 2 manufacturing
flour mills, running 3 pair of buhra,
and which jointly manufacture from
20 to 30,000 bushels of wheat annually;
the water of these mills has a
fall of from 22 to 24 feet in the distance
of half a mile. About 600
yards below the Thoroughfare, there
is an advantageous position for a
manufactory, with a fall of water of
22 feet. At this place are located 12
dwelling houses, and 1 mercantile
store. Baoad Run is composed of
two streams which unite a short distance
above the mountain, each having
pursued their respective courses
through a rich and mountainous region
for many miles; at the base of
the mountain they unite, and rush together
with great velocity over a
rocky bed bearing a striking resemblance
to the scene presented by the
mountains, rivers, &c., at Harper's
Ferry, on a smaller scale.

The land lying immediately above
the mountains is rich, and contains a
dense population, bearing a strong
evidence that it was once inundated,
from a like cause as at Harper's Ferry.
The western side of the mountain
presents an abrupt precipice of
granite rock, while the trees grow to
the summit. On the east in the gap
of the mountain, the rocks lie scatterred
in wild confusion, evidently
thrown out by some great concussion
of nature. Near the gap is a spring
issuing from under a great rock, of
the purest and best water, which is
not increased or diminished in any
season. It stands on the road side,
and is by travellers regarded as the
"Diamond Spring, in Palestine."
There are some indications of coal
and iron, but neither has as yet been
discovered. The mountains on the
east side present a most romantic
and beautiful view of the rapid and
roaring current winding its way
through a fertile valley.

RAPPAHANNOCK.

Rappahannock was created by the Legislature in 1831, and formed
out of a portion of Culpeper county. It is bounded on the N. by the North
Fork of the Rappahannock river, which separates it from Fauquier,—E.
by Culpeper,—S. by Madison,—and W. by the Blue Ridge, which separates
it from Shenandoah. It extends in lat from about 38° 3′ to 38° 22′
N. and in long. from about 0° 5′ to 1° 15′ W. of W. C. Its precise dimensions
in miles, we are unacquainted with. Its population also, being
included with that of Culpeper at the last census, is unknown.

Rappahannock belongs to the 11th judicial circuit and 6th district. Tax
paid in 1833, $1851 06—in 1834, on lots, $46 72—on land, $1096 83—
1858 slaves, $464 50—2743 horses, $164 58—10 studs, $81 00—13
coaches, $33 00—6 carryalls, $6 00—9 gigs, $5 50. Total, $1898 13.
No report from school commissioners.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Flint Hill, P. O. 128 ms. from
R. and 91 S. W. of W. This village
contains 26 dwelling houses, 4
mercantile stores, 2 taverns, 1 manufacturing
flour mill, 1 house of public
worship, free for all denominations,
2 tanyards, 2 saddlers, with various
other mechanics. Population
140 persons; of whom 1 is an attorney,
and 2 practising physicians.

Gaines' Cross Roads, P. O. 87
ms. S. W. of W. and 124 N. N. W.
of R. It contains 9 dwelling houses,
1 general store, 1 tailor, and 1 blacksmith
shop, and 1 Baptist house of
worship. The surrounding country
is fertile, well cultivated and densely
settled.

Newby's Cross Roads, P. O. 109
ms. from R. and 70 N. W. by W. of
W. It contains several dwelling
houses, and 2 mercantile stores.
Population 30. There are within
the circumference of 6 miles ten
country and flour manufacturing
mills, several tanyards, &c. The
country around is thickly settled and
fertile, producing well all the common
staples of the country.

Sandy Hook, P. O. 134 ms. from
R. and 85 from W., situated 3 ms. S.
of Chester Gap, and one-fourth of a
mile N. of Flint Hill in Wakefield
Manor, on the road leading from
Washington, the seat of justice, to
Front Royal, in Frederick county, 9
ms. from the former and 10 from the
latter. The land adjoining Sandy
Hook is fertile and productive, about
8000 acres of it is in the possession
of Bazil Gordon, of Falmouth, Va.
Sandy Hook has 4 dwelling houses,
1 mercantile store, 1 blacksmith, 1
wheelwright, and 1 boot and shoe
maker. Population 33; of whom 1
is a physician.

Slate Mills, P. O. 109 ms. from
R. and 91 S. W. of W. This village
contains 4 dwelling houses, 1
general store, 1 manufacturing flour
mill, a grist and saw mill, 2 blacksmiths,
a wheelwright, and a cooper
shop.

WASHINGTON, P. V. and seat
of justice, 118 ms. from R. and 81
S. W. of W. C. It is situated at the
southeastern foot of the Blue Ridge,
in a fertile country, upon one of the
head branches of Rappahannock
river, (called Bush river,) and recently
chosen as the seat of justice for the
county. It was formerly a P. O. in
Culpeper Co.) It contains besides
the usual county buildings, (lately
erected,) 1 academy, 55 dwelling
houses, 4 mercantile stores, 2 taverns,
1 house of public worship, free for
all denominations. The principal

mechanics are 4 blacksmiths, 4 carpenters,
2 saddlers, 1 hatter, 1 tanner,
2 wagon makers, 3 tailors, 4
shoemakers, 1 cabinet maker, 1 silversmith,
3 milliners, 1 plaisterer and
bricklayer. In the vicinity there is
a large and highly respectable female
seminary, in which are taught all
the various branches of English literature,
together with the French and
Italian languages; and in the immediate
neighborhood, are 2 large and
extensive manufacturing flour mills.
This village is rapidly improving,
and is in a flourishing and prosperous
condition, being situated in a
thickly settled and enterprising neighborhood.
Population 350 persons;
of whom 4 are attorneys, and 2 regular
physicians.

County Courts are held on the 1st
Monday in every month. Quarterly
in March, June, September, and November.

Judge Field holds his Circuit Superior
Court of Law and Chancery
on the 22d of April and September.

Woodville, P. V. in the western
angle of the county, 115 ms. N. W.
of R. and 97 S. W. by W. of W.,
situated on the road leading from
Thornton's Gap, in the Blue Ridge,
to Fredericksburg, 11 ms. from the
top of the Ridge, and 55 from the
latter. It contains 4 mercantile stores,
2 taverns, 1 school in which is taught
all the main branches of an English
education, 30 dwelling houses, 1 tanyard,
3 blacksmiths, 1 saddler, 1 boot
and shoe maker, 1 cabinet maker, 1
carpenter and house joiner, and 1
tailor. Population 200 persons; of
whom 1 is an attorney, and 2 are
regular physicians.

RICHMOND.

Richmond was created by the Legislature in 1692, when the old county
of Rappahannock was extinguished and the counties of Essex and Richmond
made from its territories. It is bounded N. and N. E. by Westmoreland,—E.
by Northumberland,—S. by Moratico creek, which separates it
from Lancaster,—S. W. and W. by the Rappahannock river, which separates
it from Essex,—and N. W. by Brockenbrough creek, separating it
from Westmoreland. Its mean length is 25 miles, breadth 7¾, and area
194 sq. miles. It extends in lat. from 37° 47′ to 38° 10′ N. and in long.
from 0° 10′ to 0° 30′ E. of W. C.

Richmond belongs to the fifth judicial circuit, and third district. Population
in 1820, 5,706—in 1830, 6,055. Tax paid in 1833, $1158 67—in
1834,—on land, $679 02—1281 slaves, $320 25—686 horses, $41 16—
4 studs, $40 00—16 coaches, $40 40—9 carryalls, $9 00—78 gigs,
$47 25. Total, $1177 08. Expended in educating poor children in
1833, $167 51—no report for 1832.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Harnham, P. O. 66 ms. N.E. of R.
and 128 from W.

Lyell's Store, P. O. 60 ms. from
R. and 122 S. S. E. of W.

RICHMOND C. H. P. V. 56 ms.
from R. and 118 S. E. of W., in lat.
37° 55′ N. and long 0° 18′ E. of
W. C. This village, besides the
usual county buildings, court house,
clerk's office and jail, contains 9 private
dwelling houses, 2 general stores,
1 house of public worship, (Episcopalian,)
1 female boarding school, in
which are taught the necessary

branches of polite education, and 1
primary school for boys, 2 boot and
shoe factories, 1 saddler, and 2 houses
of public entertainment. The nearest
navigable waters are two branches
of the Rappahannock river, each 3
ms. distant, one the Toteskey, the
other Rappahannock creek. The
situation of this place is elevated and
healthy, and the vicinity in a high
state of improvement. Indian corn
and wheat are the staple crops of the
neighborhood. Population 100 persons;
of whom 4 are attorneys, and
1 a physician.

County Courts are held on the 1st
Monday in every month. Quarterly
in March, May, August and November.

Judge Lomax holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 12th of April and 8th of
October.

SOUTHAMPTON.

Southampton was created by act of Assembly in 1748, and formed out
of a part of Isle of Wight county. It is bounded N. W. by Sussex,—
Surry N.—Blackwater river, separating it from the Isle of Wight, N. E.
—Nansemond E.,—Hertford and Northampton counties, N. Carolina, S.
—and Meherrin river, separating it from Greensville, S. W. Its length is
40 miles, mean width 15; and area 600 square miles. The parallel of N.
lat. 36° 40′, and the meridian of W. C. intersect in this county. Its slope
is southeastward, and in that direction it is traversed by Nottoway river.
The soil of this county is light and but little broken and well adapted to
the cultivation of Indian corn, cotton, beans and potatoes, of which the
two first are the principal commodities. The husbandry is generally good.
—It abounds in the finest of pine timber, from which is made for exportation
tar and turpentine. Nottoway river runs from N. W. to S. E., and by
its junction with the Black water river forms the Chowan. It is navigable
for vessels of 60 or 70 tons, as far as Monroe, from which place considerable
quantities of lumber and other produce are shipped to Norfolk.
Its length is about 120 miles.—Blackwater river takes its rise in Prince
George county, and running in a southwardly direction, unites with the
Nottoway. It is navigable for vessels of the largest size as far as South
Quay in Nansemond county, and for small vessels for some miles higher
up into the county of Southampton. In the low grounds bordering upon
Nottoway and Blackwater rivers, the growth is chiefly oak and cypress of
the finest quality, which must at no distant period be of great value.—The
Portsmouth and Roanoke rail road passing through the county, and consequently
crossing each of these rivers, will afford the greatest facility in
conveying produce to market.—The prevailing religious denominations in
this county are the Methodist and Baptist. They each have numerous
houses of public worship in convenient parts of the county.

Population in 1820, 14,170—in 1830, 16,074. Southampton belongs to
the first judicial circuit and first district. Tax paid in 1833, $3136 33—
in 1834.—On lots, $31 28—on land, $1470 03—3835 slaves, $958 75—
2661 horses, $159 66—14 studs, $166 00—51 coaches, $125 00—24 carryalls,
$24 00—277 gigs, $161 55. Total, $3096 28. Expended in
educating poor children in 1832, $515 45—in 1833, $507 81.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Bethlehem Cross Roads, P. O.
91 ms. from R. and 213 from W.

Bowers', P. O. 91 ms. S. E. of R.
and 213 from W. situated in the
southern part of the county.

Farm Tavern, P. O. 90 ms. S.
S. E. of R. and 210 S. of W.

JERUSALEM, P. V. and seat of
justice. 81 ms. S. S. E. of R. and
203 from W. in lat. 36° 42′ and long
0° 3′ W. of W. This village is situated
on Nottoway river, and contains
besides the ordinary county buildings,
about 25 dwelling houses, 4 mercantile
stores, 1 saddler, 1 carriage maker,
2 hotels, 1 masonic hall, and 2 houses
of public entertainment. This town
has been stationary for 20 years, having
neither retrograded or advanced.
Population 175 persons; of whom 4
are resident attorneys, and 4 regular
physicians.

County Courts are held on the 3d
Monday in every month;—Quarterly
in March, June, August and November.

Judge Baker holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 1st of June and 29th of October.

Urquhart's Store, P. O. 79 ms.
S. E. of R. and 201 from W.

SPOTTSYLVANIA.

Spottsylvania, was created by the legislature in 1720, and formed out
of portions of Essex, King William and King & Queen counties. It is
bounded on the N. by the Rappahannock river which separates it from
Culpeper and Stafford, on the E. by Caroline, on the S. by Caroline, Hanover
and Louisa, and on the W. by Orange. It is situated between 37° 59′
and 38° 20′ N. and between 20° 30′ and 57° 30′ W. from W. This county
contains exclusive of Fredericksburg, 11,826 inhabitants. The soil of
Spottsylvania is various, that near the rivers and smaller streams is very
fine; but it is far otherwise on the ridges; for a wretched system of cultivation
adopted by the first settlers and long persisted in by their descendants,
has reduced the land, originally thin, to a condition from which it will require
much time and labor to rescue it.

The gold mines of this county having excited some interest, it may not
be out of place here to say something of them. About seven years ago two
brothers of the name of White, discovered some small pieces of gold on
their farm, this naturally excited them to look further; when it was discovered
that after every rain numerous particles of various sizes became visible.
This was a sufficient hint to others. The most energetic, but misdirected
zeal covered the country with explorers, having the least possible
knowledge of the matter in hand. They might be seen hurrying hither
and thither with a spade and tin pan, now stooping to lift a stone—now
stooping to wound the bosom of their mother earth, and perhaps add another
pound to the already cumbrous load of "indications" at their back. It
was marvellous to see how they mutilated and distorted terms of science.
The classic heathen were not more familiar with their household gods, than
were these children of mamon with what they were pleased to call "fridiginous
quartz and "oxinginized iron." A little cube of sulphuret of iron
found on a man's farm, would elevate his hopes to the highest pitch of excitement;
and if any one told him that it was not gold, he incontinently suspected

him of a design to purchase the land. Gold, however, was found in
considerable quantities, and that sort of stock rose to an excessive price,
which of necessity produced a correspondent reaction, and the present depression
is probably as much below the real value, as the former was
above it.[23]

Tobacco was formerly planted to the exclusion of almost every thing
else; but within the last 30 years it has gradually given place to wheat and
Indian corn.

The minerals found in greatest abundance are granite, free stone quartz
and shistus: the two latter being ordinarily the gangue of the gold.

The religious sects in the county are exclusive of the town, chiefly Baptists,
who have 8 meeting houses; and Methodists who have 4 meeting
houses. Of stores there are 7; mills 25, some of which are prepared for
making flour, but only 1 is thus employed, and taverns 5. In these last
are included only those which have tavern licence. The natural growth of
the county is principally oak, and what is here called fox-tail pine, the latter
being found in lands which were formerly exhausted by injudicious cultivation,
and being neglected have thus clothed themselves. Population
1820, 14,254—1830, 15,134. This county belongs to the 5th judicial circuit
and 3rd district. Taxes paid in 1833, $4,064 10—in 1834, on lots,
$959 24—on land, $1,534 89—4,250 slaves, $1,062 50—2,478 horses,
$148 68—10 studs, $98 00—78 coaches, $174 00—4 stages, $7 00—39
carrayalls, $39 00—131 gigs, $80 27. Total, $4,103 58. Expended in
educating poor children in 1832, $402 39—in 1833, $507 23.

Historical Sketch—The earliest authentic information we have of
that portion of our state now called. Spottsylvania, is found in an act past
"at a grand assemblie held at James Cittie" between the 20th September
1674, and the 17th March 1675, in which war is declared against the Indians;
and amongst other provisions for carring it on, it is ordered that
"one hundred and eleven men out of Glocester county be garrisoned at one
"ffort," or place of defence at or neare the ffalls of Rapahanack river, of
which ffort Major Lawrence Smith to be captain or chiefe commander;"
and that this "ffort" be furnished with "ffour hundred and eighty pounds
of powder, ffourteen hundred and fforty three pounds of shott." This "ffort"
was built in 1676 as appears by the preamble of a subsequent act.

In the year 1679 Major Lawrence Smith upon his own suggestion was
empowered, provided he would settle or seate downe at or neare said fort
by the last day of March 1681, and have in readiness upon all occasions on
beat of drum, fifty able men well armed with sufficient ammunitions, &c.
and two hundred men more within the space of a mile along the river; and
a quarter of a mile back from the river, prepared always to march twenty
miles in any direction from the fort; or should they be obliged to go more
than such distance to be paid for their time thus employed at the rate of
other "souldiers," "to execute martiall discipline" amongst the said fifty
"souldiers and others so put in arms" both in times of war and peace and

said Smith with two others of said privileged place to hear and determine
all causes civil and criminal, that may arise within said limits, as a county
Court might do, and to make bye-laws for the same. These military settlers
were priviledged from arrest for any debts save those due to the King,
and those contracted among themselves—and were free from taxes and levies
save those laid within their own limits.

The exact situation of this fort cannot now be determined with absolute
certainty; but as it is known that there was once a military post at Germana,
some ruins of which are still occasionally turned up by the plough, it is
probable that this is the spot selected by Col. Smith for his colony.

The earliest notice we have of Spottsylvania county, as such, is found in
7th Geo. I. 1720, passed at Williamsburg, of which the preamble declares
by way of inducement "that the frontiers toward the high mountains are exposed
to danger from the Indians and the late settlements of the French to
the westward of the said mountains." Therefore it is enacted that Spottsylvania
county bounds upon Snow creek up to the mill, thence by a S. W.
line to the North Anna, thence up the said river as far as convenient, and
thence by a line to be run over the high mountains to the river on the N.
W. side thereof, so as to include the northern passage through the said
mountains, thence down the said river until it comes against the head of
Rappahannock, thence by a line to the head of Rappahannock river and
down that river to the mouth of Snow creek, which tract of lands from the
1st of May 1721 shall become a county by the name of Spottsylvania Co."

The act goes on to direct that "fifteen hundred pounds current money
of Virginia shall be paid by the treasurer to the Governor, for these uses,
to wit: £500 to be expended in a church, court house, prison, pillory and
stocks in said county: £1,000 to be laid out in arms, ammunition, &c. of
which each "Christian tytheable" is to have "one firelock, musket,[24] one
socket, bayonet fired thereto, one cartouch box, eight pounds bullet, and
two pounds powder." The inhabitants were made free of public levies for
ten years, and the whole county made one parish by the name of St. George.

From the following clause of the same act it is presumed that this new
county had been cut off from Essex, King & Queen and King Williams
for the act declares that "until the Governor shall settle a court in Spottsylvania,"
the justices of these counties "shall take power over them by their
warrants, and the clerks of said courts by their process returnable to their
said courts, in the same manner as before the said county was constituted.,"
&c.

In the year 1730 an act was passed directing that the Burgesses for this
county should be allowed for four days journey in passing to Williamsburg;
and the same returning. In the same year St. George's Parish was
divided by a line running from the mouth of Rappahannock to the Pamunkey,
the upper portion to be called St. Mark's Parish; the lower part to retain
the name of St. George's Parish. Four years after this the county was
thus divided: St. George's Parish to be still called Spottsylvania; and St.
Mark's Parish to be called Orange, and all settlers beyond the "Sherrando,"[25]
river to be exempt for three years from the "paiment" of public and
parish dues.

The Governor fixed the seat of justice at Germanna, where the first court
sat on the 1st day of August 1722 when Augustine Smith, Richard Booker,
John Taliaferro, Wm. Hunsford, Richard Johnson and Wm. Bledsoe were
sworn as justices, John Waller, as clerk, and Wm. Bledsoe as sheriff, this
place being found "inconvenient to the people," it was directed by law that
from and after the 1st August 1732, the court should be held at Fredericksburg,
which law was repealed seventeen years afterwards, because it was
"derogatory to his majesty's prerogative to take from the Governor or come
mander-in-chief of this colony his power and authority of removing or adjourning
the courts;" and because "it might be inconvenient in a case of
small pox or other contagious distemper."

In 1769 the county which had theretofore been one parish was thus divided,—all
that part lying between the rivers Rappahannock and Po retained
the name of St. George's Parish,—the rest of the county was erected
into a new parish called Berkley. In 1778 an act was passed authorising
the justices to build a Court house at some point near the centre of the county
to which the courts hould be removed, provided a majority of the justices
should concur in deeming it advisable. It appears that the justices determined
to avail themselves of this privilege, for an act of 1780 passed, as is
therein stated in consequence of a representation, that the Court house in
Fredericksburg was "unfit to hold courts in," authorises the county court
to be held at the house of John Holladay, "until the new Court house now
building in the said county shall be completed."

The first regular stage coaches that passed through this county were established
by Nathaniel Twining, by virture of an exclusive privilege
granted him in 1784, for the term of three years, to be paid at the rate of
five pence per mile by each passenger.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Chancellorsville, P. V. 76 ms.
from R. and 66 from W., situated at
the junction of Elly's road with the
Swift Run Gap and Fredericksburg
turnpike, about 10 ms. from the latter
place. It contains 14 dwelling houses,
a tavern which has a front of 106 ft.
on the turnpike and runs back 55 ft.
on Elly's road, and a blacksmith shop.
The surrounding scenery is very
pretty, and the soil tolerably fertile
and susceptible of improvement. The
products are corn, wheat, rye, oats
and hay, which are principally sold
in Fredericksburg. The neighborhood
is thickly settled, and contain 3
houses of public worship, 2 of which
belong to the Baptist, and 1 to the
Methodists, and a Sunday school in a
prosperous condition.

Danielsville, P. O. 90 ms. from
R. and 80 ms. S. W. of W. Daniels
ville is only a P. O. situated in the
midst of the gold region, and contiguous
to the White Hall gold mine, 10
ms. S. W. of Fredericksburg, 24 ms.
E. of Orange C. H., 8 ms. S. of the
Wildnerness tavern, 12 ms. E. of the
Orange Springs, and 10 ms. W. of
Spottsylvania C. H. immediately on
the road leading from Orange Springs
to Fredericksburg. The mail is carried
on horseback, and received on
Wednesday's and Thursday's.

Fredericksburg, Port of Entry,
P. T. and county seat, 56 ms. S. S.
W. of Washington City, and 66 ms.
a little E. of N. from Richmond, in
lat. 38° 34′, 20″ N. and long. 77° 38′
W. of W. C., situated on the S. side
of Rappahannock river, at the head of
tide water, and about 150 ms. from its
mouth. This is a prosperous portvessels
of 140 tons can be navigated

to the foot of the falls. It derives its
name from Prince Frederick, father
of George III. and was founded in
1727, on what was originally called
the lease land, and contained when
first laid out, 50 acres,—in 1742 the
boundaries of the town were enlarged,
and still further enlarged in 1759.
The town is seated in a rich valley,
the view of which from any of the
neighbouring hills is exceedingly
beautiful. It is incorporated, the
management of its affairs are entrusted
to a Mayor at $400 per annum,
and a common Council without salaries.
The corporation owes about
$16,000, but holds real property to a
much larger amount. The public
buildings are a C. H., clerk's office
and jail, a neat brick market house
abundantly supplied with all kinds of
meats, fish and vegetables. There
are 5 houses of public worship, 1
Episcopalian, 1 Presbyterian, 1 Methodist,
1 Baptist and 1 Reformed
Baptist, 5 male and 7 female schools,
besides 2 free schools, 1 male and 1
female, which are incorporated and
endowed, the former having 40, and
the latter 18 pupils, and to each of the
above churches is attached a Sunday
school. There are 1 orphan asylum,
4 taverns and 97 licensed stores, 2
printing offices, the Virginia Herald
and the Political Arena, each issuing
a semi-weekly paper. The former of
these is the oldest paper in Virginia.
The principal mechanical pursuits
are 3 tanneries and 3 saddlers, besides
house carpenters, iron founders,
cabinet makers, tailors, boot and shoe
makers, house, sign and ornamental
painters, stone cutters, brick layers
blacksmiths, watch makers, tallow
chandlers, tin plate workers, copper
smiths, gun smiths, hatters, butchers,
bakers, machinists, coach makers and
trimmers, carvers and gilders, stucco
workers, plaisterers, plumbers, turners
and confectioners. This town is
supplied with 3 kinds of fuel, viz:—
wood from the neighborhood, by land
and by the canal, the lower part of
which is now open, bituminous coal
from Richmond, and the anthracite,
and is supplied with water, through
aqueducts, constructed by an incorporated
company. In the immediate vicinity
are found vast quantities of very
fine granite and free stone. A canal
is now in progress to connect this
town with Fox's mill, a point on the
river 35 ms. above. There are annually
exported from this town 75,000
barrels of flour, 150,000 bushels of
wheat, 400 hogsheads of tobacco,
about 500,000 bushels of Indian corn,
500 tierces of flax seed, and between
65 and $70,000 worth of gold, &c.
In the year 1738 a law was passed directing
that "Fairs should be held in
Fredericksburg twice a year for the
sale of cattle, provisions, goods, wares
and all kinds of merchandize whatsoever."
All persons at such Fairs,
going to or from them, were priviledged
from arrest and execution—during
the Fairs, and for 2 days before
and 2 days after them, except for capital
offences, breaches of the peace, or
for any controversies, suits and quarrels
that might arise during the time.
These Fairs were continued from
time to time, by various acts until
1769 when the right of holding them
was made perpetual. Population,
whites 1,797 persons; of whom 16
are resident attorneys, and 6 regular
physicians slaves, 1,124; free blacks,
387. Total 3,308.

Lewis's Store, P. O. 59 ms. from
R. and 84 ms. from W.

Mount Pleasant, P. O. 60 ms.
from R. and 76 from W., situated immediately
on the main south western
route, leading from Fredericksburg
by Cartersville to Powelton, in Georgia,
20 ms. S. W. of F., 5 ms. S. of
Spottsylvania C. H. 6 ms. N. W. of
New Market, 10 ms. N. of Dabney
Mills, and 7 ms. N. E. of Lewis's
Store.

Partlow, P. O. 59 ms. N. of R.
and 79 ms. S. S. W. of W.

SPOTTSYLVANIA C. H. P. O.
situated about the centre of the county,
on Po river.

County Courts are held on the 2d
Thursday in every month;—Quarterly
in March, May, August and November.

Circuit Superior Courts of Law
and Chancery are held on the 23d
of May and August, by Judge Lomax.

Thomburg, P. V. 69 ms. from R.
and 70 ms. S. W. of W., situated 14
ms. S. of Fredericksburg. A part of the
village is on the N. and a part on the
S. side of the river Ta. It contains
several dwelling houses, 1 mercantile
store, 1 house of entertainment, 1
general mill, running 3 pair of stones,
1 tanyard and a blacksmith's shop, 1
common school; and there is in the
vicinity a Baptist house of public
worship. The mail arrives only
once a week.

Todd's Store, P. O. 80 ms. from
R. and 70 ms. from W.

Twyman's Store, P. O. 99 ms.
from R. and 89 ms, S. W. of W.

Wilderness, P. O. on the north
western border of the county, 81 ms.
from R. and 71 ms. S. S. W. of W.,
situated on the turnpike road, 15 ms.
from Fredericksburg. It contains
several dwelling houses, 1 extensive
mercantile store, 1 tavern, a tailor's
and a blacksmith's shop. This place
is situated in a healthy country, which
produces corn, oats, barley, wheat, tobacco,
rye, potatoes, hemp, flax, &c.
Much gold is found in the vicinity,
and several gold establishments in active
operation, some of which are
worked to great advantage and profit.
These gold operations, have already
produced a very sensible effect upon
this section of country, bringing a
considerable amount of capital into active
use, and making business brisk.
Should the mining business continue
to improve, of which there is at present
no doubt, this place must increase
considerably in importance. The
mail from Fredericksburg to Charlottesville,
and a horse mail from
Louisa pass daily. Fifteen mails a
week are received.

STAFFORD.

Stafford was created by act of Assembly 1675, and formed out of a
part of Westmoreland county. It is bounded on the N. by Prince William,—E.
by the Potomac river, separating it from Charles Co. Md.,—
S. E. by King George county,—S. by the Rappahannock which separates
it from Caroline county,—S. W. by Spottsylvania,—W. by Culpeper,—
and N. W. by Fauquier. Near lat. 38° 25′, long 0° 22′ W. of W. C.—
Length 20 miles; mean width 12,—and area 300 square miles. Its surface
is hilly, and generally poor. The agricultural productions are whear,
rye, corn, oats, hay, tobacco, &c. The soil is of a varied character. On
the Potomac it is of a light loam, which is very productive, and is interspersed
with beds of shell marl of the richest quality. Contiguous to this
division of the county, there is a tract of land six or eight miles in width
and extending through the entire length of the county, which abounds
with free stone of excellent quality. Large quantities of this article are
exported to supply the demands of Washington, Baltimore, Norfolk and
various other places. The soil in this free stone region is of a sandy
nature, and less productive than the loam in the more immediate vicinity of
the Potomac. In the remaining portion of Stafford the soil is a clay of
varying color and consistency, and with proper husbandry produces good

crops of wheat. The species of stone found here are granite, quartz, &c.
A vein of gold ore extends through this part of the county, which is
represented to be equal in richness to any that has been discovered in Virginia.
There are three considerable creeks in the county, viz: Aquia,
Potomac, and Accokeek; all of which admit the tides from Potomac river.
The two first named are navigable by schooners for several miles in the
interior, and in common with the river affords valuable sites for herring
fisheries. There are nine houses of public worship in this county—4
Baptist, 2 Methodist, 1 Presbyterian, and 2 free for all denominations.

Population 1820, 9,517—in 1830, 9,362. It belongs to the sixth judicial
circuit and third district. Taxes paid in 1833, $2085 32—in 1834 on
lots, 118 63—on land, $1179 73—1816 slaves, $454 00—1690 horses,
$101 40—4 studs, $43 00—30 coaches, $64 00—47 carryalls, $47 00—
29 gigs, $18 05. Total, $2025 81. Expended in educating poor children
in 1832, $305 11—in 1833, $247 28.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Aquia, P. O. 80 ms. from R. and
42 from W. It takes its name from a
creek on which it is situated at the
head of tide water. There are one
or two old dilapidated houses, in
which some trade was probably formerly
carried on,—but no business is
now done.

Falmouth, P. V. 68 ms. N. of R.
and 58 S. S. W. of W., situated on
the left bank of Rappahannock river,
at the foot of the falls, in the southern
part of the county, a mile above Fredericksburg.
It is connected with
the Spottsylvania shore by a bridge
Falmouth was incorporated and laid
out as a village by act of Assembly
in 1727. It has rapidly improved—
containing 70 dwelling houses, 12
general stores, 1 house of public
worship free for all denominations, 1
common school, 1 masonic hall, 1
druggist shop, 3 merchant mills,
manufacturing about 30,000 barrels
of flour annually, and inspecting
60,000, 3 grist mills, 1 in the town
and 2 in its immediate vicinity, (one
of which is situated on the site of an
old forge, at which was the largest
manufactory of arms during the revolution,)
1 tanyard, 1 tailor, 2 blacksmith
shops, and 1 buhr mill stone
factory. The handsomest bridge
across the Rappahannock is situated
at this place. Population about 500,
persons, of whom 2 are attorneys and
3 regular physicians.

Spottedville, P. O. 69 ms. from
R. and 79 from W., situated 12 ms.
N. W. of Falmouth, on the stage
road leading from Winchester and
Warrenton to Fredericksburg, and in
the immediate vicinity of several
gold mines. Spottedville is the hameof
a P. O. which stands 4 ms. above
the place at which the road forks.
At the latter place are situated a tavern,
a mercantile store, a Baptist
and a Methodist house of public worship.
At this place a road to Stafford
C. H. 16 ms. distant, intersects
one to Richard's Ferry, and the Rattle
Snake gold mines, one to Jeffersonton
in Culpeper, and one to Summerville,
Elk Run, and Warrenton.

STAFFORD C. H. P. V. 76 ms.
N. E. of R. and 46 S. W. of W., in
lat. 38° 10′ N. and long. 25′ W. of
W. C. This village, besides the usual
county buildings, contains 13 dwelling
houses, 2 mercantile stores, 1
tavern and several mechanies. Population
90 persons, of whom 1 is a
physician.

County Courts are held on the 2d
Monday in every month; Quarterly
in March, June, August and November.

Judge Scott holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 2d of June and November.

Stafford Springs, P. O. in the
western part of the county, 104 ms.
from R. and 88 from W.

SURRY.

This county was created by the legislature in 1652, we are not
able to ascertain from what county it was created. It is bounded N. W.
and N. by Prince George, N. and N. E. by James river, which separates
it from Charles City and James City, E. and S. E. by Isle of Wight, S.
by Southampton, and S. W. by Sussex. Its length and breadth are nearly
equal and about 18 ms., area 324 sq. ms. It extends in lat. from 26° 50′
to 37° 11′ N. and in long from 0° 19′, E. to 0° 18′ W. of W. C. The
southern and western part of Surry slopes to the S. E. and is drained into
Blackwater river, the N. E. part slopes towards the James. Population in
1810, 6,855—1820, 6,594—1830, 7,109. It belongs to the 1st judicial circuit,
and 1st district. Tax paid in 1833, $1,261 04—in 1834, on lots,
$2 19—land, $625 29—1,702 slaves, $425 50—861 horses, $51 66—2
studs, $26 00—19 coaches, $44 50—18 carryalls, $18 00—10 gigs,
$64 35. Total, $1,257 49. Expended in educating poor children in
1832, $374 27—in 1833, $263 18.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Bacon Castle, P. O. 70 ms. from
R. and 192 ms. from W.

Baileysburg, P. O. 67 ms. S. E.
of R. and 189 from W.

Cabin Point, 47 ms. S. E. of R.
and 169 ms. from W. C., situated in
the western part of the county nearly
in the meridian of Washington.

SURRY C. H. P. O. 60 ms. S. E.
by E. of R. and 183 ms. a little E. of
S. from W. It contains besides the
ordinary county buildings, 4 dwelling
houses, a tavern, 2 mercantile stores
and a repository of public arms. The
mechanics are a cabinet maker and
tailor. Two miles west of the town
a cotton factory has recently gone into
operation which runs 250 spindles.
Population 44 persons; of whom 1 is
an attorney and 1 a physician.

County Courts are held on the 4th
Monday in every month.—Quarterly
in March, May, August and November.

Judge Baker holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 25th of April, and 15th of
October.

SUSSEX.

Sussex was created by the legislature in 1754, and taken from a part of
the county of Surry. It is bounded on the N. by Prince George, N. E. by
Surry, S. E. and S. by Southampton, and W. by Dinwiddie. Its length
from S. W. to N. E. is 37 ms.; mean breadth 16 ms.; and area 592 sq. ms.
It extends in lat from 36° 42′, to 37° 07′ N. and in long. from 0° 02′ E.
to 0° 46′ W. of W. C. The southern parts are drained into Three creek,
a branch of Nottoway,—its central parts into Nottoway river, and its northern

parts into Blackwater river. Population in 1810, 11,362—1820,
11,884—1830, 12,720. It belongs to the second judicial circuit, and first
district. Tax paid in 1833, $2,729 44—in 1834, on land, $1,206 01—
4,067 slaves, $1,016 75—1,974 horses, $118 44—3 studs, $25 00—72
coaches, $188 25—12 carryalls $12 00—257 gigs, $145 10. Total,
$2,711 55. Expended in educating poor children in 1832, $338 95—in
1833, $600 97.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Coman's Well, P. O. 54 ms. S.
S. E. of R. and 176 ms. from W.

Davis's Tavern, P. O. 50 ms. S.
E. of R.

Littleton, P. O. 66 ms. S. of R.
and 188 ms. from W.

Millboro' P. O. 55 ms. S. S. E.
of R. and 5 ms. S. E. of Sussex C. H.

Parham's Store, P. O. 50 ms. S.
S. E. of R. and 172 ms. from W.

Stoney Creek Warehouse, P.
O. 43 ms. from R. and 165 ms. from W.
This P. O. has been recently moved
from Rowanty creek, and is now situated
on the Petersburg Rail Road,
immediately on the south bank of
Rowanty creek, over which the Rail
Road passes, by means of a bridge
110 ft. in length, built on the lattice
plan of Towns. The warehouse is
one of the depots, substantially built
with a turn out station immediately
through it. The house is 70 ft. by
30. The engine and cars pass thro'
when ever necessary, to prevent the
obstruction of each other, or loading
and unloading, &c. The locomotive
engines with their trains of cars and
coaches pass and repass daily, with
the exception of Sunday, when the
train carrying the mail only has the
privilege. The United States southern
mail, together with the small
mails for the adjacent post offices are
carried by these locomotives. The
produce of the Roanoke and the intermediate
country are transported by
this road with facility, and in great
quantity and variety. Five ms. S. of
this place, the road passes Nottoway
river, by means of a similar bridge
of the same length and construction.
The improvements at Stoney creek,
besides the warehouse, are a handsome
and commodious building just
completed, intended for a tavern, 1
mercantile store and the houses of
several mechanics. In the vicinity
are 3 houses of public worship, (2
Methodist and 1 Baptist,) 4 well established
grist and 2 saw mills. This
depot is 9 ms. west of the C. H. and
3 ms. from the junction of Stoney and
Rowanty creeks, with the Nottoway
river,—all of which streams afford a
moderate supply of shad in their season,
and an abundance of small fish
at all times. The lands are generally
fertile and well adapted to the culture
of Indian corn, wheat, oats and
tobacco. The neighboring low grounds
and swamps afford quantities of white
oak and pine timber, from which are
manufactured an abundance of pipe
and other staves, and sent by the Rail
Road, together with other lumber to
Petersburg.

Judging by the progress of improvement
since the company built
this warehouse, it is reasonable to anticipate,
that at no distant day a thriving
and handsome little village will
spring up. The neighborhood is
supplied with excellent water, and
thickly settled with industrious and
wealthy farmers.

SUSSEX C. H. P. O. 50 ms. S. S.
E. of R. and 172 ms. S. W. of W.
situated about the centre of the Co.

County Courts are held on the 1st
Thursday in every month;—Quarterly
in March, May, August and October.

Judge May holds his Circuit
Superior Courts of Law and Chancery
on the 10th of May and October.

WARWICK.

Warwick was one of the eight original shires into which Virginia was
divided by the legislature in 1634, under the name of Warwick river. It
is bounded on the N. by York county, E. by Elizabeth City county, S. by
James river which separates it from Isle of Wight, and W. by James City
county. Its length diagonally from south east to north west is 18 ms.;
mean width 7½; and area 95 sq. ms. It extends in lat. from 37° 03′, to 37°
13′ north, and in long. from 0° 22′, to 0° 38′ east of Washington City. It
occupies a portion of the narrow peninsula which runs down between York
and James rivers, and slopes towards the latter. Population in 1810, 1,835
—in 1820, 1,608—1830, 1,570. It belongs to the third judicial circuit,
and second district. Tax paid in 1834, on land, $170 64—544 slaves,
$136 00—230 horses, $13 80—3 coaches, $8 00—2 carryalls, $2 00—
36 gigs, $20 30. Total, $350 74. Expended in educating poor children
in 1832, $20 42—in 1833, $57 81.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

WARWICK C. H. P. O. 184 ms.
S. E. of W. and 81 ms. S. E. by E. of
R. Besides the usual county buildings,
there are only 2 dwelling
houses; 1 of which is a house of private
entertainment, 1 general store,
and 1 common school. Population
21.

County Courts are held on the 2d
Thursday in every month;—Quarterly
in March, May, August and November.

Judge Upshur holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 29th of April and September.

WESTMORELAND.

Westmoreland county is situated on the N. E. frontier of Virginia,
and occupies an intermediate space in that range of counties embraced between
the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers—commonly designated as
the Northern Neck.

The first mention which has been found of this county is in an act[26] of
the "Grand Assembly" of July 1653; by which Act, "It is ordered, that
the bounds of the county of Westmoreland be as followeth, (viz.) from
Machoactoke river, where Mr. Cole lives, and so upwards to the falls of
the great river Pawtomake, above the Necostin's towne." From the language
of this statute it would seem that the county was previously in existence;
but it is not ascertained at what time it was taken from the older
county of Northumberland (at first called Chicawane or Chickcown)
which was established in 1648, and declared by an act of that year to
contain the "neck of land between Rappahannock river and Potomack
river."[27]

The large extent which was at first given to Westmoreland has been
greatly diminished, so that at present it lies between 38° 29′ N. lat. and

0° 30′ E. long. from W.; and is bounded on the N. E. by the Potomac
river on the N. W. by King George county,—on the S. by the Rappahannock
and Richmond counties—and on the S. E. by the county of Northumberland.
Its length is about 30 miles, and its mean breadth 9½ ms.
and is estimated to contain an area of 335 sq. ms.

The county is indented by numerous water courses, chiefly tributary to
the Potomac. The first in importance is Nominy (or Nomini) bay, an
arm of the Potomac, and extending five miles in length and one in breadth.
Its mean depth is 8 feet. It affords a safe harbor for vessels of small burden.
Into this bay flows Nominy river, which is navigable for vessels of
burden for about 7 miles from its mouth, and for boats two miles farther.

The creeks running into the Potomac are—Monroe's, navigable for
vessels and for boats for about 4 miles from its mouth; Mattox, for vessels
of burden as far as the bridge about 3 miles, and for boats 3 or 4 miles
beyond; Pope's creek, navigable about 2 miles for boats only. These
creeks are situated in the N. W. part of the county. To the N. E. are
found, Chantilly or Gold Harbor creek, navigable for boats only about one
mile; Lower Machodoc, four miles for vessels and for boats 1 mile higher.

Into Nominy bay empty—Currisman creek, navigable about 1 mile—
Poor Jack, about 1 mile and a quarter; Smart's, about three-quarters of a
mils by boats only. Buckner's creek flows into Nominy river, and may be
navigated by small craft for 3 miles, and 1 mile farther by boats; Yocomico
river receives the waters of Garner's, Jackson's and Bonum's creeks:
the first navigable for 2 miles—the second for 1 mile and a quarter, and the
last for one and a half miles for boats only. Glebe creek may be here
mentioned, flowing into the Potomac midway between Buckner's and Yocomico,
and navigable for vessels of light burden for one or two miles. In
the western part of the county Baldwin's and Brockenbrough's creeks run
into the Rappahannock. They are believed to be wholly unnavigable.

Most of these waters abound with the finest fish, oysters and wild fowl;
which furnish the means of subsistence to many of the poor, and spread
the richest repasts[28] of luxury on the tables of the wealthy.

The face of the county is diversified by hills and flat land. A range of
the former, pursuing a S. E. and N. W. course, penetrates the entire county
longitudinally, and divides the waters of the Potomac and Rappahannock.
Upon the summit of this range, at various intervals are situated
several private mansions, from which can be seen in opposite directions
the waters of the majestic Potomac, and of the gently meandering Rappahannock,
with extensive plains intervening—exhibiting to the delightful
eye of every lover of natural scenery, the most beautiful and variegated
landscapes.

The soil on either river, and adjacent to the creeks, is fertile and productive,
and remarkably well adapted to the growth of Indian corn and wheat;
the two kinds of grain chiefly cultivated. That on the Potomac and its
tributaries consists of a rich argillacious, loamy mixture. That on the
Bappahannock contains a greater measure of sand; and though not inferior

in fertility, is from this cause better suited to the production of corn
than wheat. The middle or forest lands are, for the most part sterile—
are covered with a thick growth of pine and cedar and exhibit all the
symptoms of early exhaustion from the successive culture of tobacco, and
neglect of improvement. They are not irreclaimable; for experiment has
proved that these lands are susceptible of the highest degree of improvement
by the aid of clover and plaster; and they have in many instances
gratefully repaid the attentions of the husbandman by the production of
ample and abundant crops. This is peculiarly the case with that section
of the county which lies above, or to the N. W. of the Court House. And
the same remarks will apply with nearly equal propriety to that portion
which is situated below, or to S. and S. E. of the C. H.

Hitherto, indeed, but little regard has been paid to system in agricultural
improvement. But within the last few years an honorable and praiseworthy
emulation has been excited among the farmers to excel in skill
and industry; and whilst greater neatness and arrangement have marked
this increased attention to the farming operations, more plentiful returns and
an advanced fertility in the condition of the soil, are most happily manifested.

Wheat and corn are the staple productions: though other crops are
grown—such as rye, oats and cotton, &c., which are principally used in
domestic consumption. Cord wood (pine, hickory and oak, and some tanbark,
but chiefly the former) has been extensively exported from the county
to the cities of the District, and to Baltimore, and has proved a source of
lucrative commerce. It is estimated that upwards of 15,000 cords have
been shipped in one year from the county.

Westmoreland possesses but few antiquities or natural curiosities; and
none of sufficient interest and importance to distinguish its history, or impart
attractions to its geography, none from which the philosopher of nature
or of man could glean new materials for useful remark or ingenious
speculation, either to enlarge the circle of physical science, or to illustrate
the manners and customs of an antecedent race of human beings.

Of the curiosities of nature the most interesting perhaps is the cliffs on
the Potomac. These rise abruptly from the water's edge and form a precipice
of between two and three hundred feet high—extending to a distance
of more than four miles along the course of the river. In the sides of
these cliffs at intervals from their base to their summit are found embedded
the remains of various kinds of fish and other animals—denoting according
to the received theory on the subject, an antediluvian existence of these
animals. Many fossil remains have also been found deeply deposited beneath
the surface of the earth, far in the interior of the county and in a
champaign region—some curious specimens of which are in the possession
of a gentleman residing near the Court house, who has made several rare
collections of the kind.

Though there is presented but little here of importance to arrest the eye
of the stranger, yet to the citizen of the county there are some objects of
peculiar attraction and interest. These are the birthplaces and former residences
of some of the sons of Westmoreland and the most distinguished
men of our country. The ruins of Chantilly, situated upon the Potomac
—once the residence of Richard Henry Lee, are still exhibited. Within
a few miles of the same river and higher up may be seen Stradford, the
family seat of the Lee's for many generations; and latterly of Gen'l Henry

Lee. On Pope's creek the scarcely distinguished remains of a house are
discovered, which tradition designates as the spot on which the illustrious
WASHINGTON was born.[29] In a few years these will have become
obliterated, as they are now barely perceptible, and not a stone be left to
point the inquisitive patriot to the place that gave birth to the "Father of
his county." Ought not the spot to be rescued from the oblivion to which
it is destined by the effects of time and the incursions of the ploughshare?
Does it not merit from the hands of his countrymen a durable memorial of
the incident by which it is marked? Let the public of Virginia answer.
—At the head of Monroe's creek is a spot also known as remarkable for
the birth of the late President James Monroe.

In the Hall of Justice hangs a full length portrait of the Earl of Chatham.
This painting was executed by Peel, and presented by Edmund
Jennings, Esq. merchant of London, to the "Gentlemen of Westmoreland,"
in 1768, through the hands of R. H. Lee. The letters of Mr. Jennings to
Mr. Lee upon its presentation, are preserved in the clerk's office among the
archives of the county.

The picture represents Lord Chatham, in the costume of a Roman Senator—with
head, arms and legs bare, and holding in his left hand a copy of
Magna Charta; and obliquely to his right in the foreground is presented
an altar with the flame of liberty issuing forth—and upon it desposited a
civic wreath.

But however destitute this county is of natural curiosities and works of
art—yet there are events connected with her history, already partially alluded
to, which furnish abundant cause to her citizens to exult in her fame,
and justify them in claiming for their county the classical appellation of
the Athens of Virginia. Some of the most renowned men of this country
were born within her borders. Of these may be mentioned Washington,
R. H. Lee and his three brothers, Thomas, Francis and Arthur,
Gen'l Henry Lee, the late Judge Bushrod Washington, and the late President
James Monroe—names of the highest distinction for wisdom, patriotism,
eloquence, learning, fortitude and valor, and which of themselves
would render illustrious the history of any country. To have given birth
to these distinguished men and fathers of the American Republic, is a
source of cherished pride and honor to the citizens of Westmoreland, and
they refer to these incidents as constituting a brilliant epoch in the annals
of their county—and as vindicating for it a clear and undisputed title to
the classic name they have appropriated to it. Should centuries elapse
before it again attains distinction for its moral and intellectual character—
it has acquired a fame venerable and immortal, that must descend conspicuous
to all future ages.

The population of this county in 1810 was 8,102—in 1820, 6,901—in
1830, 8,411—of whom 3,718 were whites—3,845 slaves, and 848 free persons
of color. It belongs to the fifth judicial circuit, and third district.

Tax paid in 1834 on lots, $9 19—land, $806 92—1963 slaves, $490 75—
1045 horses, $62 70—3 studs, $38 00—34 coaches, $81 25—13 carryalls,
$13 00—99 gigs, $58 45. Total, $1560 26. Expended in educating
poor children in 1833, $240 46.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Hague, P. O. situated in the eastern
part of the county 70 ms. S. E.
of R., and 132 from W.

Huttsville, P. O. 65 miles from
R. and 127 from W.

Kinsale, P. O. 76 ms. from R.
and 138 from W.

Leeds, P. O. 82 ms. from R. and
104 S. S. E. of W.

Oak Grove, P. O. 88 ms. N. N.
E. of R. and 98 S. of W. This
post office has recently been removed
from Mattox Bridge. Oak Grove is
situated equidistant (6 ms.) from the
Potomac and Rappahannock rivers,
and one mile from Mattox creek. It
contains 4 divelling houses, 1 house
of public worship, (Methodist) 3
mercantile stores, (and 2 oth is in the
immediate vicinity,) 1 tavern, and 1
house of private entertainment. The
soil in the neighborhood is generally
fertile and well adapted to the culture
of Indian corn, wheat, tobacco, cotton,
&c. Though the two first articles
are almost solely cultivated next to
these the principal article of trade is
wood; so brisk is the sale, and so large
the supply, that 4 or 5 vessels and
frequently more are continually loading
at Mattox bridge. The facilities
of commerce are so great with the
District of Columbia, Baltimore,
Fredericksburg and other places, that
no large village can ever be expected
to spring up here. The neighborhood
is thickly settled, and country
stores are to be met with at intervals
of every 4 or 5 miles. The scenery
of the surrounding country is beautiful
and picturesque, and would well
repay those who have money and
leisure in paying a visit to this vicinity,
not far from which is the birthplaces
of the illustrious Washington,
Marshall, Monroe, and other
distinguished men.

WESTMORELAND C. H. P. V.
70 ms. from R. and 116 S. S. E. of
W., situated near the centre of the
county, being equidistant between the
rivers Rappahannock and Potomac.
The houses are but few, and arranged
with ut regard to order or compactness,
of these 8 are built of brick,
including the Court House, Clerk's
office and jail,—the rest are of wood,
very old and much dilapidated. It
contains 2 general mercantile stores,
2 taverns 1 carriage maker, 1 saddler,
1 boot and shoe maker, and 1
tailor. Population about 100 persons;
of whom 5 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 Lomax holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 21st of April and 13th October.

YORK.

York was one of the eight original shires into which Virginia, was divided
by the legislature, in 1634. It is bounded on the N. by York river,
which separates it from Gloucester, E. by the Chesapeake bay, S. by Elizabeth
City and Warwick counties, and W. by James City county. Its mean

length is 26 ms.; mean breath 5¾ ms.; and area 149 sq. ms. It extends in
lat. from 37° 08′, to 37° 23′ N. and in long from 0° 12′, to 0° 46′ E. of W.
This county occupies nearly half of the peninsula which is formed by the
near approach of the York and James rivers; but the surface inclines towards
the former, on which it lies. Much of the soil is good. Population
in 1810, 5,187—in 1820, 14,380—1830, 5,334. York belongs to the 3rd
judicial circuit, and 2nd district. Tax paid in 1833, $802 06—in 1834, on
lots, $31 69—on land, $1,261 50—1,220 slaves, $305 00—365 horses,
$33 90—5 studs, $20 00—12 coaches, $24 00—7 carryalls, $7 00—72
gigs, $40 35. Total, $823 45. Expended in educating poor children in
1832, $292 68—in 1833, $184 39.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Half-Way-House, P. O. 84 ms.
S. E. by E. of R. and 187 ms. from
W., situated in the eastern part of the
county, about 12 ms. S. E. of the C.
H. and half a mile from Poquosin river.
There are at this place 5 buildings,
2 of which are old stores, not
occupied at present, 1 public house,
and 1 excellent dwelling house. The
land in the neighborhood is fertile,
producing well the ordinary staples,
corn, wheat, oats, &c. The situation
is pleasant and eligible, directly on the
main stage road from Yorktown to
Hampton.

YORKTOWN, P. V. Port of entry
and seat of justice, 72 ms. S. E.
by E. of R. and 175 ms. S. S. E. of
W. in lat. 37° 14′, and long 0° 30′
E. of W. C., situated immediately on
the right bank of York river, 11 ms.
above its mouth, and 33 ms. N. W.
from Norfolk. Yorktown suffered
considerably from a fire which occurred
during the last war, when most
of the best buildings were destroyed,
together with the old Episcopal
church. The present number of
houses, besides the county buildings,
are 40,—the most of which are going
fast to decay. It has several stores,
1 house of public worship (Baptist,)
1 school, in which are taught the rudiments
of English education, 1 tanyard,
1 cabinet maker, 1 carriage maker,
1 house carpenter, and 3 blacksmith
shops. Yorktown is pleasantly
situated in an open country, having
a beautiful view of land and water
scenery. Population 282 persons; of
whom 1 is an attorney, and 2 are regular
physicians.

County Courts are held on the 3d
Monday in every month;—Quarterly
in March, June, August and November.

Circuit Superior Courts of Law
and Chancery are held on the 24th of
April and September, by Judge Upshur.

Before closing Eastern Virginia it
may be interesting to the reader to
peruse a succinct account of the memorable
events which took place at
the siege of Yorktown during the revolution,
and which eventuated in the
surrender of the whole of the English
army, under the command of Lord
Cornwallis, to the combined American
and French army, under the command
of Washington, which was the
closing scene of the American war,
and the establishment of American
independence.

The following brief outline seems
to have been taken from the journal
of an American officer, engaged in
the scenes which he describes, and to
have been published in some periodical
about the year 1784 or 1785.

Siege of York and Gloucester.

Sept. 15, 1781.—General Washington
arrived at Williamsburg; received
the Marquis de la Fayette's
command, and count St. Simon's
troops, which had arrived the 30th of
August, with count de Grasse, and

landed at Jamestown the 3d instant.

21.—First division of the northern
army arrived in James's river. The
23d and 24th almost the whole got in
and landed. The 27th, the whole
army moved, and encamped in a line,
three quarters of a mile advanced off
Williamsburg, distant from Yorktown
11 miles.

28.—The whole moved at daylight:
after two halts, arrived within a
mile and a half of the enemy's works
displayed and lay on our arms all
night. Beaver pond creek, and morass
in our front, over which bridges
were built that night: and general
Muhlenbergh's brigade of light infantry
formed a picquet in advance.

29.—About sunrise moved to within
three quarters of a mile of the enemy's
out-works, and displayed into
two lines, a ravine in front, to view
our ground, advanced small parties
in front to cover our reconnoitering
parties. At four, P. M. moved to our
ground on the right, and encamped
within range of the enemy's artillery
in two lines; advanced a line of picquets
in front, and increased our camp
guards.

30.—The enemy fearing we should
turn their left, and get between their
out-works and the town, abandoned
the whole of them, and retired to town
a little before day-light, leaving a few
light horse to protect their rear.
Colonel Scammel, being officer of the
day, advanced to reconnoitre and report
accordingly, when he was intercepted,
wounded and taken, by a few
light horse, who had lain concealed.
[He died of his wounds in six days.]
Both lines were put in motion, and
advanced with caution towards their
works, suspecting some feint of the
enemy. Lay on our arms all that
night. The light infantry remained
on the ground, as a covering party to
the fatigued men, busied in erecting a
chain of redoubts to guard our camp,
and cover our working parties, who
were occupied in procuring materials
for the siege.

31.—The light infantry relieved by
Wayne's division this evening. The
redoubts completed this night, and
filled with a proper number of troops.

October 1 to 6.—Employed in preparing
materials, getting up our artillery,
&c. At six o'clock, moved on
the ground, and opened our first parallel,
about six hundred yards from
the enemy's works, under cover by
day-light. No accident. Continued
working till morning.

7.—The light troops entered in line
reversed, with drums beating, and colours
flying; planted their standards
on the top of the line of the parallel:
continued working on the batteries,
which were completed about five
o'clock.

9.—P. M. the enemy received the
first shot from us, which was continued
with spirit from cannon and mortars.
The enemy's fire slackened.
Several of their guns were dismounted
and they were obliged to fill up
their entrenchments.

10.—Light infantry mounted; and
the Charon of 44 guns and two smaller
vessels, were burned by some hot
shot from the left of the line, commanded
by count St. Simon. This
happened about eight o'clock in the
evening, the weather being serene and
calm, and afforded an awful and melancholly
sight. The Charon was on
fire from the water's edge to her truck
at the same time. I never saw any
thing so magnificent.

11.—In the evening, the second
parallel opened by B. Steuben's division.
This parallel was carried on
with amazing rapidity, at 360 yards
distance from the enemy's batteries,
under a very heavy fire, the enemy's
shot and shells directed at the workmen;
our shot and shells going over
our heads in a continual blaze the
whole night. The sight was beautifully
tremendous. We lost but one
man, shot by our own men, the gun
not being sufficiently elevated, or
being fired with a bad cartridge.

12th, 13th, and 14th. Continued
completing the batteries of the second
parallel, and wounding their abattis,
and frize-works with our shot and
shells. About two o'clock, P. M. the
out defences of two redoubts, that
were advanced on their left 250 yards
in their front, were thought sufficiently
weakened, to attempt them that
evening by storm. The light infantry
were relieved, and directed to refresh
themselves with dinner and a
nap. About dusk, they moved on,
under the Marquis, and were in possession
of one, in nine minutes. The
other was carried by the French
grenadiers and light infantry, under
baron Viomenil, nearly about the
same time, when the second parallel
was continued on, and enveloped these
two redoubts, and finished a line of
communication between the rights of
the first and second parallel of upwards
of a mile, before day-light next
morning. The whole of this was
performed under a very incessant and
heavy fire from the enemy, with
amazing steadiness and expedition.

15.—Employed in repairing the
redoubts, and erecting batteries, now
within reach of the enemy's grape,
rifle and wall-pieces.

16.—This night, a timid, ill conducted
sortie was attempted under
lieutenant-colonel Abercrombie, with
about six hundred men. They entered
the parallel about the centre,
nearly between the French and American
troops, at a battery erecting by
the Americans, not completed. They
killed a sarjeant and two privates of
captain Savage's company of artillery:
spiked six guns with the end of their
bayonets, which they broke off in the
vent-holes; turned about; and went off
with the greatest precipitation. In
their retreat, they were pursued, and
lost twelve men—six killed, four
wounded, two taken: the light infantry
in the trenches. Lord Cornwallis,
in his account of the matter, says
our loss was upwards of 100.

17.—Light infantry still in the
trenches. Between ten and eleven,
A. M. chamade beat, and propositions
for surrender sent out by his lordship:
received by the Marquis, and forwarded
to head-quarters. Cessation
of firing about twenty minutes, till
flag had returned within their works.
On our resuming the fire, a second
chamade beat, and the officer returning,
was told that the answer, as soon
as received from head-quarters, would
be forwarded. The firing on both
sides re-commenced, and went on as
usual, only small intermissions, during
the passing of two or three letters
from each side. Light infantry
relieved by the baron Steuben's division
and the business being concluded
that evening, the firing ceased about
five o'clock, P. M. The 18th and
part of the 19th, taken up in adjusting
matters, viz. articles of capitulation,
public letters, &c.

19. P. M.—They marched out and
laid down their arms. The whole of
the king's troop, including sailors and
marines, amounted to 8,054, officers
included.

Thus ended this business, in nine
days from our breaking ground.

The whole of our strength, including
every person that drew provisions
by the commissary-general's return,
amounted to 12,200. Our loss was
324 killed, wounded and died in the
hospital; sick in the hospital about
600; unfit for duty, 830. So that
when the necessary detail of the whole
army was completed, his lordship was
never opposed by more than an equal
number. Very frequently, from our
great fatigue, parties at a considerable
distance from the camp, and trenches
two miles, had he come out to us, we
could have opposed him with but
very few more than two thirds of his
number. This, I believe, will be allowed
by any officer of discernment,
who was acquainted with the details
of the victorious combined army.

WESTERN VIRGINIA.

INTRODUCTION.

Perhaps no section of country of the same extent, possesses greater
natural advantages than that portion of the State of Virginia westward of
the Blue Ridge Mountain. Possessed of a climate the most salubrious
and invigorating, and a soil happily adapted to the production of almost
every thing useful to man, nothing is wanting but industry to render this
one of the fairest agricultural portions of the globe. The vallies of the
Shenandoah, the Upper James river, the Kanawha and Holston, found in
this portion of the commonwealth, present a field almost unrivalled for the
exertions of an industrious and enterprising population. Some of these
as yet, are comparatively unreclaimed and in a state of nature, but the time
is not distant, when under the invigorating influence of wise and salutary
regulations, they will be seen teeming with the products of enterprise and
industry. But Western Virginia is not remarkable only for agricultural
advantages. Her fossil and mineral wealth is no where equaled; iron,
lead, gypsum, coal, and salt, are found in different places in this region,
some of which have already become a fruitful source of commerce and of
wealth. Other and similar sources of wealth may still be buried and concealed
from the eye of man in our extensive forest regions. The salt of
the Kanawha and Holston, after supplying the home consumption, is
already an article of extensive and profitable commerce upon most of the
western waters. The iron of the valley, the excellence of which is readily
admitted, would soon become a staple of commerce and a source of wealth
to that section, did the improvements of the country supply the required
facilities for the transportation of so cumbersome an article. These enumerated
manufactures, though already claiming notice from their consequence,
are to be regarded as yet in their infancy, compared with the rank
they will hereafter attain, in numbers and extent, should the increasing
commerce and enterprise of the country call forth their resources. With
the exception of the commercial channels which nature has provided as
outlets for them, our productions, whether manufactured or agricultural,
are and must be limited to a narrow region of country surrounding them.
This will continue to be the case until the country becomes aroused to the
necessity of following the example of our sister communities, in opening
additional and much needed lines of commercial intercourse.

Had nature been even more bountiful than she has to this favored region,
still if her gifts are neglected or unimproved, no benefits result to the
community. Such is in fact the condition of Western Virginia. We possess
natural advantages in abundance, every thing for skill and enterprise and
industry to work upon, but no corresponding results such as are elsewhere
exhibited, are any where seen.

This state of things merits an attentive consideration and demands an
adequate remedy. Let the citizens of Western Virginia arouse themselves,
and harmoniously unite in efforts to improve their condition and bring into
active and profitable exercise the numerous discovered and undiscovered
sources of wealth with which our country abounds.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION.

This division of the commonwealth, as recognized by the constitution of
1830, extends from the Blue Ridge to the Ohio, and contains forty-five
counties, with an area of 38,900 square miles, equal to 24,896,000 acres.
The population in 1830, was 378,475, of which the free inhabitants numbered
324,988, and the slaves 53,437—shewing an increase of nearly 25
per cent in the first class, and nearly 24 per cent in the second, within the
preceding ten years.

This sparse population of less than ten souls to a square mile, is not
owing to either a want of salubrity in the climate, or of fertility in the soil,
but to adventitious causes which time is progressively removing. The
early policy of the general government in bringing large bodies of the
public domain into market, at very low prices, and on long credits, with
the recent diminution of three-eights of the former prices placed on those
lands, have exercised a very important control over the settlement and consequent
improvement of this part of Virginia. The nearer districts of
level and fertile land in the New States, are however receiving a sufficient
population to give increased value to the soil, and the government sales at
more distant points become less sensibly felt, but should the threatening
efforts now making to employ the Public Lands as a bounty to draw off
the inhabitants of the old States, by giving new homes to all who will
occupy them, at merely nominal prices, prove successful, no portion of
the original states will feel the effects more sensibly than Virginia, and particularly
the district under consideration. The retarded population of the
western counties, has also been owing in some measure to the unsettled
state of the land titles; an evil which recent legislation has gone far to
remove. By an act of the 5th of February, 1831, the limitation in writs
of right is reduced to twenty-five years and in actions of ejectment, to
fifteen years and by an act of the 10th of March, 1832, a lein is given on
lands, in favor of the occupant thereof, for the value of the improvements
which may be made thereon, before notice of the adverse title. The first
of these laws gives safety and security to the great body of the land-holders,
and the second gives full remuneration for all the improvements in the
event of an eviction; they were called for by the condition of the country,
and will no doubt give confidence to future immigrants, as well as invigorate
the industry of the present inhabitants. No climate can be more
favorable to health and longevity; the temperate latitude and elevation of
the country; protect it in a great measure from the extremes of heat and
cold, and when they occur, they are very rarely of inconvenient duration.

The face of the country presents an uneven surface, owing to the ranges
of mountains which intersect it from the northeast to the southwest, and

which occupy much of the territory from the North mountain, and skirts
the large limestone valley of Virginia, to the Cumberland and Laural Hill
chain. These mountains rise from two to three thousand feet above the
ocean, but are neither sterile, or unusually steep; on the contrary they are
generally covered with the finest timber, and abound with kinds denoting
high fertility, the vallies are frequently extensive, and present to the eye
the most beautiful- and majestic scenery. The soil of this district consists
of almost every variety. The great limestone valley of Virginia, extending
from the Potomac to the county of Montgomery, near two hundred and
fifty miles in length, and from twenty to forty miles in width, is perhaps
not surpassed in the abundance and variety of its agricultural products, by
any district of the same extent in the Atlantic States.

From the North mountain, to the western chain of the Alleghanies, formed
by the continuing links between the Cumberland and the Laurel mountains of
Pennsylvania, the country presents a series of ridges and well watered
vallies, the latter generally rich, and the former not unfrequently offering
easy slopes to cultivation and for pasture. Along the summit of the middle
range much high table land is found, and considerable portions of it
free from timber, and covered with grass. Some of those natural meadows
are of large extent, and serve as pasture for numerous herds of horned
cattle. Although the western division of Virginia may throughout be emphatically
denominated a grass country, yet it no where else equals the abundant
and nutricious productions annually displayed upon those elevated table
lands, and whether the grazing farm is prepared by enclosing and reclaiming
the natural meadows, or by freeing the ground of its forest trees, the
product is equally certain and abundant. The country extending from the
Cumberland and Laurel range of mountains to the Ohio river, is generally
broken; but interspersed with extensive districts of land sufficiently level
for agricultural purposes, and of which industry is annually bringing large
portions into culture.

The Ohio and Potomac, as well as their large tributaries, are proverbial
for the rich alluvial lands which border those streams. These bodies of
very fertile and almost inexhaustible low grounds, vary in width from a
few hundred yards to one and two miles. Sufficiently undulating to pass
the water from their surface, and generally elevated above the freshets to
which the western rivers are liable. These alluvial tracts are admirably
adapted to the culture of hemp, tobacco, Indian coin, and turnips, and after
a few years yield very fine crops of wheat, barley, rye, oats, potatoes, &c.
The upland as before remarked, is frequently rough and broken, but generally
not so much so, as to prevent its employment in cultivation and pasture,
when advancing population shall require its use for those purposes;
the highest and steepest hills are well adapted to the growth and production
of many of the most valuable species of the grape, and on their sides
the mulberry flourishes with peculiar vigor, it may not therefore be unreasonable
to anticipate the time, when wine and silk will be prominent articles
of the export from this region of country.

The principal agricultural products of the western district of Virginia,
at this time, are wheat, rye, oats, barley, buck wheat, hemp, flax, tobacco
and corn, with abundant supplies of indigenous and exotic grapes. The
grazing and feeding farms, which stand next in importance, export annually
a large amount in neat cattle, horses, mules, hogs and sheep, besides
beef, bacon, lard, butter and wool. Of the products of the forest, the western

counties furnish much the larger portion, consisting of gensang, fur,
peltries, venison hams, staves, timber, plank, and cord wood on the rivers
navigated with steamboats. The manufactories, although in their infancy,
yield considerable supplies to other States, in flour, salt, leather, and formerly
of lead.

"Mountains are the mothers of minerals," and the country from the
Blue Ridge to the Ohio river, fully verifies the truth of the aphorism. Although
this district has as yet, but slightly attracted the notice of the scientific
mineralogist, many of these useful metals and fossils have been
discovered, and in some instances brought into extensive use. Iron is
found in abundance on the waters of the Potomac, Shenandoah, James,
Jackson and the Roanoke rivers, and at many places on the upper branches
of those streams, is manufactured to great extent, and with corresponding
advantage; on New river, or the Upper Kanawha and its tributaries, this
valuable mineral abounds, and of the best qualities; it is also found in very
encouraging quantities and exhibiting fine appearances, convenient to the
waters of the Great and Little Kanawhas, Monongahela, Elk, Gauley,
Guyandotte and Sandy rivers. The ores which have been discovered, present
almost every variety, but those apparently most abundant, are the compact
brown ore, the brown hematite, and specular ores.

The salt district of Virginia, passing west of the Alleghany range, and
nearly in a parallel course with those mountains, furnishes this important
article in greater or less abundance, in the counties of Harrison, Lewis,
Kanawha and Washington. In the two latter counties, however, are situated
the principal manufactories, that of Kanawha, supplying about one
million and a half of bushels per annum, and the Washington works about
100,000. An analysis of the Kanawha water, gives 35 mur of lime—2
car of iron—1 free car acid—56 chloride of sodium and bromide of calcium—and
956 moisture.

The water used in the manufactory of salt in the county of Washington,
contains less of the muriate, and more of the sulphate of lime, and a
larger portion of the chloride of sodium. Lead of considerable quantities
was long since discovered in the county of Wythe, and was formerly much
used in commerce, but owing to the expensive land carriage which had to
be encountered in conveying it to market, and to the opening lead mines
more favorably situated on the Mississippi, those of Wythe have in a great
measure fallen into disuse.

Extensive beds of exifrangible gypsum are found on the upper branches
of the Holston, but are comparatively useless from the want of convenient
and cheap lines of transportation; and the same remark applies to the
quarries of very superior buhr stone, situated near Christiansburgh, in the
county of Montgomery.

The coal formation of the western part of Virginia, is limited on the
Kentucky border, to the country lying between the Cumberland range, and
the Ohio river—extending to the northeast, the coal district spreads from
the Ohio, as far eastwardly as the neighborhood of Westernport on the
Potomac. Throughout this entire tract of country, bituminous coal presents
itself in great abundance, in beds varying in thickness, from a few
inches to 12 and 15 feet, attended every where by micacious sand-stone,
conglomerate rocks, and clay slate, the latter abounding in vegetable impressions.
At the salt wells on the Great Kanawha, as well as at many
natural springs within the coal region, naptha is found floating on the surface

of the water in considerable quantities. Anthracite Coal, to which
Pennsylvania is indebted for the rapid extension of many of her important
manufactories, as well as the great enlargement of her interior commerce,
has been recently discovered in the counties of Berkley and Morgan.
Still more recent researches have ascertained the existence of this valuable
mineral, apparently in extensive bodies, in the counties of Rockingham
and Augusta, from which it is probable that the great Valley of Virginia
will ere long become as celebrated for the extent of its manufactories
as it is now proverbial for its large agricultural products.

As this district undergoes more thorough examination, and its mineral
resources become further developed, it will probably disclose as extensive
masses of iron and coal in the same vicinities, as now distinguish South
Wales; and although the bituminous coal may contain more volatile matter,
and less charcoal, than the Welch furnace coal, the value of the tar and
pitch which it will yield, may more than compensate for the comparative
deficiency of carbon.

No quarter of the world presents a greater variety of mineral waters,
than this portion of Virginia. Medicinal springs are almost as numerous
as the counties, but it will suffice to notice those which have attracted the
greatest share of public consideration, and which receive annually the
greatest number of visitors. In the large limestone valley immediately
west of the Blue Ridge, are the Berkley and Morgan springs, the Shenandoah
springs, the Augusta springs, and the Botetourt springs. They are
usually attended by a respectable number of visitors, and the medicinaleffects
of the waters have given some reputation to each of those fountains.
The county of Bath is distinguished by the Warm and Hot springs, situated
within five miles of each other, and upon the principal road leading
east and west, through Virginia, the great bath at the Warm Springs is
universally admired by all who have enjoyed the luxury of its tepid and
buoyant waters.

This copious fountain of hydrosulphurous water, rises within the walls
of the bath, and preserves a uniform temperature of 96° of Fr. The baths
of the Hot springs differ in temperature, from 51° to 107°, and belong to
the thermal saline class. These fountains may be justly placed at the
head of the thermal waters of the United States, and from their use, the
happiest effects have been produced in cases of chronic rheumatism and
hepatic affections of long standing.

In the adjoining counties of Greenbrier and Monroe, are situated the
White Sulphur, the Salt Sulphur, and the Red Sulphur Springs; they are
classed as cold hydrosulphurous waters; the first is peculiarly distinguished
for efficacy in cases familiarly denominated bilious and liver complaints;
the second for the removal of dyspepsia, and all affections of the stomach,
whether connected with the state of the liver or not the third has a high
reputation from the peculiar influence which its waters exercise over pulmonary
affections.

The Sweet Springs are also in the county of Monroe, near the eastern
base of the Alleghany. This fountain, like the Berkley springs, is cold,
acidulous or carborated, and yields a copious stream of the temperature of
73° of Fr. The Sweet springs have acquired a fashionable and well
merited celebrity; the water is believed to be particularly serviceable in
the variety of the dyspepsia, accompanied by gastrodynia or spasm. In
secondary debility of the digestive canal, from the exhausting heats of summer,

or in chronic diarrhea or dysentery, without fever, or not sustained by
hepatic inflammation, the internal use of these waters have produced the
happiest effects. These highly valuable fountains of health are so conveniently
situated as to enable the visitors to alternate their use, with great
advantage and satisfaction; and the several proprietors have so extended
their means of accommodating company, and added so many comforts and
beauties to their respective establishments, that they are now annually attended
by a large concourse of fashionable people from the valley of the
Mississippi, and from the middle and southern States, as well as by invalids
from almost every quarter of the Union. A Spring on Muddy
creek, in Greenbrier county, heretofore visited by but few persons, as the
accommodations have been very limited, is beginning to attract much public
interest from the highly salutary influence which the waters have produced
in aggravated cases of scrofula. The favorable results experienced
by persons suffering under this afflicting and inscrutable disease, induced
a number of gentlemen in 1833, to unite in the purchase and improvement
of the property, and measures are now in progress for erecting extensive
and convenient buildings, and for giving to this spring as many attractions
as are found at the most fashionable medicinal fountains.

Many natural curiosities of an interesting character are to be found between
the Blue Ridge and the Ohio. Those most known are Weyer's
and Madison's Caves, near the Shenandoah river, and about two miles from
Port Republic. These wonderful caverns are both subterranean openings
in the same limestone hill. The first has been explored to the distance of
900 yards, and the latter has been penetrated to the depth of 120 yards.
Madison's cave has been much disfigured by the manufacture of saltpetre,
to which it was for some time appropriated. Weyer's cave is however
in a fine state of preservation; the entrance is narrow, but the cavern
enlarges as it advances under the hill, until some of the apartments present
an extent of floor equal to 300 by 200 feet, with majestic ceiling springing
to the height of 80 and 90 feet. The drippings of this cave are not sufficient
to affect the lights which are necessary to its examination, or to incommode
the visitors. The deposits of lime dissolved in the water, forms
stalactites of almost every shape, and of every variety of beauty—curtains
descending in wave-like folds from the ceiling to the floor—plain and
fluted columns—colonades, various resemblances of household furniture,
and marble statues, which require but little imagination to give them fair
proportions, and the habiliments of the ancient Romans, are among the
pleasing objects with which the sight of the visitor is regaled; the colors
are for the most part white, but sometimes red, and occasionally variegated.
When illuminated, the cave presents one of the most magnificent scenes in
nature. There are two other caves in this limestone district that are as yet
but little known, but are said to be equal if not superior in beauty and
magnificence to Weyer's cave. One of these is called Allen's Cave—the
other is near the top of a small mountain called Cave Hill, situated one
mile west of Luray, (county seat of Page.) Allen's cave is situated in
Shenandoah county, a short distance from Front Royal. Descriptions of
these caves will be found in the counties in which they are located.

The Natural Bridge over Cedar Creek, in the county of Rockbridge,
which rises 270 feet; the Natural Tunnel, in Scott county, and the grand
and majestic scenery at and around. Harper's Ferry, attract visiters from
considerable distances. The Blowing cave, near the Cow Pasture river;

which constantly sends forth a strong current of air; and the ebbing and
flowing, or Syphon spring, on the estate of the late Capt. John Lewis, in
the same valley, are objects of examination with most of the investigating
travellers who visit that part of the State. On the low grounds of the
Great Kanawha, about seven miles above Charleston, are several fissures
in the earth through which constant streams of carburetted hydrogen gas
are discharged. These are called burning springs, as the earth is so depressed
around them as to collect and retain the water in ordinary seasons,
and which is kept in active ebulition by the gas which is discharged
through it; when inflamed, this gas burns with a pale blaze at the surface
of the water, when it mixes with the atmosphere, until it is extinguished
by a strong current of air. This is by no means a rare production of
nature in this district, as considerable issues of it are found on Big Sandy,
and Little Kanawha rivers, and in boring for salt water on the Great Kanawha,
the discharges of carbureted hydrogen have been so great and continued,
as to compel in one instance, the abandonment of the work.

That part of the Great Kanawha which is above the mouth of Gauley,
having to search its intricate way, and force its passage through a chain of
lofty and rugged mountains, exhibits a series of the most stupendous cliffs
from the mouth of Greenbrier to Gauley river, particularly where Gauley
mountain is riven to its base by this stream in its passage to the Ohio; at
this point, and near the great western turnpike, those cliffs present themselves
frequently to the eye of the traveller in majestic grandeur. One of
the most lofty and perpendicular was formerly designated by a hawk's nest
on its side, but is now called "Marshall's Pillar," commemorative of the
laborious and perilous voyage of the Chief Justice in his examination of
this river in 1812. From the flat rock forming the summit, to the agitated
waters below, the view is fearfully grand: few of the many who visit it,
can look over this dizzy height but in a reclining position; the elevation is
estimated by engineers at from 750 to 800 feet, but no actual admeasurement
has yet been made.

The sparse population of many parts of the country, has heretofore produced
its usual effects in relation to education; schools however have been
annually multiplying, and with the aid afforded by the literary fund, primary
instruction is generally diffused, and becoming more elevated in its
range. Well organized academies are established in many of the counties,
and those of Frederick, Augusta, Washington, Greenbrier, Kanawha,
and Harrison, particularly deserve notice. Washington College in Rockbridge,
justly ranks among the most useful and distinguished of the southern
seminaries. It received a most serviceable addition to its funds by a
devise from Gen'l George Washington, which was followed by a bequest
of a large estate from Mr. John Robinson, one of its early patrons,
and more recently a donation of the funds of the Cincinnati society of
Virginia. Thus liberally founded, and supplied with able professors,
this institution contributes largely to the learning and intelligence of the
country.

Commercial roads and navigable canals are greatly wanted. As yet the
government of Virginia has comparatively done but little towards improving
the rivers and roads of this district. Among the works constructed
under the direction of the State, is the James and Kanawha turnpike,
leading from Covington to the town of Guyandotte on the Ohio, and to
the mouth of Big Sandy river. This road passes by, or near, the principal

mineral springs west of the Alleghany; the work is approaching completion
on the western end, and its extension is in progress eastward by the
Hot and Warm Springs to the town of Staunton in Augusta. Incomplete
as the work is, this road forms one of the most important avenues of intercourse
between the eastern and western waters; it is much used in ordinary
travelling, and in the transportation of property; and at this time
daily lines of stage coaches find full employment upon the route. They
are connected in the conveyance of passengers with the steam boats of the
Ohio, and those of the James and Potomac rivers. On the western end,
even this provision for the accommodation of passengers has been found
insufficient, and a tri-weekly line has been added between the Ohio river
and the White Sulphur Springs, during the visiting season. Under the
direction, and with the funds of the State, a like road has been located from
Winchester to Parkersburgh, on the Ohio, which when finished will confer
important advantages on the northwest counties.

To a joint stock company aided by the State, the Valley of Virginia
has been much indebted for the improvement of the navigation of Shenandoah
river. The work undertaken by the company has been so far completed,
as to draw to that river an accession of trade which has increased
the tolls from $604 in 1827 to $7,691 in 1831—continuing to improve
with each succeeding year. The Chesapeake and Ohio canal, although
passing up on the north side of the Potomac, confers important advantages
on the northern border of the State, and will as it advances westward still
further invigorate and extend the agricultural industry, and enlarge the
commercial operations of the Virginia counties within its influence.
These works undertaken, or fostered by the commonwealth, however useful,
are but of minor character when compared with the important enterprize
on which the government of Virginia has long deliberated, of drawing
a fertilizing portion of the commerce of the Western States, to her
eastern cities. Of this enterprize so long meditated and so fully discussed, we
find the following account given in a memorial addressed to the General
Assembly in 1826. "The Legislative Declaration, that next to the enjoyment
of civil liberty itself, it might be questioned whether the best organized
government could assure to those for whom all governments are instituted,
a greater blessing than an open, free and easy intercourse with
one another, by good roads, navigable rivers, and canals; that their tendency,
by extending commerce, promoted the agriculture of a nation, and
thereby augmented its wealth and population;—satisfied us that these
great interests of Virginia were no longer to be neglected, and that as many
of the other States were advancing in wealth and numbers with a rapidity
which had astonished themselves, the ancient and elder sister of the Union
would remove the reproach of her remaining stationary."

"This manifest determination of the Legislature to improve the vast advantages
possessed by the commonwealth, seemed to be based on considerations
of so fixed and durable a character, that but little doubt was entertained
by your memorialist of the achievement of the great work of
connecting the eastern and western waters of Virginia, by navigable canals
and turnpike roads of the most permanent construction, when water conveyance
was unattainable, this measure had entered largely into the views
of the proprietor of the land on which the City of Richmond and the town
of Manchester now stands, and as early as the year 1767, was adverted
to by that distinguished individual, in his proposition for the sale of the

lots of those towns, in strong and prophetic terms. The practicability
and vast advantages of opening this line of communication to the western
frontier of the middle colonies, were dwelt upon as matters of great interest
to the future prosperity of Virginia. Our Washington was scarcely disengaged
from the toils of the camp, when turning his capacious mind to the
objects tending to promote and secure the public happiness, made a communication
to Gov. Harrison, in which the incalculable importance of connecting
the eastern and western waters of Virginia, was enforced with
zeal, and supported by considerations combining the present with the
future, which must have resulted in the immediate undertaking of the
work, but for the exhausted state of the Treasury. Our venerable Jefferson,
partaking in the view of his distinguished friend, and equally desirous
of improving and exalting his native State, made an effort to secure to this
great work the influence and active direction of the father of his country;
deeming its magnitude sufficient to invite his superintendence, and its completion
the happiest monument of his retirement."

"The continued interest manifested by our citizens in almost every quarter
of the State, and the improved condition of the Treasury, induced the
Legislature in 1818-14 to organize a commission for exploring and reporting
on the practicability, utility and expense of effecting this long contemplated
connexion, and for ascertaining the best means of securing to
Virginia a due participation in the rich trade of the West. The report of
our distinguished fellow-citizen, the Chief Justice of the United States,
with that of other gentlemen designated with him to perform that duty,
fully realized the previous anticipations, and furnished the strongest inducements
for the execution of the work. The war with Great Britain, in
which we were then engaged, however, compelled its postponement. The
conflict over, the government of Virginia resumed this interesting subject,
and after various examinations of all its details by the most experienced
engineers, and with the fullest development of all its branches, by an
act bearing date the 17th February 1820, determined upon the execution
of the entire work, from the tide water of James river to the confluence of
the Kanawha and Ohio, providing by law for the completion thereof in
the following order. 1. To render the Great Kanawha navigable at all
seasons of the year, for boats drawing three feet water, from the great falls
to the Ohio river. 2dly To improve the navigation of James river, from
tide water to Pleasant's Island, by locks and navigable canals, affording at
all seasons of the year, at least three feet depth of navigable water. 3dly
To make the best road practicable, at an expense of $100,000, from the
mouth of Dunlap's creek, to the great falls of Kanawha. 4thly. To make
navigable locks and canals, from Pleasant's Island to Dunlap's creek, furnishing
at least the same depth of water for the entire distance. A measure
so important in its influence over the future destinies of the State;
originating with the sages of the country, the fathers of the land; sustained
and approved by the wisdom of successive Legislative bodies; its practicability
demonstrated by the combined science of the best qualified engineers,
could not but be regarded as irrevocably determined on; the period
of its completion to be hastened by all the resources of the commonwealth.
Such were unquestionably the convictions of the Legislature of 1819-20,
and of your memorialist."

Notwithstanding the previous determination of the Legislature, and the
strong inducements presented for reanimated action on the part of the government,

eight years of plans and deliberations have passed by. One
project after another has been proposed, considered and abandoned, while
two short sections of canal on the margin of James river, and the abortive
attempt to improve the navigation of the Great Kanawha, remains the
monument of that indecision and procrastinating policy, which has stripped
the commonwealth of her elevation in the family of States, and is so rapidly
sending her people to seek new homes, where the "blessings next to
civil liberty" are not only proclaimed, but practically secured. While the
pen is tracing these brief notes, the General Assembly is engaged in deliberations
upon this subject; but whether their labors will result in another
abortive attempt to put this work in progress, or in the provision of adequate
means for its entire execution, on a scale of usefulness and durability,
worthy of the ancient commonwealth, and commensurate to the advantages
which it ought to confer on her sister States, is extremely doubtful.[30]

If Virginia should ever resume this great work with ardor and reasonable
unanimity; and pursue it with constancy of purpose to its final completion,
it must produce a new era in her history, and entirely change the
destiny which now seems to await her.

Among the high considerations that so strongly prompt her to the employment
of her resources and credit in achieving this great work, the following
are perhaps the most prominent.

The certain participation in a large portion of the commerce of the
west, the value of which is attested by the expenditures and efforts of other
States to become partakers. The development of her exhaustless mineral
resources, and the consequent extension of important manufactories into
every section of the country. The giving to her agricultural and planting
interests the highest stimulus—the creation of a rich and fertilizing interior
commerce, sustaining in return the most extensive foreign trade. The
rapid increase of her population with the comfort and wealth which must
attend them—and the speedy and permanent advance in the value of the
entire landed property of the State. Those of a political character are
scarcely less important. Its connecting influence upon the States themselves
and upon the two great divisions of Virginia, now hanging but
loosely together, must be apparent to all, and if the Union is ever destined
to crumble, such a line of intercommunication, with the connections and
associations to which it must give rise, cannot fail to unite in the same destinies,
the southern States, and those of the Great Valley of the Mississippi.

WESTERN VIRGINIA.

ALLEGHANY.

Alleghany was created by the legislature in 1822, and formed from
portions of Bath, Bottetourt and Monroe. It is bounded N by Bath and a
small portion of Greenbrier, E. by Rockbridge and Bottetourt, S. by Monroe,
and W. by Greenbrier; its mean length is 26 ms.; mean breadth 20;
and area 521 sq. ms. It lies between lat 37° 35′, and 38° N and the centre
about 3° W. long. from W. C. Most of this county is a high mountain
valley, drained by the head waters of the James river. Pott's and Dunlap's
creeks rise in Monroe and flow N. E. until they unite with Jackson's
river near Covington, about the centre of the county. Jackson's river rises
in Pendleton, and flowing S. through Bath, enters Alleghany, passess the
gap between Peter's and the Warm Spring mountains, receives Pott's creek
from the S., and then turns first N. E. and then after turning the N. E.
flank of Rich Patch mountain, it flows S. E. into Bottetourt. Cow-Pasture
river rises also in Pendleton, flows by a tortuous channel, nearly due
S. through Bath and Alleghany, and unites with Jackson's river, soon after
it passes into Bottetourt. These two rivers by their union constitute the
James. Much of the surface of this county is covered with mountains; its
mean level exceeds 10,000 ft above the tides of the ocean. The main Alleghany
chain forms its boundary on the W. Peter's mountain and Warm
Spring mountain divide the county into nearly two equal parts, having only
a narrow gap at Covington. Pott or Middle mountain and Rich Patch,
form its boundary on the S. E. Besides these continuous ranges, there
are a number of others filling up the intervals, such as Oliver, Marris,
Beard's, &c. The staples of the county are grain, and its products generally
the same as other counties situated in the same latitude. Population
in 1830, 2,816. It belongs to the 17th judicial circuit and 9th district.
Tax paid in 1833, $473 15—in 1834 on lots, $39 26—on land, $273 42
—348 slaves, $87 00—926 horses, $55 56—2 studs, $13 00—7 coaches,
$12 00—5 carryalls, $5 00—2 gigs, $1 00. Total, $488 24. Expended
in educating poor children in 1832, $87 00—in 1833, $166 47.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Calahan's P. O. 196 ms. from R.
and 238 ms. from W., situated at the
junction of roads leading to the
Warm, Sweet and White Sulphur
Springs.

COVINGTON, P. V. and Seat
of Justice, 191 ms. W. of R. and 233
S. W. of W. Covington is situated at
the head of the James river navigation
on Jackson's river, 15 ms. above its
confluence with the Cow Pasture,
and directly opposite the termination
of the Kanawha turnpike road. It
contains besides the county buildings,
50 dwelling houses, and about the
same number of mechanic shops.
The buildings are principally of
brick, and in some of them much taste
is displayed; 2 handsome and spacious
houses of public worship are

about being erected, (1 Presbyterian
and 1 Methodist,) 1 English and
Classical school, and 3 mercantile
stores. The mechanics are tanners,
saddlers, boot and shoe makers, hatters,
tailors, gunsmiths, house carpenters,
cabinet makers, wagon makers,
copper smiths, chair makers, blacksmiths
and last makers. Its situation
is handsome and eligible, on one of
the greatest thoroughfares in Virginia,
as travellers from E. to W. pass
through this place to the Virginia
Springs, it being nearly equi-distant
from several, viz:—20 ms. from the
White Sulphur, 22 from the Sweet
Springs, 25 from the Hot Springs, 27
from the Warm Springs and 45 from
the Salt Sulphur. Should the contemplated
James and Kanawha improvements
be carried into operation,
Covington may become one of the
most flourishing inland towns in Virginia,
as it will probably be the place
of depot between the land and water
communication; and it likewise will
command the trade of a large and fertile
region of country, which abounds
in all the products of the earth; and
the mountains, of which abound in
iron, and present sufficient water
power, to force any quantity of machinery.
Its situation is healthy,
being located in the midst of the
mountains. Property in this place
has lately advanced 25 per cent in
anticipation of the contemplated improvement.
Population about 300
persons, of which 3 are attorneys,
and 2 regular physicians.

County Courts are held on the
3d Monday in every month. Quarterly
in March, June, August and
November.

Judge Taylor holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 18th of April and September.

Jackson River, P. O. 178 ms. N.
of R. and 221 S. W. by W. of W.

Morris Hill, P. O. 184 ms. W.
of R. and 227 from W.

AUGUSTA.

Augusta county was originally a portion of Orange county and continued
so, until it became sufficiently populous to claim the rights of a separate,
independent county, which rank was given to it in 1738. The first
court after it was laid off from Orange was held in Staunton, in the year
1745, and its jurisdiction extended from the summit of the Blue Ridge to
the Ohio river, including the present state of Kentucky, and from the James
river to Frederick.

As the population increased, it became necessary to divide this immense
tract into various counties, at different times, until it assumed its present
shape and size in the year 1790.

The summit of the Blue Ridge forms the eastern boundary, until it strikes
the line of Rockbridge, the line then runs a straight course in a N. E. direction,
crossing the North mountain, until it reaches the summit of Walker's
mountain, following this and the Cow Pasture mountain in a N. W.
course, it strikes the corner of Rockingham, and runs thence in a S. W.
direction, a straight course to the Blue Ridge.

The length of Augusta county is about 34 ms.; the breadth 35,—and its
area about 348 sq. ms. extending entirely across the Valley. The surface is
generally uneven,—in many places hilly; and in some instances it rises
into eminences that deserve the name of mountains. Towards the northern
boundary, however, it spreads out into more extensive bottoms of very

rich and fertile land. The soil is best adapted to agriculture and grazing.
Large quantities of grain are raised for exportation, and there are within
the county, 17 merchant mills, which are almost exclusively employed in
manufacturing flour for this purpose. Cattle are also exported in considerable
numbers.

Although this county is well watered and abounds in fine springs, there
are no very large streams, from the fact, that it is the highest land in the
Valley, and divides the head waters of the James and Shenandoah rivers.

The great Calf Pasture river runs through nearly half of the county,
and wends its way in a S. direction to the James river, while the north,
middle and south rivers, (the last two of which run nearly through the
whole extent of the county) meet near the northern boundary, and form the
Shenandoah. Christian's and Lewis' creeks are branches of the Middle
river, and Mossy creek of the N. These streams are all valuable, on account
of numerous mill seats upon them, which are always abundantly supplied
with water.

The mineral treasures of this county, have been but partially developed.
Very little interest has been felt on this subject, except so far as it has been
quickened by a hope of gain. Iron ore beds have been known and profitably
worked for many years; and there is at present a furnace for the manufacturing
and casting of iron in active operation; Miller's Iron Works,
near the northern boundary, at the foot of the North mountain.

Anthracite coal has lately been found in the vicinity of the Augusta
Springs, and along the North mountain. It contains a portion of sulphur,
though it becomes more pure as the excavation progresses, and gives promise
of affording an abundant supply of this valuable mineral.

The predominant rock in this part of the Valley is lime rock, which in
some places is sufficiently hard to be used as marble, though it is not worked
as such. In connection with this rock may be found rhombic chrystals of
carbonite of lime, and dog-tooth spar the latter rarely. In the vicinity of
Staunton, a species of calcedony in great quantities is scattered about, some
of which is very pure.

Springs are very abundant in all parts of the county, some of which are
mineral and highly medicinal.

The Augusta Springs are valuable, as a resort for invalids, and are daily
becoming more noted. They are 12 ms. N. W. of Staunton, situated in a
delightful country. The water is strongly impregnated with sulphuretted
hydrogen, and are said by those who should be judges, to equal the celebrated
springs of Harrowgate, in England. Besides the Augusta Springs
there are two other Sulphur Springs in the county, both of which are equally
strongly impregnated; but there are few, if any accommodations for visitors
at either of them. One is on the Free turnpike leading from Staunton to
the Warm Springs, 17 ms. from S.: the other on the old road, 18 ms. from
Staunton.

A Chalybeate Spring has recently been discovered very near the Augusta
Springs, but it has never been analyzed.

About 12 ms. S. W. from Staunton, is a large spring that ebbs and flows
daily;—there are two similar springs in Bath.

The whole of Augusta county is based upon lime rock,—and from the
nature of that rock, necessarily contains many curious fissures, excavations
and caverns. Only two of these, however, deserve a notice, Madison's and
Weyer's cave's which are both situated in the same ridge, and are but 200

yards apart. Madison's cave has been described by Jefferson,[31] in his notes
on Virginia, but Weyer's has been described and explored since that time,
and is far more worthy of being immortalized. The length of this this stupendous
Cavern in a straight course is 1650 ft., but the distance is more than
doubled by following the various windings. There are numerous apartments,
some of which are magnificent. One measures 257 ft. in length, from
10 to 20 in breadth, and 33 in height,—another is 153 ft. long, 15 wide, and
60 high, while a third reaches the height of 100 feet! Every part is studded
with beautiful stalactites, that lead you almost to believe that you have
descended into the jewelled fruit garden, where hung Alladin's lamp.[32]

Population in 1820, 16,742—1830, 19,926. Augusta belongs to the
12th judicial circuit and 6th district. Tax paid in 1833, $6659 24—
in 1834 on lots, $470 80—on land, $4,343 09—2,443 slaves, $610 75—
9,360 horses, $561 60—48 studs, $421 00—78 coaches, $187 85—1
stage, $3 00—carryalls, $69 95—58 gigs, $39 15. Total, $6,717 19.
Expended in educating poor children in 1832, $883 59—in 1833, $963 74.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Augusta Springs, P. O. 17 ms.
N. N. W. of Staunton, 134 ms. N. W.
by W. of R. and 176 from W. The
waters have valuable medicinal qualities,
which have been spoken of in
our account of the county.

Deerfield, P. O. 148 ms. from
R. and 190 S. W. of W., situated on

the waters of the Calf Pasture river,
in the Calf Pasture Valley, between
the North and Cow Pasture mountains,
4 ms. E. of the county line of
Bath; on the main stage road between
Staunton and the Warm Springs, 26
ms. W. of the former, and 29 E. of
the latter. The Warm Springs and
Harrisonburg turnpike also passes
Deerfield. It contains a tavern, mercantile
store and blacksmith's shop.

Greenville, P. V. 133 ms. N.

W. by W. of R. and 175 from W. It
is pleasantly situated in the southern
part of the county, 11 ms. S. S. W. of
Staunton, and within a mile and a
half of the head of South River, which
runs through the town; and on which
there is an extensive manufacturing
flour mill, and a wollen manufactory.
Two physicians reside in the vicinity.
The town contains about 50
dwelling houses, 3 general stores, 2
taverns, 1 academy, 2 tanyards, 2 saddlers,
2 tailors, 1 blacksmith shop, 1
cabinet maker, 1 wheelwright, 1 saddle
tree maker, 3 house carpenters, 1
hatter, and 4 boot and shoe makers.
Population about 250 persons.*

Jenning's Gap, P. O. a gap in
North Mountain, in the northern part
of the county, 133 ms. from R. 162
S. W. by W. of W. and 12 from
Staunton. There are located here
several houses, among which are a
tavern and mercantile house of long
standing.

Middlebrook, P. V. situated in
the southern part of the county, 10
ms. S. S. W. of Staunton, 174 S. W.

by W. of W. and 132 from R. Carr's
Brook divides the town. This village
is thriving and contains about
30 dwelling houses, some of them
handsome brick buildings, 1 house of
public worship, free for all denominations,
1 common school, 1 tavern, 3
miscellaneous stores, 1 tanyard, 2 tailors,
1 cabinet maker, 1 cooper, 1
house carpenter, 1 wheelwright, 2
boot and shoe factories. Population
about 150 persons; of whom 1 is a
physician.

Mount Meridian, P. O. 118 ms.
from R. and 147 from W., situated in
the western part of the county, on the
main stage road leading from Staunton,
to Port Republic, 17 ms. N. E. of
the former, and 2½ from Weyer's
Cave. It contains 8 dwelling houses,
1 miscellaneous store, 1 blacksmith's
shop, 1 tailor, 1 boot and shoe maker,

—manufacturing flour mill (Whit
more's,) and 1 Methodist house of
worship. Population 50.

Mount Sydney, P. V. 131 ms.
from R. and 153 S. W. by W. of W.
situated on the main stage road leading
from Staunton to Winchester, 10
ms. N. E. of the former. It contains
30 dwelling houses, 3 miscellaneous
stores, 1 handsome hotel, 1 house of
public worship, free for all denominations,
a male and female academy, 1
tanyard, 2 saddlers, 2 boot and shoe
factories, 1 hatter, 1 milliner, 1 cabinet
and chair maker, and 1 pottery
Population 190 persons; of whom 2
are physicians.

New Hope, P. V. 114 ms. from
R. and 152 S. W. by W. of W. This
little village contains several dwelling
houses, 2 mercantile stores, 1 apothecary
shop, 1 house of public worship,
free for all denominations, 2 taverns,
2 tailors and 1 house joiner. Population
40 persons; of whom 2 are
physicians.

Spring Farm, P. O. 151 ms. S. W.
by W. of W. and 122 from R.

STAUNTON, P. V. and County
Seat, 163 ms. S. W. of W. 121 N.
W. by W. of R. and 40 a little N. of
W. from Charlottesville; situated in lat.
38° 9′ N. and in long. 2° 03′ W. of
W., on one of the extreme head branches
of the E. fork of Shenandoah
river. It stands on the fine valley
between the Blue Ridge and Kittatinny,
or between the Blue Ridge and
North mountain chains, a little N. of
Madison and Weyer's cave.

With the exception of Winchester,
Staunton is the oldest town W. of the
Blue Ridge.

Sometime previous to the laying
off of Augusta from Orange, a grant
of 120,000 acres of land was made to
Wm. Beverly, Esq. comprising the
greater part of the present county.
Beverly gave to the county when it
was formed 25 acres, situated upon
Lewis' creek, on which to build a C.
H. and found a county town. Here
the first court was held in 1745, and
this was the beginning of Staunton.
It was not legally recognized as a
town until 1761.

The grant of Beverly was divided
off into lots by the county, and soon
became settled; more being required,
Beverly caused several lots to be surveyed,
adjoining this grant, which
survey bears the date of 1749, and
shows the early increase of the place.

Staunton originally occupied only
the level land upon the borders of the
creek, but it has become gradually
extended, until it has surmounted the
surrounding hills, and now resembles
an amphitheatre in form. The
streets are quite regular, running at
right angles, and have specific names,
but like many other old towns, they
are too narrow. This probably arises
from the necessity that existed when
they were founded, of living as compactly
as possible, that the inhabitants
might more easily repel the incursions
of a savage enemy, who dwelt in the
surrounding forests and mountains.
It became a corporate borough in
1801, having a mayor, 6 aldermen
and 4 common council men.

At present it contains about 200
dwelling houses, exclusive of stores,
shops, offices, &c. and its population,
according to the census of 1830, is
2,000. There are 13 dry good stores,
1 book store, 1 druggist's store, 1
confectioner, 4 groceries, 2 carriage
makers, 2 wagon makers, 2 saddlers,
7 blacksmiths, 3 tanyards, 3 hatters,
2 chair makers, 4 tinners, 1 copper
smith, 1 gun smith, 1 threshing machine
maker, 3 cabinet makers, 2
watch makers, 1 pottery and 5 tailors,
besides the various other trades usually
followed in a place of this size.
There is 1 printing office, from which
issues a valuable weekly paper; and
which is occasionally engaged in the
publication of books and pamphlets.
There are also 12 attorneys, 6 regular
physicians, and 3 ministers of the
gospel. The churches at which

these ministers officiate belong to the
Presbyterian, Episcopalian and Methodist
denominations, and are all
handsome brick buildings. The public
edifices are a C. H.[33] and jail, built
of stone, a Chancery C. H., a county
clerk's office, and a market house, all
built of brick, and there are also 4 extensive
hotels.

Much attention is paid to education
in this place, and many young persons
of both sexes, are sent here from
all parts of the country, to attend the
various schools. There are 2 female
seminaries, and a male academy; all
of which employ respectively several
teachers, and are in a flourishing condition,
besides 4 primary schools.

The Western Lunatic Hospital is
located in Staunton, and is a noble
pile of buildings, it is sufficiently commodious
to accommodate 37 lunatics,
but is at the present time, being enlarged,
by the addition of two extensive
wings, which, when completed,
will accommodate 40 more.

An act has passed the General Assembly,
authorising the establishment
also, of a Deaf and Dumb Asylum as
soon as funds can be procured for
that purpose.

Lewis' creek runs through the centre
of the town, and has sufficient fall
to turn a chopping mill, a grist mill
and a carding machine. There is
still sufficient unemployed water power
to drive a cotton or woollen factory
of considerable extent, and an enterprising
capitalist might profitably
invest some portion of his capital in
that business.

County Courts are held on the 4th
Monday in every month;—Quarterly
in March, May, August and October.

Circuit Superior Courts of Law
and Chancery are held on the 10th
of June and November, by Judge
Thompson.

Steel's Tavern, P. O. 138 ms.
from R. and 180 from W.

Waynesboro' P. V. 109 ms. from
R. and 150 from W., situated at the
western foot of the Blue Ridge, on
South river. Waynesboro' is an industrious
and wealthy little village,
located in a beautiful and picturesque
situation, in a fertile and well watered
country, on the main stage road leading
from Charlottesville to Staunton,
30 ms. N. W. of the former, and 12
E. S. E. of the latter. The present
town is called Waynesboro', junior,
(Waynesboro', senior, lying a little
N. having fallen into ruins.) It contains
70 dwelling houses, 5 mercantile
stores, 2 houses of public worship,
(1 Methodist and 1 Presbyterian,)
1 incorporated academy, 1 common
school and public library, 1 extensive
manufacturing flour mill and a wool
carding machine, 1 hotel (kept in the
best style,) 2 tanyards, 2 saddlers, 3
tailors, 1 hatter, 1 silver smith and
watch maker, 1 wagon maker, 1 chair
maker, 2 cabinet makers, 3 boot and
shoe factories, and 3 blacksmith's
shops. Population not less than 500
persons; of whom 4 are regular physicians.

BATH.

Bath County was created by the Legislature in 1791 from a portion of
Augusta, Bottetourt and Greenbrier. It is bounded by Augusta on the E.
—Rockbridge on the S. E.—Alleghany on the S. and S. W.—Greenbrier
on the W.—Pocahontas on the N. W., and Pendleton on the N. Its extent,

from a ridge of the North mountain on the S. E., to the main Alleghany
ridge on the N. W. is 25 miles, and from Pendleton on the N. E.
to Alleghany on the S. W. 40 miles; and area 756 square miles. Extending
in lat. from 37° 50′ to 38° 25′ N. and in long 2° 18′ to 3° W. of
W. C.

The face of the country is very broken and in great part mountainous,
being situated at the eastern base of the great Alleghany ridge: about
one-eighth of it may be considered arable land, the mean elevation of which
is 1200 feet above the ocean. It is well watered by Jackson's river, and
its tributary, Back creek, (the latter washing the base of the Alleghany
mountain,) and by the Cow Pasture river, and its tributary, the Bull Pasture,
all of which have their sources in Pendleton county. Jackson river
and the Cow Pasture, afterwards forming a junction in Bottetourt county,
their united stream is styled James river. Into these streams descend from
the mountains numerous branches and rivulets,[34] affording innumerable
sites for mills and machinery. Each of those streams are separated by a
mountain running parallel thereto, none of which are considerable or
known by any name, beyond the limits of the county, except Jackson's or
the Warm Spring mountain. They are not remarkable for their height,
and excepting the one already mentioned do not exceed from 300 to 500
feet from their base, and are by no means sterile the soil on them being
tolerably good, and neither too rocky or too steep for tillage; producing
the most valuable kinds of timber, an extraordinary variety of shrubbery
and herbage, and abounding in limestone, iron ore, and springs of excellent
water. But it is as a grazing ground that they are chiefly valuable.
Large herds of cattle, ranging on them in the summer months.

The vallies between the mountains, which are from 2 to 5 miles wide,
are very fertile, a considerable portion entirely level, and in a fine state of
cultivation, producing abundant crops of grain and hay. The average
produce per acre, being as follows, to wit wheat and rye 20 to 30 bushels;
Indian corn 25 to 40; oats 20 to 30; buckwheat, and barley 25, potatoes
and turnips 100 bushels, flax, 200 lbs.; hemp 800 lbs.; and hay one to
two tons. The meadows are particularly fine, and the kinds of grass cultivated
are, timothy, clover, and blue grass, all of which flourish exceedingly.
A soil so well adapted to grain and grass, naturally induced the
proprietors to turn their attention to live stock. Accordingly, horses,
mules, cattle, (of the finest breeds) sheep and hogs are raised, and a considerable
number of them annually driven to market. Connected with the
management of live stock, is the dairy, which is here well understood
Large quantities of butter are made and sent to market. Wool also is an
article of which the quantity made is greater than the consumption, and is
increasing. Out of the flax and wool which they grow, the inhabitants of
this county manufacture all the clothing worn by themselves and the

slaves on their farms. The soil and climate are particularly favorable to
fruit trees, and produce, apples and peaches in great abundance; every
farm having an orchard. Gardening is also practised to an extent equal
to the demand for family use.

In a section of country so much diversified with mountains and vallies,
abounding with mineral and other springs, pure air, and a temperate climate,
health and longevity may be expected. This is actually the case,
and in this respect it is not surpassed by any part of the United States.

In this county there are 2 attorneys, 2 physicians, 4 stores, 3 merchantmills,
18 grist mills, 16 saw mills, 4 carding machines, 3 tan yards, 2 tilt-hammers,
and 1 distillery.

Population in 1820, 5,237—in 1830, 4,002. Bath belongs to the 17th
judicial circuit, and 9th district. Tax paid in 1833, $837 24—in 1834,
on lots, 86 cts.—on land, $468 69—634 slaves, $158 50—2,117 horses,
$127 02—10 studs, $73 00—6 coaches, $14 00—5 carryalls, $5 00—2
gigs, $1 00—Total, $848 07. Expended in educating poor children in
1832, $142 53—in 1833, $203 75.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c

Bull Pasture, P. O. 164 miles
from R. and 206 from W. This is
the local name given to the higher
part of Cow Pasture river, or the
middle constituent of the James. It
rises in Pendleton and flows S. 20°
W. to its confluence with the Cow
Pasture in Bath. It is about 20 ms.
in length, 10 of which distance is in
each of the two counties. In that
portion of the Bull Pasture valley,
which lies in Bath, there are located
37 dwelling houses, 1 Presbyterian
house of worship, 1 school, 1 mercantile
store, a saddler, tailor, tilt-hammer,
and manufacturing mill;
and a population of about 370 persons.
The principal occupation of the inhabitants
is agriculture. In this
neighborhood there is a large spring
of limestone water, to which no bottom
has as yet been found. It rises
between two large rocks, from under
a bank covered with spruce pine, and
is called the Blue Spring. After
running about 40 yards, it discharges
itself into the Bull Pasture, on the
west side, about 3 ms. from its junction
with the Cow Pasture.

On that part of the Bull Pasture,
which lies beyond the Bath and Pendleton
line, are situated 63 dwelling
houses, 2 houses of public worship
(1 Methodist, and the other free for
all denominations,) 1 mercantile
store, 1 tanyard, and various mechanics;
the whole population is 630 persons,
one of whom is a physicians.

Flowing Spring, P. O. 206 ms.
S. W. of W. and 164 N. W. of R.,
situated in the valley of the Cow
Pasture, 16 ms. N. E. of the Warm
Springs. There is no town or village
at the place, and the spring is
private property. This spring intermits,
or ebbs and flows, affording
when the tide is up, sufficient water
for a grist mill, and when it ebbs,
leaves a stream large enough for the
supply of a distillery and a tanyard.
The water is of the purest and best
quality, equal in temperature to ice
water. In the dryest weather in summer,
the water flows out in a bold and
majestic stream, that astonishes those
who have witnessed the spring which
is left after it falls away. When the
flowing commences, the water comes
in a body as if let loose from a dam.
Issuing from the rocks at the foot of
a hill, it continues to run for ten or
twelve hours, then gradually declines.
There is no regularity in the flowing,
in the same kind of weather it

will vary from two to three days,—
sometimes flowing every day—at
other times at intervals of two or
three days. Neither is there any
particular period of time at which
the water rises. This irregularity
has created the greatest difficulty in
accounting for it. A mill, a distillery,
and tanyard are supplied with water
from this spring.

Green Valley, P. O. 157 ms.
N. W. by W. of R. and 199 S. W.
by W. of W., situated on Stewart's
creek, a branch of the Cow Pasture
river, 12 ms. E. of the Warm Springs,
on the main post road.

Hot Springs, P. O. 217 ms. S.
W. by W. of W. and 175 N. W. by
W. of R.—situated between the Cow
Pasture and the eastern branch of
Jackson's river, at the base of a lofty
mountain of the same name, 5 ms. S.
S. W. of the Warm Springs, and 57
S. W. by W. of Staunton, on the main
post road leading from Richmond to
Guyandotte on the Ohio. These
springs are numerous, probably
amounting to twenty, issuing from the
hill upon which the hotel is situated,
and all varying in their temperature,
presenting every variety, from 51° to
107°. As yet however there have
been only three baths constructed.
One called the hot bath or boiler,
over which there has been erected a
large and handsome building, containing
fifteen rooms; a portion of
which together with one-half of the
Bath, is appropriated exclusively to
ladies, and the residue with the other
half of the bath to gentlemen. The
second bath is called the Spout, from
a pipe of water of the temperature of
106°, which falls into the body of
the bath, from a height of 7 or 8 feet
from its bottom. The third is called
the Temperate Bath. Its temperature
always corresponding with that
of the blood of the human system;
over this spring is now in progress of
erection an octagonal house, nearly
120 feet in the clear, with convenient
dressing rooms attached. The accommodations
though considerably
improved in the last two years, are
still very defective. The property,
however has been recently purchased
by Dr. Goode, who has commenced
its improvement on an extensive scale,
and will probably in the course of
two years have a sufficient number
of buildings erected to accommodate
all who are desirous of obtaining relief
from the waters. These waters
are principally celebrated for their
efficacy in cutaneous, rheumatic,
dyspeptic, and liver affections. They
are however resorted to for every
species of disease, and perhaps there
is none in which one or the other of
the baths have not proved beneficial.
There are no local improvements at
the Hot Springs, excepting those
mentioned. The country around to
a considerable extent being the property
of an individual, it has prevented
the settlement of mechanics,
merchants, or professional men. The
proprietor, Dr. Goode, is himself an
eminent physician.

Three miles S. W. of the Hot
Springs, are situated what are called
the Healing Springs. They have
not yet come fully into notice, but
have of late met with considerable
attention, and it is confidently believed
by those who are acquainted with
the efficacy of their waters, to be the
best in the United States. They consist
of several small warm springs. They
have never been analized, but have
performed some very extraordinary
cures where the other mineral springs
have failed.

Milboro' Spring, P. V. 157 ms.
from R. and 199 S. W. by W. of W.
Milboro' is a small village situated
on the free turnpike road, leading
from Staunton, through Panther's
Gap, to the Warm Springs,—6 ms.
W. of the Gap, 13 E. of the Springs,
22 N. W. of Lexington, and 1½ from
Cow Pasture river, which is navigable
from this point by boats for three

months in the year. It contains 25
buildings, several of which are of
brick, a mercantile store, tavern,
manufacturing flour mill, blacksmith
and tilt-hammer shop, (on an extensive
scale,) 1 wagon maker, and 1
hatter. The situation of this village
is pleasant and eligible,—near a sulphur
spring, which has been famed
for the medicinal qualities of its
waters, and was formerly much frequented.
This is a place of considerable
business, being located in a
thickly settled neighborhood, surrounded
by handsome and fertile
farms, producing all kinds of grain
and stock. One mile from this village,
on the right hand side of the
turnpike leading to the Warm Springs,
is situated the Blowing Cave. Near
the north bank of the Cow Pasture
river, between the cave and Milboro',
stands a house of public worship,
called the Wind Cave Meeting
House, which is free for all denominations.
A turnpike road is being
made from this place to Lexington, a
considerable portion of which is already
in operation.

Ruckmanville, P. O. 180 ms.
from R. and 222 S. W. by W. from
W. Ruckmanville, though called a
village, is simply a post office, established
in 1827, and called after the
proprietor of the place, who resides
here and keeps a house of entertainment.
It is situated 27 ms. N. of
the Warm Springs, on the main post
road leading from Franklin to Huntersville,
and 25 ms. from the mouth of
Back creek. This creek rises in
Pendleton county, and after running
40 or 50 ms. along the eastern base
of the Alleghany mountain empties
into Jackson's river, a branch of the
James. Its principal branches are
the Valley branch, which intersects
the same at Ruckmanville, and Little
Back creek about 20 miles below at
Gateswood.—The surrounding country
is mountainous. The upland is
uneven, but the soil is good, producing
in abundance, grass, corn, wheat,
rye, oats, potatoes, buckwheat, flax,
&c. The timber is, sugar maple,
chesnut, beech, various kinds of oak,
sycamore, locust, hickory and walnut.
The neighborhood is thickly
settled with industrious and wealthy
farmers.

WARM SPRINGS, P. V. and
seat of justice, 170 ms. N. W. of R.
and 212 S. W. of W. This village
is situated in a narrow valley, between
two high mountains, which run parallel
from N. E. to S. W. The
view from many points of these
mountains is grand and picturesque
in the extreme. The beauty and
grandeur of the scene from the Warm
Spring Rock, has become very celebrated;
but must be seen to be appreciated.
This village contains besides
the ordinary county buildings, about
14 dwelling houses, 2 mercantile
stores, 1 saddler, 2 tailors, and 3
blacksmiths. The ordinary population,
consists of about 137 persons, of
whom 1 is a physiciam. The accommodations
for visiters to the waters
are also very extensive, consisting
of about five and twenty cabins,
most of which are of brick, besides
the new Thermal Hotel, which has
lately been erected, at great cost to
the proprietors, and which is a large
brick building, about 135 feet long,
containing a dining room for 200
persons, a drawing room, a ball room,
and about five and twenty comfortable
chambers. The front is adorned by
a large portico, the whole length of
the house, supported by fourteen Doric
columns, which affords an agreeable
shade during the heat of the day,
and a fine promenade, as well for the
invalid, as for the beaux and belles.
Any one who has ever taken the
bath here will never forget its luxury,
and to those who have not, it is
impossible to convey a just idea of
the delicious sensations it causes.

It is much to be regretted, that all
our valuable mineral waters have not

been faithfully analysed. Thousands
of our citizens annually resort to the
watering-places west of the Blue
Ridge, for the purpose of preserving
or repairing health. The climate in
the autumnal months cannot be surpassed
for salubrity, and very many
invalids are relieved from pain and
sickness by the united power of air
and water. In Europe, no one thinks
of using waters whose contents are
not accurately ascertained by men of
science; but unfortunately in our
country, copious libations are made,
before it is known whether the quality
of the water is adapted to the particular
case or not. A careful analysis
of the water at the Warm Springs
has been obligingly furnished to the
proprietors by a distinguished Professor
of Chemistry, (Mr. Rogers, of
William and Mary,) and the result is
as follows:

"Contents of the Waters of the Bath,
at the Warm Springs, as ascertained
by Chemical Analysis:

"The bath is an Octagon 38 ft. in
diameter, and 16 ft. 9 in inside—its
area is 1163 77 ft.

"The ordinary depth of water being
5 ft. the cubic capacity is 5818 86
ft. or 43533 32 gallons. Notwithstanding
the leaks, this quantity of
water will flow into the Reservoir, in
one hour.

"The average temperature of the
Bath is 98 deg. Fahrenheit. The
Gas, which rises in the Bath, consists
of Nitrogen, with minute quanties
of Sulphuretted Hydrogen and
Carbonic Acid.

"Besides this Gas, each gallon of
water contains 45 cubic inches of
Gas, consisting of

     

Nitrogen	3.25 cub in
Sulphuretted Hydrogen	0.25 cub in
Carbonic Acid	1.00 cub in

"The Saline contents of one gallon
of the water, are as follows:

           

Muriate of Lime	3.968
Sulphate of Magnesia	9.984
Carbonate of Lime	4.288
Sulphate of Lime	5.466
A trace of Soda, no doubt, in the state of Muriate,
	23.706"

From this account, which may be
implicitly relied on, it appears that
while the Warm Springs afford the
most luxurious bath in the world,
they contain neutral salts and various
gases, which act as a gentle aperient,
diuretic and sudorific, and give tone
and vigor to the human system. It
is well ascertained in other countries,
that waters of a high temperature
tend more to strengthen the digestive
organs than those of a low temperature;
but it is found, by actual experiment,
that the water at the Warm
Springs retains a considerable portion
of its useful qualities when bottled
in the Spring, and then cooled
by immersing the bottles in cold
water or even ice, and this plan is
adopted by many of those who have
a repugnance to the use of warm
water.

County Courts are held on the 2d
Monday in every month.—Quarterly
in March, June, August and Nevember.

Judge Taylor, holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 25th of April and September.

Willsonville, P. O. 178 ms. N.
W. by W. of R. and 220 S. W. by
W. of W., situated in the south western
part of the county. Willsonville
is the name of a farm at which the
P. O. is located, and which contains
more than 1200 acres, 400 of which
are level and in good cultivation, producing
well, wheat, rye, oats, corn,
buckwheat, &c., and the dairy produces
per annum from 12 to 1500
wt. of butter. There is also a blacksmith's
shop, grist and saw mill in
the centre of the farm; the latter
moved by water of Jackson's river.
As a farm, this will bear comparison
with any in the Valley of Virginia.
It is 20 ms. from the Warm Springs,

and 35 from Franklin, (the county
seat of Pendleton,) between which
places the road is entirely level, and
runs along the vallies of Jackson's
river, and South Branch of Potomac.
A weekly mail arrives here on every
Monday.

BERKLEY.

Berkley was created in 1772, from a portion of the county of Frederick.
It is bounded by Jefferson E. and S. E.—Frederick S. and S. W.—
Morgan W. and N. W.—and by the Potomac, separating it from Washington
county, Maryland, N. and N. E. Its mean length is 22½ miles, mean
breadth 13; and area 308 sq. ms. It extends in lat. from 39° 14′ to 39°
45′ N. and long from 1° 14′ to 2° 11′ W. of W. C. Back and Opequhan
creeks run through this county in nearly parallel directions, and near the
borders of the county, in a northeasterly direction, and give the general
slope of the county their own direction. The surface of this county is
much broken, and very mountainous, the arable surface of the farms has a
mean elevation of from 5 to to 700 feet above tide water.

Anthracite coal has lately been discovered in the western section of this
county of a very superior quality, and in great abundance. The valley in
which it is found is a continuation of the valley which produces such large
quantities in Pensylvania, and the proximity of the mine to the Chesapeake
and Ohio canals will afford the facilities of a ready transportation to market.
This discovery if it should prove as successful as there is every reason
to anticipate, will convert a region heretofore barren and almost without
a single inhabitant, into an inexhaustible source of private and public
wealth—multiplying the inhabitants, extending the comfort of individuals
and adding to the permanent revenue of the State.

Population in 1810, 11,479,—in 1820, 11,211—in 1830, 10,528. This
county belongs to the 13th judicial circuit and 7th district. Tax paid in
1833, $3401 46—in 1834, on lots, $238 79—land, $2194 90—975 slaves,
$242 75—4369 horses, $264 19—20 studs, $162 00—65 coaches,
$143 65—11 carryalls, $11 60—12 gigs, $11 05. Total, $3267 48.
Expended in educating poor children in 1832, $854 18—in 1833,
$570 09.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Berlington Mills, P. O. recently
located.

Darksville, P. V. 165 ms. from
R. and 86 from W., situated on Sulphur
Spring creek, a branch of Opequhan,
25 ms. N. W. of Harper's
Ferry, and on the post road leading
from Martinsburg to Winchester, 7
ms. from the former and 15 from the
latter, near a beautiful stream called
Middle Creek. The soil in the vicinity
is very fertile and principally
limestone formation. The scenery
around is picturesque and agreeable.
It contains 32 dwelling houses, 2
mercantile stores, 1 house of public
worship, (Methodist,) 2 common
schools, 1 fulling and dying establishment,
1 manufacturing flour mill,
1 tavern, 1 tanyard, 1 saddler, 1 wagon
maker, and 2 weavers; coopers
and shoemakers are the most numerous
class of mechanics. A Sulphur
Spring is situated about 3 ms. E. of

this place on a little creek which
falls into the Opequan, at the distance
of 300 yards from the spring. Here
the scenery is delightful. The beautiful
Opequan winds and meanders
along in a manner that must interest
the dullest fancy. There is a large
house near this spring which was
occupied as a boarding house some 3
or 4 years since, when these springs
were in vogue. These waters are
strongly impregnated with sulphuretted
hydrogen, and act as a gentle
purgative, from which it may be inferred
that they contain saline matter.
It was a place of much resort,
but is now from the want of accommodation,
visited only by the passing
traveller, or those who dwell in the
vicinity. This is to be regretted, for
with its scenery and the excellent
qualities of the waters, it could not
fail to be a source of renovation to
the invalid.

Falling Waters, P. O. 79 ms.
N. W. of W. and 180 from R. The
Falling Waters are situated on the
bank of the Potomac, about lat. 39°
29′ N. and long. 0° 44′ W. of W. C.,
8 ms. from Martinsburg, and 5 S.
W. of Williamsport, Md. at the
isthmus formed by a circular bend in
the river, of about 21 ms. in perimeter,
and only 4 across. It contains
but 3 dwelling houses, 1 of which
has been long occupied as a tavern,
1 manufacturing flour mill, a mill
for grinding lime for hydraulic cement,
a cooper's shop and post office.
Population 34, 9 of whom are slaves.
There are in the vicinity 1 Presbyterian
and 2 Methodist houses of
worship, and 1 school, in which is
taught all the ordinary branches of
an English education. The mills are
situated immediately on the banks of
the river, and are moved by the
stream from a large spring which
rises about 60 rods from them, and
which is dammed at the mill to the
height of twenty-four feet; forming a
beautiful pond, which is the favorite
resort of water fowl, and abounds
with fish of a superior quality to
those in the river. The view from
this point of the valley of the Potomac,
and the Chesapeake and Ohio
canal, for several miles up and down
the river, is highly picturesque. The
soil in this neighborhood is various,
but generally consists of a bright
yellowish clay. It produces from 15
to 20 bushels of wheat to the acre,
and about the same quantity of maize,
but the low grounds on the margin
of the river are generally dark and
loamy, and produce from 20 to 25
bushels to the acre. The principal
productions are wheat, rye, maize,
and potatoes. The gardens produce
in abundance all the culinary vegetables
adapted to the climate, and the
lands generally nearly all of the fruit
trees, forest trees, shrubs, &c. that
are to be found in the same latitude.
Iron ore is found in many places on
the surface of the ground, but no attempt
has ever been made to discover
a mine. Limestone and a species of
soft slate abound. There is an excellent
never failing chalybeate spring
at Grigg's Tavern. The name of
Falling Waters was given to this
place before the mills were erected,
from the precipitous fall of the mill
stream over a large alluvial rock,
which is 200 feet above the surface of
the river.

Gerardstown, P. V. 166 ms. from
R. and 87 from W., situated in the
southern part of the county. This
village contains 35 dwelling houses,
2 mercantile stores, 1 tavern, 3 houses
of public worship, (1 Presbyterian, 1
Methodist and 1 Lutheran,) 1 common
school, 1 temperance society, 1
bible society, 1 tract society, and 1
well organized sunday school, 1 tanyard,
1 saddler, 2 blacksmith shops,
2 wagon makers, 4 boot and shoe
factories, and 3 weavers. In the
vicinity and on mill creek, are 4
manufacturing flour mills, 1 grist
mill and 1 carding machine. Popu-

lation whites 150, of whom 1 is a
physician; colored 22—total 172.

MARTINSBURG, P. V. and
seat of justice, 172 ms. from R. and
71 N. W. of W. in lat. 39° 27′ N.
and long. 0° 58′ W. of W. C. Martinsburg
is a flourishing and wealthy
village. It contains besides the county
buildings, about 300 houses, many
of them handsome and spacious
brick buildings, 8 miscellaneous
stores, 4 houses of public worship, (3
built of stone, and 1 of brick—for
Presbyterians, Lutherans, Roman
Catholics, and Episcopalians,) a well
built market house, 1 male and 1 female
academy, 3 common schools, 4
well organized sunday schools, a
temperance, missionary, bible, and
colonization society, an alms house,
2 manufacturing flour mills, 1 woolen
manufactory, and 1 iron and brass
foundry, with a cupola furnace, and
water power, and 2 druggist shops.
The mechanical pursuits are—2
printing offices, each issuing a weekly
paper, 2 tanyards, 2 saddleries, 2
boot and shoe factories, 1 confectioner,
4 tailors, 1 chair maker, 4 wagon
makers, 1 plough maker, 1 hatter, 2
cabinet makers, 2 tin and copper smiths,
2 white smiths, and 3 blacksmiths.
Population in 1830, 1600 persons, of
whom 4 are resident attornies and 5
physicians. Martinsburg is distant
22 ms. N. of Winchester, 21 N. W.
of Harper's Ferry, 13 S. of Williamsport,
on the Maryland side of
the Potomcc, 10 ms. W. of Shepperdstown,
25 S. E. of Berkley
Springs, 5 E. of North mountain,
and 7 miles S. of the nearest point on
the Potomac river, and Chesapeake
and Ohio canal.

County Courts are held on the 2d
Monday in every month;—Quarterly
in March, June, August and November.

Judge Parker holds his Circuit
Superior Courts of Law and Chancery
on the 19th of March and 15th of
September.

Mill Creek, P. O. 162 ms. from
R. and 83 from W.

BOTETOURT.

Botetourt was created by act of Assembly in 1769, and formed out of
a part of Augusta county. It is bounded N. by Alleghany,—N. E. by
Rockbridge,—E. by Bedford,—S. by Franklin,—S. W. by Montgomery,—
and W. by Giles and Monroe. Its mean length is 37 miles—breadth 28;
and area 1057 sq. ms. It extends in lat. from 37° 08′ to 37° 46′ N. and in
long. from 2° 28′ to 3° 19′ W. of W. C. This mountainous and elevated
county slopes in two directions,—the one eastward towards the general
course of the James and Roanoke rivers, and the other northeastward towards
the Great Valley, between the Blue Ridge and North mountains.
Salem on the Roanoke, and in the southern part of the county, is 1006 feet
above tide water, and Pattonsburg on James river, in the northeastern part
of the county, is 806 feet. The acclivity is rapid towards the western
border on Pott's mountain, and the mean elevation of the arable soil may
be assumed at 1250 feet. There is a great deal of very valuable fertile
land in this county. The great body of the county is drained by the
James and its tributaries, but the southern angle by the Roanoke and its
branches; both rivers are navigable from this county to tide water.

Population in 1820, 13,590—in 1830, 16,354. This county belongs to
the 17th judicial circuit and 9th district. Tax paid in 1833, $3682 00
—in 1834 on lots, $259 64—on land, $2127 42—2634 slaves, $658 50—

5466 horses, $327 96—23 studs, $245 00—36 coaches, $98 85—2 stages,
$8 00—25 carryalls, $27 00—15 gigs, $9 00. Total, $3760 37. Expended
in educating poor children in 1832, $982 58—in 1833, $932 36.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Amsterdam, P. O. 181 ms. W. of
R. and 240 from W., situated in a
healthy part of the county, 15 ms.
from Buchanan, 16 from Salem, and
5 from Fincastle directly on the main
western post road. It contains 30
houses, 1 house of public worship,
free for all denominations, 1 general
store, 1 tanyard, 3 blacksmith shops,
1 cabinet maker, 1 wagon maker, and
2 saddlers. Population 109 persons,
of whom 1 is a physician.

Big Lick, P. O., situated in the
southeastern part of the county, 53
ms. S. W. of Lynchburg, 173 W. of
R. and 250 S. W. by W. of W.

Botetourt Springs, P. O. 189
ms. W. of R. and 246 from W., situated
on the main valley post road,
leading from Winchester, Va. to
Knoxville, Ten., about 12 ms. W. of
Fincastle. The houses are sufficient
for the accommodation of about 100
visiters,—are built of brick, and
handsomely arranged in the form of
three sides of a square. The mineral
spring contains sulphur, magnesia,
and carbonic acid gas. There is
on the same tract a house of public
worship, free for all denominations.

Buchanan, see Pattonsburg.

Clover Dale, P. O. 186 ms. W.
of R. and 244 from W.

Craig's Creek, P. O. 243 ms.
from W. and 184 from R.—8 ms. W.
of Fincastle.

Dagger's Springs, situated in the
northern part of the county, within
two and a half miles of James river,
16 ms. above Pattonsburg and Buchanan,
on the road thence to the White
Sulphur Springs, from which they
are distant 42 ms., from Lexington
22, and about the same distance from
the Natural Bridge. The water is
similar in quality to that of the White
Sulphur Springs in Greenbrier, and
are held in the highest estimation by
those who have used them. Accommodations
are provided for 70 or 80
persons.

FINCASTLE, P. V. and seat of
justice, 176 ms. W. of R. and 235 S.
W. of W. in lat. 37° 28′ and long.
2° 57′ W. of W. C. A flourishing
and wealthy village, situated on the
right bank of Catawba creek. It
contains besides the ordinary county
buildings 260 dwelling houses, and
mechanics shops, most of which are
built with brick, a Presbyterian, Episcopalian,
and a Methodist house of
worship, 1 male and 1 female academy,
1 well organized fire company,
1 temperance society, 3 taverns, 6
mercantile stores, 2 druggist's shops,
1 manufacturing flour mill, to which
is attached a wool-carding machine,
and an oil mill. The mechanical establishments
are,—1 printing office,
issuing a weekly paper, 1 confectionary,
2 clock and watch makers, 1
gun smith, 4 blacksmiths, 4 boot and
shoe factories, 2 tailors, 2 hatters, 2
tanners, 5 cabinet makers and house-joiners,
2 wheelwrights, 1 chair maker,
1 copper-smith and tin-plate
worker, 4 saddlers, 4 wagon makers,
and 1 saddle-tree maker. White
population 468 persons; of whom 9
are attorneys, and 3 regular physicians;
slaves 192, free colored 43,—
total 703. The corporate powers are
vested in 7 trustees, chosen annually.

County Courts are held on the 2d
Monday in every month,—Quarterly
in March, June, August and November.

Judge Taylor holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 1st of April and September.

Fluke's P. O. 163 ms. from R.
and 241 from W.

Henderson's, P. O. 185 ms. from
R. and 227 S. W. of W.

New Castle, P. V. 193 ms. from
R. and 252 S. W. by W. of W, situated
in the western part of the county,
in the fork of Craig's creek, 15
ms. S. W. of Fincastle. It contains
19 dwelling houses, 3 mercantile
stores, 1 manufacturing flour mill, 1
powder and 1 oil mill, 1 wool carding
machine, 1 tavern, 1 academy,
and 1 house of public worship, (Methodist,)
1 iron foundry, 1 blacksmith
shop, 2 boot and shoe factories, 1 tan
yard, 2 cabinet makers, 1 hatter, 1
wagon maker, 1 saddler, 1 tailor, 1
house carpenter, and 1 boat builder
Population 105.

Pattonsburg and Buchanan, P. Villages, 181 ms. from R. and
223 N. W. of W. These two villages
were incorporated by an act of
Assembly of 1832-3. They are situated
on James river, the first on the
N. and the last on the S. side. The
two are connected by a handsome,
permanent toll-bridge across the river.
They are 25 miles above Lexington,
12 below Fincastle, and 40 N. W.
by W. of Lynchburg. The main
western valley stage road runs thro'
each of them, and the stage passes
daily either up or down. The advantages
for trade possessed by the
two places above those of any other
town in Western Virginia, are such
as to insure their gradual if not rapid
increase. The contemplated improvements
on James river, and the
construction of roads opening a better
communication with the adjacent
counties, when completed, will greatly
increase the trade, and they will
no doubt become the place of deposite
not only for the produce of many of
the western counties of Virginia, and
parts of Tennessee and Kentucky,
but also of most of the goods now
wagoned by land from the northern
and eastern towns to the west. The
two places are at present of about an
equal size, and contain together about
50 dwelling houses, 8 mercantile
stores, 1 house of public worship, (a
handsome brick building) free for all
denominations, 1 common school, 2
tobacco and 1 cordage and bagging
factory, 1 foundry and tilt hammer
manufactory, 1 grist and saw mill,
(and one other in the vicinity,) 1 tobacco
warehouse, at which the inspection
has been revived, also an inspection
of flour. The mechanical
establishments are—1 tannery, 1 saddlery,
1 boot and shoe factory, 3 tailors,
3 smith shops, 1 thrashing machine
factory, and several wheelwrights,
carpenters and bricklayers.
In addition to which several private
residences and a considerable mercantile
establishment are erecting in
the vicinity of the western end of
Buchanan. Population in both villages
about 356 persons; of whom 2
are attorneys and 2 regular physicians.

Rebecca Furnace, P. O. 178
ms. from R. and 220 N. W. of W.
This furnace and another four and a
half miles distant from it, are the
property of Mr. D. J. Wilson; they
are situated on Longs Entry creek, a
branch of James river, within three
and a half miles of the river, which
is navigable thus far for boats of from
four to seven tons burthen. The
post office is located 18 ms. S. W. of
Fincastle, 22 N. E. of Lexington,
and 15 ms. from Pattonsburg and
Buchanan, and derives its name
from the furnace. At these two establishments
called the Rebecca and
the Jane furnaces, are employed 150
operatives, 87 of which are blacks.
The former of these furnaces has
been in operation 9 years, and has
manufactured on an average from
800 to 850 tons of pig metal per annum.
The latter has been in operation
only one year, and manufactured
an equal quantity. There is a White
Sulphur Spring adjoining the fur-

nace property, similar in quality to the
well known White Sulphur in Greenbrier
county, and is called by the
name of Dagger's or Wilson's
springs. This property has lately
been sold to a gentleman of Richmond,
who has improved it in a handsome
style, so as to afford first rate
accommodations. It must become a
place of considerable resort, as it has
for several years past been visited by
from 2 to 300 persons, and has given
relief where other springs have been
known to fail.—There is also a forge
within 7 or 8 miles of these furnaces,
known by the name of James river
forge, at which are employed from 60
to 100 operatives, principally black;
manufacturing from 2 to 300 tons of
bar iron annually.

Salem, P. V. 180 ms. from R. and
256 S. W. of W., situated in the
southern part of the county, 60 ms.
S. W. of Lynchburg, in the Great Valley
between the Blue Ridge and
North mountain, at an elevation of
1020 feet above the level of the Atlantic.
It contains 70 houses, including
mechanic shops, &c., 6 mercantile
stores, 3 taverns, 3 houses of public
worship, (1 Methodist, 1 Presbyterian
and 1 Baptist,) 2 female and
1 male school, 1 manufacturing
flour mill, with a saw mill and wool
carding machine adjoining, (and
1 other in the vicinity, with a saw
mill annexed, both running 2 pair of
buhrs and 2 pair of country stones
and elevators,) 1 tan yard, 1 cabinet
maker, 2 saddlers, 5 blacksmith
shops, 1 boot and shoe factory, 2 tailors,
1 extensive wheat fan manufactory,
several carpenters, 1 house
painter, and 1 hat manufactory. The
Roanoke navigation from Weldon,
N. C. to this place is completed by
canals, sluices, &c.—distance from
Weldon to Salem 244 ms. White
population 260 persons, of whom 2
are attorneys, and 3 regular physicians;
colored 90—total 350.

BROOKE.

Brooke was established by the Legislature in 1797, and taken from a
portion of Ohio county. It is bounded N. by the Ohio river, which separates
it from Columbiana co. Ohio,—W. by the same river, separating it
from Jefferson co. of the same State,—S. by Ohio co. Va.,—and E. by Beaver
and Washington counties of Pennsylvania. Its mean length is 31 ms.,
mean breadth 6½; and its area 202 square miles. The surface of this
county is very hilly, but the soil is very fertile.

Buffaloe, Cross, Haman's, Tomlison's, and a few other creeks of smaller
size rise in Pennsylvania and flow through Brooke into the Ohio river.
The products of the county are grain, iron, and bituminous coal. Population
in 1810, 5,843—1820, 6,631—1830, 7,041. It belongs to the 20th
judicial circuit, and 10th district. Tax paid in 1833, $1,312 37—in 1834,
on lots, $207 50—land, $721 48—110 slaves, $27 50—2896 horses,
$173 76—18 studs, $114 00—7 coaches, $15 00—26 carryalls, $26 00
—5 gigs, $2 50. Total, $1,287 74. Expended in educating poor children
in 1832, $530 13—in 1833, $476 28.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Bethany, P. V. 375 ms. N. W.
of R. and 282 N. W. by W. of W.
It was founded in 1818, and is situated
26 miles from the borough of

Washington in Pensylvania, on the
beautiful stream of Buffaloe creek, 7
miles E. of the Ohio river. It is
surrounded by romantic scenery, and
the creek curves around it in the
exact form of a horse shoe, making a
rich alluvial bottom of 120 acres.
The surrounding country is hilly,
variegated and very fertile, well watered,
and for salubrity of air it cannot
be surpassed in the United States.
This village is the residence and the
property of Alexander Campbell, the
celebrated reforming Baptist preacher.
It contains several dwelling houses,
1 house of public worship, 1 mercantile
store, 1 manufacturing flour mill,
and saw mill, a printing office, bookbindery,
smith shop, and various
other mechanical establishments.
Bethany is about 16 ms. from Wheeling,
8 from Wellsburg, and 38 from
Pittsburg, Pa. The products of the
vicinity are flour, pork, beef and
wool. The wool growing branch of
husbandry is increasing, and the article
will soon become one of the
chief staples in this part of the country.
Population 100.

Fairview, P. O. 395 ms. from R.
and 302 N. W. by of W. Fairview
or N. Manchester, is situated 20 ms.
N. of Wellsburg, 2 from the Ohio
river on the W. and 4 from the Pennsylvania
line on the E. Its situation
is beautifully elevated and healthy.
It was laid out in 1811 and now contains
22 dwelling houses, 2 mercantile
stores, 2 houses of public worship,
(Presbyterian,) and 1 common
school, 2 tanyards, and 1 saddler.
The other mechanics are tailors, boot
and shoe makers, carpenters, stone
cutters, chair makers, hatters, coopers,
blacksmiths, and cabinet makers.
In the vicinity there are 4 manufacturing
flour mills. New Manchester
possesses many advantages as a
place of business for the mechanic,
manufacturer and merchant. Population
132 persons; of whom 3 are
regular physicians.

Holliday's Cove, P. O. 384 ms.
from R. and 291 N. W. of W.
Holliday's Cove is situated near the
centre of the county. It is a small
but beautiful valley, of a semicircular
form, both ends of which terminate
on the Ohio river, being 5 ms.
in length and one broad. It deserves
to be classed among the natural curiosities
of Virginia. It is supposed
to have been once the channel of the
river, or of one branch of it. Between
this and the present channel
there is literally an island, the summit
of which is at least 400 feet above
the level of the river, and upon
which there are three or four fine
plantations. It contains in all about
1000 acres of good land. The S. W.
extremity of the valley opens in full
view of the town of Steubenville,
Ohio, and the northwestern opens on
the Ohio immediately at the S. end of
Brown's Island. The eastern side
is washed by Harmon's creek, affording
a very considerable amount
of water power, which at present
serves a woollen factory, 4 or 5 manufacturing
flour mills, and several saw
mills. The flour manufactured at
these mills, stands high in point of
quality in the southern markets. The
soil is first rate. The principal staple
is wool, of which three or four of
the farmers have raised for some
years about 10,000 weight. The
manufactures are woollen cloths, casinetts,
&c. and flour,—the average
shipments of which from the valley
is annually about 10,000 barrels, the
principal part being manufactured in
it. There is no village or town yet
laid out, but rapid improvements are
going up, on the principal road which
is the great thoroughfare from Pittsburg,
Pa. to Steubenville.—There
are at present about 40 dwelling
houses, 2 mercantile stores, and 2
taverns. The religious denominations
are Presbyterians and Christian
Baptists. There are a missionary, a
temperance, and sunday school socie-

ty. The mechanics are, 3 blacksmiths,
3 house carpenters, 1 stone
mason, 2 boot and shoe factories, and
1 cabinet maker. This section of
country has been truly styled the
garden spot of Brooke county, and
being so healthy bids fair to sustain
a large and flourishing population,
and perhaps no part of Virginia offers
a greater opening for capitalists
than this, especially for manufacturers.
Fuel, &c. may be had for little
or no expense, as the surrounding
hills abound with inexhaustible mines
of stone coal and timber of every
description. Population about 300.

WELLSBURG, P. V. and seat
of justice, 337 ms. from R. and 280
N. W. by W. from W., in lat 41°
18′ and long. 3° 36′ W. of W. C.
This is a healthy and wealthy village,
beautifully situated on the left
bank of the Ohio river, immediately
above Buffaloe creek, 16 ms. above
Wheeling, on a plain surrounded by
a fertile, well improved and healthy
country: and inexhaustible bodies of
the best stone coal abound on all
sides of the place; which is furnished
at from 4 to 5 cts per bushel, to the
different manufactories, as fuel to the
citizens, and for shipping to the
southern markets. The neighborhood
is rich and cheerful and rapidly
improving; the people feeling the
benefit of the home market. This
flourishing village contains, besides
the ordinary county buildings, about
225 dwelling houses, 2 houses of
public worship, one Methodist, the
other Reformed Baptist, 5 mercantile
stores, 1 grocery and confectionary,
and 2 shoe stores, 1 academy, in
which are taught the Greek and Latin
languages; 3 female and 1 male
English school, 2 white flint glassworks,
1 glass-cutting establishment,
(the machinery propelled by steam
power,) 1 large cotton factory, with a
front of 72 feet, and 4 stories high,
now running 1200 spindles—employing
60 operatives, 1 steam saw mill,
which cuts 3000 feet of plank in 12
hours, 1 small woollen manufactory,
1 grist mill, 1 carpet factory, a carding
machine, and salt manufactory, 1
extensive stone and red-ware pottery,
2 tan yards, 3 saddlers, 2 printing
offices, each issuing a weekly paper,
and various other mechanics, 2 extensive
porter breweries, 3 large warehouses,
3 extensive manufacturing
mills in the vicinity, one of which
manufactured 10,000 barrels of flour
the past year. There are between 30
and 40,000 barrels of flour exported
annually, from this place in steam
and flat boats to New Orleans. Its
population is about 1400 persons, of
whom 3 are resident attorneys and 4
regular physicians.

County Courts are held on the last
Monday in every month;—Quarterly
in March, May, August and November.

Judge Fry holds his Circuit
Superior Courts of Law and Chancery
on the 4th of May and October.

CABELL.

Cabell was created by the legislature in the year 1809, and formed
from a portion of Kanawha county,—It is bounded N. E. by Mason, E. by
Kanawha, S. E. by Logan, W. by Sandy river, which separates it from
Lloyd, Lawrence and Greenwich counties, of Kentucky, and N. by Ohio
river which separates it from Galia and Lawrence counties, of Ohio. Its
mean length is 35 ms.; mean breadth 29½, and area 1,033 sq. ms. It extends
in lat. from 37° 55′ to 38° 40′ N. and in long. from 4° 45′, to 5° 34′
W. of W. C. Besides the great boundary rivers of Ohio, and great Sandy,

Cabell is watered by Guyandotte river and Twelve Pole creek, both of
which rise in Logan, and flow through this county, dividing it into three
nearly equal parts; of these the former is much the largest and longest,—it
flows through the county in a north eastern direction, and empties into the
Ohio, a few ms. below Barboursville. The face of the country is broken
and mountainous, and the soil for the most part rocky and barren. Population
in 1810,2,717—in 1820, 4,789,—during both of these periods Cabell
included about one-third of the present county of Logan, in 1830 when the
county was reduced to its present limits, it contained 5,834. Tax paid in
1833, $666 14—in 1834 on lots, $33 51—on land, $315 30—313 slaves,
$78 25—2,060 horses, $123 60—16 studs, $73 00—1 coach, $2 00—2
stages, $4 00—6 carryalls, $6 00. Total, $635 66. Expended in educating
poor children in 1832, $280 76—in 1833, $207 25.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Brownsville, (see South Landing.)

BARBOURSVILLE, P. V. and
Seat of Justice, 344 ms. N. W. of R.
and 393 S. W. by W. of W. in lat. 38°
24′, and long. 5° 12′ W. of W. C.
Barboursville is a handsome little village,
situated on the eastern bank of
Guyandotte river, 7½ ms. from the
mouth of Mud river. The State turnpike
which leads from the eastern
part of the state, by the great watering
places, to the Kentucky line, passes
through this village. A tri-weekly
line of stages passes through the town
to Guyandotte, where it meets a line
of stages from Lexington, Kentucky,
and a line of steam-boats from Cincinnati.
It contains besides the usual
county buildings, 25 dwelling houses,
3 mercantile stores, 1 common school,
1 extensive manufacturing flour mill,
1 tan yard, 1 hatter, 2 blacksmiths, 1
tailor and various other mechanics.
Population 150 persons, of whom 2
are attorneys, and 1 a regular physician.

County Courts are held on the 4th
Monday in every month:—Quarterly
in March, June, August and November.

Judge Summers holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 26th of April, and September.

Greenbottom, P. O. 359 ms. from
R. and 376 from W.

Guyandotte, P. V. 352 ms. from
R. and 396 S. W. by W. of W., situated
immediately on the banks of the
Ohio and Guyandotte rivers. It contains
about 40 dwelling houses, 5 mercantile
stores, 1 house of public worship,
free for all denominations, 1 primary
school, a steam, grist and saw
mill, and a carding machine propelled
by the same power, 1 tanyard, 1 saddler,
and 2 cabinet makers, with a
number of other mechanics. This
village is advantageously situated on
a point of land formed by the confluence
of Guyandotte, with the Ohio river.
It possesses commercial facilities
of a high order, but hitherto its
local advantages have from a want of
foresight or enterprise in its citizens,
not been duly appreciated. Guyandotte
is the western termination of the
daily line of stages from Washington
City and Richmond. It is much the
most important point of steam-boat
embarkation, as well as debarkation
in western Virginia, with the exception
of Wheeling, and there is no
good reason why it should not speedily
attain to what nature designed it
should be, a thriving and flourishing
village. Population about 300 persons,
of whom 1 is a regular physician.

South Landing, or Brownsville,
P. V. 349 ms. from R. and 398 W. of
W. South landing was incorporated
by an act of the Virginia legislature,
some 3 or 4 sessions since, and 2 sessions
before last, its name was changed
to that of Brownsville. It is situated
immediately on the Ohio river, 3 ms.
below the mouth of Guyandotte, and
where the James river and Kanawha
turnpike first approaches the Ohio.
It is admirably adapted for a point of
landing, there being a sufficient depth
of water at all seasons for steam, and
other boats, to come up to the shore
and ride in safety. It is already attracting
notice in this point of view
and a considerable portion of the produce
of the surrounding country, has
found its way to the various markets
on the river below, through this point:
and it is more than probable from the
excellency of the landing—the beauty
of the situation, the fact that it is here
the great Virginia turnpike first approaches
the Ohio, and various other
considerations, that this is the point
where, before many years, the daily
line of stages from Fredericksburg
and other places will meet the steamboat
packets, and where the great
western Virginia landing will eventually,
be permanently fixed. This
town was laid off by the State Engiginer,
Mr. Crozet, three years since;
but the proprietors of the land for various
causes, have not as yet, put the
lots into market: there are, therefore,
but 5 or 6 dwelling houses and 2 mercantile
stores, yet established. But so
soon as the point shall be sufficiently
known, and the lots put into market,
it is expected improvement will rapidly
progress, and Brownsville, become
a place of no little note in western
Virginia.

FAYETTE.

Fayette was created by act of Assembly in 1831, and formed from a
portion of Logan, Greenbrier, Nicholas and Kanawha counties. It is
bounded by its parent counties, N. E., N. and N. W. by Kanawha and Nicholas,
E. by Greenbrier, S. E. by the same, S. and S. W. by Logan, and
W. by Logan and Kanawha. The limits of its latitude and longitude, or
its extent in miles, we have no means of ascertaining.

The mountains in this county are innumerable. The Gauly mountain
has acquired the greatest notoriety on account of its having been the line
dividing the county of Kanawha from Greenbrier,—it is a continuation of
the Cumberland mountain, which runs from south to north, and is cloven
asunder by New river, Big and Little Sewel mountains, dividing Fayette
from Greenbrier. There are many more of less note.

New river runs through the whole county from E. to W. It is exceedingly
rapid and precipitous. The junction of New river and Gauly, constitute
the noble great Kanawha, 2 ms. above the falls, and 11 above the
Kanawha county line. New river is navigable at no place between the
eastern line of the county, and the place where it looses its name by mingling
its waters with those of Gauly,—indeed there are but few places which
admit of ferries. The stream is borne down with so much force and
precipitancy, as to render its crossing very hazardous,—foaming and
pitching down a rough and rocky channel, with as much fury
as if precipitated down a succession of precipices. The falls being so rapidly
successive as to resemble artificial steps. Gauly river is the next in
order, it is the line between the counties of Fayette and Nicholas for several

miles: after it comes within 6 miles of New river it ceases to be the
line and bends round to the S. W. and meets that noble and capacious
stream. It is navigable about 8 ms. above its mouth.

The Clear Fork and March Fork of Coal, also either take their rise in
this county, or acquire great accession as they pass through it. Their capacity
is too small to admit of being much navigated.

There is a great diversity of soil in this county, it being rich, midling
and sterile, and producing corn, wheat, rye, oats and potatoes of both kinds.
There are no manufactories of note. The mineral resources of the county
have not been at all developed. There are strong and innumerable indications
of iron ore,—much surface ore is found in many places, indicating
banks of ore, and chalybeate springs are interspersed all over the county.

Mounds apparently of great antiquity are found in some places; from one
of which, a human skeleton and many artificial curiosities, such as were
common among Indians, have been taken. "The Kanawha Turnpike
passes through this whole county from E. to W. and by travelling along it
within 8 or 10 ms. of the junction of New river and Gauly, you come in
sight of the former, you stand on a high cliff of rocks called Marshal's pillar,
or the Hawk's nest, and see the river dashing and pitching with maddening
fury, eight hundred or a thousand feet below you,—you approach
the edge of the rock to look over with great caution and timidity, and few
have been so bold and daring, as to approach the edge of the precipice so
near as to take a perpendicular view to the bottom,—you may stand on the
top of this cliff, and throw a stone into the river below. By drawing a superficial
line from the top of the precipice to the bottom of the river, thence
to the opposite cliff, and thence a horizontal line to the beginning, you
would have a triangle, the perpendicular of which would be about 850 ft."

The falls of Kanawha constitutes a curiosity to be specially remarked.
The whole stream perhaps a half a mile in width, is precipitated over a
craggy rock several perpendicular feet. The rock crosses the river
obliquely, and when the water is low it is divided into two prongs, one of
which washes the southern, and the other the northern shore, affording the
finest water power to propel machinery of any perhaps in Virginia; but
when the water is high, the rock is covered with one unbroken sheet, and
presents to the beholder a sight of great sublimity.

As this county has been created since the last census, there is no means
of ascertaining its population, which was then included in that of its parent
counties. It belongs to the 18th judicial circuit, and 9th district. Tax
paid in 1833, $220 80—in 1834,—on land, $129 65—79 slaves, $19 75
—809 horses, $48 54—3 studs, $9 00—8 carryalls, $8 00—1 gig, $1 00.
Total, $215 94. No report of school commissioners for 1832. Expended
in educating poor children in 1833, $278 70.

County Courts are held on the 3rd Monday in every month:—Quarterly
in March, June, August and November.

Judge Duncan holds his Superior Court of Law and Chancery on
the 1st of April and September.

Fayette being a new county, and the county town not yet designated, we
therefore place the courts immediately under the head of the county.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Coal River Marshes, P. O. 227
ms. from R. and 336 from W.

Gauley's Bridge, P. O. 278 ms.
N. W. of R. and 344 S. W. by W. of
W., situated at the falls of the Great
Kanawha river, 2 ms. below the junction
of Gauley and New river, and
35 above Charleston. The river is
here 500 yds. wide and has a fall of 22
ft. over a ledge of rocks, which extends
entirely across the stream, and
is received into a basin below, 60 ft.
in depth. This is the last navigable
point on the Kanawha, and presents
one of the best sites for machinery in
Virginia. There are here 2 saw
mills, 1 manufacturing flour mill, 2
mercantile stores, and 1 hotel. A
daily mail arrives. This is one of
the wildest and most picturesque regions
of the state. A very fine bridge
erected at the expense of the state, at
this spot, was consumed a few years
since by fire, applied by an incendiary.

Mountain Cove, P. O. 273 ms.
from R. and 315 from W.

Sewell's, P. O. 246 ms. from R.
and 288 from W.

FLOYD.

Floyd was created by the Legislature in January 1831, and formed
from a portion of Montgomery county. It is bounded N. by Montgomery,
—E. by Franklin—S. by Patrick,—and W. by Grayson. It is 35 miles in
length from E. to W., and its mean width is 15.

Floyd is mountainous, but there is only one of the many knobs and
spurs which cover its surface, which deserves to be noticed; and this is but
little less worthy of observation than the celebrated Peaks of Otter of Bedford.
This is called from its resemblance to the animal, the Buffalo Knob.
It is not itself so high as the Peaks of Otter, but its base is more elevated
than theirs, and the prospect from the top is truly sublime. On the north,
east, and west, the beholder is amazed at the boundless succession of
mountains rising beyond mountains,—whilst far away to the south, the
plain seems to stretch to an interminable length. On the east the knob is
accessible on horse-back, being two miles in height from the beginning of
the ascent to the highest point, on the west it breaks off precipitately, and
presents the shape of the animal whose name it bears.

This country is watered by Little river, a branch of New river. Little
river is composed of three branches, called South, Middle, and West Forks,
upon which are situated the most fertile and extensive meadows in the
county. Laurel Fork, a branch of Big Reedy Island creek, waters the
southwestern portion of the county. It washes the base of the Buffalo
Knob.—This county lying upon the Alleghany, where it approaches the
Blue Ridge, is not very fertile. It is much better adapted to grazing, than
to grain. Indian corn does not thrive well, but wheat, rye, oats, and buckwheat,
are raised in the greatest abundance. Horses, oxen, hogs and sheep
are raised for market in great quantities, and are the only staples. Population
between 7 and 8000, and rapidly increasing. It belongs to the 16th
judicial circuit and 8th district. Taxes paid in 1833, $294 46—in 1834,
on lots, $11 54—on land, $171 56—151 slaves, $37 75—1191 horses,

$71 46—6 studs, $27 00—1 coach, $2 00—5 carryalls, $5 00. Total,
$316 31. Expended in educating poor children in 1832, $105 52—in
1833, $544 50.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

JACKSONVILLE, P. V. and
seat of justice, 227 ms. from R. and
305 from W. This village is located
in the most fertile and healthy part of
the county. The lots were laid off some
12 months since, and a considerable
number of them sold. It of course
does not contain many improvements
as yet. There is however a handsome
court house erected, 5 dwelling
houses, and a number of others are
now building, 2 mercantile stores, 1
house of public entertainment, 1 tan
yard, 1 saddler, 1 blacksmith shop,
and post office. Jacksonville is situated
100 ms. W. of Lynchburg, its
chief market or place of trade, 35
W. of Franklin C. H., 20 S. of
Montgomery C. H., 55 E. of Grayson
C. H., and 35 N. of Patrick C.
H. Such is the healthiness, that there
is only 1 physician in the county.

County Courts are held on the 3d
Monday in every month;—Quarterly
in March, June, August and November.

Judge Saunders holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 17th of April and September.

Simpson's P. O. situated 21 ms. N.
E. of the C. H. 211 ms. from R. and
289 from W.

Stoney Fork, P. O. 229 ms. from
R. and 307 from W., situated 2 ms.
W. of the C. H. It contains a mercantile
store, tavern, and blacksmith
shop.

FREDERICK.

Frederick was created by act of Assembly in 1738, and formed from a
portion of Orange. It is bounded N. by Morgan, Berkeley, and
Jefferson,—E. by Loudoun and Fauquier,—S. by Shenandoah,—and W.
by Hardy and Hampshire. Its mean length is 29 miles, mean breadth
25⅔; and its area 745 square miles. It lies between lat. 38° 50′ and 39°
25′ N. and long 0° 48′ and 1° 28′ W. of W. C. The surface of this
county is very much diversified by hill and mountain scenery, and by diversity
of soil. It occupies S. from the Potomac part of the continuation
of the great valley, in which are situated Lebanon, the lower part of Dauphin,
the greatest part of Cumberland and Franklin counties, Pennsylvania,
and Jefferson and Berkley counties, Virginia. The Shenandoah
river traverses the southeastern border meandering along the northwestern
base of the Blue Ridge. Opequan, Back and Sleepy creeks, flowing N.
N. E. into the Potomac, also rise in Frederick. The slope of the county
is of course northeastward, in a similar direction with the streams. The
ground near Harper's Ferry and along the Potomac is about 200 feet
above tide water, and allowing a similar rise from the Potomac, the mean
height of Frederick would be about 400 feet. The soil of this county is
highly productive, though the face of the county is considerably broken by
mountain ridges. It is one of the wealthiest, most hospitable, and most intelligent
counties in the State. Population in 1810, 22,574—1820, 24,706
—1830, 26,046. It belongs to the thirteenth judicial circuit, and seventh

district. Tax paid in 1833, $8,987 19—in 1834 on lots, $1,113 71—1
land, $5,514 65—3,842 slaves, $960 50—8,506 horses, $510 36—38
studs, $453 00—158 coaches, $427 80—2 stages, $4 00—47 carryalls,
$63 90—31 gigs, $71 75. Total, $9,119 67. Expended in educating
poor children in 1832, $1186 85—in 1833, $1988 47.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Back Creek Valley, P. O. 164
ms. from R. and 85 W. of W.

Battletown, or Berryville,
P. O. 160 ms. from R. and 59 N. W.
of W. This is a healthy and flourishing
little village, situated on Opequan
creek, on the direct post road
from. Winchester to Washington
City, 12 miles from the former. It
contains about 30 dwelling houses, 1
handsome Episcopal house of public
worship, lately erected, 1 academy,
and 3 female schools, 2 mercantile
stores, several mechanic shops, &c.
But the business principally transacted
in this place is of a commercial
nature. General Morgan of Revolutionary
memory, resided for a
considerable part of his life in the
immediate vicinity of this village.
It was the scene of many of those
personal and party combats for which
he was so remarkable. This circumstance
is said to have given rise
to the name of Battletown—by which
it is now generally known. Its proper
name is Berryville. Population
about 300 persons; of whom 2 are
attorneys, and 5 regular physicians.

Brucetown, P. O. 157 ms. from
R. and 79 from W., situated 7 ms.
W. of Winchester. It contains about
25 houses, 1 Methodist house of public,
2 mercantile stores, 1 tavern, 2
manufacturing flour mills, 1 tailor, 1
wagon maker, 1 smith shop, and 1
boot and shoe factory. Population
75.

Front Royal, P. V. 139 ms.
from R. and 75 W. of W. It is situated
in the extreme southeastern
angle of the county, 20 ms. S. E. of
Winchester, on the S. side of the
Shenandoah river, a mile from its
banks, in a valley between the river
and Blue Ridge, near the junction of
the counties of Culpeper, Fauquier,
and Shenandoah. The situation of
this village is eligible and pleasant.
It contains 37 dwelling houses, 2
houses of public worship, (1 Methodist,
a neat brick building, and 1 free
for all denomination,) 2 academies,
in one of which is taught the Languages,
2 houses of public entertainment,
4 mercantile stores, and 1
apothecary shop. There is one extensive
manufacturing flour mill, 3
wagon makers, which have acquired
some celebrity, 3 tan yards, 2 saddlers,
3 boot and shoe factories, 3
smith shops, 2 tailors, 1 chair maker,
1 cabinet maker, 2 house joiners, 1
brick maker, and 1 wheat fan manufactory.
Population 350 persons, of
whom 1 is an attorney, and 3 are
regular physicians. There is a small
and beautiful stream passing through
the E. end of this village, on the
main street, called Happy creek,
which is visited by fish when the
Shenandoah is high; and a beautiful
range of mountain scenery presents
itself in view of the town. In
the vicinity are three manufacturing
flour mills, turned by the noble Shenandoah
river. About 3¼ of a mile
from the W. end of this place, but in
Shenandoah county, is situated Allen's
Cave, said by some to surpass
Weyer's cave for the extent and sublimity
of its caverns. (See Allen's
cave, Shenandoah Co.). This cave is
much frequented by parties in the
summer season. The surrounding
country, viewing it from this village,
is grand and picturesque. There are
many handsome residences and delightful

seats situated on eminences
in the neighborhood. Among them
is the agreeable mansion of the hospitable
and venerable James Marshall,
(a brother of the Chief Justice,)
whose residence is situated on
Happy creek, after which it is very
properly named, as those who have
been its guests will be willing to testify.

Gainsboro', P. O. 159 ms. from
R. and 80 W. of W., situated on the
road leading to Cumberland, 9 ms.
N. W. of Winchester, 1 mile W. of
Hog creek, and ¼ E. of Back creek.
It contains 30 dwelling houses, 2
houses of public worship, (1 Methodist
and 1 Quaker,) 1 common school,
and 1 house of public entertainment.
There are 2 tan yards, 2 saddlers, 1
boot and shoe maker, 3 smith shops,
1 cabinet maker, 1 house carpenter,
1 tailor, and 1 cooper. Population
100 persons, of whom 1 is a physician.
In the vicinity is located a
woollen manufactory, and 2 manufacturing
flour mills.

Howellsville, P. V. 147 ms.
from R. and 94 N. W. by W. of
W., situated immediately on the
banks of the Shenandoah, where
Howells' run empties into that river,
about 7 ms. distant both from Front
Royall and Berry's Ferry. This
little village is rapidly improving. It
contains 6 or 8 dwelling houses, 1
house of public worship, free for all
denominations, 1 miscellaneous store,
2 manufacturing flour mills, 1 wagon
maker, 1 boot and shoe factory, 1
smith shop, 1 fancy weaver, 1 house
carpenter, &c. The bottom lands in
this neighborhood are exceedingly
rich, and produce in abundance Indian
corn, wheat, rye, oats, &c;. The
mountain lands are productive and
well timbered. The Shenandoah is
navigable 150 ms. above this place,
and boats descend the river from this
point at all seasons with 50 barrels of
flour, and when the waters are high
with 150. Population 30.

Manassas' Gap, P. O. 134 ms.
W. of W. C.

Middletown, P. V. 158 ms. from
R. and 84 N. W. of W., situated on
Cedar creek, near the southwestern
border of the county, 13 ms. S. W. of
Winchester. It is a thriving and
healthy village, containing about 55
dwelling houses, 1 Methodist and 1
Episcopalian house of worship, 4
mercantile stores, 2 common schools,
2 hotels, 1 tanyard, 1 saddler, 1 extensive
wheat machine manufactory,
which sells annually 10 or 12 machines
at $400 each. The other
mechanics are wagon makers, blacksmiths,
boot and shoe makers, 2 silversmiths
and watch makers, 3 tailors,
1 cabinet maker, and 1 chair
and bedstead maker. There is a
flourishing academy situated two and
a half miles distant from this village,
which is under the superintendence
of the Rev. John Lodor. There are
two manufacturing flour mills in the
vicinity. Population about 300 persons,
1 of whom is a physician.

Millwood, P. V. 139 ms. from
R. and 66 N. W. by W. of W., situated
11 ms. S. E. by E. of Winchester.
It contains 21 dwelling houses,
3 mercantile stores, 1 Episcopalian
house of public worship, a neat building
lately erected, 1 extensive tannery,
1 boot and shoe factory, 2 tailors,
1 wagon maker, 1 blacksmith
shop and 2 manufacturing flour mills,
each grinding from 15 to 20,000
bushels of wheat annually. The
country around is rich and thickly
settled,—the land of superior quality,
producing well all the ordinary staples.
Population 112 persons; of
whom 1 is a physician.

Newtown or Stephensburg, P.
V. 158 ms. from R. and 79 N. W.
by W. of W. This village is situated
8 ms. S. of Winchester. It contains
88 dwelling houses, an excellent
market house, and 2 houses of public
worship, 1 belonging the Methodist
denomination, and the other held

jointly by the Lutherans and German
Reformed churches, 3 schools, 1 well
organized sunday school, 2 mercantile
stores, 3 tan yards, and 3 saddlers.
The principal occupations of the village
are wagon and wheat machine
making.—Great numbers of wagons
are made,—no less than 9 different
establishments being engaged in this
business, which make and send wagons
to almost every part of the
State, which for neatness, strength,
and durability, are said not to be surpassed
in the United States. Population
700 persons; of whom 4 are
regular physicians.

Ninevah, P. O. 145 ms. from R.
and 81 N. W. by W. of W. This
place is situated in the northern part
of the county, and contains 5 dwelling
houses, 1 wagon maker, 1 boot
and shoe maker, 1 blacksmith shop,
and 1 wheat machine manufactory.
Population 30. This post office has
recently been transferred to a country
store, 2 miles distant, at which is located
a tailor, boot and shoe maker,
and a blacksmith shop. The country
around is of limestone formation, and
is very fertile and thickly settled with
industrious and wealthy farmers.

Pembroke Springs, P. O. 168
ms. from R. and 89 W. of W., situated
18 ms. W. of Winchester.

Snicker's Ferry, P. O. 156 ms.
from R. and 55 from W.

White Post, P. O. 144 ms. from
R. and 71 N. W. of W. This is a
flourishing little village, situated 12
ms. S. E. of Winchester, in a beautiful
and highly picturesque country,
remarkable for the fertility of its soil
and neatness of agriculture. It contains
30 dwelling houses, 1 house of
public worship, free for all denominations,
and which is occupied also
as an academy, 2 mercantile stores, 1
tavern, 1 saddler, 2 tailors, a smith,
and various other mechanics. A
temperance society was organized
here, about 2 years since, called the
White Post, and is now in a prosperous
condition, having about 100
members. Population 150 persons;
of whom 3 are regular physicians.

White Hall, P. V. 158 ms. from
R. and 79 N. W. of W. This village
is situated near the northern line
of the county, on Apple Pie Ridge.
This ridge is an elevated and extensive
ridge of fertile land, which passes
under different names, through
the counties of Berkeley and Frederick,
in a direction nearly north and
south. It contains 15 dwelling
houses, 1 Methodist house of worship,
1 school house, 1 sunday school
and tract society, 2 miscellaneous
stores, 2 wagon makers, 1 saddler, 1
tailor, 1 blacksmith, 1 cooper, and 1
boot and shoe factory. In the vicinity,
on Green Spring Run, a number
of excellent and extensive flour-manufacturing,
grist and saw mills
are located. The Run is a beautiful
and never failing stream, which takes
its rise within 1 mile of the village,
issuing out of the western side of
Apple Pie Ridge, it runs in a northwestern
direction, and falls into Bath
creek. The situation of this place
is pleasant and healthy. The surrounding
country is limestone land of
good quality, and in a high state of
cultivation. The roads from Winchester
to Gerardstown pass through
this village, distant 8 miles S. of the
former, and 6 N. of the latter. The
road from Charlestown, Jefferson,
also passes through to the Bloomery
gap, or Sherrard's Store, distant 15
ms. from the former. Population
70. No physician or attorney reside
in this place.

WINCHESTER, P. T. and County
Seat.—Of the large and wealthy
county of Frederick, and one of the
most considerable towns in western
Virginia, is situated in N. lat 39° 11′,
W. long. 77° 28′;[35] distance from

Washington, 71 ms.; Richmond, 150;
Harper's Ferry, 30. This place is
situated in the fertile valley of Virginia,
in the midst of a rich and abundant
country, and a thriving and industrious
people. It is one of the
oldest towns in western Virginia.
Being somewhat celebrated in the history
of our Indian warfare and revolutionary
struggle, a brief review of
its early history will, it is believed,
be interesting, as it is closely connected
with the early actions of that eminent
individual, who afterwards became
endeared to his countrymen by
the glorious deeds which gained him
the noble title of Father of his country.
Tradition informs us that the
ground on the edge of the present site
of Winchester was occupied by a large
and powerful tribe of Indians, called
the Shawnees or Shawanees, and
some springs at that point, are called
the Shawnee Springs at this day. The
earliest accounts of the settlement of
Winchester, state that there were 2
houses on its present location as early
as 1738, situated near the town run,
but its establishment as a town commenced
in Feb. 1752, in the 25th
year of the reign of George the II
when the General Assembly passed an
"act for the establishment of the town
of Winchester."[36] In 1758 it was enlarged
in consideration of an additional
quantity of land being laid off in
lots by Col. James Wood, now called
in the plot of the town, Wood's addition.
Trustees were then appointed
consisting of Lord Fairfax, Col. Martin
and others: Vide Henning's Statutes
at Large: vol. 7. p. 135. Additions
to the town, were also made by
Lord Fairfax.[37] Col. Wood is therefore
entitled to the honor of being the
founder. Winchester is mentioned by
General Washington, as being one of
the points in his route, in his celebrated
mission, by order of Governor
Dinwiddie, to the French authorities
on the Ohio. He came from Alexandria
to Winchester where he procured
baggage horses, &c. This was
in November 1753.[38]

In the French and Indian warfare
that succeeded, Washington fixed his
head quarters at Winchester, which
was then a frontier settlement. The
North mountain a few miles west of
Winchester being the boundary.—
From the fear occasioned by the attacks
of the French and Indians, this
place was almost the only settlement
west of the Blue Ridge, which range
of mountains, was as late as 1756, the
north western frontier. At that period
public stores to a large amount
were deposited at Winchester, for the
frontier settlement. After the distinguished
action at Great Meadows, July
4, 1754, Washington returned with
his regiment to Winchester to recruit,
soon after which, he was joined by
a few companies from Maryland and
North Carolina, after which reinforcement
they were ordered by the
Liuetenant Governor, to march immediately
over the Alleghany, to drive
the French from Fort du Quesne, or
build one in its vicinity. After the

disastrous defeat of Braddock, Washington
with the remains of the brave
Virginia troops retreated to Winchester.
Upon the invasion of the frontiers
by the French and Indians,
Washington then on his way to Williamsburg,
the Seat of Government,
was overtaken by an express, below
Fredericksburg, with the intelligence
that the French and Indians had broken
in upon the frontier settlements,
and were murdering and capturing
women and children, burning houses,
destroying crops, &c. and that the
troops, stationed among them were
insufficient for their protection. He
immediately hastened back to Winchester,
where the utmost confusion
and alarm prevailed. His attempts to
raise the militia were unsuccessful.
He sent urgent orders to the country
Lieutenants, east of the Blue Ridge,
to hasten their militia to Winchester,
but before these orders could be executed,
the enemy which had done so
much injury and caused so much
alarm, had re-crossed the Alleghany
mountain. Col. Washington after repeated
ineffectual efforts to arouse the
government to act on the offensive, and
adopt a more efficient system of warfare,
by sending a force sufficient to
destroy Fort du Quesne, at length
prevailed, and Gen. Forbes was ordered
to undertake the campaign for
its reduction. On the 24th of May,
1758, orders were issued to Washington's
regiment to rendezvous at
Winchester, and be in readiness to
march in 15 days. June 24, the Virginia
troops in pursuance to the orders
they had received, moved in detachments
from Winchester to Fort
Cumberland, where they assembled
early in July. Upon the reduction of
Fort du Quesne, (when its name was
changed to Pitt, in honor of the then
British Minister,) Col. Washington
after furnishing 200 men from his
regiment to garrison the Fort, marched
the rest back to Winchester, whence
he soon proceeded to Williamsburg to
take his seat in the house of Delegates,
of which he had been elected a
member by the County of Frederick,
while at Fort Cumberland. During
these contests a Fort was built at Winchester,
the remains of which are still
visible at the north end of the principle
street. In Henning's Statutes,
vol 7. page 33, we find the 16th
clause of a law passed March, 1756,
which refers to this Fort, and the appropriation
for its erection in these
words, "and whereas it is now judged
necessary, that a Fort should be immediately
erected in the town of Winchester,
county of Frederick, for the
protection of the adjacent inhabitants
against the barbarities daily committed
by the French and their Indian
allies be it therefore enacted that the
Governor or Commander-in-chief of
the colony for the time being is here
by empowered and desired to order a
Fort to be built with all possible despatch,
in the aforesaid town of Winchester;
and that his honor give such
orders and instructions for the immediate
effecting, and garrisoning the
same as he shall think necessary for
the purpose aforesaid." The act also
appropriates the sum of £1000 for
carrying the above provision into effect.
This Fort was called Fort
Loudoun, in honor of the British
General, Lord Loudoun, who had
been appointed to the command of the
British troops in America. It is stated
in the History of the Valley upon
authority, entitled to the highest respect,
the gentleman furnishing the
information referred to, having been
informed by Washington's officers,
that Washington marked out the site
of this Fort and superintended its
erection, that he bought a lot in Winchester,
had a blacksmith shop erected
on it, and brought from Mount Vernon
his own blacksmith to make the
necessary iron work for the Fort.
The very spot is pointed out, where
Washington's own residence was situated.
It is stated that his chamber
was above the gateway of the Fort in
a situation commanding a view of the
principal street of the town. This
Fort covered an area of half an acre,
and there is still much of its enbankments
and mounds remaining. There
is also a well, from which water now
rises to the surface, sunk through the
solid rock 103 ft. The labor of
throwing up this Fort, and sinking
this well, was said to have been performed
by Washington's regiment.
The Fort contained a strong Garrison;
and it is stated by one of the oldest
inhabitants of Winchester, to have
mounted six 18 pounders, six 12 pounders,
six 6 pounders, 4 swivels and 2
howittzers, and to this day grape shot
and cannon balls are found there.
These cannons were removed from
Winchester, early in the war of the
revolution. This Fort was said to
have been once reconnoitered by a
French officer, but never was attacked
by the enemy. Winchester was used
for its security as a depot for Hessian
and British prisoners, taken during
the revolution. The number increased
so much, that barracks were erect
ed 4 ms. N. of the town, for their accommodation
at one time in the year
1781, the number of prisoners was
1600.

Having given this sketch of the
early history of Winchester, which in
a work like this is justifiable, as it is
interesting to all Virginians, and all
other citizens of the United States, to
recall the associations and localities of
those "times that tried men's souls,"
and more especially of this place from
its intimate connection with the first
actions and trials of the Father of our
country; we will now proceed to
give some account of the statistics of
Winchester.

The principal part of the town, is
built on low ground, from which the
streets ascend. It is very compactly
built, and the streets are laid out regularly,
crossing each other at right
angles. The principal street is well
paved, and the sidewalks in all the
streets are more or less improved.
The houses are generally built of
brick or stone. The number of
houses is about 500, and the supposed
population near 4000. The census
of 1830, made the population 3620 of
the following description of persons:

             

Free white males,	1429
Free white females	1275
Slave males,	290
Slave females,	365
Free colored males,	100
Free colored females,	164
Total,	3520

The active population of Winchester,
may be arrayed under the 3 general
divisions of professional, mercantile
and mechanical classes:—

1st Professional.—There are 6
clergymen, 1 Methodist Episcopal, 1
Presbyterian, 1 Episcopalian, 2 Evangelical
Lutheran, 1 Methodist Protestant.
The legal profession is quite
numerous, and the Winchester Bar
has always held one of the highest
stations in Virginia. It has given a
presiding Judge to the Supreme Court
of Appeals; and several Judges to the
bench of the General Court. There
has been a flourishing Law School
which only ceased with the elevation
of the Lecturer to the Court of Appeals.
The present number of resident lawyers
of the Winchester Bar is 22. besides
these, a number of lawyers attend
the terms of the courts in Winchester.

Physicians.—The number of the
medical profession is 7. The promising
Medical School established
here some years since by the Medical
Society of the Valley, has been discontinued,—two
of its professors have
been called to distinguished stations
in other institutions,—one professor
of Theory and Practice of Medicine,
in Transylvania University, Kentucky,
and the other, to the Chair of
Medicine in the University of Va.

The mercantile class of the community

in Winchester, consists for the
most part of business men, who are
careful and prudent in all their dealings.
Many of them have in consequence
become wealthy. There are
41 stores in Winchester of the following
description:—32 dry goods and
grocery stores, 1 apothecary and
druggist, 1 auction and commission
store, 3 iron stores, 2 stove and casting
manufactories, 1 confectionary
and fruit store, 1 book and stationary,
and 1 lottery office.

The mechanics are as follows, to
wit:—2 brewers, 4 bakers, 1 bookbinder,
12 victuallers, 1 brass founder,
13 carpenters, 3 chair makers, 1 clock
and mathematical instrument maker, 3
extensive coach manufactories, giving
employment to a great number of hands,
1 gunsmith, 4 house painters and glaziers,
6 masons and bricklayers, 1 or
namental painter, 1 pottery, 1 rope
and reed maker, 9 boot and shoe factories,
5 silver smiths, watch repairers
and jewellers, 4 tanners and curriers,
3 barbers, 1 buhr stone maker, 17
blacksmiths, 4 brickmakers, 2 carpet
weavers, 4 cabinet makers, 2 copper
smiths, 2 coopers, 2 confectionaries, 1
dyer, 2 hatters, 2 lock and white
smith's, 8 milliners, 6 plasterers, 2
ploughmakers, 5 saddle and harness
makers, 2 skindressers and glovers, 1
silver plater, 1 saddle tree maker, 3
tobacconists, 2 turners, 1 tallow chandler,
5 tinplate workers, 9 tailors, (4
merchant tailors,) 1 upholsterer, 10
waggon makers, 3 weavers, 1 wheelwright.
This list embraces 46 different
trades, and upwards of 170 master
workmen. It is presumed that there
are several hundred journeymen and
apprentices employed by these persons.
There are 6 merchant mills in
the immediate vicinity of Winchester,
1 cabinet ware factory, part of the machinery
turned by water, 1 carpet factory
which makes carpeting of a superior
quality, much admired for the
beauty of its texture, and the brilliancy
and permanency of its colors.
There is 1 cotton factory, but at present
its operations are suspended. The
abundant water power and its admirable
location, justifies the prediction
that Winchester will one day become
a great manufacturing town. There
is 1 academy for youth founded by an
act of the Legislature, as far back as
1788, now 46 years since. It has
been in operation the greater part of
that period, and has had as many as
80 pupils in one year. It is estimated,
that at least 1000 young men from
different and distant parts of the state,
have been educated in part or entirely
at this institution. This academy has
maintained, perhaps as high a reputation
as any other similar institution
in the state. There are, besides the
academy, an institute for young ladies,
and 11 other schools. There
are few places in the state, which present
greater inducements to parents,
desiring to have their children well
educated than Winchester. It is remarkable
for its health, the purity of
the water; and what is more important
for the correct, moral and religious
tone of feeling, which prevails
among most of its inhabitants. It is
also a remarkable fact which should
be stated, that although there is no
night watch, a robbery is almost unknown,
and a general state of good order
prevails. The public buildings
are a C. H., clerk's office, jail, market
house and Common Council Hall,
Masonic Hall, and Library and Lyceum
building. There are several
excellent hotels; one of which, lately
erected, is surpassed probably by none
in the state, in the accommodations
for travellers. There are 9 churches
in Winchester, 2 Presbyterian, 1
Episcopalian, 2 Methodist's, (1 for colored
persons,) 1 Roman Catholic, 1
Lutheran, 1 Baptist, 1 Friend's or
Quaker's. The Episcopal church
erected in 1829, is one of the best specimens
of Gothic artichecture in the
state. It is much admired by strangers
for the beauty and appropriateness

of the style of architecture. It is
finished with great taste in the interior,
and has a fine toned organ.
There is no asylum in Winchester,
but there are a great many associations
for benevolent, religious or literary
purposes; such as the Bible Society,
Tract Society, with a flourishing
Depository, Sunday School Union,
with a good and increasing depository,
for the supply of 7 counties around
Winchester; ladies' Benevolent Society,
for relieving and attending to the
wants of the poor and destitute sick,
ladies Colonization Society, a general
Temperance Society, Young Men's
Temperance and Colonization Societies,
a Mechanic's Society, a prosperous
Masonic Lodge and Chapter, 2
large fire companies, provided with
engines, hose and necessary apparatus.
There is a Library and Lyceum of
reading, to which is attached a good
collection of minerais. The Library
is yet small, which is partly to be attributed
to the number of private Libraries
owned in the town. There
are 2 printing offices in Winchester,
one issues the Winchester Virginian,
the other, the Winchester Republican.
There is also a monthly periodical
published at the Republican office, for
the publication of sermons. generally
of living ministers of the Lutheran
church, of all parts of the United
States. It is extensively circulated,
and well patronized by the members
of this church. There are 2 Banks
in Winchester, the Farmers' Branch
Bank, and the Bank of the Valley,
with branches at Romney, Leesburg
and Charlestown. The Winchester
and Frederick County Savings Institution,
incoporated last session of the
Legislature, has lately gone into operation
with encouraging prospects.
Winchester possesses one great and
inestimable advantage as a place of
residence, which would leave this article
imperfect not to notice in detail.
We mean the never failing supply of
pure, wholesome spring water. There
is no place in the Union better supplied
with water, or of better quality.
Philadelphia boasts of its water works,
but the water there is river water,
whilst that supplied to the citizens of
Winchester is spring water, cold
enough to be used without ice during
the summer. The water was introduced
into the town 28 or 30 years
ago by wooden pipes, through which
it was conducted from a fine, never
failing spring, about half a mile west
of the town,—the right to the use of
which, was reserved to the citizens
of Winchester by Lord Fairfax, by
express provision. The wooden pipes
were taken up in 1828, and iron pipes
put down in their places. The main
pipe has a bore of about 6 inches: the
lateral pipes about 3 inches. The
length of the iron pipes is about 3
ms. The whole cost to the corporation
did not exceed $12,500. The
water is now conveyed in these pipes
through all the principal streets, and
by lead pipes leading from the iron,
into the yards of a majority of the
citizens, without their paying any
water tax for the privilege. The water
is carried to the extreme parts of
the town, affording a constant and
abundant supply for all the purposes
of domestic use, and to extinguish fire
if necessary; for which purpose, fire
plugs are provided at convenient distances.

This article will now be concluded,
with a brief notice of the internal improvements
in contemplation, and in
progress connected with Winchester.
These are the Valley turnpike, (for
which the Legislature passed an act
the last session) to extend from Winchester
to Harrisonburg. This road
has not yet been commenced, but
when made will greatly increase the
travelling through this Valley, which
presents great inducements to travellers,
from the beauty of its scenery, and
its mineral springs. Perhaps no part
of the world affords a greater variety
of mineral springs, of qualities in-

estimable in the restoration of health,
than the Valley of Virginia. The
state road from Winchester to Parkersburg,
on the Ohio, is now being
made: it will be completed, it is
thought, within 2 years,—its length
is 235 ms. This will be a very important
road in connecting the Atlantic
with the western states; but the
great outlet for all these roads, and
for the rich Valley of Virginia, will
be the Winchester and Potomac Rail
Road, commenced in 1833: this road
it is thought, will be completed in
1836,—its length is about 31 ms connecting
at Harper's Ferry, with those
two grand national works, the Baltimore
and Ohio Rail Road, and the
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. The
effect of these improvements in raising
the value of property in Winchester,
from bringing it in such close
proximity with the eastern cities, and
the natural increase of business and
population, must have an influence on
the prosperity of this place—the extent
of which no one can foresee. If
the same results attend these improvements
which have been produced in
other places, which are destitute of
the same natural advantages, the prosperity
of Winchester must be increased
to an extent, unparalleled in all its
previous history.

County and Corporation Courts
are held on the Monday before the
1st Tuesday in every month. Quarterly
in March, June, August and
November.

Judge Parker, holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 1st of May and November.

GILES.

Giles was created by the Legislature in 1806, and formed from a portion
of Tazewell and Monroe counties. It is bounded N. by Monroe,—N.
E. by Botetourt,—E. and S. E. by Montgomery,—S. by Wythe,—S. W. by
Tazewell,—and W. by the great flat top mountain, which separates it from Logan.
The form of this county approaches to a half moon, and the length between
the points about 70 miles. It lies between lat 37° 06′ and 37° 43′
N. and long. 3° 15′ and 4° 15′ W. of W. C. This county is very mountainous,
the mean level of the cultivated land being 1600 feet above the
ocean.

Several ridges of mountains pass through this county, the principal of
which are Peter's and East River mountains. These are parts of the
same ridge, which appear to have been split asunder by the waters of
New river, which passes through them at the Big Fall. Near Parisburg,
proudly preeminent stands The Angel's Rest, a pinnacle that overtops all
the mountains of the neighborhood, and affords one of the most interesting
prospects in the western country. The Salt Pond mountain also deserves
particular notice. This mountain derives its name from the circumstance,
that the old settlers of the country usually gathered their stock, that ran in
the range at this place, for the purpose of giving them salt. It is situated
about 12 miles to the east of Parisburg; near the top of it, there is an immense
lake of water of an unknown depth and 3 or 4 miles in circumference.
It is said by the old settlers of the country that this pond has arisen
from a spring which flowed into a kind of natural basin situated between
two lofty mountains, and has gradually increased overtoping tree after tree,
which grew on the sides of the mountain, until it at last found an outlet

over the ridge that unites the two mountains. This pond now forms a
beautiful expanse of water near the summit of one of the loftiest mountains
in Virginia, which frequently excites the curiosity of strangers, and
to which the gentry of the county often resort for the object of pleasure
and amusement.

In the upland and mountainous parts of the county the soil is barren and
rocky, but in the valleys between the mountains and on the low grounds
of the creeks and rivers, the land is very fertile and produces freely every
kind of grain. Hemp is the principal staple, a considerable quantity of
which is annually wagoned to Buchanan, at the head of boat navigation
on James river. In a direction from S. E. to N. W. New river runs
through this county, and fertilizes a large portion of its soil. The bottoms
on each side of this stream are remarkably rich and constitute the most
valuable part of the county, affording many handsome country seats, which
in some instances are improved with substantial houses. This river is also
remarkable for its fine fish, particularly the mud and blue cat, which are
very much celebrated among travellers for their fine flavor and astonishing
size, some weighing from 60 to 70 pounds. Other streams of less note
penetrate through this county, the advantages derived from which are very
considerable in a country like this, where the most choice spots are those
which lie on the margin of water courses, and have been enriched by their
fertilizing influence.

The White Sulphur Springs of Giles county are supposed to be inferior
in quality to none in the State, while they combine with the excellence of their
waters many advantages of natural scenery, which if they were well improved
would give them a superiority over most of the watering places in
the neighboring counties, and would be a source of increasing wealth to
the county of Giles. These springs are situated on the banks of New
river, 9 miles E. of Parisburg, on what is supposed to be the nearest route
from that place to Christiansburg in the county of Montgomery. Here
the mind at one moment may be engaged with the most pleasing emotions,
derived from the river scenery, and at the next it will be struck with the
sight of the most awful and majestic cliffs, which at this place overhang
the bed of the river, in all the pomp of lonely grandeur. In a few years
if these springs should be properly managed, and sufficient accommodations
provided, they will afford one of the most delightful summer retreats in the
western part of the State,—possessing every advantage that the invalid can
reasonable hope for, and presenting many attractive inducements for the
votaries of pleasure and gaity.

The most numerous religious sect of the county is that of the Methodists;
but they have as yet erected no house of worship deserving notice.

Population in 1820, 4,522—the county then including a large tract now
included in Logan county—in 1830, 5,270. This county belongs to the
16th judicial circuit, and 8th district. Tax paid in 1833, $564 21—in
1834, on lots, $21 20—on land, $266 15—298 slaves, $74 50—2348
horses, $140 88—9 studs, $47 00—3 carryalls, $3 00—1 gig, 50 cts.
Total, $553 23. Expended in educating poor children in 1832, $281 66
—in 1834, $290 56.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Big Spring, P. O. 264 ms. S. W.
of R. and 324 S. W. by W. of W.
situated in the western part of the
county, on the main post road leading
from Parisburg to Tazewell C.
H.—27 ms. from the former. It
contains several dwelling houses, a
grist mill, a wool carding machine,
and a blacksmith shop. It is located
within 100 yards of the line which
divides the counties of Tazewell and
Giles. Population 9 whites and 7
blacks.

Chapman's Mills, P. O. 255 ms.
S. W. of R.

PARISBURG, P. V. and county
seat. 297 ms. S. W. by W. of W. C.
and 240 S. W. from R., lat 37° 21′
long. 3° 43′ W. of W. C. This
village is situated on the S. W. side
of New river, three-fourths of a mile
from its bank, where that stream
passes through Peters' mountain, immediately
above the gap, and directly
on the main post road, 18 ms. from
the Red Sulphur Springs. It was
established by act of Assembly, and
laid off in June 1806; but owing to
its then being in one of the extreme
frontier counties, the improvements
have progressed but slowly. It contains,
besides the ordinary county
buildings (which are handsome) about
30 dwelling houses, (mostly built of
stone) and a number of others in
progress of erection, 4 mercantile
stores, 2 taverns, 2 common schools,
2 tan yards, 2 saddlers, 2 hatters, 2
cabinet makers, 1 chair maker and
painter, 1 boot and shoe factory, 1
wheelwright, 1 tailor, and 1 brick
and stone mason. Nine miles distant
from this village, are situated the
Hygæn Springs, a white sulphur—
the water of which is supposed to
contain medical properties inferior to
none in Virginia. The scenery at
these springs is grand; they are situated
immediately on the eastern bank
of New river, and both opposite and
below the springs the rocks present
the most majestic appearance: there
being several Natural Pillars that
rise perpendicularly to the height of
from 30 to 200 feet, and natural
arches; one pillar is denominated
"Pompey's Pillar"—near which is
"Cæsar's Arch:" the pillar and arch
nearly join. Five miles from these
springs, and 10 E. of Parisburg, is
situated the Salt Pond, a natural
lake. The mountain on which this
lake or pond is situated, is supposed
to be the highest in Virginia; being
one of the spurs, or it might be called,
the main Alleghany mountain. The
situation of Parisburg is eligible and
picturesque; being located at the extremity
of a mountain called "Angel's
Rest," and which is a continuation
of what is further west called "Clinch
mountain." From the top of Angel's
Rest, is an extensive view of New
river and the surrounding country.
Newbern, in Montgomery, can be
seen at 22 miles distant—and various
other places. There is a line of
stages running daily through this village
from Wythe C. H. to Lewisburg,
Greenbrier county.—This line leaves
the main western route at Newbern,
running from Washington City, to
Knoxville, Tenn. There is also a
mail from Franklin, and another from
Tazewell C. H., running into this
place once a week. White population
170 persons; of whom 2 are
resident attorneys, and 1 a regular
physician—colored 34—total 204.

County Courts are held on the last
Monday in every month. Quarterly
in March, June August, and October.

Judge Brown holds his Circuit
Superior Courts of Law and Chancery
on the 9th of May and October.

GRAYSON.

Grayson was established by the Legislature in the year 1793, from a
portion of the county of Wythe. It is bounded N. by Wythe,—N. E. by
Montgomery,—E. by Patrick,—S. by Surry and Ashe counties of N. C.—
and W. by Washington. Its mean length is 66⅓ miles, mean breadth 14;
and its area 927 square miles. It extends in lat from 36° 33′ to 36° 53′,
and in long. from 3° 28′ to 4° 46′ W. of W. C. Grayson is the most
eastern of the southern counties of Virginia, which are comprised in the
valley of the Ohio river. Great Kanawha rises in Ashe county of N. C.
and flows northeastwardly into Grayson, and thence turning eastward about
20 miles along the line of Va. and N. C.; and turning N. N. E. it traverses
Grayson, which it leaves by piercing the iron mountain. This
county slopes northward, and is drained by innumerable creeks, which
flow into the Great Kanawha, which is here called New river. The elevation
of Grayson is about 1600 feet above the level of the ocean.

Population in 1810, 4,941—in 1820, 5,598—in 1830, 7,675. This county
belongs to the 10th judicial circuit and 5th district. Tax paid in 1833,
$468 45—in 1834 on lots, $10 54—on land, $232 90—215 slaves, $53 75
—2238 horses, $134 28—8 studs, $31 00—1 coach, $2 00—4 carryalls,
$4 50. Total, $468 97. Expended in educating poor children in 1832,
$544 15—in 1833, $495 23.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Cranberry Plain, P. O. 277
ms. S. W. by W. of R. and 353 from
W., situated on Cranberry creek, a
small branch of the Great Kanawha,
which rises in the Iron mountains,
and flows S. over the west angle of
Graysen, into Ashe Co. N. C.

GREENSVILLE, or GRAYSON
C. H. P. V. and Seat of Justice, 276
ms. from R. and 354 S. W. by W. of
W., situated on the right bank of
New river, 25 ms. S. S. E. of Eversham,
the county seat of Wythe. It
contains besides the usual county
buildings, 9 dwelling houses, 3 miscellaneous
stores, 1 tavern, and several
mechanics. White population 49
persons; of whom 1 is an attorney—
blacks 19—total 68.

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

Judge Brown holds his Circuit
Superior Courts of Law and Chancery
on the 10th of April and September.

GREENBRIER.

Greenbrier was formed by the Legislature in 1777, and created from
portions of Botetourt and Montgomery. It is bounded N. by Nicholas,
and Pocahontas,—E. by Bath. and Alleghany,—S. by Monroe,—and W.
by Great Kanawha, which separates it from Logan. Its mean length is 46
miles, mean breadth 32½; and area 1,409 square miles. It extends in lat.
from 37° 40′ to 38° 18′ N. and in long. 3° to 4° 3′ W. of W. C. It is principally
drained by Greenbrier river, and its tributaries, but from its western

border numerous creeks flow northwestwardly into Gauly river, the
principal of which is Sewell's creek.[39] It rises in Sewell's mountain (the
highest mountain in this county,) and is one of the extreme southern
sources of Gauley river. The surface of this county is much broken and
in parts mountainous. The most conspicuous is that known by the name
of Keeney's Nob, on which is a creek which rises near the top of the
mountain, runs west and empties into New river, one mile below Richmond's
falls. Keeney's Nob runs parallel with New river. The country
here is a wilderness. The mountains are covered with a growth of large
timber of various kinds, and are infested with reptiles, such as the rattle
snake, copper head, black snake, &c. &c. There is an abundance of deer,
wild turkeys, pheasants, wolves, wild cats, panthers, bears, and a variety of
small game.—The mean elevation of the farms above the ocean level is at-least
1500 feet. The staples of this county are Indian corn, oats, buckwheat
and cattle.

Population in 1820, 7,340, and in 1830, 9,006. This county belongs
to the 17th judicial circuit and 9th district. Tax paid in 1833, $1719 75
—in 1834 on lots, $49 70—on land, $858 39—644 slaves, $161 00—
4788 horses, $287 28—22 studs, $208 00—21 coaches, $42 50—2

stages, $4 00—11 carryalls, $11 00—10 gigs, $5 10. Total, $1,671 97.
Expended in educating poor children in 1832, $537 90—in 1833, no commissioners
report.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Anthony's Creek, P. O. 254 ms.
from W. and 212 N. W. by W. of R.
This post office is located in the north
eastern part of the county, and is called
after the name of a small stream
running N. E. and S. W. nearly
parallel with the Greenbrier, until it
empties into that river, 30 ms. from
its source. It rises in small rills on
the north side of the Alleghany
mountain, and runs along its foot,
gradually increasing to the width of
about 50 feet at its mouth—in a beautiful
well timbered valley. The
land is fertile and well adapted to all
kinds of grain and grazing. Horses,
cattle, &c. are raised in abundance in
this valley. There are between 70
and 80 dwelling houses on the different
farms, and the principal pursuit
of the inhabitants is agriculture,
though there are many mechanics,
such as tanners, blacksmiths, gunsmiths,
carpenters, joiners, cabinet
makers, watch makers, boot and shoe
makers, &c. There are 2 houses of
public worship, (1 Presbyterian and
1 Methodist,) 3 common schools, 1
temperance society, 1 mercantile store,
4 grist and 5 saw mills. The situation
of this post office is handsome
and eligible, on the main post road
leading from the Warm Springs in
Bath county; which crosses the
Greenbrier near the mouth of Anthony's
creek, on a neat and permanent
covered free bridge, near 200 feet in
length, and which intersects the Kanawha
turnpike road 13 ms. west of
Lewisburg;—distant 21 ms. from the
county seat, and 13 N. E. of the
White Sulphur Springs. This valley
has the Alleghany mountain on
the S. and other hills too steep for
cultivation on the north. They afford,
however, extensive ranges for
stock in summer, and wild game for
the hunter is still found.

Blue Sulphur Springs, P. O.
234 ms. W. of R. and 276 S. W. by
W. of W. C., situated 20 ms. from the
White Sulphur Springs, 10 S. W. of
Lewisburg, and 18 ms. N. of the
Salt Sulphur Springs. They take
their rise in a narrow, yet beautiful,
and fertile valley, which is terminated
a short distance above by lofty
mountains. This valley is a branch
or arm of a larger one, here thrown
out as if to penetrate deeper into the
solitude of the mountains, by whose
lofty battlements it is almost encircled.
These mountains present their
towering heads high above the adjacent
country, covered with a richly
variegated forest, which the timid
deer seek for shelter from the eager
pursuit of their enemies. From their
rocky sides gush limpid springs,
which uniting, form a beautiful rivulet
that irrigates and fertilizes the
bottoms below. It pursues its gentle
and meandering line down the valley
which widens as the hills recede, until
it is lost by its union with another
stream of its own name.

The mountain scenery is indeed
rich and romantic, presenting an almost
endless variety, interesting and
delightful. Here the painter may
find employment in sketching the
bold outline of nature's works—the
botanist in contemplating the beauties
and varieties of the vegetable kingdom—and
the philosopher and mineralogist,
in speculating upon the unexplored
regions of fossil and miseral
formations, with which these mountains
so richly abound.

Within the precincts of the springs
stand groves of sugar maple, interspersed
with other forest trees, in all

the beautiful irregularity of nature;
under their luxuriant foilage, is
spread a verdant carpet, inviting the
weary to rest,—the seekers of health
and pleasure to recline, and inhale
the pure breeze that passes by, and
taste the salubrious fountain that bubbles
beneath. Nature has performed
her part, and it remains alone for the
hand of enterprise and industry, to
develope the beauty and utility of this
highly favored spot. The proprietors,
sensible of its value and advantages,
are now engaged in erecting
upon it improvements commensurate
with the utmost demands of the public.
The buildings are planned and
commenced upon an extensive scale,
uniting elegance, convenience, and
durability. The grounds within the
precincts of the establishment will be
so laid out as to promote the ease
and enjoyment of the visiter, and at
the same time, add to the convenience
and embellishment of the premises.
From 20 to 30 thousand dollars will
be expended as soon as practicable, and
other additional improvements made
as the interests of the public may require.
The day is not distant, when the
Blue Sulphur Springs will be brought
into successful competition with any
other watering place of fashionable
resort in Western Virginia.

Dr. Simpkins remarks, "that having
practised medicine in the county
of Greenbrier for some 9 or 10 years,
I have had during that period annual
manifestations of the healing powers
of the Blue Sulphur water, in the
following catalogue of diseases, viz.
dyspepsia in its first stage; dyspepsia
or indigestion complicated with deranged
function of the liver; habitual
constipation, arising from a deficiency
of healthy bile, from sedentary habits,
or from atony, or weakness of the
bowels. In the sequel, of Asiatic
cholera, I have had reason to believe
the Blue Sulphur water to be a powerful
restorative."

In hemorrhoidal affections it is particularly
serviceable. In that endless
variety of nervous and hypochondriacal
feelings, which have their
origin in a deranged state of the digestive
and glandular organs, the
remedial efficacy of the water, when
brought into judicious operation, will
insure permanent relief:—also in that
family of distempers which have their
seat in the skin, the Blue Sulphur
water may be regarded as a never
failing remedy.

Cases of great debility and emaciation
of system, produced by a long
existence of some local disease, it is
peculiarly adapted.

In all affections growing out of
some perversion in the uterine function;—as
hysteria, chlorosis, or green
sickness; partial or total suppression
of the menstruel secretion, &c., the
Blue Sulphur water may be resorted
to in full confidence of obtaining
speedy relief.

From the tried virtues of this
medical spring in the list of diseases
above enumerated, I think we may
correctly infer, that it holds at least
three active medicinal qualities in its
composition, viz. a tonic quality,
which admirably sustains and husbands
the debilitated system, while
the alimentary canal, and glandular
organs, are efficiently operated upon
by its cathartic and deobstruent powers.

Clintonville, P. O. 231 ms. N.
W. of R. and 273 from W., situated
on the James and Kanawha turnpike,
near the junction of the Warm
Spring and old State road, 11 ms.
west of Lewisburg, 13 ms. S. W. of
Frankfort, 44 S. E. of Summerville,
39 E. of Fayette C. H. and 8 ms.
W. of Sewell's mountain. The
ridge which divides the lime from
the freestone country, is in the immediate
vicinity of this place. A daily
and a weekly mail arrive at this village.
The improvements consist of
several dwelling houses, 1 house of
entertainment, 1 miscellaneous store,

a blacksmith shop, 1 cabinet maker's
establishment, and 1 Methodist house
of worship. Population 16 whites
and 8 blacks.

Frankfort, P. V. 231 ms. from
R. and 273 S. W. of W., situated 10
ms. N. E. of Lewisburg, and 3 W. of
Greenbrier river, in a beautiful and
wealthy part of the county. It contains
about 50 dwelling houses, 1
Methodist house of worship, 2 common
schools, 1 for males and 1 for
females, 2 mercantile stores, 2 taverns,
1 tanyard, 1 saddler, and various other
mechanics. Population 230 persons;
of whom 1 is an attorney, and
2 are regular physicians. There are
very extensive sales of stock annually
effected in the neighborhood of this
village.

Hocrman, P. O. 233 ms. from R.
and 275 S. W. by W. of W.

LEWISBURG P. V. and Seat of
Justice, 221 ms. W. of R. and 263 S.
W. by W. of W.; in lat. 37° 48′ N.
and long. 3° 26′ W. of W. C. This
village is situated near the southern
border of the county, immediately on
the James river and Kanawha turnpike,
equi-distant 100 ms. from
Charleston, Kanawha, and Staunton,
Augusta, 9 ms. west of the White
Sulphur, and 12 east of the Blue Sulphur
Springs. Besides the ordinary
county buildings, it contains 101
dwelling houses, 3 houses of public
worship, (1 Baptist, 1 Presbyterian,
and 1 Methodist) 1 academy 1 common
school, and 3 Sunday s. hools, 6
mercantile stores, 1 printing office, issuing
a weekly paper, 2 tanyards, 3
saddlers, 4 blacksmith shops 2 copper
smiths and tin plate workers, 3
brick layers, 4 house carpenters 4
tailor shops, 2 cabinet makers, 2
watch and clock makers, 2 wagon makers,
and 3 hotels. The situation of
this village, is in a healthy, mountainous
region. It has been rapidly
improving for the last 3 or 4 years,
Population about 750 persons; of
whom 7 are attorneys, and 3 regular
physicians.

The western branch of the Court
of Appeals sets here, and commences
its session the 1st Monday in July,
and if business requires may set 90
days. The U. S. District Court sets
on the Friday succeeding the 1st
Monday of April and September.

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

Circuit Superior Courts of Law
and Chancery are held on the 10th of
May and October, by Judge Taylor

Lick Creek, P. O. 236 ms. from
R. and 293 N. W. by W. of W., situted
near the county line of Fayette.
It contains numerous dwelling houses,
and several mechanics. Its population
is 280. The land on the creek
is of good quality, producing well, Indian
corn, wheat, rye, oats and potatoes,
and table vegetables in abundance.
There are 3 grist mills in
the vicinity. A large stream of sulphur
water is found 5 ms. distant from
this P. O. near the mouth of the
creek.

Maysville, P. O. 224 ms. from
R. and 266 S. W. by W. of W.

Meadow Dale, P. O. 246 ms.
from R. and 288 from W.

Sewell Mountain, P. O. 252
ms. from R. and 294 S. W. by W. of
W., situated in the western part of the
county.

Spring Creek, P. O. 212 ms.
from R. and 254 S. W. by W. of W.

White Sulphur Springs, P. O.
212 ms. W. of R. and 254 S. W. of
W., situated in the eastern part of the
county, 9 ms. S. E. by E. of Lewisburg.
We regret that the proprietors
have not thought proper, to reply to
the repeated applications, made to
them for a description of this celebrated
and delightful watering place.
The great beauty of the place, the ex-

tensive buildings erected and yet erecting,
and always insufficient,—the vast
concourse of visiters, the medicinal
powers of the waters, &c. are subjects
of which a detailed account might
have been written, which would have
been interesting not only to this state,
but to the whole country, which is
beginning to appreciate the excellence
of these waters. Already there is a
vast concourse of strangers, from the
north and the south, the east and the
west, coming from the din and bustle of
the city, or the baneful miasmata of
the marshes, to find health and pleasure
at the Virginia Springs, among
which this shines forth

It has never been our misfortune
to he compelled to seek it for health,
but as an agreeable summer retreat,
no place can surpass it. We presume
the buildings in the approaching
summer of 1835, will be sufficient to
accommodate 400 persons. Several
large and handsome hotels have
sprung up in the neighborhood, for
the distance of 6 or 7 ms. with the
view of merely accomodating, the
company, over-flowing from the limited
accommodation at the Springs.
The General Assembly in the session
of 1833-4, granted a charter of incorporation
to the proprietors, but we
believe the stock has never been taken.
The property is now chiefly owned
by Mr. Caldwell. The capital authorized
by the charter is $500,000,
(of which not less than three-fifths are
to be held by other than the present
proprietors) or 5000 shares at $100
each.

"We knew the White Sulphur,
when the accommodations were confined,
and much unequal to the demand.
Those accommodations have
rapidly expanded, year after year, but
they are still as inadequate as 12 years
ago. The multitudes who flock thither
for recreation o
with the resources of the country and
its population, and will continue to increase
beyond what would now appear
a rational calculation. As a
property it is impossible to estimate
its worth. Some 10 years ago it was
estimated at from 75 to $150,000. It
has ascended in speculation to 500,000,
750,000, and $1,000,000. A few
years hence, when further improved,
this will unquestionably be thought
far below the true value; for although
it is possible that as good sulphur water
may be found, better can never be,
and the established fame of the White
Sulphur must at all times, keep down
destructive competition."

HAMPSHIRE.

Hampshire was established by the Legislature in 1754, from a portion
of Augusta and Frederick. It is bounded by Morgan N. E., Frederick E.,
Hardy S. and Potomac and Alleghany county of Maryland, N. E. and N.
Its mean length is about 33 ms.; mean breadth 30; and area 989 sq. ms.
It extends in lat from 1° 28′, to 2° 12′ W. of W. C. A large proportion of
the soil is poor, and much that is cultivated, is on steep acclivities. It nevertheless
produces an abundance of wheat of the first quality, for a few crops
after it is first cleared, and would continue to produce well, were it judiciously
cultivated, as gypsum acts powerfully upon it. The high mountains
are untillable, but would afford an excellent range for sheep, both as
to the quality of mutton and wool which would be produced, could the attention
of the inhabitants be turned that way. The people inhabiting the

hills and mountains, though poor, are honest and hardy, and independent,
living comfortably upon the produce of their own lands.

The principal streams are South branch of Potomac, the North branch of
Potomac, the main river Potomac, and the great Cacapon. On all of these
there are extensive and fertile low grounds. The South branch has long
been celebrated for its rich, and inexhaustible bottom lands. In the county
of Hardy through which the South branch flows, before it enters Hampshire,
the low grounds on this river as regards the feitility, may be styled the
garden spot of Virginia, and are not surpassed in natural productiveness by
any perhaps in the world. They have been known to be cultivated in Indian
corn, in some instances, for 20, 30 or 40 years in succession, with very
little dimunition of their product. In Hampshire the low grounds become
narrow, with some small change in the quality of the soil, but are estimated
at very high prices by the owners. They have sold at the extravagant
price of 100 and $150 per Hardy, as high as $300, but those
days have past. The bottoms on the North branch are also rich, but inferior
to those on the South.

On the great Cacapon which flows in a course of 40 ms. and upwards
through the county, the low grounds are inferior to those on the North
branch. Patterson's creck also flows through the whole breadth of the
county, having fine bottom lands on its margin throughout its course. The
face of the country here, and in the county of Hardy, give evidence of
convulsions and disruptions, which we might suppose took place in a war
between rivers and mountains at some remote period, from which it might
be infered, that the rich valley on the South branch, had at one time been
a lake; that the waters had risen until they had broken over the mountains
in different places, and torn for themselves a passage through, quite down
to their bases; leaving tremendous precipices of rocks of astonishing height,
which overhang the traveller on the road, passing through those breaches
on the narrow margin, now formed between the river and the rocks. One
of these is to be seen about 4 ms. below the town of Romney, constituting
an object of great grandcur and sublimity to the beholder; and what heightens
his wonder and curiosity, still more, it appears as if the capricious river
not content with the victory it had gained, or the course it had taken: about
3 or 4 ms. below, it breaks through the same mountain again, to the same
side on which it had previously flowed, leaving a similar precipice on its
opposite side.

But one of the most puzzelling curiosities in this county, is what is called
the Ice mountain. It appears to be an entire pile of stone from its base to
its summit, about the size of building stone, destitute of soil or clay, trees
or shrubs, with few exceptions. It is fully exposed to the whole power of
the sun's rays for the greatest part of the day, yet throughout the whole of
the hottest summer, on any part of this mountain thus exposed to the sun,
lumps of ice may be found on turning up the stones to the depth of about a
foot, which shews that the mineralogical or chemical composition of the
mountain, is such as to preserve ice in hot weather, if not to produce it: but
what that composition is, has not yet been ascertained, though it is notorious
that the ice may be found as stated. This natural ice house is situated near
the North River Mills, and near the old road leading from Romney to
Winchester, about 17 ms. from the former,—in the north western section
of the county, on the margin of the North branch of the Potomac. The
boundary at that place between Virginia and Maryland, are immense fields

of bituminous coal, which have lately attracted the attention of capitalists
from the cities, who are at this time rapidly purchasing them up, with a
view to the great profits which it is contemplated they will yield, when the
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal shall reach them. The calculation is no doubt
a rational one, when the small expense which it will require to place this
coal in the boat, and the facility of carrying it to market on the canal (if it
should be made) is considered. Near to these coal fields there are indicacations
of iron ore in large quantities, affording the most ample means of
competing with England in the cheapness of bar iron for Rail Roads, &c.:
for it is well known that where iron is made by stone coal instead of wood
coal, and by rolling it out in mills instead of hammering, it can be sold for
one half the price which it must cost to make it by charcoal and forge hammers,
as is practised now in the United States with few exceptions. There
are large deposits of iron ore over the whole country. It is thought to be
more abundant in this, than in in the state. Along the
great Cacapon, from its source to its mouth, the appearance of large mines
of it, is to be seen in almost every ridge. Very little of it has yet been
worked, but the greatest part of what has been tried, is found to be of the
best quality. In fact for the manufacture of iron, the great Cacapon may
become to Virginia, what Juniata has to Pennsylvania, a great source of
wealth. The men of wealth on the South branch, and in other parts of the
county, have hitherto been so entirely engrossed in fattening beef for market,
that they have thought very little of improving any other resource of
the country, not even in erecting mills, for manufacturing flour; but it is to
be hoped, that the north western turnpike, now making, which passes
through the whole length of the country from east to west, will bring its
other resources into action which were locked up before by the mountains.
The lowest elevation of this county is along the branches of the Potomac,
and this exceeds 500 ft. Population in 1820, 10,889—1830, 11,279. It
belongs to the 13th judicial circuit, and 7th district. Tax paid in 1833,
$2,399 27—in 1834, on lots, $19 01—on land, $1,631 86—703 slaves,
$175 75—4,925 horses, $295 50—22 studs. $169 00—6 coaches, $13 00
22 carryalls, $22 00—7 gigs, $5 80. Total, $2,411 92. Expended in
educating poor children in 1832, $912 14—in 1834, $949 00.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Burlington, P. O. 205 ms. from
R. and 126 N. N. W. of Washington
City, situated on a small water
course, called Patterson's creek. It
contains a mercantile store, a house
of entertainment, several houses occupied
by mechanics, and a house of
public worship, free for all denominations.
The mail passes and repasses
this post office once a week. A new
route has been lately established from
this place, to Smith's Farm in Alleghany
county, Maryland; on which
the mail passes to and fro once a
week. The north western turnpike
from Winchester to the Ohio, passes
immediately through this place, having
passed through Romney, the
county seat, 11 ms. E.

Cold Stream Mill and P. O.
172 ms. from R. and 93 N. W. by
W. of W. This village is situated
20 ms. N. W. of Winchester, 21 S.
E. of Romney, and 2 N. of the Parkersburg
and Winchester road. It
contains, 12 dwelling houses, 1 Episcopalian,
and 1 Presbyterian house of
worship, 1 classical school, 1 mercantile
store, 1 woollen manufactory,
extensive manufacturing flour mill,

2 saw mills, 2 gunsmiths, doing a
considerable business annually, 1
cabinet maker, and various other mechanics.
Population 68 whites, 2 of
whom are physicians, and 12 colored,—total
80. Much timber is carried
in boats and rafts from this place,
down the Big Cacapon to the Potomac,
and thence to various markets.
The Cold Stream is one of the best
water courses in the state; on it are
several mill seats and manufactories;
it flows abundantly in the dryest season,
and never freezes in winter. It
empties into the Cacapon river, about
50 above the woollen factory
before mentioned. The bottom and
level lands in this neighborhood are
fertile, producing corn, wheat oats,
rye, &c., and are improved by clover
and plaster. The country around is
somewhat mountainous, generally
high and rocky. Six miles N. of
this place is the famous Ice mountain
spoken of in the general description
of Virginia in the first part of the
work. The mountain is situated
near North river, and on the north
west side of the mountain. By removing
the stones for a about a foot
below the surface, ice may be had in
any quantity in the dryest and hottest
season of the year.

Dillon's Run, P. O. 179 ms. N.
W. of R. and 100 N. W. of W., situated
16 miles E. of Romney, the
county seat.

Frankfort, P. O. 203 ms. from
R. and 124 ms. N. W. by W. of W.,
situated near the right bank of Patterson's
creek, in the northern part
of the county. It contains 25 dwelling
houses, 1 Episcopalian house of
worship, 3 miscellaneous stores, 2
taverns, 1 manufacturing flour mill,
1 tan yard, 1 saddler, 2 blacksmith
shops, 1 cooper, 1 wagon maker, 1
hatter, 1 chair maker, and 3 boot and
shoe factories. Population 146
whites, including 1 physician, and 13
colored,—total 159.

Glencoe, P. O. 170 ms. from R.
and 91 N. of W. Glencoe though
called a village, is simply a post office,
at which is kept a mercantile store
of considerable notoriety. It is situated
on the road leading from Winchester
to Romney, 19 ms. from the
former, and 25 from the latter. In
the vicinity on the great Cacapon are
situated 2 extensive manufacturing
flour mills, an iron forge, in great
repute, 2 tan yards, several wagon
makers, and blacksmith shops; and
various other mechanics in the neighborhood.
Within 10 ms. of this
place are situated the celebrated Capon
Springs, which are famed for
the medical qualities of their waters.
The accommodations are comfortable
and convenient, and there are generally
in the summer months from 50
to 70 boarders, who resort to these
springs for health and pleasure. The
country around is extremely rough
and mountainous. The great Cacapon
at its head, takes the name of
Lost river, from the fact that it disappears,
and after taking a subterraneous
passage for some considerable
distance, is seen again. When this
stream is high great quantities of
lumber are conveyed to Harper's
Ferry, Georgetown, Washington
City, and Alexandria. Some years
since the Cacapon and North river
company was created with a view of
making these streams navigable.
Five miles distant from this place,
there is an extensive vineyard, belonging
to Gen'l Lockhart, in a flourishing
condition, the wine of which
is said for flavor and richness, nearly
to equal any imported. He manufactured
in each of the successive
years of 1832-3, from 5 acres, 30
barrels. The different religious denominations
in this section are Presbyterians,
Baptists and Methodists.

Hanging Rock, P. O. 182 ms.
from R. and 103 S. W. by W. of W.,
situated 28 ms. W. of Winchester,
and 15 E. of Romney, the county
seat. Hanging Rock post office derives

its name from a large rock that
projects or hangs over the road, passing
through a gap of the North river
mountain, where the northwestern
turnpike road, lately located from
Winchester to the Ohio river, now
passes. This Rock is situated about
a fourth of a mile on the E. side of
the North river, a stream navigable
for rafts, boats, &c. It empties into
great Cacapon, 14 ms. N. E. of this
place. The post office was first established
near the rock, but has been
twice moved,—its present location is
2½ miles west of the rock. In the
vicinity there are 2 houses of public
worship, (1 Methodist called Hanging
Rock Meeting House, the other
free for all denominations, called
Zion's Church,) 1 manufacturing
flour mill, and 1 grist mill. Two
miles below the rock, on a small
stream emptying into North river, 4
miles above this place, are 2 grist and
1 oil mill, and carding machine. The
lands on North river are generally
fertile and productive, and those lying
between North river and South
Branch of Potomac, are mostly broken
and hilly, but where well cultivated
are tolerably productive. The
turnpike crosses 3 considerable mountains,
viz. North river, Sandy ridge,
and Dillon's mountains.

Little Cacapon, river and P. O.
188 ms. from R. and 109 from W.
The P. O. is situated 1 mile W. of
Little Cacapon river, 14 N. E. of
Romney, and 7 E. of Springfield, at
the Sulphur Springs, on the Springfield
road. The water of this spring
is strongly impregnated with minerals,
is pleasant to the taste, and is
somewhat noted for its salubrious
efficacy. At this spring there is a
natural mound, composed of rock
and earth, about 20 feet in height and
60 in circumference at its base, with
the main post road passing on one
side, and a small stream of water on
the other. This mound invariably
attracts the attention of the passing
traveller, being unconnected with any
other high ground, and loaded with
a growth of large timber. There
has been lately erected here a house
of entertainment. Little Cacapon
has its source in the Grassy Lick, on
Stoney mountains, in the southwest
part of the county, runs northeast 50
miles, and after receiving numerous
tributaries, empties into the Potomac
river.—This stream was declared a
public highway by an act of the Virginia
Legislature in 1832, and is
navigable for boats, rafts, &c. 20 ms.
from its mouth. The soil on this
creek is of good quality, producing
well wheat, corn, rye, oats, &c.
There are 1 manufacturing flour mill,
7 saw and 5 grist mills, located on
this stream; and in its vicinity are 3
houses of public worship, (2 Baptist
and 1 Presbyterian.) The uplands
in the neighborhood are slate soil,
and when first cleared produce good
wheat, corn, &c. The mountains
and hills abound in pine of the best
quality. The principal mountains
are Spring Gap and Little Capon
mountains on the east,—and Town
Hill mountain on the west, running
parallel with the stream.

North River Mills, P. O. 178
ms. from R. and 99 from W.

North River Meeting House,
P. O. 194 ms. from R. and 115 N.
W. by W. of W.

Paddytown, P. V. 214 ms. from
R. and 135 N. W. by W. of W.
This small but romantic village contains
6 dwelling houses, 1 mercantile
store, 1 manufacturing flour mill; and
there are in the immediate vicinity, 1
forge and furnace. It is situated upon
the banks of the North Branch of
Potomac river, between Knobley,
New Creek and Alleghany mountains,
commanding a beautiful prospect
of the latter, which lies within
one and a half mile distant:—Queen's
Point and Slim Bottom Hill. Queen's
Point is remarkable for the magnificent
aspect, which is here presented

to the spectator. This Point overlooks
the river, and is upwards of
600 feet high, the extremity or top of
which is decorated with a large projecting
rock upwards of 100 feet in
height. Through this rock which
is about 200 feet in width there is a
kind of avenue or alley, thro' which
visitors generally pass. This point
is a place of considerable resort, during
the summer season, and derives
its name from the circumstance of a
traveller by the name of Queen, having
attempted to pass by the foot path,
which leads around the base of the
rock, upon horseback, but the feet of
the animal slipping he was precipitated
with his rider over the precipice,
and both were killed.

Slim Bottom Hill is also a place
of some resort, and from its novelty
deserves to be partially noticed. The
most conspicuous part of this place
is a large prominent projecting rock
which overhangs the river, the height
of which is about 90 feet. This
rock appears to have been at one time
connected with the opposite rock on
the Maryland side. This general
opinion is derived from their similarity,
and the fact of their being so near
in contact, the river only separating
them. There are several other natural
curiosities immediately in the vicinity
of this village worthy of notice;
amongst others is a cavern or
cave, upon the side of Martin's Hill,
(another noted point not much short of
one thousand feet high,) from whence
there flows a very small stream.
This stream in this cave during the
summer season produces considerable
quantities of excellent ice. This remarkable
phenomenon can only be
solved in the following manner. Its
local situation being due north, and
the lower mouth being at the base of
the hill, and ascending gradually a
distance of perhaps 30 or 40 feet below
the surface of the earth, nearly
to the top of the hill, where it again
makes its appearance (though the
cavity is rather small to make it practicable
for persons to pass through.)
It thereby gives the cold northern
winds free access, which naturally
freezes the water in winter, and the
cavity serves as an icehouse, during
the summer. There is also a similar
cave on the land of Janney's heirs,
whence their issues a perpetual
breeze which is extremely cold.
This spot has a small house built
over it and is occupied as a milk
house. There is in this vicinity on
the lands of J. Singleton, a Salt
spring, from which there has been
several barrels of good salt manufactured.

ROMNEY, P. V. and seat of justice,
on the right bank of the South
Branch of Potomac, 195 ms. from R.
116 N. N. W. of W., 39 ms. in a
similar direction from Winchester,
and 28 S. of Cumberland in Maryland,
situated in lat 49° 20′ N. and
long 1° 42′ W. of W. C. Population
in 1830, 346, of whom 100
were colored persons.

County Courts are held on the 4th
Monday in every month:—Quarterly
in March, June, August and November.

Judge Parker holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 28th of April and 12th
September.

Sherrard's Store, P. O. 174
ms. from R. and 95 from W.

Sheetz's Mill, P. O. 205 ms. from
R. and 126 N. W. by W. of W.

Springfield, P. V. 197 ms. from
R. and 118 N. W. by W. of W.
This village is situated at the intersection
of the post roads, leading
from Winchester to the national turnpike,
(42 ms. from the former and 17
from the latter) and the road leading
from Romney, to Old Town, Md., between
the South and North Branches
of the Potomac river, 1 mile from
the former and 7 from the latter. It
contains 30 dwelling houses, 2 houses
of public worship, (1 Presbyterian

and 1 Methodist,) 1 seminary in
which are taught all the necessary
branches of an English education, 2
mercantile stores, 3 taverns, 1 tan
yard, 1 saddler, 3 boot and shoe factories,
2 smith shops, 2 tailors, 1
chair maker, 1 house joiner, and 1
wagon maker. Springfield is probably
one of the healthiest villages in
the Union, surrounded by beautiful
mountain scenery, and in the neighborhood
of forests, well stocked with
wild game, such as deer, turkeys,
pheasants, squirrels, &c. Population
162 persons; of whom 1 is a physician.

HARDY.

Hardy was created by the Legislature in 1786, and formed from a portion
of Hampshire county. It is bounded by Hampshire N. and N. E., Shenandoah
E., Rockingham S. E., Pendleton S., Randolph S. W. and W. and
Alleghany county, of Maryland, N. W.; its mean length is 42 ms.; breadth
17 and area 714 sq. ms., extending in lat from 38° 43′, to 39° 18′ N. and
in long. from 1° 43′, to 2° 30′ W. of W. C. The surface of Hardy inclines
to the N. E. and is traversed in that direction by the South branch, and sevral
other tributaries of the Potomac; with lateral chains of mountains intervening,
which also extend in a similar direction with the rivers. The
surface is much broken, and for the most part very rocky and sterile; but
tracts of excellent land, lie on the streams, and in the mountain vallies. The
mean elevation of the arable land, is perhaps 1000 ft. above the ocean.
There are some valuable banks of iron ore in this county, among these the
one near the Cacapon furnace, about 30 ms. from Winchester, deserves to
be mentioned. Population in 1820, 5,700—in 1830, 6,778. This county
belongs to the 14th judicial circuit, and 7th district. Tax paid in 1833,
$2,549 64—in 1834, on lots, $34 21—on land, $1,999 81—607 slaves,
$151 75—3,837 horses, $230 22—20 studs, $173 00—8 coaches, $17 50
3 carryalls, $3 00. Total, $2,609 49. Expended in educating poor children
in 1832, $332 23—in 1833, $665 87.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Federal Hill, P. O. 178 ms. W.
of R. and 125 W. of W. C., situated
in the eastern part of the county.

Hazard Forge, P. O. 212 ms.
from R. and 145 W. of W. C.

MOOR FIELDS, P. V. and Seat of
Justice, 195 ms. from R. and 128 W.
of W. C. in lat. 39° 02′ N. and long
2″ 02′ W. of W. C. This village is
situated on the right bank of the South
branch of the Potomac, at the junction
of the South fork, in one of the
richest vallies in western Virginia, 50
ms. a little S. W. of Winchester. It
contains besides the usual county
buildings, 50 dwelling houses, 1
house of public worship, free for all
denominations, 1 English school, 2
Bible, 1 tract and 1 temperance society,
1 public library well supported, 5
mercantile stores, 1 tanyard, 2 saddlers,
1 hatter, 3 smith shops, 2 cabinet
makers, 2 house carpenters, 2 boot
and shoe factories, 3 tailors, 1 wagon
maker, and 2 milliners. In the vicinity
are 3 manufacturing flour mills
and 2 country mills, 2 carding and
1 fulling and dying machine. Population
350 persons; of whom 3 are attorneys,
and 4 regular physicians.

County Courts are held on the 3d
Tuesday in every month,—Quarterly

in March, June, August and November.

Judge Smith holds his Circuit
Superior Courts of Law and Chancery
on the 21st of April and September.

Lost River, P. O. 130 ms. W. of
W. C. situated in the eastern part of
the county.

Luney's Creek, P. O. 201 ms.
from R. and 141 W. of W., situated
10 ms. W. of Moor Field.

Trout Run, or Wardensville,
Election Precinct and P. V. 180 ms.
from R. and 101 W. of W. This
village is situated on Trout Run,
which here unites with Lost River,
and forms the great Cacapon. The
great Cacapon is navigable at some
seasons of the year,—its principal
stream Lost River, rises within 2 ms.
of Wardensville, after having passed
several ms. under ground. This village
was laid off in 1827, and now
contains 17 dwelling houses, 1 house
of public worship, free for all denominations,
1 common school, 2 taverns,
1 tanyard, 1 saddler, 1 boot and shoe
maker, 2 tailors, 1 wagon maker, 1
chair maker, 1 hatter, 1 house joiner,
1 milliner and mantua maker, 1 stone
mason, and 1 smith shop. Population
75 persons, of whom 1 is a physician.
In the vicinity of this place,
are 2 manufacturing flour mills, and
4 iron works, 2 forges for manufacture
of bar iron, and 2 furnaces for
making pig iron and castings. Wardensville
is situated 28 ms. from Winchester,
18 from Woodstock, and equi
distant 26 from the county seats of
Hardy and Hampshire. It is destined
from its central situation, to become
a place of some importance.

HARRISON.

Harrison was created in 1784, and formed from a portion of Monongalia.
It is bounded N. and N. E. by Monongalia, E. by Randolph, S. by
Lewis, and W. by Wood and Tyler. Its mean length is 50 ms.; mean
breath 22 and area 1100 sq. ms., extending in lat. from 39° 03′, to 39° 35′
N. and in long. from 2° 53′ to 3° 55′ W. of W. C. The Western branch
of the Monongahela river, enters the southern border of Harrison, and winding
N. N. E. receives from both sides, numerous creeks, which drain the
central and most considerable part of this county. The western part however
declines westward, and is drained by the sources of Middle Island
creek. The surface of the whole county is much broken, but generally fertile.
Population in 1820, 10,932—1830, 14,792. It belongs to the 18th
judicial circuit, and 9th district. Tax paid in 1833, $1,616 64—in 1834,
on lots, $133 21—on land, 1,056 27—339 slaves, $84 75—5,284 horses,
$317 04—28 studs, $106 00—11 carryalls, $11 00. Total, $1,708 27.
Expended in educating poor children in 1832, $976 13—in 1833, $970 98.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Bridgeport, P. O. 266 ms. from
R. and 220 from W., situated 10 ms.
E. of Clarksburg, on Simpson's creek,
a branch of the west fork of the Monongahela
river. The location of the
north western turnpike road runs
through the town of Bridgeport. It
contains 20 dwelling houses, 1 house
of public worship free for all denominations,
1 common school, 2 houses of
entertainment, 1 grist and saw mill,
and various mechanics. The situation
of this town is high and healthy,
in a flourishing and densely settled

part of the county, 11 ms. west of
Prunty town. It contains 14 families
and is improving.

CLARKSBURG, P. V. and Seat
of Justice, 260 ms. N. W. by W. of
R. and 226 from W. This healthy
and thriving village is situated above,
and S. S. W. of Morgantown, on the
right bank of the Monongahela river,
near the centre of north western Virginia,
at the junction of Elk creek,
with the west fork of the Monongahela,
about 100 ms. by the post road south
of Pittsburg, 250 W. of Baltimore,
and 70 E. of the Ohio river. It is a
corporate town and well built; containing
besides the usual county buildings,
100 dwelling houses, 1 Methodist
house of worship, 2 common
schools, a temperance, bible and Sunday
school society, 9 mercantile
stores, a grist and an oil mill, 1 printing
office which issues a weekly paper,
1 tanyard, 3 saddlers, and all other
mechanics usual or necessary for an
inland town. There is a chalybeate
spring, whence issues a never failing
stream of highly medicinal water.
This village stands on a rolling table
land, surrounded by an amphitheatre
of hills, ranging in distance from a
mile, to a few hundred yards. Elk
Run meadering through and around
the town, adds additional beauty to
the scene. Clarksburg is furnished
with inexhaustible supplies of coal in
its immediate neighborhood; and
being situated in the midst of a large
and flourishing county, possessed of
valuable arable lands and great mineral
wealth in its iron, salt, &c. and
being near the centre of N. W. Virginia,—it
may hope in time to become
a place of considerable importance.
Its present population is 700 persons,
of whom 20 are attorneys, and 4 regular
physicians.

County Courts are held on the 3d
Monday, in every month.—Quarterly
in March, June, August and
November.

Judge Duncan holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 3d of May, and October.

Hoffsville, P. O. 253 ms. from
R. and 236 W. of W.

Lewisport, P. V. 290 ms. from R.
and 256 from W., situated 35 ms. W.
of Clarksburg, and 25 both from
Weston and Middlebourn, county seats
of Lewis and Tyler, on the main stage
road, at the point, at which it crosses
Middle Island creek. This creek is
a beautiful stream, which empties into
the Ohio; it is 75 yards wide, and
navigable from its mouth to this place.
Lewisport contains 8 dwelling houses,
1 Baptist house of worship, 1 common
school, 1 mercantile store, 2 taverns,
1 manufacturing flour mill, and several
mechanical establishment. Population
50 persons; of whom 1 is a
physician. This village is surrounded
by endless quantities of valuable
timber,—the neighborhood abounds
with stone coal and limestone; and
many excellent sites for manufactories.
Wheat, rye, oats and timothy,
are the principal products. The face
of the country is uneven, but the soil
rich.

Milford 265 ms. from R. and 233
from W. This village is pleasantly
situated on the north bank of the west
fork of the Monongahela river, 8 ms.
S. S. W. of Clarksburg. It contains
15 dwelling houses, 1 house of public
worship, (Methodist) 1 house of public
entertainment, 1 miscellaneous
store, 1 tanyard, 1 boot and shoe maker,
1 gun smith, 1 house carpenter,
1 cooper, 1 grist and 1 saw mill. The
land in the immediate vicinity of this
village is level, but that of the surrounding
country is somewhat mountainous;
but not so precipitous as to
preclude its cultivation, to the very
summit. The soil is generally good,
the bottoms being a heavy soil suited
for meadow lands. The hills are
generally a loose black soil, and very
fertile. The products are wheat, Indian
corn, rye, oats, flax, hemp and
various kinds of pulse and vegetables.

The lands are peculiarly adapted to
raising cattle, which is one of the
principal staples of this county. Population
61,—the odd one being a slave.
The neighborhood is thickly settled,
and bids fair to be a thriving country,
should a market ever open to this
place. The post office has lately been
moved from Milford to Lost creek, on
the opposite side of the river.

New Salem, P. O. 240 ms. W. of
W. C. and 274 from R.

Prunty Town, P. V. 276 ms.
from R. and 209 N. W. by W. of W.
situated near the ferry across Tygart's
Valley river, 18 ms. N. E. by E. of
Clarksburg. It contains 18 dwelling
houses, 1 Methodist and 1 Baptist
house of worship, 1 common school,
3 miscellaneous stores, 1 tavern, 1
tanyard, 2 saddlers, 2 boot and shoe
factories, 1 hatter, 1 tailor, 2 smith
shops, 1 gun smith, and 1 cabinet maker.
Population 110. The surrounding
country is somewhat broken, but
the soil is good, and well adapted to
the grazing of cattle; and growing
every species of small grain.

Shinnston, P. V. 270 ms. from R.
and 236 W. of W. C. This village
was laid off in the year 1817 by the
Rev. Asa Shinn and brothers, and incorporated
by act of Assemby the same
year. It is situated on the right bank
of the West Fork river, on a beautiful
plam, containing about 30 acres of
land, 15 ft. above high water mark,
8 ms. N. E. of Clarksburg, and 30
S. W. of Morgantown.

The improvements are 18 dwelling
houses, 1 house of public worship,
free for all denominations, 1 common
school, 2 miscellaneous stores, 1 waggon
maker, 1 smith shop, 1 gun
smith, 1 watch maker and silver
smith, 3 cabinet makers, 1 saddler, 3
boot and shoe factories, 1 cooper, 1
tailor, 1 grist and 5 saw mills, several
house carpenters, and 10 lumber
merchants, by whom large quantities
of lumber are shipped annually from
this place to the different markets on
the Ohio river. The West Forkriver
at this place, is 350 ft. wide, passes in
a gentle current, and is navigable at
high water. It empties into the Tygart's
Valley river, 14 ms. below this
village—the two forming the Monongahela
of Virginia and Pennsylvania
Steam-boats might come to this place,
if there were no obstructing mill dams.
The surrounding country is hilly and
extremely broken, but exceedingly
well timbered with oak, shell bark,
hickory, poplars (120 ft. high,) black
locust, honey locust, sugar maple,
black walnut, butter nut, beach, cotton
wood, cypress, sycamore, birch,
lynn; and affords an abundance of
gensang, snake root, &c. The country
around is thickly settled, and the
pursuits of the inhabitants are agriculture,
grazing, and raising cattle,
and furnishing of lumber for the various
markets. The neighborhood of
Shinnton in geological language
would be called a secondary formation,
based on calcarious and clay shist
rocks, abounding in iron ore, and bituminous
coal, the latter unusually
abundant,—several strata being disposed
one above the other, in the same
hill. The strata are usually 10 feet
deep, of excellent coal. The substratum
of earth is also, generally about
10 ft. deep, composed of a yellow alluminous
clay, very suitable for pottery
and brick. The super stratum is
a rich vegetable mould, about one
foot deep, which if well cultivated,
produces excellent hemp, flax, maize,
wheat, sweet and Irish potatoes. Orchards
are nurtured with care and
apples celebrated for size and flavor;
peaches, plums, pears, pawpaws and
persimmons, and blackberries, grow
in such abundance that many ships
might be loaded with them. The forests
abound with nuts and fruits
which rear and fatten large quantities
of hogs, and reduce the price of pork
to 2 cents per pound,—other products
are equally cheap. The climate is
mild, and the country generally well

refreshed with rain during the summer
months. In point of health this
place has few superiors. Unimproved
land is worth one dollar per acre,—
improved from three to five dollars,
and quarter acre lots in Skinnston
sell at fifteen dollars. The village
contains 17 families—aggregate population
100 persons; of whom 1 is a
physician.

JACKSON.

Jackson was created by the Legislature in March, 1831, and formed
from portions of Mason, Kanawha and Wood. It is bounded N. E. by
Wood, E. by Lewis, S. by Kanawha, S. W. by Mason, and N. W. by the
Ohio river. Its form is irregular. It lies between 38° 32′ and 39° 12′ N.
lat. Its length is 33 ms.; mean breath 24; and area 850 sq. ms. The Ohio
washes its north western border for a space of 34 ms. Several large and
valuable creeks intersect it. Great Mill creek rises in the southern part of
the county, and after pursuing a south easterly course 15 ms. turns to the
N., thence to the N. W. and empties into the Ohio, 4 ms. above the corner
of the county. Its length is 65 ms., half of which is navigable for boats.
Two miles below Ripley on this stream, are situated 1 manufacturing flour
mill, 1 saw mill, 1 wool carding and turning machine, a distillery and cabinet
maker's shop: a few miles below this, there is another mill. Sandy
creek, 8 ms. N. of Great Mill creek, is the next stream in importance; it
enters the Ohio in 39° 07′ N. lat. This little creek is inhabited by an industrious
and enterprising class of people, who have in the last three years
transported nearly $10,000 worth of lumber to market. Pond creek in the
northern part of the county is a good sized mill stream, but too small for
navigation; the greater part of this stream is in Mason county. It empties
into the Ohio in lat. 39° 15′ N. Reedy and Spring creeks rise in this
county,—the first pursuing a N. E., the latter a N. course. They pass into
Wood county, and after a short course, empty into the Little Kanawha.
The West Fork of Little Kanawha flows through this county, for a distance
of 10 ms. and affords some excellent sites for water works. Pocotalico
rises in this county, and flowing in a south westerly course, it enters Kanawha
county, and forms a junction with Little Kanawha river. This
county is not mountainous, but may be said to be a mass of hills, the highest
of which, are in the eastern side of the county. The soil is, as in many
parts of western Virginia, well adapted to grazing. The bottom lands
along Mill creek and its branches, are of the first quality,—other creeks
also present fine bottoms, and there is much arable land besides that on the
water courses. The productions of the county, are Indian corn, wheat, rye,
oats, flax, hemp, tobacco, potatoes and other productions usual in the same
latitude. The principal exports from the interior part of the county, are
cattle and pork;—along the Ohio the people export large quantities of
staves, hoop-poles, boats and lumber of every description. The agriculture
of the county may be said to be yet in its infancy, however, large quantities
of corn, &c. are carried down the Ohio annually, to different markets. Orchards
are not numerous, but where they have been planted early and nurtured
with care, produce in abundance. This county abounds with the
finest of thrifty white oak, both on the bottoms and ridges,—also black oak,
hickory, dogwood, sugar maple, poplar, ash, elm, lynn and sycamore, and

on many of the ridges groves of yellow pine. The lands along the Ohio
river and other streams in this county, are alluvial, being composed of the
washings of the higher lands and hills, in which it is no uncommon thing
to find large logs, &c. buried a considerable depth below the surface; and
the higher level lands along the Ohio river, are generally composed of sand
and round gravel, similar to that found in the bed of the river, and commonly
lays in waves parallel to the river, which proves that it was once 60
or 70 feet higher than at the present time. There are in some of the northern
ranges of hills in this county an abundance of excellent limestone; in
some other parts there have been found small veins of mineral coal, and in
the vicinity of the C. H. are appearances of salt water. There are in this
county 3 mercantile stores, 8 saw mills, 5 grist mills, 1 distillery and 1
carding machine, and 5 tanneries. Population 3,300. It belongs to the
19th judicial circuit and 10th district. Tax paid in 1833, $259 80—in
1834, on lots, $4 36—on land, $134 79—31 slaves, $7 75—972 horses,
$58 32—5 studs, $22 00. Total 227 22. No school commissioners report
for 1832. Expended in 1833, $113 28.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

RIPLEY, P. V. and Seat of Justice,
350 ms. N. of R. and 341 W. of
W., situated in lat. 38° 52′ N., 8 ms.
above Wright's mill, and 12 from the
Ohio river, on the Great Mill creek,
at its confluence with Sycamore creek.
It is a flourishing village, although
but recently established. From its
location in the valley of Mill creek,
and its being in a direct line between
Charleston, Kanawha, (distant 42
ms.) and Parkersburg, in Wood Co.,
it is anticipated that it will one day
be a place of some trade. At present
it contains besides the ordinary county
buildings, which are substantially
built of brick, 12 dwelling houses, 2
hotels, 1 common school, 1 mercantile
store, 1 mill wright, 1 house joiner,
2 smith shops, 1 tanyard, 1 boot
and shoe factory, 2 tailors, 1 brick
layer and 1 saw mill. Population
about 120 persons; of whom 2 are attorneys,
and 2 regular physicians.
There are within one mile of the C.
H. 32 dwelling houses, and 160 inhabitants.

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

Circuit Superior Courts of Law
and Chancery are held on the 10th
of April and September, by Judge
Summers.

Reeds', P. O. 360 ms. N. W. of
R. and 334 W. of W. C., situated 10
ms. N. of Ripley.

Wright's Mills, P. O. 315 ms.
N. W. by W. of R. and 315 S. W.
by W. of W., situated at the falls of
Great Mill creek. This place deserves
notice from the singular freak
which nature has here played. The
creek which is generally 80 yards
wide, is here contracted to the space
of forty-five feet, allowing between
two ledges of rock which constitute
the banks, to the height of 16 ft. over
a bottom of solid rock. Immediately
below this narrow passage, the creek
widens to its usual size, and the falls
commence. The descent is 7 feet in
120 yards. At the lower end of the
falls, the creek is 100 yards wide, and
affords one of the best harbors ever
known in a stream of this size, being
about 100 yards in diameter, of a circular
form, and on the N. side, protected
from ice, &c. by a high point
of rocks, projecting a considerable distance
into the creek. From this to
the Ohio river, the navigation is good
during the spring freshets,—a dis-

tance of 4 miles- At this place are
situated, 1 extensive manufacturing
flour mill, 2 saw mills, 1 grist mill,
11 dwelling houses, 3 school houses,
1 mercantile store, and 1 smith shop.
Population 55.

JEFFERSON.

Jefferson was created by the Legislature in 1801, and formed from a
portion of Berkley county. It is bounded N. by the Potomac river, which
separates it from Washington county, of Maryland,—E. by the Blue Ridge
separating it from Loudoun,—S. by Frederick,—and W. by Berkley. Its
mean length is 22 ms.; breadth 10; and area 220 sq. ms., extending in lat.
from 39° 10′, to 39° 20′ N., and in long from 0° 43′, to 1° 02′ W. of W.
C. The Shenandoah river enters this county near its south eastern border,
and flowing in a N. E. direction, parallel with the Blue Ridge, it enters
the Potomac at Harper's Ferry. The face of this county is rolling but very
fertile. Most of the inhabitants are good farmers; and the county is probably
as wealthy in proportion to its size as any in the state. The lands have
been enhanced in value from one hundred to one hundred and fifty per cent
by the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, and the Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road,
both of which, reach the county at Harper's Ferry; and taken in connection
with the Winchester and Harper's Ferry Rail Road, which passes diagonally
through the county, the Shenandoah flowing through the eastern
portion, and the Potomac along the northern border, afford the citizens as
many facilities for transportation as the tide water counties possess. The
decline of the county is N. N. E. The water elevation at Harper's Ferry
being 182 ft. above tide water, that of the arable soil cannot fall short of 400
ft. This county has been for the most part settled by old Virginia families
from the eastern part of the state, and the inhabitants still retain that high
chivalrous spirit, and generous hospitality, for which that race was so remarkable
in the palmy days of their prosperity. Population in 1810,
11,851,—in 1820, 13,087—in 1830, 12,927. This county belongs to the
13th judicial circuit and 7th district. Tax paid in 1833, $4,963 97—in
1834, on lots, $677 93—land, $2,690 82—2,354 slaves, $588 50—4,308
horses, $258 48—17 studs, $232 00—143 coaches, $326 80—2 stages,
$4 00—31 carryalls, $31 00—51 gigs, $38 50. Total, $4,848 08.
Expended in educating poor children in 1832, $705 26—in 1833,
$670 05.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

CHARLESTOWN, P. V. and Seat
of Justice, 182 ms. from R. and 60 N.
W. of W., situated 10 ms. S. W. by
W. of Harper's Ferry, with which it
is connected by an excellent turnpike.
Besides the usual county buildings, it
contains 200 dwelling houses,—a
Methodist, Episcopalian, and a Presbyterian
house of worship, a branch
of the Bank of the Valley, 1 academy
and several other schools, 9 mercantile
stores, 2 apothecary shops, 1
printing office, from which a weekly
paper is issued, 3 tanneries, 3 saddlers,
1 turner, and various other mechanics,
and 1 manufacturing flour
mill. Its situation is eligible and
healthy, and surrounded by a fertile
and wealthy country. The Shenandoah
Springs, formerly a place of considerable

resort, are in the neighborhood
of this place. The Winchester
and Potomac Rail Road, now in progress,
will pass through Charlestown.
Population 1,200 persons; of whom 7
are attorneys, and 6 regular physicians.

County Courts are held on the 3rd
Monday in every month;—Quarterly
in March, May, August and November.

Judge Parker holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 25th of March and 10th of
October.

Harper's Ferry, P. V. 174 ms.
from R. and 52 S. W. by W. of W.
This place has risen at the justly celebrated
pass of the Potomac through
the Blue Ridge, and is situated immediately
at the junction of the Potomac
and Shenandoah rivers, on the
right bank of Potomac, above the
mouth of Shenandoah. The level of
low water at the junction of the two
rivers, is 182 ft. above tide water at
Georgetown. It is distant 22 ms.
S. W. by W. of Frederick, Maryland,
and 25 almost due south of Hagerstown.
It contains about 500 houses,
2 hotels kept in the best style, 3
houses of public worship, 1 Methodist,
1 free for all denominations, and 1
Catholic. The last is one of the
handsomest and neatest buildings in
the state,—in this church, there is a
fine toned organ, and it is ornamented
by a beautiful steeple, which ascends
to the height of about 150 ft. above
the level of the river. There are 2
academies, (1 male, and 1 female,) and
2 common schools, 9 mercantile stores
and 2 apothecary shops, a lodge of
masons, and 1 of odd fellows, 1 printing
office, from which a weekly paper
is issued, 4 tailors, 3 boot and
shoe factories, 1 saddler, 1 silversmith,
1 coppersmith and tin plate worker,
3 house carpenters, 2 smith shops,
and 1 wagon maker. There are 2
extensive manufacturing flour mills,
and 1 of the most valuable saw mills
in the United States. The principal
curiosities of the place, are Jefferson's
Rock and the Maryland Pinnacle,
from the highest point of which, with
the aid of a good glass, may be seen
towns at the distance of 30 ms.

Those great national works, the
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, and the
Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road are
now completed to this place, which
circumstance has already had a very
sensible effect on it, for the better.
There are 3 arrivals and departures
of the mail to and from the east, and
3 from the west in each week. There
is also a mail from Hagerstown, by
Harper's Ferry and Leesburg to
Washington City, twice a week.—
Formerly Harper's Ferry was considered
unhealthy, but for the last 5
years it has been quite the reverse.

We borrow a more extensive account
of the scenery of Harper's Ferry,
and the United States Armory
and Arsenal, there located, from a periodical
published a few years since.

"The Shenandoah, after running
along the foot of the Blue Ridge in a
direction nearly north-east, turns suddenly
to the east, and mingles its waters
with those of the Potomac, at the
point where the latter, after flowing
through a deep and well wooded dell,
from north-west to south-east, is entering
that singular gap in the Ridge,
through which the waters escape.
The valleys of both rivers are romantic,
and that of the Potomac unites singularity
with beauty.

We are accustomed to find valleys
running parallel to mountain chains
and separating ridge from ridge; the
whole of the great valley, which lies
between the North Mountain and the
Blue Ridge, and which is called in
this part of the country "the valley"
par excellence, presents an alternation
of such parallel, low lands and intervening
heights, the Shenandoah occupying
one of the former. But the
valley of the Potomac is not of this
class, it intersects at right angles the

great mountain ranges and the system
of smaller elevations which are
subordinate to them; and the river is
thus distinguished from the more numerous
class of streams, which occupy
the bottoms of ordinary valleys.
The Potomac is not, however, a solitary
example of this kind, on the contrary,
most of our great Atlantic rivers
penetrate the mountains by extensive
lateral valleys, or are said, with
some degree of impropriety, to break
through the mountains at right angles
to their direction. These profound
passes are not uncommon in other
parts of the world, and present several
varieties. A deep ravine, in which
the rocks, presenting unequal resistance,
have separated unequally, and
where the stream, which rushes
through this accidental outlet, leaps
from rock to rock, and is alternately
seen foaming in the cataract or lost
in the narrow and gloomy gulf below;
in short where the waters are
not to be regarded as flowing over a
bed, but rather as penetrating through
crevices, which earthquakes have broken
in the immense wall that confined
them. Such is the appearance, which
theory would assign to these transverse
valleys and their streams; but
such is not the valley of the Potomac.
As seen from Harper's Ferry it presents
a bed of nearly uniform declivity
and width, corresponding in these
respects with that of the Shenandoah,
a valley, as I have before observed, of
a different class. The channels of
both rivers are of rock, much broken,
but presenting on the whole a regular
declivity, and passing in highly inclined
strata across the river. The
prevailing rocks of the whole neighborhood
being a coarse granite containing
unusually large grains of
quartz, and a species of slate stone.

The breadth of the Potomac is from
two hundred and fifty to three hundred
yards; that of the Shenandoah,
one hundred and fifty. Both rivers
are shallow, so shallow that the water
leaves innumerable necks bare in
every part of the channel, whose sides
are worn by thousands of petty rapids,
which fret and struggle among the
large blocks of granite.

The town extends itself in contempt
of all order, along both sides of the
hill which divides the two rivers, and
runs up to the jaws of the picturesque,
but in no way tremendous, pass of the
Potomac. At the point of this tongue
of land is the armory; on the left, and
nearly even with the water, the working
part of the arsenal: on the right
and over hanging the western bank
of the Shenandoah, is Jefferson's Rock.

On the opposite banks of the two
rivers the cliffs are more bold and
striking. That, on the Maryland
side, is supposed to resemble the profile
of Washington, an illusion very
pleasing to those whose minds are not
adapted to relish the beauties of nature.
The two cliffs, of which we
have spoken, form a noble entrance
to the romantic valley which lies beyond,
embosomed among woods and
mountains and winding among the
projections of the latter until its exit
is again guarded by immense rocks,
where a passage, corresponding to
that at Harper's Ferry, is broken
through the Short Hills—a chain parallel
to the Blue Ridge, and connected
with it by spurs which inclose
on every side this dell that contains
so many elements of the picturesque.
The mountains, of considerable height,
are clothed to their summit by forests
of oak and pine, from out the thick
shade of which, project immense
masses of granite, that yet stand the
stern witnesses of some tremendous
convulsion, the traces of which not
even time, that has for thousands of
years been scattering their debris
daily below, has been able to obliterate.
The base of these mountains
presents elevated and very rugged
cliffs, which, projecting into the valley,
break its uniformity, and give a
wilder aspect to the river, that spreads
itself between them.

A greater abundance of water

would convert this valley into a singularly
wild and beautiful lake, a
mirror worthy of the noble objects it
would reflect. But the character of
the Potomac is the same here as before
its waters are united with those
of the Shenandoah. A channel, too
extended for the stream, presents every
where its rugged bed, interspersed
with thousands of rills and small pools
of water. Yet has this deficient
stream, a sublimity of its own; the
rugged bed is in unison with the
rocks which overhang it, and with
the dark and often blasted pines, which
clothe them; and if, in awful grandeur,
it cannot be compared with the
passage of the Rhone through the
Alps, or in beauty, with some of the
smaller lakes, so abundant in the
northern states of our own country, it
is yet a most highly impressive scene.
Commanding interest from the praise
of one whose praise was celebrity,
Harper's Ferry seems often to have
disappointed foreigners who expected
to find a scene as unique as the Natural
Bridge, and as sublime as the
falls of Niagara.

Those who form such extravagant
expectations will not have them realised,
but the rational admirers of nature
will find abundance to admire in
the beauty, the grandeur, and the simplicity
of the spot.

This subject gives us occasion to
regret, that the many commanding positions,
which our mountains present,
should be so little known. The western
part of Virginia abounds in romantic
scenery, but the traveller may
toil for hours in its immediate vicinity,
plunged in a depth of shade, that excludes
all idea of the beauty by which
he is surrounded; to ascend the mountains
is difficult, and adds but little to
his chance of gratification; the foliage
is nearly as thick there as at their
base; but the necessary local knowledge
would be at the command of all,
if those, who annually make summer
excursions through our country, were
as ardent admirers of nature as they
commonly are of Warm Springs or
other spots, which draw together a
number of half sick, half idle people,
who lounge away the best part of the
year. As an instance, how many
Dr. Syntaxes in search of the picturesque,
of the company at the springs,
or the wonders of Weyer's Cave,
plunge in the interminable shades of
Brown's Gap, which brings so forcibly
to mind the falsehood of Thomson's
lines.

How many unhappy wights perform
this darksome pilgrimage, when
they might, a few miles off, from
Turk's Gap have seen the sun rise
over a landscape, which exhibits the
country, towards tide water, spreading
out in an extent of forest as boundless
and level as the ocean, to the north
and south the long chain of the Blue
Ridge, to the west the well cultivated
valley watered by the Shenandoah,
adorned by detached and picturesque
mountains, and bounded by the hazy
and unbroken line of the North
Mountain.

To return to Harper's Ferry. The
exit of the river at the Short Hills on
the Maryland side is called the Point
of Rocks; it is here that two rival companies
contended for the exclusive
right to possess a narrow gorge,
which now gives passage at once to a
river, a canal, and a Rail Road. A
handsome wooden bridge, seven hundred
and fifty feet from one abutment
to the other, and with a space between
the piers of more than one hundred
and eighty ft., connects the town with
the Maryland shore; whilst the funds
for a similar structure over the Shenandoah
have already been subscribed.[40]

The former bridge is simple and displays
the skill of the engineer; it is
sustained by arches formed of three
tiers of planks placed edgeways, and
whose joints give shift to each other,
king posts, fanning from the centre,
unite these planks and sustain a roof,
which, by its diagonal framing, serves
to give stability in a lateral direction.
The bridge is double. Did not the
name of the engineer, by whom this
structure was erected, give sufficient
guarantee for its excellence, the observer
might fear that economy had
been too much consulted in the materials.

The national arsenal at Harper's
Ferry is an object worthy of attention
Eighty or ninety thousand stand of
arms are usually kept there, and as
these are sent off to other depositaries
their place is supplied from the extensive
manufactory adjacent. It is interesting
to observe the facility with
which a weapon, so complicated as
the musket, is produced. A bar of
iron is forged into a rough tube, the
interior of which is formed into a
smooth surface by drills turned by the
power of water. At first, the barrel,
strongly fastened, is moved slowly
forward, whilst the drill, a cylindrical
rod of iron, terminating in a rectangular
bar, ten or twelve inches
long, revolves with rapidity, but without
progressive motion; the barrel is
surrounded by water, which, though
constantly renewed, becomes warm to
the touch. The barrel is not made
cylindrical by a single drill, a succession
is employed, until, in the application
of the finer drills, the barrel,
only fastened in the middle, is left
free to adapt itself to the motion of the
drill.

The outside of the barrel is polished
by enormous grindstones, turning
with great rapidity. These stones
are guarded by thick cheeks of wood,
to which is fixed a covering, that lessens
the danger, should the centrifugal
force, arising from so rapid a motion,
burst the stone asunder, and project
the pieces forward. The barrel
passing through these cheeks, bears
against the stone, and is drawn across
it with a motion resembling that of a
screw.

The stocks are shaped by a machine,
the idea of which seems to
have been borrowed from an admirable
contrivance in the celebrated
Block Machinery of Brunel. The
writer was struck immediately with
the resemblance, and, on inquiry,
found that the inventor, Blanchard,
had previously introduced the use of
Brunel's machinery in this country.

The reader will readily form a
general idea of this machine. Let
him imagine two wheels, eight or ten
inches in diameter, placed one behind
the other, and in the same plane; one
of these has a smooth, round edge,
the other is furnished with steel cutters,
which are parallel to the circumference.
Further let him suppose
two turning lathes, placed side by
side, in the one an iron stock as a
guide or pattern, in the other the
wooden stock to be turned. Now let
him suppose, that, whilst these two
stocks are in a rapid rotatory motion,
the plane wheel of which we have
spoken is made to traverse the whole
length of the iron, and is pressed
against it by a strong spring; this
wheel, it will be remembered, is connected
invariably with that which is
furnished with cutters: if then the latter
be brought into contact with the
wooden stock at the moment when
the first wheel commences its motion
along the pattern, it will perform a
similar journey along the wooden
stock, and only requires, that it should
be kept in a rapid rotatory motion, in
order that it may shape, by its cutters,
this stock to the form of the iron pattern
against which the guiding wheel
is pressed. Some contrivance is requisite
to provide the rotatory motion,
spoken of, in the second wheel, as
this wheel moves longitudinally the

strap by which it turns, must have a
like motion; to effect this it is passed,
below, round a large cylinder, in lieu
of an ordinary drum wheel, and, being
confined above by the sides of the
drum over which it passes, shifts itself
without difficulty along the cylinder
and remains always vertical.
This machine will shape a musket
stock in about eight seconds.

The limits of this article will not
permit us to describe the operations
by which the minute parts of the muskets
are completed. The whole gives
employment when in full work to
about two hundred and fifty men, and
at such times fourteen hundred muskets
have been finished in a month.
The average cost is about eleven dollars
for each musket, and a good
workman will earn two dollars a day.
About a dozen of the workmen are
from England, chiefly from the Armory
Mills which were worked during
the war near Deptford in Kent.
The muskets are lighter, and in this
respect preferable to the English; the
workmen did not hold the iron, which
is chiefly from Massachusetts, in the
same esteem. The establishment is
governed by a superintendant who
receives fourteen hundred dollars a
year, and conducted by a master armorer
at sixty dollars per month, and
four assistants at forty dollars.

We must not quit this part of the
subject without mentioning Hall's
rifle, which is loaded at the breech,
and of which there is a separate manufactory
here. The barrel is formed
of two portions by being cut asunder
a few inches from the breech. And,
on touching a trigger, placed before
the ordinary one, the lower portion is
raised out of the stock by a spring,
and may be loaded as a pistol. When
pressed down again the parts perfectly
coincide, and the movable part of the
barrel is retained in its place by a
catch.

Much time is undoubtedly saved in
loading a rifle by this contrivance,
and it may obviously be done with
less chance of exposing the rifleman
to a hostile aim. But no inventions
are more uncertain as to ultimate effect
than those in the art of war. The
confusion and violence of warfare forbid
the employment of any but the
simplest weapons; and it may be
doubted whether these divided portions—subject
to violence, to rust, to
the intrusion of foreign substances
between the stock and the lower portion—when
elevated, will, after much
use, coincide with sufficient accuracy
to allow the passage of the ball, even
though no great accuracy is required
for that purpose. An inconvenience
does, however, attend the loading of
rifles, a weapon of great importance
in American warfare, and the expedient
we have described seems the most
simple and therefore the best which
could be devised to remove it".

Lee Town, P. O. 165 ms. from
R. and 71 N. W. by W. of W., situated
in the western end of the county,
30 ms. W. of Harper's Ferry. It
contains several dwelling houses, 1
mercantile store, 1 manufacturing
flour mill, and 1 tavern. Lee Town
derived its name from the celebrated
General Lee who resided here.
Population 54 whites, and 20 coloured.
Total 74.

Middleway or Smithfield, P.
V. 161 ms. from R. and 86 N. W. by
W. of W., situated in the western
part of the Co., 7 ms. S. W. of Charlestown,
and near Opequhan creek.
It contains 63 dwelling houses, a Methodist
and a Presbyterian house of
worship, 2 common schools, 2 taverns,
3 mercantile stores, 2 saddlers, 2
smith shops, 2 boot and shoe factories,
2 tailors, 2 milliners, 1 watch
and clock maker, 2 cabinet makers, 2
tanyards, and 1 saw mill. There are
2 turnpikes lead from this village,—
1 to Harper's Ferry, and the other to
Shepherdstown. Population 500, including
2 attorneys and 3 regular
physicians.

Shepherdstown, P. O. 184 ms.
from R. and 62 N. W. of W., situated
immediately on the west side of the
Potomac river, in the north western
part of the county. It is a flourishing
village, containing 150 dwelling
houses, 6 mercantile stores, and all
the necessary mechanics for an inland
town. There are 4 merchant mills,
one of which has an overshot wheel
of about 24 feet diameter, and the others
of about 20. There is a small
stream of considerable fall which
runs through the town, immediately
opposite to which is an inlet lock, to
the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.
Shepherdstown has 3 houses of public
worship, and a population of about
1000.

KANAWHA.

Kanawha was created by the Legislature in 1789, from a portion of
Greenbrier and Montgomery. It is bounded N. by Wood,—N. E. by
Lewis,—E. by Nicholas,—S. E. by Fayette,—S. and S. W. by Logan,—
W. by Cabell,—and N. W. by Mason and Jackson. Its mean length is 58
miles—mean breadth 36; and area 2,090 square miles; extending in lat.
from 37° 53′ to 38° 53′ N. and in long. from 3° 55′ to 4° 25′ W. of W.
C. Gauly river unites with New river, to form the Great Kanawha, upon
the eastern border of the county. The Kanawha then flows through the
county in a N. W. direction into Mason; receiving in its passage Elk river
from the N. E.,—Coal river from the S. E., and Pocatalico from the
North.—We cannot refrain from giving here a letter from an eminent literary
gentleman of this State to his friend in the lower country, which gives
agraphic description of the magnificent Valley of the Kanawha.

"You have often visited the mountain region of Virginia, and tasted of
her various and unrivalled mineral waters. You have mingled with the
fashionable throng at the White Sulphur,—regaled your palate upon the
fine venison and other dainties of the forest, and bathed in the delicious fountain
of the Warm Springs. You have never, I believe, however, extended
your journey as far West as the Valley of Kanawha. The great state
road which commences at Covington, and secures you a safe passage to
Lewisburg, passing the gigantic Alleghanies at a grade which is almost
level,—pursues its winding yet steady course over ranges of lofty mountains,
and through wild and hitherto unbroken depths of wilderness and
shade. Now and then it courses along the margin of some rocky and
stupendous precipice, often several hundred if not a thousand feet in depth,
—and as the mail coach drawn by four spirited steeds, whirls you along
the perilous cliff,—you feel an involuntary shuddering at the slender barrier
which separates you from eternity. The blue mist which hovers along
the yawning chasm beneath, and is visible through the variegated foilage
which obscures without concealing the view,—impresses the mind with undefinable
images of danger; and indeed it would be well if the terrors which are
sometimes inspired were those of imagination only,—for I have been credibly
informed that in more than one instance, the lives of travellers have
been exposed to imminent peril. At one of those narrow defiles, the spot
was pointed out where the stage with eight passengers and driver rolled
down a steep declivity of fifty feet. Fortunately the nature of the ground
arrested its downward course, and still more fortunately, I had almost said

miraculously, although the luckless vehicle turned two or three somersets
and was actually shattered into fragments, neither horse or passenger suffered
material injury. Notwithstanding these disasters which occasionally
await the traveller, this important and convenient highway which unites
the east and west, is a noble monument of skill, enterprise and labor. In
its vast utility to the country which it intersects, it may justly be compared
to the introduction of steam navigation on our western waters. Distance
and time are in a great measure overcome, or perceptibly diminished, and
a journey which was once performed with insupportable fatigue and delay,
is now achieved in one fourth of the time, and with comparative ease.
Before reaching the valley of the Kanawha, the traveller is feasted by the
sublime and picturesque scenery from the cliffs of New river, which is one
of the principal tributaries to the Kanawha. One of these cliffs has been
long known by the name of the Hawk's Nest—but more recently called
Marshall's Pillar, in honor of the Venerable Chief Justice who as one of
the State Commissioners in 1812, stood in person upon its fearful brink
and sounded its exact depth to the river margin. Every one has heard of
the far famed falls of Niagara—and yet I doubt if the beholder of that
wonderful cataract ever experienced more of the true sublime, than the
grand and elevating prospect from Marshall's Pillar, is apt to inspire.
Imagine yourself standing upon the projecting point of a perpendicular
rock, 1200 feet from the valley below. Before you, as you look to the east,
the New river is seen at the distance perhaps of several miles, winding or
rather rushing, tumbling and foaming through the towering cliffs which
environ it. Sweeping by the lofty promontory on which you stand, it suddenly
turns its course in a south west direction, and presents in the whole
distance several beautiful cascades, which send to the listening ear the far
off, but lulling sound of their waters. The cliffs themselves, judging by
the horizontal and corresponding strata of rock on either side, seem to have
been originally united, but torn asunder by some strong convulsion of nature,
in order to give free passage to the narrow but angry torrent which
rolls majestically at their feet. The autumnal season gives to this imposing
picture a magnificent and gorgeous drapery of which no man whose
vision has been confined to the lowland scenery has the slightest conception.
On one side a dark outline is defined by the shadow from the opposite
cliffs, which leaving the base of the mountain of a sombre brown, presents
its summits shining with the rich and mellow tints of an October sun.
In gazing from the dizzy height where the spectator is perched amidst
sublime and solitary deserts, it requires but little effort of fancy to portray
the haggard and inspired bard of Gray, standing

No hostile Edward it is true, is marching through this wilderness with his
embattled legions, to victory and slaughter; on the contrary, a profound
stillness prevails, which adds interest and solemnity to the scene—a stillness
which is disturbed by nothing save the distant wave which seems, but
seems only to murmur at the base of the cliff. So sublime indeed is its
elevation, that whilst nothing seems easier than to cast a pebble from its
beetling verge into the bed of the stream, the most powerful arm is foiled
in the attempt.

"After feasting on the sublime repasts which nature spreads before the

eye of the tourist on these romantic cliffs, he is better prepared to enjoy by
contrast his descent into the fertile and lovely vale of the Kanawha. That
beautiful stream is formed by the junction of the Gauley and New rivers,
at the base of the Gauley mountains. A short distance only below the
point where the waters mingle, the ear of the traveller is saluted by the
roar of the Great Falls—a fine cataract of twenty-two feet over a natural
dam of rock which spreads irregularly across the Kanawha. I should
judge from the sketches of the Great Niagara, by artists and picturesque
tourists, that this was its copy in miniature. Certain it is, that on approaching
the cataract which you can easily do, over the vast masses of naked
rock, which rise from the bed of the river—you feel the effect of the spectacle
in all its sublimity. I will not say as Byron said of the cascade of
Velino, that it is "horribly beautiful"—or that

There is nothing which awakens infernal images in the cataract of Kanawha,
but I saw distinctly the rainbow reposing its brilliant arch upon
the white foam of the waters. Whatever disappointment, however, the
limner might experience in his visit to this interesting spot, the epicure
would meet with none at the spacious Hotel which stands opposite the
falls. To all lovers of the finny tribe, it is a perfect paradise. Here are
fish, which if not unknown, are yet untalked of on the borders of our
Atlantic streams. The delicious black perch, the grennel, the blue cat, the
fine flavored buffalo, and a species of sturgeon, all abound in profusion, and
all present their respective claims to preference. If to these luxuries of
the water, be added wild fowl, and forest game, which are found in abundance,
the most fastidious gourmand might desire no higher fruition than
is afforded in this favored region.

For many miles after leaving the falls, the Kanawha Valley is narrow
—winding—and unprepossessing. Its gigantic and various growth is indeed
interesting to the lowland traveller—and the vast masses of rock
which tower in magnificent pride to the very summit of the mountains—
are objects of curiosity and attention. At the same period in autumn, nature
was perceptibly not so far in the "sear and yellow leaf," as in the
more mountainous and elevated region. Her robe was fresher and greener,
but yet there was not wanting that splendid variety and intermixture of
colors which distinguish the western forests. The bright orange or golden
yellow of the linn, the sugar tree and hickory were beautifully contrasted
with the evergreen laurel, and with the dark and mournful hemlock. Now
and then some parasitical creeper could be seen winding its brilliant red
among the branches of a lofty tree of different foliage—and the gay and
graceful sumach would hang out its crimson drapery to delight the beholder.
Unlike the lowland shrub of the same name, the sumach of the west is
admitted into the family of trees; and so I presume it is in England, for
otherwise the lines of Moore would not be intelligible.

Lovers unless they belonged to the race of pigmies, could hardly recline
in the shade of one of our dwarfish sumachs in Eastern Virginia.

"It is nearly twenty miles below the falls, before the Kanawha Valley

widens into something like a plain, and opens its beautiful vista to the eye.
The mountains which inclose it on either side become gradually depressed
into hills—and for the first time the dense dark volumes of smoke which
ascend from the salt furnaces, announce the busy and bustling scene which
enlivens the highway to the village of Charleston. What a scene of animation
indeed, contrasted with the deep solitudes from which the traveller
has but just emerged.—Here he is feasted with a continued succession of
green meadows and cultivated fields teeming with flocks and herds, and
adorned by commodious and even elegant mansions. The chimnies of the
salt manufactories pour forth at short intervals of space their curling masses
of black vapor, whilst swarms of laborers and others connected with these
establishments, are continually passing to and fro,—presenting a pleasing
coup d'œil of incessant activity and industry.—Nature indeed seems to
have been prodigal in her bounties to this interesting region. The contiguous
forests having been almost stripped to supply fuel to the salt furnaces,—the
precious mineral so necessary to human comfort, must have
remained forever useless but for the discovery of inexhaustible beds of coal,
so convenient of access, as to make the cost of procuring it scarcely worth
considering. Sometimes, by suitable platforms and inclined culverts, it is
thrown from the mountain side immediately to the door of the manufactory,
and when more remote from the place of consumption, it is transported
with equal ease in wagons or cars over rail roads constructed for the purpose.

The whole product of the salt district, is estimated at 1,200,000 bushels
annually—and this product must continue to swell with the increasing demand,
and with the employment of additional capital. It is a curious fact,
and worthy of philosophical inquiry, that whilst the salt water is obtained
by boring at a depth of from 3 to 500 feet below the bed of the Kanawha,
it invariably rises to a level with the river. When the latter is swollen by
rains, or the redundant waters of its tributaries,—the saline fluid enclosed
in suitable gums on the shore, ascends like the mercury in its tube,—and
only falls, when the river is restored to its wonted channel. How this mysterious
correspondence is produced, is a problem which remains to be
solved. Theories and speculation, I have heard on the subject, but none
seem to me to be precisely consonant with the principles of science.

Immediately on the road and a short distance from the bank of the river,
the celebrated Burning Spring, attracts the curiosity of the traveller. A
cavity in the earth of a few feet in diameter, presents at its bottom several
small orifices from which an odorous gas, or strong bituminous vapor is
constantly exhaled. When ignited by a lighted candle, which is easily
done, the whole becomes a sheet of flame, and is only extinguished by the
plentiful application of water. Filling the cavity with water previously to
ignition, does not diminish the brightness or fierceness of the blaze. Inflammable
gasses undoubtedly abound in many portions of the valley. An
anecdote illustrating the fact, was frequently related in my hearing, which
I cannot forbear to repeat. A very respectable gentleman somewhat eccentric
and a little profane, had been boring for salt to the depth of 600 feet,
when his friends endeavored to dissuade him from the costly experiment
"Salt I will have" he exclaimed, "if I bore for it to the infernal regions!"
Accordingly he pressed on in pursuit of his object—with renewed perseverance
and ardor—and his boring apparatus having penetrated one of
those subterraneous recesses, where nature generates her mysterious and

terrific agents—a volume of flame suddenly burst through the orifice, and
ascending far above the earth's surface, spread terror and amazement in
the neighborhood. The less enlightened and superstitious, of course,
fancied that the profane gentleman's threats had been really carried into
execution, and that the contents of the awful and undefinable pit had been
actually disgorged upon mother earth.

"This charming country is not only rich in beautiful and picturesque
scenes, but abounds in objects interesting to the naturalist and antiquarian.
Besides its inexhaustible treasures of salt and coal, a quarry of fine marble
has been recently found on the Elk river, and I doubt not that discoveries
equally valuable would reward the diligent explorer. Specimens of slate
stone, and other formations with impressions of vegetable remains are
common, and a gentleman of science and distinction, informed me that
coral had been found deeply imbedded in rock. Among the curiosities,
may be mentioned, the Callico and Pictured rocks; the former of which
represents a series of beautiful and uniform figures, inscribed by some wonderful
process of nature, and the latter which is evidently a work of art,
exhibits a variety of rude sketches of birds, fishes and beasts—generally
supposed to be specimens of aboriginal sculpture.

"There is, as I am informed, some miles from the bank of the Kanawha,
a curious petrified tree, and the whole country is full of Indian fortifications
and mounds. From one of these ancient sepulchres an intelligent gentleman
stated to the writer, that a human skeleton was taken not many years
since, probably the remains of some distinguished chief, whose exploits in
battle or the chase had won the admiration of his tribe.

"Indeed there is no department of natural history which might not be
enriched by valuable acquisitions from this and almost every other portion
of Western Virginia. The development of its boundless mineral wealth
would not only extend the borders of science, but materially subserve the
useful arts and the interests of commerce. Let channels of inter-communication
with the east be opened and multiplied by a liberal system of improvement—let
a geological survey be authorized by the Legislature, in
imitation of the wise policy of Pennsylvania and Maryland—and the patriot
will not yet despair of beholding this ancient and venerable State regaining
her lost rank in the confederacy.

"In enjoying the pleasures and advantages of safe transportation along
the great State road, which traverses this section, there is a spectacle often
presented, which awakens a melancholy train of reflections. I allude to
the number of emigrants, who allured by the hope, sometimes deceptive, of
improving their condition, are bending their toilsome march to the far west.
Imagination becomes busy in conjuring up the broken ties of early association,
of kindred and country—and we read in the sorrowful visages of
some of these wretched fugitives, tales of mental and bodily suffering,
which no language could express. It is true, that some of these numberless
caravans present the exterior of comfort and even happiness, but for
the most part it is evidently the last struggle of despairing poverty, to
escape from the hardships of its lot. Whilst the philanthropist shudders
at such scenes of wretchedness, the politician must mourn over the unceasing
drain to population, as well as the causes which produce it. I trust, at
least, if the wave of emigration must continue to flow westwardly, that the
time will shortly come, when the forests and mountains of our own Commonwealth,

will present sufficient attractions to break its force, it does
not entirely arrest it."

Population in 1820, 7,000—1830, 9,326. It belongs to the 19th judicial
circuit, and 10th district. Tax paid in 1833, $1,520 23—in 1834 on
on lots, $180 34—land, $808 87—1197 slaves, $294 75—2197 horses
$131 82—9 studs, $89 00—22 coaches, $51 00—22 carryalls, $22 00
—10 gigs, $6 85. Total, $1,585 13. Expended in educating poor children
in 1832, $814 72—in 1833, $752 88.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Burning Spring. This natural
curiosity is situated in the low grounds
of the Great Kanawha river, 7 ms.
above the mouth of Elk river, and
67 above that of the Kanawha. The
spring is a cavity in the earth of the
capacity of 30 or 40 gallons, from
which issues constantly a bituminous
wapor in so strong a current as to
give to the sand about its orifice the
motion which it has in a boiling
spring. On presenting a lighted
candle or torch within 18 inches of
the hole, it flames up in a column of
18 inches in diameter, and four or
five feet in height, which sometimes
burns out within 20 minutes, and at
other times has been known to continue
three days, and then has been
left still burning. The flame is unsteady,
of the density of that of burning
spirits, and smells like burning
pit coal. Water sometimes collects
in the bason which is remarkably
cold, and is kept in ebullition by the
vapor issuing through it. If the
vapor be fixed in that state, the water
soon becomes so warm that the hand
cannot bear it. This with the circumjacent
lands was the property of
General Washington and of General
Lewis.

Coalsmouth, P. V. 319 ms. from
R. and 368 from W., situated on the
south side of the Kanawha river, 12
ms. below the town of Charleston,
and at the mouth of Coal river. This
little river is about 100 yards wide at
its mouth, and does not vary this
width for many miles above. It is
a beautiful meandering stream, which
runs through a romantic valley, without
receiving any tributary of any
consequence, from the junction of its
north east and its west Fork, until it
receives Little Coal river from the
south. Much trade is carried on by
the hardy mountaineers who dwell
on the banks of this river, in boats
for the carriage of salt, and saw logs,
which are brought down in times of
freshet, from a distance of an hundred
miles. These boats sell on the
Kanawha for one dollar, to a dollar
and twenty-five cents for each foot in
length, and the logs from a dollar
to one dollar and fifty cents per log.
This money is laid out in goods, with
which the enterprising woodsman returns.
The obstructions in Coal
river prevent its navigation in ordinary
seasons. The lower falls of
Coal river are situated 5 miles above
the mouth,—and 5 miles above these
are the upper falls. These falls, from
the great water power which they
afford at all seasons, will in time become
places of considerable importance.
A few years hence and this
section will become a fine wheat
country. It is rapidly filling up with
industrious, honest and enterprising
people, and soon a plenty of the raw
material will be found for manufactories,
and if a scarcity of produce
should occur by bad crops, the transportation
from Ohio by steam boats,
costs in comparison but little, and can
be brought to any point, not distant
three miles from either of the falls.
From its local advantages and the
tide of immigration, it must in a few

years become much of a manufacturing
country. On the river Coal is
found a great deal of very fine land,
and the country is not so mountainous,
or the sides so precipitous as to
preclude their cultivation. The
quantity of game has depreciated
considerably within the last 10 years,
which is an evidence of the great increase
of population; however the
industry of the inhabitants furnishes
a sufficient quantity of fine venison,
and other wild game for the table,
and the calculation may be in obtaining
for years a reasonable supply for
home consumption. Some few years
ago the inhabitants made it one of
their sources of traffic, but since the
enterprise of these hardy sens of the
forest has been turned into another
channel, they seldom have time, or
feel disposed to hunt, except to obtain
venison for their own families and
the neighborhood. The river affords
in season the finest fish. The large
black and white perch, the salmon
pike, large cat fish, &c &c. The
delicious soft shell turtle is abundant,
and can be obtained with little trouble,
and is by far superior to the sea
turtle. The shell is cooked and surpasses
the fine green fat turtle, Coal
river is fordable four months in the
year. At Coalsmouth there is a good
tavern, a mercantile store, and 3 private
families; about 1 mile from the
mouth, down the Kenawha, is a large
steam manufacturing mill, a grist
and saw mill, a cooper's, a tailor's
and blacksmith's shops, and 4 private
families. The bottom land about the
mouth of Coal is rich, and in extent
about a half mile wide. The
usual average crop of the farmer is
50 bushels of corn and 25 of wheat
to the acre. The country at this
point has a grand and beautiful appearance,—the
neighborhood is composed
of many refined and wealthy
families,—some few years back the
inhabitants were unrefined, and rude
in their manners, but religion and an
association with families who immigrated
from Eastern Virginia, have
made wonderful change in the morals
of the people. About a half mile
up the river Coal, is a beautiful
covered bridge. This bridge is on
the turnpike road belonging to the
State; below the bridge is a well
graduated road, leading to and from
the ford, which is seldom for four
months in the year more than 12 inches
deep, the water passing over a fine
sandy bottom. At the bridge is a
tavern kept in the best style, a blacksmith
shop, a tailor and carpenter
shop, a house of public worship,
(Methodist,) and 4 private families,
with 2 regular physicians. At this
place the stage passengers going to
and from the west, dine. The post
office is kept here, and four mails arrive
from different points and are
opened at this office—two daily and
two three times a week. A portion
of the land at this place has lately
been laid off in half acre lots, with
a view of establishing a town, and
some of the lots have already been
sold, and many buildings are in progress
of erection. A large manufactory
is about going into operation,
and an extensive and well assorted
mercantile store has lately been established,
and there is every probability
that Coalsmouth in a few years
will become a handsome and flourishing
village, extending from the
bridge to the mouth of Coal river.
The immigration to the west through
this place is very great, which gives
to the farmer an opportunity of disposing
of his surplus produce, his
wheat can at all times be sold at his
door from 62½ to 75 cents per bushel,
and the cash paid. Coal river derives
its name from the quantity of
coal in which it abounds, and that of
the finest quality. The resources of
this neighborhood and county are incalculable,
and to the enterprising
man holds out advantages truly flattering.
The country is remarkably
healthy,—no local disease is attached
to the neighborhood.

Hansford, P. O. 292 ms. from
R. and 333 S. W. by W. of W.,
situated on the Kanawha turnpike
opposite to the mouth of Paint's
creek, or as some call it, Yellow
river,—21 ms. E. of Charleston, and
14 W. of the Falls of the Great Kanawha.
The only houses are a mercantile
store, and a house of entertainment.
There are in the immediate
vicinity 3 miscellaneous stores,
1 Baptist house of worship, and a
temperance society. The principal
pursuits of the inhabitants are agriculture,
and building flat boats to
navigate the Kanawha. These boats
are generally from 60 to 100 feet in
length.

KANAWHA C. H. or Charles
ton, P. V. and seat of justice, 30
ms. N. W. by W. of R. and 356
from W. This is a beautiful little
village, situated on the north bank of
the Great Kanawha, at the junction
of Elk river, 60 ms. above the junction
of the former with the Ohio and
225 ms. W. of Charlottesville. Its
principal street extends about a mile
on the bank of the Kanawha, and is
terminated by the Elk, which flo
nearly at right angles into the former
stream. Indeed there is something
like enchantment in the contrast of
this flourishing village, with the wildness
and solitude of the same spot,
less than 30 years past. The panther
and wolf, have been driven from their
savage haunts, by the march of civilization
and refinement—and where a
few scattered log huts once arrested
the traveller's eye, he now sees commodious
and elegant buildings, the
abodes of comfort and even of luxury.
The village contains besides the
ordinary county buildings, 125 dwelling
houses, all presenting a neat and
fresh appearance. There are 2
houses of public worship, (1 Presbyterian
and 1 Methodist,) a female
academy, and an infant school, a
Branch of the Bank of Virginia, a
masonic lodge and chapter, a bible
society, a tract, colonization and sunday
school society. There are 13
miscellaneous stores, 3 hotels, 3 smith
shops, and 1 tanyard, 2 steam saw
mills, and one steam merchant mill.
The Kanawha river is here a beautiful
sheet of water, more than 300
yards wide and 20 feet deep at low
water,—navigable for steamboats.
The state turnpike passess through
this town, on which there is a line
of stages from Washington city and
Richmond to Guyandotte, which carries
the mail from these two cities in
four days and a half. Population
about 800 persons; of whom 7 are
attorneys, and 3 regular physicians.
Charleston is remarkable for the liberality
and enterprise of its inhabitants.
The hills adjacent abound with
fine quarries of sandstone for building,
and rich bituminous stone coal,
which is the common fuel.

County Courts are held on the 2d
Monday in every month;—Quarterly
in March, June, August and November.

Judge Summers holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 14th of May and October.

Kanawha Saline or Terra
Salis, P. O. 308 ms. N. W. of R.,
and 350 N. W. by W. of W. This
is a new and small village situated on
the northwestern side of the Kanawha
river about 6 miles above Charleston,
containing dwelling houses,
3 mercantile stores, a Methodist and
a Presbyterian house of worship, and
1 hotel. The town is directly connected
with the salt trade, and rapidly
improving.—A daily mail arrives
at this place.

Kanawha Salt Works. These
valuable works are situated on the
Kanawha river, commencing near
Charleston, and embracing a distance
of 15 miles above, on each side of
the river. The salt water is obtained
anywhere within that distance, by

boring or sinking a shaft, from three
to five hundred feet below the bed of
the river, through a solid rock, from
which it is brought to the surface
through the surrounding fresh water,
in copper tubes, and is raised to the
bank of the river by steam engines,
and is thrown into cisterns, whence
it is conveyed to the furnaces. There
are at present about 60 furnaces,
manufacturing about one million two
hundred thousand bushels annually,
and the quantity is only limited by
the demand. The adjacent hills
abound with stone coal of a superior
quality, which lies in horizontal
strata, varying in thickness from 4
to 7 feet. The coal is conveyed from
the mines to the furnace on rail roads.
There has been for the last year a
furnace manufacturing allum salt by
steam, which is said to be equal to
the imported article. At this furnace
100 bushels of this salt are made per
day. Several others are erecting on
the same plan, and will soon be in
operation. The exports of the salt
from these works in 1832, is estimated
as being worth to the proprietors
$250,000. Seldom has it fallen to
the lot of any region of country to
possess such inexhaustible sources of
mineral wealth on the borders of a
fine nevigable river, leading to a region
of country which will one day
be filled with almost boundless multitudes
of people.

Pocotalico, P. O. 318 ms. from
R. and 253 S. W. of W.

Teage's Valley, P. O. 328 ms.
from R. and 376 S. W. of W., situated
in the western part of the county,
20 ms. W. of Charleston.

Walnut Grove, P. O. 330 ms.
from R. and 379 S. W. by W. of W.,
situated in the western part of the
county, on the left bank of the Great
Kanawha river, 25 ms. below Charleston,
and 35 above the confluence of
the Kanawha and Ohio. No town
has yet been laid out at this place,
but a steam saw mill, a mercantile
store, wood yard, &c., concentrate a
good proportion of business. A
steam manufacturing flour mill, and
some other manufactories, are about
going into operation, which with the
advantages that the site derives from
the facility of transportation in the
surrounding country, the abundance
of fine coal and timber in the neighborhood,
and the facilities of the
navigation, will probably place it
among the thriving villages of the
west.

LEE.

Lee Coun was taken from Russell in the year 1792, it is situated
400 hundred miles W. S. W. of Richmond,—bounded N. and W. by the
Cumberland mountains, separating it from the State of Kentucky, S. by
Tennessee, E. by the county of Scott, and N. E. by the county of Russel.
This county is singularly laid out, owing to its lying in Powel's valley,
which is narrow: it is of considerable length and quite narrow,—its extent
from E. to W. is 85 ms., while its width from N. to S. does not exceed
15 ms., and area 800 sq. ms., extending in lat. 36° 30′ to 37° 06′ and in
long. 5° 35′ to 6° 30′ W. of W. C. This county is famous for the richness
of the soil, productiveness of the lands, and largeness of the timber; among
the growth of which is found the sugar maple, ash, buckeye, poplar, black
and white walnut, lynn, black and white oak, maple, elm, cucumber, and
beach; all of which grow very large and tall. The land is of a very black,

rich soil, well adapted to growing corn, hemp, wheat, rye, oats, Irish potatoes
and timothy.

This county has many fine and excellent springs of water, breaking out
from the base of the mountains, which make their way briskly down the
vallies, which are deep and narrow, and consequently afford fine mill seats.
The principal mountains are, Powell's mountain, Walden's ridge, the Stone
mountain, Little Beach and Big Black. Walden's ridge takes its rise in
the N. E. of this county, and runs S. W. into the State of Tennessee; these
mountains and ridges are all rich on the N. side, while they are extremely
poor on the S. side. The N. sides of the mountains abound with limestone
of very hard quality, while the S. sides are covered with free stone. There
is a leading small ridge, called the Poor Valley Ridge, which is entirely
the reverse of any other in this range of hills and mountains, while the
others are all poor,—on the S. side it is very rich and productive, while
the N. side of this Ridge is very poor. There is a knob called Stocker's
knob in the N. E. part of the county, which is very high, 3 miles long,
and at the E. end is a settlement called the Turkey Cove; and at the W.
end is a another fine settlement called Yacum Station; these are two as fine
settlements as the county affords. There is one other place worthy of notice,
found among the mountains of this county, and that is a very high
peak, called the Butt of Powell's mountain. The mountain here bends precisely
in the form of a horse shoe;—this bend of the mountain forms a most
delightful cove of 1½ miles in width, which is as level as a bowling green,
and as rich as the delta of the Nile, covered thickly with trees of the largest
growth, and the greatest height. "Precisely N. of this high peak called
the butt, the north fork of Clinch river takes its rise, and runs through the
mountain; this gap through which the creek runs, is one of the most picturesque
places in western Virginia. The mountain almost perpendicular
on both sides, and covered with huge masses of craggy rocks, that look as
though they would tumble from their sandy foundations, and fill the deep
valley below, presents to the traveller one of the most striking displays of
omnipotent power." On the E. side of this water course, we have one of
the most noted salt-petre caves ever known; from which, there has been an
immense quantity of salt-petre made. This cave is situated very near the
top of Powel's mountain, and may be easily discovered from the valley,
where you may see hillocks of the earth, from which the salt-petre has been
extracted. There are also large beds of fine iron ore, from which some
years ago, there was a small quantity of fine iron made at the iron works,
on the north fork of Clinch river, which works has since gone into ruins.
There are also other beds of fine iron ore in this county, lying on Martin's
creek, from which, there is at this time a quantity of iron made. There are
now two forges situated on Martin's creek, which make excellent iron: also
two on Indian creek, with one furnace for making castings. The principal
water courses, are Powell's river, Walden's creek, Martin's creek, Indian
creek and Trading creek. On the waters of this creek, the main road,
ascends a considerable ridge, over which there has been a road of very ancient
date, as there are at this time, growing in the middle of the bed of the
road, trees of the larges growth. The ascension of the ridge by the way of
this road, shows that the greatest judgment and care, had been taken in locating
and constructing the road. It is supposed that it has been ages since
this road was constructed, as the earliest settlers of the county, found it as
above described. There are in the country of Lee, 4 Methodist churches, 3

Baptist and 1 Presbyterian. There are 13 Methodist ministers, 6 Baptist
ministers regularly ordained, and 2 physicians. The staple of this county
is stock, such as beef, pork and horses,—the pork is carried to eastern Virginia,
the beef to Pennsylvania and Maryland, and the horses to Virginia,
or North Carolina. The merchandize of every description is purchased in
Baltimore, or Philadelphia. The people of this county make their own
sugar and Molasses, from the sugar tree, which grows in great abundance,
on the N. sides of all the mountains and creek bottoms. The tree is of a
rough, short bark, spreading top and straight body, some quite white, and
others very black. Those which are black have the sweetest water, and are
very apt to be pecked very much by a bird of small size, called the sap sucker.
The trees are chopped with a small axe, and bored with a small augur
or gimblet, and a tube placed in the orifice, through which the water is carried
into a small trough, placed for the purpose of catching the water.
The tree which is thought to afford a common quantity of water, will, if
there is a hard freeze, and a warm day after it, afford 8 gallons of water,
which will always make one pound of sugar, if carefully boiled down. The
most common mode of boiling is to place the boilers in a small furnace; but
this method requires more attention, to prevent the boilers from burning the
sugar. There is in Lee county, probably more tree sugar made, than in
any other county in the S. W. there being more fine sugar orchards. The
precise quantity is not known, but supposed between 5 and 6000 pounds, with
a quantity of molasses, which, if put up in vessels will keep and improve
from age. Population of Lee in 1830, 4,256—1820, 6,461. It belongs to
the fifteenth judicial circuit, and eight district. Tax paid in 1833, $715 12
—in 1834 on lots, $18 92—on land, $352 14—327 slaves, $81 75—
2330 horses, $139 80—10 studs, $48 00—7 carryalls, $7 00—4 gigs,
$3 00. Total $650 61. Expended in educating poor children in 1832,
$404 34—in 1833, $284 43.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

JONESVILLE, P. V. and Seat
of Justice, 392 ms. S. W. by W. of
R. and 468 W. S. W. of W. in lat. 36°
40′ and long. 6° 02′ W. of W. C.,
situated N. of Powell's river, on one
of its branches, 65 ms. N. E. of
Knoxville, Tenn. and 60 S. E. by E.
of Barboursville, Kty. The site on
which this village is located is very
uneven; resembling in this respect
the general surface of the county. It
was laid off in the year 1793. It
contains besides the ordinary county
buildings, which are handsome, 40
dwelling houses, 1 house of public
worship, recently erected and free for
all denaminations, 1 common school,
4 miscellaneous stores, 1 tavern, 2
tanners and curriers, 3 saddlers, 1
boot and shoe factory, 3 tailors, 4
smith shops, 1 hatter, 1 wagon maker,
and several house carpenters.
Population 159 whites; of whom 1 is
a resident attorney, and 1 a regular
physician,—colored 37. Total 196.

This village stands upon a beautiful
eminence, between the Stone mountain
and Walden's ridge, in Powell's
valley, through which flows Powell's
river. The scenery which surrounds
it, though wild is very pleasing, and
especially so when the mountains on
both sides are covered with rich verdure.
The variety of hills presented
by the mighty growth of forest trees
rising in succession one above the
other on all sides, with here and
there an old grey rock jutting from
the foliage, or a bank of moss peeping
through, and nearly the whole earth

beneath covered with luxuriant herbs
and flowers, present a scene of rich
luxuriant beauty, of which a lowlander,
in his level unbroken plains cannot
entertain a conception.

County Courts are held on the 3rd
Monday in every month. Quarterly
in March, June, August and November.

Judge Estill holds his Circuit
Superior Courts of Law and Chancery
on the 1st Monday in April and
September.

Rose Hill, P. V. 412 ms. from
R. and 488 from W., situated 20 ms.
W. of Jonesville, on the road leading
from the Crab Orchard and Wilderness,
in Kty. by the Cumberland Gap,
in Tenn. through Powell's valley to
Abingdon, 16 ms. E. of the Gap, and
95 W. of Abingdon.

LEWIS.

Lewis was established by act of Assembly in 1816, and formed from a portion
of Harrison county. It is bounded N. by Harrison,—E. by Randolph,
S. and S. W. by Kanawha,—S. by Nicholas and W. and N. W. by Wood.
Its mean length is 54 ms.; mean breadth 32½; and area 1,754 sq. ms. extending
in lat. from 38° 38′ to 39° 12′ N. and in long. from 3° to 4° 17′ W. of W.
C. The surface of this county is composed of three inclined plains,—the
southern portion inclining westward in the direction of the Little Kanawha,
which flows through the county diagonally, from its southeastern to its
southwestern angles,—the northeastern portion inclines northward towards
the West Fork of the Monongahela river, and Tygart's Valley river, and
the northwestern portion inclines to the N. W. in the direction of Middle
Island creek. The surface of the county is rocky, hilly, and in some parts
mountainous. Population in 1820, 4,247—in 1830, 6,241. It belongs to
the 18th judicial circuit and 9th district. Tax paid in 1833, $851 37—
in 1834 on lots, $26 59—on land, $431 85—87 slaves, $21 75—2,312
horses, $138 72—15 studs, $71 00. Total $689 91. Expended in eduating
poor children in 1832, 404 34—in 1833, $467 36.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Buchannon, P. V. 266 ms. N. W.
of R. and 266 from W., situated on
Buchannon river, in the eastern part
of the county, 15 ms. from Weston,
25 ms. from Beverly, and 30 from
Clarksburg, county seats of Randolph
and Harrison. Buchannon cannot
be called a village, but rather a small
settlement, having about 330 scattering
dwelling houses, extending along
both sides of the river about 25 miles.
There are in this settlement 4 houses
of public worship, (2 Methodist, 1
Baptist and 1 Presbyterian. No regular
schools kept, except in the three
winter months. There is 1 bible society,
2 tract and 3 temperance societies.
Within the limits mentioned
are 2 mercantile stores, 7 country
mills, 3 wool carding machines, 1 tanyard,
8 or 10 blacksmith shops, and
about the same number of boot and
shoe factories, cabinet makers and
house carpenters, with 2 wagon makers
and various other mechanics.
The principal pursuit of the inhabitants
is agriculture. This is a fine
section of country, and the land tolerably
fertile, producing corn, wheat,
rye, oats, flax, potatoes, &c. Buchannon
river runs nearly a N. course,
and empties into Tygart's Valley river.

It lies between the Middle Fork
a branch of Tygart's Valley river and
the Monongahela. The state road
passes directly through this settlement.
Population 1,250.

Bull Town, P. O. 296 ms. from
R. and the same distance from W.
situated on the Little Kanawha river,
about 24 ms. S. W. of Weston.—
Though called a village it is simply
a post office, and derives its name
from the circumstance of a few families
of Indians having been once settled
on this river (Little Kanawha)
about one mile and a quarter below
this place, whose head man or chief
was called Capt. Bull; and hence the
name of Bull Town was given to
their little village of wigwams, and
the spot on which they lived yet retains
the name, although the Indians
have abandoned it since about the
years 1771-2 or 3. There is now no
vestige left on the spot where once
their little town stood. The first settlement
made at the place by a white
man, was in 1800 or 1801, then 15
or 20 ms. from any other inhabitants.
It is now occupied as a farm by Mr.
John Conrod, his dwelling house being
several hundred yards from it.
The site on which the village stood is
a little eminence projecting from the
spur of a ridge into a spacious rich
bottom, a part of which was cultivated
by the Indians. There is a salt work
established here, on a limited scale,
called the Bull Town Salt Works.
These works manufacture from 15
to 20 bushels of salt per day. This
neighborhood is but thinly settled,
having only 1 country grist and saw
mill at the falls, 2½ ms. above this
place. These falls are about 11 or
12 feet, and form a valuable seat for
iron works, there being an abundance
of iron ore in the immediate vicinity,
lying idle for want of capital and enterprize.
In the vicinity are 2 tanyards.
The mail arrives at this P.
O. once a week.

Collins' Settlement, P. O. 286
ms. from R. and the same distance
from W., situated in the western part
of the county.

French Creek, P. O. 276 ms.
W. of R. and 276 from W. This
creek empties into Buchannan river.
On the banks of this creek is situated
French creek settlement, comprising
about 8 ms. square, containing 66
scattering dwelling houses, occupied
by an industrious and enterprizing
people, who have emigrated from the
New England States within the last
15 years. There are 1 house of public
worship, (Presbyterian) 1 tanyard,
a number of wheelwrights, house carpenters,
cabinet makers and joiners,
and 1 temperance, 1 tract and 1 bible
society. The principal pursuit of
the inhabitants is agriculture. This
settlement is divided into 5 school
districts, where the common branches
of English education are taught 6
months in the year. The state of
education, being far superior to that
which exists in the country adjacent.
Population 400.

Flat Woods, P. O. 304 ms. from
R. and 304 W. of W., situated in the
western part of the county.

Freeman's Creek, P. O. 259 ms.
from R. and 245 W. of W.

Hackersville, P. O. 260 ms.
from R. and 246 W. of W. This is
merely a post office, situated on Hacker's
creek, 7 ms. from Weston, 137
from Clarksburg, 50 from the Ohio
river, and 35 from the Little Kanawha
Salt Works. The neighborhood
is thickly settled. The lands are of
the best quality with extensive tracts
of arable land suitable for meadows,
on which large quantities of cattle are
grazed and raised for market annually.
The surrounding country is hilly,
and very productive,—abounding
with the best of stone coal, and well
timbered with walnut, poplar, sugar
maple, beach and white oak. In the
vicinity are 3 houses of public worship,
2 Methodist and 1 Baptist, 4
miscellaneous stores, 1 tanyard and

various mechanics, and several mills.

Leading Creek, P. O. equi-distant
267 ms. from R. and W., situated
in the northern part of the county, 18
ms. from Weston. Leading creek is
a small stream which empties into
the Little Kanawha, 112 ms. below
the P. O. On its waters and tributaries
are 40 dwelling houses, 1 Methodist
and 1 Baptist house of worship,
2 common schools and 1 tanyard
Population 240. The principal occupation
of the inhabitants is agriculture.
On the waters of the Little Kanawha,
embraced within this neighborhood,
and supplied from this post
office, are 100 dwelling houses, 5
houses of public worship,—4 of which
are Methodist, 3 common schools, 3
mercantile stores and 1 tanyard.—
Population 500.

Lorentz's Store, P. O. 261 ms.
W. of W. and the same distance from
Richmond.

Lowman, P. O. 291 ms. from R.
and 286 W. of W., situated on the N.
W. boundary of the county, on the
main post road leading from Weston
to Parkersburg, 42 ms. from the former,
and 37 from the latter place, on
Hughes' river, a considerable branch
of the Little Kanawha, which after a
meandering course of more than 100
ms. enters into the Little Kanawha,
about 15 ms. above its confluence
with the Ohio. Hughes' river is
navigable for more than 50 ms. from
its mouth, and sufficiently large for
floating vessels of considerable burthen.
Great quantities of lumber, besides
a number of flat bottomed boats
are carried down this stream to the
Ohio. It abounds with excellent fish.

McWhorter's Mills, P. O. 256
ms. from R. and 242 from W.

WESTON, P. V. and Seat of Justice,
249 ms. from R. and from W., situated
on the West Fork of the Monongahela
river, 70 ms. S. E. of Marietta,
in Ohio. It contains besides the ordinary
county buildings, 30 dwelling
houses, 1 common school, 4 mercantile
stores, 4 manufactories, 1 manufacturing
flour mill, 1 tanyard and 2
saddlers. Population 167 persons; of
whom 5 are resident attorneys and 2
regular physicians.

County Courts are held on the 1st
Tuesday in every month;—Quarterly
in March, June, August and November.

Circuit Superior Courts of Law
and Chancery are held on the 13th of
April and September, by Judge Duncan.

LOGAN.

Logan was established by act of Assembly in the year 1824, and taken
from a portion of Giles, Kanawha, Tazewell and Cabell. It is bounded N.
by Kanawha,—N. E. by Fayette,—E. by the Great Flat Top mountain,
which separates it from Giles and a part of Tazewell,—S. by Tazewell, W.
by Tug Fork of Sandy river, which separates it from Floyd county, Kentucky,
and N. W. by Cabell. Its mean length is 66 ms.; mean breadth
44⅓; and its area 2,930 sq. ms., extending in lat. from 38° 13′, to 37° 10′
N., and in long. from 3° 50′, to 5° 22′ W. of W. C. This county is principally
watered by Guyandotte and Little Coal rivers and their tributaries;
Guyandotte flowing diagonally from S. E. to N. W. The principal
branches of Little Coal that waters the N. W. border, are Pond, Beach and
Laurel Forks, having their rise in Huffs' mountain,—those watering the
N. E. part of the county, are Clear Fork, Big Fork and Rockcastle creeks,
having their rise in Cherry Pond mountain, which separates Logan from

Fayette: they empty into the Guyandotte. Elkhorn and Camp creeks
have their rise in the Great Flat Top mountain, and after running a considerable
distance through the county, empty into Tug Fork, which separates
it from Tazewell on the S. W. There are several other creeks of
minor importance. This county is generally mountainous and incapable
of close settlement. The soil however, is rich, and the climate well adapted
to raising sheep; and it will some day be perhaps one of the finest wool
growing counties in the United States. The principal exports are ginsang,
cattle and peltry in considerable quantities. It contained at the last
census 3,681 persons, but since that period a portion has been taken off by
the new county of Fayette. It belongs to the 9th judicial circuit and 10th
district. Tax paid in 1833, $184 95—in 1834, on lots $8 84—on land,
$88 83—63 slaves, $15 75—757 horses $45 52—3 studs, $17 00—1
carryall, $1 00. Total $176 84. No report from school commissioners
in 1832. Expended in 1833, $196 16.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Ballardsville, P. O. 349 ms.
from R. and 390 S. W. by W. of W.
situated on Little Coal river about 20
ms. above the forks. It contains 12
or 15 houses, 2 houses of public worship,
(1 Methodist and 1 Baptist,) 2
schools, in which are taught all the
usual branches of English education,
2 mercantile stores, 1 grist and saw
mill; and 1 establishment for clarifying
ginsang, which is one of the staple
commodities of the village and
county. Many flat bottomed boats are
built here, which carry salt from the
works on the Great Kanawha, and
various other mechanical operations
are carried on. The soil of the surrounding
country is fertile, producing
corn, wheat, rye, oats, hemp, flax,
sweet and Irish potatoes in abundance.
Population about 100 persons; of
whom 1 is an attorney, and 2 are regular
physicians.

Big Creek, P. O. 338 ms. S. W.
of R. and 396 S. W. by W. of W.,
situated in the S. E. part of the county,
70 ms. S. S. E. of Charleston on
the Great Kanawha river.

LAWNSVILLE, OR LOGAN
C. H. P. V. 324 ms. W. of R. and
383 from W., situated in a fertile bottom
in a bend of the river Guyandotte,
surrounded by mountains abounding
in stone coal and iron ore. This village
was laid off by act of Assembly
in 1827, since which time a handsome
C. H., clerk's office, and jail have
been erected of hewn stone,—also
several dwelling houses, and others
are now being erected. The other
improvements are 2 houses of entertainment,
2 mercantile stores, 1 tanyard,
1 smith shop, 1 tailor shop and
1 boot and shoe makers establishment.
Besides these there are several
house carpenters, and various other
mechanics.

County Courts are held on the 3rd
Monday in every month.—Quarterly
in March, June, August and November.

Judge Summers holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 6th of May and October.

Loop, P. O. 266 ms. from R. and
320 S. W. by W. of W.

MARSHALL.

Marshall was created at the latter part of the session of the General
Assembly of 1834-5, whilst this work was in the press. It is formed from

the southern part of Ohio county; bounded N. by Ohio county, E. by
Pennsylvania, S. by Tyler, and W. by the Ohio river. Its precise limits
we have no means of ascertaining. The general description, and its towns,
villages, &c. will be given under the head of Ohio county.

MASON.

Mason was created by Act of Assembly in 1804, and formed from a
portion of Kanawha county. It is bounded N. by Wood,—E. by Kanawha,—S.
by Cabell,—and W. by the Ohio river, which separates it from
Gallia county, in the State of Ohio. Its mean length is 37½ ms.; mean
breadth 24¼; and area 904 sq. ms. It extends in lat. from 38° 32′, to 39°
05′ N., and in long. from 4° 22′, to 5° 12′ W. of W. C. The Ohio river
bounds this county for 60 ms., and the Great Kanawha flows through its
southern part in a N. W. direction. The surface is much broken, but
much of the soil is of good quality. Salt water has been found near the
Kanawha by sinking wells. Population in 1820, 4,868—1830, 6,534. It
belongs to the 9th judicial circuit, and 10th district. Tax paid in 1833,
$814 64—in 1834, on lots, $47 66—land, $466 24—433 slaves, $108 25
—1,917 horses, $11 02—10 studs, $55 00—1 coach, $2 00—5 carryalls,
$5 00. Total $799 17. Expended in educating poor children in 1832,
$283 41—in 1833, $223 45.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Buffalo, P. O. 343 ms. from R.
and 380 from W., situated in the S.
E. part of the county, on the E. bank
of the Kanawha river, about 21 ms.
from its confluence with the Ohio,
and 50 ms. S. E. of Point Pleasant.
It contains several dwelling houses,
1 Methodist house of worship, 1 mercantile
store and 1 warehouse. It is
known as a public landing, and a
place of some trade. There is a patent
ferry established on the river, on
the pendulum and lee board system.
Its situation is pleasant and healthy,
and eligible on several accounts. The
surrounding country is thickly settled,
and the business of the neighborhood
for the distance of 10 or 15 ms.
is done at this place.

Hereford's, P. O. 360 ms. N.
W. by W. of R. and 390 W. of W.

Lane's, P. O. 366 ms. both from
W. and R.

POINT PLEASANT, P. V. and
Seat of Justice, 358 ms. N. W. by
W. of R. and 358 S. W. of W., situated
on the point above the junction
of the Ohio and Great Kanawha rivers,
in lat 38° 50′, and long. 5° 7′
W. of W. C. It contains besides the
ordinary county buildings, 40 dwelling
houses, 1 common school, 6 mercantile
stores, 1 extensive steam manufacturing
flour mill, 1 steam saw
mill, 2 tanyards, 1 saddler, 2 blacksmith
shops, and 2 cabinet makers.
Population 240 persons; of whom 2
are resident attorneys, and 2 regular
physicians.

County Courts are held on the 1st
Monday, in every month.—Quarterly
in March, June, August and
November.

Judge Summers holds his Circuit
Superior Courts of Law and Chancery
on the 16th of April, and September.

MONONGALIA.

Monongalia was established by act of Assembly in the year 1776, and
formed from a portion of the District of West Augusta. It is bounded N.
by Green and Fayette counties of Pa.—E. by Preston,—S. E. by Randolph,—S
by Harrison,—and W. by Tyler. Its mean length is 33½ miles,
mean breadth 21½; and area 721 square miles. It extends in lat. from 39°
17′ to 39° 42′ N. and in long from 2° 39′ to 3° 25′ W. of W. C. The
face of the country is generally mountainous and hilly; one-third of the territory
of the county, lying upon what is called in this country the "Laurel
Hill," it being the last western regular ridge of the Alleghanies; the other
two-thirds, or western part of the county, being intersected by hills and
vallies.

Notwithstanding the mountainousness of the country, the soil is very
fertile; producing good crops of all kinds of grain and vegetables common
to this latitude. And it is remarkably well timbered, both as to variety
and size.

The rivers watering this county, are the Monongahela, Cheat, West Fork
and Tygart's Valley. The Monongahela is formed by the junction (a few
miles below the dividing line between Monongalia and Harrison counties)
of the West Fork and Tygart's Valley rivers. It thence flows in a northern
direction, through the middle of the county; and passes out at the Pennsylvania
line, about two miles above the mouth of Cheat river. It is navigable
from its head, in time of freshets, for flat-boats of the largest size. And
steam-boats have frequently ascended from Pittsburg to Morgantown, ten
miles above the mouth of Cheat. From Pittsburg to Morgantown, the navigation
of this river is very easy for steam and flat-boats, and unobstructed,
except by low water; and is becoming very considerable. From Morgantown
upwards the navigation is more difficult, and can only be effected in
times of freshets. The West Fork, which flows but about three miles
through this county, is a considerable stream, and is navigable for flat-boats
in time of freshets, as high as Clarksburg in Harrison county. The Tygart's
Valley although a considerable stream, is only navigable about ten
miles; it being obstructed by very high falls. It is part of the dividing line
between this county and Harrison, and Randolph. Cheat river has its
source near that of Tygart's Valley; and after flowing a northwestern direction,
through Randolph, Preston and this county, empties into the Monongahela,
two miles below the Pennsylvania line. Although it is a considerable
stream, affording nearly as much water as the Monongahela, it is
only navigable as high as Jackson's Iron Works, a distance of eight or ten
miles.

The principal creeks in this county, are Decker's, Whiteday, Prickett's
and Threefork creeks, which empty into the Monongahela on the east side,
and Dunkard, Indian, Pawpaw and Buffaloe creeks, which empty in one the
west side of said river. They all afford many excellent seats for water power,
several of which are occupied.

The principal exports of this county, are stock, (horses, cattle, hogs and
sheep,) iron, lumber and some flour. There are three forges, and three
furnaces (and another being erected) in this county; which manufacture
very large quantities of iron annually. There is also one nail factory, and
several good merchant flour mills. Jackson's Iron Works, on Cheat river,
are considered the most valuable in Western Virginia, or perhaps in the

western country. There has lately been a salt-well sunk in this county,
which promises well.

On the road leading from Clarksburg and Beverly, 5 miles from Morgantown,
on the plantation of Henry Hamilton, there is a large flat rock about
150 fect long, and 50 wide, with numerous engravings of animals, well executed—Such
as panthers of full size,—buffaloe tracks,—horse tracks, deer
tracks, turkey tracks, eels, fish, women as large as life, human tracks, otters,
beavers, snakes, crows, eagles, wild cats, foxes, wolves, racoons, opossums,
bears, elks, &c. &c. This is probably one of the most extensive specimens
of the arts of the aborigines, to be found in our country.

The Raven's Rock is also worthy of notice.—It is situated on Boothe's
creek, about 3½ miles south of Morgantown, and half a mile from the entrance
of the creck into the Monongahela river. In this rock there are
some strata of coal and of iron; and except in these strata the whole rock
is perforated like a pigeon box. This rock is 150 feet high, 40 feet thick at
its base and 20 at its top. Population in 1820, 11,060—in 1830, 14,056.
It belongs to the 20th judicial circuit, and 10th district. Tax paid in 1833,
$1,402 33—in 1834, on lots, $130 46—on land, $775 54—184 slaves,
$46 00—5417 horses, $325 02—36 studs, $102 00—3 coaches, $6 00—
5 carryalls, $5 00—3 gigs, $1 50. Total, $1392 52—Expended in educating
poor children in 1832, $887 15—in 1833, $870 92.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Barns' Mills, P. O. 296 ms. from
R. and 233 N. W. by W. of W. C.,
situated in the western part of the
county.

Blacksville, P. O. 241 ms. from
R. and 243 N. W. of W., situated 20
miles N. W. of Morgantown, at the
junction of Robert's Run and Dunkard
creek 50 ms. from its mouth.
This creek empties into the Monongahela
river. This village is located
immediately on the line dividing
the states of Virginia and Pennsylvania,
a part of Blacksville being in
the counties of Monongalia, Va. and
a part in Green co Pa. It contains
11 dwelling houses, 2 mercantile
stores, 1 common school, 1 temperance
society, 1 tan yard, 1 saddler,
and 2 blacksmith shops. Dunkard
creek is navigable to this place, and
boat building is carried on to some
extent. The face of the surrounding
country is uneven, but very fertile,
producing wheat, rye, corn, oats and
buckwheat in abundance. Timber
is plenty, of good quality and in great
variety. Population 52, including
physician.

Dunkard Creek, P. O. 247 ms.
N. W. by W. of W. and 245 from
R., situated in the N. W. part of the
county, 22 ms. N. W. by W. of Morgantown.

Granville, P. V. 295 ms. from
R. and 217 N. W. by W. of W.,
situated on Dunkard creek near the
southern border of Green co. Pa.,
and on the W. side of the Monongalia
river, 2 ms. below Morgantown.
It contains 21 dwelling houses, 1
house of public worship free for all
denominations, 1 common school, 3
mercantile stores, 2 taverns, 2 warehouses,
1 saddler, 1 smith shop, 2
cabinet makers, 2 boot and shoe factories,
1 cooper and 1 chair maker.
Population, white males 44, females
56—colored 10—total 110—and 1
resident physician.

King's Ferry, P. O. 217 ms. N.
W. by W. of W. and 289 from R.

Mount Lineus. P. O. 240 ms.
N. W. by W. of W. and 203 from R.

Middletown, or Polsley's
Mills, P. O. 294 ms. from R. and
235 N. W. by W. of W. Middletown
was established by act of Assembly
January 19th, 1820. It is
now a flourishing and healthy village,
pleasantly situated on the west bank
of the Monongahela, one and a half
miles below the junction of Tygart's
Valley, and West Fork rivers, where
they unite and form the Monongahela
river, 22 ms. N. of Clarksburg, 18
S. of Morgantown, 90 S. of Pittsburg,
50 S. of Brownsville, Pa., and
52 ms. E. of the mouth of Fishing
creek, and its confluence with the
Ohio river. It contains 30 dwelling
houses, 2 houses of public worship,
(1 Methodist and 1 Piesbyterian,) 1
colonization society, 1 tract, 1 temperance,
and 1 humane mission society,
and 1 common school, 4 mercantile
stores, 1 distillery, 2 taverns, 1
pottery, 3 cabinet makers, 1 chair
maker, 1 wheelwright, 1 wagon
maker, 1 smith shop, 1 gun smith, 2
boot and shoe factories, 1 saddle and
harness maker, 1 brick maker, 2 hatter's
shops, 2 saw and 2 grist mills.
In the immediate vicinity are 2 carding
and fulling mills, 4 saw mills,
and 2 manufacturing flour mills.
The face of the country is somewhat
hilly, in parts very much broken.
The soil is generally of a rich loamy
clay, producing all the staples common
in the middle and northern
states—well adapted to grazing and
raising of cattle, horses, hogs, &c.,
large numbers of which are raised
for the eastern markets. This section
of country holds out innumerable
advantages for the establishment
of manufactories. The forests abound
with the finest timber, and the earth
is stored with Iron ore, and the best
stone coal. Large quantities of the
latter are shipped from this place for
the Pittsburg and Cincinnati market,
and frequently to New Orleans
Population 200 persons, of whom 2
are physicians.

MORGANTOWN, P. V. and
seat of justice, 293 ms. from R. and
215 N. W. by W. of W. in lat. 39°
40′ N. and long 2° 50′ W. of W.
C., situated on an elevated level, on
the right bank of the Monongahela,
35 miles below and N. N. E. of
Clarksburg, and about 60 south of
Pittsburg, Pa. Morgantown is a
flourishing and wealthy village, holding
out incalculable advantages to the
manufacturer and mechanic. Its
healthy situation on the bank of the
Monongahela river,—the various
productions of the country by which
it is surrounded,—the inexhaustible
coal mines which abound in almost
every hill, and the rich and innumerable
iron banks which are everywhere
to be found in this vicinity are
perhaps not to be surpassed in Western
Virginia. Besides the ordinary
county buildings, it contains 120
dwelling houses, 2 houses of public
worship, (1 Methodist and 1 Presbyterian,)
and 1 female academy called
the "Monongalia Academy," comprising
2 departments—Classical and
Preparatory. Its standing fund at
interest is $10,000,[41] and it averages
40 pupils,—size of building 70 feet
front, 40 feet deep, 2½ stories high, a
handsome and spacious brick build-

ing, pleasantly situated;—1 private
school (female,) in which are taught
the languages, painting, drawing, &c.,
2 temperance societies, (1 male and 1
female,) 1 sunday school, 1 bible and
1 colonization society, 1 poor asylum,
7 mercantile stores, 1 apothecary
shop, 2 houses of entertainment, 2
manufacturing flour mills, 1 fulling
and dying establishment, 1 windmill
manufactory, and 1 printing office
from which is issued a weekly paper,
2 tan yards, 2 saddlers, 4 boot and
shoe factories, 3 wheelwrights, and
chair makers, 5 cabinet makers, 1
copper and tin plate worker, 1 red
and stone ware manufactory, 4 tailor
shops, 3 hat manufactories, 2 gun
smiths, 1 wagon maker, 3 smith
shops, and 1 plough manufactory.
The United States mail passes thro'
this village 3 times a week. Population
650 persons; of whom four are
resident attorneys, and three regular
physicians. The Monongahela river
is navigable for small steam boats,
(and sometimes those of a larger size)
for six months in the year to this
place; and if the contemplated improvement
goes into operation of
cleansing the river, and establishing
slack water navigation, by dams
and locks, this town and county will
at no distant day rank among the
most flourishing and prosperous in
Virginia.

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

Judge Fry holds his Circuit
Superior Courts of Law and Chancery
on the 8th of April and September.

Palatine Hill, P. O. 289 ms.
from R. and 211 from W.

Smithfield, a small village 10
miles from Morgantown, on the road
to Clarksburg.

White Day, P. O. 283 ms. from
R. and 205 S. W. by W. of W., situated
in the eastern part of the county;
10 ms. E. of Morgantown.

MONROE.

Monroe was created by act of Assembly in the year. 1799, from a portion
of Greenbrier. It is bounded N. by Greenbrier,—N. E. by Alleghany,—E.
by Bottetourt,—S. by Giles, and W. by New river, which on that
side separates it from Giles. Its mean length is 31 ms.; mean breadth
18½; and area 614 sq ms., extending from 37° 22′, to 37° 45′ N. lat, and
in long from 3° 16′, to 3° 54′ W. of W. C. The general declivity of this
county is westward from the summit of the Alleghany mountain. Greenbrier
river crosses the northwestern angle of the county, and unites with
New river to form the Great Kanawha, at the point at which Giles, Logan,
Greenbrier and Monroe all meet. The mouth of Greenbrier river
has been found by actual admeasurement, to be 1,333 ft above the level of
the ocean, and the county of Monroe being still higher and declining to
this point, is probably from 1,400, to 1,700 or 1,800 ft. above the ocean.
Population in 1820, 6,620, 1830, 7,798. It belongs to the 16th judicial
circuit and 8th district. Tax paid in 1833, $1,123 94—in 1834, on lots,
$56 85—land. $601 30—424 slaves, $106 00—3,640 horses, $218 40—
21 studs, $173 00—11 coaches, $29 50—15 carryalls, $15 00—7 gigs,
$3 60. Total $1,280 69. Expended in educating poor children in 1832,
$395 40—in 1833, $232 24.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Gwinn's Mill, P. O. 222 ms. from
R. and 277 S. W. by W. of W.

New River, P. O. 237 ms. from
R. and 296 S. W. by W. of W., situated
in the western part of the county,
26 ms. westward of Union, the County
Seat, on the margin of New river,
10 ms. above the mouth of Greenbrier
river, and 5 below Indian creek, on
the main post road leading from Giles'
C. H. to Kanawha Salt Works.—
Though called a village it is simply
a post office. The face of the surrounding
country is mountainous, the
bottoms are narrow, but very fertile,
producing in abundance, wheat, rye,
Indian corn, oats, hemp, flax and
garden stuffs. The principal staples
are peltry, hemp and Indian corn for
the latter a ready market is found at
all seasons at the Red Sulphur
Springs, distant 10 ms. Emigration
to this neighborhood within the last
few years, has been considerable.

Peterstown, P. O. 249 ms. from
R. and 294 S. W. by W. of W. This
village was settled, some 40 years
since by Christian Peters, from whom
it derives its name, and established as
a town by act of Assembly in January
4th, 1804. It is situated on a
stream called Rich creek, which takes
its rise in Peters' mountain, about 7
ms. above, and passing through the
town, discharges its waters, 2 ms. below
into New river, at the head of
the Great Kanawha, affording one of
the most advantageous sites for water
power in western Virginia. It contains
20 neat dwelling houses, 1 common
school, 1 saw mill, 1 grist mill,
and a wool carding machine, 1 mercantile
store, 3 tanyards, 1 saddler, 1
blacksmith, 1 gun smith, 1 tailor and
1 wagon maker. Surrounded by a
wild and romantic country, abounding
with every description of game; the
pursuit of which, constitutes the principal
sport of the inhabitants.

Red Sulphur Springs, P. V. 240
ms. from R. and 282 from W.

These celebrated waters are situated
in lat. 37° 30′ 25″ N., long. 3° 14′
50″ W. from Washington. They are
38 ms. from the White Sulphur, the
same distance from the Sweet Springs,
and 16 ms. from the Salt Sulphur.
The valley in which they rise is
formed by two mountains, running
from N. E. to S. W. They receive
their name from a deposite of a rich
crimson color. This deposite rests on
another of white, and is itself of a
gelatinous consistence. The water
issues from various fissures, in a stratum
of soft slate stone, within a space
of about 24 by 8 ft. Heretofore they
were but partially collected, three-fourths
having been permitted to
waste; but the present proprietor having,
in the autumn of 1833, opened
the native stone, and obtained a vast
increase in the quantity, has collected
them in two fountains of white marble.
The temperature of the water
is preceisely 54 deg. of Fahr.; it is
peculiarly pleasant, though so strongly
impregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen.
Hundreds of persons now
living can bear testimony to its extraordinary
effects in the cure of pulmonary
disease it is therefore superfluous
to offer farther evidence of its value
in checking that frightful enemy
of mankind. We may refer the reader
to the work of Dr. Bell on baths
and mineral waters, and to a pamphlet
lately published on "Consumption
and the Red Sulphur waters," by
Dr. Huntt, a distinguished physician
of Washington City. Invalids are
earnestly recommended to read this
last little work.[42] It remains that we

should notice its effects in other diseases,
and here we must express our
astonishment, that physicians have
turned to so little account the knowledge
of its powers in pulmonary complaints,
and in the reduction of arterial
action. There can be little doubt
that the remarkable influence it exerts
in pulmonary complaints is mainly
dependant on its sedative quality, and
it seems to us strange how it has been
overlooked by medical men, that so
important a curative principle, could
not have been limited to one disease.

The writer hazards the opinion
that it will be found no less efficicacious,
in calming nervous irritability,
than in reducing arterial action. He
has experienced this effect in his own
person, and has witnessed it in others.
One of the most remarkable cases of
Neuralgia we have ever witnessed
was that of Henry Brown, esq. of
Lynchburg. He had been afflicted
many years in an extraordinary degree,
had visited Europe, consulted
the most eminent physicians, tried all
the other mineral waters in this region,
but with little benefit. Last
August he visitted these Springs, and
was so much pleased with their effects,
that he remained until the 1st of
January.

He regretted not having visited the
Red Sulphur some years sooner, and
believed, if he had, that in all probability,
he would have been entirely
restored to health.

That these waters are most singularly
efficacious in uterine diseases,
and in restoring the health of delicate
females is a fact too well established,
to admit of controversy, and one which
we deem it peculiarly important
should be known, as these are probably
the only mineral waters in Virginia
that are suited to such cases.

The writer is of opinion, that the
tonic property of these waters is consequent
on their sedative property.—
They do not belong to the ordinary
class of tonics; they do indeed, invigorate
the stomach in a remarkable
manner—a fact which is clearly proved
by the rapid increase of weight,
many persons gaining from one to two
pounds a day for several successive
days; but whilst they effect this, they
are most usually producing one or
two evacuations a day, and acting freely
on the kidneys and skin. From
what has been said, it may be perceived
that we believe the water to be
directly sedative, indirectly tonic, alterative,
diuretic and diaphoretic.

It has been found efficacious in all
forms of consumption, scrofula, jaundice
and other bilious affections, chronic
dysentery and diarrhea, dyspepsia,
diseases of the uterus, chronic
rheumatism and gout, dropsy, gravel,
neuralgia, tremor, syphilis, scurvy,
crysipetas, tetter, ring-worm and itch;
and it has long been celebrated as a
vermifuge. That there are many
other diseases, to which its medicinal
properties are applicable, there can be
little doubt, and we can state one fact
highly important, which is, that we
have never known it to do a positive
injury. If the patient has gone away
in a worse condition, it is because the
disease had progressed so far as to be
incurable, or the failure may be clearly
traced to some imprudence on his
own part. It is a lamentable fact that
many of the persons who visit the
Virginia Mineral Springs are altogether
ignorant of their properties,
and consequently are tempted to make
experiments on themselves. Some

think that the greatest good is to be
derived from the greatest quantity,
and therefore use them immoderately.
Others think that, as charity hides a
multitude of sins; so the water justifies
a multitude of indulgencies. They
entirely lose sight of the object of
which they were in pursuit, after
having made some progress towards
its attainment; and if, after indulging
their appetites, or being guilty of
some other imprudence, they relapse
to their former condition, they immediately
blame the water. The writer
has had some experience in the use of
the Red Sulphur water, and does not
hesitate to say, that in his opinion, its
efficacy is impeded by all stimulants.
Ardent spirits, strong coffee, strong
tea, meat diet, especially at night,
should be avoided. The patient
should live on a strictly vegetable
diet. Milk, maple molasses, cold
bread, buckwheat cakes, rice, rye
mush, bread-pudding, stewed peaches
and various other articles of a similar
character are best suited to the action
of the water. These combined with
its judicious use, moderate exercise,
and a calm mind, afford the best prospect
of a cure. We are of opinion
that most persons should begin with
six or eight tumblers a day, and gradually
increase to twelve. We believe
this quantity to be sufficient, except
where it is necessary to act more
immediately on the kidneys. In this
case we would advise a light supper,
and three tumblers of water after getting
into bed. Walking exercise is
of vast importance in making the water
alterative. We would therefore
strongly recommend early rising, and
as much exercise as can be taken
without fatigue. There is frequently
a fog in the morning, in these mountain
regions, but nothing is to be apprehended
from it. It is in fact, almost
invariably, the forerunner of a
fine day. It is highly important to
invalids to lay aside the use of all medicines
if possible, but more particularly
the use of opium. The latter
interferes very much with the action
of the water. It may be useful at the
commencent, to prepare the system
by two or three blue pills, and when
the water becomes altogether diuretic,
it will be proper to turn it on the bowels,
which may be done by a little epsom
salts or some other simple medicine.
When persons laboring under
diarrhea use the water it sometimes
happens, that the evacuations
become more frequent and acrid, for
two or three days.

Patients in this situation sometimes
think that the water is doing them injury,
when, in fact, it is expelling the
exciting cause. To such persons we
recommend perseverance and caution
in diet. There is a singular effect
produced by this water which we
have never known produced by any
other mineral water. About the 10th
day, usually, but sometimes much
earlier, the patient is taken with a
sensation of fullness in the head, he
feels indolent and sleepy, and we
have even known the pulse to get below
the natural standard. We have
never seen this symptom productive
of any injury; on the contrary experience
has proved that it is an unerring
omen of amendment. Whenever
we hear of this symptom we have
strong hopes, that the patient is in a
fair way of recovering his health, if
he will do justice to himself by perseverance
and prudence. Visiters to
these waters frequently expect miracles.
They suppose that chronic diseases
of several years standing should
be eradicated in a few days. We
have, indeed, sometimes seen wonderful
changes take place in a few days,
but if a man laboring under an obstinate
disease desire permanent benefit,
he must give the water time to expel
from his system every vestige of the
exciting cause.

Improvements

The proprietor of this property
came into possession on the 1st of

October, 1832. He has ever since
been busily engaged in erecting
buildings and making other improvements
for the accommodation of visitors.
In addition to the spacious hotel
erected last year, he is now erecting
a range of one story buildings
198 by 24 ft., and a two story building
with a double portico, 112 by 30
ft. All the old cabins will be fitted
up in a more comfortable manner
Cold and warm baths will be provided.
Extensive stables and carriage
houses are erected and every thing
liberally provided which can promote
the comfort of the guests. The accommodation
will be ample for 250
persons. The establishment is conducted
by Major Wm Vass. A tri-weekly
line of stages is now running
through this place to Newbern in
Montgomery county, where it connects
with the southwestern line.
The roads in this neighborhood are
greatly improved, and two companies
are incorporated to make a turnpike
road from the White Sulphur, to this
place, by way of the Salt Sulphur.
It is expected that the mail will arrive
here daily, next season, in stages.

Red Sulphur Seminary—This Institution
was opened on the 15th
April last. The studies at present
pursued are the Ancient Languages
and Mathematics. The number of
scholars is limited to thirty. When
that number is engaged a teacher of
Modern Languages will be employed.
The advantages possessed by this
Institution will readily suggest themselves
to the minds of those who have
boys to educate. It has the undivided
attention of Wm Buike as principal,
and James Macauly as assistant.

Salt Sulphur Springs, P. O.
216 ms. from R. and 270 from W.
The mineral waters known by the
name of the Salt Sulphur Springs,
rise in Western Virginia, in about
37½° N lat. and 5° long W. of Philadelphia—are
distant 25 miles from
the White Sulphur, 22 from the Sweet
Springs, 16 from the Red Sulphur,
and 60 from the Hot and Warm
Springs—It is generally acknowledged,
that this quarter of the country
has its full share of medicinal waters,
and in greater variety than any other
country of the same extent. The climate,
too, during the warmer months,
is the best in North America. The
thermometer in the months of June,
July and August, ranges in the day
time from 65° to 80°, and the nights
are so refreshingly cool as to permit
the delicate to sleep under one, two
and three blankets. To judge from
one's feelings, the barometer would
stand very low in this favored country,
and show an uncommonly light air,
but they are scarce in this portion of
the state, and there happens to be none
at the Salt Sulphur Springs at this
time. Here, under the blessings of
providence, "the blind, the lame and
the halt" may venture to hope for relief.
The fine, refreshing climate, the
cheerful company, passing and repassing
from spring to spring—and such
a variety of medicinal waters, as the
world no where else affords—added
to the novelty of mountain scenery, it
seems to afford sufficient inducement
to entice both the young and old,—
the robust, to seek new pleasures, and
the infirm man, bowed down by disease,
and weary of life, to alleviate
his sufferings, and endeavor to repair
his shattered constitution. The contrast
between winter and summer in
this region, is, as may be supposed,
very great. During the cold months,
as the country is thinly inbabited, all
appears desolate and dreary—the hills
are covered with snow, and the streams
with ice—as soon, though, as the season
well justifies it, the prospect becomes
more inviting—About the latter
part of May and the first of June,
the poor victims of disease, from north
and south, east and west, are seen in
these places to try the healing powers
of these natural medicines. Soomafter,

the throng is much increased by
daily arrivals of gay and fashionable
people, looking for amusement or a
more genial summer climate than the
one they reside in. This time of animation
continues until the middle of
September, when the visitors mostly
leave for their homes.—A few, however,
frequently remain much later—
these, though, are real sufferers, who
seem unwilling to leave as long as
there is any thing to hope for. There
are two fountains at the Salt Sulphur,
each giving out a very different water.—The
first one used is distinguished
as the Salt Sulphur, and is ornamented
with an appropriate building
resting on twelve large pillars.—The
other spring rises about 600 yards up
the ravine, and was discovered about
a year since in an attempt to convey
some sulphur water in pipes to a bath
house.—The laborer in blowing a
rock to afford a way for the pipes,
opened the spring to his great alarm,
as he thought he had struck on the
source of the spring from which he
was conducting the water. The temperature
of the two springs is the same
at all seasons of the year (50° fah'r,)
and both of them contain a portion of
sulphuretted hydrogen.—The Salt
Sulphur, too, has soda, it is believed,
in an uncombined state—This perhaps
is the mineral that acts so happily as
a corrective of acid and the oily eructation
that attends a diseased stomach.
The different waters give a copious
precipitate by first adding to them
salt of iron, and then precipitating it
with carburet of potass—of course the
precipitate has been considered a precipitate
of iron.—If any reliance can be
placed on this indication, the newly
discovered fountain will have the rare
property of reducing a quick pulse as
some few other waters are said to do.
The more active ingredients in the
Salt Sulphur might interfere with those
invalids who would wish to reduce a
quick circulation, but with the newly
discovered spring, no difficulty of the
kind need be apprehended.—On an
examination of the country around
the waters, the limestone will be found
frequently to contain magnesia—the
formations, too, are all secondary.—
From this circumstance, in all probability,
these waters contain magnesia
and the newly discovered mineral called
sodine so generally found in marine
productions.—The proprietors of
these waters have themselves a high
confidence in them and are becoming
more and more solicitous for a correct
analasis of them, which will secure
to them their entire value and nothing
more.

This spring is celebrated among all
the visiters to the springs for the excellence
of the accommodations, and
the polite and obliging dispositions of
the proprietors. These buildings are
very extensive, and still increasing—
in the season of 1835, they will probably
be able to accommodate 300
persons.

Sweet Springs, P. O. 204 ms.
W. of R. and 263 S. W. by W. of
W. This most ancient of any of the
watering places in Va., is situated in
the county of Monroe, in a fertile
valley of the same name. They are
distant 29 ms. from Fincastle, 22 from
the Salt Sulphur, 37 from the Red,
and 18 from the White Sulphur
Springs. The spring, which is so
copious, as to turn a mill at the distance
of 200 yards from the source,
rises at the lower end of a small hollow
or valley, from which the ground
gradually swells on either side. The
houses and cabins, of which a large
number have been erected within a
year or two, are sufficient to accomdate
from 250 to 300 persons. By
far the greater number of these cabins
are built in rows adjoining each
other, though some are delightfully
situated among the groves of oak
trees. There are two perennial rivulets
from the mountains, meandering
through the dale, which notonly adds
materially to the comfort of the visiters

and the cleanliness of the place,
but refreshes, enlivens and beautifies
the surrounding prospect. Nature
indeed has not been sparing in embellishing
with her choicest beauties
this enchanting spot. Every object
that can gratify the eye or please the
fancy is here pourtrayed in its brightest
colors. The wild scenery of the
mountains with the gentle landscapes,
the shady groves and arbors, carelessly
scattered over this delightful
scene, invite the young, and the gay,
and the admirers of nature to contemplate
her under these charming
and picturesque aspects.

The spirit of public improvement
which has recently so diffused itself
among the people of Western Virginia,
has greatly facilitated the
means of access and conveyance to
the different watering places. There
is a daily line of stages in the summer
running from Fincastle to the Sweet
Springs and also from the Salt and
White Sulphur. The fine roads, delightful
climate and beautiful scenery
which is here met with, is a sufficient
inducement aside from other considerations,
to the low landers for an annual
ramble to the mountains.

The following description of the
medicinal properties of the Sweet
Spring waters is taken from Dr. Bell
on Baths and Mineral waters. "The
water of the spring rises into a large
cylindrical reservoir, from opposite
sides of which it flows out by small
pipes: one conveying water to the
bath for the men, the other to that for
the ladies. The men's bath is of a
quadrangular form surrounded by a
wall, and open at the top, it is of tolerable
extent and clear, the bottom
being of gravel and the water constantly
flowing in and as constantly
passing out, after it reaches a certain
height. The temperature of the
Spring 73° fahr., the same as that
which in England, by a strange blunder,
is called Bristol Hot Wells
There is a considerable resemblance
between the two in other respects as
well in the abundant evolution of
carbonic acid gas as in the earthy and
saline matters held in solution. In
the Virginia Spring however iron has
been detected, whereas the Bristol
Hot Wells has none in its composition.
If we can rely on the rather
crude analysis of Bouelle, one quart
of the water of the Sweet Spring contains—

     

Saline substances in general,	12 to 15 grains
Earthy substances,	18 to 24 grains
Iron	½ to 1 grains

The saline substances are sulphate
of magnesia, muriate of soda, and
muriate of line with a little sulphate
of lime. The earthy substances consisted
of sulphate of lime, a small
portion of carbonates of magnesia
and lime, with a small portion of silicious
earth. The deposition of calcarious
matter from the waters as they
flow down the meadows is so great
as to form a kind of drain of considerable
height and thickness at about
a mile on the road to the White Sulphur
Springs.

Few mineral waters have acquired
such fashionable and well merited
celebrity as the Sweet Springs. The
name is calculated to convey erroneous
impressions of their taste, which
is like a solution of a small quantity
of a calcareous or magnesian carbonate.
The excess of carbonic acid
gives, however, the waters a briskness,
productive of a very different
effect on the palate from what an imperfect
mixture of the earth's would
produce. The first effects of this
water due to its temperature and gaseous
contents, when drunk, are a feeling
of warmth at the stomach, with a
sensation of fulness at the head and
some giddiness. Taken at stated intervals
in moderate quantity, it will
produce a moisture on the skin and
increase the flow of urine. It the
stomach be in a good state it gives
additional appetite and imparts fresh

vigor to the system. The Sweet
Spring water is serviceable in the varieties
of dyspepsia accompanied by
gastrodynia or spasm, with pains occurring
at irregular intervals and
heart burn—when the extremities are
cold and the skin torpid. In secondary
debility of the digestive canal,
from the exhausting heat of summer,
or in chronic diarrhea and dysentery
without fever or not sustained by hepatic
inflammation, much good will
be produced by the internal use of
these waters.

If much gastric irritation or evident
phlogosis of the liver be present
with a parched skin and other phenomena
of fever: it will be better to
premise one or two small bleedings,
followed by the use of a blue pill at
night, and a tumbler full or two of the
water, to which has been added a teaspoon
full of epsom salts, or twice the
quantity of calcined magnesia early
in the morning.

The harassing cough to which
young persons are occasionally subject
and which often has its origin in
an enfeebled state of the stomach, or
in scrofulous habits from enlargement
of the bronchial glands, as also the
tussis homoralis of old people, will
all be materially benefitted by the use
of these waters. The relief afforded
in such cases as these has usually
given Bristol Hot Wells its reputation
in the cure of pulmonary consumption.

Females of what are termed a
nervous habit of body, who have been
enfeebled by protracted confinement,
or long nursing their children, deprivation
of exercise, and of the enjoyment
of fresh air, and who have
in addition to these causes of dyspepsia,
made excessive use of tea and
coffee, spices and condiments, will
find their strength and health restored
by drinking these waters as well as
bathing in the manner to be soon
mentioned. Irregularity in the uterine
functions will often soon disappear
after the restoration of the digestive
system to its former energy.

As we should have inferred from
the excess of carbonic acid and the
presence of the earthy carbonates in
the water, it is useful in calculous
and nephritic complaints.

In acute rheumatism the waters
with the addition of neutral salts and
the use of the bath will be of service.
But in chronic rheumatism, in which
there have been for a long time stiffness
of the joints and cold skin, our
chief reliance must be placed on the
baths of the Warm and Hot Springs,
by or attenuated with the use of the
sulphur spring water.

The usual times for drinking the
waters of the Sweet Springs are early
in the morning, between 12 and 1
o'clock or some little time before dinner,
and in the evening at tea time.
This later period is an improper one
except the invalid suffer at the time
from spasm of the stomach, or experience
a morbid and gnawing sensation
of hunger.

The use of the bath at the Sweet
Springs is adapted to a large number
of cases, viz., in which there is a
morbid or irregular heat of the surface
with some febrile action. The
first sensation or immersion in the
water is a slight shock, after which
the feeling of coolness is refreshing
and rather agreeable. We have less
hesitation in bathing in water of tepid
temperature, as this almost is, than
in a cold bath. For common hygienii
purposes it is quite safe and reviving,
and in disease may be used with
considerable freedom, but not to the
neglect of those precautions given
when I spoke of the cold bath. A
more efficacious mode of applying
this water to the skin would be by
douche—the stream being directed
on the region in which the irritation
was fixed, and whenever there was
augmented heat and fixed pain as
over the stomach, or liver, or abdomen
generally above the pubis or on

the loins and sacrum, also to the
joints when the violence of inflammation
has not yet subsided nor passed
entirely into the chronic state. If
the irritation of the stomach forbids
the drinking of the water, douching
of the epigastrium would form a good
preparative for its use in this way.
Lumbago with some evening fever
chloroies or floar albus, with heat
and pain at the loins, would all be
benefitted by douching this part.

The freedom and advantage with
which the bath at the Sweet Springs
has been used by aged persons, is evidence
of its general safety. The
chief points to be attended to are, that
the skin shall not be moist or cold
with perspiration, nor that there shall
be general chill nor the languor
that follows excessive muscular action
the stomach also should be
nearly empty, or at least not actively
engaged in its work of digestion.
The duration of a bath is usually
too long; from five to fifteen minutes
will embrace periods adapted to all
conditions. Even the more robust
ought not to stay in longer than the
last mentioned time.

UNION, P. V. and seat of justice,
267 ms. S. W. by W. of W. C., and
208 W. of R., in lat. 37° 34′ N. and
long. 3° 32′ W. of W. C.,—situated
northeastward from Peters' mountain
in Greenbrier Valley, about 40 ms. a
little W. of N. from Christiansburg.
The town of Union is a beautiful little
village, in a pleasant and healthy
situation. The country around for
many miles is a rich and fertile soil,
particularly adapted to grass. A vast
number of cattle, horses, hogs, &c.
are annually fattened in this neighborhood.
It contains besides the usual
county buildings, which are handsome,
45 dwelling houses, 2 houses
of public worship, (1 Methodist and
1 Presbyterian,) 1 common school, 2
houses of public entertainment, 3
mercantile stores, 2 tan yards, and 3
saddlers. The other mechanics are,
tailors, boot and shoe makers, blacksmiths,
wagon makers, brick layers,
&c. &c. This court house is situated
15 ms. west of the top of the Alleghany
mountain. Population 400
persons; of whom 1 is a resident attorney,
and 2 are regular physicians.

County Courts are held on the 3d
Monday in every month,—Quarterly
in March, June, August and November.

Judge Brown holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 14th of May and October.

MONTGOMERY.

Montgomery was created by the Legislature in the year 1777, and
formed from Fincastle county. It is bounded N. and N. W. by Giles,—
W. and S. W. by Wythe,—S. by the new county of Floyd,—and W. by
Franklin. As we are unacquainted with the precise dimensions of Floyd,
we shall be compelled to give the dimensions of Montgomery as it stood
before the separation. Its mean length was 34 miles, mean breadth 32,
and area 1089 sq. ms. Extending in lat. from 30° 43′ to 37° 24′ N. and
in long. 3° 04′ to 3° 50′ W. of W. C. The northern portion of this county
gives rise to the Roanoke and to Craig's creek, which flow in a N. W.
direction into Botetourt. The county occupies a portion of the high plateau
or table land between the waters which flow into the Atlantic, and
those which flow towards the Mississippi. The mouth of Sinking creek,
which enters the Great Kanawha, in Giles county, at the western foot o
Walker's mountain, of course below any part of Montgomery, is found

from actual measurement, elevated 1,585 feet above tide water in James
river. The highest spring tributary to Sinking creek was found to be 2509;
we may, therefore, very safely assume as the general elevation of Montgomery
from 1,800 to 2,500; or a mean exceeding 2,100 feet, or an equivalent
to more than five degrees of latitude. If then we assume 37° as
the mean lat. of Montgomery county, the real winter climate will be similar
to that on the Atlantic coast in N. lat. 42°. Besides the mountains, the
whole face of this county is broken and rocky, yet though so rough and
elevated, the streams are bordered with excellent soil.

Population of Montgomery as it stood in 1820, 8,733,—1830, 12,306.
It belongs to the 6th judicial circuit and 8th district. Tax paid in 1833,
$1280 27—in 1834 on lots, $92 19—land, $593 77—975 slaves, $243 75
—3283 horses, $196 98—16 studs, $112 00—10 coaches, $28 25—19
carryalls, $19 00—7 gigs, $3 75. Total, $1,289 69. Expended in educating
poor children in 1832, $207 44—in 1833, $194 28.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Blacksburg, P. O. 215 ms. W. of
R. and 290 S. W. by W. of W., situated
in the northern part of the county,
9 ms. northwardly from Christiansburg.
It contains 34 dwelling
houses, 2 houses of public worship,
(1 Methodist and 1 Presbyterian,) 1
common school, 1 sabbath school, and
1 temperance society, 3 tan yards, 2
saddlers, and various other mechanics.
Population 150 persons, of
whom 1 is a physician.

CHRISTIANSBURG, P. V. and
county seat, 206 ms. S. W. of R.
and 282 S. W. of W. in lat. 37° 08′
N. and long. 3° 24′ W. of W. It
contains besides the usual county
buildings, 45 dwelling houses, 2
houses of public worship, (1 Methodist
and 1 Presbyterian,) 2 common
schools, 5 miscellaneous stores, 3 benevolent
societies, 2 tanyards, and 2
saddlers. The principal mechanics
are 3 boot and shoe factories, 4 tailors,
4 hatters, 1 cabinet maker, 4 tin
plate workers. Population, whites
230 persons; of whom 5 are resident
attorneys, and 3 regular physicians—
colored 105—total 335.

County Courts are held on the 1st
Monday in every month,—Quarterly
in March, June, August and November.

Judge Brown, holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 22d of May and October.

Fotheringay, P. O. 195 ms. from
R. and 270 S. W. by W. of W.

Goodson, P. O. 221 ms. W. of R.
and 299 S. W. of W.

La Fayette, P. O. 190 ms. S.
W. of R. and 266 from W., situated
in the N. E. part of the county, near
the foot of the Alleghany mountain
on the head waters of the Roanoke,
and at the junction of the North and
South Forks,—33 ms. from Fincastle,
and 7 from the line dividing the counties
of Montgomery and Botetourt.
This village was established 8 or 10
years since, and is now rapidly progressing,
most of its improvements
having been made within the last 2
years. It contains 43 dwelling houses,
1 house of public worship, (Methodist,)
2 miscellaneous stores, 1 tavern,
1 extensive manufacturing flour mill,
1 tan yard, 1 cooper's shop, 1 boot and
shoe factory, 4 smith shops, and various
other mechanics. The soil of
its vicinity is productive of Indian
corn, wheat and tobacco. Population
103 persons, of whom 1 is a regular
physician.

Newbern, P. V. 225 ms. from R.
and 301 S. W. by W. of W., situated
in the western part of the county, 16
ms. S. W. of Christiansburg, and 7

W. of English's Ferry, on the main
western stage road from Baltimore to
Nashville, Tenn. Its location is high
and airy, giving a fine view of the
adjacent valleys and neighboring
mountains, which present an interesting
and romantic scene, and fill the
traveller's mind with admiration. It
contains 100 houses, 1 house of public
worship, (Methodist,) and 1 (Presbyterian)
in the immediate vicinity,
(used as a school house,) 5 mercantile
stores, 2 taverns, 2 saddlers, 1 tan
yard, 2 boot and shoe makers, 2 wagon
makers, 2 tailors, 2 blacksmith
shops, 1 silversmith and jeweller, and
1 milliner and mantua maker. Population
190 persons; of whom 2 are
physicians. The face of the country
to the N. and N. W. is generally
level to the valley of Back creek, a
distance of 7 or 8 ms. in width, and
between 15 and 20 in length, productive
of every kind of grain, but naturally
adapted to grass. The S. and
S. E. is diversified and uneven, tho'
the soil is of good quality and produces
well. The staple commodities
are beef, pork, grain, hemp, flax, and
butter. On the north bank of New
river, 1¼ ms. from Newbern, there is
a bluff called the Glass Windows, (a
great natural curiosity,) presenting
to the spectator as magnificent a scene
as the Natural Bridge in Rockbridge
county. It is a perpendicular rock
500 feet in height, running parallel
with the river about 3¾ of a mile, in
which there are a number of coves
that produce saltpetre in abundance;
Another natural curiosity is Peak
Knob, about 3 ms. W. of Newbern.
It somewhat resembles the Peaks of
Otter and rises between 800 and 1000
feet above the bed of Peak creek, and
presents the inhabitants with a delightful
landscape to a very considerable
distance. Around the foot of
Peak Knob and on the banks of Peak
creek, are a number of mineral
springs, the medicinal qualities of
which are said to be considerable.

MORGAN.

Morgan was created by act of Assembly in 1820, from a portion of
Hampshire and Berkley counties. It is bounded N. by the Potomac,
which separates it from Washington county of Maryland,—E. by Berkley,—S.
by Frederick and Hampshire,—and W. by the Potomac, separating
it from Alleghany county of Maryland. Its mean length is 22 miles,
mean breadth 16; and area 352 sq. ms. It extends in lat. from 39° 22′ to
39° 40′ N. and in long, from 0° 58′ to 1° 25′ W. of W. C. The general
slope of this county is N. N. E. in the direction of its two principal
streams, the Great Cacapon and Sleepy creek. The surface is much
broken and rocky, but there is much good soil upon the streams.

Population in 1820, 2,500—1830, 2,094. It belongs to the 13th judicial
circuit, and 7th district. Tax paid in 1833, $561 20—in 1834 on
lots, $46 61—land, $393 72—91 slaves, $22 75—846 horses, $50 76
—2 studs, $20 00—1 coach, $3 00. Total $536 84. Expended in educating
poor children in 1832, $162 75—in 1833, $165 83.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

BATH, or Berkley Springs, P.
O. and seat of justice, 186 ms. N. N.
W. of R. and 93 N. W. by W. of
W., situated 8 ms. S. S. W. of Hancocktown,
Md., and 45 ms. N. W. by
W. of Harper's Ferry. Mr. Jeffer-

son in Notes on Virginia, thus speaks
of this watering place. "On Potomac
river in Berkley co., above the North
mountain are medicinal springs. In
former years they were much more
frequented than those of Augusta or
any other. Their powers however
are less, the waters weakly mineralised
and scarcely warm. They were
more visited, because situated in a
fertile, plentiful, and populous country,
better provided with accommodation,
were always so far from the
Indians, and nearest to the populous
states."—The waters of Bath are now
held in high repute, whatever opinion
might have been entertained of
them in the time at which Mr. Jefferson
wrote his Notes on Virginia;
and hundreds flock to them every
season from Maryland and Pennsylvania.

County Courts are held on the 4th
Monday in every month:—Quarterly
in March, June, September and
November.

Judge Parker holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 25th of April, and August.

Oakland, P. O. 175 ms. from R.
and 96 N. W. by W. of W.

NICHOLAS.

Nicholas was created by act of Assembly in the year 1818, from a portion
of the counties of Kanawha, Greenbrier, and Randolph. It is bounded
N. by Lewis,—N. E. by Randolph,—E. by Pocahontas,—S. E. and S.
by Greenbrier,—S. W. by Fayette,—and W. by Kanawha. Its mean
length is 44 miles, mean breadth 32½, and area 1,431 sq. ms. It extends
in lat. from 38° 04′ to 38° 43′, and in long. from 3° 18′ to 4° 12′ W. of
W. C. Its greatest declination is to the souhwest, in the direction of its
two principal streams, Gauley river and Elk river. The former flowing
through the southern portion of the county, the latter through the northern.
Gauley is a rough stream, admitting of but little navigation. Elk on the
contrary is a beautiful flowing stream, navigable almost to its source, and
susceptible of being made at a small expense, the channel of valuable trade.
It is well stocked with fine fresh water fish, some of which are of enormous
size. The soil and climate of this county present great variety; being
in some parts very warm and very fertile, in others cold and barren.

Population in 1820, 1,853—in 1830, 3,349. It belongs to the 18th judicial
circuit, and 9th district. Tax paid in 1833, $263 01—in 1834, on
lots, $11 98—land, $199 19—53 slaves, $13 25—899 horses, $53 94—4
studs, $25 00. Total, $303 36. Expended in educating poor children
in 1832, $179 80—in 1833, $65 83.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Birch River, P. O. 284 ms. from
R. and 327 S. W. of W., situated in
the northern part of the county, 17
ms. N. W. of the county seat.

Mountain Cove, P. O. 273 ms.
from R. and 315 W. of W.

NICHOLAS C.H. or SUMMERVILLE,
P. O. and county seat, 286
ms. N. W. by W. of R. and 310 W.
of W., in lat. 38° 18′ N. and long.
3° 48′ W. of W. C. This village is
situated on a flat at the head of Peter's
creek, and Arbuckles' branch.
The water rises from a flat near the
town and flows east and west, constituting
westwardly the head of Peter's

creek, and eastwardly the water flows
into Arbuckle's branch, both of which
streams empty into Gauley river,
many miles apart. The village contains
a frame court house, a clerk's office,
and jail of hewn stone, of superior
elegance and durability, 20 dwelling
houses, 2 miscellaneous stores,
2 taverns, 1 tan yard, 2 smith shops,
1 hatter, 1 house joiner, 2 tailors, and
1 boot and shoe maker. Population
100 persons; of whom 2 are resident
attorneys. There is no physician
here, and there are only 2 in the
county.

County Courts are held on the 2d
Tuesday in every month;—Quarterly
in March, June, August and November.

Judge Duncan holds his Circuit
Superior Courts of Law and Chancery
on the 6th of April and September.

Suttonsville, P. O. 300 ms. N.
W. by W. of R. and 312 S. W. by
W. of W., situated in the southern
part of the county, on the south side
of Big Elk river, distant 100 ms. from
the head of Elk, and from its junction
with the Great Kanawha river.
Elk is navigable to the Union Mills,
10 ms. above Suttonsville, which may
be considered the head of good navition.
The situation of this village is
eligible, being situated at the intersection
of the main northern and
southern mail routes, passing through
the vallies of Kanawha and Ohio.
It contains 8 dwelling houses, 2 miscellaneous
stores, 1 house of entertainment,
and 1 tanyard. Population
45. The principal pursuits of the
inhabitants are building flat bottomed
boats which are run down to the Kanawha
salines, and freighted off with
salt to the various markets in the
western country. There are a considerable
number of valuable grist
and saw mills on this river, which
prepare large quantities of plank,
lumber, &c., for boat building, and
for the Charleston market on the
Great Kanawha. There are also
great quantities of boat gunwales,
barrel-staves, and hoop-poles, carried
from this place to the Kanawha salines.
There are at this time about
15 saw mills built and building on
Big Elk and its tributary waters, a
part of which are expected to go into
operation this season, and many others
are in operation on that part of
Big Elk river which runs through
Kanawha county. It will give some
idea of the business done at this place
and its immediate vicinity, and of its
fast increasing trade, to state that in
the spring of 1833, there were sent
off at one time in boats, lumber, &c.,
to the amount of from 10 to 12,000
dollars. This was the product of
about six months labor, including the
winter season. This section of country
is but thinly and newly settled,
with the exception of a few hunters,
who are not generally very enterprising
people. Its remote situation has
kept its natural advantages and facilities
out of view until lately. It is
now improving, and promises fair to
become a flourishing and prosperous
village.

OHIO.

Ohio county was created by act of Assembly in the year 1776, from a
portion of the District of West Augusta. It is bounded N. by Brooke,—
N. E. by Washington county, Pa.—S. E. by Greene county, Pa.—S. by
Tyler county, Va.—S. W. by the Ohio river, which separates it from Monroe
county, Ohio,—and N. W. by Belmont county, Ohio. It will be perceived
that these limits include the new county of Marshall, created from

the Southern portion of Ohio, at the session of the Legislature of 1834-5.
Indeed as the law has not yet been promulgated which established this new
county it will be impossible to separate them, and we shall speak of Ohio
county as it stood in December, 1834. Its mean length is 28¾ miles, mean
breadth 13; and area 375 square miles. It extends in lat. from 39° 42′ to
40° 14′ N. and in long. from 3° 36′ to 3° 55′ W. of W. C. The declivity
is N. W. towards the Ohio river. Several creeks which rise in Pa. flow
N. W. to the Ohio through this county;—they are—Fishing,—Fish,—
Grave,—Wheeling, and Short.—The surface is very much broken, but
the soil very fertile, especially on the water courses.

Population in 1820, 9,182—in 1830, 15,590. It belongs to the 20th judicial
circuit and 10th district. Tax paid in 1833, $2630 17—in 1834,
on lots, $1385 46—land, $820 33—183 slaves, $45 75—4291 horses,
$257 46—23 studs, $190 00—40 coaches, $97 25—13 carryalls, $14 50
—12 gigs, $8 50—Total $2819 25. Expended in educating poor children
in 1832, $520 06—in 1833, $842 61.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Archville, P. O. 263 ms. from
W. and 353 from R.

Beeler's Station, P. O. 350
ms. N. W. of R. and 259 N. W.
by W. of W.—situated in the southern
part of the county—the present
county of Marshall.

Grave Creek, or Elizabethtown,
P. V. 356 ms. from R. and
260 N. W. by W. of W.—situated
12 ms. below Wheeling. This creek
and village take their name from very
extensive tumuli, scattered over an
elevated bottom or plain. The author
of this article visited this plain
twice in 1794, before the use of the
plough or other farming utensils had
much disturbed the remains. At that
epoch one very large conical mound,
surrounded by a ditch, was itself environed
by numerous and similar,
though smaller, tumuli. The remains
of the roads, sloping down the banks
from the plain, was also perfectly distinguishable,
as was the trench of a
work in form of a parallelogram.

Triadelphia, P. O. 364 ms. from
R. and 255 from W.

West Union, P. O. 344 ms. from
R. and 266 S. W. by W. of W.—
Situated on Wheeling creek, 14 miles
S. E. by E. of Wheeling, on an advantageous
and beautiful eminence,
and on the post road leading from
Morgantown, Monongalia county, to
Wheeling. It contains 7 dwelling
houses, 2 houses of public worship,
(1 Methodist, and 1 Presbyterian,) 1
common school, 2 taverns, 1 general
store, 2 blacksmith shops, 1 tanyard,
and 1 tailor's shop. Population 25.

West Liberty, P. O. 276 ms.
N. W. by W. of W. and 369 from
R. This village is situated in a
healthy and flourishing neighborhood,
densely settled, five miles from
the Ohio river, twelve miles N. E.
of Wheeling, and nine S. of Wellsburg,
the county seat of Brooke. It
contains 40 dwelling houses, 2 houses
of public worship, (1 Presbyterian,
and 1 Methodist,) 1 academy and 2
common schools, 3 mercantile stores,
2 tanyards, 2 saddlers, 1 hatter, 2
blacksmith shops, 2 tailors, 1 coach
maker, and several house carpenters,
cabinet makers, &c. 1 printing office,
from which a weekly paper is issued.
There are within the circle of 3 ms.
around this village, 6 manufacturing
flour mills. The soil of the surrounding
neighborhood is productive,
and one of the best wheat and wool
growing countries west of the mountains.
Population 280 persons; of
whom 2 are regular physicians.

WHEELING CITY, seat of
justice, 357 ms. from R. and 264 W.
of W. C. in lat. 40° 07′ N. and long.
4° 36′ W. of W. C.—situated on the
left bank of the Ohio river, and at the
mouth of a creek of the same name,
56 ms. S. W. of Pittsburg and 31 S.
W. by W. of Washington, in Pa.—
The origin of this place was Wheeling
fort, built early in the Revolutionary
war, which stood on the breast
of a high bank, at the point of which,
the U. S. road reaches the Ohio river.
Wheeling advanced at first but slowly.
It was laid out as a village early in
1783, and in 1820 contained 1,567 inhabitants.
Within the last thirteen
years the advance has been rapid,—
in 1830 the population was 5,222, and
now, 1834, is estimated at 8,000,—
among whom are 14 resident attorneys,
12 regular physicians, and 11
clergymen. It contains about 500
houses, 9 houses of public worship,
(2 Presbyterian, 1 Episcopalian, 2
Methodist, 1 Catholic, 1 Friends or
Quakers, 1 regular Baptist, and 1
Campbellite, &c.

There are a number of very excellent
institutions here. 1st. The
Wheeling Institute, contains 4 departments,
viz.—infant—primary—classical,
and female—under the superintendence
of six teachers, and contains
from 150 to 160 pupils.

2d. The Wheeling Lancasterian
Academy. 3d. The Wheeling Classical
Academy 4th. The Wheeling
Female Seminary. 5th. The
Wheeling University, (not yet organized,)
and nine common English preparatory
schools.

The rear of this town is skirted by
a range of hills which approaches
within a short distance of the river
These hills, which abound with inexhaustible
quantities of stone coal, from
their proximity to the town are of the
greatest convenience to the numerous
manufactories;—a number of them
having coal within a few yards of
their fires. This place is one of the
first manufacturing towns in the western
country, and ranks, in point of
population, the fourth in the state.
There are at all times not less than
26 steam engines in operation. The
Wheeling Iron Works, owned by
Messrs Shanberger & Agnew, roll
1000 tons of iron annually—about
300 tons of which are cut into nails
of various sizes—the balance being
bar, boiler, sheet, hoop iron, &c.—
giving employment to a great number
of hands, and consuming 150,000
bushels of stone coal annually.
These works are calculated to produce
double or treble the quantity prannum,
if there were a demand for it.
There are also 4 iron foundries, employing
70 hands, & consuming about
130,000 bushels of coal annually, 4
steam engine builders, giving employment
to 70 hands and consuming 60,000
bushels of stone coal annually—
5 glass houses and 2 glass cutting establishments—giving
employment to
193 hands, and consuming 260,000
bushels of stone coal, 3 steam flour
mills, consuming 75,000 bushels per
annum, 1 brewery, 2 steam distilleries,
consuming 50,000 bushels, 2 cotton
factories, 2 woollen factories and carding
machines, consuming 70,000 bushels,
2 paper mills, 70,000 bushels, 2
steam saw mills, 50,000 bushels, 1
copperas, 1 white and 1 sheet lead factory,
consuming 8,000 bushels of stone
coal annually.

There are 2 tobacco factories and 1
glue factory, 1 coach and wagon maker,
1 edge tool maker, 3 chair makers,
1 comb maker, 2 merchant tailors,
giving employment to a great
number of hands, 4 silversmiths, 18
blacksmiths, and 3 white smiths, 2
steam planing machines, 3 tanners
and curriers, 5 saddlers, 17 boot and
shoe factories, 6 painters and glaziers,
3 cabinet makers, 3 coppersmiths and
tin plate workers, 5 hatters, 2 wire
workers, 2 coopers, 1 rope maker, 2
water pump manufactories, 2 soap and
tallow chandleries, 10 bake houses, 5

livery stables, 1 stone and earthen pottery,
7 brick yards, 12 master stone
and brick masons, 5 stone cutters, 6
plasterers, 7 carpenters and undertakers,
1 book bindery, 1 brass foundry,
3 window glass and hollow ware
manufactories, consuming 175,000
bushels of coal annually, 3 printing
offices, (2 issuing a weekly, and 1 a
tri weekly paper,) 1 book and job office,
2 book stores, 1 reading room,
and a very extensive circulating library,
12 apothecaries' shops, 1 Lyceum,
a Masonic Hall and Theatre.

The aggregate number of manufactories
in the town of Wheeling for
domestic goods are 113, using annually
upwards of 1,000,000 bushels of
coal, and giving employment to more
than 1,300 hands. There are 65
wholesale and retail stores, vending
annually goods to the amount of $1,500,000,
7 commission and forwarding
houses, for the sale of goods consigned,
and for receiving and forwarding
merchandize and produce. These
houses, from Nov'r 1832, to Nov'r
1833, forwarded to Baltimore and the
District of Columbia, by wagons,
2,671 hogsheads of tobacco, and by
steam, keel and flat boats, to the west
and south, and by wagons to Baltimore
and Philadelphia, merchandize
and produce equal to at least 11,000
tons. During the same period there
was paid to wagoners for carriage on
goods from the eastern cities, and to
boats for freights, via the river, a sum
variously estimated at from $230 to
$250,000. The amount of money
expended for the purchase of merino
wool exported during the past season
cannot be exactly ascertained, but it is
known that a sum exceeding $104,500
was so invested for pork, lard and
bacon 130 to $140,000, flour 550
to $600,000, whiskey, cider, apples,
&c. 50 to $60,000, flat boats to transport
the same 70 to $80,000, stone
coal, say 1,000,000 bushels, $30,000,
flat boats to transport the same, 15 to
$20,000. There is owned in Wheeling,
in whole and in part, from 17 to
20 steam boats, worth from 200 to
$230,000. The arrivals and departures
of steam boats at and from this
port during the past year were, 738.
Wheeling is by a law of Congress a
port of entry, so that goods from any
port of Europe may be imported direct
without payment of duties at New
Orleans.

There is now running to and from
Wheeling eight lines of daily stages,
east, west and north—1 tri-weekly
line, 1 semi-weekly and 1 weekly.
The number of passengers arriving
and departing weekly by steam boats
and stages are variously estimated at
from 350 to 400.—The Baltimore and
Ohio wagon transportation company
with a capital of $200,000 (one-fourth
of which is paid in) transports goods
and produce between Wheeling and
Baltimore. One wagon arrives and departs
daily at and from each of those
places, with a load weighing from 2¼
to 2½ tons and occupies 8 days upon
the road. Arrangements are in progress
to increase the number of daily
arrivals and departures from one to
three wagons, and eventually to five.

There are now within a circle of
25 miles around Wheeling, 134 manufacturing
flour mills, making annually
at least 270,000 barrels of flour,
worth say $823,500—of this quantity,
from 150,000 to 160,000 bbls are
exported by boats to New Orleans, or
by wagons across the mountains.—
The public water works are now nearly
completed, worked by a steam engine
of 120 horse power; and it possesses
the capacity to raise       gallons
of water from the Ohio river per hour.
These, together with the erection of
public stone wharves, sewers, &c. &c.
of the most permanent kind, cost the
corporation within the last 2 years an
expenditure of upwards of $40,000.
A stone bridge has lately been erected
over Wheeling creek at this place,
at a cost of $17,000.—Boat building
for the last few years has been carried

on here extensively. At low water,
steam boats ascend no higher than this
place. From the fact of its having a
more permanent navigation the whole
year round than any other point, it is
made the general route of travellers.
It also possesses one of the finest markets
in the western country. The
Baltimore and Ohio rail-road it is
supposed will strike the Ohio river at
this place. Considering all these advantages,
there remains no doubt that
in the course of a few years Wheeling
will become one of the most important
places in the west. The
northwestern bank of Virginia is located
here. It may not be considered
irrelative to state that the present
population of Wheeling is estimated
at about 8,000 souls; shewing an increase
in the last four years, (since
the census of 1830) of about fifty per
cent.; and, in the last 15 years, of
about eight hundred per cent! The
colored part of the population, both
slaves and free blacks—amounting to
less than two hundred—it is highly
probable that Wheeling contains already,
the largest white population of
any town or city, in the state, and, in
reference to its manufactories and
commerce, if not the first, is doubtless,
the second town in the commonwealth.
A growth so rapid, is believed to be
altogether unexampled in Virginia;
and but seldom surpassed even in the
rapidly filling districts of the "great
west."

This town, the capital of Ohio
county, situated at the head of steam
boat navigation on the Ohio, during
the low water season; at the termination
of the eastern, and commencement
of the western division of the
great "Cumberland," or "National
Road," possessing unexampled facilities
and advantages for manufacturing,
in the abundance and low cost of all
materials, and especially of fuel;
(coal, costing, delivered at the factories,
but one to three cents per bushel.)
surrounded by a country of uncommon
fertility, and remarkable for
health—cannot but continue to advance
in business, population and
wealth.

County and Corporation Courts
are held on the 3d Monday, in every
month — Quarterly in March,
June, August and November.

Circuit Superior Courts of Law
and Chancery are held on the 14th
of May and October, by Judge Fry.

PAGE.

Page was established by act of Assembly in 1831, and formed out of
parts of Rockingham and Shenandoah. It is bounded on the W. and N.
W. by Shenandoah,—N. and N. E. by Frederick,—E. by the Blue Ridge,
separating it from Rappahannock,—S. E. by Madison, and S. and S. W. by
Rockingham, Length 34 miles, breadth 11, and area 374 square miles
Lat. 38° 45′ long. 1° 25′ W. of W. C. It consists of one entire valley.
The Blue Ridge lying on the east and the Fort or Massanuttin mountain
on the west. The Shenandoah river passes through the whole length of
the county, running from south to north. The Blue Ridge and Fort mountain
are exactly parallel to each other, and here range due north and south,
thus making the county an oblong square—the east and west boundary
lines running on the top of these mountains respectively. These mountains
present a most beautiful and pictureque appearance at all seasons of
the year. The snow and ice, and clouds of winter, are not less beautiful,
though something more dreary, than the refreshing green of summer, or

the bright and varied hues of autumn. The land in this county is generally
of the very best quality of limestone, valley land—a very considerable
portion is bottom, lying on the Shenandoah river and Hawksbill
and other creeks. Considered in relation to its agricultural advantages, it is
with the exception of Jefferson, the richest county of its size, in the state.
The productions of the soil are such as are common in the valley of Virginia.

There are in the county 61 saw mills, 24 merchant mills, 20 grist mills,
6 carding machines, 3 oil mills, 6 hemp mills, 10 tan yards, 1 blast furnace
for smelting iron and making castings, and 2 forges for making bar
iron. These forges and this furnace belong to Benj Blackford & Son,
and their manufactures in iron, are annually worth 50,000 dollars.

Vast quantities of iron ore are found in every part of the county. Copper,
lead and magnesia are also found in considerable quantities. Beautiful
marble is found in many places. The town of Luray may be said to
be almost built on a rock of gray marble—but as yet there has been no
effort made to dress it for ornamental use. The rock is blown, and the
marble in its rough and crude state—is used for all the common building
purposes of the town. It never can become an article of commerce, until
there are increased facilities of transportation.

The population by the census in 1830 was 8,327, about 1000 of whom
were slaves. It belongs to the 14th judicial circuit and 7th district. Tax
paid in 1833, $1354 09—in 1834, on lots, $49 65—land, $989 56—517
slaves, $129 25—1991 horses, $189 46—6 studs, $38 00—6 coaches,
$13 00—4 gigs, $2 50. Total, $1341 42. Expended in educating poor
children in 1832, $237 25—in 1833, $369 18.

Curiosities.—There are several very large mounds or Indian graves,
such as are common to the Ohio and Mississippi valley—from one of which,
situated in a field in cultivation, bones, beads, pipes, &c. are continually
dragged by the plough. There are many large and extensive caves in this
county, such as are peculiar to lime stone countries—one of which, that at
Cave Hill, is thought to be little inferior in extent and beauty to Weyer's
Cave. It is not however, very accessible, the entrance being difficult, and
is therefore but little visited. The author has been so obliging as to send
us the following beautiful description of this remarkable cave—which he
published in the Shenandoah Sentinel, May 14th, 1825, it is well written
and well worthy of perusal.

"Wonders of Cave Hill.—It would seem that all that region of country
lying west of the Blue Ridge, as far towards the Pacific ocean as
it has been explored and known, abounds in subjects, which, whilst they
gratify the curiosity and exercise the utmost stretch of the imagination,
confound and baffle the understanding. And a subject not the least curious
and wonderful, are those extensive and numerous caverns, which are
found generally in the limestone districts of country.

"One of those caves has been known to the people of the neighborhood
of Luray, in Page county, during a number of years past, but nothing
like a full discovery of its beauties was ever made until within a few days
past. This cave is about one mile west of the town of Luray, and situated
within a hundred yards of the road leading from Thornton's Gap to
New Market. The entrance is almost exactly at the top of a small mountain,
which has for along time been known to the neighborhood by the name
of Cave Hill. Recently several attempts had been made to explore this

subterranean world, but rather unsuccessfully; and on Saturday last a party
of fifteen gentlemen left Luray, with a determination to give it a complete
exploration.

"The mouth of the cave was rather difficult of access, owing to its smallness;
but the party eager for the marvellous and impatient of obstacles,
fell manfully to work, and in a short time, by breaking and removing the
rocks, a different and more commodious entrance than the one formerly
used, was opened into the cave. Then commenced the bustle of preparation
for the descent. The broad cloth and finer articles of dress were
quickly laid aside, and in their stead was substituted old clothing, which
had been specially provided for the occasion. Then the descent commenced—each
man provided with a sufficient number of candles for half a
day, whilst others carried provisions and refreshments; and others again,
instruments for the purpose of ascertaining courses, distances, &c., and of
determining other matters relating to the cave.

"Here, if we mistake not, was a pretty correct criterion of that physical
courage and strength of nerve which we so much admire in others, and
which we are all willing to believe we possess ourselves. Each man was
willing that his comrade should descend first into this great unknown deep;
and all were willing to be the last to enter. In a few moments, however,
the whole party were safely entered. The descent for ten or fifteen yards
is rather narrow, and at an angle of forty-five degrees; it then takes a
horizontal direction, until we are brought at the distance of about one hundred
yards from the entrance, to the first room, which from its situation, we
called the Lobby.

"The passage approaches this room about ten feet above the level of the
floor, and at some places it is perpendicular, but the descent into the room,
is down the rocks somewhat in the form of steps. This room contains
some specimens of beautiful spar. Here we tried to take the bearing of
the room, but found from the proximity of minerals, or some unknown
cause, that the instruments were rendered wholly useless. Leaving this
room, we proceeded in a direction which seemed to be west and southwest,
and down the side of the hill. This passage has somewhat the appearance
of a large stairway. After descending, as we supposed, about a quarter of
a mile, the passage became very straight and smooth, and gradually enlarged
until we perceived that we stood in front of a room whose dimensions, from
the light of our candles, we could not discover. The entrance here, as in
the room which we first entered, was ten or fifteen feet above the level of
the floor. After a few moments, however, by clinging to the projections of
spar, which here appeared like large icicles, the whole party stood safely
upon the floor of this great room. Here all the wonder and magnificence
of the subterranean world burst upon us at once. We found that we stood
in a room, the area of whose floor was equal to a quarter of an acre. Immediately
before us, and within a few feet of the centre of the room, arose
a vast column or pillar, in some degree combining architectural proportions;
and running up about thirty feet, and supporting the dome of this
immense Hall. This column stands upon a block or rude pedestal, about
three feet in height, and the shaft where it rests upon it is about the thickness
of a man's body. It then swells gradually until it becomes, at the
distance of twenty feet from its base, about the size of a barrel, whence it
continues of the same size, until it gradually enlarges into its capital, where
it reaches the dome. Strange to tell, this vast column is almost as regularly

fluted or grooved, as if it had been done with the chisel of the sculptor.
About fifteen feet from the main pillar stand two smaller ones, about ten
feet in height, which consequently do not reach the ceiling; and just at
their base, and nearly between them is a small pool or basin of water.
Here the whole party sat down, and unfolding their various bundles of
provisions and refreshments, and sticking their candles to the different pillars
and projections of the wall, enjoyed their cold collation with such appetites
and spirits, as were naturally produced by exercise and the novelty
of the scene around us. We perceived now for the first time, by the united
glare of all our candles, that the whole of the arch of this immense Hall,
was hung with the most beautiful stalactites, and variegated with almost
every possible variety of color. In some places it was perfectly white, then
red, grey or yellow—and in others it was as clear and transparent as ice.

"In looking around us towards the lights which were dispersed in different
parts of the Hall, the various small spars or pillars that were pointing
up—others that had been detached from the ceiling and lay scattered
about the floor—and numerous large blocks of crystalized limestone, produce
novel and almost indescribable feelings. It did not require an imagination
unusually fervid, to liken this dim picture of the floor, to the miniature
ruins of some great city, with a few of its spires and steeples pointing
up from the ruins; or to some mighty temple, with its shattered and broken
columns and fallen walls, with just sufficient of its materials to shew the
style of its former magnificence.

"When we had finished our repast and collected our company to push
forward in quest of further discoveries, we concluded to call this room
Congress Hall; its magnificence being equalled by nothing else within
our knowledge. We now proceeded to the left of the entrance by which
we came into the Hall—entered an opening which presented itself, and by
following rather an uneven and difficult passage, we very soon arrived in
another room. Here we found a very pleasing subject for our admiration.
A large block or projection of the rock at one side of this room was hung
round with a vast number of stalactites, of every possible variety of shape
and size,—from the thickness of one's finger to that of one's arm, and from
six inches to three or four feet in length. Some one of the party casually
striking one of the larger of these stalactites, a loud, full sound was emitted,
something like the tone of a distant church bell. Several of the party
then drawing pieces of spar across these stalactites, alternately and in concert
with each other, it produced a rude and not unpleasing melody, with
every gradation of sound, from the deepest tone of the organ to the finest
note of the flute. This room we somewhat aptly called the Music Room.
Finding no convenient outlet from this room other than the one by which
we entered, we returned into Congress Hall. After we had entered this
Hall again, and continued to the right until we came to the great stairway,
by which we had first entered, we discovered greatly to our surprise that
this entrance projected into the Hall twelve or fifteen feet, and was nearly
as many feet from the floor. You can form some idea of this singular
entrance by supposing a square box with its ends open to be projected
through a window into a room. This projected or funnel part of the entrance
appeared to have been formed by the same process that the stalactites and
spar had been; and its bottom, under which we could all walk and view it,
seemed not to be more than nine or ten inches in thickness. Immediately
to the right of this passage, commenced, what we very properly called, a

Gallery. This Gallery was considerably above the level of the room, and
contained a great quantity of very brilliant and beautiful spar. The side
of the Gallery next to the Hall was entirely open, from which we could
look down into it. We left the gallery, and still continuing to the right
around the Hall, we entered a cavity in the floor; and after traversing a
tolerably long aud difficult passage, we arrived at a very regular room, the
side walls and ceiling of which seemed to be the clear blue limestone, with
a thin crystallization as clear as glass over their surface. We could reach
the ceiling, upon which we wrote many of our names with white chalk,
the day of the month, year, &c. This room we called the Glazed Chamber.
In the passage leading to this chamber, we discovered attached to
the side of the rock, what appeared to be a complete conch shell. The
shape and size—the smoothness and delicate red on the inside, and the
roughness on the outside, with the little circle of knobs near the top, all
precisely corresponded with the product of the sea. And it appeared that
a very gentle tap would have detached it from the rock. Within a few
feet of this was a sparry excrescence, exactly resembling the human heart.
Its color, shape, and size all precisely corresponded. And near this again,
the perfect leg, foot, and talons of a bird projected from the rock. These
several objects were so clearly and completely defined and so closely resembled
the originals, as to strike the mind even of the most inattentive
observer with a degree of astonishment.

"From the Glazed Chamber we all once more returned to Congress
Hall, and still continued our discoveries to the right around the room. We
perceived now, that as the arch of this great room became lower, large
stalactites were projected from it and reached the floor; thus forming a beautiful
colonnade or row of shining pillars in a line with the direction of the
room, and three or four feet from its wall, leaving between this colonnade
and the wall a beautiful recess. In this recess one of the simplest, yet one
of the most striking beauties of the cave unfolded itself. This was a
spring or pool of pure water, which appeared as transparent as ether. This
pool or basin is about three or four feet in diameter, and twelve or fourteen
inches in depth. The bottom and sides of this basin where the water covers
them, are entirely covered with stalagmites or drops of shining spar, which
have much the appearance of burnished silver. About the centre of this
pool, stands a beautiful stalactite, eighteen inches in height, and unlike all
the rest of these specimens of spar which we found arising from the floor,
the small end or point rested on the bottom of the basin, and gradually
enlarged until it arose several inches above the top of the water, thus presenting
the singular appearance of a long cone resting upon its point.
Exactly over this, a large spar hangs from the ceiling of the room, and
approaches within eighteen inches of that which is in the water. From
the point of this hanging spar there runs a stream of water about the thickness
of a quill, and falls exactly on the top of the spar in the centre of the
spring; and is, in fact, the source from which the spring is supplied. Both
of these stalactites have the appearance of large icicles.

"To the right of this spring behind the pillars and a little above it,
through the solid limestone rock or wall of the room, was a small smooth
opening just large enough to admit the body. This opening is perfectly
level, and after sliding about ten feet, we came into a room, not so large,
but in point of beauty, far exceeding anything which we had seen. The
whole interior of this room is a complete lustre, or surface of shining spar.

In this room about three and a half feet above the level of the floor, is a
complete wainscot or chairboard, with apparent mouldings and carved work
in complete relief; and extending in one entire and unbroken circle around
the room. In the centre of the floor stand three large spars, resembling
candlesticks of a mammoth size. These candlesticks arise from the floor
of the room with various enlargements and diminutions, resembling carved
work, until they reach the exact level of the chairboard, when the spar
which resembles the candle, and seems to be set into a socket, runs up
about two feet. As if to make the copy more exact, and the resemblance
more palpably striking, the candlesticks seem to be of a dusky or bronze
color, and the candle or spar arising from it of a clear white. We called
this room the Masonic Hall.

One fact here presented itself too palpably to be mistaken. This room
had evidently been at one time filled with water to the height of the chairboard,
and by the gradual crystallization of the lime and nitre which it
held suspended, the chairboard was formed, which at once accounted for
its being so perfectly level and regular, and running into all the little hollows
and irregularities of the wall. The candlesticks too had been formed
in the same way by the dropping of the water from the arch; and which
being, as we supposed completely saturated with lime and nitre, was of
greater specific gravity than the water into which it fell, and thus was
gradually formed the large spars which resembled the candlesticks, until
they rose even with the top of the water; after which the spar became immediately
small and clear, resembling a candle. The crystallization on
the walls of this room is in beautiful waves and folds, resembling drapery.
At one end of the room a large spar, resembling a bed post, stood in beautiful
relief from the wall, and large folds and waves of drapery, resembling
curtains, seemed to hide the rest of the bed.

"Here then our admiration and astonishment were at their height. Our
feelings had been wrought up to a degree of almost painful intensity.
Here we stood hundreds of feet beneath the surface of the earth, and a full
half-mile from the first entrance, treading upon a spot and breathing an
atmosphere which had not been disturbed since the creation of the world.
A place in which the human voice had never before been heard, and on
whose beauties the human eye had never rested. There was in truth an
awful sublimity in the state of our feelings, superinduced not only by what
we saw, but in part perhaps by a contingent danger to which we were exposed.
The falling of the arch, or the rolling of a single rock into some
of the narrow passages which we had to retrace, would have shut us up in
eternal darkness in this mysterious region of wonders.

"Why nature should display those various and astonishing beauties only
for herself, or place them thus in a region of darkness and danger, is to
us marvellous and incomprehensible. Or why she should thus, in a capricious
or whimsical mood, group together objects the least resembling each
other in their nature and uses is equally strange. A bedstead, drapery and
candlesticks—a conch shell, bird's foot and a human heart. Strange and
mysterious associations. We cannot fully describe or comprehend them.
And all that we could do upon viewing them was to exclaim, wonderful!
wonderful!

"From the room last described, we returned to the mouth of the cave,
and found that we had spent upwards of four hours in examining its beauties,
without, however, discovering their full extent. We determined to
defer a further search to some other occasion.

"This cave is situated on the lands of Mr. David McKay, and is said to
have been first partially explored in the following singular manner. A
Mr. Ruffner, who was nearly as much celebrated for deeds of sylvan
prowess as the renowned Putnam, in passing this cave some thirty years
ago, conceived the bold and hazardous design of entering it alone. He
accordingly prepared himself a flambeau of pine, and placed his rifle
across the mouth, to indicate, in case of accident, to his friends, if they
should happen to see it, that he was in the cave. He descended, but soon
fell and put out his light, and as might have been expected, was soon bewildered
and lost in its labyrinth of passages. It happened that some of
his friends in passing the cave discovered his gun, and rightly concluding
that he had gone into it, they procured lights and entered in search of him,
and found and brought him out again, after his having been in forty-eight
hours. This brave fellow was among the pioneers who were foremost in
exploring and settling our western frontier; and was at last killed by the
Indians, after having performed deeds of valor and daring prowess, which
would have done honor to the character of a hero."

We suggest the propriety of commemorating the exploit mentioned in
this last paragraph, by calling this cave in future Ruffner's Cave.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Hambaugh's, P. O. 146 ms. from
R. and 82 W. of W. C.

Honiesville, P. O. 137 ms. from
R. and 115 W. of W. C. This village
is situated 10 ms. above Luray,
between the Masanutten mountain
and the Blue Ridge, on the banks of
Honey creek, (from which it takes
its name,) about 200 yards from its
junction with the south Shenandoah
river, which is navigable 40 miles
above this place. It contains 6 dwelling
houses, 1 house of public worship,
free for all denominations, 1
common school, 1 mercantile store, 1
tavern, 1 extensive manufacturing
flour mill, 2 saw mills, 1 wool carding
machine, 1 distillery, 1 boat yard
famed for building gundaloe boats, 1
tailor, 1 boot and shoe maker, and 1
blacksmith shop.—Population 34 persons;
of whom 1 is a regular physician.

Hope's Mills, P. O. 3 ms. N. of
Luray, and 87 from W.

Kite's Mill, P. O. 14 ms. from
Luray, county seat, and 104 from W.

LURAY, P. V. and county seat,
105 ms. from W. and 136 from R.
It is situated on the Hawksbill creek,
near the centre of the county, and
equidistant from Thornton's Gap on
the E., and Massanutten Gap on the
W. The first house in this village
was built in 1814. It now contains
besides the ordinary county buildings,
between 40 and 50 dwelling houses,
2 houses of public worship, (1 Baptist
and 1 Methodist.) There are 4
mercantile stores, 1 tan yard, 2 cabinet
makers, 2 wheelwrights, and various
other mechanics. Population
400 persons, of whom 3 are resident
attorneys and 3 regular physicians.

County Courts are held on the 4th
Monday in every month;—Quarterly
in March, May, August and November.

Judge Smith holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 1st of April and September.

The court house in this village
which is erected on a considerable
eminence, and on the edge of the
town, is perhaps one of the handsomest
buildings of the kind in Western
Virginia. It commands a view of
the mountains to the east and west
far beyond the limits of the county.

Marksville, P. O. 125 ms. from
R. and 112 from W.

Massanutten, P. O. 144 ms. from
R. and 114 W. of W.

Overalls, P. O. 91 ms. W. of W.
and 142 from R.

The Stoney Man, one of the
peaks of the Blue Ridge, between
Page and Madison counties; it is
about 10 ms. distant and in full view
from the court house yard. The
Stoney Man has been considered by
some to be the next highest peak of the
Blue Ridge, after the Peaks of Otter.

PENDLETON.

Pendleton was created by an act of Assembly passed in 1788, and formed
from a portion of Augusta, Hardy, and Rockingham. It is bounded N. by
Hardy,—E. and S. E. by a ridge called the Great North mountain, which separates
it from Rockingham and Augusta,—S. by Bath,—and W. by the main
Alleghany chain, which separates it from Pocahontas and Randolph. Its mean
length is 38½ miles, mean breadth 26, and area 999 square miles. It extends in
lat. from 38° 15, to 38° 53′ N, and in long. from 2° to 2° 42′ W. of W. C.
Pendleton occupies the most elevated part of the table land between its two
bounding ridges of mountains, discharging to the S. W. the extreme sources
of James river, and in an opposite direction the higher sources of south
branch of Potomac. Comparing the general elevation of Pendleton with
the determined height of James river in Alleghany county, considering the
whole slope of Bath county intervening, the level of the arable land from
whence flow the sources of James and Potomac rivers, must exceed 2000
feet. Covington in Alleghany at the junction of Pott's creek with Jackson's,
is 1,222 feet above the mean tide in Chesapeake bay, and at this point
the water of Jackson river has fallen down a plain of upwards of 50 miles
descent. The southern end of this county is pretty equally divided into
four vallies, by five parallel ridges of mountains, which go under the following
names, beginning on the eastern side, first, Shenandoah mountain—
second, Cowpasture mountain—third, Bullpasture mountain—fourth, Jackson's
mountain, and fifth, Fore mountain, to the main Alleghany ridge. The
valley between the Shenandoah and Cowpasture mountains is watered by a
stream called Shaw's fork, a branch of the Cowpasture river, and is of a
thin soil, and badly cultivated. Near the head of the fork, are two beautiful
mineral springs, about two miles apart, which would rank among the
first watering places in Western Virginia, provided the necessary accommodations
could be furnished to visiters. The valley between the Cowpasture
and Bullpasture mountains, is watered by the Cowpasture river, and is
rather superior in point of soil and cultivation to the former. The valley
between the Bullpasture and Jackson's mountains, is watered by the Bullpasture
river, a rapid and beautiful stream, which furnishes a number of
commodious sites for machinery. The soil in this valley is good, well
adapted to the growth of grass, and the production of grain, is well improved,
and in a tolerable state of cultivation. The valley between Jackson
and the Fore mountains, is watered by Jackson's river, and will bear nearly
the same description of the former. There is in the S. W. part of the county
on the head of Jackson's river, a small village by the name of Woodsboro'.
It contains seven houses, a tanyard, and various mechanics, but it is on the
decline.

The Crab run is a beautiful stream of pure water; it has its rise at the

eastern base of Jackson's mountain, and flows in a S. E. direction about ten
miles, through the southern end of the county, and empties into the Bullpasture
river, about one mile below the post office of the same name. The
wedge of land pointing above its junction with the Bullpasture, affords one
of the most beautiful sites for a town that is any where to be found in this
section of country, several dwelling houses, 1 mercantile store, a saw mill,
a blacksmith shop, 1 house of public worship, and 1 common school, have
been erected on this spot of ground, which is known by the name of Sugar
Tree Grove.

There are within the limits of this description, and south of the main
Alleghany ridge, 3 houses of public worship, (Methodist,) 2 tan yards, 2
mercantile stores, and a sufficient number of common schools, for the education
of youth, with various mechanics. From the main Alleghany ridge
northwestward, this part of the county is divided into five valleys, by as
many different parallel ridges of mountains. The first valley is watered by
the south fork of the south branch of Potomac, and is situated between the
Shenandoah and Thorn mountains.—The south fork has its rise in the S.
W. part of the county, within a few hundred yards of the head spring of
the Cowpasture river, which flows the other way. From the head of the
south fork for about 18 miles down the stream, the land is of a sandy soil,
and is arid, thin and unproductive, and every thing wears the aspect of poverty.
Proceeding a little lower down, the bottom begins to widen, the soil
becomes more fertile, the farms are more enlarged and in a better state of
cultivation and repair. "The manners and dress of the people discover more
polish,—the hair of their flocks and herds has changed its weather-worn
deadness, for a slick and glossy coat, and every thing assumes the appearance
of thriftiness and better living." The S. fork has but one tributary
stream of any note, which it receives about ten miles from its source, and
which is known by the name of Bushby's fork. There is one store on the
head of the south fork. There are two others below this,—one about 20,
the other about 30 miles,—the first is 15. the second 9, and the third 12
miles from Franklin county seat. There are also four houses of public
worship on this water, (3 Lutheran and 1 Union.) The first is 19, the second
15, the third 10, and the fourth 13 miles from the county seat. The
S. fork flows N. E. and after passing into Hardy county, empties into the
S. branch of the Potomac, about 4 miles below the county line. The S.
branch of the Potomac is formed by the junction of Streight and Crab
creeks, which have their rise in the N. W. part of the county, and flow a
N. E. course through the county, watering the valley which lays between
the Thorn and N. fork mountains. The soil in this valley is rich, and well
adapted to grass and grain. In this valley are 4 houses of public worship,
(1 on the head of Streight creek, and 1 on Crab creek,) the former 20, the latter
22 miles above Franklin, both of which belong to the Methodist; and
12 miles below, and another 13, one of which is Lutheran and the other
Methodist.

The S. branch is a pure and beautiful stream of water, and receives within
this county the following streams. 3 miles above Franklin, the Black Thorn
—10 miles below, Reed's creek—and 3 miles below this is Mill creek. Three
miles above Franklin, there is a rich saltpetre cave, from which a vast quantity
of nitre has been made, but the works are now idle. The entrance of
the cave is a small aperture near the base of a small mountain, and it extends
under ground for some miles.

The next portion in order, is the north fork valley, which is watered by
the N. fork of the S. branch. It has its rise in the S. W. part of the county,
and flows a N. E. course, and after passing into Hardy county empties into
the S. branch a little below the county line, receiving in its course but one
stream of any note, which is known by the name of Seneca. The land in
this valley is good, and produces well both grass and grain. There are on
the N. fork 2 houses of public worship, (both Methodist,) and 1 store. Between
this and the main Alleghany mountain, there are two other ridges,
the local names of which are Timber Ridge and Spruce mountain. The
lands on these, as well as the other ridges of mountains in the county, are
of tolerable soil, and but thinly settled; but they afford an excellent range
for stock during the summer season, and give birth to a number of springs
of the best water. There are 2 other tan yards in this county besides those
already named. No merchant mills, but the valleys are well furnished
with common grist mills, carding machines,—blacksmiths, and other mechanics.

Population in 1820, 4,836—in 1830, 6,271. It belongs to the 14th
judicial circuit and 7th district. Tax paid in 1833, $1,032 46—in 1834
on lots, $28 30—land, $656 38—280 slaves, $70 00—3530 horses,
$211 80—24 studs, $104 50—2 coaches, $4 00—16 carryalls, $16 00—
Total, $1090 98. Expended in educating poor children in 1832, $515 43
—in 1833, $520 93.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Crab Run, P. V. 154 ms. N. W.
by W. of R. and 196 S. W. by W.
of W., situated in the S. W. part of
the county. A house of public entertainment,
a grist and a saw mill,
a blacksmith's and a wheelwright's
shop are located here.

FRANKLIN, P. V. and seat of
justice, 171 ms. N. W. by W. of R.
and the same distance S. W. by W.
of W., in lat 38° 42′ and long 2°
26′ W. of W. C., situated on the north
bank of the South Branch of the Potomac,
20 miles from its source. It
contains besides the ordinary county
buildings, 30 dwelling houses, 1 common
school, 1 temperance and 1 bible
society, 2 mercantile stores, 2 tan
yards, 3 saddlers, 1 hatter, 2 house
carpenters, 1 cabinet and chair maker,
1 printing office, 1 tailor, 2 blacksmiths,
1 gunsmith, and 2 boot and
shoe makers. Population 250 persons;
of whom 2 are resident attorneys,
and 1 a regular physicisn.

County Courts are held on the
Wednesday succeeding the 1st Tuesday
in every month;—Quarterly in
March, June, September and November.

Judge Smith holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 2d of May and 3d of October.

Hull's Store, P. O. 164 miles
from R. and 206 W. of W.

Oak Flat, P. O. 176 ms. from R.
and 186 from W.

POCAHONTAS.

Pocahontas was established by act of the General Assembly in the
year 1821, and formed from a portion of the counties of Bath, Pendleton
and Randolph. It is bounded N. by Randolph,—E. by the Alleghany

mountains which separate it from Pendleton and Bath,—S. by Greenbrier,
—and W. by Nicholas. Its mean length is 40 miles, mean breadth 17½;
and its area 794 square miles. its mean lat. is 38° 20′ N. and long. 3° W.
of W. C. This county is one of the most elevated in the Union. Cheat
river, a branch of the Monongahela, rises in the northern part,—Gauley
river, a branch of the Great Kanawha, rises in the western part, and Greenbrier
river, a branch likewise of the Great Kanawha, rises in the extreme
northeastern part, and flowing in a southwestern direction, nearly parallel
with the main Alleghany range, passes through Greenbrier into Monroe,
on the border of which it unites with New river. Knapp's creek, the largest
tributary which the Greenbrier receives in this county, rises at the foot of
the Alleghany, flows for some distance along its base, and then turning at
right angles flows north west by Huntersville, and empties into the Greenbrier
a few miles below that town. The mean height of the arable soil of
Greenbrier county is 1700 feet above the level of the ocean, and as it is
situated lower down on the Greenbrier than the county of Pocahontas, it
is fair to presume that the height of the lowest part of the latter must be
at least equal to 1800 feet above the ocean, which is equivalent to four degrees
of latitude. Greenbrier mountain enters Pocahontas on the N. E.
and passes through to the S. W.—from its western side flow Gauley and
Elk rivers. The surface is very broken and rocky, but the southern part
is quite productive of all the staples common to the same latitude,—towards
the northeast the land is more barien. The principal timber which it produces
is white and black spruce, yew, pine, white oak, chesnut, sugar
maple, hickory, beech, walnut, buck-eye, &c. &c. The inhabitants are
honest, industrious, hospitable and enterprising citizens. Population in
1830, 2,541. It belongs to the 17th judicial circuit and 9th district. Tax
paid in 1833, $386 09—in 1834 on lots, $13 92—on land $199 36—136
slaves, $34 00—1154 horses, $92 76—6 studs, $29 00—1 coach, $2 00—
2 carryalls, $2 25. Total $373 29. Expended in educating poor children
in 1832, $211 29—in 1833, $157 28.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Cackley's P. O. 202 ms. N. W.
by W. of R. and 244 from W., situated
2 ms. W. of Greenbrier river,
immediately on the main post road
leading from Huntersville to Lewisburg,
12 ms. S. W. of the former,
and 36 N. E. of the latter place. It
contains several dwelling houses, 1
mercantile store, 1 oil mill, 1 carding
machine, 1 tan yard, &c. &c. The
country around is mostly level and
fertile, producing well Indian corn,
wheat, rye, oats, potatoes, flax, &c.,
and is an excellent grass country.
This is called the Little Levels. First
rate springs abound in almost every
direction, and most or all of them
sink again after running a short disance.

Green Bank, P. O. 200 ms. from
R. and 242 W. of W., situated on the
north bank of Deer creek, six miles
above its intersection with the Greenbrier
river, and 19 north of Huntersville.
This is merely a post office,
situated in the heart of a thickly settled
neighborhood, which contains 1
house of public worship, free for all
denominations, called Deer Creek
Union Meeting House, 5 common
schools, 1 well organized temperance,
bible, tract and sunday school society,
with a considerable library, 2 mercantile
stores, several excellent country
mills, and various other mechanics.
The land of the surrounding
country is beautifully diversified by
hill and dale. The soil is rich, producing

in abundance wheat, rye, oats,
corn, &c. The principal pursuits of
the inhabitants are grazing and raising
stock. There are large quantities
of butter, venison hams, &c. taken
to market from this section of
country. The inhabitants are also
expert in the manufacture of sugar
from the maple tree. There is a very
great curiosity in the meanders of
Deer creek. About 5 miles below
Green Bank, the creek runs several
miles round a considerable hill, and
thence back within thirty poles of the
place it had passed, affording some
fine seats for manufactories, with sufficient
water power to force machinery
to any extent.

HUNTERSVILLE, P. V. and
county seat, 191 ms. N. W. by W.
of R. and 233 S. W. by W. of W.,
situated in lat. 38° 12′ N. and long
3° 1′ W. of W. C. It is situated between
Greenbrier and Alleghany
mountains, at an elevation above the
Atlantic of upwards of 1,800 feet, on
Knapp's creek, 6 miles from its junction
with the Greenbrier river. It
contains besides the usual county
buildings, 23 dwelling houses, (mostly
frame,) 3 mercantile stores, 2 taverns,
and 1 school in which the ordinary
branches of English education
are taught, 2 tailors, 2 house carpenters
and cabinet makers, 1 boot
and shoe maker, and 1 blacksmith
shop. There are in this place 2 well
organized bible classes, and 1 temperance
society. A turnpike road has
lately been located from the Warm
Springs in Bath county to Huntersville,
thence to intersect the northwestern
road between Clarksburg and
Parkersburg, or to strike the Ohio
river below the latter place. The
road when finished will add greatly
to the advancement of this village
and the surrounding country, there
being as fine lands in this section as
perhaps in any part of Virginia
Huntersville is 22 miles from the
Warm Springs, 65 from Beverly in
Randolph co and 48 from Lewisburg
in Greenbrier county. There are
near this village two sulphur springs,
said to possess good qualities. Population
125 persons; of whom 1 is a
resident attorney.

County Courts are held on the 1st
Tuesday in every month; Quarterly
in March, June, August, and November.

Judge Taylor holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 2d of May and October.

Matthewsville, P. O. 205 ms.
from R. and 247 W. of W., situated
on the main post road leading from
Huntersville to Clarksburg, the county
seat of Harrison, 15 miles from
the former, and on Settlington's creek,
a branch of the Greenbrier, 2½ miles
from its junction with the river. This
post office is located in a densely settled
neighborhood, in its immediate
vicinity are a considerable number
of scattering dwelling houses, 1 house
of public worship. (Presbyterian,) 1
school house and 1 merchant mill,
with a population of about 400. The
land of the surrounding country is
fertile, producing wheat, rye, oats,
&c., but is more generally famed for
fine meadow and pasture grounds.

Knapp's Creek, P.O. 242 ms. S.
W. of W.

Traveller's Repose, P. O. 179
ms. from R. and 221 S. W. by W. of
W., situated in a thickly settled neighborhood,
on the head of Greenbrier,
between the north and east forks of
that river, immediately on the main
post road leading from Staunton to
Clarksburg, and 32 ms. from Huntersville,
the county seat. It contains
12 dwelling house, 1 tavern, 1 store,
and several mechanics. The soil is
productive of wheat, rye, oats, buckwheat,
potatoes, &c., affording excellent
pasturage for stock. It is bounded
by various mountains, the most
noted is the Alleghany on the east,
the Laurel Ridge on the west, and the
Elk mountain on the north—which

still abounds with the elk. The soil
of these mountains is rich and affords
immense ranges for cattle, &c. The
timber is generally sugar maple,
chesnut, oak, and pine. The fir tree
is frequently met with here. The
Cheat mountain turnpike runs thro'
this place and the mail is received
once a week on horseback.

PRESTON.

Preston was created by the Legislature in 1818, from a portion of
Monongalia county. It is bounded N. by Fayette county of Pennsylvania,
—E. by Alleghany county of Maryland,—S. by Randolph,—and W. by
Monongalia. Its mean length is 30 miles, mean breadth 20; and area 601
square miles. Its mean lat. is 39° 30′ and long. 2° 38′ W. of W. C. Its
extent and population have been somewhat increased, though we do not
know precisely to what degree, since the taking of the last census and the
publication of Boyee's map of the State, by extending its eastern border to
the "Fairfax Stone," situated at the extreme southwestern angle of Maryland.
The main Alleghany chain runs near the eastern border of this
county, and the Chesnut ridge separates it from Monongalia on the west.
The body of the county is a valley between these two chains. Cheat river
enters the southern side and winds to the N. W. dividing the county into
two nearly equal sections.

The general face of the county is mountainous, interspersed on the eastern
and western sides with large natural meadows called "glades," which
afford support for large herds of cattle in summer, and in winter also, when
it is mown and cured for winter food. The glades are destitute of timber
but covered in summer with grass and weeds, with frequent projecting
points of timber, low bushes, &c. The soil of this section of the county
is better suited to grass than grain, though small quantities of corn and
wheat are grown in the glades, and abundant crops of oats, buckwheat and
rye. The alluvial or bottom grounds are small but productive and many
of the mountain and hill sides produce abundant crops of corn, wheat, rye,
oats, &c. The principal water is Cheat river, about 180 yards wide at the
Dunkard Bottom; though branches of the Monongahela and Youghiogany
water a large part of the county. The general strata of rock so far as
known, is a kind of sand stone, occasional portions of which are intermixed
with flinty pebbles so compact as to be used for mill stones to advantage;
but much of it is easily wrought for building houses, &c. Slate and limestone
is common; the county is abundantly supplied with bituminous coal,
and specimens of iron ore are often found. Population in 1820, 3,480—
1830, 5,144. This county belongs to the twentieth judicial circuit, and
tenth district. Tax paid in 1833, $437 91—in 1834 on lots, $24 54—
land $264 31—56 slaves, $14 00—1882 horses, $112 92—17 studs,
$73 50—2 carryalls, $3 00. Total $492 97. Expended in educating
poor children in 1832, $306 94—in 1833, $361 92.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Brandonville, P. V. 280 ms. N.
W. of R. and 202 from W. This is
a newly settled village, pleasantly
situated in the centre of a rapidly

improving neighborhood, in the northern
section of the county, about four
miles from the Pennsylvania line, on
the road leading from Smithfield in
Pennsylvania to Morgantown, Virginia.
It contains 20 dwelling
houses, 1 house of public worship,
(Methodist,) 1 tavern, 1 tan yard, 1
saddler, 1 hatter, 1 wagon maker, 2
cabinet makers, 1 wheelwright and
chair maker, 1 silversmith, 1 tailor,
1 blacksmith shop, 2 mercantile
stores, 1 common school, 1 temperance
and 1 colonization society. Population
100.

Evansville, P. O. situated in the
western part of the county, near the
north western turnpike road.

German Settlement, P. O. 270
ms. from R. and 270 N. W. by W.
of W. situated 18 ms. S. E. of Kingswood.
This settlement, in the midst
of which is situated a small village
called Mount Carmel, took its name
from its first settlers, who were Germans.
It contains between 80 and
100 dwelling houses, besides mechanic's
shops, &c., 1 house of public
worship, free for all denominations, 2
mercantile stores. 3 grist mills, 4 saw
mills, 1 wool carding machine, 2 tan
yards, 2 gun smiths, 4 blacksmith
shops, 1 wheelwright, 1 wagon maker,
1 millwright, several house carpenters,
cabinet makers, house-joiners,
&c. But the principal pursuit
of the inhabitants is agriculture.
This settlement is watered by the
Youghiogany, the north fork of which
heads near Mount Carmel, and is
known by the name of Ryan creek.
Wolf creek which empties into Cheat
river, also heads near this place. The
soil is of the first quality, and productive
of all kinds of grain; and especially
productive of grass. An
abundance of potatoes and turnips are
raised in this section of country.
The climate is cool and salubrious
Pure springs of never failing water
flow in abundance through this settlement.
The principal staple commodities
raised for market, are live
stock of every discription, and large
quantities of butter of the first qualiity,
&c. This settlement, like many
others in Western Virginia, has been
sealed up ever since the settling of
the same, for want of suitable roads
for transportation through the Alleghany
mountains in order to unite in
commerce with the eastern country.
The northwestern turnpike road of
Virginia from Winchester to Parkersburg,
passes immediately through
the German Settlement. This road
is in rapid progress, and there is no
grade through the Alleghany mountains
that exceeds four and a half degrees.
This appropriation of money
by the Legislature of Virginia is of
the greatest utility to this section of
the State. The number of families
which may be called attached to this
settlement will not exceed 70, the aggregate
number of inhabitants about
500, and what may be further worthy
of remark (in Virginia,) that in this
number are not more than three or
four blacks.

KINGWOOD, P. V. and seat
of justice, 261 ms. from R. and 183
N. W. by W. of W., in lat. 39° 27′
N. and long. 2° 45′ W. of W. C.,
situated on a beautiful and healthy
eminence, 2 ms. W. of Cheat river,
20 E. of Morgantown, 43 from
Clarksburg, in Harrison county, and
60 from Beverly, in Randolph county.
It contains besides the ordinary county
buildings, which are substantially
built of stone, 25 dwelling houses, 3
mercantile stores, 1 tanyard, and various
mechanics. Population about
150 persons; of whom 3 are resident
attorneys, and 1 a regular physician.

County Courts are held on the 2d
Monday in every month.—Quarterly
in March, May, August and November.

Judge Fry holds his Circuit Superior
Court of Law and Chancery
on the 1st of April, and September.

RANDOLPH.

Randolph was established by act of Assembly in the year 1787, and
formed from a portion of Harrison county. It is bounded N. by Preston,—
N. E. by the Alleghany mountain, which separates it from Hardy,—E. by
the same mountain, separating it from Pendleton,—S. by Pocahontas,—S.
W. by Nicholas,—W. by Lewis and Harrison,—and N. W. by Monongalia.
Its mean length is 66½ miles diminished by the difference which would
be occasioned by taking from it that portion which is laid down in our
maps as co-terminous with Maryland,—which has been added to Preston,—
its mean breadth 31, and its area 2,061 square miles, diminished by the
area of the above space alluded to extending in lat. from about 38° 18′ to
39° 11′ N. and in long. from about 2° 15′ to 3° 28′ W. of W. C.

This county is one of the finest on the western side of the Alleghany
mountains, and is made up of several parallel ranges of mountains with
their intervening vallies. The largest of these mountains commencing on
the east is the Alleghany, which runs north and south dividing this county
from Pendleton; the next in order are Rich, Middle and Shaver mountains,
running in the same direction. At the foot of the latter, flows Shaver's
Fork, which is stocked with some of the finest fish which the western waters
afford. This stream empties into the Monongahela, 12 miles below
Morgantown. The next mountain is the Valley mountain, which derives
its name from Tygart's valley. This valley constitutes a considerable portion
of the county, being about 35 miles in length, and 2 in breadth, and a
body of as fine land as any in Western Virginia, and in a high state of improvement.
Through this valley flows the middle branch of the Monongahela,
or Tygart's valley river, to which it gives source. The next mountain
is the Laurel, which runs also a north and south course, the whole
length of the valley; at the extremity of which it makes a bend and takes
a northeast direction, till it meets Cheat river, whence it flows nearly in a
north course, till it enters the State of Pennsylvania. At the foot of Tygart's
valley, where the Laurel hill makes its angle to the east, Chester river
breaks through the mountain. The valley and mountains presenting the
strongest evidence that at some early day they had formed a lake. These
mountains afford some of the finest streams of water in Western Virginia,
the principal of which are the Dry fork—Laurel fork—Glade fork—and
Shaver's fork—all handsome streams, having their rise in the S. W. part of
the county, running parallel within a few miles of each other, and after traversing
a considerable distance through the county emptying into Cheat river.
The mountains are well stocked with the finest timber, such as every description
of the oak, poplar, cherry, pine, fir, red cedar, &c.—and they are
almost a mass of stone coal and iron ore. The soil of these mountains is
very rich, and abounds with lime stone, slate and free stone. In some parts
of these mountains are found small caverns or caves, in which is found a
kind of copperas—fit for dye, and which is used for that purpose,—and
along some of the water courses is found the allum peeping out of the joints
of the rocks, forming in the shape of icicles. Among all these water courses
and low grounds are found salt springs. There has been salt made to a
considerable amount, but for the want of funds and men of enterprise, these
useful minerals remain in their natural state.

In this county are a considerable number of fine stock farms, which graze
and raise annually for market live stock of every description, which is the

principal source of its wealth. There were raised and sent to market from
this county during the past year ending Nov'r 1st, 1833, 1,500 head of
horned cattle, 300 sheep, and 100 horses.

Population in 1830, 5,000. It belongs to the 18th judicial circuit, and
9th district. Tax paid in 1833, $618—in 1834, on lots, $16 56—on land,
$403 93—144 slaves, $36 00—2133 horses, $127 98—8 studs, $46 00—
3 coaches, $6 00—3 carryalls, $3 00—Total, $639 47. Expended in
educating poor children in 1832, $280 64—in 1833, $600 09.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

BEVERLY, P. V. and seat of
justice, 210 ms. N. W. by W. of R.
and 221 S. W. of W.—in lat 38° 50′
N. and long 2° 55′ W. of W. C.—
situated near the centre of Tygart's
Valley, near Tygart's Valley river,
on a handsome plain, stretched out between
Phillis's creek, and Dotson's
run. The former entering the river
a little above, and the latter about a
quarter of a mile below the town.—
Beverly contains besides the public
buildings, 3 mercantile stores, 2 taverns,
1 common school, 1 tanyard, 2
saddlers, 2 boot and shoe factories, 3
blacksmith shops, 1 hatter, 1 wagon
maker, 1 house carpenter, 2 tailors,
&c.—This village is distant 60 miles
nearly due S. from Morgantown, in
Monongalia county, and 45 S. E. of
Clarksburg, in Harrison county. The
Valley river has its source in the
mountain, and courses along nearly in
a northwardly direction through the
valley. The land on its borders possesses
a considerable degree of fertility;
and the eye in traversing it beholds
some fine mountain scenery,
(being completely environed with
spurs of the Alleghany mountain,) as
well as some handsome farms in a
high state of cultivation. Proceeding
down the Valley, at different points
from 12 to 18 miles below the town,
common roads cross the mountains,
leading to the lower, and thickly settled
parts of the county. As we proceed
down the Valley, at various intervals,
fine farms, mercantile stores,
and houses of public worship, for
Presbyterians, Baptists and Methodists,
are met with. This village contains
a population of 166 whites, of
whom two are resident attornies, and
two regular physicians,—16 slaves
and 2 free colored—Total, 184.

County Courts are held on the 4th
Monday in every month;—Quarterly

in March, June, August and November.

Circuit Superior Courts of Law and
Chancery are held on the 19th of April
and 13th September by Judge
Duncan.

Billsburg, P. O. 240 ms. from R.
and 224 from W.

Boothe's Ferry, P. O. 240 ms.
from R. and 299 W. of W.—Situated
on the east side of Tygart's Valley
river, 20 ms. N. W. of Beverly, and
30 S. E. of Clarksburg, in Harrison
county. Two considerable streams
enter Tygart's Valley river above this
P. O. Middle river 7 miles above,
and Buchanan river only four and a
half miles above. The P. O. is located
on a farm of rich bottom lands.
There are located at this point 3 dwelling
houses, 1 saw and 1 grist mill
running two pair of stones, and a
wool carding machine. There are in
the vicinity four coal banks, two of
which are within a few yards of the
boat landing; there is also a great
quantity of iron ore of the best quality,
within a few yards of the river
and near the coal banks. The soil is
good, and produces corn, wheat, rye,
oats, &c. in abundance, and is equal
to any country for timothy and clover.
The river is the line of separation between
Harrison and Randolph for

about 4½ miles above, and as far below
as this county extends. It is about
40 miles to the mouth of this river, at
which point it unites with the West fork
river and becomes the Monongahela.
The river at this place is about 120
yards wide, and has to be crossed in
a boat about 8 months in the year.
The road leading from Clarksburg
crosses at this ferry. The northwestern
turnpike has been laid out to cross
about 16 miles below.

Glady Creek Cross Roads, P.
O. 244 ms. from R. and 220 from W.

Huttonsville, P. O. 199 miles
from R. and 231 W. of W. C.

Leedsville, P. V. 218 ms. from
R. and 229 from W.—situated at the
passage of Tygart's Valley river,
through the Laurel mountain, 8 ms.
N. N. E. of Beverly, on the main
post road leading from Philadelphia
and Baltimore through Winchester to
Pittsylvania, Pa. This is merely a
post office, situated on a farm in the
midst of a flourishing part of the
country.

Miegsville, P. V. 256 ms. from R.
and 208 W. of W. It contains 5
dwelling houses, 1 house of entertainment,
1 gunsmith, 1 blacksmith's shop,
1 tanyard, 1 saddler and a distillery.
In this little village is established a
small ingenious weaving manufactory,
with several looms of various descriptions,
executing a variety of figured
work. The soil of the surrounding
country is rich; and stone coal is every
where close at hand.

Skidmore's P. O.—The distances
are not given on the P. O. list.

Western Ford, P. O. 240 ms.
W. of R. and 251 from W.

Wyatt's Ferry, P. O. 245 ms.
from R. and 229 from W.

ROCKBRIDGE.

Rockbridge was established by act of Assembly in 1778, and formed
from a portion of Augusta and Botetourt counties. It is bounded N. by
Augusta,—E. by the Blue Ridge which separates it from Nelson,—S. E.
by the same mountain, separating it from Amherst,—S. by Bedford,—S. W.
by Botetourt, and W. by Alleghany and Mill mountains, a portion of the
Great Kittatinny chain which separates it from Alleghany, and N. W., by
the same separating it from Bath. Its mean lat is about 37° 45′ N. and
long. 2° 30′ W. of W. C.—Its mean length is 31 mean breadth 22; and
area 680 square miles. This county is principally watered by North river,
branch of James river, and its tributaries. It flows diagonally through the
county from the N. W. to the S. E. and joins the main branch of James
river at the foot of the Blue Ridge, when their united waters force a passage
through. The name of this county is taken from the celebrated Natural
Bridge, of which an account is given below. There are in the county 10
mercantile stores, 6 iron forges, three furnaces, 13 houses of public worship,
(of which 9 are Presbyterian,) and 24 grist and merchant mills;
besides those mentioned in the Towns, Villages, &c. Much of the soil is
of the first quality, and generally in a high state of cultivation.

Population in 1820, 11,945—in 1830, 14,244. It belongs to the 12th judicial
circuit, and 6th district. Tax paid in 1833, $3131 41—in 1834, on
lots, $208 58—on land, $1831 33—2037 slaves, $509 25—5250 horses,
$315 00—21 studs, $206 00—37 coaches, $98 21—21 carryalls, $21 70
—7 gigs, $5 20—Total, $3195 27. Exponded in educating poor children
in 1832, $873 76—in 1833, $748 40.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Balcony Falls, P. O. 153 ms.
from R. and 210 S. W. by W. of W.
These falls are situated on James river,
near the western extremity of the
James river canal, and form the dividing
line between the counties of Rockbridge,
Bedford, and Amherst. The
scenery near this spot is highly picturesque.
After toiling for a considerable
distance through a wild and
rugged country—on turning the sharp
angle of the mountain, the river suddenly
expands to the breadth, and assumes
the quiet and placid appearance
of a lake. Immediately opposite, two
of the most stupendous peaks of the
Blue Ridge, rise directly from the
banks. The whole stream is suddenly
narrowed by the projecting sides of
the mountain, and precipitates itself
in one entire sheet over an artificial
dam, which is extended across the bed
of the river, between the most elevated
points of the peaks. After the fall
the tumultuous stream is soon lost
sight of, by the windings of the channel.
The dam was erected for the
purpose of supplying with its back
water that portion of the canal which
runs upon the edge of the fall. This
portion of the canal, seven miles in
extent, was constructed by the state at
the cost of $280,000. About two
miles of this canal is in the county of
Rockbridge.

Bath Iron Works, P. O. 167
ms. W. of R. and 209 S. W. by W.
of W.—Situated in the southern part
of the county, on the northeastern
bank of James river, within ten miles
of its source,—15 miles from Lexington,—and
22 from the Warm Springs
in Bath county. These works consist
of a furnace and forge, both built
on an extensive scale—the furnace is
40 feet high, and calculated for making
30 tons of pig iron pr. week, but
has never yet reached that amount.
The forge is built for running six
fires, and will annually forge 300 tons
of bar iron—The furnace 700 tons of
pig metal, and a large quantity of
castings. The two consuming 300
thousand bushels of charcoal per annum.
The number of operatives employed
are sixty-five. Yet there are
something like 150 persons supported
by its operations, including women
and children. Attached to this establishment
is a large farm, a part of
which, supposed to be 350 acres, is
first rate bottom land,—by which the
proprietors are enabled to raise nearly
their full supply of grain; the quantity
required being 4,500 bushels;—
from 3,000 to 3,500 bushels of which
are raised annually from the farm.—
This establishment is owned by
Messrs A. W. & M. W. Davis.

Belle Valley, P. O. 147 ms. W.
of R. and 188 S. W. by W. from W.
—Situated in the northeastern part of
the county.

Brownsburg, P. V. 143 ms. N.
W. of R. and 185 from W.—Situated
12 miles N. E. of Lexington, on Maffits
creek, and on the direct route from
Staunton to Lexington. It contains
20 dwelling houses, 3 mercantile
stores, 1 tavern, 1 tanyard, 1 saddler,
2 tailors, 3 wheelwrights, 1 cabinet
maker, 2 smith shops, 2 boot and shoe
factories, 1 house carpenter, 1 hatter,
1 manufacturing flour mill, and 1 grist
mill. In the immediate vicinity there
is a large and spacious house of public
worship, long known by the name
of New Providence meeting house
Population 120 persons; of whom
3 are physicians. Brownsburg is located
in a flourishing and thickly settled
neighborhood.

Buffalo Forge, P. O. 156 ms.
from R. and 206 from W.—Situated
8 miles W. of Lexington.

Cedar Grove, P. O. 145 ms. N.
W. of R.—Situated ten miles N. E.
of Lexington. It contains 2 mercantile
stores, and 1 manufacturing flour
mill.

Fairfield, P. O. 144 ms. from
R. and 186 from W.—Situated on one
of the post routes from Lexington to
Staunton, 13 ms. N. N. E. from the
former, and 24 from the latter. It
contains about 20 dwelling houses, 1
house of public worship, free for all
denominations, 2 taverns, 1 mercantile
store, 1 tanyard, 1 saddler, 2 boot and
shoe factories, 2 house carpenters and
1 smith's shop. Population 130 persons;
of whom 2 are physicians.

Fancy Hill, P. O. 164 ms. from
R. and 206 S. W. of W. It is pleasantly
situated nine miles from Lexington,
in a fertile and well watered
country. It contains several dwelling
houses, 1 mercantile store, 1 extensive
tavern, well kept, and which receives
much company in the summer season,
and 1 tailor's shop. A physician resides
here.

Lebanon Forge, situated on the
North fork of James river. These
iron works, owned by Messrs. Mathews
& Bryan, are now in extensive
operation, manufacturing pig metal
into bar iron. The establishment consists
of a forge, with a smith's shop
and saw mill as appendages. The
apparatus employed consists of three
refining fires, one chafry which draws
bar iron, and two forge hammers,
weighing from five to six hundred
weight each. The average amount
manufactured at this forge, from the
metal, or pigs, is one hundred and fifty
tons of bar iron annually. It requires
225 tons of metal, or pigs, to
make 150 tons of bar iron. The
number of operatives necessarily employed
at this establishment, in manufacturing
the iron, are 35, and the aggregate
number of persons supported
by it are 70. Ten hands are employed
in making the iron, 2 in the blacksmith's
shop, 1 sawyer, 4 colliers, 8
wood cutters, 2 wood carriers, 1 wagoner,
5 farmers, 1 clerk and manager,
and 1 overseer, the balance being
women and children;—out of the 35
actively employed, 8 have families.—
In the vicinity of this forge is a house
of public worship, (Methodist,) and 1
manufacturing flour mill. One mile
below this establishment is located
Maburry's Iron Works, employing
the same number of operatives as the
one above, the same quantity of machinery,
and manufacturing the same
weight of bar iron annually. The
country around is rich, and abounds
with iron ore of the first quality.

LEXINGTON, P. T. and Seat of
Justice, 156 ms. N. W. of R. and 198
from W. in lat. 37° 14′ N. and long.
2° 21′ W. of W. C.—situated on a
gentle ascent, a few rods from the
north bank of the North river, a
branch of James river, 10 miles above
its junction, and 35 N. W. of Lynchburg.
The act of Assembly of 1778,
which authorised the formation of the
county, also directed the location of
this town. Its buildings, like those
of all new towns, were constructed of
wood. In 1794 they were nearly all
destroyed by fire,—since that time,
they have been erected of more durable
materials, and with more regard
to regularity. The number of houses
it now contains, besides the ordinary
county buildings, are about 150, mostly
of brick, with 2 houses of public
worship, (1 Presbyterian and 1 Methodist.)
There are 8 mercantile stores,
4 taverns, 1 book store, 1 printing office,
from which a weekly paper is
issued, 2 tinplate works, 2 watch makers
and silversmiths, 3 hatters, 2 wagon
makers, 2 tanyards, 5 saddlers, 5
boot and shoe factories, 2 blacksmiths,
2 cabinet makers, 4 house carpenters
and 1 bricklayer.

Lexington was formerly the great
thoroughfare to the west, from the
more eastern parts of Virginia, and
though other more direct routes have
been established, it still continues to
be much travelled, by wagons from
Tennessee to Baltimore, &c. laden
with such articles, as will return
an ample profit, besides defraying
the expenses of transportation, &c.

such as beeswax, tallow, feathers, and
other articles of produce. These wagons
return laden with goods for the
western merchants.

In the vicinity of Lexington is a
state arsenal, in which are deposited
about 30,000 stand of arms, guarded
by a Captain and 30 men.

An Academy was incorporated in
this town in 1782, under the name of
Liberty Hall Academy; and in 1812
it was chartered as a college, called
Washington College, from General
Washington, who endowed it with
100 shares in the James river canal,
which produced, in 1821, an annual
income of $2,400. "This donation
constitutes the only part of its funds
that are now productive, and may be
estimated at $25,000. Its other funds
consist also of donations, one devised
by a private citizen of Lexington, estimated
at $50,000, when relieved
from certain debts of the testator, and
another from the Cincinnati Society
of Virginia, on their voluntary dissolution,
amounting to $15,000, but not
yet drawn out of the hands in which
it was deposited; making in all $90,000."
There are two buildings of
brick, which afford accommodations
for 50 or 60 students; and a library
of 1,500 volumes. It is pleasantly
situated; its expenses for education
are not high; but its students have
never been very numerous.—Number
in 1833, 46.

A large, handsome and capacious
brick building has lately been erected,
intended for the philosophical apparatus,
&c. which are sufficiently ample.
The faculty consists of a president,
two professors, and a tutor.

Ann Smith Academy is also located
in this town for the education of
young ladies. It occupies a large and
handsome edifice, in which are teachers
of all the requisite branches of
such an institution. There are three
public libraries in this town.

Population not given in the tabular
returns of the last census, but supposed
to be about 900 persons; of whom 9 are
attorneys, and 4 regular physicians.

County Courts are held on the
Monday before the 1st Tuesday in
every month;—Quarterly in March,
June, August and November.

Circuit Superior Courts of Law and
Chancery are held on the 16th of April
and September, by Judge Thompson.

Natural Bridge, P. O. 172 ms.
S. W. of R. and 213 S. W. by W. of
W.—situated in the southern part of
the county, in lat. 37° 33′ N. and long.
2° 34′ W. of W. C.

We present a faithful description of
this extraordinary natural curiosity
from the notes of a traveller, published
not long since in the periodical press.

"By the uniform admission of all
those who have visited this great natural
curiosity, it has justly acquired a
celebrity unequalled by any other in
this country, and the increasing number
of visiters to this place, still continues
to awaken the attention of the
curious and philosophic throughout
the world. Its location is in the county
of Rockbridge, to which it gives
name, 15 miles from Lexington, and
45 from Lynchburg, through one of
which places it is usually approached
by strangers. The mean height of
the bridge, from the stream running
underneath it to its upper surface, is
215 feet 6 inches, its average width is
80 feet, its length, measured across
from the indentations on either side of
the high and nearly perpendicular
rocks upon which it rests, is 93 feet,
and its thickness, on both sides, is 55
feet.

The stupendous arch constituting
the bridge is of lime stone rock, covered
to the depth of from 4 to 6 feet
with alluvial and clayey earth, and
based upon huge rocks of the same
geological character, the summits of
which are 90 feet, and their bases 50
feet asunder, and whose rugged sides
form the wild and awful chasm spanned
by the bridge. The bridge is

guarded, as if by the design of nature,
by a parapet of rocks, and by trees
and shrubbery, firmly embedded in
the soil, so that a person travelling
the stage road running over it, would,
if not informed of the curiosity, pass
it unnoticed. It is also worthy of remark,
that the creation of a natural
bridge at this place has contributed,
in a singular manner, to the convenience
of man, inasmuch as the deep
ravine over which it sweeps, and
through which traverses the beautiful
"Cedar Creek," is not, otherwise,
easily passed for several miles, either
above or below the bridge; and, consequently,
the road running from north
to south with an aclivity of 35 degrees,
presents the same appearance in soil,
growth of trees and general character,
with that of the neighboring scenery.
The bridge is not to be seen,
therefore, in its native grandeur and
sublimity by passing over or around
it, but only from a position nearly under
it, or within the valley near by.

The first view commonly obtained
by strangers of the bridge, or its contiguous
scenery, is by an eager approach
to the edge of the bridge, or to the brink
of the right of it, & looking over into the
gulf below. Here language is incapable
of expressing the emotions with
which the scene is viewed, nor is it
possible for the imagination to sketch
the scene in a manner to equal the reality.
The spectator becomes suddenly
and forcibly impressed with the
apparent danger of his situation, and
trembling with fear, he involuntary
shrinks back and crouches to the
earth. As he approaches the brink
of the precipice, his eye is attracted to
the broad mass of perpendicular rock
upon the opposite side of the chasm,
and as he nears the jutting crags and
throws the sight along down the wild
and rugged sides, now boldly opposed
to his view,—straining with anxious
gaze to find a resting place, still perceiving
no termination to the yawning
abyss, a shuddering horror comes
over him, and a wild delirium seizes
his senses, and he unconsciously recoils
from the unfathomable gloom,
and the awful gulf below him! Hastening
from the spot, he becomes conscious
only of the irresistible influence
of the mind over the body, on
recognizing himself removed from
the scene of danger, still he is haunted
by the ideas to which the scene has
given birth, and which, resting unwillingly
upon his mind, often lash his
feelings into agonies!

Such are, indeed, the perceptions
and reflections of those of lively sensibility
and active cautiousness, who,
for the first time, visit this wonderful
and magnificent scenery; yet there
are those who view it with apparent
insensibility and unconsciousness, and
who steadily look down into the abyss,
"yet never suffer joint to tremble."

This view of "the great natural
curiosity" however, is but partial, and
even yet, incapable of calling up those
ideas of sublimity and greatness which
are afforded the spectator by another
position. Turning around the elevated
ground north of the bridge, and
coming gradually along to its southern
base, then winding around an
abrupt point of the hill, the anxious
spectator is brought into a foot path
declining along the rocks, beside the
cliff on the one side and the busy little
creek on the other, when, suddenly
looking upward, he beholds the splendid
arch of the bridge in all its sublimity
and natural grandeur. Here
indeed, does the astonished observer
find language too feeble to give utterance
to his impressions!

Mute astonishment succeeds the
emotions with which the stranger
had before been impressed, and now,
unconsciously fixed to the spot, he
gazes with wonder and admiration
upon the lofty arch, springing like a

spirit over the tremendous gulf, and
throwing its massive sides and etherial
summit high against the heavens.

No adequate idea of the "Natural
Bridge" is to be obtained from the
efforts of either the pencil or pen, and
though both have attempted a description,
yet neither have approximated
reality. From this view, the beholder
is led to the comparison of natural objects
with which he has been familiar,
and himself shrinks into insignificance
when he becomes the subject
Never was there a more fit place to
observe the littleness of man, and the
omnipotence of God!—No reflective
mind can, with such a scene presented
to its faculties, remain unimpressed
with its own nothingness, and unaffected
by feelings of adoration to the
Great Supreme. With this view of
the subject before him, and "looking
from nature up to nature's God," the
language of the poet would not appear
to him inapt:—

The relative position of the spectator,
at this time, and place, in regard
to the bridge and most of the stupendous
scenery connected with it, is decidedly
more favorable than any other.
Here within one grand view, is the
towering arch surmounted by high
trees, with vigorous foliage and sharp
projecting rocks, strongly implanted
in the soil. Here the whole of the
high, and apparently unsupported
mass, is cast boldly against the field
of deep blue sky, and thereby brought
out in vivid contrast and grand relief,
every object stands strongly pourtrayed
upon the broad etherial canvass,
while the varied tints, the sweeping
dashes of natural shades, the coarse
masses of deep black, with the occasional
brushes of strong lights, all are
well defined and deeply toned within
the rugged outlines, compose, en
masse, the most magnificent and finished
picture that ever came from the
hand of nature.

Here too, on either side, the precipitous
cliffs rise up in portentous
grandeur with

The observer, anxious to get a view
of the whole of this rude and romantic
scenery, naturally traverses the ravine,
yet fearfully overawed by the
impending rocks, he feels in momentary
danger of being ground to dust
by the falling of projecting rocks, but
which, though held apparently by
feeble tenure, have maintained their
places for ages. On looking up from
under the bridge, the fear of destruction
from the overhanging mass becomes
almost irresistible, yet the
grandeur of the arch induces sufficient
curiosity to forego the apparent
danger. The bridge here presents its
most imposing appearance, though its
character is less sublime from the nature
of the position. The beholder
is here more forcibly struck with awe
and terror than from any other situation
in which it is viewed. The expansive
dimensions, the grand oversweeping
continuity, and the ponderous
massiveness of the entire rock are
here forcibly displayed to the wondering
gaze. Here also, running up beside
you to the very arch, are the
craggy abutments upon which it rests,
presenting altogether, the hugest body
of continuous rock ever at one time
thrown open to view.

Speculation is naturally put in operation
to account for the causes whereby
"with disruption vast," this rock
was cloven asunder. Although scientific
men may differ in many particulars
upon this subject, and although
it is both more common and

more easy to say that the whole is a
phenominon caused "by some great
convulsion," than to assign reasons
and determine causes for this phenomenon,
yet, it is thought, no one who
has investigated the causes most likely
to produce this result, and the evidences
which those causes have left
behind, of their existence and operation,
will arrive at any other conclusion
than that the principle cause was
water. It will be observed that the
eastern or upper side of the bridge,
has been worn under for several feet,
that the part thus rounded, tunnel-like,
is smooth and unlike any other portion
of the contiguous rock, if we except
the indentation on the southern
side of the perpendicular rock, which
present similar appearances, evidently
produced from the same cause.—
Viewing the course of the ravine, and
the consequent direction of the water
which filled it, the indication of the
agency of water in the formation of
the bridge, is even more determinate
in the latter circumstance than in the
former. The projecting body of rock
upon the opposite side of the chasm,
running uniformly upward from its
base, and opposing an invulnerable
front, of sufficient magnitude to have
turned the current of the mighty waters,
and to have thrown its force directly
against those parts upon the
other side, where the peculiarities
before mentioned are seen, affords the
most natural proof of the influence of
water in the creation of the bridge.
Those who have observed the operation
of water in the wearing away of
rocks, the large and deep pot holes,
the rounded and smooth surfaces
given to rocks, by the long and continued
action of small stones, and the
friction of water, will here observe
similar appearances. The entire
mass of rock is of limestone, and
therefore more easily worn away than
silicious stone; whose more indurated
surfaces have fretted for ages against
it. Besides these evidences of the
agency of water, there are in the
neighborhood of the bridge, numerous
and certain proofs of there having
been vast bodies of water which
poured down the surrounding vallies
and ravines, overtopping some of the
high hills, and embodying themselves,
at last, within this grand reservoir.
The magnificent and rocky sides of
this great depository, which is of
nearly uniform height for some two
or three miles above, directed the accumulated
waters down against the
firm bridge. Here they are met with
this bold obstruction throwing itself
proudly athwart the rushing waters,
as if saying, in a spirit of defiance,
"thus far thou shalt come and no farther!"
Forced from its course by this
obstinate and haughty barrier, the
overflowing current was turned
round the declivity on the south, and
ran down the hill about the points of
rocks, and came again into the deep
valley some thirty rods below. Along
its diverted channel may be seen all
the evidences of a water course pouring
over a rocky bed.

The proudly opposing rock was
not destined, however, to stop forever
the march of the dashing stream, and
in process of time, the onward force
of the current, with the means which
it had brought to its aid, prevailed,
and increasing its force with every
advantage, the breach enlarged and
admitted, at length, the stream to roll
forward for ages unresisted. Upon
the summit of distant hills are to be
found marine fossils, and their impressions
within the fragments of partially
decomposed limestone rocks,
while along their sides and within the
vallies are pot-holes, smooth fissures
and rounded points of rocks, all of
which prove the existence and action
of water at these places at some period
of time; the course and parallel of
these indications, are also directed towards
the great receptacle as before
intimated.

(The undulating surface of the surrounding

country must have presented
from the bridge, when thus admitting
the varied streams to dash along its
vallies, one of the most splendid scenes
in nature.)

The chasms, both east and west of
the bridge, do not afford strong evidences
of the continued action of water,
but rather of some violent rending
of the massive rock. And this
may be rationally supposed, without
opposing the conclusions to which we
have arrived in regard to the agency
of water in the formation of the
bridge; yet even this is reconcileable
with the solution of this phenomenon,
by supposing portions of the rock to
have fallen, from time to time, by the
action of water within the fissures, or
to have been cleft off by objects carried
forcibly down the current of the
stream. The theory of an immense
cavern terminated at the bridge, and
opening from either side, is certainly
plausible, and does not militate against
that so manifestly true, in respect to
the bridge. The summit of this cavern
is supposed to have extended
along the ravine and high precipitous
rocks, for some distance, and eventually
to have fallen down, by which
the deep chasm is laid open to view.
This is believed by some, at least,
whose judgment and scientific knowledge
are entitled to the utmost respect.

It may appear to the curious worthy
of remark, that in the centre of
the grand arch, under the bridge,
there is to be observed with outspread
wings, the American Eagle of gigantic
size, covering with one of its wings,
the head of the British Lion. These
objects certainly appeared plainly delineated
to the writer, as they have
ever appeared to all to whom they
have been pointed out. Others have
also discovered the head of Washington
and various other objects, but
which it was not permitted to the ken
of the writer to discover.

These appearances are formed by
moss hanging from the high overhanging
arch. To this arch it has
ever been the attempt of visiters to
throw a stone, and we recollect it to
have been stated, years gone by, that
the only successful competitor, in this
feat of physical power was General
Washington, who, it was also said,
cut his name higher than any other
person, upon the perpendicular rock.
It is, certainly, a feat requiring no
common degree of personal strength
to throw a stone to the bridge, and
few have been successful in the attempt;
though one individual is said
to have thrown upon the very summit,
(probably with a sling,) from
whence the stone was taken at the
time. Names are to be seen "in every
variety" along the rocks and upon
the sides under the bridge, but that of
Washington is not now to be discovered.
A young man, it is said ambitious
to cut his name above that of
Washington, became so situated, up
the towering cliff, that he was unable
to recover himself, or to descend: to
effect the one, he would inevitably incur
the certainty of being precipitated
to the bottom, while to climb still higher
and gain the top, appeared impossible.
In this state of awful uncertainty,
between the possibility of life
and a dreadful death, little hope appeared
to the one, while the other
seemed certain, and urged by an effort
as desperate as the love of life, he
attempted to ascend to the giddy
height. This alternative nerved him
with more than mortal power, and
strange as it may seem to every one
who may ever look at the spot from
whence he started, the shuddering
height at which he aimed, and the
apparent impossibilities he surmounted,
he arrived nervless and prostrate
at the verge, and—was safe.

Visiters to the "Natural Bridge of
Virginia," will ever find a rich and
varied field for observation; for, in
addition to the objects of curiosity
which have been enumerated and de-

scribed, "the overhanging rocks" and
numerous other grand and interesting
objects up the valley and within the
neighborhood, there is "Powell's
mountain," upon which are found the
marine fossils before mentioned, and
within which are "Johnson's cave,"
affording an easy descent among a
variety of subterranean cavities, and
"Chapin's cave" of yet unfathomable
depth. And last, though not least,
among the objects of consideration
with visiters to these interesting and
romantic scenes, Mr. Johnson, the
gentlemanly and accommodating proprietor
of the public house at the
bridge, will afford every facility for
their observation and every means for
their enjoyment."

Panther's Gap, P. O. 195 ms.
S. W. of W. and 154 from R. In
the vicinity of this post office, the
Blowing cave is situated. This natural
curiosity is situated 12 ms. S. E.
of the Warm Springs, in the ridge
which divides the Cow and Calfpasture.
It is a large cavity in the side
of a hill, of about 6 feet in diameter,
and emits constantly a current of air.
This current is strongest in dry frosty
weather, and in long spells of rain
weakest. Regular inspirations and
expirations of air, by caverns and fissures
have been probably enough accounted
for, by supposing them combined
with intermitting fountains, as
they must of course inhale air, while
their reservoirs are emptying themselves,
and again emit it while they
are filling. But a constant issue of
air, only varying in its force as the
weather is dryer or damper, will require
a new hypothesis. There is
another Blowing cave in the Cumberland
mountains, about a mile from
where it crosses the Carolina line, all
we know of this is, that it is not constant,
and that a fountain of water
issues from it.

ROCKINGHAM.

Rockingham was established by act of Assembly in 1778, and formed
from a portion of Augusta county. It is bounded N. by Shenandoah,—N.
E. by Page,—E. by the Blue Ridge which separates it from Orange and
Albemarle,—S. by Augusta,—W. by the North mountain which separates
it from Pendleton,—and N. W. by Hardy. Its mean length is 34⅔ miles,
mean breadth 24; and area 833 square miles. Its mean lat. is 37° 30′ N.
and long. 1° 45′ W. of W. C. The main Shenandoah runs through the
eastern portion of the county,—North river drains the southern part,—
North Fork of Shenandoah drains the northern and northwestern portion
and after running through Shenandoah it unites with the main branch soon
after it enters Frederick, a few miles from Front Royal,—Smith's creek a
branch of North Fork drains the central portion of the county, and passes
into Shenandoah before it joins North Fork. The western part of this
county is very mountainous, and the Peaked mountains run up from Shenandoah,
between the Shenandoah and Harrisonburg. Much of the soil
is excellent, and the farming econominal and judicious. A large portion
of the population is German or of German origin. Population in 1820,
14,784—1830, 20,683. It belongs to the fourteenth judicial circuit and
seventh district. Tax paid in 1833, $4,821 64—in 1834 on lots, $167 41
—on land $3,556 60—1189 slaves, $296 74—7446 horses, $446 76—39
studs, $279 00—41 coaches, $88 05—68 carryalls, $68 37—34 gigs,

$25 10. Total $4,928 04. Expended in educating poor children in 1832,
$890 05—in 1833, $990 01.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Bowman's Mills, P. O. 145 ms.
N. W. by W. of R. and 155 from
W., situated in the N. W. part of the
county 23 ms. N. N. W. of Harrisonburg.

Brock's Gap, P. O. 150 ms. N.
W. of R. and 160 from W.

Conrad's Store, P. O. 120 ms.
N. W. of R. and 132 from W.

Cross Keys, P. O. 130 ms. from
R. and 140 S. W. by W. of W.

HARRISONBURG, P. V. and
seat of justice, 122 ms. from R. and
144 S. W. by W. of W., in lat. 38°
25′ and long. 1° 48′ W. of W. C.
situated 24 ms. N. N. E. of Staunton
and 40 N. N. W. of Charlottesville.
This village contains besides
the ordinary county buildings, 125
dwelling houses, a neat brick market
house lately erected, 2 houses of public
worship, (1 Methodist, and 1 Presbyterian,)
3 common schools, 1 temperance
and 1 sunday school society,
8 mercantile stores, 3 taverns, and 1
printing office, issuing a weekly paper.
There are 2 tan yards, 4 saddlers,
4 boot and shoe factories, 3
smith shops, 3 hatters, 2 tailors, 2
wagon makers, 2 gunsmiths, 2
wheelwrights and chair makers, 1
cabinet maker, 2 coppersmiths, and
tin plate workers, 1 saddle-tree maker,
1 glove maker, 1 bookbindery, 2
watchmakers and silversmiths, 1 marble
cutter and polisher, a quarry of
which is in the immediate neighborhood,
and in considerable demand, 1
confectionary, and 1 earthen ware
pottery. There is a fine spring of
strong limestone water in the public
square,—and the land adjacent is a
strong limestone soil. Deaton is 4
miles from this place, and Edom
Mills are 5 miles distant; they are
both small but flourishing places; as
is also Mount Crawford, at which
considerable business is done both
mechanical and mercantile. These
three having sprung up within a few
years under the auspices of men of
capital and enterprise, together with
other causes have rendered Harrisonburg
less prosperous than villages
in this valley generally. Population
about 1000 persons; of whom 8 are
resident attorneys, and 8 regular
physicians.

County courts are held on the 3d
Monday in every month;—Quarterly
in February, May, August, and
November.

Circuit Superior Courts of Law
and Chancery are held on the 10th
of May and 11th of October by Judge
Smith.

Kite's Mills, P. O. 131 ms. from
R. and 122 W. of W.

Linville Creek, P. O. 136 ms.
from R. and 146 W. of W.

McGaheysville, P. O. 114 ms.
from R. and 136 from W.

Mount Crawford, P. V. 138 ms.
from R. and 148 S. W. by W. of W.
situated in the western part of the
county, on the main valley road leading
from Winchester to Staunton, and
immediately on the North river. It
contains 25 dwelling houses, 1 house
of public worship free for all denominations,
2 common schools, 2 taverns,
3 mercantile stores, 2 tailors, 2 saddlers,
2 boot and shoe factories, 1
smith shop, 1 tin plate worker, 1
cabinet maker, 1 wheelwright, 1
cooper, 1 pottery, 2 milliner and mantua
makers, 1 gun smith, 1 wagon
maker, 1 manufacturing flour mill,
and 1 saw mill. The North river is
navigable for flat boats, about three
miles above this village, and considerable
quantities of flour are annually
carried down the Shenandoah from
this place to Georgetown and Alex-

andria. The surrounding country is
fertile and the climate salubrious.
Population 180 persons; of whom 1
is a physician.

Port Republic, P. V. 121 ms.
from R. and 143 N. W. by W. of W.
situated at the junction of the North
and South rivers, branches of the Shenandoah,
2 ms. below the Augusta line,
2½ from Weyer's cave, 12 ms. S. of
Harrisonburg, 20 E. of Staunton, and
32 north of Charlottesville. It contains
30 dwelling houses, 1 house of
public worship, free for all denominations,
1 common school, 1 house
of entertainment, 2 mercantile stores,
1 manufacturing flour mill, 3 saw
mills, 2 tan yards, 1 tilt hammer shop,
with a carriage manufactory attached,
2 other smith shops, 1 tin plate worker,
3 boot and shoe factories, 1 saddler,
1 cabinet maker, 1 turner and
chair maker, 1 hatter, and 2 tailors.
The Shenandoah is navigable for
flat boats from Port Republic to the
District of Columbia, running at all
times (except at very dry seasons)
with from 60 to 120 barrels of flour
in each boat. Both branches of the
river furnish admirable seats for machinery,
and the water power is sufficient
at all seasons for manufactories
of any common extent. Population
160 persons, of whom 1 is a
physician.

Smith's Creek, P. O. 140 ms.
from R. and 130 S. W. of W., situated
in the northern part of the county.
The creek is the extreme southern
branch of the North Fork of the
Shenandoah.

RUSSELL.

Russell was established by act of Assembly in 1786, and formed from
a portion of Washington county. It is bounded by Tazewell N. E.—by
Clinch mountain separating it from Smyth E.—S. E. by the same mountain,
separating it from Washington,—S. and S. W. by Scott,—and by the
Cumberland mountain separating it from Pike county, Ky., N. W. Its
mean length is 40 miles, mean breadth 34¼, and area 1,370 square miles.
It lies between 36° 38′ and 37° 30′ N. lat. and 4° 43′ and 5° 41′ W. long.
from W. C.

Mountains, &c.—The Clinch, which divides it from Washington and
Smyth on the south; the Cumberland on the north separating it from
Kentucky, are the most prominent. Their general bearing is from N. E.
to S. W. Between the waters which fall into the Clinch and the tributaries
of Sandy, and only a few miles north of the Clinch, (with a few exceptions
on the Guess' river, and a short distance east of it,) until you arrive
at the Cumberland mountain, the country seems to be a congregation
of mountains. Their sides are generally steep,—the valleys narrow,—
most of them of not much greater extent than the space which is occupied
by the meandering streams which, overhung with laurel, pass on in
silent obscurity to their respective destinations. A few scattered inhabitants
are occasionally to be seen here, who cultivate a small strip of land
on a watercourse, and follow the chase on the mountains, as the means of
subsistence. Amongst these mountains there are excellent ranges for cattle
and hogs, which continues throughout the year except in the more severe
freezes and snows of winter. Travelling here must be performed either
by following the hunter's path on the mountains, with but few places of
safe descent, or pursuing the watercourses; it being impracticable, with a

few exceptions, to cross the mountains with the view of a direct approach
from one point to another. There are two ranges of highland, running
nearly parallel with each other and the Clinch mountain,—one between
Mocasin creek and Copper creek, denominated Mocasin ridge,—the other
between Copper creek and Clinch river, called Copper ridge. These
ridges are cut by Big Cedar creek, east of which the former is denominated
the Chesnut ridge and Preec's mountain, and the latter the River, and
House and Barn mountain. Kent's ridge lies between the Maiden Spring
Fork and North Fork of Clinch river; and north of the latter is the Stone
mountain. The Big Butt north of Clinch river, is a high projection of
one of the mountains separating the waters of Clinch and Sandy.

Rivers, Creeks, &c.—Clinch river, which meanders across the county in a
N. E. and S. W. direction, is the principal stream, but has not as yet been
used for transporting produce to the west, or for other purposes of navigation.
This river affords an abundance of fish, some varieties of which are
quite delicious. The North Fork (of Clinch) and the Maiden Spring
Fork which take their rise in Tazewell county, unite their waters in the
eastern section of Russell. Guess' river, which divides Russell and Scott
has various sources from spurs of the Cumberland and adjoining mountains,
and flows in a southern direction into the Clinch, receiving in its
course Tom's creek on the south, and Bull Run, two of its principal streams.
Copper creek has its source from numerous fine springs filled with yellow
gravel, rising a few miles east of the village at Dickensonville, and passes
on to the southwest, uniting with Clinch river in Scott county. Moccasin
creek rises near a gap in Clinch mountain by that name, flows near its
base in a fruitful valley, and passing through Big Mocasin Gap, falls into
the North Fork of Holston: Cedar creek is formed by streams issuing
from the Clinch, Preec's, and the House and Barn mountains, it flows in
a western-direction till within 2 miles east of Lebanon receiving little
Cedar creek which passes the village, and then flows into the Clinch in a
northern direction. Indian creek runs from the eastern end or termination of
Preec's mountain and from the spurs of Clinch mountain, and flows in a
north east and north direction into the Clinch river. Lewis' creek, Thompson's
creek, Weaver's creek, and Dump's creek, are inconsiderable streams,
falling into Clinch river on the north; and Cedar Spring, Beck's branch,
Mill creek, and Castle Run on the south. The principal streams of the
Sandy is the Louisa Fork in the northeastern section, running nearly north
west; The Pound Fork (so called from a bend in the river resembling
somewhat in shape a horse shoe) takes its rise towards the Guess' river,
runs east near to Cumberland mountain and unites, with McClure's Fork,
and afterwards Russell's Fork at the state line of Kentucky. There is a
remarkable cascade upon Big Cedar creek. In its passage through Copper
ridge its waters are precipitated over a rock of considerable height,
and they then wander in a circuitous route of many miles to seek a union
with the Clinch river, which here runs at a short distance from it by a
direct line, and which also rolls over a very shoally and serpentine channel
above and below their junction, and at one place is very narrow and
rapid, occasioned by the projection of rocks from the north side. The
whole county occupies an elevated region, independent of the mountain
ridges, from 1,200 to 1,500 feet above the ocean tides.

Roads.—By a late act of Assembly a road has been established on the
joint stock plan, leading from Price's turnpike in Botetourt to Cumberland

Gap, which will pass through Lebanon. Its route was surveyed by the
Engineer to cross Copper ridge, 3 miles west of Lebanon, and through
Castles' Woods, into Scott, &c. Its location by the Copper creek valley so
as to cross Copper ridge in Scott county, is strongly recommended by some,
and the people on both routes are engaged with spirit in working out the
respective advantages. The road from Lebanon to Abingdon passes by
the way of Little Mocasin Gap,—that to the Salt Works in Washington,
and Smyth, by Hayter's Gap,—that to Scott C. H. (Estillville,) either by
Dickensonville, or down the valley of Mocasin Creek. A road has been
opened along the Louisa Fork of Sandy, as a line of communication with
Kentucky, aided by an appropriation from the State of $3000; but it was
so injudiciously located and badly constructed, that it is almost impassable.
A track has also been opened from Castle Woods, via Guess' river and the
Pound Fork of Sandy, to the State of Kentucky, passing Cumberland
mountain, communicating with Pike and Perry counties, Ky.

Meeting Houses.—The Episcopalians, Methodists, and Baptists have
about 12 meeting houses in this county, besides various other places of
meeting at private houses. There is no other sect having a congregation,
society or church. The Methodists are the more numerous body of christians.

Manufactures.—There are no merchant mills (properly speaking) in
Russell. Hendrick's on Cedar creek is the best establishment of that kind;
flour from it is sometimes sent down the Holston and Tennessee to Huntsville.
There are no factories of iron, wool, or cotton in this county, except
carding machines, although there are many sites suitable for water
power. Capital, and an opening for market, are wanting to give encouragement
to these branches of industry.

Productions.—This county having many parcels of rich and fertile soil,
produces in abundance most of the necessaries of life. Indian corn, wheat,
rye, oats clover, and the grasses introduced, succeed well; but its distance
from market and the late neglected state of improvement of the roads, have
hitherto compelled the farmer to rear stock as the principal means of advancing
his estate.

There are several quarries of marble not far distant from Lebanon, of a
greyish complexion. It is used for tomb stones, and for the fronts of hearths.
Some specimens of it have been taken to the South. The lime stone is a
prevailing mineral in the southern section of this county; amongst it are
found many caverns, few of which, however, are of much notoriety.
There are two remarkable rocks upon the range of mountain between
Clinch river and the upper waters of Big Cedar creek in the eastern part
of the county; the one from its form is called a house, and the other a barn,
and hence the name of the House and Barn mountain. Several extensive
beds of iron ore exist in this county, but are not at present worked. Stone
coal is found in some of the ravines north of Clinch river, and is deemed of
excellent quality by the blacksmiths who use it.

This county had its name in honor of Gen'l William Russell, who
formerly resided on an estate of about 600 acres in Castles Woods, but who
at the time of his death lived near to and had an interest in Preston's old
Salt works, in Washington county, now Smyth.

The principal population of this county is contained between Clinch
mountain and a distance of from 12 to 15 miles north of its base: the
northern and greater portion of its territory being so mountainous, sterile,

and inconvenient of access, that the population is, and will be for many
years hence, very inconsiderable. There are several rich and valuable
sections of land in this county: the principal are, Gilmer's Settlement, between
Lebanon and Big Cedar creek,—Elk Garden, in the vicinity of
Hayter's Gap,—Castle's Woods, between Copper ridge and Clinch, west
of Lebanon,—and the Mocasin Valley, lying between a ridge of that name
and Clinch mountain opposite and below Little Mocasin Gap. In these
sections the first settlements of the country were made.

Professions.—There are two resident attornies in the county, one living
in the village at Lebanon, and the other in the country;—one resident physician
in Lebanon and two in the country: but the exemption heretofore of
this section of the State from many of the diseases prevalent more frequently
in other places; and the scarcity of litigation in the Courts, have not
presented either to the one or the other, the prospect of much gain from a
reliance upon their respective professions.

Early Traditions.—In this part of Virginia, as in most other frontier
settlements, the first settlers encountered many hardships, and experienced
many scenes of dreadful suffering from the hostile Indians, who made frequent
incursions from beyond the Ohio river for purposes of plunder, or
savage revenge. In these incursions the most tragic scenes of cold blooded
butchery were acted, and the survivors sometimes carried into a captivity
more painful and distressing than the excruciating deaths to which
their relatives had been subjected. Many well authenticated accounts of
these cruelties, and of hair-breadth escapes, are still preserved. We give
in a note[43] an example of the sufferings and heroism displayed by the early

settlers, in the narrative of Mrs. Scott of Powell's Valley, which is now in
Lee county, but which was formerly in Russell, and before its formation, in
Washington county, which was published in the New Haven Gazette of
Dec. 27th, 1785.

Population in 1820, 5,536—in 1830, 6,714. This county belongs to the
fifteenth judicial circuit and eighth district. Tax paid in 1833, $668 60—
in 1834 on lots, $22 54—on land, $247 00—366 slaves, $91 50—3301
horses, $198 06—23 studs, $103 00—7 carryalls, $7 00—Total, $669 98.
Expended in educating poor children in 1832, $418 44—in 1833, $485 64.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Bichley's Mills, P. O. situated
in Castle's Woods.

Clifton, P. O. 312 ms. S. W. of
R. and 374 from W., situated on the
Maiden Spring Fork.

Dickensonville, P. O. This
village was formerly the seat of justice,
but since that has been removed
to Lebanon, it is almost depopulated,
and the houses in a state of dilapidation.

LEBANON, P. V. and seat of
justice, 330 ms. from R. and 394 S.
W. by W. of W., in lat 36° 53′ N.
and long. 5° 03′ W. of W. C., situated
about 130 ms. N. E. by E. of
Knoxville, Ten., on Little Cedar
creek, a branch of Clinch river having
its source in Clinch mountain,
on a southern inclination, near the
centre of the population of the county.
It is well watered by springs,
and commands a beautiful prospect of
Clinch mountain on the south, whose
lofty summits present an almost unbroken
range from Little Moccasin
to Hayter's Gap, a distance of 12
miles. On the left of the latter gap,
and directly east of this village, the
mountain rises to a considerable
height and is covered on the summit
with evergreens,—amongst which is
the balsam tree, from which a resinous
substance is extracted, and which is
celebrated as useful in the cure of
chronic diseases. This village was
located in 1816, and in 1818 the seat
of justice was established here. The
court house which is of stone, is the
only permanent building in the place,
the rest being all wooden tenements
and most of them rather indifferent.
It contains 6 mercantile stores, 1
grocery, 2 tan yards, 2 blacksmiths,
2 tailors, 1 hatter, 1 cabinet maker,
and in the vicinity, 1 school house.
The main road from Botetourt, thro'
Montgomery and Giles to Cumberland
Gap, passes through this village,
and will when completed, contribute
much to the prosperity of this place
and the adjoining country.

County Courts are held on the
Tuesday after the first Monday in
every month;—Quarterly in March,
June, August and November.

Circuit Superior Courts of Law
and Chancery are held on the 3d
Monday in April and September, by
Judge Estill.

SCOTT.

Scott was established by act of Assembly in 1814, and formed from portions
of Lee, Washington and Russell. It is bound N. and N. E. by Russell,—E.
by Washington,—S. by Sullivan and Hawkins counties of Tennessee,—and
W. by Lee. Its mean lat is about 46° 47′ N., its long. 5°
40′ W. of W. C.—its mean length 26 miles, mean breadth 24, and area
624 square miles.

The face of the country is mountainous and uneven.—Clinch mountain
passes through the county from N. E. to S. W.—all the principal ridges and
streams take the same direction. The county is exceedingly well watered
by good springs, creeks and rivers, and possesses water power in abundance.

The soil is generally good, some of superior quality, the poorest well suited
to small grain,—good meadows can be made almost any where. The
county is well suited to rearing stock.

The principal growth consists of poplar, hickory, beech, sugar maple,
white and black oak, lynn, buckeye, black walnut; chesnut on the mountains
and ridges, and wild cherry is found in many places.

The chief productions are, Indian corn, wheat, rye, oats, hemp, flax, &c.
and apples and peaches in abundance. Many horses, horned cattle and
hogs are reared in, and driven out of the county.

Rivers, &c.—The North fork of Holston and Clinch rivers, run through
the county,—each afford the facilities of boat navigation down them in times
of freshets; and with some improvement would add greatly to the convenience
of the country for the purposes of trade; they both afford fine, fish.
Clinch river, for a river of its size, is remarkable for its fish. Some of the
largest taken in it are of the following weight:—blue cats, 30 to 40 lbs.—
salmon, 15 lbs.—carp, 15 lbs.—red horse, 7 lbs. &c.

Big Mocasin Creek rises in Russell county at the foot of Clinch mountain—winds
along the North side of the mountain, a distance of about 30
miles, to Big Mocasin Gap.—Little Mocasin creek rises at the foot of said
mountain in a different direction, runs along the mountain a distance of
about seven miles to said Gap, where the two streams form a junction, flow
through the Gap on nearly level ground, and pass on to the North fork of
Holston. Clinch mountain here is large and the Gap, although formed
abruptly, is so perfectly level that the main western road in passing through
it, does not ascend more than in passing up a gently flowing stream.—Big
Mocasin Gap is situated about one mile east of Estillville.

Sinking Creek empties into Clinch river about 22 miles north of Estillville,
is 6 or 7 miles long, and large for its length. It rises on the south
side of said river, in Copper ridge, and when it approaches within three-fourths
of a mile of the river, sinks, passes under the bed of the river and
rises about one hundred yards from the river on the north side, and runs
back into the river,—the stream rising has often been proved to be the same
that sinks.—Fish from the river pass into the mouth of the creek in the fall
of the year in large numbers, winter under ground, and return to the river
in the spring, when many are caught in a trap fixed between the rising
water and river.

Minerals, &c.—Iron ore abounds in every part of the county—stone
coal of good quality is found in many places—marble, considered coarse,
abounds about Estillville—lime and free stone quarries are abundant—salt
water has lately been discovered by boring at the distance of upwards of

300 feet below the surface, in the Poor Valley, near the North fork of Holston,
and about 8 miles east of Estillville. The proprietor, Col. James
White of Abingdon, is now letting down pipes and making preparations to
work the well. The quality and quantity of the water is not yet fully ascertained
in consequence of the interference of fresh water, which was struck
first near the surface;—there however appears to be no doubt among those
employed at the well but that it may be profitably worked.

The Holston Springs, situated on the North fork of Holston, south of
Estillville 2 miles, or 4 miles as the road runs, is considered by many to
be not inferior to any springs in the state for the medicinal virtues of the
water, but as yet has gained no great celebrity in consequence of the accommodations
being inferior to those of most other watering places.

The White Sulphur Springs, near the Rye Cove N. W. of Estillville 8
miles, is considered equal to the Catawba Springs in Washington county—
There are many other Sulphur Springs in the county of less note.

There are in the county, exclusive of the town of Estillville, 9 meeting
houses, 6 of which belong to the Methodists and 3 to the Baptists,—the Methodists
also have 18 or 20 other preaching places in the county, where they
have societies formed and preach every other week—6 stores, 4 tanyards,
10 licensed houses of private entertainment, 4 hatter shops, 33 mills, some
of which are very ordinary, others make good flour, but none are entitled
to the appellation of merchant mill. To 10 or 15 of these mills, saw mills
are attached,—and to two, carding machines.

The climate is somewhat milder than that of Washington or Russell
counties—vegetation commencing at Estillville one or two weeks sooner
than at Abingdon or Lebanon. There is but one practicing attorney besides
those residing in Estillville, and no regular physician.

Population in 1820, 4,263—in 1830, 5,724. It belongs to the 15th
judicial circuit and 8th district. Tax paid in 1833, $646 73—in 1834, on
lots, $25 76—land, $273 95—180 slaves, $45 00—2032 horses, $121 92
—13 studs, $55 00—3 carryalls, $3 00—Total, $524 63. Expended in
educating poor children in 1832, $242 61—in 1833, $361 56.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

ESTILLVILLE, P. V. and seat
of justice, 357 ms. S. W. of R. and
433 S. W. by W. of W. It contains
besides the county buildings, 61 dwelling
houses, 2 houses of public worship,
(1 Methodist and 1 Presbyterian,)
1 academy, 1 common school
and 1 female do., 4 mercantile stores,
2 tanyards, 2 saddlers, 3 blacksmiths,
1 extensive hat manufactory, 2 cabinet
makers, several house carpenters,
and various other mechanics. It is
situated on Mocasin creek, between
the N. fork of Holston and Clinch
rivers, and 4 miles from the Holston
Springs, which are now visited
by much company, and said to be
equalled by none except the Sweet
Springs, to which they have a considerable
resemblance. This place is
supplied with water by means of pipes,
through which it is brought 800 yards,
and is conveyed to every dwelling.
The water is of the purest and best
quality. This place possesses some
of the best water falls and sites for
manufacturing establishments in Western
Virginia, and other advantages
not to be surpassed by any village in
the state. The country around abounds
with stone coal and iron ore, and salt
water has lately been obtained in great
quantity within 6 miles of the C. H.
A. northern, southern, eastern and

western mail arrives in this village
once a week. Population 200 persons;
of whom three are resident attorneys
and two regular physicians.

County Courts are held on the 1st
Wednesday after the 2d Monday in
every month;—Quarterly in March,
June, August, and November.

Circuit Superior Courts of Law and
Chancery are held on the 2d Monday
in April and September, by Judge
Estill.

Osborn Ford, P. O. 20 ms. north
of Estillville.

Pendleton, P. O. 367 ms. from
R. and 443 from W.—Situated 12 ms.
N. W. of Estillville.

Stock Creek, P. O. 368 ms. from
R. and 444 from W.—Situated 11 ms.
W. of Estillville. The remarkable
NATURAL TUNNEL is situated
near this P. O. We present an
account of this natural curiosity written
by S. H. Long, Lieut. Col. U. S.
Army originally from the Monthly
American Journal of Geology, in
which it was published in February,
1832.

"The immediate locality of this
tunnel is upon a small stream called
Buck-eye, or Stock creek. This last
name owes its origin to its valley having
been resorted to by the herdsmen
of the country, for the attainment of a
good range, or choice pasture ground
for their cattle. The creek rises in
Powell's mountain, and is tributary
to Clinch river, which it enters at the
distance of between two and three
miles below the tunnel. The aspect
of the surrounding country, and especially
of that to the northward of the
tunnel, and constituting the southerly
slope of the mountain just mentioned,
is exceedingly diversified and broken,
by elevated spurs and ridges, separated
from each other by deep chasms,
walled with cliffs and mural precipices,
often presenting exceedingly narrow
passes, but occasionally widening
into meadows or bottoms of considerable
extent. The mural precipices just
mentioned, occur very frequently,
bounding the valleys of the streams
generally in this part of the country,
and opposing ramparts of formidable
height, and in many places utterly insurmountable.
Such are the features
peculiarly characteristic of Wild Cat
Valley, the Valley of Copper Creek,
of Powell's and Clinch rivers, and of
numerous other streams of less note,
all of which are situated within a few
miles of the natural tunnel.

"To form an adequate idea of this
remarkable and truly sublime object,
we have only to imagine the creek to
which it gives a passage, meandering
through a deep narrow valley, here
and there bounded on both sides by
walls or revetements of the character
above intimated, and rising to the
height of two or three hundred feet
above the stream; and that a portion
of one of these chasms, instead of
presenting an open thorough cut from
the summit to the base of the high
grounds, is intercepted by a continuous
unbroken ridge more than three
hundred feet high, extending entirely
across the valley, and perforated transversely
at its base, after the manner
of an artificial tunnel, and thus affording
a spacious subterranean channel
for the passage of the stream.

"The entrance to the natural tunnel
on the upper side of the ridge, is
imposing and picturesque, in a high
degree; but on the lower side, the
grandeur of the scene is greatly
heightened by the superior magnitude
of the cliffs, which exceed in loftiness,
and which rise perpendicularly—and
in some instances in an impending
manner—two to three hundred feet;
and by which the entrance on this side
is almost environed, as it were, by an
amphitheatre of rude and frightful
precipices.

"The observer, standing on the
brink of the stream, at the distance of
about one hundred yards below the
debouchure of the natural tunnel, has,
in front, a view of its arched entrance,

rising seventy or eighty feet above the
water, and surmounted by horizontal
stratifications of yellowish, white and
grey rocks, in depth nearly twice the
height of the arch. On his left, a
view of the same mural precipice, deflected
from the springing of the arch
in a manner to pass thence in a continuous
curve quite to his rear, and
towering in a very impressive manner,
above his head. On his right, a
sapling growth of buck-eye, poplar,
linden, &c. skirting the margin of the
creek, and extending obliquely to the
right, and upward through a narrow,
abrupt ravine, to the summit of the
ridge, which is here, and elsewhere,
crowned with a timber growth of pines,
cedars, oaks, and shrubbery of various
kinds. On his extreme right, is a gigantic
cliff lifting itself up perpendicularly
from the water's edge, to the
height of about three hundred feet,
and accompanied by an insulated cliff,
called the chimney, of about the same
altitude, rising in the form of a turret,
at least sixty feet above its basement,
which is a portion of the imposing
cliff just before mentioned.

"In order to give a more full description
of the magnificent spectacle
which forms the subject of this article,
I shall transcribe some of the minutes
taken from my private notes, whilst
on the ground, but first I shall give
an extract from a letter addressed to
me by my friend P. C. Johnston, Esq.
of Abingdon, in the adjoining county
to Scott, a gentleman well acquainted
with this interesting locality.

" `The rocks through which Stock
creek flows, are a light blue and gray
limestone, of a subcrystalline character;
the strata are nearly horizontal,
and this arrangement of the strata is
obvious for several miles northeastwardly;
but in every other direction,
very near the bridge, (natural tunnel,)
they have the dip usual in the country
to the S. E. at an angle generally
of from 30° to 50°. This tunnel is
near what I have believed to be the
N.W. boundary of the transition formation,
a little within it. I have not
been able to discover any organic remains
in the limestone there, or in the
neighborhood. On the little projections
of the rock which occur on the
walls, near the lower (S.) end of the
tunnel, a crystallized deposit is lodged,
which you no doubt recollect, that
seemed to my taste to be a mixture of
saltpetre and alum. No attempt has
been made to analyze it. The earth
found near the upper (N.) extremity
of the tunnel some years ago, (the
first time I visited it,) afforded saltpetre.
The crystallized deposit seems
to be made from a stratum apparently
not more than six inches thick, which
is so high that it cannot be reached
for examination. The growth of timber
is such as is common in the neighboring
country, white, red, spanish,
black oaks, hickory, white walnut,
dogwood, poplar, chesnut, birch, ironwood,
some hemlock and pawpaw
(asimina triloba) on the banks of the
creek, and the edges of the cliffs fringed
with cedar. On the creek, below
the tunnel for two miles, is found that
variety of ash called the fringe tree,
(chionanthus virginica,) the long white
fringe-like blossoms of which are so
delightfully fragrant.'[44]

The following passages are from
my own private journal.

`Saturday, Aug. 13, 1831. Having
ascended Cove ridge, we turned
aside from our route to visit the natural
bridge, or tunnel, situated on Buckeye,
or Stock creek, about a mile below
the Sycamore camp,[45] and about
one and a half miles from a place called

Rye cove, which occupies a spacious
recess between two prominent
spurs of Powell's mountain, the site of
the natural tunnel being included within
a spur of Coveridge, which is one of
the mountain spurs just alluded to.
Here is presented one of the most remarkable
and attractive curiosities of
its kind to be witnessed in this or any
other country. The creek, which is
about seven yards wide, and has a
general course about S. 15 W. here
passes through a hill elevated from
two to three hundred feet above the
surface of the stream, winding its way
through a huge subterraneous cavern,
or grotto, whose roof is vaulted in a
peculiar manner, and rises from seventy
or eighty feet above its floor.
The sides of this gigantic cavern rise
perpendicularly in some places to the
height of fifteen or twenty feet, and
in others, are formed by the springing
of its vaulted roof immediately
from its floor. The width of the tunnel
varies from fifty to one hundred
and fifty feet; its course is that of a
continuous curve, resembling the letter
S. first winding to the right as we
enter on the upper side, then to the
left, again to the right, and then again
to the left, on arriving at the entrance
on the lower side. Such is its peculiar
form, that an observer, standing
at a point about midway of its subterranean
course, is completely excluded
from a view of either entrance, and is
left to grope in the dark through a
distance of about twenty yards, occupying
an intermediate portion of the
tunnel. When the sun is near the
meridian, and his rays fall upon both
entrances, the light reflected from both
extremities of the tunnel, contributes
to mollify the darkness of this interior
portion into a dusky twilight.

" `The extent of the tunnel from its
upper to its lower extremity, following
its meanders, is about 150 yards, in
which distance the stream falls about
ten feet, emitting, in its passage over
a rocky bed, an agreeable murmur,
which is rendered more grateful by
its reverberations upon the roof and
sides of the grotto. The discharge of a
musket produces a crash-like report,
succeeded by a roar in the tunnel, which
has a deafening effect upon the ear.

" `The hill through which this singular
perforation leads, descends in a
direction from east to west, across the
line of the creek, and affords a very
convenient passage for a road which
traverses it at this place, having a descent
in the direction just mentioned,
of about four degrees.'

"The rocks found in this part of
the country are principally sandstone
and limestone, in stratifications nearly
horizontal, with occasional beds of
clay slate. A mixture of the two former
frequently occurs among the alternations
presented by these rocks.
A variety of rock resembling the
French burr, occurs in abundance on
Butcher's fork, of Powell's river,
about twenty miles northwardly of
the natural tunnel. Fossils are more
or less abundant in these and other
rocks. Fossil bones of an interesting
character have been found in several
places. Saltpetre caves are numerous
Coves, sinks and subterranean caverns
are strikingly characteristic, not only
of the country circumjacent to the natural
tunnel, but of the region generally
situated between the Cumberland
mountain and the Blue Ridge or
Apalachain mountain. Bituminous
coal, with its usual accompaniments,
abounds in the northerly parts of this
region; and in the intermediate and
southerly portions, iron, variously
combined, often magnetic, together
with talcose rocks, &c. &c. are to be
met with in great abundance.

"The mountains in this vicinity,
long. 82° to 84° W. from Greenwich,
lat. 35° to 36° N. are among the most
lofty of the Alleghany range. Several
knobs in this part of the range,
among which may be enumerated the
Roan, the Unaka, the Bald, the Black,
and Powell's mountains, rise to the
height of at least four thousand five
hundred feet above tide."

SHENANDOAH.

Shenandoah was established by act of Assembly in 1772, from a portion
of the county of Frederick under the name of Dunmore, from the
name of Lord Dunmore, then Governor of Virginia; but in October 1777
after Lord Dunmore had taken a decided stand against the colonies in the
contest with the mother country, one of the delegates from the county stated
that his constituents no longer wished to live in, or he to represent, a county,
bearing the name of such a tory, he therefore moved to call it. Shenandoah,
after the name of the beautiful stream which passed through it, which
was accordingly adopted. Shenandoah is bounded N. and N. E. by Frederick,—E.
and S. E. by Page,—S. and S. W. by Rockingham,—W. and
N. W. by Hardy. Its average lat is about 38° 50′ N. and long. 1° 30′ W.
of W. C.,—its greatest length from S. W. to N. E. is 32 miles,—average
width 15,—and area 384 sq. ms. This is a fertile and populous county,
situated in the valley. The whole county is traversed by the North Fork of
Shenandoah river, lying between the Massanutten and North mountain. The
North and South branches of the Shenandoah river pass through the entire
length of the county and Page, and unite immediately below its north-eastern
line, and form the Shenandoah river. They admit of a descending navigation
when the waters are a little swollen,—its creeks are Cedar creek, Passage
creek, Stoney creek, Mill creek and Smith's creek. It is divided into
four valleys, two of which are long and two small,—by the Three Topped
or Massanutten mountain and the Little North mountain. The larger valleys
are watered by the North and South Shenandoah rivers, the smaller
vallies by Cedar and Passage creeks. The land in the vallies is principally
limestone, and is well adapted to the cultivation of wheat, rye, Indian
corn and oats, and is divided into small farms. Its staple articles are flour,
bacon, beef, butter and iron. There are within it 34 manufacturing flour
mills, 2 furnaces and 4 forges, for the manufacturing of pig metal into bar
iron, and another furnace and forge are now being erected. Its mineral resources
have been but partially explored. Iron ore of the best quality
abounds, copper, lead, cobalt and copperas have been found, but not in sufficient
quantities to justify working them. There are several chalybeate
and sulphur springs which are places of resort in the warm season.

The Valley of the Gooney is situated in the eastern part of the
county, immediately at the western base of the Blue Ridge. It is bounded
on the S. by the Hog-back mountain, which is one of the highest summits
of the Blue Ridge, on the E. by the Blue Ridge; on the N. and W. by
Dickey's hill and the Buck mountain, both of which, are spurs of the Blue
Ridge. It is about 7 miles in length and 4 in breadth. The face of this
section of country, is hilly and rugged, but the soil is sufficiently productive,
and yields, when well cultivated, abundant crops of corn, wheat, rye,
&c. Clover and timothy thrive remarkably well on this soil, as plaster
acts with an astonishing effect. There is a great proportion of excellent
meadow land, there being scarcely a field that has not one or more streams
of water passing through it. Almost every farmer has a spring of excellent
mountain water near his door, and breathing a pure mountain atmosphere;
the inhabitants are extremely healthy and robust, having uniformly escaped
those periodical diseases which have been so fatal in other sections of
Virginia. The principal stream is the Gooney, which is a creek of the
largest class. It rises near the top of the Hog back, and running a N. W.

course about 12 miles, empties into the South River about 5 miles, above
the town of Front Royal. It affords some fine situations for water-works,
and moves several merchant mills and saw mills. The mountains, with
which it is surrounded, afford an inexhaustible supply of excellent timber.
There is a woollen factory, 1 common school, 2 churches (Methodist and
Baptist) and several extensive distilleries of grain,—whiskey, plank and flour
being the chief articles of export. This valley is thickly settled by a hardy,
honest and industrious people. From the top of the Blue Ridge, at Dade's
gap, nearly opposite the town of Washington, in the county of Rappahannock,
there is a magnificent view of the eastern part of the county of Shenandoah
(now Page) and of the county of Rappahannock. Near this place there
is a remarkable rock called the Raven's Den, it having been occupied as the
aerie of that wild bird from time immemorial. It is entirely inaccessible to
man. Near Cheek's gap, Lann's run, a bold mountain current, a branch
of the Gooney, forms a most beautiful cascade, the water falling 60 or 70
feet perpendicular. There is another beautiful cascade near Milford, formed
by the stream which divides the counties of Shenandoah and Page; the waters
of which fall about 100 feet at one perpendicular pitch.

The Fort Mountain. This name has been given to a range of mountains
in the county of Shenandoah, which are, in elevation, about equal to
the Blue Ridge. This range commences nearly opposite to the town of
Newmarket, at which place it is called the Massanutten mountain, and extends
in a direction nearly from S. W. to N. E. or in a line coinciding with
the meanderings of the North branch of the Shenandoah river. Unlike
the Blue Ridge, which is extremely fertile, and the greater part of which is
susceptible of successful and profitable cultivation, this mountain is precipitous
and rugged in the extreme, and is covered, for the most part, with
a thick growth of oak, pine, hickory, chesnut, &c. Its forests afford a
shelter for a great number of deer, bears, turkies and other game, with
which the mountain abounds. Nearly opposite the town of Luray in the
county of Page, its eastern base is washed by the South, and its western
base by the North branch of the Shenandoah river. At this place the
mountain forks, and instead of one, there are two distinct mountains, stretching
in the same direction, and running parallel to each other. These
mountains form what is termed the Fort. They have received the name
"Fort Mountains," from the peculiar form of the valley which they enclose,
which, with the addition of some slight military fortifications might be rendered
impregnable. The only road which crosses this mountain is the one
which leads from Luray to Woodstock, which is at the upper end of the
Fort, and which at the expense of much labor is kept passable for light
loaded carriages. The valley which is enclosed by these mountains, is
about 25 miles in length and about 3 in mean breadth. It is tolerably
fruitful in grass, corn, rye, buck-wheat, potatoes, turnips, &c. At the upper
end of the Fort, rises Passage creek, a large and very rapid mountain
current, which works several fine merchant mills. Its whole length is
about 30 miles. The Fort is supposed to be extremely rich in mineral ores,
of which iron and copper are among its discovered mineral productions.
There are in the Fort, several common schools, 2 Meeting-houses, 3 grist
mills, 3 oil mills, a powder factory, several smith shops and a sufficient
number of mechanics. The population is about 700 souls. In making an
excavation for a well, a few weeks since, (Jan. 1834,) some fine specimens
of petrifaction were discovered at a considerable distance below the present

surface of the earth. These petrifactions consist of toads, snakes, &c. in a
state of entire preservation. The East and West Fort mountains terminate
abruptly nearly opposite the town of Strasburg. The points opposite this
place are the highest parts of the mountain, being about 1200 feet above the
level of the river. The entrance or mouth of the Fort forms one of the most
awful defiles in America. The space between the mountains is barely wide
enough for a narrow road, which runs on the bank and sometimes in the
bed of the large and rapid creek which rushes impetuously over the rugged
surface of its channel. On each side of the road the mountain rises so perpendicularly
as to be entirely inaccessible. The East Fort mountain especially
exhibits the most magnificent scenery, and rock piled on rock, from
base to top, without a shrub to break the view, and bids defiance to the approaches
of man. Here, in summer, may be seen great numbers of vultures
basking in the sun, or with expanded wings inhaling the cooling
breeze. In the caverns which are in this cliff, it is said these vultures remain
in a torpid state during the winter. There are some of the finest landscape
views from this mountain which can be imagined. At a point nearly
opposite Woodstock, from the East Fort mountain, the South river presents
the appearance of three distinct streams of water, crossing the valley from
the western base of the Blue Ridge, to the foot of the Fort mountain. If an
observer, station himself on the top of the East mountain, at the N. end, and
look "down east" the beautiful valley of the South river is presented full to
his view. The thrifty village of Front Royal with the adjacent country interspersed
with elegant country villas, fertile farms and thick forests alternately
meet the eye. If he look a little higher his horizon is bounded by
the indented top of the Blue Ridge, which stretches N. and S. as far as the
vision can extend; its surface from base to summit is beautifully diversified
with cultivated farms and sloping woodlands. If he look W. into the profound
abyss below him, he recoils with horror from the awful sight. If he
station himself on the N. end of the West mountain, he has a full view of
the valley of the North river. Strasburg, which is 4 miles distant, appears
almost under his feet. At a distance of 7 miles, he sees Middletown, 5 miles
further he sees Newtown, and at a distance of 20 miles he sees the large and
populous town of Winchester,—its stately dwellings and towering steeples
glittering in the sun. A great part of the county of Frederick is seen in
full perspective. But one of the finest landscapes in Virginia, and perhaps
in the world, is seen from a point on the West Fort mountain nearly opposite
Woodstock. Here, if the observer look towards "the far east," the
"blue brow" of the North mountain, which stretches N. and S. further than
the eye can view, appears to peep into the clouds and to tower above them,
many of which actually sail below its summit. The fertile valley which
lies between the North mountain and Woodstock, is seen so distinctly, that
a person who is acquainted with the country, may designate most of the
farms which are seen from this point, the view from which, extends over a
country about 15 miles in extent.

The town of Woodstock, which is about 5 miles distant, is seen so plainly,
that the observer may count almost every house in that beautiful village.
Between Woodstock and the mountain (Fort) lies the rich valley which is
watered by the North branch of the Shenandoah. The river in its mean,
derings approaches very near the mountain, and then retreats a considerable
distance towards Woodstock, where after making a turn it suddenly returns
to the mountain without the bend at either place being perceived. Thus it

alternately approaches the mountain and recedes from it, until it presents
the appearance of seven distinct livers running parallel to each other.

The river at this place, is about 150 feet in width, and forms a beautiful
sheet of water which sparkles in the sun like a stream of silver. The space
which is enclosed by each bend of the river is, apparently about large
enough for a beautiful farm, and the bottoms being abundantly fertile, the
whole scene presents one of the most picturesque landscapes in the world.
Shenandoah is an Indian name, signifying clear water, and like most of the
Indian names is very appropriate, these rivers being remarkable for their
transparent waters. In 1831 part of this county which lies between the
Blue Ridge and the Massachutten mountain was taken off, and with a small
part of Rockingham county, formed into a new county called Page. When
the county was first settled, about the year 1735, its population was composed
principally of Irish and Scotch, but few of their descendants are now
found within it, as the county became more settled, they were supplanted by
Germans from Pennsylvania,—and the greater part of its population, now
consists of their descendants. They are a plain, frugal and industrious
people. A few years since the German language was very much spoken
and taught in the schools, but it is now rapidly giving place to the English,
which is now universally taught in all the schools.

Population in 1820, 18,926—in 1830, 19,750. By the separation of
Page the population is reduced to 14,000. This county belongs to the 14th
judicial circuit and 7th district. Tax paid in 1833, $3,506 09—in 1834,
on lots. $253 33—land, $2,479 68—984 slaves, $246 00—5,575 horses,
$334 50—22 studs, $128 00—23 coaches, $53 00—27 carryalls, $27 00
—16 gigs, $12 65. Total $3,534 16. Expended in educating poor children
in 1832, $1,512 16—in 1833, $827 29.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Allen's Cave. In the county of
Shenandoah, a short distance from the
town of Front Royal, is Allen's Cave,
which may with propriety, be styled
a great natural curiosity. It is situated
on the right bank of the Shenandoah,
about a quarter of a mile from
the river, in the side of a hill of considerable
elevation. The face of the
country in its vicinity, is romantic in
the extreme, being a thick forest of
oak, pine and cedar, interspersed with
ledges and cliffs of limestone.

The entrance into this cavern is by
a gradual descent of about 45°. The
mouth is about 5 feet in width and 15
in height. After proceeding about 60
feet, the explorer reaches what may
be termed the vestibule of this grand
work of nature, after which the floor
becomes comparatively level. Upon
looking back, towards the entrance,
the beholder is struck with the singular
beauty and regularity of the magnificent
arch, which is composed of
solid lime. The cavity here is about
10 feet in width and 30 in height.
Proceeding some distance, it becomes
very narrow and so low, that it is necessary
to stoop much in order to advance.
Upon emerging from this
narrow defile, the admirer of the
works of nature, is presented with one
of the most magnificent scenes which
the fancy can imagine. He finds
himself ushered into a vast room, the
extent of which, from end to end, is
more than 150 feet, and of very considerable
width. The height of the
roof or ceiling, varies from 10 to 50
or 60 feet, forming some of the finest
arches that the eye ever beheld. The
ceiling and walls of this apartment,
which is called Sarah's saloon, are

covered with sparry incrustations
which have been formed by the
drippings of the water from the roof.
In some places, they have the appearance
of pendant icicles; in other places
they bear a strong resemblance to the
folds of drapery, and appear to hang
in festoons which art can neither rival
or imitate. In some places the
sparry stalactites resemble the most
beautiful sculpture, at one point presenting
the image of a magnificent
pillar or colossal statue, at another
the curved and wavy appearance of a
cataract in miniature. If a piece of
the spar be thrown into a crucible or
even into a hot coal fire, it fuses, and
becomes as transparent as glass.

It is, however, to be regretted, that
the most beautiful specimens of the
spar have been abstracted by the
numerous visiters; and that, the walls
and roof of Sarah's saloon, which
were once of the most glittering transparency,
have been blackened by the
smoke of the pine torches, which have
been used in exploring it. Upon
leaving the saloon, it becomes necessary
to ascend about 12 or 15 feet
perpendicular, which is done by
means of a ladder, at the top of which
is a small room which is evidently
the highest and yet the closest apartment
in the cave, as the candles burn
less freely here, than in any other
part of the cavern. On speaking, or
striking with the hand against the
wall the sound is increased to an astonishing
loudness. At the farther
extremity of this upper apartment is a
reservoir of water of a circular shape,
about 5 feet in diameter and 4 in depth,
called the Fairy's bath, and within a
few feet of the bath, is a small basin
called the Fairy's wash-bowl,—both
formed in the solid rock and full of
water of the most limpid clearness.
After leaving this place, the passage
forks. That passage which leads
straight forward, passes through some
small rooms and narrow defiles, until
it reaches a large apartment; at the
extremity of the cavern. This chamber
which is called the Sylph's dressing-room,
is about the size of the saloon,
with a lofty ceiling of sparry
concretions,—once clear as crystal—
now rendered dingy by the smoke.
It has several outlets, too small to admit
the body of a man; but it is probable
that if they were enlarged, they
might lead to other rooms in this subterraneous
abode, which it is possible
and even probable, may extend to the
river. Near the Fairy's bath, is a
narrow passage, which turns to the
right, called the labyrinth. After various
mazes and intricate windings
under low arches, so contracted in
breadth as to admit only one person
abreast, the winding ceases, and the
explorer finds himself in a straight
passage, about 40 feet in length, 3 in
breadth, and 7 in height, and which,
without doubt, forms one of the most
beautiful, regular and symmetrical
arches in the world. Issuing from
this passage the explorer finds himself
in the ball-room, which is decidedly
the best room in the cave. The
length is 160 or 170 feet, and the
breadth at least 30 feet. Here, too,
as in the other rooms, the hands of
vandal visiters, have torn off the
beautiful spar from the wall, thus
having robbed the cave of its glittering
ornaments, and deprived posterity
in a measure, of one of the most
magnificent scenes that ever met the
eye of man. The floor is of soft clay
and remarkably level and smooth.
Here, before the invention of dandies,
tights, corsets, balloon sleeves, prunella
slippers, large combs and leghorn
flats, the beaux and belles of by gone
days met, and held social parties, and
while "mingling in the giddy mazes
of the sprightly dance," the foot and
hand kept time with the clarionet and
violin, and the merry song, the wild
music, the free jest, the witty retort
and the hearty laugh, all telling of
enjoyment, reached the remotest
depths of this spacious grotto,—while

pleased echo caught the sound, and
reverberating from grotto to grotto,
told the deities of the place, of the
mirth and innocent amusement which
were to be found in the ball-room of
Allen's cave.

Even in these, our degenerate
days, the cave is still visited by hundreds
of persons who generally speak
in terms of the highest praise of the
wonders which they have seen in
this subterranean world. The extent
of this cavern has never been
ascertained—but it is supposed to be
about 1200 feet.

Cedar Creek, P. O. 162 miles
from R. and 83 from W.

Fortsmouth, P. O. 147 ms. from
R. and 83 W. of W. This village
is pleasantly situated in a narrow
valley, and in the fork of the North
and South branches of the Shenandoah
river, surrounded on the south
and west by the Fort mountain. It
contains several dwelling houses, 1
manufacturing flour mill, 1 saw mill,
1 distillery, and various mechanics.
Population 30. There are in the immediate
vicinity two houses of public
worship, the one Baptist, and the other
free for all denominations. It is
distant 25 ms. from Winchester and
18 from Woodstock. Fortsmouth
derives its name from Powell's Fort,
at the `mouth' of which it is located,
and which is a great natural curiosity,—the
valley being formed by the
Massariutten mountain, springing up
on the west side of the Shenandoah
river, commencing between New
Market and Staunton, running south
west and north east until it reaches a
short distant below New Market;—it
then breaks off into two mountains,
the one running down the North and
the other down the South branch of
the Shenandoah river. These two
mountains form Powell's Fort, which
receives its name from an individual
who it is said was the first settler
within the fort. This Fort as it is
called, is thirty miles in length, with
a fine stream running entirely thro'
it called Passage creek, on which
are situated many springs of pure
water at various distances.

Mount Hope, P. O. 144 ms. from
R. and 80 S. W. by W. of W.

Mount Jackson, P. O. 157 ms.
from R. and 113 W. of W. It contains
8 dwelling houses, 1 Presbyterian
house of public worship, 1
common school, 1 mercantile store, 1
tavern, 1 tanyard, 1 smith shop, and
1 boot factory. The country around
is a little broken, the soil gray and
sandy, of ordinary quality, producing
Indian corn, wheat and oats tolerably
well.

Strasburg, P. O. 153 ms. from
R. and 89 W. of W., situated in the
northern part of the county, on the
North branch of the Shenandoah
river, immediately on the main road
leading from Woodstock to Winchester,
12 ms. N. of the former and 18
S. of the latter. This is a healthy
and thriving village, containing 78
dwelling houses, 3 houses of public
worship. (1 Presbyterian, 1 Lutheran,
and 1 free for all denominations,) 3
schools, including an academy, (a
handsome building with a valuable
lot of land attached, on which has
been erected out of the income an
excellent house as a residence for the
principal.) There are also 3 mercantile
stores, 1 apothecary shop, 2
taverns, 1 stone and 1 earthen ware
manufactory, 4 tanyards, 5 cabinet
makers, 1 turner, 4 blacksmith shops,
1 plasterer, 3 bricklayers, 2 gun
smiths, 5 tailors, 6 boot and shoe factories,
and 4 cooper shops. Population
470 persons; of whom 6 are
regular physicians. The inhabitants
are principally Germans, of industrious
and economical habits.

New Market, P. V., delightfully
situated in the great valley of Virginia,
between the Massanutten and
North mountains, 120 ms. W. by S.
of W. and 150 ms. N. W. of R., in
lat 38° 36′ 30″ N. and long 1° 37′

W. from W. It is a central point
between the towns of Winchester
and Staunton, being 50 miles distant
from either place. The main road
leading from the counties of Pendleton
and Hardy, eastward across
Thornton's Gap in the direction of
Fredericksburg, intersects the great
valley road at this place. The town
was founded about the year 1784. It
is at this time three-fourths of a mile
in length, containing above one hundred
dwelling houses, with a population
of 700 persons. The streets
are remarkably level, straight and
well laid out, bearing south 25 west,
a direction nearly parallel with the
Massanutten mountain and two miles
distant from its base. There are 3
houses of public worship, viz 1 Lutheran,
1 Baptist, and 1 Methodist, 1
large and commodious brick academy,
in which is taught all the
branches of liberal and polite education,
1 book and job printing office,
5 stores, 3 taverns, 1 resident attorney,
and 4 regular physicians—
There is perhaps no town in the state
of the same size, where the mechanical
pursuits are carried on to a greater
extent than in this. There are
here in active and extensive operation—1
manufactory of threshing
machines, &c., 2 wheelwrights, 4
cabinet makers and house-joiners, 4
tanneries, 2 saddle and harness making
establishments, 2 chair factories,
4 boot and shoe manufactories, 3 hat
factories, 1 silversmith and jeweller,
1 coppersmith and tin plate worker,
2 gunsmiths, 2 blacksmiths, 1 locksmith,
1 sleymaker, 1 saddle tree
maker, 1 diaper weaver, and 2 potteries,
at one of which stone ware of a
superior quality is manufactured.
There are also in the vicinity 2 forges
for the manufactory of pig metal into
bar iron, both of which are at this
time in active operation. The country
around abounds in iron ore of the
best quality.

The North fork of the Shenandoah
river runs within a mile of the
town on the western side; and is navigable
at high water for boats carrying
one hundred barrels of flour
to the Plain Mills 2½ miles above the
town but the navigation is somewhat
hazardous, as the river is passable
for boats of this burden only
during a freshet. The Massanutten
mountain on the east of the town
presents a beautiful and unbroken
view to the eye of an observer, free
from any spurs, or secondary mountains,
to obstruct his sight, for many
miles in extent, presenting upon the
whole a spectacle highly grand and
picturesque. There is a caseade on
this mountain about, 3½ miles from
the town, which as it appears not to
be embraced in any written account
of the State deserves to be noticed.—
It presents the curious spectacle of a
beautiful sheet of water falling from
the height of fifty feet perpendicular,
The large table rock over which the
water falls is so perfectly level and
smooth, that the water falls in an entire
and unbroken sheet of several
yards in width, which it retains until
it strikes the bottom sufficiently far
from the perpendicular for a person
to pass conveniently between that
and the sheet of water, without danger
of getting wet. This falling
sheet of water is so perfectly transparent,
that it may be seen for several
hundred yards, glistening thro' the
thick surrounding woods, presenting
a beautiful spectacle.

Among the rocks of this country
are the blue and grey limestone,
slates, sand-stone and burr-stone.—
The adjacent country is famed for its
fertility, and is well adapted to the culture
of wheat, rye, Indian corn, and
grass. No country can boast more
of its healthy situation than this; in
short nothing seems to be wanting
to render it among the most desirable
sections of country in the State,
but a facility of access to market,
and whenever that is given, it may

be confidently predicted, that no part
of the United States will present
greater rewards to enteprise and industry.

Stony Ghedk, or Shryock, P.
O. 162 ms. from R. and 105 S. W.
of W., situated on Stony creek, near
the North Fork of Shenandoah.
The creek empties into the river one
mile E. of this place. It is distant
8 ms. S. S. W. of Woodstock, and
35 in a similar direction from Winchester.
This village contains 17
dwelling houses, 2 mercantile stores,
1 house of public entertainment, 1
rifle manufactory, and 1 blacksmith
shop. Population 130 persons; of
whom 1 is a physician. The land
is fertile, producing well all the ordinary
staples, and the county is thickly
settled. Stoney creek is a bold
stream, affording some excellent sites
for manufactories. There are located
on it, and within 2 miles of the
village, at various distances, a considerable
number of dwelling houses,
2 extensive manufacturing flour mills,
2 grist mills, 7 saw mills, 1 well established
fulling mill, and 2 wool
carding machines, 1 still-house, 1
tannery, and 1 forge in active operation,
manufacturing pig metal into
bar iron, and 1 furnace called Columbia,
with about 200 persons dependant
on it for support.

WOODSTOCK, P. V. and seat
of justice, 156 ms. from R. and 100
S. W. of W. in lat. 38° 51′ N. and
long. 1° 34′ W. of W. C., situated on
the main valley road 32 ms. S. S.
W. of Winchester and about 1 mile
W. of the North Fork of the Shenandoah
river. It contains besides
the usual county buildings, 118 dwelling
houses, 3 houses of public worship,
(1 Lutheran, 1 Methodist and 1
German Reformed,) 1 Masonic Hall,
1 handsome brick academy, 3 other
schools, and 2 sabbath schools, 1
printing office from which a weekly
paper is issued, 5 mercantile stores,
2 taverns, 3 tan yards, 4 saddlers, 2
hatters, 5 boot and shoe factories, 5
house joiners and carpenters, 3
wheelwrights and chair makers, 4
tailors, 2 smith shops, 1 earthen and
1 stone ware manufactory, 1 watch
maker and silver smith, 1 wagon
maker, 1 tin plate worker, 2 saddletree
makers, 2 saddle-tree platers, 2
bricklayers and masons, and 2 plasterers.
Population 950 persons; of
whom 3 are resident attorneys, and
4 are ministers and 3 regular physicians.

County Courts are held on the
Monday before the 2d Tuesday in
every month;—Quorterly in March,
May, August and November.

Judge Smith holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 9th of April and September.

SMYTH.

Smyth was created by act of Assembly in 1831, and formed from a
portion of Washington and Wythe. It is bounded W. by Clinch-mountain
separating it from Russell,—N. W. and N. by the same mountain,
separating it from Tazewell,—N. E. and E. by Wythe,—and by the Iron
mountain separating it from Grayson S. E. and S. It is located on the
head waters of Holston river. The eastern line dividing Smyth and
Wythe crosses within fifty yards of the head spring. The county is divided
into three valleys,—the North, South and Middle Forks of the Holston
running parallel with the different valleys. The North Fork rises
between Clinch and Walker's mountains pursues a northerly course some

distance, and then winds to the west. The mountains are lofty,—the bottom
lands are rich and productive. On this fork is found gypsum of the
best quality, and sufficient in quantity to supply the whole western country.
In that neighborhood is situated the salt works belonging to Gen'l
Preston. These works, and King's in Washington county, are denominated
Saltville,—they are within 40 feet of each other. The place has
risen up in consequence of the salt works. The county line separating
Smyth and Washington counties runs between them. (For further
particulars see Saltville in this county.) An experiment lately made on
the water of Preston's works was attended with complete success,—twenty
bushels full produced a deposite of five bushels of salt, which weighed one
hundred and fifty-one pounds, shewing it to be in proportion of one-fourth
to the water which contains it. It is supposed that no other water approaches
this strength, and it is quite free from the slightest quantity of
bittern or other foreign matter. From this supply five hundred bushels of
salt may be manufactured in twenty-four hours.

On the middle fork of the Holston are situated the Chilhowee Sulphur
Springs, within one mile of the great road. They stand as high for the
medicinal qualities of their waters as any spring in Virginia. There are
also in the same vicinity several chalybeate springs. The productions
are wheat, rye, Indian corn, buckwheat, Irish potatoes, hemp, flax,
and every species of the vine; being one of the best grape counties in Virginia.
This county is well timbered with the best of white and black
oak, buckeye, poplar, hickory, black walnut, lynn, pine, sassafras, dog
wood, birch, beech, and the spice wood tree. Along the branches are elder
of different qualities, spruce pine, and the hemlock tree. It also abounds
with the maple or sugar tree. This tree is more valuable than all others;
if it is notched in the month of March, and bored with a small auger or
gimblet some distance below the notch and a tube placed in, one tree will
afford in a season from 30 to 60 gallons of sweet water, which when boiled
will always produce from 3 to 4 pounds of good sugar, besides the molasses,
which is superior to any other. The tops of these trees are large, tapering
something like a sugar loaf, the bark is rough and body straight, some
of them are of a light color, others black. The latter always produce the
sweetest water. Some of these maple trees grow to an enormous size.
The wood is precious, and when cut and corded, one tree will make from
6 to 7 cords. The next in size is the yellow poplar, which exceeds in
growth any timber in the United States. It is no uncommon thing to find
this timber from 3 to 4 feet and upwards in diameter, and the trunks 44
feet in height before a limb shoots. The white oak and other timber is in
proportion.

There are in this county one cotton manufactory, (at the court house,) 3
iron works, 14 tan yards, 16 grist mills, 14 houses of public worship, (5
Methodist, 2 Presbyterian, 3 Baptists, 3 free for all denominations, and 1
Lutheran,) and 8 taverns or houses of public entertainment. The elevation
of Davis's town, situated 2 miles from the east line of the county, and
on Pleasant Hill, is 200 feet above James River at Lynchburg. Population
not taken at the last census, the county having been since created, but
supposed to be between 6 and 7000, of which there are 100 free persons
of color, and 1400 slaves. It belongs to the fourteenth judicial circuit
and eight district. Tax paid in 1833, $941 57—in 1834 on land
$572 04—470 slaves, $117 50—2675 horses, $160 50—20 studs, $123 50

—5 coaches, $10 00—5 carryalls, $5 00—1 gig, 50 cts. Total, $989 04.
No report of school commissioners for 1832. Expended in educating poor
children in 1833, $220 26.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

MARION P. V. and county seat,
was located two years since. The improvements
have rapidly progressed.
A handsome court house, clerk's office,
and jail, have been erected, 10
or 12 neat dwelling houses have been
completed and several others are in
progress of erection, 2 mercantile
stores have been established, and 2
others are about going into operation.
One cotton manufactory on a small
scale, and various mechanical pursuits
are carried on; the principal
of which are bricklaying, stone masonry,
house carpentry, tailoring,
saddlery, and blacksmithing. Population
about 100 persons, of whom
3 are resident attorneys, and 2 regular
physicians.

County Courts are held on the
Thursday after the third Monday in
every month, Quarterly in February,
May, July and October.

Judge Estill holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the Monday after the fourth
Monday in April and September.

Pleasant Hill, P. O. 269 ms.
from R. and 344 S. W. by W. of W.

Saltville, P. O. This settlement
derives its name from the justly
celebrated Saltworks of Preston and
King. Preston's well being located
in Smyth, and King's in Washington
county. They are not more than
forty feet apart, the line dividing the
two counties running between the
wells. The following topographical,
geological and general remarks respecting
them, and the surrounding
country, are taken from an article
published in the Abingdon Republican.

"The place called Saltville, is situated
in a narrow plain of about 700
acres of land, between the Rich Valley
and the North Fork of the Holston,
having its greatest length from
the northeast to the southwest, bounded
on the eastern side by conical
peaks and ridges which are appendages
of Walker's mountain and on
the western side by conical peaks
and highland intervening between it
and the North fork of the Holston river,
which washes their bases for many
miles. This branch of the Holston
is declared a public highway, but has
many obstructions, which it is believed
could be removed by expendture
of $6 000, so as to be suitable for
batteaux and flat boats, from Saltville,
to its mouth at Kingsport, a distance
of 65 miles by water.

"The present point of manufacturing
salt is on the bank of the river,
to which for convenience of timber
and fuel the water is conveyed, about
two miles, in a northwardly course,
in wooden tubes. On the opposite
bank of the river lies Little mountain,
an appendage of Clinch mountain,
which is parallel and continuous
with that mountain for hundreds of
miles, and between which, lies a narrow
stoney valley, commonly called
the Poor Valley. The numerous
streams having their source in the
Clinch mountain, pass through the
breaks of Little mountain into the
North Fork, along its course. To the
northwest of Clinch mountain, and
parallel with it, lie Copper Ridge.
Powel's mountain, Cumberland mountains,
and the Log mountains, having
narrow valleys; and the rivers Clinch,
Powel's and Cumberland, and their
waters, interspersing, beautifying and
enriching, these inviting, but for the
present, neglected regions. Beyond
Log mountains and the adjacent
ridges in Kentucky, lie streams

emptying into the Ohio; on one of
which is the Goose Creek Salt Manufactory,
about 150 miles from Saltville.

"Viewing the country from Saltville,
towards the south of Walker's
mountain, fine valleys and fertile
ridges are passed before you reach
the middle and south fork of Holston
river, and thence towards the southwest;
passing many tributaries, you
cross the Watauga, French Broad,
Nolachucky, and the hundred streams
rising in this mountain district, and
winding their way westward, to form
the broad and beautiful. Tennessee
river; whilst those running from the
same quarter eastwardly, compose
the bold and restless waters of
the Great Kanawha,—all adding
utility and beauty; either to the
valleys bordering on the large rivers,
or the irregular but level depressions
called coves, hemmed in all around
except a single passway; which
sometimes exhibits a cataract in its
little stream.

"East of the New River waters,
the Alleghany mountain directs the
streams to the Atlantic, and at some
points you might stand with one foot
in the waters of the Atlantic, the
other in those which wend their weary
way to the hot Mexican gulph, and
the great mart for the effective industry
of the millions of people which
the valley of the Mississippi, is inviting
from other extremes to those parts.
Standing at such a point, your admiration
would be excited, that amidst such
a boundless view of masses beyond
masses, of high parallel and irregular
mountains, the rivers should all
find their way to their destinations,
without falls or other impediments to
navigation, which the skill and energies
of man, at trifling expense, may
not remove, thus adding vigor to the
giant heart, the Estuary of our thousand
rivers, which is to receive, commercially
cherish and return, as it
were the vitalized fluids to all the
extremities. With amazement, still
heightened, would you behold from
the great White Top, (the neutral
ground of North Carolina, Virginia
and Tennessee,) the Spinal Alleghany
and the Blue Ridge, with its granite
cliffs and basaltic rocks, running
diagonally athwart each other, and as
if in the formative day of their creation,
each of these huge columns of
uplifted matter had been shot forward
from the north and northeast; and
neither having the advantage of force
over the other, a contest terrible commenced,
in which the champions
both discomfitted, glanced each taking
its own path southwardly, leaving
their cast away remnants piled fearfully
"Ossa upon Pelion, and Pelion
upon Ossa," rolling confusedly into
thousands of rude shapes. But in
this field of old warring elements are
every where, as you would also perceive,
evidences presented, that the
principle of order has been passing
and nestling, has changed and given
new capacities, striking the waste
"rocks with the rod," millions of
springs of purest water gushed forth;
the uptorn hills became verdant, and
all the glories of redundant vegetation
do more than honor to the silent
mountains; thousands of choicest
animals browse and revel on the spontaneous
herbage; and man invited
last, has made his home in these high
places, and being far removed from
the great commercial haunts of luxury
and vice, hope may long rest in
security, that here at least, some
share—a large share of health, happiness,
independence and freedom
will be enjoyed? Why do the inhabitants
of these regions, so bounteously
fitted for their use, desert them
for Eldorado's in the great and laboring
and slave holding and money
grasping west? Too many have
quit, have left their mountains,—but
the day of return is commencing
in our favor, it was not so with those
who listened to the song of William

Tell; for deeds of arms when necessity
calls; or for hearth-talks `in piping
times of peace,' there is no `place
like a home in the mountains and in
the valleys.' You have no doubt
seen the surprise of strangers on the
highway, when reaching in some
parts of this country (as Burk's garden
with its ten thousand elevated
level acres) the first view of valleys
below, in foggy mornings; whilst on
the mountain the sun is brilliantly
beaming, the stranger's eye will be
arrested with what he supposes is a
broad and lengthened lake below.
The deception is perfect, the very
waves are seen rolling and tempest
tossed, nor will the appearance of
islands and of trees breaking through
the mist as it evaporates, nor the
sounds of ploughmen, the screaking
of iron works, or the monotonous
beat of the forge hammer, issuing
from the gulph below (till then unheard
of,) dispel the optical illusion,
—the rolling mist must be dispersed
before he can believe the deception.

"Let the James River improvements
have an arm extended towards
the Tennessee, and the latter be improved
with that spirit which has
characterized Tennessee for the last
twelve months; or let a Macadam
road be constructed through the natural
depression of all the mountains,
from the Atlantic to the Mississippi,
and it requires only the slightest
knowledge of things, to be convinced,
that in internal resources no part of
the union can vie with this, especially
in minerals. Preston's salt-works
are in Smyth county, and King's in
Washington, and the same counties
abound in immense banks of iron
ore. In the adjoining county of Carter,
are above twenty iron making establishments
now in operation, some
of which are small bloomeries, and
in some places solid masses of ore,
containing seventy-five per cent of
metal, are exposed thirty or forty feet
high, like cliffs of rock. The countres
of Green, Washington, Sullivan,
Campbell, Claiborne, Anderson,
Knox, Rhea, Hamilton in Tennessee,
Harlan, Ky., Ash, Buncomb, Rutherford
and other counties of North
Carolina, and Monroe, Giles, Montgomery,
Floyd, Grayson, Preston,
Wythe and other counties in Virginia
abound in exhaustless quantities
of iron, and many of those counties
have quarries of various sorts of
stone coal and innumerable seats for
water power.

"In Grayson and Wythe are large
bodies of rich copper ore, not yet
fully tested, and in the latter county,
lead ore of the best quality, worked
by Col James White and Alexander
Pierce,—what amount of lead could
be made is unknown, as the ore bank
seems inexhaustible, and coal in
abundance, as near as Graham's
forge and iron furnace. The capacity
of the soil to produce different
sorts of timber after the first is cut
off is very remarkable in this country—those
acquainted with the soil
and first growth of timber can foretell
what will be the second and third
growth on land once cultivated or on
new land.

"Preston's Saltville land contains
a description of millstones, easily
quarried, which are equal to the best
French burr stones for flour mills;
and at various points in the vicinity,
and in Russell county are quarries of
various marbles. In the valleys,
buried in the soil, are innumerable
rounded sandstone rocks, some of
which are flinty, others of marly ingredients,
and many such loose
stones occupy the shoaly beds of the
streams, but the channels of all
streams are chiefly bedded by limestone,
mica, sandstone, and slaty formations,
whose lamella or divisions
are seldom horizontal, until you arrive
at the level of the great western
rivers. You may here find ledges
of rocks extending hundreds of miles

in a perpendicular posture, occasionally
broken where ridges transverse
each other; but in the general these
ledges are either massive and of waving
configuration and striated irregularly,
or are inclined at angles whose
medium may be 45 degrees of the
horizon, and it would seem, that they
had perpetually sought to reach that
angle, notwithstanding such prominent
failures so to do. The declining
direction is continuous through
the body of the hills and ridges
generally, and the upper plane is
facing the south, as far as parallelism
with the general course of the ridges
will permit; and in consequence of
this southern exposure of the planes
of the rocks in all the mountains
west of the Alleghany to the verge
of those mountains east of the Mississippi,
chemical nature has not the
same variety of surface to work upon,
that it has where the upward direction
of the rocks expose their edges,
on the northwardly side of the ridges,
and as might be expected, the southern
faces are comparatively barren,
whilst the opposite side is rich and
productive, and such differences are
observable even on the south side,
where deep ravines expose the broken
ends of rocks one side, and their
rather plane surface on the other.
This conformation holds immense
quantities of water and pours it forth
even on the pinnacles of the highest
hills, decomposing the ground by
winter freezes and summer drought,
and adding fertility even to the rocks,
the timber growing to enormous
sizes, by passing its roots into the interstices
of rocks. The region of
North Carolina and Tennessee, in
which gold is found, about 60 to 100
miles from Saltville, borders on the
primitive granite and basaltic walls
that rise under the Blue Ridge, and
are rarely exposed on its western
face; and in Virginia, the copper
mines of Grayson and Wythe are not
remote from similar constructions.
The lead, iron and salt minerals are
found in, or bedded upon limestone,
slate and other rocks of the transition
kind, while stone coal and gypsum
and sandstone are evidently all
of a much later formaton, as they do
not run under, but stop short, on
reaching masses of primitive and
transition rocks. The great upper
body of the Clinch and Cumberland
mountains, and their appending
chains are chiefiy formed of strata
and irregular masses of sandstone,
which is undergoing great changes,
decomposing in some parts and increasing
and hardening in others;
much of the limestone composing
the basis of these mountains is a very
coarse and impure carbonate. The
multitude of sulphur and chalybeate,
hot and cold springs, and their various
medicinal qualities in Bath, Monroe,
Buncomb and other places that
deserve to have celebrity for their
waters, exhibit astonishing chemical
changes yet going on far below the
earth's surface. After passing westwardly,
beyond the verge of these
broken ranges, you perceive great
uniformity and order in the conformations
of rocks and soils. The
rivers and creeks are based with good
limestone, lammellated horizontally,
and having fissures at unequal distances,
extending perpendicularly to
great depths. Commencing at the
surface, there will be found rich,
loamy soils, and clays, often mixed
with gravel or sandstone to the depth
of six or ten feet, then limestone as
described, next a white coarse limestone
four to eight feet, in one, two,
or three strata, next limestone of
thicker layers, sometimes fifty feet;
then a layer of gray, blue, or black
flint, three to six feet; next blue brittled
limestone all fissured and lammellar,
then slate of a dark brittle
kind, horizontal and of considerable
depth, containing brilliant yellow,
oval lumps of sulphur and iron, below
which are layers of hard, flinty,
dark rocks, with occasional layers of
slate. At places like these, and other
formations of a standard kind, those
who would undertake to classify
rocks into different ages, might form
plausible theories which would `vanish
into thin air' when tested by the
mixed up productions of this mountainous
country. Here rude shapes
of simple organization are sometimes
seen in the transition, or what little
agrees with the secondary limestone
of the west.

"Saltville was the property of
General William Campbell, the hero
of Kings' mountain, and after his
decease his only child Sarah, married
General Francis Preston, who
rented the well and salt marsh to
Wm. King, an enterprising young
Irishman, who conducted the business
profitably, returned to Ireland
for his father and brothers and sisters,
and in a few years in partnership
with the late Josiah Nichol of Nashville,
and other worthy mercantile
partners, on whom fortune has always
smiled, had amassed very handsome
profits. Wm. King apprised
General Preston and lady, that a
tract of land adjoining theirs was for
sale, and advised them to purchase,
as salt-water could be procured upon
it, and upon their declining, he parchased
it for about $2,000.

King and Nichol then dug a twelve
foot square well, cribbing it with
timber, and paying the Rev. Mr. Colley
about $2,000 for its expences, until
the opening was about two hundred
feet in depth. King had marked
out the spot and declared he would
go on until water was found, and
Nichol withdrawing from the concern,
on digging twelve feet deeper,
the well filled to within forty feet of
the surface of the earth with salt
water, of which thirty-two gallons
would make, on drying the salt, a
measured bushel of 50 lbs. weight.
This was on the 6th of April, 1797,
and the quantity of water being inexhaustible,
by any use made of it,
salt was reduced from $5 to $1 50
cts. per bushel; and a more liberal
rent was given General Preston of
$9,000 per annum for his well, which
then ceased to be worked; and the
parties continued on the most friendly
terms towards each others' welfare.
William King having in view
to encourage every branch of industry,
and calculating that thereby immense
wealth would flow to himself
enlarged his mercantile pursuits
dealt with great liberality, and becoming
very popular, his wealth so
increased, that at his death, the 13th
October, 1808, his personal estate
was estimated at above one million
dollars.

"Preston's and King's works were
then conducted by his widow, now
Mrs. F. Smith, James King and
Wm. Trigg, as devisees of a life
estate; and since by Col. Jas White;
at present by Wm. King & Co; Mr.
King being the only son living of
James King and devisee of the estate
in remainder from his uncle
Wm. King, who died without children
Gen. Preston's and King's
works in the first lease to Col. White
were rented at $30,000 each per annum,
but have not been so productive
of late years as is understood.

"During the year 1832, Gen. Preston
not being satisfied with the goodness
of his well, employed Mr. Anthony,
an ingenious mechanic and
partner of Dubrough's in a patent
plan of boring, to sink cast iron tubes
of five inch bore 218 feet or the
depth necessary, where was found a
supply of salt-water, sufficient for
400 bushels of salt daily, the water
being stronger than any known, 22
to 24 gallons producing 50 lbs. salt.

"The space in which good saltwater
can be procured in large quantities
is very small—in the vicinity
of Saltville has been expended above
$40 000 in fruitless digging and boring
by the owners of land. Preston's

new tubed well is only 40 yards
from King's, and an experiment on
King's land, within 40 feet of the
old well made last month, produced
no water at the depth of 270 feet,
though the borings were for many
feet through the salt rock, and partly
through gypsum, blue and red clay
and half formed sand stone.—The
formation below the depth of 200
feet, in which salt-water is found,
seems to be on a slaty basis, at an inclination
of about 15 degrees facing
the south east, and in King's old
well, whence has been drawn water
for 40,000 bushels of salt in the last
60 days, there are large irregular
columns of plaster or gypsum, and a
plaster roof supporting the ground
above, the interior clay for 40 or
more feet in some directions having
been washed away. Into these openings
near 100 cords of wood were
thrown, but all disappeared. From
all the borings and the most careful
observation, it is evident, at this place,
that both the sand-stone and plaster
are above, and of more recent formation
than the muriate of soda.

"The crater-like sides of the transition
rocks exposed around Saltville,
at some points, into which the plaster
never intrudes, has given rise to a
conjecture, that at some ancient period,
the plane on which stands Saltville,
was as high as the adjacent
hills; and that by a dissolution of
the saline substratum which the river
(being lower) may have received, the
upper earth gave way, throwing the
rocks into their present disjointed
state, and the surface of all which
has been levelled by the washings
from the hills, and by the imperceptible
workings of time; and this conjecture
would seem to be supported
by the numerous bones and teeth of
the Mastodon and other animals found
at any depth yet approached.

"The surface of the salt-water being
some thirty feet higher than the
river water, has suggested to Mr.
Anthony the use of a syphon, half a
mile in length to draw the water from
the well, without a force pump; and
the facility of conveying the water
to wood or more convenient points of
navigation, is now clearly tested by
its transfer in tubes two miles. Salt
at the works is now reduced to two
cents per pound, which will, no
doubt, cause more economy to be
used in its manufacture and transportation;
so far, there appears, however,
to have been no advantage taken
of the great evaporating improvements
used at the salines in New
York, or the sugar factories of the
South. At Saltville, the furnaces
are trenches dug in the earth, the
kettles several inches thick—the furnace
doors large and open, and placed
under open sheds; and in some instances
streams of fresh water sweeping
from the hills issue out of the
furnace flues; but doubtless the present
proprietors will make the necessary
improvements. The salt made
is free from all impurity, its chrystals
are large by slow, and fine by
rapid evaporation; and white and
brilliant, and when thrown from the
basket, soon becomes as dry as corn
meal, never deliquescing or giving
off any water, even in the wettest
weather. No settling or clarifying
process is necessary, the water being
a clear semi-transparent, somewhat
whitish fluid, which after being released
from its great pressure in the
deep parts of the well, seems incapable
of holding in solution, the former
quantity of saline material. The
slight excess of muriatic acid over
the soda is united in the boiling with
some free gypsum, and precipitated
to the bottom, where attaching itself
to the mettle and becoming heated,
additions of salt are constantly made,
till it endangers breaking the kettle,
and is very difficult (once weekly) to
separate from the iron by pick-axes.
In the whole process of manufacturing
this water, no trace of lodine or

bittern water is to be found—and no
species of settling or clarifying is
necessary, the salt being deposited as
soon as milk warm, is three or four
times daily ladled out of kettles of
96 gallons each. At present, meadow
lands, pasture and farming to
the extent of 2,500 acres appears to
be in use; a saw mill, two grist
mills and about 100 persons, and as
many horses, compose the force of
the place; but as the market is limited,
and not more than four cords of
wood are necessary to make 100
bushels of salt, the apparatus of the
place is unnecessarily large and
wasteful.

"The gypsum-beds on the Saltville
lands are perhaps the most convenient
and abundant in the world, being
only five to ten feet from the surface
of the earth and of the very best
quality. Hundreds of boats and
wagons could be usefully employed
in its transportation, as the whole
lands of this interior country are admirably
adapted to its use."

"There are few places in the world
which can vie with Saltville in beauty
and novelty of scenery. The extended
meadows,—rich ridges—high
conical peaks,—mountain coves,—
clear springs, and the remarkable
verdure covering the soil—set off to
great advantage the lofty Clinch
mountain. The Chilhoway springs
are in the vicinity, and often the
summer visiters add new interest."

Seven Mile Ford, P. O. 362
ms. S. W. by W. of W., and 287
from R.

TAZEWELL.

Tazewell was created by act of Assembly in 1799, and formed out of
portions of Russell and Wythe counties. It is bounded N. by Tug Fork
of Sandy river, separating it from Logan,—N. E. by Giles,—E. and S. E.
by Walker's mountain, separating it from Wythe,—S. by Clinch mountain,
separating it from Smyth,—S. W. by Russell,—and W. by Floyd county,
Kentucky. Its mean length is 66⅔ miles, mean breadth 10⅔; and area
1,305 square miles:—Extending in lat. from 36° 54′ to 37° 32′ N. and in
long. from 4° to 5° 12′ W. of W. C. It is situated immediately within the
vicinity of the sources of Clinch and Great Sandy rivers. The Clinch takes
its rise seven miles N. E. of Jeffersonsville, and pursues a course nearly W.
From the eastern section of the county, the great Kanawha receives many
tributary branches; the principal of which are the Blue Stone and Wolfe
creeks. These have their sources within a few miles of Jeffersonsville,
and after some inconsiderable meanderings assume a N. E. direction. This
county is traversed by several ranges of mountains, some of which rise to
an immense height; the chief of which are the Clinch, Rich, East River,
and Paintlick. Their general course is a little S. of W. Between some
of these mountains are interspersed beautiful valleys, of a black, deep and
rich soil, surprisingly fertile, and perhaps inferior to no county in the state
for grass, which thickly covers every cultivated portion to the very tops of
the mountains. Ten miles N. E. is Abb's valley a delightful vale.—Situated
at its entrance is the Stonefort, a large circular wall of stone, bearing
on its image the stamp of great antiquity, from the ages of the trees on it,
and various other data. The modern savages that were first found in possession
of this county appear totally ignorant, not only of this ancient castle,
but of other relics of antiquity in different parts of this valley. Here

areslso deposited in lonely caverns, human skeletons of both sexes, and of
various ages preserving in their composition an outline of those general
features that characterise the Indian race. When brought into contact with
the external air, they quickly moulder into dust. Five miles S. W. of Jeffersonsville
is a broken continuation of Rich mountain, termed Morris's
Nob, a noted object of curiosity. Near its S. W. extremity, and 12 miles
from the county seat, is the Maiden Spring Cove, a flourishing settlement,
watered by the Maiden Spring, a S. E. branch of Clinch river. On the
summit of Rich mountain, in view, and one and a half miles S. is a precipitous
ledge of rocks, of stupendous height, called the Peak—commanding
a magnificent view of the surrounding country for 20 or 30 miles.
From this, some 4 or 5 miles a little S. of E. may be seen on the top of
Clinch mountain (immediately before it divides to form Burk's Garden) a
romantic assemblage of huge rocks, thrown together by the hand of nature,
in the wildest confusion, clothed with a variety of perennial growth and
matted with impenetrable thickets of laurel; while far beneath are formed
between their interstices, horrible caverns, and subterraneous recesses, the
retreat of numerous wild beasts, that frequent the surrounding wilderness,
hence its name of Bear Town. On this spot flourishes extensive groves of
balsam copavia, a variety of copaifera officinalis and other strange vegetable
growth not found elsewhere in this region of country.

Inexhaustible quarries of limestone rock, extending in a series of vertical
strata from N. E. to S. W. are found in many parts of the county. Stretching
across the northern boundary are extensive beds of stone coal of excellent
quality.

The principle staples are cattle, horses, hogs, feathers, tow and flax-linen,
beeswax, genseng, seneca, snakeroot, serpentaria, &c. &c.

Compared with the elevation of the water in Great Kanawha, at the influx
of the Greenbrier, ascertained to be 1,333 feet, the lowest elevation that can
be given to the central mountain valleys of this county must be 1,500 feet;
and the mean relative height of the arable soil of the county, at the lowest
estimate 1,200 feet.

Population in 1830, 5,749. It belongs to the fifteenth judicial circuit
and eighth district. Taxes paid state government in 1833, $686 35—in
1834, on lots, $14 88—on land, 313 11—426 slaves, $106 50—2851
horses, $171 06—14 studs, $117 00—5 carryalls, $5 00—Total, $727
55. No report of school commissioner for 1832. Expended in educating
poor children in 1833, $184 23.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Blue Stone, P. O. 279 ms. S. W.
of R. and 337 S. W. of W.—Situated on
Blue Stone river, in the southern part
of the county.

Burk's Garden, P. O. 274 ms.
W. of R. and 349 from W.—Situated
10 ms. E. of Jeffersonsville
Burk's Garden is one of the most remarkable
spots in Western Virginia,
but being out of the track of the tourists,
it has not hitherto been described.
It is insulated by Clinch mountain,
except a narrow pass through
which its waters, by uniting into one
stream, are discharged into Wolf
creek,—its form is somewhat oval,
11 miles long and 5 wide, a beautiful
and perfect level, and naturally very
fertile. The settlement contains 62
families, amounting to 450 souls.
There are 1 house of public worship,
free for all denominations, 1 exten-

sive manufacturing flour mill, 2 tanyards,
and various mechanics. It is
well timbered with sugar maple, cherry
and white oak. The under growth
consists of Crab apple and hawthorn.

JEFFERSONVILLE, P. T. and
county seat, 352 ms. S. W. by W. of
Washington,—290 a little S. of W.
from Richmond,—and 30 ms. N. W.
by W. of Evansham in Wythe county;—lat.
37° 05′ N. and long. 4° 32′
W. of W. C.—Situated on the south
side of Clinch river, one mile from
its bank, and near the base of the
Rich mountain. Besides the ordinary
county buildings, it contains 20
dwelling houses, 1 house of public
worship, free for all denominations, 1
common school, 4 mercantile stores,
2 taverns, 1 tanyard, 1 saddler, 6
joiners, 2 boot and shoe factories, 1
blacksmith, 2 hatters, 1 painter and 1
grist mill—and a manufacturing flour
mill is situated a mile to the north of
the village. Population 150 persons,
of whom 2 are attornies, and 2 regular
physicians.

County Courts are held on the 3d
Monday in every month;—Quarterly
in April, June, August, and November.

Circuit Superior Courts of Law
and Chancery are held on the 22d
of April and 23d of September, by
Judge Estill.

Four miles N. W. of this village
are situated Cecil's Mineral Springs,
which bid fair to rival any mineral
waters that have yet been discovered
in the western country.

TYLER.

Tyler was created by Act of Assembly in the year 1814, and formed
from a portion of Ohio county. It is bounded N. by Marshall,—N. E.
by Greene co. of Pa., and Monongalia of Va.—E. and S. E. by Harrison,—S.
and S. W. by Wood,—and W. by the Ohio river, separating it
from Washington county, Ohio,—and N. W. by the same river separating
it from Monroe county. Its mean length is 27¼ miles—mean breadth 23;
and area 855 sq. miles,—extending in lat. from 39° 13′ to 39° 42′ and in
long. from 3° 25′ to 4° 12′ W. of W. C. This county declines to the
west towards the Ohio, and is drained by Middle Island and Fishing creeks,
both running diagonally through the county and emptying into the Ohio.
The surface is exceedingly hilly and broken, but the soil is generally of
excellent quality. Population in 1820, 2,314,—1830, 4,104. It belongs to
the twentieth judicial circuit and tenth district. Tax—no returns. Expended
in educating poor children in 1832, $259 46—in 1833, $309 23.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Centreville,—situated on the
west bank of Middle Island Creek,
7 ms. E. of Middlebourn, and 16
from Sistersville. It contains 15
dwelling houses, 2 mercantile stores,
and several mechanics.

Fishing Creek, P. O. 330ms. from
R. and 266 N. W. by W. of W.
This P. O. is situated on the head
waters of the creek of the same name,
which is a small stream rising in
Tyler, flowing nearly N. W. in a
winding course, and which about 50
ms. from its source empties into the
Ohio about 39 ms. below Wheeling.

Grape Island, P. O. 316 ms.
from R. and 289 W. of W.

Ingram's Mills, P. O. 313 ms.
from R. and 279 from W.

MIDDLEBOURN, P. V. and

seat of justice, 307 ms. from R. and
273 W. of W. in lat. 39° 32′ N. and
long. 3° 55′ W. of W., situated on
Middle Island creek, 45 ms. S. W.
of Wheeling. It contains besides
the ordinary county buildings, 25
dwelling houses, 1 Methodist house
of worship, 1 common school, 2 mercantile
stores, 2 taverns, 1 manufacturing
flour mill, 1 tan yard, and 1
saddler. The principal mechanics
are cabinet makers, house-joiners, and
blacksmiths. In the neighborhood
of this place on Middle Island creek,
there is an excellent site for a manufactory.
The stream is large, and
after making a bend, five miles in extent,
it returns to within 90 feet of
the same bed,—making a fall at the
nearest point of approximation of 12
or 15 feet. It is thought that there
is an abundance of iron ore and stone
coal contiguous to this site. Middle
Island creek is one of the principal
streams watering this county,—it is
about 200 miles in length, running a
course east and west through a fertile
valley, and emptying into the
Ohio river. Population 160 persons;
of whom 1 is a resident attorney, and
two are regular physicians.

County Courts are held on the 2d
Monday in every month; Quarterly
in March, June, August and November.

Judge Fry holds his Circuit Superior
Courts of Law and Chancery
on the 24th of April and September.

Pine Grove, P. O. 327 ms. from
R. and 247 W. of W.

Sistersville, P. O. 320 ms. from
R. and 274 N. W. of W. This village
is pleasantly situated on the south
bank of Ohio river, 50 ms. N. W. by
W. of Clarksburg in Harrison Co.,
in a remarkably healthy neighborhood,
commanding a fine view of the
river; and possessing one of the best
landings for steamboats and other
craft on the Ohio. It contains about
30 dwelling houses, 2 mercantile
stores, 2 taverns, a school house, 1
tanyard, and various mechanics.—
Population about 200 persons; of
whom 1 is a regular physician. This
town was laid out in 1814 by commissioners
appointed by the Legislature,
as the county seat of Tyler; but
by a petition presented from the inhabitants
at the session of '15 and '16,
the Legislature was induced to remove
the seat of justice to Middlebourne,
9 ms. nearly east from this
place.

WASHINGTON.

Washington was created by Act of Assembly in 1777, and formed
from a portion of the now extinct county of Fincastle. It is bounded N.
by Clinch mountain, separating it from Russell,—E. by Smyth,—S. E. by
Grayson,—S. by Carter county of Tennessee,—S. W. by Sullivan county
of the same state,—and W. by Scott. Mean length (including Smyth) 41
miles,—mean breadth 18⅔; and area 754 square miles.—We have no
means of ascertaining its precise extent since the severance of Smyth; but
an approximation may be made by reference to that county. It extends in
lat. from 36° 35′ to 36° 52′ N. and in long. from 4° 34′ to 5° 19′ W. of
W. C. This county occupies part of the valley between the Blue Ridge
and Clinch mountains, and is watered by the North, Middle, and South
Forks of Holston, which rise in Wythe and flow through this county, dividing
it into three fertile valleys. But Washington is not less celebrated
for its valuable minerals, than its fertile soil, excellent pasturage, and delightful
climate. The gypsum found in this county in great quantities, is

said to be equal, if not superior to that of Nova Scotia, and is now being
extensively applied to the same purposes by the farmers of Western Virginia
and Tennessee. A full account of its valuable salt works and other
minerals has however already been given in connexion with Smyth county,—especially
in the article on Saltville,—which village is divided by
the line which separates the two counties.

Population in 1820, 12,444,—1830, 15,614,—both of which numerations
were taken before the severance of Smyth. It belongs to the fifteenth
judicial circuit and eighth district. Tax paid in 1834 on lots, $195 25—
land, $1,131 96—1122 slaves, $280 50—5364 horses, $321 84—39
studs, $226 00—33 coaches, $94 50—31 carryalls, $31 00—6 gigs,
$4 50. Total, $2286 10. The poor children in this county are educated
on the district system, and we have no means at present of of ascertaining
the exact amount.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

ABINGDON, P. T. and seat of
justice, 309 ms. S. W. of R. and 385
S. W. by W. of W. in N. lat. 36°
42′, and long. 4° 58′ W. of W. C.
It is situated on the great valley road,
about 8 miles N. of the Tennessee
boundary,—at the south east side of
a mountain ridge, about 7 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,—2
Presbyterian and 2 Methodist houses
of public worship, all of them neat
brick edifices. 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 Metbodist
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 manufactures,
and 1 well established nursery.

There are 4 tanyards with saddle
and harness manufacturies attached
to them, 10 blacksmith shops, I at
manufactory and store, 6 wheelwrights
and wagon makers, 2 cabinet
warehouses, 3 bricklayers, 2 stone
masons, 3 house carpenters, 3 watch
makers and jewellers, 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 McAdamized
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 court house, recently sold
for upwards of $4,000. There is a
distributing post office here. Population
1000 persons; of whom 13
are resident attorneys, and 3 regular
physicians.

County Courts are held on the 4th
Monday in every month;—Quarter-

ly in March, June, August and November.

Judge Estill, holds his Circuit
Superior Court of Law and Chancery
on the 2d 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 post offices—the one at 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 we have no knowledge
of any other post office in this
county except the one at Abingdon
the county seat.

WOOD.

Wood was created by Act of Assembly in the year 1799, and formed
from a portion of Harrison county. It is bounded N. E. by Tyler and
Harrison,—E. by Lewis,—S. by Kanawha and S. W. by Jackson,—W. by
the Ohio river, separating it from Meigs and Athens counties, Ohio—and
N. by the same river separating it from Washington county of the same
state. Its mean length (before the severance of a portion to form Jackson
county) was 40½ miles—mean breadth 30⅓; and area 1,223 square miles.
It extends in lat. from 38° 52′ to 39° 27′ N. and in long from 3° 56′ to 4°
42′ E. of W. C. Nearly the whole of this county is embraced in the valley
of the Little Kanawha and its tributaries Hughes' river,—and North
Fork of Hughes' river. A small portion on the northwestern border is
drained by creeks into the Ohio. The surface is much broken, but the soil
is for the most part good. Population in 1820, 5,860,—in 1830, 6,429. It belongs
to the nineteenth judicial circuit and tenth district. Tax paid in
1833, $1,150 24—in 1834 on lots, $112 12—land, $885 74—1040 slaves,
$260 00—4326 horses, $259 56—26 studs, $223 00—11 coaches, $28 50
—31 carryalls, $32 00—1 gig, 50 cts. Total, $1901 42. Expended in
educating poor children in 1832, $292 34—in 1833, $533 78.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c

Belleville, P. O. distant 314
ms. both from Richmond and Washington.

Bull Creek, P. O. 299 ms. W.
of W. and 334 from R., situated 13
ms. above Parkersburg in a thickly
settled neighborhood. Bull creek is
a small stream which rises in Wood
county, and empties into the Ohio, 7
miles above Marietta in the State of
Ohio. There are located on this
creek several mills, mercantile stores,
and 1 Baptist house of worship.
The land is fertile, producing the ordinary
staples,—and is well adapted
to grass.

Jacksonville, P. O. distant, 281
ms. both from W. and R., situated on
the Little Kanawha. It contains 12
dwelling houses, 1 Methodist, and 1
Baptist house of worship, 1 common
school, 2 mercantile stores, 1 benevolent
society, 1 tan yard, 1 grist and
2 saw mills, and several mechanics.
Population 64 persons, of whom 1
is a physician.

PARKERSBURG, P. V. and seat
of justice, 299 ms. from R. and 299
N. W. of W., situated on the point
above the confluence of the Little
Kanawha with the Ohio river, 12
ms. below Marietta in Ohio. Besides
the ordinary county buildings,
it contains 75 dwelling houses, 1

house of public worship (Methodist,)
7 mercantile stores, 4 taverns, 3 common
school, 1 steam saw mill, 1
printing office (issuing a weekly paper,)
2 tan yards, 1 saddler, 3 cabinet
makers, 2 boot and shoe factories, 2
blacksmith shops, 3 tailors, 2 hatters
and 1 rope-walk. Population 500
persons; of whom ten are resident
attorneys, and 2 regular physicians.

County Courts are held on the 3d
Monday in every month; Quarterly
in March, June, August and November.

Circuit Superior Courts of Law
and Chancery are held on the 1st of
April and September, by Judge Summers.

Pennsborough, P. O. 303 ms.
from R. and 268 from W.

Schultz's Range, P. O. 324 ms.
from R. and 219 W. of W., situated
on the Clarksburg road, on the waters
of Cow creek, (6 miles from its
mouth,) which empties into the Ohio
river;—15 miles from Marietta and
20 from Parkersburg. Schultz's
Range is the name of a tract of land,
of 25,000 acres laid off in lots of
500 acres each, all of which is in
this county. The north western turnpike
runs through a part of this tract,
on Walker's creek. The range contains
5 families, in all about 30 persons.

WYTHE.

Wythe was created by act of Assembly at the session of 1789-90, and
formed from a portion of Montgomery. It is bounded N. by Giles,—E.
by Montgomery,—S. by the Iron mountain, separating it from Grayson,—
W. by Smyth,—and N. W. by Walker's mountain, separating from Tazewell.
The greater part of Wythe is situated in a mountain valley included
between the Iron mountains and Walker's mountain. Its mean length
(before a portion was taken to form Smyth) was 45½ miles,—its mean
width 22⅓ and its area 1998 square miles. It extends in lat from 35° 44′
to 37° 11′ N., and in long. from 3° 34 to 4° 20′ W. of W. C.

Wythe valley is an elevated table land. From the south western part
flow the head waters of the Middle Fork of Holston, interlocking sources
with some of the branches of New river, which flows across the eastern
angle of this county. The characteristic features of the scenery of this river
are its sublimity,—its banks are generally terrible cliffs, and toppling
precipices of solid limestone, often hundreds of feet in height, and inaccessible
to any foot save those of the bird and reptile. There are few plains on
this river, and those few are comparatively small, rarely if ever extending
to the width of half a mile.

The principal creeks, are Red, Cripple, Peak, Cove and Walker's, tributaries
to New river on its northern side, and Big and Little Island and
Poplar camp creeks on the southern. The first named creeks run S. of
E., the latter N. E.

The grandest and most prominent features of this county, are its mountains.
Of these the largest is called Walker's mountain, which together
with other smaller ones, such as Little Walker's mountain, Brushy, Little
Brushy, Cove and others, lie between the Iron mountain on one side, and
the Garden mountain, Clinch mountain and others (not however in Wythe
but the adjoining counties) which are parts of the Blue Ridge on the other.
The general course of all these mountains is from N. E. to S. W. and they

are generally connected with each other by spurs. There are two other
mountains in this county, which are detached chains,—the one called the
Lick, and the other Draper's mountain, the former being some 12 or 15
miles in length, the latter 6 or 8.

The "Rich Valley of Holston" lying on the North Fork of that river
commences with the head of the stream in the N. W. part of Wythe. That
part of it lying in this county, has a pre-eminent claim to the title. There
is in the eastern part of this county a valley called Draper's valley, a delightful
tract of some 5 or 6 miles in length, and ranging in breadth from
half to one and a half miles, having Draper's mountain on its N. side, and
on the other, hills and highlands. The soil of Wythe cannot be said to be
rich, but sufficiently fertile to produce all the necessaries of life. It possesses
the characteristic of all the soil of western Virginia, the faculty of
renewing itself in grass, and is peculiarly benefitted by the cultivation of
clover. Many if not all of the farmers are learning to use gypsum, and
find it peculiarly beneficial. Small gram of all kinds is raised with facility,
as also corn and potatoes,—the latter of the finest quality. Fruits of all
the common kinds, such as apples, pears, cherries, plums and peaches are
easily produced, but the lateness of the season, and shortness of the summer
often cuts off the hopes of the inhabitants in the bud.

Wythe is rich in minerals. Iron is abundant almost every where.
Lead is found on the river in abundance, and is worked with profit. There
are three establishments for making lead in the county, and which manufacture
about 200 tons per annum. There is one iron manufactory in operation.
Gypsum is found in Wythe, though not so abundant as in the
neighboring county of Smyth. There are large beds of coal in this county,
untouched for want of a turnpike or some improved means of transportation.
No county in the state suffers more than Wythe for want of internal improvements.
Her mineral wealth has hardly commenced a developement,
and must probably lie dormant another century, until there shall be more
public spirit, or less sectional feeling in the legislature. There have been
some copper and silver specimens found in working the lead mines, but in
no great quantities. The elevation of Wythe is about 1600 feet above the
level of the ocean.

Population in 1810, 8,356—1820, 9,692—1830, 12,163. It belongs to the
16th judicial circuit and 8th district. Tax paid in 1833, $1,805 59—in
1834, on lots, $112 12—on land, $985 74—1,040 slaves, $260 00—4,326
horses, $259 56—26 studs, $223 00—11 coaches, $28 50—31 carryalls,
$32 00—1 gig, 50 cents. Total $1,901 42. Expended in educating poor
children in 1832, $373 53—in 1833, $408 60.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, POST OFFICES, &c.

Austinville, P. O. 265 ms. from
R. and 341 from W.

Draper's Valley, P. O. 235 ms.
S. W. of R. and 310 S. W. of W.,
situated 16 ms. E. of Evansham, and
12 W. of Newbern. It contains several
dwelling houses, 1 mercantile
store, 1 tanyard, &c. Population 15
The soil of the surrounding country
is fertile, producing well Indian corn
wheat, rye, oats, buckwheat and potatoes.
It is also well adapted to pasturage.
Extensive iron works are
carried on in this neighborhood.

EVANSHAM or WYTHE C. H.
P. V. 253 ms. S. W. of R. and 329 S.
W. by W. of W., in lat. 36° 56′ N.
and long 4° 5′ W. of W. C. Besides

the ordinary county buildings, this
village contains from 90 to 100 dwelling
houses, 1 house of public worship,
(Methodist,) 9 miscellaneous
stores, 2 cabinet makers, 1 painter
and glazier, 1 coppersmith, 1 tin plate
worker, 4 boot and shoe makers, 2
tanyards, 3 saddlers, 1 printing office,
issuing a weekly paper, 4 taverns
and 6 blacksmith shops. Population
about 600 persons; of whom 7 are attornies
and 5 regular physicians.

County Courts are held on the
2d Monday in every month;—Quarterly
in March, June, August and
November.

Circuit Superior Courts of Law
and Chancery are held on the 7th
of April and September by Judge
Brown.

Early Traditions.—There is much
traditionary lore in this county among
the old settlers. One romantic circumstance,
though not exactly inaccordance
with this work, may be worth
recording as evincing the difficulties
of various sorts, which occurred in
first settling the frontier counties of
the state.

The incident alluded to, is that a
man by the name of White, who lived
on Walker's creek, was out with
General Rogers Clarke. The
General being in want of intelligence
as to the future plans of the enemy,
and being desirous of obtaining information,
sent out White by himself to
bring him in an Indian. White
went out, and after two days unsuccessful
hunt returned without one.
The General still being determined
to have an Indian, sent White out the
second time, saying take companions
if you will. White being remarkable
for size, strength, agility, courage and
prudence, selected two men, and started
with the determination of having
an Indian if he went to Canada for
him. After a days travelling they
struck on a faint trail, which, by the
middle of the third day, took them to
an Indian village. White cautiously
crept up to reconnoitre, and discovered
a large muscular Indian, sitting on
a log with his back towards the
whites, and facing the Indian encampment,
engaged in mending a moccasin.
The Indian was partially concealed
by a tree, under which he was
sitting, from the view of the villagers.
White at once, though fully aware of
the danger of the attempt determined
to carry that Indian to Clarke, and
leaving his companions, not thinking
it prudent for the three of them to
proceed for fear of discovery, he crept
softly up behind the Indian, who sat
perfectly unconscious of danger;
till he felt the grasp of White on his
throat, and saw a pistol presented at
his head. White in a few hurried
words, in the language of the tribe,
told him that if he made any noise o
resistance he would shoot him instantly
through the head, but if he
went with him quietly he would promise
he should return to his tribe.
The Indian submitted to his fate and
White carried him in triumph to
Clarke, who immediately on seeing
him, said "this is no Indian," enquiry
being made of the prisoner who and
whence he was, he said that he was
born of white parents, that when a
small boy, the Indians attacked the
settlement, killed all the family save
his elder brother, who escaped during
the onset, and took him prisoner.
He described the place from which
he was taken. During the recital,
the countenance of his captor appeared
very much agitated, he asked him
several abrupt questions as to his early
rememberances, and finally cried out,
I am your Brother." All circumstances
went to confirm the truth of
this assertion, even to the similarity
of persons. The exile was restored
to society, and for many years sat in
the legislature of Kentucky, but still
so far retained his old habits and predilections
as to spend months at a time
in the woods.

VIRGINIA DELEGATION.

HOUSE OF DELEGATES.

Number of Delegates to which the several counties are entitled under the
late Constitution.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Accomack,	2
Albemarle,	2
Alleghany,	1
Amelia,	1
Amherst,	1
Augusta,	2
Bath,	1
Bedford,	2
Berkley,	2
Bottetourt,	2
Brooke,	1
Brunswick,	2
Buckingham,	2
Cabell,	1
Campbell,	2
Caroline,	1
Charles City, and	1
New Kent,
Charlotte,	1
Chesterfield,	1
Culpeper,	1
Cumberland,	1
Dinwiddie,	1
Elizabeth City and	1
Warwick,
Essex,	1
Fairfax,	1
Fauquier,	2
Fayette and	1
Nicholas,
Fluvanna,	1
Floyd,	1
Franklin,	2
Frederick,	3
Giles,	1
Gloucester,	1
Goochland,	1
Grayson,	1
Greenbrier,	1
Greensville,	1
Halifax,	2
Hampshire,	2
Hanover,	1
Hardy,	1
Harrison,	2
Henrico,	1
Henry,	1
Isle of Wight,	1
James City,	1
Williamsburg, and
York,
Jefferson,	2
Kanawha,	1
King & Queen,	1
King George,	1
King William,	1
Lancaster and	1
Richmond
Lee,	1
Lewis,	1
Logan,	1
Loudoun,	3
Louisa,	1
Lunenburg,	1
Madison,	1
Mathews and	1
Middlesex,
Mason and	1
Jackson,
Mecklenburg,	2
Monongalia	2
Monroe,	1
Montgomery,	1
Morgan,	1
Nansemond,	1
Nelson,	1
Norfolk County,	2
Northampton,	1
Northumberland,	1
Nottoway,	1
Ohio,	2
Orange,	1
Page,	1
Patrick,	1
Pendleton,	1
Pittsylvania,	2
Pocahontas,	1
Powhatan,	1
Preston,	1
Prince Edward,	1
Princess Anne,	1
Prince George,	1
Prince William,	1
Randolph,	1
Rappahannock,	1
Rockbridge,	2
Rockingham,	2
Russel,	1
Scott,	1
Shenandoah,	2
Symth,	1
Southampton,	1
Spottsylvania,	1
Stafford,	1
Surry,	1
Sussex,	1
Tazewell,	1
Tyler,	1
Washington,	1
Westmoreland,	1
Wood,	1
Wythe,	1
Norfolk Borough,	1
Petersburg,	1
Richmond City,	1
Total	134

SENATE.

The Constitution lays off the Senatorial District as follows:—

Brooke, Ohio, Tyler, and (Marshall,) 1,—Monongalia, Preston and Randolph,
1,—Harrison, Lewis and Wood, 1,—Kanawha, Mason, Cabell, Logan,
Nicholas, (Fayette, Jackson,) 1,—Greenbrier, Monroe, Giles, Montgomery,
and (Floyd,) 1,—Tazewell, Wythe, Grayson, and (Smyth,) 1,—
Washington, Scott, Lee, 1,—Berkley, Morgan, and Hampshire, 1,—Frederick,
Jefferson, 1,—Shenandoah, Hardy, and (Page,) 1,—Rockingham,
and Pendleton, 1,—Augusta, Rockbridge, 1,—Alleghany, Bath, Pochahontas,
and Botetourt, 1,—Loudoun, and Fairfax, 1,—Fauquier, and Prince William,
1,—Stafford, King George, Westmoreland, Richmond, Lancaster, and
Northumberland, 1,—Culpeper, Madison, Orange, and (Rappahannock,)
1,—Albemarle, Nelson, and Amherst, 1,—Fluvanna, Goochland, Louisa,
and Hanover, 1,—Spottsylvania, Caroline, and Essex, 1,—King & Queen,
King William, Gloucester, Mathews, and Middlesex, 1,—Accomack,
Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Warwick, and City of Williamsburg,
1,—Charles City, James City, New Kent, Henrico, and City of Richmond,
1,—Bedford, and Franklin, 1,—Buckingham, Campbell, and Cumberland,
1,—Patrick, Henry, and Pittsylvania, 1,—Halifax, and Mecklenburg, 1,—
Charlotte, Lunenburg, Nottoway and Prince Edward, 1,—Amelia, Powhatan,
Chesterfield, and Town of Petersburg, 1,—Brunswick, Dinwiddie,
and Greensville, 1,—Isle of Wight, Prince George, Southampton, Surry,
and Sussex, 1,—Norfolk, Nansemond, Princess Anne, and Borough of
Norfolk, 1.

()Those counties in brackets have been created since the Constitution, from portions
of the districts to which they have been assigned.

The arrangement of the counties into Congressional Districts since the last census,
is given after the District of Columbia.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

ESTABLISHMENT, SITUATION, BOUNDARIES AND EXTENT.

The sixteenth clause of the eighth section of the first Article of the
Constitution of the United States gives to Congress the power
"To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such district
(not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states,
and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of government of the
United States."—In pursuance of this power General Washington, by
authority from Congress, after great research and observation selected the
present District of Columbia, as the site for the metropolis of this Great
Empire of Confederated Republics. It was ceded in 1790 by the states of
Virginia and Maryland to the United States, and became the seat of government
in 1800.

It lies upon both banks of the Potomac, in form an exact square of 10
miles, containing of course 100 square miles, or 64,000 acres. Two of its
sides run in a N. E. and S. W. direction,—at right angles to the other two
running in a S. E. and N. W. direction. It extends in lat. from 38° 46′
30″ to 38° 58′ N. nearly; and the long. of the capitol (which we assume
as zero with respect to all other places in this country) has been found by
accurate astronomical calculations to be with reference to Greenwich, the
English point of reference, 76° 55′ 30″ west.

The District on the Virginia side is bounded by the county of Fairfax,
and on the Maryland,—by Prince George county on the S. E. and Montgomery
county on the N. W.

The location of the District having been determined on, the first stone to
mark its boundary was set in Jones's Point, the uppermost cape of Hunting
creek, on the 15th of April, 1791, in presence of a large concourse of
spectators. Of the 100 miles square included in the District, 36 lying south
of the Potomac, and included in the county of Alexandria, were ceded by
Virginia. A strip 10 miles long, by about 8 broad lying N. of the Potomac
and comprehended in Washington county was ceded by Maryland.

The surface of the District is gently undulating, affording fine sites for
the cities within its limits. In a commercial view its situation is highly favorable.
Ships of any draught can be navigated to Alexandria, and those
of very considerable size to the Navy Yard on the East branch of the Potomac,
at Washington. The Chesapeake and Ohio canal, and the fine
roads which the government has made in every direction, also contribute
much to its commercial advantages.

SOIL.

There is as much variety of soil as of surface in the District. The hills
are for the most part covered with forests, and the vales are cultivated or

covered with wild shrubbery, presenting a landscape, almost every where,
of great beauty. Springs of the finest quality abound.

Rock creek, Tiber creek, and the Eastern Branch of the Potomac on the
north,—and Oxen Run on the south,—and Four Miles Run on the west,—
irrigate a great portion of the District.

The Potomac presents a vast sheet flowing from N. W. to S. E. Viewed
from Fort Washington,—with the mouth of the Eastern Branch on the
left,—the main stream on the right,—and the opening of Four Miles Run
in front, it presents the appearance of a great inland sea, rather than of a
river.

The composition of the soil on the banks of the Potomac and the Eastern
Branch, is a deep alluvial—rich and various—accumulated from the depesites
of successive ages,—and the gradual retreat of the waters. Fragments
of primitive rocks, pyrites, gravel, sand, shells and decayed vegetable
substances are mingled together.

The soil generally near the river is fertile and productive, elsewhere rather
thin, and sometimes sandy; but susceptible of great improvement.
The most forbidding and barren looking with ordinary attention, and by
the use of manure and gypsum, may be fertilized to an extraordinary degree.

With such a soil, nothing is wanting but enterprise and perseverance to
change the face of nature from a barren-waste, to a blooming garden, and
one would think that a market of sufficient extent to stimulate to the requisite
exertion was presented almost at the very doors of the farmer and horticulturist;—if
indeed the facilities for water transportation afforded by the
Potomac and its branches do not bring the more distant, but more fertile
portions of Virginia and Maryland into injurious competition.

The Rock creek lands are of a light, loamy nature, with a substratum of
clay.

The staple produce of the country is the same with that grown in the
adjoining portions of Virginia and Maryland, viz. tobacco, wheat, Indian
corn, fruit, and the esculent roots.

There is near the District, on Acquia creek, an extensive quarry of freestone,
and on the Seneca one of beautiful variegated marble, or pudding
stone from which the columns in the Hall of the House of Representatives
were made.

The composition of the city low grounds, lying below the hights, from the
Capitol to Halorama and to the margin of the Potomac, are alluvial, and
appear to have been reclaimed but recently.

Within the memory of many now living, seines have been hauled, and
fish taken, where handsome stores now stand, in the part of Pennsylvania
Avenue in which most business is now carried on, namely—between 9th
and 10th streets.

The extent of the marshes below Columbia College bears evidence that
a part of the stream of Rock creek once found its way across towards the
Eastern Branch, along the foot of the hights which flank the northern
part of Washington.

By judicious draining these swamps have been recently limited to a comparatively
small space, but their existence has still an injurious effect upon
the health of the inhabitants residing in their vicinity. This fact is clearly
established by the improvement of the health of all situated in the vicinity
of the low grounds from the centre market to Capitol Hill.

Pieces of sound timber are often discovered from ten to fifty feet below
the surface. In digging wells, several pieces of black looking limbs of
frees, and entire roots have been found at a considerable depth.—An extensive
stratum of carbonated limbs of trees has been discovered near Bladensburg,
and north of the City, and traced for a considerable distance.

Many of the blocks of stone that compose the walls of the Capitol contain
specimens of the leaves of trees, and ligneous fragments,—and when
exposed to the air they have sometimes shrunk.

On turning up the surface of the soil some curiosities of Indian origin
have been found. Round stone vessels in the shape of common pots, or
bowls, and stone axes are sometimes picked up. A good specimen of an
Indian axe in excellent preservation was found on the farm of Mr. Dunlop
in Montgomery county, Md.—and is yet in his possession. Points of darts,
and arrow heads of stone, used in Indian warfare are met with in many
parts of the District. In some ancient records an Indian fort is mentioned,
as standing on the banks of the Eastern Branch, not far from the spot on
which the powder magazine is now located,—but there are now no traces
of t to be found.

The temperature of the water of the city springs, when brought to the
surface of the earth at midsummer may be set down at 58° of fahrenheit,—
the Bladensburg chalybeate at 64°,—and the stream of the Potomac at 85°,
—and the water in the hydrants in Pennsylvania Avenue generally, where
the pipes are sunk to a proper depth, at 56°, though it may issue from the
fountain at 58°.

GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY

A few years ago a correspondent of a New York print, (generally understood
to be an intelligent member of Congress) took a glance at some of the
prominent geological features of this District; and although there be some
imagination in the sketch, yet, there is enough of science to justify its insertion.

It is obvious, says he to the most careless observer, that over the site of
the Capitol of the United States, and the country far around, the waves of
the ocean once rolled, and that these fields, now quietly tilled by the planter,
were thrown from beneath it by some tremendous convulsion. Where the
great concerns of this nation are now canvassed, and our politicians are
imagining that they may provide for the perpetuity of our republic, memory,
as if mocking their schemes, points to the period when the monsters of
the deep flowed over the spot; and no human being conceived that the waters
would not continue to hide it forever.

The proofs of the amazing changes are numerous and conclusive. It is
announced by the strata of earth; by the rounded stones, like those which
grind and polish each other on the sea shore, and by the numerous secondary
formations, which without analysis, instruct us satisfactorily on the
slightest inspection. In many of the stones found even on the hights around
us, are distinct impressions of marine shells. The lime of which these
shells were constituted, has been decomposed, and has vanished or been
incorporated with the general mass, which, when broken, exhibits the concave
and convex surfaces of the marine substance, and the vacant space produced
by the slow waste of ages not now to be numbered. These stones
are of various composition, some being exceedingly hard, and other soft,

and others having the character of the coarse grey sandstone, or what has
I think erroneously been called granular-quartz."

The material of the soil is clay, discolored by the oxide of iron. It becomes
fixed by fire, and no place can boast of greater facilities for brick
making.

Rock creek, and its immediate vicinity, is the line between the primitive
formation and the tertiary; from Rock creek up the Potomac, the borders
of the stream is pregnant with primitive rocks in situ and in boulders, with
the exception of a few small pieces of alluvial soil here and there, in the
valley of the river. This is the case for twenty miles or more, when the
country changes to old red sandstone, which continues 20 or 25 miles further
up the river, with occasional ridges of brecca or pudding stone: marble
shows itself in various places along the valley below and above Monocacy.
About a mile, however, east of the entrance of Rock creek into the
Potomac, on the southern point of the city, near the Glasshouse, the final
termination of the primitive rocks that line the bed and banks of the Potomac
above, clearly takes place. In digging wells beyond this point, rocks
or stones seldom obtrude, the alluvial soil every where prevails.—Rock
creek separates the primitive from the alluvial soil. In the former gneiss
abounds, which is succeeded by the amphibolic rock or grunstein. The
gneiss contains small crystalised tubes of magnetic iron, veins of feldspath
and quartz of opaque white color. The rock of the Great Falls of the
Potomac consists chiefly of micaceous schist,—the mica schistoide of Hauy,
or glimmer schiefer of the Germans, and contains grains of iron which
attract the magnetic needle. The stone, with which the basins of the Potomac
canal are lined, is a species of sandstone (gris) similar to that known
by the name of gris des mouilliores [sandstone of coal-beds]. The rock
employed to form the foundation or base of the houses of Washington, is a
species of gneiss, composed of feldspath, quartz and mica, of a leafy texture,
owing to the abundance and disposition of the mica. It contains primitive
sulphurous iron—and also particles of the same metal, which are attracted
by the needle. At Fort Washington there is a ferruginous clay,
known by the name of bd which is employed to dye cloth and thread, of a
reddish color. This substance, when heated, attracts the magnetic needle.
The moulds of petrified shells of the genus arca weighing several pounds,
have been dug up at this place.

Robinson, in his catalogue of American mineralogy, furnishes the following
for the District of Columbia.

Flint,—on the shores of the Eastern branch of the Potomac near the
Navy Yard, in small nodules,—Hornstone, containing organic remains,
agatized wood, woodstone,—three miles north from Washington, sometimes
invested with minute crystals of quartz,—fine specimens and abundant.
Schorl—In Georgetown—in gneiss—lignite and pyritical fossil wood are
found abundantly in digging wells. Iron ore—in the vicinity of the woodstone
locality, in detached masses on the surface—organic remains in sandstone—abundant.

CLIMATE.

The prejudices that some time back existed averse to the general health
of the District, have been dissipated by the monthly publication of meteorological
observations, and the interments in the public grave yards, authenticated

by the board of health. The climate of course resembles that of the
adjoining parts of Maryland and Virginia. The severity of the winters,
or cold seasons, is no doubt of late years much mitigated. In 1780, Mr.
Jefferson says, the Chesapeake bay was solid ice from its head to the mouth
of the Potomac. At Annapolis, where it is 5¼ miles between the nearest
points of land, the ice was from 5 to 7 inches thick quite across, so that
loaded carriages went over it. In January, 1772, the snow in the District
of Washington was nearly three feet deep, and in some places it drifted to
ten or twelve feet. Of late years not more than as many inches have fallen.
Formerly the river, near Dumfries, was frequently frozen over in November,—heavy
snows fell in the same month, and loaded the forest trees, till their
branches broke under the pressure. The climate, as cultivation progresses, is
rapidly improving. The District is now seldom visited with the long or
severe winters, of which our early settlers so feelingly complained. France,
as well as America, in its uncultivated state, had hard winters.—In the time
of Julius Cæsar, the Rhine was frozen over, and neither the olive nor the
vine was then cultivated. A Gallic winter, once proverbially severe, is now,
under a state of high cultivation, mild and pleasant. In the days of Horace,
mountains near Rome were covered with snow.

The climate of Britain, however, is a remarkable exception; it appears,
in our days, to continue as it was, in the times of Tacitus, moist, cloudy,
and rainy.—So we are encouraged, on the authority of the ancients to look
forward to a progressive improvement and material mitigations on the rigors
of winter, when our soil shall be more generally opened by cultivation; we
may not then be tortured with those extremes of heat and cold, under which
we now labor, varying from 18° below zero, to 98° above, of fahrenheit.

In summer, the District is visited with frequent thundergusts, though, on
the whole they are beneficial, as they tend to purify the atmosphere, and
mitigate the sultriness of the season, which is often as oppressive as within
the tropics. The most remarkable of these tempests or tornadoes occurred
in June, 1811, and August, 1814 during the former, large hailstones
weighing three or four ounces, fell, and destroyed every pane of glass on
the north side of the houses in Alexandria, and in the latter instance, many
houses were blown down and trees laid prostrate, much to the terror of the
British, who at that time held for 24 hours the occupation of the city.

We have no doubt that the degree of caloric has considerably increased,
since the forest trees were cut down on our commons, and wide gravelled
avenues formed: the difference of temperature in favor of the forest shade
is, by some philosophers, reckoned at one fifth less than on an open space.
Bordering as the District does on so many water courses, it may be naturally
presumed, that its inhabitants, in the summer months, are not free from the
annoyance of insects. The musquetoe is the most formidable of this description;
but houses on an elevated site, or with a thorough draught of air,
are seldom troubled with them. On the low grounds, and on the borders
of swamps, ephemeral insects, chiefly of aquatic origin, in swarms of various
descriptions, make their appearance, musquetoe curtains, however, so
common in Carolina, are here very seldom required for the comforts of the
bed chamber.

It may naturally be expected that the sudden changes of the atmosphere,
—though in sound constitutions, they may harden the body,—yet with the
more delicate, produce in winter and spring, colds, coughs, rheumatic affections,—and
in the fall, bilious fevers, agues, &c. nevertheless that part of

the District in which Washington is located, is at least as healthy, if not
more so, than any other portions of the Union, containing an equal number
of inhabitants.

ABORIGINES.

Of the aborigines of the District we have a very imperfect account. In
1608 the first attempt to explore the Chesapeake and its tributary streams
was made by Smith. Forty principal and subordinate tribes, occupied the
shores of Virginia and Maryland at the time, of whom the Powhatans,
the Manahoacs and Monacans were the chief. The Powhatans roamed
from the shores of the Chesapeake to the Patuxent in Maryland the
Manahoacs and the Monacans on the territory contiguous to York and
Potomac rivers. The Shawanees probably inhabited that part of Maryland
which lies between the Patuxent and the Patapsco rivers, and from
the Chesapeake to the Alleghanies. The Susquehanocks, it is believed,
lived on the banks of the Susquehannah in Harford county, Maryland,
towards the westward, penetrating considerably into Pennsylvania. The
Fockwocks and Nanticokes possessed Kent, Queen Anns and Talbot
counties, Maryland, from the Sassafras river to the Choptank; and the latter
tribe, Dorchester and Somerset counties.

The Manahoacs and Monacans were in alliance with each other, and
waged a confederate and perpetual war against the Powhatans. It is probable,
and it is generally admitted, that they were occupiers of the territory
which forms the present District of Columbia. The Manahoacs, it is
asserted by Colden, afterward assumed the name of Tuscaroras, deserted
their country in Virginia about 1712, and repairing to the west, joined
the Iroquois. In 1669, when a census was taken, it was found that in
sixty-two years, one third of their number were wanting. The valley at
the foot of the Capitol Hill, washed by the Tiber creek, the Potomac and
the Eastern Branch, it is stated on the authority of some of the early
settlers, was periodically visited by the Indians; who named it their fishing
ground, in contradistinction to their hunting ground; and that they assembled
there in great numbers in the spring months to procure fish. Greenlief's
Point was the principal camp and the residence of the chiefs, where
councils were held among the various tribes thus gathered together. The
coincidence of the location of the National Legislature, so near the site of
the council house of an Indian nation, cannot fail to excite interesting reflections
in the mind of the intelligent reader. It is highly probable that
General Washington was acquainted with this tradition.

POPULATION

       

In 1800	14,093		Slaves,	3,244
In 1810	24,023	Increase in ten years, 9,930	Slaves,	5,395
In 1820	33,039	Increase in ten years, 9,060	Slaves,	6,377
In 1830	39,868	Increase in ten years, 6,819	Slaves,	6,054

GOVERNMENT.

The Congress of the United States is the Legislature of the
District of Columbia, and the President of the United States its highest

executive officer. The ordinary municipal control is exercised by a Mayor
and Corporation.

Judiciary—Circuit Court.

             

William Cranch,	of Washington,	Chief Judge,	Salary, $2,700
Bucknor Thruston,	of Washington,	Assistant,	Salary, 2,500
James S. Morsel,	of Georgetown,	Assistant,	Salary, 2,000
Francis S. Key,	of Washington,	Attorney,	Fees, &c.
Alex. Hunter,	of Washington,	Marshall,	Fees, &c.
William Brent,	of Washington,	Clerk,	Fees, &c.
Edmund J. Lee,	of Alexandria,	Clerk,	Fees, &c.

The Chief Judge of the Circuit Court holds also a District Court.

Orphan's Court.

       

Samuel Chase,	of Washington,	Chief Judge,	Salary, $1,000
Henry Neal,	of Washington,	Register,	Fees, &c.
Christopher Neal,	of Alexandria,	Judge,	Salary, $800
Alexander Moore,	of Alexandria,	Register,	Fees, &c.

The Circuit Court for the District is held at Washington, on the first
Monday in May and December, and at Alexandria on the second Monday
in April and the first Monday in November. The District Court is
held on the first Monday in June and November.

ALEXANDRIA.

Alexandria originally called
Belhaven, a Post Town and Sea
Port, situated on the western bank of
the river Potomac, near the head of
tide water, on the south corner of the
District, 6 miles south of the City of
Washington, and 180 ms. from the
ocean. The meridian of Washington
passing through the Capitol,
leaves the cential part of Alexandria,
near 3′ to the E.—Lat. of Alexandria
38° 48′ N.

This town lies principally in
the District of Columbia, but a small
part of it is in the state of Virginia.
It was incorporated in 1779 by the
state of Virginia, and that part of it
which lies within the District was
ceded to the General Government in
1801. The laws of Virginia, enacted
previous to that time, still remain in
force in the town and county of Alexandria,
except those which have been
repealed by Congress. The municipal
government consists of a Council
of 16 representatives and a Mayor
Four members of the Council are annually
elected in each of the 4 wards
into which the City is divided, and
the Mayor is elected every year by
the Council. The political situation
of Alexendria in common with the
other portions of the District of Columbia
is singular. The President
of the United States is the Governor,
and Congress, the Legislature of the
District, but the people have no voice
nor are their sentiments officially
heard, in any of the political concerns
of the country. The Circuit Court of
the United States, for the District of
Columbia, sits in Alexandria twice a
year, and its expenses are defrayed
by the General Government. From
the decision of the Court, there are
appeals to the Supreme Court of the
United States.

Alexandria is very handsomely
situated. The streets are laid out on
the plan of Philadelphia, crossing
each other at right angles and are
generally well paved. It is consider-

ed remarkably healthy, and the view
from the City is very fine. The town
is situated in the bottom of a valley
which to the eye of an observer is
terminated in every direction by lofty
and verdant hills. To the north he
sees the City of Washington,—the
Capitol with its beautiful columns,
white walls and towering dome, forming
a most conspicuous object; to the
south, the broad translucent expanse
of the Potomac opens upon him, with
Fort Washington, lying like a white
line on its distant margin, opposite to
Mount Vernon.

The river opposite to the town is a
mile in breadth, and varies from 34
to 52 feet in depth, in the ship channel,
which here washes the shore,—
of course the harbor is naturally very
fine, and it has been much improved
by the erection of large and commodious
wharves.

Commerce.—Alexandria carries
on an extensive trade in flour, tobacco,
sumach, fish, lumber and other
articles, with the Southern states
West Indies and Europe.

       

	Barrels.	Half Barrels,
The inspection of flour in 1829, was	178,874,	and 5,789
The inspection of flour in 1830, was	166,386,	and 6,385
The inspection of flour in 1831, was	206,294,	and 6,001

Besides an extensive trade with the eastern ports of the United States, the
exports to foreign countries for the last 3 years, were in amount as follows:

     

1829,	$687,259
1830,	628,142
1831,	864,484

On the 31st of December 1831 the
tonnage belonging to the town was
8,230 tons, and it is still increasing.
There are 3 Banks in Alexandria
with an aggregate capital of one million,
seven hundred thousand dollars,
and 3 incorporated insurance companies.
The amount of real estate is
assessed at two millions seven hundred
thousand dollars; and according to
authentic information from the treasury
department of the United States,
the town paid into the treasury from
the 31st of December 1791 to the 31st
December 1829 inclusive, on account
of customs, three millions, seven hundred
and thirty seven thousand, one
hundred and sixty one dollars and
twenty seven cents,—on account of the
post office, one hundred and seventy
three thousand, seventy three dollars
and thirty four cents,—for direct tax
in the years 1815-16, eleven thousand,
one hundred and fifty dollars
and seventy cents. The amount of
internal revenue which cannot be accurately
ascertained would swell the
clear revenue from the town of Alexandria,
during the period above mentioned,
to upwards of four millions of
dollars.

Religious and Moral Associations,
Manufactories, &c.—
There are in this town 9 houses of
public worship, 2 Episcopalian, 2
Presbyterian, 1 Friends', 2 Methodist,
1 Catholic and 1 Baptist. There
is also a philosophical society, and
an incorporated Library, containing
about 4,000 volumes, a Library instituted
by an association of apprentices
and other minors, a savings fund institution,
an orphan asylum, a poor
house and dispensary, a bible, missionary
and temperance society, a
colonization society, a benevolent society
for improving the condition of
the people of color, a society for furnishing
employment to the industrious,
indigent, and several for supplying
food, clothing and fuel to the
poor in winter. There are several
baking establishments, where ship
bread and crackers are made equal to

any manufactured in the United States
or elsewhere, 2 ship yards, an extensive
brewery, and several tanneries, a
foundry upon a large scale, with a
manufactory of steam engines and various
machinery for cotton factories,
&c. and several manufactories of segars,
on an extensive scale. Alexandria
contains a handsome market
house, at which a market is held every
morning. It is generally well
supplied with meats, fish, fruits and
vegetables in their season. In the
latter part of the spring, wild strawberries
abound in the adjacent country,
and are brought in great quantities
to market. Over the market
house is the Court-house, clerk's office,
council chamber, town hall and
library; and in the upper story of the
same building an extensive and well
arranged Museum. Over the centre
of this building is a steeple in which
an excellent clock tells the hours on
a bell, that weighs fifteen hundred
pounds.

There is a boarding school for
young men, in which the languages,
mathematics, philosophy, and every
useful branch of education is taught.
A part of the course consists of a series
of lectures on astronomy, chemistry,
&c. in which the principles of the
sciences treated of are illustrated by
experiments with suitable apparatus.
There are also boarding schools for
young ladies, conducted by ladies, in
which are taught all the branches of
polite and fashionable education, and
a boarding school for young ladies
under the charge of Four Sisters of
Charity from Emmittsburg, in the
state of Maryland. This institution,
though but lately established, and not
yet completed, is in a flourishing condition.
When finished it will have
connected with it an orphan asylum.
There are also in Alexandria, free
schools for children of both sexes, and
about 30 other schools, exclusive of
Sunday schools. In the vicinity of
Alexandria is established a Protestant
Episcopal Theological Seminary on
an elevated situation, commanding an
extensive and delightful view of the
District of Columbia, the river Potomac
and the surrounding country.
This institution at present occupies
two large four story buildings, having
space enough between them for
the erection of a centre structure.

Population of Alexandria at different periods.

                                   

Population 1810—
Free white males,	2,525
Free white Females,	2,378
Total white population 1810,	4,903
All persons except Indians not taxed,	836
Slaves,	1,488
Total population in 1820,	7,227
In 1820—
Free white males,	2,667
Free white Females,	2,948
Foreigners not naturalized,	153
Total white population 1820,	5,768
	Amount forward.
Free colored males,	461
Free colored Females,	707
Slaves, male,	606
Slaves, Female,	820
Total population in 1820,	8,371

       

In 1830—	Males	Females	Total.
Whites,	2,712	2,969	5,681
Colored, free,	565	816	1,381
Slaves,	462	739	1,2013,—8,263

Internal Improvements.—A
canal is now in progress, which will
probably bring a great accession of
business to this town. This canal is
designed to continue the Chesapeake
and Ohio Canal to Alexandria, and
will be connected with that great
work by a magnificent aqueduct
thrown across the river Potomac, immediately
above Georgetown. The
perpendicular descent from the surface
of the river, above the Little
Falls to tide water, is about 36 feet
and as the canal will be brought on a
level from the head of the Falls to
Alexandria; it is obvious that at the
latter place, it will afford water power
for manufactories to a very great extent.
Towards the construction of
the Alexandria canal, the government
of the United States have appropriated
$100,000. This city is connected
with the interior of the state of Virginia
by several turnpike roads,—
down which the principal part of the
flour is brought that comes to market;
and there are 8 steamboats that regularly
ply between this and other ports,
several of which arrive and depart
daily.

Fisheries.—As Alexandria is the
shipping port of the District of Columbia,
and one of the principal marts
for the immense fisheries of the Potomac,
it may be well to mention, that
in the spring of the year quantities of
shad and herrings are taken, which
may appear almost incredible. The
number of shad frequently obtained at
a haul is 4,000 and upwards, and of
herrings from 1 to 300,000. In the
spring of 1832, there were taken in
one scine at one draught, a few more
than 950,000 accurately counted.—
The prosecution of the numerous fisheries
gives employment to a large
number of laborers, and affords an opportunity
to the poor to lay in at very
reduced prices, food enough to last
their families during the whole year.
The shad and herrings of the Potomac
are transported by land, to all
parts of the country, to which there is
a convenient access from the river;
and they are also shipped to various
ports in the United States and West
Indies. The lowest prices at which
these fish sell when just taken, are
25 cents per thousand for herrings,
and $1 50 per hundred for shad, but
they generally bring higher prices,
often $1 50 per thousand for the former,
and from $3 to 4 per hundred for
the latter,—in the height of the season
a single shad weighing from 6 to
8 pounds, is sold in the market of the
District for 6 cents. Herrings, however,
are sometimes taken so plentifully,
that they are given away, or
hauled on the land as manure for
want of purchasers. Some idea may
be formed of the importance of these
fisheries from the following statement.—

               

Number of fisheries on the Potomac, about	150
Number of laborers required at the Landing	6,500
Number of vessels employed,	450
Number of men to navigate these vessels,	1,350
Number of shad taken in good season, which lasts only about 6 weeks,	22,500,000
Number of herrings under similar circumstances,	750,000,000
Quantity of salt required to cure the fish,—Bushels,	995,000
Number of barrels to contain the fish,	995,000

The herring is not eaten at the best
tables when fresh, but cured, they are
admired by all, keep remarkably well,
and are most highly flavored when
they have been for 2 years in salt.
The Potomac river can boast of the
largest shad fisheries in the United
States. The advantages of the herring
fisheries, she divides with some
other rivers of the south, but it is
equalled by none, unless it be the
Susquehanna.

Should the Chesapeake and Ohio
canal be continued to the Ohio river,
it is obvious that the fisheries of the
Potomac will be of great advantage
to the country west of the Alleghany
mountains, in supplying in great
abundance a delicious and valuable
article of food of which its waters
are entirely destitute. Taken into
view the vast number of fish annually
caught, and the probable increase
in the demand, one might be
led to fear that the supply will at
length be exhausted,—however ample
at the present time, but when we reflect
that the spawn from an exceeding
small number will generate into
myriads and myriads of fish, such a
fear is at once done away; the quantity
is now very great and increasing,—it
is admitted that next to the
small and delicate Nova Scotia herring,
that of the Potomac is by far more
nutricious than any found elsewhere
in the waters of North America.
During the summer, the fall, and
winter months, the variety of good
fish is small, consisting principally
of the large white perch and rock
fish of moderate size, taken with the
line, and of carp and winter shad;
but at certain seasons of the year the
supply is abundant indeed. In the
latter part of the winter and early in
spring, great numbers of large rock
fish, weighing from 25 to 120 lbs.
are taken in seines, just above the
salts and brought to the markets in
the District of Columbia. About 8
years since there were taken at one
of the fisheries on the Virginia side
of the river, about 3 miles below
Washington,[46] at one draught of the
seine, four hundred and fifty rock fish
averaging sixty pounds each, as is
well attested, and was recorded in the
newspapers of the day. Sturgeon
also abounds in the Potomac, and are
of enormous size weighing from 75
to 150 pounds, in some places they
are considered a great delicacy, as in
the James, the Potomac, and the Hudson
rivers,—while on the Delaware
they are considered worthless and
scarcely eaten. The sturgeon comes
up the Potomac twice a year, which
is in the months of May and August,
—presses up to the very foot of the
first falls, and is taken in the greatest
quantity within the District, in
times of freshets in the strong water
between Georgetown and those falls.
They are taken either in floating nets,
with large meshes, or by an ingeniously
contrived hook, not baited,
but by a curious device, prepared to
pierce him on the body so certainly
and so deeply, as to hold him and
bring him in, notwithstanding his
great size and strength; this latter
mode of taking the sturgeon is believed
to be peculiar to the Potomac.[47]

Water Fowl.—The celebrity of
the water fowl of the Potomac, and
the scarcity of information upon the
subject, render an article upon them
necessary. In the following account
we have availed ourselves largely
of the information contained under
the "Water Fowl," in a useful little

work upon the District of Columbia,
by Jonathan Elliot, Esq.

The summer duck (Anas Sponsa
of Wilson,) is the only species of the
numerous water fowl which frequent
the Potomac, which breed upon its
borders; the others are inigratory.

The whole tribe has been sensibly
diminished of late years, by the new
method of taking them which will
be presently described, and the increased
avidity with which they are
sought by persons to supply the markets.
They are still, however, numerous,—and
consist of various species,—The
swan, the wild goose, and
a great variety of ducks, as the canvass
back, the red head shoveler, the black
head shoveler, the duc-a-malard, the
black duck, the blue wing teal, the
green wing teal, and the widgeon.

"Of these, the five species first
mentioned are what are called river
fowl, frequenting only the fresh river;
and the last five kinds are known by
the name of marsh fowl, feeding
principally in the marshes bordering
on the river. Again, of the river
fowl—the canvass back, the red head
shoveler, and the black head shoveler
are denominated drift fowl, from the
circumstance of their collecting in
vast bodies, when at rest, in the middle
of the river, or feeding in deep
water, obtaining their food by diving
to the bottom. The bald face and the
sprig tail, although they avoid the
marshes, feed on the margin of the
river in shallow water, as do the
marsh fowl, by dipping their heads
and necks under only, and all these
described as marsh fowl, are found
feeding on the shores of the rivers
occasionally, except the blue winged
teal, which frequents the marshes exclusively,
and only such as produce
the wild oat, his favorite food. This
duck too differs from all the others
in the time and period of his visits
to this quarter of the country; they
are earlier made and of shorter duration:
he comes about the first of
September, and goes about the first
of November; all the other kinds of
duck arrive with us, as the swan
and geese, from the middle of October
to the middle of November; and
depart from about the first to the
middle of March. As to the qualities
for the table, of these fowl, the
young swan is considered a great
delicacy—while the old one is always
hard, and without agreeable flavor.
The wild goose is deemed much superior
to the tame goose. The canvass
back, it is known, stands unrivalled
in the taste of the epicure, as
the most delicious bird in this or any
other country. The red head shoveler,
and the blue winged teal are
but little inferior to it, in the estimation
of connoisseurs, in that way; and
of all the other kinds of these ducks,
there is not one, when in good condition,
that is not fine game. Most
of them are found in abundance during
the season from the immediate vicinity
of the city of Washington, down
the salts, and some of them are seen
in both the salt and fresh water habitually
or occasionally.

The Swan is not found nearer

than about 30 miles below Washington,
at the mouth of Occoquan, on
the right bank of the river is his
highest feeding ground, which is the
lowest spawning place of the white
shad. Here, and for some 30 or 40
miles below, this noble bird is seen
floating near the shores, in flocks of
some two or three hundred, white as
the driven snow, and from time to
time, emitting fine sonorous, and occasionally
melodious songs, so loud
that they may be heard on a still evening
two or three miles; there are
two kinds, so called from their respective
notes—the one the trumpeter,
and the other the slooper; the trumpeter
is the largest—and when at
full size, will measure from five to
six feet from the bill to the point of
the toe, and from seven to eight feet
from the tip of one wing to the tip of
the other, when stretched and expanded.
They are sagacious and wary
and depend more on the sight than
on the sense of smell. On a neck
nearly three feet in length, they are
enabled to elevate their head so as to
see and distinguish with a quick and
penetrating eye objects at a great distance,
and by means of this same
length of neck they feed in slack
tides, by immersing, as is their habit,
nearly all of the body—and throwing
only their feet and tails out, in three
or four feet water, and on the flatty
shores they frequent, generally beyond
gun-shot, the sportsman availing
himself however of a peculiar
propensity (of which we shall presently
speak more particularly) prevailing
with them and some of the
other water fowl, often toll them within
reach of their fire: the swan remain
here the whole winter, only
shifting their ground in severe weather
from the frozen to the open part
of the river, and dropping down into
the salts where it is rarely frozen.
They get into good condition soon
after their arrival in autumn, and remain
fat until toward spring—when
a few weeks before their departure
about the first of March, they gradually
become thinner in flesh, and in
the latter part of their sojourn here,
are found so poor and light, that
when shot, the gunner gets nothing
fit for use but the feathers whether
this circumstance be owing to their
having exhausted the means of subsistence
at their feeding places, or
that they are taught by him who
rules the universe, in small as well
as great things, thus by abstaining, to
prepare themselves for the long ærial
voyage they are about to undertake,
we pretend not to determine with certainty,
there is nothing more wonderful
in this, than in the fact, which
is notorious, that they by exercise,
regularly and assiduously fit themselves
for this continuous effort, to
bear themselves through the air to
the distance of perhaps a thousand
miles or leagues, large flocks are
seen every day rising from the river
and taking a high position, flying
out of sight and apparently moving
in a circuit to a considerable distance,
again returning at or near the same
place, during the last two or three
weeks of their stay.[48]

The Wild Goose is yet more
wary and vigilant to keep out of
harm's way than the swan. He too
is sharp sighted, but depends much
on his sense of smell for protection;
this is so well known to the huntsman,
that he never attempts, however
he may be concealed from this bird,
to approach it from the direction of
the wind, since he would assuredly
be scented before he could get within
gun-shot, and left to lament his error,
by the sudden flight of the whole
flock. These geese toward spring
often alight on the land and feed on
the herbage in fields, and sometimes
in such numbers as to do great injury

to the wheat fields on the borders
of the river. When so employed
they are difficult of approach, always
taking a position at a distance
from cover of any kind—and marching
in a single and extended rank
flanked by a watch goose at each extremity,
which, while all the others
are busily feeding and advancing
with their heads down among the
herbage, moves erect, keeping pace
with his comrades, his eye and nose
in a position so as to convey to him
the earliest intelligence of the presence
of an enemy, though at a great
distance; and the moment such is
perceived, it is communicated to the
whole company by certain tones used
for alarm, and immediately is responded
to by a halt and the lifting of
heads, and an instant flight, or a deliberate
return to feeding takes place,
according as the nature of the danger,
after the examination may be
considered. In the progress of this
march the centinels on the flanks are
regularly relieved at intervals of
some fifteen or twenty minutes, they
falling carelessly into the feeding
ranks, and others taking in their
place the tour of duty on their march.
In this arrayed state, they are attacked
with great difficulty by the gunner;
his only chance of approach, is by
means of a horse trained for the purpose—and
much precaution is used
in this petite guerre. He first,
on perceiving the flock feeding in an
extensive field—and on none other
will they commit themselves—reconnoitres
the locale, and takes cognizance
of the direction of the wind—
he then having observed the course
of march, enters the field at a point
so remote, as at the same time to escape
close scrutiny, and place his
game in such a relative situation to
him, as that he has the wind,—that
is, be the air light or strong,—it is to
blow from them toward him, and not
from him toward them. Next he is
to estimate by the pace at which he
finds the flock advancing, and by that
he is to assume, under cover of the
horse, at about what point, each moving
in oblique lines, he will be brought
within gun-shot of them. All this
being settled in his mind, he commences
his movement, first having
taken off the saddle and tied up the
bridle, so as to show as little as possible
of it, he then, with his gun in
one hand, and the other on the bridle,
places himself on the side of the
horse opposite to the game, his legs
placed behind the forelegs of the
horse, and his body so bent as to be
concealed by the shoulder and neck
of the horse in this constrained attitude,
he urges his faithful coadjutor
slowly in the direction fixed on, allowing
him every now and then to
stop and regale himself on the young
wheat or the herbage over which he
is making his way. The geese, accustomed,
to find the domestic animals,
and none more common than
the horse, pasturing on the fields they
frequent—see in his approach no
cause of alarm—and if due precaution
has been taken to guard against
the snuffing of the taint of man,
which there is no question that nature
has taught him readily to distinguish,
he arrives in due time within
the deadly reach, and manœvering a
while to get a raking fire, presently
deals out destruction on the thus circumvented
troop. But to attain the
object, great patience and endurance
are necessary. Hours are consumed
in taking and keeping the position
with the requisite accuracy, as we
have been assured by our informant,
who has been an experienced sportsman
in these regions, and often himself
gone through the ordeal of wet
feet, benumbed hands, bare head, and
this crooked position of the body for
several hours, on a stretch, watching
under the neck of the horse, with
snatched glance, the bearing of the
centinels, and on the slightest indication
of suspicion, setting the horse to
feed, with his own limbs and body so
disposed behind him as not be exposed
to the line of vision from the
other quarter until suspicion was
lulled again.

"Ducks.—Of all the duck tribe,
the canvass back, as well on account
of their vast numbers, as their superior
value, are to be placed in the
first class. They breed, as is supposed,
on the borders of the northern
lakes or of Hudson bay, they come
to us periodically, as has been before
said, from the north, and what is remarkable,
have never before been
known to visit, unless rarely and in
small numbers, any other than the
waters of the Chesapeake—and of
these, of late years, they have confined
themselves entirely to the Potomac
and the Susquehannah. Formerly
they frequented also James
river, but for the last thirty or forty
years have deserted that river altogether;
they were called shelldrake
there—as they were in those days in
the Potomac the white duck—on the
Susquehannah, the canvass back; but
latterly the name of canvass back has
been given to them on both these last
named rivers, where they are now
only known. It is well ascertained
that they feed on the bulbous root of
a grass which grows on the flats in
the fresh water of these rivers, because
it is always found in their
craws, and which has very much the
color and the flavor of garden celery;
it is to this food, that is attributed, and
we believe correctly, the peculiarly
delicious taste of their flesh.

"It is said that during a remarkably
hard winter some forty odd years
ago, the wind having prevailed a
long time from the northwest, and
blown so much of the water from the
flats of James river, that it froze to
the bottom, inclosing the long tops of
this grass so closely in the ice, that
when it broke up and was floated off
in the spring, it tore the whole of it
up by the roots and took it away—
and that from that time to the present,
the canvass back duck ceased to make
his annual visit to that river: and it
is added, that about the same time the
carp-fish ceased to frequent it, and
indeed it is affirmed, that this fish is
only found in the rivers, to which
that duck resorts. If this really be
so, it must be, that both are enticed
by the same kind of food, or that the
grass in question, by some other
quality, suits the purposes of the carp
fish.

"The canvass back feeds in from 6
to 10 feet water: he is an expert
diver, and with great strength and
agility, seizing it probably near the
bottom, eradicates the grass, brings it
up root and branch to the surface,
where he bites off the root, (which is
bulbous, white and about four tenths
of an inch across, and six tenths long,)
and eating that only, leaves the long
herbaceous part to float on the water.

"Very frequently there are found
feeding among these fowl, the Bald
Fall Duck; he has not the power
of diving entirely under water in
search of his food, and here he is
employed in watching the rising of
the canvass back, and in snatching
the grass from his grasp, much to
his annoyance,—and though the bald
face is the smaller duck, as he is
sprightly and active, he often succeeds
to get hold before the other has
done more than put his bill above
water, and to obtain and make off
with the prize, (precious part, the
root and all,) but generally he contents
himself with swimming about
among the industrious divers, and
devouring their leavings, the grassy
part of the plant. The favorite pasture
ground of the canvass back on
the Potomac is between Crane and
Mason's Islands, the first about twenty-five
miles below Washington, and
the latter within the District of Columbia
opposite to George Town.[49]

"Of late years, because of the increase
of hunters constantly in the
pursuit, and the quantity of craft flying,
they have been in a great measure
driven from the upper beds of
their favorite food, and are seldom,
but in small numbers, seen above the
bridge, across the river at Washington.
But a little lower down, and
where the river becomes wider, when
at rest at night, or when they have
retired from feeding during the day,
they ride in the midst of it in such
numbers as literally to cover acres
of water. When they resort to the
flats for feeding, they separate in a
degree, but yet are found thus employed
in flocks of many hundreds,
and sometimes thousands. Until
within the last five and twenty years,
this game was obtained in no other
way than by shots from the land, and
it was therefore, an object of great
interest and sport with the amateurgunners.

"The positions opposite to their
feeding places were known, slight
blinds of brush wood were thrown up
on the edges of the banks, previous to
their arrival in the fall, of four or five
feet height, under cover of which, in
a stooping posture, the sportsman can
reach the desired point undiscovered
by the sight, (for it happens that this
bird is not like some of its tribe, as
the malard and others, armed with a
strong sense of smell) and here posted,
if one of skill and patience in his
vocation, he waits often no inconsiderable
time for the proper occasion to
give the greater effect to his fire.
Sometimes when the tide makes higher
deepening the water near the bank,
and so inducing the ducks to run
closer in, but most generally foregoing
fair opportunities during every
few minutes, to fire on detached parties,
small in number, until a good
portion of the flock has placed itself
well huddled together, in the desired
position. The habit of these ducks,
which, as we have said, are most expert
divers, is when feeding in flocks
near the bank, to take their course
across the shoal from the outer to the
inner part of it, beginning on the outer
part where the water is deepest,
and progressing inwards with great
bustle and activity, each darting down
head foremost with much velocity, and
presently returning to the surface
with the sought morsel in its bill, despatching
this, and repeating incessantly
the operation presenting a constant
and rapid succession of comers
up and goers down, without order,
and amidst a great splashing of water,
until they find they have approached
the inmost edge of the
growth of grass, when suddenly they
all rise in succession to the surface,
those first up waiting a moment for
the last to come, and now the whole
flock being above water, and exhibiting
three times the number it before
seemed, with one accord, they fall in
to close order, wheel and swim slowly
along, in a direction parallel for
some two or three hundred feet with
the bank, as well to recover from
their fatigue, as to place the column
over ground, not yet foraged; and this
done, facing outward, they re-commence
their work of diving and feeding,
now moving toward the outer
edge of the shoal.

"It is at this critical moment at the
proper stage of the wheeling motion,
that the sportsman in ambush, seeks
to open on his unsuspecting victims
the deadly fire; it is when with elevated
heads and the greater part of
the body out of the water, the ducks
huddled in contact, have presented
their sides to him, that he directs his
sight and draws his trigger on that
section of the flock, which, from its
position, best suits his object. In

sportsman's phrase, "when he has
got the eye, can ruffle the feather and
string," in other words, when the
game is so near that their eyes can
be seen, and in such position that the
shot may not glance off on the feathers,
and that they can be raked by
the fire; the proper observation of
which rules often gives it more than
double the effect. To gain and combine
all these advantages, only belongs
to the practised and patient sportsman;
he must be acquainted with the habits
of his game, and altho' they pass often
in review very near him, in the
foraging process just described, he
must lie close, and often endure cold
and wet for a considerable time, and
to make his shot tell well, resist temptation,
until in its various manœuvres,
the flock puts itself most in his power;
frequently during the ambuscade,
the wary flock takes alarm from some
movement of the real, or a supposed
enemy, and fly suddenly off, at other
times, in a sense of danger, not so
confirmed, it scatters and swims difectly
from the land with great rapidity,
each duck as it emerges, dropping
the fruit of its dive, and taking
in haste the same track; an inexperienced
gunner believing his chance
gone of doing better fires on them in
this state, before they get out of his
reach, but does little execution. Not
so with the old sportsman, he reserves
his fire, well knowing that if he remains
covered, or when other cause
of apprehension, as of some person
accidentally appearing, shall cease or
have passed away, the flock will, after
reconnoitering at a distance for a
while, return again to its feeding
ground, and particularly will this last,
so determine, because he is fully
aware of the fact, that this swimming
retreat is always performed under the
signal of sauve qui peut, and the double
precaution of each, separating as
widely as possible from the other, and
sinking itself so far under the water
that nothing but the head and part of
the neck remains as a mark.

"There is a singular device practised
too, by sportsmen, for shooting
the canvass back, as well as the other
ducks, denominated drift fowl, in the
Potomac,—the red head and black
head shoveler, and also the swan,
from the banks; it is called tolling
them in, and there can be no question
of the fact, that each of this description
of water fowl are often brought
within gun shot, by an artifice practised
on some propensity with them,
not easily accounted for. It is sometimes
done by means of a dog, trained
for the purpose, and sometimes by
moving or shaking in a particular
way, the branch of a tree with the
dried leaves yet attached, a colored
handkerchief or some similar thing,
the color, however, in each case, being
of a reddish or yellowish hue;
and an instance of a hunter yet living
on the banks of the Potomac,
who has a thick head of red hair, that
he wears in a large old fashioned
queue, with a long square brush at
the end, often using this brush, shaken
by one hand when lying in wait,
with the rest of his body concealed,
as a decoy to toll in ducks, has been
given us from good authority.

"The Swan is only tolled by a
dog, that is taught to play about within
easy call of his master, at the edge
of the water, the several species of
ducks just enumerated, are to be tolled
by the dog in that way, or by the
other device. In all cases the hunter
contrives to place himself behind a
log or some other cover well concealed,
before he begins his operations,
taking care to observe that the direction
of the wind is not unfavorable to
him, and that the flock he means to
toll is near enough to distinguish such
objects on the shore, and under no
alarm at the time. By what motive
these fowls are influenced, we have
not heard satisfactorily explained; but
certain it is, they are very commonly
brought in from some hundreds of
yards distance, in this way, to within

point blanket shot. It is said, and
perhaps truly, in the case of the dog,
that they fancy themselves in pursuit
of some animal, as the fox, or mink,
by which their young are annoyed at
their breeding places.

"Of late years, however, these
sports enjoyed by the inhabitants of
the banks of the river, have been very
much interrupted, by the practice
of shooting from skiffs, with long
guns of large calibre, by that class of
gunners, who hunt for the market.
They use a very light small skiff
made quite sharp at the bows, capable
of taking only one man and his enormous
gun, so low that when thus laden,
the gun-wales are within two
inches of the surface, and painted of
the color of the water; in the bottom
of this skiff, scarcely wider than his
body, the man lays prostrate, his face
downwards, his gun fixed on a double
swivel, to the bow-piece, muzzle
out, and the breach being close by his
head, so fixed with an arm over each
side, and grasping a short paddle in
either hand, when within a certain
distance of the flock, he bears down
on it so slowly and regularly, and
keeping the little bark in such direction,
that from its very small elevation
above the level of the water, and
the sharpness of the bow always presented
toward the flock, he often succeeds
in the day, and always in the
night time, to arrive within good distance
for such a piece as he uses,
which is very long, and so heavy as
not to be fited by the usual method of
bringing to the shoulder, and with
four or five times the charge of a
common fowling piece, he commits
great slaughter. Most of this mischief,
if mischief it be, is done in the
night, among the flocks in the middle
of the wide part of the river,
where they retire for rest, and are
found riding asleep with their heads
under their wings; and mischief we
can but think it, since it is believed
that the numbers of the canvass back
duck have sensibly decreased since
the practice was introduced, and we
can but join in the opinion, that this
terrible destruction of them at their
resting places in the night, where not
only are great numbers killed, but very
many are wounded and escape in
the dark, for the time, only to linger
and die, must ultimately drive off the
whole tribe to some place of greater
safety, if not offering such grateful
food. The other drift fowl of this
river have much the habits of, and are
hunted somewhat as are the canvass
back. There is nothing remarkable
either in the habits or the manner of
taking the rest of the wild fowl, we
have enumerated and not particularly
described.

"Sora.—There is yet, however,
one other description of water fowl
frequenting the Pomac, although, of
smaller size, less than the snipe, yet
affording so great a delicacy for the
table, and so much amusement to the
sportsman, that we must not omit to
notice it. It is the Sora of Virginia,
and Rail of Pennsylvania, sometimes
called improperly, Ortolan in the middle
states. It frequents the tide water
marshes of the fresh water of this
river, and is here only for a few weeks,
arriving early in September, and departing
toward the latter end of October.
It is common also we learn,
on the Delaware, and the Schuylkill,
the James river and most of the rivers
in the middle and southern states.
The natural history of this bird has
baffled the efforts of the most diligent
and acute enquiries on such subjects,
it is not known which are its breeding
places, whence it comes to, or whither
it goes from us. It is only certain,
that it appears suddenly in great numbers,
comes lean, soon gets very fat
on the seed of the wild oat, which
constitutes its principal and favorite
food in these waters,—and disappears,
on the approach of the first smart
frost, all at once, as it would seem in
a single night,—no person can give

evidence of the manner or direction,
of its arrival or departure; but it is
notorious among sportsmen and others,
that they may be found in great
numbers and affording fine sport, on
a given day in the fall, when if a night
of smart frost intervenes, on the next
day, not one is to be found, nor another
seen until the return of their
time of visit on the next year. And
what makes this the more remarkable
is, that they seem badly provided as a
bird of passage, having short wings
and flying heavily, and not being in
the habit, while here, of congregating;
some conjecture that they plunge
into the mud, and lie in a torpid state
all the rest of the year, but this, like
the story of the immer ion of the
swallow, is scarcely credible. Wilson
supposes them to be migratory—
that they have, when it is necessary
to exert it, greater power on the wing
than is attributed to them generally,
and that they come here from a more
northern, and pass on to a more southern
climate which seems to be most
probable.

"They afford fine sport to the gunner
without the necessity of much fatigue
or address, they are generally
shot on the wing, and as they fiy
slowly they are easily brought down
with a light charge of small shot.
The time of the tide must be obseryed—the
gunner in a light skiff, pushed
with a pole, by a man in the stern,
goes into the marsh on the rise of the
tide, an hour or two before high water,
and has to leave it the same time
on the ebb, not only that he may have
a sufficient depth to float his skiff
over the flats and fallen grass, but
because the birds dont rise as freely
on alarm, when by the absence of
water they can escape on foot, by running
ever the mud, and hiding themselves
among the grass, at which they
are very adroit. At a favorable tide,
and when the birds are plenty, there
is busy work for 3 or 4 hours for the
gunner; he may fire almost as fast as
he can load, always, however, at single
birds; for although hundreds are
often all round him, and springing
at every moment within gun shot,
even two are rarely seen together.
In the marshes on the upper part of
the Eastern Branch, and within a
few miles of Washington, this game
is very plenty, and affords much
amusement to the sportsmen every
fall. Lower down the Potomac they
have another mode of taking the Sora,
with less cost, and more expeditiously,
much practised on the gentlemen's
estates in that quarter. It is
done in the night by means of a light.
A canoe is prepared before hand, by
placing across the gunwales amid
ships, a few boards constituting a platform,
of about 3 feet square; this is
covered with clay, to the thickness of
two or three inches, and when dry,
affords a good hearth; a quantity of
light wood, so called, (the heart of the
yellow pine, which after lying falles
in the woods until the sap part is decayed,
and having concentrated its
resinous matter, burns fiercely) is
split into small pieces, and thrown
into the bottom of the canoe near the
hearth, and a boy posted by it to keep
up the fire: two or three men now
embark, provided, one with a stout
common pole to push the canoe, and
the others with light poles 12 or 15
feet long, having a flat board 5 or 6
inches broad, and a foot or so long,
nailed on at one end; and enter the
marshes frequented by these birds on
a dark night, at a time of the tide,
when pretty well covered with water,
the Sora are found perched upon the
long stalks of the reeds and wild oats,
to get out of its way. The blazing
fire throws such a glare of light, all
around for twenty or thirty paces, that
it not only discovers quite plainly the
birds to those at the fire, but it so decoys
or stupifies them as to detain
them in their positions, peeping and
peering at the light, until they are
approached within striking distance

with the flattened poles, and knocked
on the head one by one; thirty or forty
dozen are sometimes killed in this
way by the crew of one canoe on a
single tide."

GEORGETOWN.

Georgetown is a Port of Entry
and Post Town in Washington county.
It was originally laid out under
an act of the Colonial Assembly of
Maryland, passed in May 15th, 1751.
In 1789 the town was incorporated,
and is under the government of a
mayor, recorder, alderman and common
council. This town is situated
on the left bank of the Potomac river,
at the head of tide water and the natural
navigation of that river, and is
separated by Rock creek from Washington,
with which there is a ready
communication at present by means
of two bridges crossing the creek at
two principal streets of Georgetown,
and an additional means of communication
by a pier, of the width of
160 feet, lately constructed across the
mouth of Rock creek.

The town is remarkably salubrious,
and it has at all times escaped those
summer epidemics that have prevailed
some years in the adjacent country.
It is handsomely situated on a
succession of hills, rising gradually
from the river and creek, to which
all its streets incline. So that every
considerable rain thoroughly cleanses
them of all impurity. For some
years after the late war, a very active
business was transacted in the town,
and the improvements during this
time were very numerous and ornamental.
Subsequently, and until within
the last two or three years, its trade
has declined, and improvement been
in a great measure suspended; within
this period, however, there has
been a very considerable progressive
amendment in trade, and numerous
valuable buildings, and other improvements
are now in progress, or have
been recently completed. Its principal
export trade consists of tobacco,
flour, leather, soap, candles, beer, &c.

The annual inspection of tobacco,
has recently amounted to 5,000 hogsheads;
the inspection of flour to more
than 80,000 barrels. There is a considerable
foreign trade with Europe,
South America and the West Indies.

Internal Improvements.—
The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
passes through the heart of the town,
at the level of thirty-seven feet above
the river, and is let into an extensive
basin, formed from Rock creek by
four detached locks. Being the highest
seaport on the Potomac, and the
first reached by the canal in its descent,
its situation is peculiarly favorable
for enjoying the trade which is
wafted on that great high way, and
which establishes a ready communication
from a rich back country, to
the basin at Rock creek.

"The Locks are almost all of 8 feet
lift—are built of cut stone, and laid
in the best hydraulic cement.

"The canal from the head of Little
Falls, 5 miles above Georgetown,
receives water from the Potomac river;
and the river being at that point,
raised by a dam across it, of 4 feet in
height above the surface. This level
of water is brought down to Congress
street in the heart of Georgetown,
and is there 37 feet above low-water
of the Potomac; on the east side of
Congress street there is a Lock, and
at the tail of the Lock on Jefferson
street, a bridge; below Jefferson street
a second Lock and bridge, to pass
Washington street; below Washington
street, a third Lock and bridge at
the foot of it, to pass Green, street;

and below Green street a fourth Lock,
to let down into the basin of Rock
creek.

"The plan of the Basin at Rock
creek is one of the most important of
the details of the whole project, and
nature seems to have placed Rock
creek at a point calculated by this improvement
to be invaluable.

"By the project of forming a mole
or dam across the mouth of Rock
creek, the outer part of which is
along the side of the channel of the
Potomac, where there is from 9 to 12
feet water at low tide. This mole is
1200 feet long, and 160 feet wide,
made of stone on both sides, and filled
between with earth taken from the
Canal, as it passes through Georgetown.

"This mole is intended to raise the
water of Rock creek 3 feet above
common high tide in the Potomac,
and retain it uniformly at this height.
About the middle of the mole there
is a Lock to let down boats into the
river, and this Lock has a lift of only
3 feet at high tide, and 6 feet at low
tide. This Lock with the form previously
named, brings the boats into
the Potomac river.

"By the side of the Lock which
lets into the Potomac, there is a waste
weir 200 feet long, over which the
surplus water of Rock creek passes.

"This mole or dam flows the water
of Rock creek back about three quarters
of a mile, and makes a beautiful
basin from 100 to 250 feet wide, which
has a depth of 6 feet water in nearly
the whole distance, and gives on the
Washington and Georgetown sides of
Rock creek, the greatest possible advantages
for wharves and ware-houses,
which can be imagined. It appears
that nature never formed a more convenient
and useful spot, to end a great
and important work of this kind, than
Rock creek, with these improvements
upon it. And we do not see any place
where a useful and capacious basin
could have been formed, which would
have accommodated the trade with so
great facility and economy, any where
in the neighborhoods of Georgetown
or Washington.

"The route of the Capal passes
very direct (almost straight) through
Georgetown; and the cutting is generally
only what is wanted. It is true
that between Potomac street and High
street, there is a short space of 300
feet, where it was found necessary to
cut 30 feet, in one place 32 feet. All
this earth is deposited to form the
mole or pier; this is the deepest cutting
or excavation on any part of the
Canal.

"After leaving the streets in Georgetown,
the Canal runs along the steep
bank of the Potomac for a mile and a
half, the greater part very steep, formed
of rock, which required blasting
with powder; above this last distance
the country assumes a little more
gentle declivity and better shape for
a Canal, and it passes along sloping
ground, till it intersects the old Potomac
Canal, and following that to near
the western end, it then leaves it and
rises to a higher level by a Lock of
8 feet lift, and soon after, another of
the same lift, and then it passes on for
one and a half miles, and then a Lock
of 8 feet lift; then one and a half
miles and then another Lock; then
half a mile, and then commences a
succession of 6 Locks, at intervals or
spaces of 100 yards between each;
then commences a long level of more
than 4 miles without a Lock. This
brings you to the Great Falls, where
are 6 Locks more, at intervals or spaces
of 100 to 200 yards between. We
then reach the head of the Great
Falls, and have ascended 20 Locks,
or 160 feet from Rock creek. This
part of the Canal about the Great
Falls presents features in the formation
of the country, which are very
striking and bold; and nature has
done a good deal by forming a ravine
of nearly a mile in length, with huge
ledges of large blocks of granite or

gneiss, forming its sides, and where the
water will be from 10 to 30 feet deep, &
100 to 200 feet wide. Along this we
pass, and a towing path is formed by
levelling some, and raising other
parts so as to make the path regular
on the side of it; at another part of
the Canal there are vertical walls to
sustain the Canal 50 feet high among
the rocks.

"To those who have but a limited
knowledge of the duties of a Civil Engineer,
it has been objected that the
plan of cutting so deep through
Georgetown was wrong. It is however,
believed, that the plan presents
many advantages. 1st. It enables the
Canal to pass through Georgetown
with less inconvenience to private property
than any other route, and a great
deal cheaper. 2d. It furnishes an
easy pass way by bridges over the
Canal, nearly or quite level with the
streets, thereby not incommoding the
buildings along the streets, nor making
the ascent of the streets (which
are now considerable) any steeper.
3d. It furnished the earth to make a
mole or pier of great width, and capable
of receiving warehouses in the
centre of it, where boats can discharge
at one end of the warehouse, and
ships take in at the other. This furnishes
a plan for transhipment of property
with the least possible expense.
4th. By making this basin at Rock
creek, it presents shores where boats
can lay in safety for one and a half
miles on both its sides. It also finds
a place in its upper part, where boats
not in immediate use, can lay without
paying much wharfage or expense,
and be perfectly safe."

Manufacturing Facilities,
Public Institutions, &c.—The
vicinity of the town naturally offers
peculiar advantages for extensive
manufactories. The river falling
near 40 feet in 4 miles. The Chesapeake
and Ohio Canal extending
over this space at an elevation of 37
feet above tide water, and of a width
of 70 to 80 feet, with a depth of 7 ft.
may supply very numerous manufacturing
establishments with water,
without obstruction to the navigation.
The public institutions and buildings
consist of the Georgetown College;
a society of Nuns incorporated
by Congress, under the name of
"The Sisters of the Visitation," who
conduct a very flourishing female
academy. There are 8 houses of
public worship, 2 Roman Catholic,
2 Episcopalian, 1 Presbyterian, 2
Methodist and 1 African,—also 2
banks incorporated by Congress, the
Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank of
Georgetown, and Union Bank, with
a joint capital of $9,64,130. It
contains also a considerable number
of dry good and grocery stores, 1 extensive
brewery with several manufactories,
and every mechanical pursuit
necessary to a town of its magnitude,
and immediately above the town
is an extensive cannon foundry.

The academy under the direction
of "The Sisters of Visitation," has
been established 33 years, and averages
generally from 70 to 80 young
ladies as boarders, and from 30 to 40
young ladies as day scholars. Within
the nunnery enclosure, but detached
from the academy and approached
from a different street, there are upward
of 400 young girls taught gratuitously,
about 200 attending daily.

At the Lancaster School, there are
annually taught about 100 boys, and
70 girls. There are 3 other academies
for young ladies, in which are
taught all the branches of polite and
fashionable education, and 3 academies
for young men, with several
other respectable schools all conducted
by competent teachers.

Assessed valuation of real and personal property.

     

Real,	$2,400,000
Personal,	280,311
Total,	$2,680,311

Population at different periods.

       

	Whites,	Free Colored,	Slaves,	Total.
In 1810,	3,235,	551,	1,162,	4,948
In 1820,	4,940,	894,	1,526,	7,360
In 1830,	6,057,	1,209,	1,175,	8,441

Annalostan Island.—Opposite
to Georgetown is Mason's Island properly
called Annalostan Island.
It is the seat of Gen. John Mason.
It has a highly cultivated surface of
about 70 acres,—the natural soil,
light and sandy. A causway on the
Virginia side, and a horse boat ferry
from Georgetown, facilitates communication
with this beautiful spot from
the shores. The highest ground
above the level of the river is elevated
about 50 feet, and upon this eminence
the dwelling is situated. The usual
tides rise about 3 feet. In digging
for water, it is procured at the depth
of 20 or 30 feet from the surface. Agatized
wood has been discovered in
well digging. The house which is
approached through a fine avenue of
trees, is extensive, with a number of
convenient buildings attached from it
the public buildings in Washington
are seen to advantage. On the N.
side of the Island an alluvial meadow
is rapidly forming. The S. side
is substantially walled, and dotted
with neat white cottages for servants
buildings.

Warden justly remarks, that "the
view from this spot is delightful. It
embraces the picturesque banks of the
Potomac a portion of the city, and a
noble expanse of water. Numerous
vessels ply backwards and forwards
to animate the scene.

Georgetown College.—This
College which is pleasantly situated
on the northern bank of the Potomac,
commands a full view of Georgetown,
Washington, the Potomac, and a great
part of the District. Its situation is
peculiarly healthy. It is under the
direction of the incorporated Catholic
clergy of Maryland, and is the oldest
Catholic seminary in the United
States: it was first incorporated in
1799; and in 1815, it received an extension
of its privileges from Congress,
and was authorized to confer
degrees. The college library contains
12,000 volumes. The academic
or college year commences on the
15th of September, and ends on the
31st of July; and commencement is
near the last of July. The number of
students is usually about 140 or 150;
a considerable part of them being day
scholars. The number of graduates
is not great. The number graduated
at the commencement of July 25, 1833
was 7.—There are 19 professors and
tutors, of whom 3 are professors of
theology.

The course of ordinary studies is
completed in 7 years, at the end of
which, if the student has made sufficient
progress, he may receive the degree
of Bachelor of Arts. When a
scholar presents himself to be received
into the College, he is examined
by the prefect of studies, and placed
in that class, for which his prior acquirements
may have fitted him, he
then passes on in regular succession
to the final class of Logic and Moral

Philosophy. If he remain longer,
and study the higher branches of
Mathematics and Natural Philosophy,
he may take the degree of Master
of Arts.

Rules, Regulations and Course
of Instruction.—1st. In the lowest
school or class of Rudiments, the
scholars study the English and
French Grammars, Caligraphy, Arithmetic,
&c.—and at the conclusion
of this year (for each class, unless
some student by their particular application
and talents, should merit
promotion, occupies one year) they
are supposed to be able to read and
write English correctly.

2d. During the next year, (third
class of Humanities,) the scholars
continue to study the English and
French Grammars, and begin to compose
in those languages—Arithmetic
is continued and towards the end of
the year they commence the Latin
Grammar.

3d. In the second class of Humanities,
they continue English and
French composition, (these studies are
continued till the end of Rhetoric.)
and Arithmetic: they begin Latin exercises
and read some easy Latin authors—as
Nepos, Cæsar, &c. During
this year a course of Geography is
studied, and Greek is begun.

4th. In the first class of Humanities,
they read portions of Sallust, Cicero's
minor works, and some of
Ovid's Elegies, Prosody—and commence
History. They study portions
of the Greek Scripture, Xenophon,
and Lucian's dialogues. Algebra is
begun.

5th. In Poetry, Cicero's minor
works, Virgil, Horace, Livy and Homer,
are read. History is continued
and a treatise of Mythology learned
Mathematics continued.

6th. In Rethoric—The scholars
study Rhetoric, Cicero's Orations,
Homer, Virgil, Horace, History and
Mathematics.

7th. This year a course of Logic
and Moral Philosophy is studied—
Mathematics continued.

During the whole course, great attention
is paid to Composition, particularly
English. There will always
be a class of Book-keeping for the
convenience of those who wish to
learn it. The Italian, Spanish and
German languages will be also taught
if required. Music, Drawing, Dancing,
&c. will form additional charges.

The College possesses a select Library
of about 12,000 volumes, the
use of which is granted to the senior
students without any additional
charge.

There are two examinations in the
year. The minor one in February
or March, and the other immediately
before the commencement, which will
always be a day of public exercises,
towards the end of July.

No student is admitted, who cannot
read and has not a good moral character.

As the members of the College profess
the Catholic Religion, the exercises
of Religious worship are Catholic,
but members of other Religious
denominations are received, of whom
it is only required, that they respectfully
assist at the public duties of religion
with their companions. Were
not this enforced, no proper order,
such as should be found in large literary
institutions, could exist in the
College.

No student, will be permitted to
leave the College on visits of any
length oftener than once a year, viz:
at the great vacation. If his parents
live in the District, he will be allowed
to visit them once a month, but not
oftener—and he must then always return
to the College before night.

Terms.—Every student shall pay
on entering the College, ten dollars.
He shall bring a mattrass, a pillow,
two pillow cases, two pair of sheets,
four blankets and a counterpane, or
pay $6 per annum for the use of bed

and bedding. He must also bring
with him one suit of clothes, as a uniform—which
is in winter, a blue cloth
coat and pantaloons with a black velvet
waistcoat; in summer, white pantaloons
with a black silk waistcoat
are used.

He must likewise bring with him
two suits for daily wear, for which
no particular color is prescribed; six
shirts, six pair of stockings, six pocket
handkerchiefs, three pair of shoes,
a hat and a cloak or great coat, also
a silver spoon. These articles if not
brought by the student will be furnished
by the College and included in the
first bill.

The pension for board, washing,
mending and mending materials—
use of books, (philosophical and mathematical
excepted,) pens, ink and
writing paper, slates and pencils is
$150. Medical aid and medicine,
unless parents choose to run the risk
of a Doctor's bill in case of sickness,
$3 per annum. All chargest must
be paid half yearly in advance.

For the convenience of parents,
particularly those at a distance, the
College will undertake to supply the
students with clothing. The annual
expense cannot be specified, as it depends
upon the age and wearing of
the student all that can be said, is
the strictest economy and simplicity
will be observed. If parents wish
the College to supply their children
with clothes, a deposit is required by
the College equivalent to the probable
expense of clothing for six months.

With regard to pocket money, it is
desired that all the students should
be placed on an equality, and that it
should not exceed 12½ cents per
week; and whatever is allowed must
be deposited in the hands of the directors
of the College. Half-boarders
are received on the usual terms,
viz. $5 entrance, and $65 for board
per annum.

Day scholars, $5 for fuel and servants,
as no charge is made for tuition.

Convent.—The Convent of the
Sisters of Visitation, is a plain, substantial,
but gloomy-looking, monastic
institution, which must recall,
amidst its solitudes, to the recollection
of the contemplative mind, the touching
story of Abelard and Eloisa.—
The solemnity of the scene is in strict
keeping with the object of the edifice.

The visiter is admitted into the
speaking room, as it is called, which
is separated from the sanctum sanctorum,
by substantial wooden bars, resembling
the grates of a prison. The
Sisters are clad in sable garments,
with deep black hoods, and white
veils descending to the waist. The
Nuns are from various States of the
Union, and generally number about
50. The process of initiation is the
same as the other nunneries, the novitiate
being two years, the first for
the white veil, and the second for the
black, after which, there can be no
retreat.

WASHINGTON CITY.

Washington City, the seat of
the General Government of the U.
S. of America, and capital of the District
of Columbia, is situated on the
left or Maryland side of the Potomac,
near the head of tide water, and by the
river and Chesapeake bay, 290 ms.
from the Atlantic. It is 38 ms. S.
W. from Baltimore, 136 from Philadelphia,
225 from New York, 432
from Boston, 595 from Augusta,
Maine, 546 from Detroit, Michigan,
1,068 from Little Rock, Arkansas,
856 from St. Louis, 1,203 from New
Orleans, 662 from Savannah, Georgia,
and 544 from Charleston, S. C. The
capitol stands in lat. 38° 52′ 45″; long.
W. from the observatory at Greenwich
76° 5 30″, and is located at
the junction of the rivers Potomac

and Eastern branch, extending nearly
4 ms. up each, and including a tract
of territory, exceeded in point of convenience,
salubrity and beauty by
none in America. For although the
land in general appears level, yet by
gentle and gradual swellings, a variety
of elegant prospects are produced,
and sufficient descent formed for conveying
off the water occasioned by
rain. Within the limits of the city
are a great number of excellent
springs,—water of the best quality
may readily be had, and the never
failing streams that run through that
territory, are also collected for the use
of the city. The waters of Reedy
branch and of Tiber creek, may be
conveyed to the President's house.
The source of Tiber creek is elevated
236 ft. above the level of its tide water.
The perpendicular height of the
ground on which the Capitol stands
is 78 ft. above the level of the tide in
Tiber creek,—the waters of Tiber
creek may therefore be conveyed to
the Capitol, and after watering that
part of the city may be destined to
other useful purposes. The Eastern
branch is one of the safest and most
commodious harbors in America, and
is sufficiently deep for the largest
Ships, for about 4 ms. above its mouth,
while the channel lies close along the
hank adjoining the city, and affords a
large and convenient harbor. The
Potomac although only navigable for
small craft for a considerable distance
from its banks, next to the city, (excepting
about half a mile above the
junction of the river,) will, nevertheless
afford a capacious summer harbor,
as an immense number of Ships
may ride in the great channel opposite
and below the city. The situation
of this metropolis, is upon the
great line of communication, about
equi-distant from the northern and
southern extremities of the Union,
and nearly so from the Atlantic and
Pittsburg; upon the best navigation,
and in the midst of a commercial territory,
probably the richest, and commanding
the most extensive internal
resources of any in America, to recommend
it as an eligible place for
the permanent seat of the General
Government; and it has grown up
with an extraordinary degree of rapidity.
But its growth is rather to
be attributed to the vast amount expended
in it by the Federal Government,
and the numerous strangers
brought thither, than to its commercial
advantages, great as they are.—
The city of Baltimore being so near
it, and having such immense advantages
in the greater capital enterprise
and skill of her merchants, in contiguity
to the ocean, and greater facility
of approach in her greater age
and established commercial character
and intercourse,—and lastly in being
a city of a state with a much more extended
territory all the advantages, of
which that state naturally desires to
pour into her lap,—and that identical
territory too, being the very source
from which the materials of commerce
would have to be drawn by
Washington,—the latter can never
hope to rival the former in her commercial
prosperity.

The city of Washington has also to
compete with the town of Georgetown,
Alexandria and Fredericksburg,
much of the commerce of which
would flow to her if those towns did
not exist.

The fact, however, that Washington
is not likely ever to be an overgrown
commercial city, is not at all
to be regretted by the statesman. The
legislation of the Union would not be
at all benefitted by the presence of a
noisy, disorderly mob,—which is almost
sure to exist in a large commercial
city.

The plan of this city appears to
contain some important improvements
upon that of the best planned cities in
the world, combining in a remarkable
degree, convenience, regularity,
elegance of prospect, and a free circu-

lation of air. The position for the
different public edifices, and for the
several squares, and areas of different
shapes, as they are laid down,
were first fixed on the most advantageous
ground commanding the most
extensive prospect, and from their situation
susceptible of such improvement
as either use or ornament might
at any time require. The soil is
generally sterile, mixed with pebbles
and sand, the length of the city from
S. E. to N. W. is 4¼ ms.; mean
width 2½, containing a fraction less
than 8¼ sq. ms. The city was laid
out under the supervision of General
Washington (then President
of the United States) in 1791. The
principal streets are called avenues,
and named after the different states of
the Union. These diverge from the
Capital and President's house, and a
direct line of communication between
these two edifices is formed by Pennsylvania
avenue, the principal and
finest street of the city. The avenues
are crossed by streets running N.
and S. alphabetically arranged, and
others running E. and W. numerically
arranged. Many of these are
shaded, and all of them very broad,—
the former being from 120 to 160 feet
in width, and the latter from 70 to
110.

The City is divided into six wards,
the following table gives a correct
statement of the census, assessments,
and valuations of each, up to December
31, 1830. Agreeably to the last
census.

               

WARDS.	CENSUS.	BUILDINGS.	LOTS.	PERSONAL.	TOTAL.	TAX-56 cts. ON $100.
First	3,678	657,833	760,494	153,150	1,571,477	8,800 27
Second	4,049	724,705	752,538	139,890	1,617,133	9,055 94
Third	5,751	1,105,855	1,132,336	200,420	2,438,611	13,656 22
Fourth	1,861	253,100	290,603	45,120	588,823	3,297 40
Fifth	1,357	174,410	334,986	24,475	533,871	2,989 67
Sixth	2,131	209,139	217,075	37,225	463,435	2,595 23
Total,	18,827	3,125,038	3,488,032	600,280	7,213,350	40,394 7

The Number of buildings erected
in the City in 1830 wa, 178,—86 of
which were of brick and 92 of wood.
The total number of buildings in 1831
was, 3,560,—of these there were public
65—dwellings, 3,233, and 262
shops and warehouses.

In the stores, and particularly on
the Pennsylvania avenue, there is a
great variety, well supplied, containing
every description of dry goods,
groceries, hardware, china, glass,
drugs, millinery, confectionery, fruit,
clothing, hats, shoes, boots, books, stationery,
leather, chairs, plate, jewellery,
in short, every article of necessity
or ornament.

The Mechanic Arts.—The printing
business, by the agency of steam
and hand labor, alone employs during
the winter season about 300 hands.
There are four daily papers extensively
circulated; also 4 weekly, circulated
extensively. Book-binding,
engraving, cabinet making, tobacco,
manufacturing, hatting, saddlery, shoe
and boot making, tailoring, coach
making, blacksmith's work, gun
smiths, &c. are extensively carried
on and employ a number of workmen.
Not less than 8 or 9 millions
of bricks are made annually, employing
nearly 200 hands in the warm
weather. Bricklayers, carpenters,
painters, glaziers, and in short, every
mechanic connected with the erection
of buildings, are extensively engaged
in the summer season.

The population of Washington has
increased rapidly, and from its being

the seat of the government of the
county and its salubrious and healthy
location, it must continue to augment
in number.

In 1800 its population was 3,210;
in 1803, 4,352; in 1807, 5,652; in
1810, 8,208; in 1817, 11,299; in
1820, 13,246; and in 1830, 18,827,
consisting of.

       

	White Persons.	Free Colored.	Slaves.	Total.
Males,	6,581	1,342	1,010	8,933
Females,	6,798	1,787	1,309	9,894
Total,	13,379	3,129	2,319	18,827

The public buildings in Washington
are numerous and many of
them elegant. Among these the first
in rank is the Capitol,—it stands on
a most beautiful eminence, commanding
a complete view of every part of
the City, and a considerable part of
the country around, with the Potomac,
as far as Alexandria.—It is of
the Corinthian order, and the most
magnificent edifice in the U. States.
It is situated near the western extremity
of the Capitol square; it is built of
free stone, and composed of a central
edifice and two wings, and is of the
following dimensions, viz:

                         

	Fe.	Inches.
Length of front,	350	5
Depth of wings,	121	6
Eastern projection,	65
Western projection,	85
Height of wings to top of balustrade,	70
Central Dome,	120
Length of Representatives' Hall,	96
Height of Representatives' Hall,	60
Length of Senate Chamber,	74
Height of Senate Chamber,	42
Height of Rotunda,	96
Diameter of Rotunda,	96

The Representatives' Hall is
in the second story of the south wings
and is semicircular in form. The
dome and galleries of the Hall, are
supported by pillars of variegated
marble from the banks of the Potomac.
This apartment is truly magnificent.
In front of the Speaker's
chair, and over the entrance into the
Chamber, stands an allegorical figure,
—formed of Italian marble, representing
History in the act of recording
the proceedings of the nation.
She stands on a winged car, which
seems to roll over a section of the
tetrestrial globe, exhibiting in basso
relievo the signs of the zodiac. The
wheel of the car is intended as the
face of a clock, which is to be placed
behind, and the front contains in basso
relieve a figure of Fame, and a
profile bust of Washington. Above
the Speaker's chair, is a colossal figure
of Liberty, in plaster, pointing
to the Hall below, and supported on
the right by an American Eagle—
and on the left by the Roman fasces,
which are partially enveloped in the
folds of a serpent. Immediately under
this figure, on the frize is carved
in alto relievo another Eagle in the
attitude of flying.

The Senate Chamber in the
north wing is of the same semi-circular

form, a screen of Ionic columns,
with capitols after those of the temple
of Minerva Polias, supports a gallery
to the east, and forms a lobby below,—and
a new gallery of iron pillars
and railings, of a light and elegant
structure, projects from the curved
walls,—the dome ceiling is enriched
with square caissons of stucco.
The intervals between the marble pilasters
in the wall are covered with
straw-colored drapery. Columns of
Potomac marble, support the eastern
gallery.

The Rotunda occupies the centre.
This is the principal entrance
from the east Portico and west Stair,
and leads to the legislative halls and
library, which contains 16,000 volumes.
This room is divided in its
circuit into pannels, by lofty Grecian
pilasters, which support a bold enlablature,
ornamented with a wreath
of olive.—A hemispherical dome rises
above, filled with large plan caissons,
like those of the Pantheon at
Rome. The pannels of the circular
walls are appropriated to paintings
and basso relievos of historical subjects.
This noble edifice was not
quite completed when the British army
under Gen. Ross, (who was afterwards
slain in battle near Baltimore)
in August, 1814, made a sudden
incursion, after defeating the
American troops at Bladensburg,
gained possession of the City, setting
fire to the Capitol, President's house,
public offices, &c. reducing the whole
to ashes, together with the valuable
library of Congress. The foundation
of the north wing was laid in the
presence of Gen. Washington on the
18th of Sept. 1923, and finished in
1800,—cost $480,262 57.—South
wing commenced in 1803, and finished
in 1808,—cost $308,808 41,—and
the centre, on the 24th of May, 1818,
being the anniversary of its destruction
by the British, and finished in
1827—cost $957,647 35. The building
covers an acre and a half, or 1820
square feet, exclusive of its enclosure
for fuel; and an elegant area and glacis
on the west front.

The square contains 22½ acres, embracing
a circumference of three-fourths
of a mile, and 185 feet, enclosed
by a substantial iron railing
with very neat gate-ways. Gravel
walks, and beautiful borders of shrubbery
and flowers, forming a delightful
promenade for the use of the citizens.
Opposite to the west front is
the botanic garden ground, a situation
well adapted for the purpose,
which it is supposed will be placed
under the care of the Columbian Institute.
"At the west front of the
Capitol is placed the beautiful marble
monument (which lately stood in the
navy yard) erected by the American
officers, to the memory of their brethren
who fell before Tripoli in the
year 1804. It is a small doric column,
with emblematical embellishments,
and crowned with an eagle in
the act of flying. Its base is sculptured
in basso relievos, representing
Tripoli,—its fortress,—the Mediterranean
and our fleet in the foreground
and on each angle stands an
appropriate marble figure. The one
represents Columbia directing the attention
of her children to History,
who is recording the daring and intrepid
action of the American heroes,
—the third represents Fame with a
wreath of laurel in one hand and a
pen in the other: and the fourth, Mercury,
or the God of commerce, with
his cornucopia and caduceus.

The President's House is two
stories high with a lofty basement, a
is 180 feet long and 85 wide. To
each end there is attached the necessary
offices, stables, coal and ice houses,
with a colonnade front rising to a
level with the main floor of the house
the roofs being flat these offices afford
a terrace suitable for a promenade. It
is built of white free stone.—The
building is 170 feet in front and 86
deep, and is crowned with a balus

trade; the roof is covered with copper,
and the entrance from the north
is through a lofty portico, which is
projected from the front, so as to leave
room for a carriage to pass under between
the platform and outer columns.

The house stands on an elevation
of 44 feet above the usual high water
of the river Potomac, in the centre of
a large reservation of ground of 20
acres. The front entrance faces north,
poan open square; and the garden
front to the south, possessing a delightful
water prospect, together with
a commanding view of the Capitol,
and the most important parts of the
City. The Virginia and Maryland
shores of the river, and Potomac
bridge, and of the opposite view to
the south, is extremely beautiful and
picturesque. It is an elegant building
and stands about one and a half
miles from the Capitol.

The entrance is subdivided into
halls, sets of apartments for the accommodation
of a large family, and
for the reception and entertainment of
numerous guests. Liberal provisions
have been made by Congress from
time to time for furnishing the building
in a style appropriate to its elegance
and uses to which it is dedicated.

There are on the same open area
on which the President's house is located,
four other buildings, quadrangular
in shape, two stories high, built
of brick and stuccoed. Of these the
two on the east are the Departments
of State and the Treasury[50]
—those
on the west, the Departments of War
and the Navy. The General Post
Office is on Pennsylvania Avenue,
and the Patent Office is kept in the
same building.

[51]
The City Hall is not yet completed,
but the plan is that of a noble
structure. Its front is 200 feet,—the
elevation of the north front 72 feet,—
its Rotunda is 66 feet in diameter,—
and Courtroom 70 by 40.

There is a Masonic Hall which is
a handsome edifice, lately erected
near the City Hall.

There are also four well supplied
market-houses,—an infirmary,—a female
orphan asylum,—a jail,—a theatre,—5
extensive hotels,—a foundry,
—several breweries,—a museum and
City Library.

There is a Penitentiary provided
for the use of the District, which is
under the following rules and regulations.

Of the reception and discharge of
convicts.

"1st. On the arrival of a convict,
immediate notice shall be given to the
Physician, who shall examine the
state of his health. He shall then be
stripped of his clothes, and clothed in
the uniform of the Prison, as hereafter
provided; being first bathed and
cleaned, and having his hair cut close,
as prescribed by law.

2d. He shall then be examined by
the Warden and Clerk, in the presence
of as many of the keepers as
can conveniently attend, that they may
become acquainted with his person
and countenance, and his name, height,
apparent age, alledged place of nativity,
complexion, color of hair and
eyes, and length of feet, to be accurately
measured, and all visible scars
or marks, the Court convicted in, and
crime found guilty of, and length of
sentence, shall be entered in a book
provided for that purpose, with such
other general description, as may tend
to his or her future identification;
and if the convict can write, his or
her signature shall be written under
the said description of the person.

3d. All the effects on the person
of the convict, as well as his clothes,
shall be taken from him, and preserved
and taken care of, if worth it, by
the Warden, to be restored to him on
his discharge.

4th. The convict shall be instructed
carefully by the officers, in the rules
and regulations of the Prison, by
which he is to be governed; and if in
health, shall there be put to work, at
such trade as he knows, if practicable;
if not, or he has no trade, the
Warden shall select such trade or employment
as seems best suited to his
strength and capacity.

5th. When a convict shall be discharged,
by the expiration of the term
for which he was sentenced, or by
pardon, he shall take off the Prison
uniform, and have the clothes brought
by him to the Prison, restored to him;
or, if they are unfit, a new, cheap,
and suitable laborer's dress, with the
other property or effects, if any, taken
from him on his commitment.

6th. When a prisoner is discharged,
it shall be the duty of the Warden,
if practicable, to learn from him
his former history, the means of moral
and religious instruction enjoyed
by him, the early temptations to crime,
to which he was exposed, or by which
he was assailed, his habits, predominant
passions, and prevailing vices,
and in what part of the country he
intends to fix his future residence; all
of which shall be entered by the
Clerk, in a book to be kept for that
purpose, together with his name, age,
and time of discharge.

7th. If the Inspectors and Warden
have been satisfied with the industry,
good order, and morality of his conduct,
they shall give him a certificate
to that effect.

Rations and clothing.

1st. The ration for each man per
day, shall be.

12 oz. of pork or 16 oz. of beef;

10 oz. of wheat flour, not bolted;

12 oz. of Indian meal;

½ gill of Molasses;

and 2 quarts of rye, 4 quarts of salt,
4 quarts of vinegar, 1½ oz. of pepper;
and 2½ bushels of potatoes to each 100
rations. The rations of the women
and boys, shall be as nearly in proportion,
as possible, taking into consideration
age, health, &c.

2d. Salt pork and salt beef shall be
furnished alternately, each three days;
and fresh beef once in each week, or
oftener, if the Warden shall see fit
and proper: all the articles to be of
good quality, and sound.

3d. The clothing for each convict
shall be a roundabout, or over jacket,
a vest and pantaloons, made of wool,
for the winter, and cotton or linen,
for the summer, with stripes running
round the body and limbs, a cap of
the same cloth, leather shoes, and
woollen socks, and shirts of coarse
cotton or linen. Each convict shall
have a mattrass, two blankets made
of coarse woollen yarn, not less than
1½ yards wide, and 2½ yards long, one
coarse sheet, of the same size. They
shall not be permitted to lie down, or
to rise up from their beds, until notice
given by the bell, for that purpose;
nor shall they be permitted to
sleep in their clothes.

4th. The hour for breakfast, from
the 20th March, to the 20th of September,
shall be 7 o'clock, A. M.;
and, from the 20th September, to the
20th March, 8 o'clock. The hour
for dinner shall be 1 o'clock, P. M.
The convicts shall be allowed forty-five
minutes at breakfast, and one
hour at dinner; at the expiration of
which time, they shall be turned out
of their cells, and again put to labor.

Duties of covvicts.

1st. Every convict shall be industrious,
in the performance of any duty
assigned to him, he shall labor diligently,
and in silence, and obey implicitly,
the orders of the officers of
the institution.

2. No convict shall secrete, or hide,
or carry about his person, any instrument
or thing, with intent to make his
escape, or in any other manner endeavor
to make his escape.

3d. No convict shall dispute, quarrel
with, or in any manner misbehave
to another convict, nor converse with

any other prisoner, without the leave,
or by the order of an officer; nor absent
himself from his work, nor look
at, or speak to visitors, nor go into
the prison yard, without orders, nor
go into the lodging rooms, after being
turned out in the morning, till ordered,
nor leave the hospital, when
unwell, and sent there.

4th. No convict shall drink any
spirituous, vinous, or fermented liquors,
unless prescribed by the physician,
when sick in the hospital, nor
game in any form, or by any device
whatsoever, nor chew or use tobacco.

5th. No convict shall write or receive
a letter, to, or from any person
whatever, nor have intercourse with
persons without the prison, by any
other means.

6th. No convict shall burn, or in
any other manner waste, destroy, or
injure, any raw materials, or manufactured
articles, or other public property,
nor deface or injure the prison,
or any of the buildings or fixtures
connected with it.

7th. No convict shall laugh, dance,
whistle, sing, run, jump, or do any
thing which will tend to alarm or disturb
the prison.

8th. Convicts shall always conduct
themselves towards the officers of the
institution, with deference and respect:
and cleanliness in their persons,
dress, and bedding, is required.

9th. When the convicts go to meals,
or to, or from the shops, they shall
proceed in regular order, in silence,
marching in the lock step, accompanied
by their proper officers. They
shall eat their meals, till a common
hall is provided, in their respective
cells.

Punishments.

1st. For the violation of any of the
foregoing rules and regulations, the
offenders shall be punished by the
Warden, with confinement, in a solitary
cell, on a diet of bread and water,
not exceeding twenty days, for
each offence; but subject, however, to
be mitigated or suspended by the visiting
inspector, at his next weekly
visitation; or by the Board of Inspectors,
at their monthly meeting; and
to whom such cases of punishment
shall be regularly reported, by the
Warden, with the nature, particulars,
and aggravation of the offences."

The Columbian College,—
founded by the Baptists, and incorporated
by Congress in 1821, went into
operation in 1822. It has an elevated
and pleasant situation to the north of
the city, one mile from the President's
house, and two and a half miles from
the Capitol. Its buildings consist of
a College edifice of 4 stories, 117 feet
by 46, having 48 rooms for students,
a chapel, &c.; another edifice of the
same dimensions is erected, and connected
with the first by a building of
one story, 80 feet by 40, designed for
a refrectory; a philosophical hall and
2 houses for professors. The College
has a good philosophical apparatus
and library of 4000 volumes. The
only public aid which it has received
was a grant from Congress of $25,000.

The following is the course of study.

Studies and text-books of the College
classes.

Freshman Class.—Græca Majora,
vol. I. begun; Livy, first 5 books;
Adams' Roman Antiquities; Cambridge
Course of Mathematics, comprising,
1. Lacroix's Arithmetic, 2.
Euler's Algebra, 3. Legendre's Geometry,
begun; Worcester's Geography,
Murray's Grammar; Walker's
Rhetorical Grammar; writing translations
of select portions of the Latin
and Greek Classics, and declamations
weekly; revision of some of the studies
required for admission.

Sophomore Class.—Grœca Majora,
vol. 1. finished; Irving on Composition;
Hedge's Logic; Legendre's
Geometry, finished; 4. Lacroix's Algebra;
5. Analytic Geometry, comprising
Plane and Spherical Trigonometry,
and the Application of Algebra

to Geometry, particularly to
Conic Sections, begun, S. E. Morse's
Geography; Tytler's General History,
Horace, Latina Excerpta; composition
and declamation weekly.

Junior Class.—Græca Majora, vol.
II. begun; Blair's Lectures on Rhetoric;
Paley's Natural Theology;
Analytic Geometry, finished; 6 Topography,
or the Application of Geometry
to Projections, Dialling, Mensuration
of heights and distances;
Navigation, Nautical Astronomy,
Surveying, Levelling, &c. Farrar's
Natural Philosophy, begun; Cicero
de Officiis, de Senectute, and de Amicitia;
Paley's Moral Philosophy;
Natural History; Chemistry, Campbell's
Philosophy of Rhetoric; declamation
and composition.

Senior Class.—Græca Majora, Vol.
II. finished; Cicero de Oratore, select
portions of Homer's Iliad; 7.
Differential and Integral Calculus;
Farrar's Natural Philosophy, finished;
Stewart's Philosophy of the
Mind; Paley's Evidences; Butler's
Analogy; Vattel's Law of Nations;
Constitution of the United States;
Kent's Commentaries, Vol. I. declamation
and composition.

The higher Classes are admitted to
courses of Lectures on Natural Philosophy,
Anatomy and Physiology,
Chemistry, Botany Moral and Intellectual
Philosophy.

The College year is divided into
two sessions, of about five months
each; the first, from the second Wednesday
of January, to the first Wednesday
of June, when the summer
vacation of two months occurs: the
second, from the first Wednesday of
August, to the third Wednesday of
December, when the annual commencement
takes place, and the winter
vacation of one month begins.

On occasions of great interest, the
students are permitted to hear the arguments
in the Supreme Court of the
United States, and the debates in
Congress.

A preparatory school is connected
with the College, in which pupils are
fitted for admission to the Freshman,
or higher classes, studies, reading,
writing, English Grammar, Arithmetic,
and Geography. Adams' Latin
Grammar, Historia Sacra, Cæsar's
Commentaries,—Virgil, Sallust and
Cicero's Select Orations, Valpy's
Greek Grammar, the Gospels, and
Jacobs' Greek Reader. For admission
to the Freshman class, a knowledge
of these studies, or an equivalent,
is required. Geometry, Alegebra
and other higher studies, are also
pursued in this school.

There are also connected with this
establishment a medical department,
which was organized in 1824, and a
large and commodious building has
been erected for the use of the Institution,
on 10th st. about equi-distant
from the Capitol and the President's
house. This building is large and
commodious, consisting of 3 elevated
stories, with a roof peculiarly constructed
for the admission of light into
all the apartments appropriated to
anatomical purposes.

On the ground floor is the Lecture
Room, Laboratory, &c. of the Professor
of Chemistry.

The second story contains the
rooms, public and private, of the Professors
of the Theory and Practice of
Medicine and of Materia Medica, and
of the Institutes of Medicine and Medical
Jurisprudence.

In the third is the Anatomical
Theatre, together with rooms occupied
by the Professors of Anatomy,
Surgery and Obstetrics.

The theatre is designed from the
most approved plans, and is conveniently
connected with the rooms situated
in the superior part of the building,
which are intended for the purpose
of Practical Anatomy. In relation
to this particular department of
the school, care has been taken to
provide space, light and security, together
with every other specific convenience

that may afford to the student
facility in prosecuting to advantage
this necessary part of his collegiate
studies.

The Professor of Anatomy has furnished
himself with all the Anatomical
preparations which are necessary
to his course, and with a large collection
of valuable drawings, by which
the structure, of those minute parts
which cannot be fully displayed within
the recent or proposed subject, are
exhibited to view on a magnified
scale.

The Professor of Chemistry is in
possession of an extensive apparatus,
by the aid of which, all the important,
experimental illustrations, belonging
to his department, are presented to the
class.

The ticket of each Professor is $15;
and all persons who have attended
two full Courses, at this School, are
entitled to attend succeeding Courses
free of expense.

The requisites for graduation are
similar to those required in the most
respectable institutions in the country.
The candidate must have studied 3
years under the direction of some regular
physician. He must have attended
each Professor two full Courses,
or he shall have attended one full
Course in this School, and one in
some other respectable medical institution.
He must have entered his
name with the Dean as a candidate
for graduation, and delivered to him
an inaugural dissertation on some
medical subject, 30 days before the
close of the session.

The lectures commences on the 1st
Monday in November, and continue
till the last of February. The fee for
the lectures on each branch, is $15 or
90 for the whole Course;—the matriculating
fee $5;—graduating fee
$20.

The "Columbian Institute," for the
promotion of the Arts and Sciences,
was formed at Washington in 1816,
and incorporated by Congress in
1818. It consists of 5 Classes, viz.
Mathematical Science, Physical Science,
Moral and Political Sciences,
General Literature and the fine arts.
The annual meetings are held on the
last Saturday in each year.

There are 3 Banks,—the Bank of
Washington,—capital $479,120,—The Bank of the Metropolis,—capital
$500,000, and the Patriatic
Bank,—capital $250,000. There are
19 houses of public worship, 3 Catholic,
4 Episcopalian, 3 Methodist, 4
Baptist, 1 Unitarian and 1 Friends',
also 2 public free schools, and a great
many other well conducted schools,
where the usual branches of education
are taught, as well as the dead Languages
and Mathematics. Schools for
young ladies, are also established in
various parts of the city; and there is
1 orphan asylum, constituted in 1815,
a colonization society (the mother) instituted
in 1817; 6 well organized
fire companies and a Masonic Lodge.
Regular lines of steam-boats ply from
Washington to Alexandria, Baltimore,
Norfolk, &c., and numerous stages run
to other places,—among which are 8
daily coaches to Baltimore. The
territory now Washington was formerly
a part of Prince George Co.
Md. and was ceded to the United
States in 1790. In 1800 it became
the seat of government, and 1802 was
incorporated as a city. In 1812 it
was remodelled, and finally chartered
in 1815. The government is composed
of a Mayor, 12 Aldermen, and
a common Council of 18 members;
these are elected by the citizens, the
latter for 1, and the Mayor and Aldermen
for 2 years.

The Navy Yard in this city was
established and organized by the act
of Congress, approved 27th March,
1804. It contains within its limits
about 28 acres; and is enclosed by
a high brick wall; with an entrance
from the north, through an arched
gateway, on each side of which are
accommodations for the marine officer

and guard, attached to the Yard. The
buildings for the officers are commodious,—and
appropriate, quarters for
the Commandant, Master Commandant,
Lieutenant, Sailing Master,
Surgeon and Boatswain for store
houses, shops, &c. and a Navy Store,
with a sail loft in the second story;
iron store, with a rigging loft in the
second story; Commandant's, and
other offices; labratory for the preparation
of ordinance fixtures and
stores, in the second story of which is
a beautiful and well arranged armory.
An armorer's shop for repairing
small arms; an iron foundry; a brass
and composition foundry; a chain cable,
and caboose shop; an anchor
shop, smithery and plumber's shop; a
block maker's shop, a saw mill, and
rooms for machinery work, &c. 2 timber
sheds on arched columns, one
with a joiner's shop, and the other
with a mould loft in the second story;
2 ship houses over foundations, and
ways for buildings and launching
ships of any size. All the buildings
are large and of substantial construction,
and afford every convenience for
building and equipping vessels for
sea. There is in the Yard a fresh
water dock for seasoning timber, &c.

For the purposes of the Navy there
are some valuable manufactories established
in the Yard; and for it generally,
are made anchors, chain cables,
cabooses, blocks, ordnance fixtures,
and stores of every kind; brass
and composition castings, &c. To
facilitate the operations in the manufacture
of these articles, much laborsaving
machinery has been erected;
the principal of which is a steam engine,
computed of 14 horse power, by
which there is kept in continual motion
489 feet of shafts, with their ordinary
wheels, drums, &c. to the
weight of 40 tons, 8 cwt., 1 qr. lbs.

By power derived from the operation
of the above shafts, a requisite
power and motion is conveyed to two
saw gates, each capable of receiving
and working any number of saws
sufficient for converting a log to any
dimensions by one passage through
the gate. Two hammers for forging
anchors, &c. 2 large hydraulic bellows,
2 circular saws, 1 turning and
boring lathe, which when required,
can be converted into a machine for
boring steam engine cylinders; 9
turning lathes, 5 grind stones, 4 drill
lathes for boring sheaves, &c. with
other machinery, required to facilitate
the operations of the several departments
in the adjoining buildings.

There is also, situated in the S. E.
corner of the Yard, a machine for
proving rope and chain cables; the
mechanical force of which is so powerful,
that two men can part a cable
suitable for a ship of the largest size.
Considerable as a strain must be, sufficient
to part a 24 inch cable, (or a
strain of 100 tons,) such is the accuracy
of the operation of the index, that
two ounces thrown into the scale suspended
from the end of the lever, will
sensibly affect the index, thereby afording
an opportunity of calculating
the strainon the cable with the greatest
precision.

About a mile above the Yard is a
large powder magazine, and a warehouse
for the storage of salt petre, &c.

There is generally employed in the
Yard for the manufactories, and as
laborers, about 200 men; when ships
are building or repairing, the number
is proportionably increased by the
employment of carpenters, caulkers,
boat-builders, mast makers, gun carriage
makers, sail makers, coopers,
&c. The Yard is beautifully situated
on the right bank of the Eastern
branch; the channel of which affords
an easy navigation for small frigates,
sloops of war, &c.

The United States' Arsenal
is situated at the southern extremity
of the city, on the point of land formed
by the junction of the Potomac and

Anacostia rivers. This position, being
at the head of ship navigation—
at the seat of government—and central
in a national point of view, was
selected in 1804, as a favorable site
for an Arsenal, intended for the manufacture
and depository of Military
Stores. For these purposes it was
exclusively devoted until 1812, when
immediately after the declaration of
war with England, strong batteries
were erected on the sides, approachable
by water, both, to protect the Arsenal
and guard the river channels leading
to the Navy Yard and other parts
of the city. From this time, the place
was known by the name Fort Washton;
notwithstanding its entire want
of defence on the land side; which
made it necessary, after the British
army had entered Washington, for
the American troops to vacate it.—
This was done during the night of
the 24th of August, 1814, after burning
the work shops and removing as
much property as time would permit.
The next morning a detachment of
500 British troops marched to the
fort, and commenced the destruction
of whatever had been left in a serviceable
state. Among other things,
were a number of 18 pounder guns,
left by the garrison in the haste of
departure, mounted in battery and unspiked—these
they attempted to destroy
by discharging one against the
trunnion of another; but, most unfortunately
for the operators, the first
piece discharged happened to be
pointed in the direction of a well near
by into which, some of the wadding
of the gun was thrown by the discharge;
this communicated fire to a
large quantity of powder, previously
placed there by the garrison to prevent
its falling into the hands of the
enemy, and a tremendous explosion
was the immediate consequence; by
which one half of the 500 men, who
entered the place 30 minutes before,
with all the pride and hilarity resulting
from victory, were killed and
wounded. Among the killed, was a
Captain Frazer, acting Adjutant General
of the British army.

In the autumn of 1814, the work
shops were rebuilt; and the manufacture
and preparation of army supplies
went on as before. In 1816 a large
store house and officers' quarters
were erected, forming the north front
of the fort. In 1823-24, the garrison
was withdrawn—the ramparts removed,
and permanent buildings exclusively
for Arsenal purposes erected
on the same ground, making, with
those built in 1816, the four sides of
a rectangular parallelogram. According
to present arrangements,
there are two buildings for the deposite
of muskets, rifles, pistols, swords
and other small arms, 3 for the dwellings
of officers and artificers; and 4
large work shops, besides other
smaller buildings. One of the shops
contains a steam engine which drives
various machines, made use of in repairing
small arms, and in manufacturing
artillery carriages. Of the
latter, a considerable number are annually
made at the place—mostly for
the use of the militia.

The Arsenal contains many thousand
arms, consisting of all the usual
varieties. They are neatly arranged
in open frames, and being kept in perfect
order, present an imposing appearance.
Forty thousand soldiers
can be fully armed and equipped at
an hour's notice. On the plain in
front of the Arsenal, are 855 pieces of
ordnance, including cannon, howitzers
and mortars of various calibres.—
Among them are seen trophies of the
late and revolutionary wars, captured at
Bennington, Saratoga, Yorktown and
Bridgewater.

There is also a cannon, relick of
the revolutionary contest, made in
Virginia of hammered iron. It bears
the name of "Queen of France,"
which was marked upon it at that period.

The geological formation of the
Arsenal grounds, does not differ from
other parts of the city. From the

surface there is an average of 10 feet
in depth of ferruginous clay, resting
on alternate horizontal strata of sand
and gravel, in which are found detached
parcels of bog iron ore.

The following statement of expenditures,
(by the United States) in
Washington, to January 1st, 1830,
includes the entire expenses of rebuilding
the public edifices at Washington,
which were destroyed by fire
in 1814. The building of jails for
Alexandria county and Washington
county,—the purchase of a C. H. for
Washington county,—the erection of
a United States' Penitentiary, and a
variety of other items, not chargable
to the ales of city lots.

                                                                                       

Prior to 1816.
Purchase of ground for public purposes,	38,697.92
Purchase of stone quarries,	30,225.31
Surveying and marking boundaries,	67,469.76
Opening and improving streets,	33,646.82
Bridges over Rock, Tiber and James' Creeks,	15,041.99
Building wharfs,	9,130.17
Building sheds for workmen,	4,681.23
Digging canal from James to Tiber creek,	5,670.61
Interest on loans, commissions, &c.	165,533.93
Salaries, &c.	119,906.65
		490,004.39
Capitol, &c.
Prior to burning in August, 1814,	788,071.28
From 1814 to January 1, 1830,	1,704,250.27
Temporary Committee rooms,	2,771.96
Enclosing the square,	71,602.57
Alterations in the Capitol,	5,507.84
Graduating and improving the square,	20,716.99
Allegorical clock,	2,000.00
Furnishing committee rooms in centre building,	3,579.30
		2,596,500.21
President's House, &c.
Prior to burning in August, 1814,	333,207.04
From 1814 to January 1, 1830,	300,072.37
Alterations,	1,945.63
Covering the roof,	5,405.32
Erecting walls and gates,	5,887.73
Graduating and improving the square,	19,009.51
		665,527.60
Offices.
Prior to burning in August, 1814,	93,013.82
From 1814 to January, 1830,	268,850.68
		361,865.50
Contingencies between 1814 and 1820,	15,673.02
Engine Houses, Engines, &c.	12,917.37
Paved footways,	9,064.04
Purchase of part of the City Hall, for Court, &c.	10,000.00
Purchase of square 249, for water,	1,246.94
Jail of Washington County,	4,746.20
Jail of Alexandria County,	11,186.03
Penitentiary of the District,	76,127.23
		140,960.83
Total,		$4,254,858.53

Washington County is bounded
N. W. and N. by Montgomery Co.
Md.,—N. E. by Prince George's Co.
Md.,—S. E. by the Eastern branch of
Potomac, and S. W. by the main
stream of Potomac. In form it approaches
a parallelogram, 8 ms. in
length from S. E. to N. W.; mean
breadth 5¼ ms.; area 42 sq. ms. or
42-100ths of the whole district, extending
in lat. from 38° 51′, to 38°
58′ nearly, and in long from 0° 6′ 6″
E. to 0° 03′ W. the Capital. The
surface of this Co. is very finely diversified
by hill and dale. Rock
creek enters near the northern angle,
and meandering in a general direction
from N. to S., enters Potomac
between the city of Washington and
Georgetown. The slope of the whole
county is indeed from N. to S., and
the descent very rapid. The soil
generally thin, though some favorable
exceptions exist. Exclusive of
W. C. and Georgetown, it contained
in 1830 a population of 2,994. The
entire population of the two cities
and the county, was in 1830, 30,262.

The Civil List of the United
States, though relating rather to the
whole Union, than particularly to the
District of Columbia, is a matter of
such general interest, that we will insert
it here.

CIVIL LIST,

Shewing the nature and extent of the
duties of each officer of the General
Government of the U. States,
and their salaries—with the number
of clerks employed in each department,
and the aggregate
amount of their salaries

The Department of State was created
by the act of 15th September,
1798. Previously to that period, by
act of 27th July, 1789, it was denominated
the Department of Foreign Affairs.
The Secrtary, is ex-officio, a
Commissioner of the Sinking Fund,
and, by usage, a member of the Cabinet.
He conducts the negotiation,
of all treaties between the United
States and foreign powers; and corresponds
officially with the public
Ministers of the United States at Foreign
Courts, and with the Ministers
of Foreign Powers resident in the
United States.—He performs, also
the main duties of what, in other Governments,
is called the Home Department.—Salary,
$6,000.

The office of Secretary of the
Treasury was created by act of the
2d of September, 1789. He superintends
all the fiscal concerns of the
Government, and, upon his own responsibility,
recommends to Congress
measures for improving the condition
of the revenue. He holds his office
at the will of the President; is, by
usage, a member of the Cabinet; and,
ex-officio, one of the Commissioners
of the Sinking Fund.—Salary, $6,000.

Accounts of the government are finally
settled at the Treasury Department
for which purpose it is divided
into the office of the Secretary, (who
superintends the whole, but who is
not therefore, absolute, with respect to
the power of adjusting claims or of
paying money;) into two Comptrollers,
five Auditors, a Register, and a
Treasurer.

The First Comptroller examines
all accounts settled by the First and
Fifth Auditors, and certifies the balances
arising thereon to the Register,
countersigns all warrants drawn by
the Seceretary of the Treasury, if
warranted by law; reports to the Secretary
the official forms to be used
in the different offices for collecting
the public revenue; and the manner
and form of keeping and stating the
accounts of the several persons employed
therein. He superintends the
preservation of the public accounts
subject to his revision, and provides
for the regular payment of all moneys
which may be collected.—Salary,
$3,500.

The Second Comptroller examines
all accounts settled by the Second,

Third, and Fourth Auditors, certifies
the balances to the Secretary of the
Department in which the expenditure
has been incurred; countersigns all
requisitions drawn by the Secretaries
of the War and Navy Departments,
warranted by law; reports to the Secretaries
the official forms to be used
in the different offices for distributing
the public money in those Departments,
and the manner and form of
keeping and stating the accounts of
the persons employed therein. It is
also his duty to superintend the preservation
of the public accounts subject
to his revision.—Salary, $3,000.

The First Auditor receives all accounts
accruing in the Treasury Department,
and in relation to the revenue
and the civil list; and, after examination
certifies the balance, and
transmits the accounts, with the vouchers
and certificates, to the First Comptroller,
for his decision thereon.—Salary,
$3,000.

The Second Auditor receives and
settles all accounts for the pay and
clothing of the Army, subsistence of
officers, bounties, and premiums, Medical
and Hospital Department, and
National Armories, arming and equipping
the militia, Ordnance Department,
Indian Department, Purchasing
Department, the contingent expenses
of the War Department, and
all store accounts growing out of the
foregoing. He examines the accounts,
certifies the balances, and transmits
the accounts with the vouchers and
certificates, to the Second Comptroller,
for his decision upon them.—Salary,
$3,000.

The Third Auditor receives all accounts
relative to the subsistence of
the Army, the Quartermaster's Department,
and generally all accounts
of the War Department, other than
those referred to the Second Auditor.
He examines the accounts, certifies
the balances, and transmits the accounts,
with the vouchers and certificates
to the Second Comptroller for
his decision upon them.—Salary,
$3,000.

The Fourth Auditor receives all
accounts accruing in the Navy Department,
or relative to it. He examines
the accounts, certifies the balances,
and transmits the accounts with
the vouchers and certificate, to the
Second Comptroller, for his decision
upon them.—Salary, $3,000.

The Fifth Auditor receives all accounts
accruing in, or relative to, the
Department of State, the General Post
Office, and those arising out of Indian
Trade, examines them, certifies the
balances, and transmits the accounts
with the vouchers and certificate, to
the First Comptroller for his decision
upon them. To the Fifth Auditor,
also, has been assigned the duties of
Commissioner of the Revenue, which
are considerable, embracing a superintendence
of the light house establishment,
and a correspondence with
and superintendence over, the collectors
of the direct tax and internal revenue.—Salary,
$3,000.

To this office has been assigned by
the President also, the duty of agent
of the Treasury, under the act of 15th
May, 1820, for conducting all suits at
law, in which the United States are
concerned.

The Treasurer receives and keeps
the money of the United States, and
disburses the same upon warrants
drawn by the Secretary of the Treasury,
countersigned by the proper
Comptroller and Auditor, and recorded
by the Register.—Salary, $3,000.

The Register of the Treasury
keeps all accounts of the receipts and
expenditures of the public money,
and of all debts due to or from the
United States; he keeps the District
Tonnage Accounts of the United
States; he receives from the Comptrollers
the accounts which have been
finally adjusted, and, with their vouchers
and certificates, preserves them;
he records all warrants for the receipt
or payment of moneys at the Treasury,

certifies the same thereon, and
transmits to the Secretary of the
Treasury copies of the certificates of
balances of accounts adjusted. By
an act of the 10th February, 1820, it
is made the duty of the Register of
the Treasury, to prepare statistical
accounts of the commerce of the United
States, to be laid before Congress.
—Salary, $3,000.

The War Department was created
by act of 7th August, 1789. The
Secretary of War, at first, had the superintendence
of Naval Affairs. On
the 30th of April, 1798, however, a
separation took place, and a Navy
Department was established. The
Secretary of War superintends every
branch of the military department;
and is, by usage, a member of the
cabinet. He holds his office at the
will of the President. Attached to
the War Department, and under the
immediate direction of the Secretary,
are an Engineer Office, an Ordnance
Office, an Office for the Commissary
General of Subsistence, a Paymaster
General's Office, a Surgeon General's
Office, a Bounty Land Office,
and a Pension Bureau. All these
offices, together with the Head-Quarters
of the Commanding General,
(Major General Macomb,) and the
Adjutant General's and Quartermaster
General's Offices, are located at
Washington.—Salary, $6,000.

The office of Secretary of the Navy
was created by act of the 30th of
April, 1798. He issues all orders to
the Navy of the United States, and
superintends the concerns of the Naval
Establishment generally. A
Board of Navy Commissioners was
instituted by act of 7th February,
1815, to aid him in the discharge of
his duties. The Secretary of the
Navy is, by usage, a member of the
cabinet, and holds his office at the will
of the President.—Salary, $6,000.

General Post Office.—This Department
is under the superintendence
of a Post Master General, who is aided
in the discharge of his duties by
two Assistants. He has the sole appointment
of all Postmasters throughout
the United States; the making of
all contracts for carrying the mails;
and, in short, the control, according
to law, for every thing relating to the
institution. Since the commencement
of President Jackson's administration,
he is a member of the cabinet.—
Salary, $6,000.

Board of Commissioners for the
Navy.—This Board was established
by act of 7th of February, 1815. It
consists of three Captains of the Navy,
in rank not below that of a Post
Captain. The Board is by law, attached
to the office of the Secretary
of the Navy, and under his superintendence;
discharges all the ministerial
duties of that office relative to
the procurement of naval stores and
materials, and the construction, armament,
equipment and employment of
vessels of war, as well as other matters
connected with the Naval Establishment
of the United States."

The number of Clerks employed
in the State Department, including
those in the patent office, with three
messengers, are 20—whose joint salaries
amount to $22,000.

In the Treasury Department there
are employed ten clerks with one
messenger.—Their joint salaries are
$13,750.

In the First Comptroller's Office
there are employed fifteen clerks with
one messenger—whose joint salaries
amount to $18,450.

In the Second Comptroller's there
are employed eight clerks, with one
messenger—their joint salaries amount
to $10,300.

In the First Auditor's Office there
are employed eleven clerks, with one
messenger—whose salaries amount
to $13,000.

In the Second Auditor's Office there
are employed fourteen clerks—whose
joint salaries amount to $16,350.

In the Third Auditor's Office there

are employed sixteen clerks, with one
messenger—whose joint salaries amount
to $20,600.

In the Fourth Auditor's Office there
are employed fifteen clerks—whose
joint salaries amount to $17,050.

In the Fifth Auditor's Office there
are employed twelve clerks—whose
joint salaries amount to $14,400.

In the Treasurer's Office there are
employed five clerks—whose joint
salaries amount to $6,050.

In the Register's Office there are
employed twenty clerks, with two
messengers, whose joint salaries amount
to $23,500.

Commissioner General of the Land
Office, with a salary $3,000.—In this
office there are employed eighteen
clerks, with one messenger—their
joint salaries being $20,150.

In the War Department, there are
employed fifteen clerks, with one
messenger whose joint salaries are
$19,850.

In the Adjutant General's Office
are employed two clerks—their joint
salaries being $2,950.

In the Paymaster General's Office
there are employed three clerks and
one messenger—their, joint salaries
being $4,600.

In the Ordnance Department there
are employed three clerks—whose
salaries amount to $2,950.

In the Surgeon General's Office,
there are employed one clerk with a
salary of $1,150.

In the Quartermaster General's
Office there are employed two clerks
—their joint salaries being $2,150.

In the Navy Department there are
employed seven clerks, whose salaries
amount to $9,400.

There are three Navy Commissioners,
whose joint salaries amount
to $10,500. The Secretary's salary
is $2,000. In this office are employed
six clerks—their joint salaries
amounting to $6,750—also a Draftsman,
whose salary is $1,000, and a
Messenger at $700.

There are two Navy Constructors,
whose salaries amount to $5,300, and
a Naval Storekeeper—at $1,700 per
annum.

Besides the General Postmaster
there are two Assistant Postmaster
Generals, whose salaries amount to
$5,000—and in the General Post Office
there are employed forty-four
clerks and one messenger—whose
salaries amount to 40,200.

Addenda to the Gazetteer of Virginia and District of Columbia.

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS OF VA.

By an act of Assembly, 1833, the counties and towns of this state were
divided into 21 Congressional Districts, in the manner following, to wit:

District 1st—Contains the counties of Norfolk, Princess Anne, Nansemond,
borough of Norfolk, Elizabeth City, and Ise
Wight.

District 2d—Is composed of Sussex, Southampton, Surry, Prince
George, Greensville and the town of Petersburg.

District 3d—Is composed of Powhatan, Amelia, Chesterfield, Goochland
and Nottoway.

District 4th—Is composed of Brunswick, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg and
Dinwiddie.

District 5th—Is composed of Prince Edward. Charlotte, Buckingham
and Cumberland.

District 6th—Is composed of Campbell, Halifax, and Pittsylvania.

District 7th—Is composed of Franklin, Bedford, Patrick and Henry.

District 8th—Is composed of York, Mathews, James City, Gloucester,
Warwick, Accomac, Northampton and the City of Williamsburg.

District 9th—Is composed of Essex, Caroline, King and Queen, King
William and Middlesex.

District 10th—Is composed of Westmoreland, Richmond, Lancaster, Northumberland,
King George, Stafford and Prince William.

District 11th—Is composed of Henrico, Charles City, Hanover, City of
Richmond and New Kent.

District 12th—Is composed of Albemarle, Nelson, Fluvanna, Louisa and
Amherst.

District 13th—Is composed of Spottsylvania, Culpeper, Rappahannock,
Madison and Orange.

District 14th—Is composed of Loudoun, Fauquier and Fairfax.

District 15th—Is composed of Morgan, Jefferson, Berkley, Hampshire and
Frederick.

District 16th—Is composed of Rockingham, Shenandoah, Page, Hardy, Pendleton
and Bath.

District 17th—Is composed of Rockbridge, Augusta, Alleghany, Botetourt,
Montgomery and Floyd.

District 18th—Is composed of Wythe, Washington, Grayson, Scott, Lee,
Smyth, Tazewell and Russell.

District 19th—Is composed of Fayette, Nicholas, Greenbrier, Monroe, Giles,
Logan, Kanawha and Cabell.

District 20th—Is composed of Harrison, Lewis, Wood, Mason, Jackson,
Randolph and Pocahontas.

District 21st—Is composed of Monongalia, Preston, Tyler, Ohio and
Brooke.

ELECTORAL DISTRICTS.

By act of Assembly, 1833, this state was divided into twenty-three Electoral
Districts—to provide for the appointment of Electors to choose a President
and Vice-President of the United States, and are as follows, viz:

District 1st—Norfolk, Princess Anne, Nansemond, the borough of Norfolk,
Elizabeth City and the Isle of Wight, shall form one
district.

District 2d—The counties of Sussex, Southampton, Surry, Prince George,
Greensville, and the town of Petersburg, shall form another
district.

District 3d—The counties of Powhatan, Amelia, Chesterfield, Goochland
and Nottoway, shall form another district.

District 4th—The counties of Brunswick, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg and
Dinwiddie, shall form another district.

District 5th—The counties of Prince Edward, Charlotte, Buckingham,
Cumberland and Fluvanna, shall form another district.

District 6th—The counties of Halifax, Campbell and Bedford, shall form
another district.

District 7th—The counties of Pittsylvania, Franklin, Henry and Patrick,
shall form another district.

District 8th—The counties of York, Mathews, James City, Gloucester,
Warwick, Accomack and Northampton, shall form another
district.

District 9th—The counties of King & Queen, King William, Essex, Caroline
and Middlesex, shall form another district.

District 10th—The counties of Westmoreland, Richmond, Lancaster, Northumberland,
King George, Stafford and Prince William,
shall form another district.

District 11th—The counties of Henrico, Charles City, Hanover, New Kent,
and the City of Richmond, shall form another district.

District 12th—The counties of Albemarle, Nelson, Louisa and Amherst,
shall form another district.

District 13th—The counties of Spottsylvania, Culpeper, Rappahannock,
Madison and Orange, shall form another district.

District 14th—The counties of Fauquier, Loudoun and Fairfax, shall form
another district.

District 15th—The counties of Jefferson, Berkley, Morgan and Hampshire
shall form another district.

District 16th—The counties of Frederick, Shenandoah and Page, shall form
another district.

District 17th—The counties of Hardy, Preston, Randolph, Pendleton and
Rockingham, shall form another district.

District 18th—The counties of Augusta, Rockbridge, Bath and Alleghany,
shall form another district.

District 19th—The counties of Greenbrier, Nicholas, Pocahontas, Fayette
and Monroe, shall form another district.

District 20th—The counties of Botetourt, Giles, Montgomery, Grayson,
Floyd and Wythe, shall form another district.

District 21th—The counties of Washington, Tazewell, Russell, Scott, Lee
and Smyth, shall form another district.

District 22d—The counties of Kanawha, Mason, Cabell, Logan, Lewis,
Harrison and Jackson, shall form another district.

District 23d—The counties of Brooke, Ohio, Tyler, Monongalia and Wood,
shall form another district.

2. Be it further enacted, That the elections for president and vice-president
of the United States shall be held and conducted in all respects, according
to the provisions of the said act to provide for the appointment of electors
to choose a president and vice-president of the United States, passed at
the last session of the general assembly: Provided only, That the voters
in said elections shall each vote for twenty-three electors, which number
shall be composed of one person from each electoral-districts, as arranged
by this act.

3. Be it further enacted, That if the executive of this commonwealth
shall fail to appoint commissioners to conduct the election of electors of president
and vice-president within any county or corporation of this commonwealth,
or if no one of the said commissioners so appointed, should attend
at the time and place prescribed by law, then it shall and may be lawful for
any two justices of the peace of the county within which the election is to
be holden, to conduct the said election, and to make returns thereof in the
same manner as if they had been regularly appointed and commissioned
for that purpose by the executive of this commonwealth. Provided, however,
That the said justices of the peace shall take the oath prescribed by

law for commissioners appointed by the executive for conducting such election,
before they shall be authorized to perform the duties prescribed by this
act.

VIRGINIA ELECTION LAWS.

"The election of delegates, and of the eight senators for one of the four
classes of senatorial districts, in the room of those who will be annually displaced,
shall be held in the several counties, cities, towns and boroughs on
their respective court days in the month of April of every future year.

2. No elector shall vote more than once for any senator in the same district,
at any one election.

3. Every white male citizen of this commonwealth resident therein, aged
twenty-one years and upwards (other than such as have refused to give assurance
of fidelity to the commonwealth) being possessed, or whose tenant
for years, at will or at sufferance is possessed of twenty-five acres of land,
with a house, the superficial content of the foundation whereof is twelve feet
square, or equal to that quantity, and a plantation thereon; or fifty acres of
unimproved land; or a lot or part of a lot of land in a city or town established
by act of general assembly, with a house thereon of the like superficial
content or quantity, having in such land an estate of freehold at the
least, and (unless the title shall have come to him by descent, devise, marriage
or marriage settlement) having been so possessed six months, shall be
qualified to vote for delegates to serve in general assembly, for the county,
city, town, borough or election district respectively, in which the land lieth.
If the fifty acres of land, being one entire parcel, lie in several counties, the
holder shall vote in that county wherein the greater part of the land lieth
only; and if the twenty-five acres of land, being one entire parcel lie in several
counties, the holder shall vote in that county wherein the house standeth
only. In right of land held by parceners, joint tenants, or tenants in
common, qualified to exercise the right of suffrage according to the former
constitution and laws, but one vote shall be given by all the holders capable
of voting, who may be present, and agree to vote for the same candidate or
candidates, unless the quantity of land, in case partition had been made
thereof, be sufficient to entitle every holder present to vote separately; or
unless some one or more of the holders may lawfully vote in right of another
estate or estates in the same county; in which case, the others may vote, if
holding solely, they might have voted.

4. Every white male citizen of the commonwealth, resident therein, aged
twenty-one years and upwards, being qualified to exercise the right of suffrage,
according to the fourteenth section of the third article of the constitution,
shall be qualified to vote for members of the general assembly, in the
manner therein prescribed. If the land in the said constitution mentioned
and referred to, being one entire parcel, lie in several counties, and be insufficient
in value to entitle the person interested therein to vote in all the
said counties, such person, whether he be possessed of an estate of freehold
or leasehold; whether he be tenant in common, joint tenant or parcener,
shall vote in that county wherein the greater part of the land lieth only;
and any citizen claiming the right to vote, in consequence of being entitled
to a reversion, or vested remainder in fee, expectant on an estate for life or

lives, in land, which, being one entire parcel, may happen to lie in several
counties, and be insufficient in value to entitle such citizen to vote in all the
said counties, shall vote in that county wherein the greater part of the land
lieth only. In case of two or more tenants in common, joint tenants or parceners,
in possession, reversion or remainder, having an interest in land,
the value whereof shall be insufficient to entitle them all to vote, and who,
not being qualified to exercise the right of suffrage, according to the former
constitution and laws, have had that right conferred upon them by the present
constitution, their vote or votes shall in such case be given in manner
following, that is to say: if the value of land be sufficient to entitle them to
one vote only, the same shall be given by all the said tenants in common,
joint tenants or parceners, capable of voting, who may be present, and agree
to vote for the same candidate or candidates. If the value of the land be sufficient
to entitle them to more than one vote, the votes to which they are entitled,
shall be given by all the said tenants in common, joint tenants or parceners,
capable of voting, who may be present, and agree as to the candidate
or candidates to whom the said votes shall be given. No one of any
number of such tenants in common, joint tenants or parceners, shall give
more than one vote at the same election; nor shall any greater number of
votes be given by such tenants in common, joint tentants or parceners, than
the value of the undivided land held by them may entitle them to give, according
to the constitution. When a vote or votes shall have been given as
aforesaid, by such tenants in common, joint tenants or parceners, the whole
of the said tenants in common, joint tenants and parceners, not having been
present, and not having agreed to the said vote or votes, if he or they, who
were absent at the giving of the said vote or votes, should afterwards appear
at the said election, before the taking of the votes is at an end, and to the officer
conducting the said election, object to the said votes as given, the same
shall be stricken from the poll. When an election shall be held at different
places in the same county, and such tenants in common, joint tenants or
parceners, entitled to only one vote, shall be polled at different places, and
for a different candidate or candidates, their votes shall be stricken from the
poll. When an election shall be held at different places in the same county,
and such tenants in common, joint tenants or parceners, entitled to give
more votes than one, shall give their votes at different places, and in opposition
to each other, the said votes shall be stricken from the poll, if it shall
appear that all the said tenants in common, joint tenants or parceners, did
not agree, before such votes were polled, to whom they should be given.
In case of two or more of such tenants in common, joint tenants or parceners
in possession, reversion or remainder, having interest in land, the value
whereof shall be insufficient to entitle them all to vote, if some one or
more of them may lawfully vote in right of another estate or estates in the
same county, the others may vote in the same manner as if he or they,
holding such other estate or estates in the same county, had no interest
whatever in the undivded land belonging to the said tenants in common
joint tenants or parceners.

5. If any person shall vote a second time at any election for members of
general assembly; or if any person shall claim and exercise the right of suffrage,
in consequence of having paid a part of the revenue of the commonwealth,
with which he may have been, by his own procurement, falsely assessed;
each and every such person shall, for his offence, forfeit and pay to
the commonwealth, for the benefit of the literary fund, the sum of thirty three

dollars thirty-three cents, recoverable by motion in the superior or inferior
court of law held for the county, city, town or borough, in which the offence
is committed, in the name and on behalf of the president and directors of the
literary fund, provided ten days notice shall have been given of such motion.

6. Every elector going to, abiding at, and returning from, an election,
shall be privileged from arrest one day for every twenty miles he shall necessarily
travel, exclusive of the day of election: and any process against
such elector, executed during such privilege, shall be void.

7. And it shall be the duty of the sheriff or other officer conducting such
election, not to enter on the poll the vote of any person who may offer to
vote, unless he believes such person to be qualified to vote, or unless such
person shall take an oath, which the said sheriff or other officer conducting
said election, is hereby authorised to administer, or make solemn affirmation
before the said sheriff or other officer conducting the said election, in
this form "I, A B do swear, (or do solemnly affirm, as the case may be,)
that I do in my conscience believe myself to be duly qualified to vote for a
delegate or delegates for the county, city, town, borough, or election district
of      , or for a senator for the district of which the county, city, town,
borough, or election district of       is a part, to serve in the general assembly
of this commonwealth: So help me God." Of which oath or affirmation,
a note shall be made in the poll book opposite, and referring to, the
name of the person swearing or affirming. The making such oath or affirmation,
or any other oath or affirmation by this act required, falsely, shall
be perjury.

8. In the case of an election of a delegate or delegates for a county, city,
town, or borough, the candidate or candidatrs appearing to have the greatest
number of votes, shall be considered elected; or when the greatest number
of votes for several candidates, if it be an election of a delegate or delegates
for a county, city, town or borough, shall be equal to one another, the sheriff
or other officer who conducted the election at the court-house, may and
shall declare which of the candidates he will elect, notwithstanding his vote
as an elector may have been previously entered on the poll.

9. The officers conducting elections at the court-house of each county,
city, town, or borough, within the senatorial districts of this commonwealth,
shall meet at the times and places herein above directed, and from the said
polls of their respective counties, cities, towns and boroughs, shall certify as
the senator elected, the man who shall have the greatest number of votes in
the whole district; and if the greatest number of votes for several persons
to be a senator be equal to one another, and the votes of the returning officers
be equal also, it shall be decided by a lot taken by such returning officers
at their said meeting, a copy of which certificate shall be forthwith set
up by them at the front door of the court-house of the county, city, town, or
borough, at which their said meeting may be held, informing the public of
the name of the senator elected in manner aforesaid, and another copy
thereof shall be by them delivered to the clerk of the said county, city, town,
or borough, to be by him safely kept and preserved in his office, and the
said clerk shall suffer any candidate or elector, at any time, to take a copy
thereof.

10. No elector shall be admitted to a poll a second time at one and the
same election, although at the first time he shall not have voted for as many
candidates as by law he might have voted for. If the electors, who appear,
be so numerous, that they cannot all be polled before sun-setting, or if by
rain or rise of water courses, many of the electors may have been hindered

from attending, the sheriff, or under sheriff, or other proper officer conducting
such election at the court-house, and the superintendents of any separate
poll, (if such cause shall exist at any separate poll, for the adjournment
thereof,) may and shall, by request of any one or more of the candidates or
their agents, adjourn the proceeding on the poll until the next day, and so
from day to day, for three days, (Sundays excluded,) giving public notice
thereof by proclamation, at the door of the court-house or other place of
holding such election, and shall, on the last day of the election, conclude the
poll according to the directions aforesaid; but if the poll to be held at any
such election, is not closed on the first day, the same shall be kept open two
days thereafter.

11. In all cases whatsoever, where by law the sheriff is directed to hold
an election, in case of the death of the said sheriff, or other officer, whose
duty it shall be to conduct such election, or where there shall be no such
officer, the senior magistrate, and in his absence, inability, or incapacity, by
being a candidate, the second, and so in succession to the junior magistrate,
is hereby authorised empowered and required to perform the duties of the
sheriff, prescribed by law in similar cases. And if the mayor of any town,
city or borough, entitled to representation in the general assembly, shall, by
death or any other cause whatever, be unable to attend and conduct the
election according to the provisions of this act, the recorder, or if there be
no recorder, or he be unable to attend, the senior alderman capable of attending,
shall attend and conduct such election according to law.

12. On complaint to either house of assembly, of an undue election or return
of any member to their house, which complaint shall be lodged against
such member within ten days after the meeting of the assembly, where the
contested election shall have been held at the stated annual period, or within
thirty days after the day on which the election shall have commenced, (if
it be the election of a delegate,) or within thirty days after the day on which
the last election in the senatorial district shall have commenced, (if it be the
election of a senator,) where such election shall have been held in consequence
of an intermediate vacancy, and such house shall be in session, or if
not in session, within twenty days after the meeting of the general assembly,
such house shall forthwith appoint some day for trying the same, as shortly
as shall be consistent with fair enquiry, whereof notice shall be given by
the speaker to the party against whom the complaint is, if he be absent,
which day of trial may be lengthened from time to time, on good cause
shewn to the house, and notice to the absent party. On the day appointed
for the trial, the committee of privileges and elections shall proceed in the
said disputed election, and report to the house of which they are members,
their opinion thereon, before they proceed to any other business; and the
said house shall, on receipt of the said report, immediately proceed to determine
thereon, and either confirm or disagree to such report, as to them
shall seem just. If any person sworn before the said committee, shall give
or withhold any evidence, under such circumstances as would have constituted
the same to be perjury, if done in the presence of a court of record, the
same shall be deemed perjury. If upon such trial, in the case of a contested
election of a delegate, it shall appear that equal numbers of qualified
electors shall have voted for the petitioner and the sitting member, and the
officer who conducted the election at the court-house of the county, city,
town, or borough, (if it be the election of a delegate from a county, city,
town, or borough,) or a majority of the returning officers of the election district,
(if it be the election of a delegate from an election district,) shall swear, or

solemnly affirm, that if such equality had appeared at the election in the
former case, or at the time of their meeting to make the return in the latter
case, he or they would have declared the petitioner elected, such petitioner
shall be deemed duly elected, and his name, instead of the name of the sitting
member, (which shall be erased,) shall be inserted in the certificate of return.
If upon such trial, in the case of a contested election of a senator, it shall
appear that equal numbers of qualified electors shall have voted for the petitioner
and the sitting member, and a majority of the officers who made the
return upon such election, shall swear, or solemnly affirm, that if such equality
had appeared at the time of their meeting to make the said return, they
would have declared the petitioner elected, such petitioner shall be deemed
duly elected, and his name, instead of the name of the sitting member,
(which shall be erased,) shall be inserted in the certificate of return.

13. The officers directed to make certificates of elections as aforesaid,
shall cause them to be delivered, those of delegates, to the clerk of the
house of delegates, and those of senators, to the clerk of the senate, one day
at least before the succeeding session of general assembly.

14. For election of a delegate or senator, when a vacancy shall occur by
death or resignation, during the recess of the general assembly, a writ or
writs shall be issued by the governor and in all other cases of vacancy,
such writ or writs shall be issued by the speaker of that house whereof he
was a member; but if the vacancy be occasioned by acceptance of an office,
the writ or writs shall not be issued without the special order of the house.
And the officer or officers to whom such writ or writs shall be directed, so
soon after the receipt thereof as he or they may be able, shall give to the
electors notice thereof, as well as of the time and place of election, by advertisement
to be affixed at four of the most convenient places in the county,
city, town or borough, and shall cause the election to be made in the manner
herein before prescribed, and shall have the same power of adjourning
the proceeding upon the poll, as in case of a general election.

15. Any person who shall be a candidate for any county, city, town, borough,
election district or senatorial district, to serve, if elected, in the general
assembly, who shall, directly or indirectly, give or agree to give, any
elector or pretended elector, money, meat, drink, or other reward, in order
to be elected, or for having been elected, or who shall treat, directly or indirectly,
being a candidate for such or any other county, city, town, borough,
or election district, or senatorial district, upon due proof thereof to either
house, shall be expelled. Provided, nevertheless, That nothing herein centained
shall be so construed, as to prevent any candidate from his usual intercourse
of friendship with his neighbors at his own house.

16. If any sheriff or other officer conducting an election, shall, directly
or indirectly, so interfere in the election of senators or delegates, as to shew
partiality for any of the candidates, he shall forfeit and pay the sum of six
hundred and sixty-six dollars sixty-six cents, to be recovered by bill, plaint
or information, in any court of record, one moiety to the use of the informer,
and the other to the use of the commonwealth, for the benefit of the literary
fund.

17. All and every member and members of the general assembly are,
and ought to be and forever shall be, in their persons, servants and estates,
both real and personal, free, exempt and privileged from all arrests, attachments,
executions, and all other process whatsoever, save only for treason,
felony, or breach of the peace, during his or their attendance upon the general

assembly, and one day before and after, for every twenty miles they must
necessarily travel to or from home; and, in the mean time, process in which
they are parties, shall be suspended without abatement or discontinuance;
and, if any person taken in execution, be delivered by privilege of either
house of the general assembly, so soon as such privilege ceaseth, he shall
return himself a prisoner in execution, or be liable to an escape.

18. Whereas, the freedom of speech and proceedings appertaineth of
right to the general assembly, and the preservation thereof is necessary to
secure the liberty of the people: Be it enacted, That if any person
shall arrest or prosecute, or be aiding or abetting in arresting and prosecuting
a member or members of the senate or house of delegates, for or
on account of any words spoken or written, any proposition made, or proceedings
had in the senate or house of delegates, every such person so offending,
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be apprehended,
committed and tried therefor, as in other cases of misdemeanors, before
the general court, or a superior court of law of this commonwealth; and,
being thereof convicted by the verdict of a jury, shall be adjudged to suffer
imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, and shall pay a fine not
exceeding two thousand dollars; which imprisonment and fine shall be assessed
by a jury.

19. And if any member or members of the said senate or house of delegates,
shall be arrested or imprisoned, for, or on account of any words, spoken
or written, or for any proposition made, or proceedings had in the said
senate or house of delegates, such member or members may apply to the
general court, or a superior court of law, or any judge thereof in vacation,
for a writ of habeas corpus, who are hereby empowered and required to
issue the same, returnable before the said court, or said judge, or any other
judge, and, upon the return thereof, to liberate and discharge such member
or members.

20. The provisions of this act shall be extended to the arresting and prosecuting
any person or persons, for words spoken or written, or for any
propositions made, or proceedings had in the said senate or house of delegates,
and to the discharging and liberating any person or persons, by habeas
corpus, as aforesaid, although such person or persons shall, by disqualification,
or from any other causes, have ceased to be a member of the said
senate or house of delegates, at the time of such arrest or prosecution, or
of the trial, judgment, or imprisonment, in consequence thereof. Provided,
That nothing herein contained shall, in any respect, extend to the power
which either house of the general assembly now hath or may exercise over
their respective members.

21. Any person intending to contest the election of any other person, as
a senator or delegate from any senatorial district, county, city, town or borough,
or election district, shall, within twenty-fiive days after the day on
which the last election in the former case shall have commenced, or within
fifteen days after the day on which the election (if it be the election of a
delegate for a county, city, town or borough,) shall have commenced, or
within twenty days after the day on which the last election (if it be the election
of a delegate for an election district,) shall have commenced, give to
the person whose election he intends to contest, notice thereof in writing;
and moreover, shall deliver to him, at the same time, a list of those persons
to whose votes he hath objection, with the objection to each voter written
opposite to his name, stating that the person objected to, is not qualified to

vote according to the constitution, or in case of incapacity, that he labors
under some express personal disability, according to the provisions thereof,
to exercise the right of suffrage; and where he hath any other objection
to the legality of the election, or eligibility of the person whose election he
intends to contest as aforesaid, (such objection to the eligibility of such
person, being founded upon his want of all, or any of the qualifications
required by the constitution,) he shall in like manner give notice thereof,
distinguishing his particular objections; and the person whose election is
contested as aforesaid, shall, within twenty days after receiving such notice,
deliver the like lists on his part.

22. Whensoever the election of any person as a senator or delegate, is
intended to be contested, the petitioner and the returned member shall respectively
begin to take their depositions within one month after the delivery
of the notice in writing as aforesaid, given by the petitioner to the returned
member, informing him as aforesaid, of his intention to contest his election;
and they shall finish taking the same at least thirty days preceding the commencement
of the ensuing session of the general assembly. And where
such contest shall arise in consequence of any return made, on any writ or
writs issued by the governor, or by the speaker of either house of the
general assembly, to supply any vacancy which may have happened, the
party contesting shall give notice in writing to the returned member of his
intention to contest his election, and moreover shall deliver to him a list of
those persons to whose votes he hath objection, with the objection to each
voter written opposite to his name, stating that the person objected to is not
qualified to vote according to the constitution, or in case of incapacity, that
he labors under some express personal disability, according to the provisions
thereof, to exercise the right of suffrage; and if he have any other
objection to the legality of the election, or the eligibility of the member
returned as aforesaid, (such objection to the eligibility of such member
being founded upon his want of all or any of the qualifications required by
the constitution,) he shall in like manner give notice thereof, distinguishing
his particular objections, within ten days after the last day on which
votes shall have been taken in the said election; and the member returned
as aforesaid, shall within five days after receiving such notice, deliver the
like lists on his part.

23. Notice in any of the cases before mentioned, as well as the lists left
with his wife or any other free person over the age of twenty-one years,
belonging to his family, other than a negro or mulatto, or in case of their
absence, then at some public place at the dwelling house, shall be deemed
sufficient. The depositions shall be certified by the commissioners taking
the same, sealed up, and sent by them to the clerk of that house of which
the person was returned a member, without delay; and the depositions
taken as aforesaid, shall be by the clerk of the house, respectively, delivered
to the speaker thereof, to be committed with the petition of the party complaining,
and shall be received and read as evidence upon the hearing thereof;
subject, however, to the exceptions of the opposite party.

24. Subpœnas for witnesses shall be issued by the clerks of the courts
of the counties, cities, towns or boroughs, upon the application of either
party; and the witnesses shall be entitled to the same allowance, be privileged
from arrests, and be subject to the like penalties, as witnesses attending
the county courts.

25. It shall be lawful to hold a separate poll to choose an elector or electors

for president and vice-president of the United States in any county of
this state, at such place or places, as now, or may hereafter be prescribed
for holding a separate poll or polls for the election of members of the general
assembly: And the persons qualified according to law to vote for members
of the general assembly of this state, shall assemble at the place or
places directed for holding such separate poll or polls, on the first Monday in
November in every fourth year, according to the provisions of the act, entitled
"an act to reduce into one act the acts now in force providing for the appointment
of electors to choose a president and vice-president of the United
States," passed February the eighteenth, eighteen hundred and twenty-three.

26. If from death, sickness or other cause, the returning officer, herein
before designated, in any case of a senatorial election, or in any case of an
election of a delegate for an election district, shall be unable to attend for
the purpose of comparing the polls, and making the returns at the time
and place prescribed by law, then such duties, and all other duties consequent
thereupon, shall be performed in the following manner, that is to
say: If the sheriff, being the proper returning officer, shall have died,
then the duties aforesaid shall be performed by his successor, if any there
be; if there be no successor, then by the coroner of the county; if such
sheriff be sick, or otherwise unable to attend, the said duties shall be performed
by such of his deputies as he shall appoint for that purpose; or if
he have no deputy, by the coroner. If the deputy sheriff, being the proper
returning officer, shall have died, or be unable to attend, the said duties
shall be performed by the high sheriff, or by deputy. If a mayor, being
the proper returning officer, shall have died, or be unable to attend, the
said duties shall be performed by his successor, if any there be; if none,
by the recorder; if no recorder, then by the senior alderman capable of attending.
If a recorder, being the proper returning officer, shall have died,
or be unable to attend, the said duties shall be performed by the mayor, if
any; if none, by the senior alderman capable of attending. If a magistrate
or alderman, being the proper returning officer, shall have died, or be
unable to attend, the said duties shall be performed by the magistrate or
alderman next in seniority, and capable of attending. And if there shall
be no person hereby authorised, who shall be able to attend and perform
the said duties, then the clerk of the county, city, town or borough, as the
case may be, shall be bound in all things promptly to perform the duties
aforesaid.

27. The election of members of the house of representatives of the congress
of the United States, shall continue to be held in the manner, and according
to the principles prescribed by the laws now in force in relation
thereto; except that all persons now authorised to vote for members of the
house of delegates, shall hereafter be allowed to vote in such elections; and
except also, that the said elections shall be held in the several counties,
cities, towns, and boroughs, on their respective court days in the
month of August of the present year, and on their respective court days in
the month of April, in the year eighteen hundred and thirty-three; and
also, on their respective court days in the month of April, in every second
year thereafter; and except also, that the officers holding and conducting
such elections for members of congress shall, before such election commences,
take an oath to conduct the election fairly, in the like form with
that prescribed by the tuelfth[52] section of this act, to be taken by the sheriff
or other officer conducting elections of members of the general assembly.

The Ratification of Virginia to the Constitution of the United States.

We, the delegates of the people of Virginia, duly elected, in pursuance
of a recommendation of the General Assembly, and now met in convenhaving
fully and fairly investigated and discussed the proceedings of the
federal convention, and being prepared as well as the most mature deliberation
will enable us, to decide thereon, DO, in the name and behalf of the
people of Virginia, declare and make known, that the powers granted
under the constitution being derived from the people of the United States,
may be resumed by them whensoever the same shall be perverted to their
injury or oppression, and that every power not granted thereby, remains
with them and at their will: that therefore no right, of any denomination, can
be cancelled, abridged, restrained or modified by the Congress, by the
Senate, or House of Representatives, acting in any capacity, by the president,
or any department or officer of the United States, except in those
instances where power is given by the constitution for those purposes: that
among other essential rights, the liberty of conscience and of the press,
cannot be cancelled, abridged, restrained or modified by any authority of
the United States:

With these impressions, with a solemn appeal to the Searcher of hearts
for the purity of our intentions, and under the conviction, that, whatsoever
imperfections may exist in the constitution, ought rather to be examined in
the mode prescribed therein, than to bring the union into danger by delay,
with a hope of obtaining amendments previous to the ratification:

We, the said delegates, in the name and in behalf of the people of Virginia,
do, by these presents, assent to and ratify the constitution, recommended
on the 17th day of September, 1787, by the federal convention for the
government of the United States; hereby announcing to all those whom
it may concern, that the said constitution is binding upon the said people,
according to an authentic copy hereto annexed, in the words following:

A Declaration of Rights made by the Representatives of the People of
Virginia, assembled and held at the Capitol in the City of Williamsburg,
in full and free Convention—which rights do pertain to them
and their posterity as a basis and foundation of Government.

(Agreed to nem con, June, 12th, 1776.)

I. That there are certain natural rights, of which men, when they form
a social compact, cannot deprive or divest their posterity; among which
are the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring, possessing,
and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and
safety.

II. That all power is naturally vested in, and consequently derived from,
the people; that magistrates, therefore, are their trustees and agents, and at
all times amenable to them.

III. That government ought to be instituted for the common benefit, protection,
and security of the people; and that the doctrine of non-resistance
against arbitrary power and oppression, is absurd, slavish, and destructive
to the good and happiness of mankind.

IV. That no man or set of men are entitled to exclusive or separate public
emoluments or privileges from the community, but in consideration of

public services; which not being descendable, neither ought the offices of
magistrate, legislator, judge or any other public offices to be hereditary.

V. That the legislative, executive, and judiciary powers of government
should be separate and distinct: and, that the members of the two first may
be restrained from oppression by feeling and participating the public burdens,
they should at fixed periods be reduced to a private station—return
into the mass of the people; and the vacancies supplied by certain and
regular elections, in which all or any part of the members to be eligible
or ineligible, as the rules of the constitution of government, and the laws
shall direct.

VI. That elections of representatives in the legislature ought to be free
and frequent: and all men, having sufficient evidence of permanent common
interest with, and attachment to, the community, ought to have the
right of suffrage; and no aid, charge, tax, or fee can be set, rated or levied
upon the people, without their own consent, or that of their representatives
so elected, nor can they be bound by any law, to which they have not in
like manner assented for the public good.

VII. That all power of suspending laws, or the execution of laws, by
any authority without the consent of the representatives of the people, in
the legislature, is injurious to their rights, and ought not to be exercised.

VIII. That in all capital and criminal prosecutions, a man hath a right
to demand the cause and nature of his accusations; to be confronted with
the accusers and witnesses; to call for evidence, and be allowed counsel in
his favor; and to a fair and speedy trial, by an impartial jury of his vicinage,
without whose unanimous consent, he cannot be found guilty (except
in the government of the land and naval forces); nor can he be compelled
to give evidence against himself.

IX. That no freeman ought to be taken, imprisoned, or disseized of his
freehold, liberties, privileges, or franchises, or outlawed, or exiled, or in
any manner destroyed or deprived of his life, liberty, or property, but by
the law of the land.

X. That every freeman, restrained of his liberty, is entitled to a remedy,
to enquire into the lawfulness thereof, and to remove the same, if unlawful;
and that such remedy ought not to be denied or delayed.

XI. That in controversies respecting property, and in suits between man
and man, the ancient trial by jury is one of the greatest securities to the
rights of the people, and ought to remain sacred and inviolable.

XII. That every freemen ought to find a certain remedy of recourse to
the laws for all injuries and wrongs he may receive in his person, property,
or character. He ought to obtain right and justice freely without sale, completely
and without denial, promptly and without delay, and that all establishments
or regulations, contravening these rights, are oppressive and unjust:

XIII. That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

XIV. That every freeman has a right to be secure from all unreasonable
searches, and seizures of his person, his papers, and property; all warrants,
therefore, to search suspected places, or seize any freeman, his papers,
or property, without information upon oath (or affirmation of a person religiously
scrupulous of taking an oath) of legal and sufficient cause, are
grievous and oppressive, and all general warrants to search suspected
places, or to apprehend any suspected person without specially naming or
describing the place or person, are dangerous and ought not to be granted.

XV. That the people have a right peaceably to assemble together to
consult for the common good, or to instruct their representatives: and that
every freeman has a right to petition, or apply to the legislature for redress
of grievances.

XVI. That the people have a right to freedom of speech, and of writing,
and publishing their sentiments; that the freedom of the press is one
of the greatest bulwarks of liberty, and ought not to be violated.

XVII. That the people have a right to keep and bear arms; that a well-regulated
militia, composed of the body of the people trained to arms, is
the proper, natural, and safe defence of a free state. That standing armies
in time of peace are dangerous to liberty, and therefore ought to be avoided,
as far as the circumstances and protection of the community will admit;
and that in all cases, the military should be under strict subordination to,
and governed by, the civil power.

XVIII. That no soldier in time of peace ought to be quartered in any
house, without the consent of the owner, and in time of war in such manner
only as the laws direct.

XIX. That any person religiously scrupulous of bearing arms, ought
to be exempted upon payment of an equivalent to employ another to bear
arms in his stead.

XX. That religion, or the duty which we owe to our Creator, and the
manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction,
not by force or violence, and therefore all men have an equal, natural and
unalienable right to the free exercise of religion according to the dictates
of conscience, and that no particular religious sect or society ought to be
favored or established by law in preference to others.

Amendments to the Federal Constitution recommended by Virginia.

I. That each State in the Union shall respectively retain every power,
jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this constitution delegated to the
congress of the United States, or to the departments of the federal government.

II. That there shall be one representative for every thirty thousand inhabitants,
according to the enumeration or census mentioned in the constitution,
until the whole number of representatives amounts to two hundred;
after which, that number shall be continued or increased as congress shall
direct, upon the principles fixed in the constitution, by apportioning the
representatives of each state to some greater number of people from time to
time, as population increases.

III. When congress shall lay direct taxes or excises, they shall immediately
inform the executive power of each state, of the quota of such state,
according to the census herein directed, which is proposed to be thereby
raised; and if the legislature of any state shall pass a law, which shall be
effectual for raising such quota, at the time required by congress the taxes
and excises laid by congress shall not be collected in such state.

IV. That the members of the senate and house of representatives shall
be ineligible to, and incapable of holding any civil office under the authority
of the United States, during the time for which they shall respectively
be elected.

V. That the journals of the prodeedings of the senate and house of
representatives shall be published at least once in every year, except such
parts thereof, relating to treaties, alliances, or military operation, as, in their
judgment, require secrecy.

VI. That a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures
of all public money shall be published at least once in every year.

VII. That no commercial treaty shall be ratified without the concurrence
of two-thirds of the whole number of the members of the senate; and no
treaty, ceding, contracting, or restraining, or suspending the territorial
rights or claims of the United States, or any of them—or their, or any of
their rights or claims to fishing in the American seas, or navigating the
American rivers, shall be made, but in cases of the most urgent and extreme
necessity; nor shall any such treaty be ratified without the concurrence
of three-fourths of the whole number of members of both houses
respectively.

VIII. That no navigation laws or law, regulating commerce, shall be
passed without the consent of two-thirds of the members present in both
houses.

IX. That no standing army, or regular troops, shall be raised or kept
up in time of peace, without the consent of two-thirds of the members present
in both houses.

X. That no soldier shall be enlisted for any longer term than four years,
except in time of war, and then for no longer a term than the continuance
of the war.

XI. That each state respectively shall have the power to provide for
organizing, arming, and disciplining its own militia, whensoever congress
shall omit or neglect to provide for the same. That the militia shall not
be subject to martial law, except when in actual service, in time of war,
invasion or rebellion and when not in the actual service of the United
States, shall be subject only to such fines, penalties, and punishments as
shall be directed or inflicted by the laws of its own state.

XII. That the exclusive power of legislation given to congress over the
federal town and its adjacent district, and other places, purchased or to be
purchased by congress, of any of the states, shall extend only to such
regulations as respect the police and good government thereof.

XIII. That no person shall be capable of being President of the United
States for more than eight years in any term of sixteen years.

XIV. That the judicial power of the United States shall be vested in
one supreme court, and in such courts of admiralty, as congress may, from
time to time, ordain and establish in any of the different states: the judicial
power shall extend to all cases in law and equity, arising under treaties,
made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States;
to all cases affecting ambassadors, other foreign ministers and consuls; to
all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; to controversies to which
the United States shall be a party; to controversies between two or more
states, and between parties claiming lands under the grants of different
states. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other foreign ministers and consuls,
and those in which a state shall be a party, the supreme court shall
have original jurisdiction; in all other cases before mentioned, the supreme
court shall have appellate jurisdiction, as to matters of law only: except
in cases of equity, and of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; in which
the supreme court shall have appellate jurisdiction both as to law and fact,

with such exceptions and under such regulations as the congress shall
make: but the judicial power of the United States shall extend to no case
where the cause of action shall have originated before the ratification of
this constitution; except in disputes between states about their territory;
disputes between persons claiming lands under the grants of different
states; and suits for debts due to the United States.

XV. That in criminal prosecutions, no man shall be restrained in the
exercise of the usual and accustomed right of challenging or excepting to
the jury.

XVI. That congress shall not alter, modify, or interfere in the times,
places, or manner of holding elections for senators and representatives, or
either of them, except when the legislature of any state shall neglect, refuse,
or be disabled by invasion or rebellion to prescribe the same.

XVII. That those clauses which declare that congress shall not exercise
certain powers, be not interpreted in any manner whatsover to extend
the power of congress; but that they be construed either as making exceptions
to the specified powers where this shall be the case, or otherwise as
inserted merely for greater caution.

XVIII. That the laws ascertaining the compensation of senators and
representatives for their services, be postponed in their operation, until after
the election of representatives immediately succeeding the passing thereof;
that excepted, which shall first be passed on the subject.

XIX. That some tribunal other than the senate be provided for trying
impeachments of senators.

XX. That the salary of a judge shall not be increased or diminished
during his continuance in office, otherwise than by general regulations of
salary, which may take place on a revision of the subject at stated periods
of not less than seven years, to commence from the time such salaries shall
be first ascertained by congress.

And the convention do, in the name and behalf of the people of this
commonwealth, enjoin it upon their representatives in congress, to exert
all their influence, and use all reasonable and legal methods to obtain a
ratification of the foregoing alterations and provisions in the manner provided
by the fifth article of the said constitution; and in all congressional
laws to be passed in the mean time, to conform to the spirit of these amendments
as far as the said constitution will admit.

Extract from the journal,
John Beckley, Clerk of Convention.

A TABLE, exhibiting the Population of each State, Seats of Government, with their Population and distance from Washington, Governor's
Term and Salary, the number of Senators and Representatives, with their respective Terms and Pay.

                                                       

Seats of Government.					Governors.		Senators.		Representatives.
STATES.	Population in 1830.	NAMES.	Distance from Washington City.	Population.	Term of Years.	Salary.	Term of Years.	Number.	Term of Years.	Number.	Total Senate and Representatives.	Pay per Day.
Maine,	399,437	Augusta,	595	3,980	1	$1,500	1	20	1	153	173	$2 00
New Hampshire,	269,328	Concord,	474	3,727	1	1,200	1	12	1	229	236	2 00
Vermont,	280,657	Montpelier,	524	1,193	1	750		00	1	230	230	1 50
Massachusetts,	610,408	Boston,	432	61,392	1	3,666	1	40		481	521	2 00
Rhode Island,	97,199	Providence and	394	16,832	1	400	1	10	½	72	82	1 50
		Newport,	403	8,010
Connecticut,	297,675	Hartford and New Haven,	335	9,789	1	1,100	1	21	1	208	229	2 00
													10,678
New York,	1,918,608	Albany,	376	24,209	2	4,000	4	32	1	128	160	3 00
New Jersey,	320,323	Trenton,	166	3,925	1	2,000	1	14	1	50	64	3 00
Pennsylvania,	1,348,233	Harrisburg,	110	4,311	3	4,000	4	33	1	100	133	3 00
Delaware,	76,748	Dover,	114	1,200	3	1,333⅓	3	9	1	21	30	2 50
Maryland,	447,040	Annapolis,	37	2,623	1	3,500	5	15	1	80	95	4 00
Virginia,	1,211,405	Richmond,	122	16,060	3	3,333	4	32	1	134	166	4 00
North Carolina,	737,987	Raleigh,	286	1,700	1	2,000	1	64	1	134	198	3 00
South Carolina,	581,185	Columbia,	500	3,310	2	3,900	4	45	2	124	169	4 00
Georgia,	516,823	Milledgeville,	642	1,599	2	3,000	1	78	1	142	220	4 00
Alabama,	309,527	Tuscaloosa,	858	1,600	2	2,000	3	22		72	94	4 00
Mississippi,	136,621	Jackson,	1,035	1,000	2	2,500	3	11	1	36	47	3 00
Louisiana,	215,839	New Orleans,	1,203	46,310	4	7,500	4	17	2	50	67	4 00
Tennessee,	681,904	Nashville,	714	5,566	2	2,000	2	20	2	60	80	4 00
Kentucky,	687,917	Frankfort,	551	1,680	4	2,000	4	38	1	100	138	2 00
Ohio,	935,884	Columbus,	396	2,487	2	1,200	2	36	1	72	108	3 00
Indiana,	343,031	Indianapolis,	573	1,200	3	1,000	3	23	1	62	85	2 00
Illinois,	157,445	Vandalia,	781	600	4	1,000	4		2			3 00
Missouri,	140,455	Jefferson City,	980	600	4	1,500	4	18	2	49	66	3 00

A TABLE, exhibiting the Time of Election of State Officers, the Time of the meeting of the Legislatures, the mode of choosing Electors of President
and Vice-President, and the Number of Representatives in Congress, of the several States.

                                                   

STATES	Time of holding Elections.	Time of the meeting of the Legislature.	Electors of Pres and V. Pres chosen by	No. of Representatives in Congress.
Maine,	2nd Monday in September.	1st Wednesday in January.	General Ticket	8
New Hampshire,	2nd Tuesday in March.	1st Wednesday in June.	General Ticket	5
Vermont,	1st Tuesday in September.	2nd Thursday in October.	General Ticket	5
Massachusetts,	2nd Monday in November.	1st Wednesday in January.	General Ticket	12
Rhode Island,	Gov. and Sen. in April.	1st Wednesday in May and June.	General Ticket	2
	Rep, in April and August.	Last Wednesday in Oct. and Jan.
Connecticut,	1st Monday in April.	1st Wednesday in May.	General Ticket	6
New York,	In October or November.	1st Tuesday in January.	General Ticket	40
New Jersey,	2nd Tuesday in October.	4th Tuesday in October.	General Ticket	6
Pennsylvania,	2nd Tuesday in October.	1st Tuesday in December.	General Ticket	28
Delaware.	1st Tuesday in October.	1st Tuesday in January.	Legislature	1
Maryland,	1st Monday in October.	Last Monday in December.	District	8
Virginia,	In the month of April.	1st Monday in December.	General Ticket	21
North Carolina,	Commonly in August.	2nd Monday in November.	General Ticket	13
South Carolina,	2nd Monday in October.	4th Monday in November.	Legislature	9
Georgia,	1st Monday in October.	1st Monday in November.	General Ticket	9
Alabama,	1st Monday in August.	4th Monday in October.	General Ticket	5
Mississippi,	1st Monday in August.	1st Monday in November.	General Ticket	2
Louisiana,	1st Monday in July.	1st Monday in January.	General Ticket	3
Tennessee,	1st Thursday in August.	3rd Monday in September,—bienn.	General Ticket	13
Kentucky,	1st Monday in August.	1st Monday in November.	General Ticket	13
Ohio,	2nd Tuesday in October.	1st Monday in December.	General Ticket	19
Indiana,	1st Monday in August.	1st Monday in December.	General Ticket	7
Illinois,	1st Monday in August.	1st Monday in December.—bienn.	General Ticket	3
Missouri	1st Monday in August.	1st Monday in November,—bienn.	General Ticket	2

HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION, PROGRESS OF COMMERCE, ROANOKE SETTLEMENTS,

The claims of the Icelanders, the Welsh, and even the Norwegians[53] to
the discovery of America, seem in modern times to be universally set aside
in favor of a native of a milder clime. Indeed the evidence by which their
respective claims were sought to be established was so vague, contradictory
and unsatisfactory;[54] and their discoveries if proven, so entirely accidental,
and useless to mankind, that it is not at all astonishing that all the merit
should be given to that individual whose brilliant genius first demonstrated
a priori the existence of a continent in the western waters, and
whose adventurous daring[55] led him to risque his life in the search of a
world, of the existence of which he was only informed by his science, with
little aid of any human experience; or that posterity should give to Columbus
the undivided glory of an exploit for which he received only the ignominy
of his contemporaries, and to Italy the honor due the birth place of so
distinguished a son, from whose brilliant atchievements she has received
little else.

The spirit of commerce and navigation had been spreading extensively
in Europe, for some time prior to the discovery of America. The maritime
towns of Italy early perceived and enjoyed the advantages of trade,
and Venice, Genoa and Pisa sprung under the magic of its influence, from
insignificant towns to the wealth and splendor of populous and magnificent
cities. This favorable result was much promoted by the crusades. In the
Holy wars the Italian cities furnished the transports necessary for the conveyance
of the immense hordes of northern and western warriors, with their
accoutrements and attendants, which a love of military adventure, and religious
fanaticism, were pouring upon the plains of Asia. The vast sums
received for these services, and for the supply of provisions to the christian

host, together with the privileges granted them in many of the conquered
places,—the discovery of new subjects of commerce, and opening new avenues
of trade,—the extension of the knowledge of the countries of the east
and the people who inhabited them,—conspiring with the freedom of commerce
and boldness of enterprize of the Italian towns themselves, and the
taste spread through Europe by the returning soldiers of the cross for those
eastern luxuries and refinements to which they had become accustomed,—
expanded the commerce of the world immensely beyond all former bounds,
and threw that commerce almost exclusively into the hands of the towns of
Italy.[56]

The spirit of discovery and commercial adventure so happily aroused and
extended by the wild and visionary schemes of religious bigots for the
emancipation of the holy land was destined to be yet further extended by
religious zeal mingled with ignorant superstition. Benjamin, a Jew travelled
from Constantinople through the countries of the Euxine and Capian
Seas to Chinese Tartary, in the vain hope of discovering his own sect
ruling in opulence and power, some country of which Europe was ignorant.
Innocent IV, sent two monks to Zengis Khan in the midst of his
victories, and equally ignorant of the Pope as of the christian doctrines,
with orders to embrace the christian religion, and to cease desolating the
earth. St. Louis of France being made to believe that a Tartar Chan had
embraced the christian faith, and perceiving the advantages which the
christians could have by the exertions of such an ally, in their future wars
with the Saracens, immediately despatched two monks to him as ambassadors;
and one of these made a more extensive circuit through the interior
of Asia than any European had done before him.

To these succeeded the long commercial and exploring expeditions of the
celebrated. Venetian adventurer, Marco Polo, who in the course of his
rambling perigrinations of 26 years duration, penetrated to Cambalu or
Pekin the capital of the great empire of Cathay or China, and increased
immensely the information of Europe as to the situation and condition of
countries, from which they had long drawn luxuries, through circuitous
commerce, without knowing even the position of the country whence they
came.

Half a century after the Venetian had astonished the yet ignorant and
almost semi-barbarous inhabitants of Europe, with his ac-

count of the vast extent, wealth, population, variety of manufactures
and extent of trade of the east, his account was confirmed in the most
essential particulars by Sir John Mandeville an English gentleman, who
excited by his example visited most of the countries of the east which he
had described.

Whilst this spirit of enterprise was developing itself, and Europe becoming
more settled and civilized, was looking with eager anxiety towards
the vast fields for commerce opening to the east,—another son of Italy, so
obscure or so neglected, that we know not his history, habits or profession,
was about to produce a new era in the history of commerce, and to advance
the world a great step in the progress of knowledge and civilization.—
Flavio Gioia, a citizen of 1 malfi, discovered the properties of the magnet,
and applied it to that indispensable instrument of modern navigation, the
mariner's compass. This discovery rendered it no longer necessary for

the cantious mariner to hug the coast for his safety, but he might boldly
venture upon the broad bosom of the deep, and though the sun went down,
and the stars shone not, he feared nothing, for the humble citizen of Amalfi
had provided him with a guide safer than the coast, and an unerring pilot,
whose knowledge darkness and storms could not obscure or obliterate.

The first dawning of this bolder spirit seems to have been exhibited by
the Spaniards in the discovery of the Canary and Fortunate Islands, which
lie near five hundred miles from the coast of Spain, and more than a hundred
and fifty from the African coast. But although Spain was destined to
surpass all other nations in the magnitude of her maritime discoveries, by
the discovery of America, yet she was not the immediate agent of extending
that spirit of maritime adventure, and nautical information which contributed
so materially in bringing about that event. Her discoveries of the Fortunate
and the Canary Isles seem rather to have been the result of accident
than a permanent course of well directed experiments. It is to one of the
smallest and least powerful kingdoms of Europe that we are indebted for
that boldness of conception and persevering enthusiasm of execution, in
voyages of discovery, from which only grandeur of results in any undertaking
can ever be expected to spring.

The final expulsion of the Moors from Portugal, left many ardent and
adventurous spirits without occupation, and Portugal being a small maritime
state, too weak to cope with the powerful kingdoms in its neighborhood,
whose prowess was equal to its own, naturally looked upon the sea
as the field of its future exploits, and source of its future great-

ness. John I. surnamed the Bastard, having fixed his own title
to the crown by a peace with Castile, determined to find employment
for the restless spirits of his kingdom by an expedition against the Moors
on the neighboring coast of Africa, but whilst it was fitting out he despatched
a few vessels along the coast of Africa in search of undiscovered
countries. This expedition succeeded in doubling Cope Non, which had
hitherto been the Ultima Thule of modern navigation.

The success of the king's expedition against the Moors in-

fused into the nation a spirit for new enterprises. Prince
Henry, duke of Viseo, the fourth son of John by the sister of Henry IV
of England, became the patron and superintendant of the new enterprizes.
Under his auspices Porto Santo, and Madeira were discover-
ed and colonized. It was to his care that the latter island was
indebted for a stock of domestic animals, a supply of seeds, and slips of the
vine, the cultivation of which, produced such a valuable article
of commerce for the Portuguese, and of luxury for the world.
The discovery of these islands introduced among the Spaniards a bolder
system of navigation. They no longer crept along the coast from head
land to head land, which was in truth the most difficult and dangerous
navigation, but they ventured to keep the open sea, and were thus enabled
to pass with ease difficulties which had before seemed insuperable. Cape
Bojardor which had been a barrier for twenty years, was passed, and the
whole coast explored from Cape Blanco to Cape de Verd. Prince Henry
whose mind seems to have been in advance of the age in which he lived,
manifestly contemplated a passage to India, around the southern coast of
Africa. He was not deterred by the idea which many had taken up from
the writings of the ancients that the regions of the torrid zone were rendered
uninhabitable by their excessive heat, even when this idea seemed to be
confirmed as they advanced south, by finding the inhabitants jet black, their
hair short and curled, their noses flat, and their lips thick. Nor was he
deterred by the captious objections of the envious little politicians about his
father's court. But with the double view of silencing objections, enlisting
religious zeal in his favor, and acquiring a title to his discoveries, the validity
of which no christian prince or country of that day would have dared
to dispute,—he obtained a bull from Pope Eugene IV giving him an exclusive
right to all countries which he should discover from Cape Non to
the continent of India.

The fame of prince Henry's discoveries spread rapidly through Europe,
and attracted to him all of the adventurous spirits of the age, who had acquired
any knowledge of the science of navigation. The

Cape de Verd Islands, and the Azores were discovered, and
every discovery added new stimulus to naval enterprise, as every voyage
added new information to naval science.

In the midst of his successful career he was unfortunately

checked by the hand of death, and Alphonso who occupied the
throne at the time of his death, being busily engaged in other pursuits, suffered
the spirit of enterprize to languish during the remainder of his reign.

His son and successor John II. speedily revived the spirit of

discovery among his subjects, and by his zeal and efficiency
more than compensated for the supineness of his predecessor. He soon
found out the advantages of a trade with the natives of the African coast,
after he passed the Great Desert, and reached the regions of ivory, gold
and precious gums. He had the merit of demonstrating the fallacy of the
opinion that the torrid zone was uninhabitable, and found that so far from
this, it was populous and fertile. He too conceived the idea of opening an
intercourse with India, around the southern point of Africa, and persevered
in his favorite object with unwavering zeal, until the practicability of accomplishing
his wishes, was fully established by Bartholomew Diaz, who
reached the extreme southern point but was unable to pass it, by reason of
the violent storms which he there encountered, and the crazy condition of
his vessel. This point which Diaz named Cabo Tormentozo, in commemoration
of the difficulties which he had there encountered, John called the
Cape of Good Hope, in manifestation of his delight at the certain prospect of
the accomplishment of his wishes. It has retained the latter name.

This near prospect of an easier and more direct route to India, had already
began to excite the jealousy of the Venetians, who then nearly monopolized
the trade of India, and to elevate the hopes of the Portuguese,
who expected to enjoy a portion of the wealth and luxury which the Venitians
derived from that trade; when the minds of both, and indeed of all
Europe were turned in another direction by the occurrence of an event in
the history of maritime discovery, compared with which all others sunk
into insignificance.

This event was the discovery of America, by Christopher Columbus.
The education of this daring mariner, his disappointments

and dangers, his difficulties and his brilliant success, or
the melancholy story of his sad reverses, and the example afforded in him
of the ingratitude of kings it is not the purpose of the writer to narrate.
He refrains from recounting so temptingly interesting a narrative, because
it would lead him too far from his purpose, which is only to narrate succinctly
the progress of navigation and discovery to the time of the first colony
settled in Virginia,—and because the same story has been so well told
by Robertson, Irving[66] and others, that it ought to be familiar to all.

Notwithstanding the advances in navigation which have been enumerated,
the art of ship building was still in such a rude and imperfect state, that
the vessels in which Columbus embarked on an unknown sea, a modern
manner with all the advantages of modern science would scarcely venture
in, to cross the Atlantic. The largest was a vessel of no considerable burden,[67]
and the two others scarcely superior in burden to large boats, and the
united crews of the three only amounted to ninety men, including officers,
and a few gentlemen, adventurers from Isabella's court.

But notwithstanding these inadequate means for the prosecution of maritime
discovery, the ardour of enterprize was so much excited by the brilliant
achievements of Columbus, the greedy thirst for gain, and hope of finding
some country abounding in gold, together with the eager desire which still
prevailed of discovering some passage through the great continent of America,
which might lead to India, that in twenty six years from the first discovery
of land by Columbus;—the Spaniards had visited all of the islands of
the West Indies, they had sailed on the eastern coast of America from the
Rio de la Plata to the western extremity of the Mexican Gulf—they had discovered
the great southern ocean, and had acquired considerable knowledge
of the coast of Florida. It is also said that these voyages in search of a nearer
passage to the East Indies, had extended much further north, but not however
until that country had been discovered by the sea-men of another nation, of
whose exploits in the field of maritime adventure we shall presently speak.

The great interior was still undiscovered, the whole western and the extreme
south eastern coast was still undiscovered, and the long line of coast from
Florida to Labrador had only been seen, and touched upon in a few places.

England did not at an early period make those advances in navigation,
to which the eminent advantages of her insular situation invited, and gave
no promise of that maritime distinction, and commercial wealth, to which
the wise policy of her subsequent rulers have led her to attain. From the
times of the conquest to the discovery of America, England had been engaged
in perpetual wars, either foreign or domestic, and thus while the
southern portion of Europe and the free cities on the Rhine were advancing
so rapidly in opulence and power, England was destitute of even the germ
of that naval strength to which she is so much indebted for her present
greatness. Every article of foreign growth or fabric which she consumed,
was wafted to her shores in the barks of other nations, and the subsequent
mistress of the seas scarcely dared to float her flag beyond the limits of her
own narrow jurisdiction. Scarcely an English ship traded with Spain
or Portugal before the beginning of the fifteenth century, and it required
another half century to give the British mariner courage enough to venture
to the east of the Pillars of Hercules.[68]

Feeble as the marine of England then was, her reigning monarch Henry
VII. did not lack the spirit required for undertaking great enterprises, and
accident only deprived him of the glory of being the patron of the discoverer

of America. Columbus after the failure of his own native country of Genoa,
to encourage his great enterprize, and his second rebuff from, his
adopted country Portugal,[69] fearing another refusal from the king of Castile
to whose court he then directed his steps, despatched his brother Bartholomew
to England to solicit the aid of Henry VII who being then at peace
was supposed to have leisure to undertake a great enterprize which promised
such renown to himself and emolument to England. Bartholomew
was captured by pirates on his voyage, and robbed of all his effects, which,
with an illness that followed, prevented him from presenting himself at
court, after he arrived in England, until he could provide himself with suitable
apparel by his skill in drawing maps and sea-charts.
He brought himself to the notice of Henry by presenting
him with a map,[72] and upon his representing to him the proposal of Columbus,
he accepted it with "a joyful countenance, and bade him fetch his brother."[73]
So much delay had been produced by the circumstances mentioned
that Bartholomew, hastening to Castile, learned at Paris, from Charles,
king of France, that his brother Christopher's efforts had already been
crowned with the most brilliant success.[74]

When we reflect upon the difficulties which were thrown in the way of
Columbus at the court of Ferdinand and Isabella, even after they became
convinced of the practicability of his scheme, and the yet more arduous difficulties
which he encountered on his voyage, from the mutinous timidity of
his crew, we may well doubt whether Henry's courage would have sustained
him in the actual accomplishment of the enterprize, or whether England
at that time afforded mariners sufficiently hardy to have persevered a
sufficient length of time in a seemingly endless voyage upon an unknown
sea.

Fortunately, perhaps for mankind the courage of England was not put
to the test of making the first great adventure, and wheth-

er she would have succeeded in that or not, she was not destitute
of sufficient courage to undertake an enterprize of very considerable
magnitude, at that day, soon after the existence of land in our western
hemisphere had been discovered.

The merit of this new enterprize is also due to a native of Italy, and his
motive was the same which prevailed in most of the adventures of the time,
the desire to discover a new route to India.

Giovanni Gaboto, better known by his Anglicised name of John Cabot,

a Venetian merchant who had settled at Bristol, obtained from Henry a
charter for himself and his three sons Lewis, Sabastian and Santius, allowing
them full power and authority to sail into all places in the eastern, western
or northern sea under the banners of England, with five ships, at their
own proper costs and charges, to discover countries before unknown to
christians, to plant the banners of England in all such places, and to take
possession of them, to hold as vassals of England, to have the exclusive monopoly
of the trade of all such places, paying to the king one-fifth of the
clear profits of every voyage. All other persons were prohibited from visiting
such places, and the Cabots were bound always to land on their return
only at Bristol.[76]

Under this patent containing "the worst features of colonial monopoly
and commercial restriction." John Cabot and his celebrated son Sebastian
embarked for the west. The object of Cabot being to discover the passage
to India, he pursued a course more northwardly than any selected by previous
navigators, and the first land he reached was the coast of Newfoundland,
which on that account he named Prima Vista, next the Island of St.
John, and finally the continent, among the "Polar bears, the rude savages
and dismal cliffs of Labrador," and this seems to have been the only fruit of
the first[77] British voyage to America.

In the following year a new patent was given to John Cabot, and the enterprize
was conducted by his adventurous and distinguished

son Sebastian, in this expedition which was undertaken for
purposes of trade as well as discovery, several merchants of London[79] took
part, and even the king himself.[80] Cabot sailed in a north west course,
in hopes of finding a north west passage to India, as far probably as the
58th or 60th degree of latitude, until he was stopped by the quantities of ice
which he encountered, and the extreme severity of the weather, he then
turned his course southward and followed the coast according to some
writers to the coast of Virginia, and in the opinion of some as far as the
coast of Florida.[81] The only commodities with which he returned to England,
as far as our accounts inform us, were three of the natives of the
newly discovered countries. He found upon his return, the king immersed
in his preparations for a war with Scotland, which prevented his engaging
in any further prosecution of his discoveries, or entertaining any design of
settlement.

It is not our purpose to notice the Portuguese discoveries under Cotereal,
the French under Verrazzani and Cartier, or their abortive attempt at settlements
in Canada, and New England. Nor shall we notice the extensive
inland expedition of the Spaniards under Soto from Florida, through the
states of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, across the Mississippi, and into
Louisiana,—or the attempts of the French at settlement in Florida, and the
Carolinas,—these matters belong rather to the history of the United States,
than the sketch of the history of Virginia which we propose to give, we
pass at once to the British attempts at colonization in America.

The progress of maritime adventure extended rapidly. The evidence

exists of several English voyages having been made not only to the coast
of North America, but the Levant, the harbors of northern Africa and Brazil.
The visits to the fisheries of Newfoundland had become
frequent, and the commerce from that source had become of
such importance, and to have been the subject of such long and oppressive
exactions, as to require the action of Parliament for their prohibition.

India was still the great object with the merchants, and the discovery of
a nearer passage than that offered by the Cape of Good

Hope, the great desideratum with mariners. The northwestern
passage had been attempted thrice by the Cabots in vain, a northeastern
expedition was fitted out, and sailed under the command of Willoughby
and Chancellor. Willoughby with his ship's company were found
in their vessel frozen to death in a Lapland harbor; Chancellor with his
vessel entered the port of Archangel, and "discovered" the vast
empire of Russia, till then unknown to western Europe.—
This discovery led to the hope of establishing an intercourse by means of
caravans across the continent to Persia, and thence to the
distant empire of Cathay.

Elizabeth afforded every encouragement to the maritime enterprises of
her subjects, and especially encouraged the newly established intercourse
with Russia. The hope of discovering a north west passage

was by no means as yet relinquished. Martin Frobisher,
after revolving in his mind the subject for fifteen years, believed that it
might be accomplished, and "determined and resolved with himself to go
and make full proof thereof," "knowing this to be the only thing in the
world that was left yet undone, whereby a notable mind might be made famous
and fortunate."[87] Frobisher was too poor to supply himself with the
means of carrying his designs into execution, but after much solicitation at
court he was patronized by Dudley, Earl of Warwick, who supplied him
with two small barks, the one of twenty and the other of twenty five tons burthen,
and a pinnace of ten tons. With this little fleet he set sail, the expedition
was entirely unfortunate, one of his barks deserted and returned home,
the pinnace went down in a storm, "whereby he lost only four men," with
such small vessels and crews did the hardy mariners of that day venture
to cross the Atlantic. The Admiral's mast was sprung, and the top mast
blown overboard by the same storm in which he lost the pinnace, but nothdaunted,
he persevered, and entered Hudson's bay. The only thing
accomplished by the voyage was the taking possession of the cold and barren
wilderness in the name of Elizabeth, carrying home some of the gravel
and stones, one of the latter of which resembling gold, or probably, having
some gold artificially mingled with it after it reached London, caused the
gold refiners nearly to go mad, and the merchants to undertake one of the
wildest expeditions recorded in the annals of discovery; besides this show
of gold, which was pronounced very rich for the quantity, the only other
acquisition was a poor native, whose simplicity was imposed upon by the
most treacherous devices, until he was decoyed to the English vessel, and
then seized by force, and carried away from his friends. He bit off his
tongue from despair and died soon after his arrival in England from cold
taken on the voyage.

The mania which the story of the little bit of gold produced in London
caused a fleet, of several vessels to be fitted out, of which the

Queen herself furnished one, to bring home the rich produce
of these icy mines,—the ships returned with black earth, but no gold.

The spirit of avarice was not to be stopped in her career by a single fallure,
a new fleet of 15 vessels was fitted out, and Martin

Frobisher was given the command, a colony was to be planted
for the purpose of working the mines, while 12 vessels were to be sent
home with ore. After almost incredible difficulties encountered amidst
storms and "mountains of floating ice on every side," the loss of some vessels,
and the disertion of others, they reached the northern Potosi, and the
ships were well laden with the black earth, but the colonists being disheartened
by their hardships declined settling on the coast, and all returned to
England,—we are not informed of the value of the proceeds of the cargo.

Whilst the British Queen and her merchants were indulging themselves
in fancies as brilliant and as evanescent as the icebergs which encumbered
the scene of the delusion, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, a man of insuperable energy
and fearless enterprize, formed a design of promoting the fisheries,
and engaging in useful colonization.

With this view he obtained a patent of the same character with most of
those which were granted to the early promoters of coloni-

zation in Amerieca, conferring unbounded privileges upon
the proprietor, and guaranteeing no rights to the colonists. The first expedition
in which Gilbert had expended much of his private
fortune failed, from what cause is uncertain.

The second expedition undertaken four years afterwards, was still more
unfortunate, for it lost to the world the gallant, and accom-

plished projector of the expedition. Five vessels sailed from
Plymouth on Tuesday the 11th of June 1583; two days afterwards the
Vice admiral complained of sickness aboard, and returned with the finest
ship in the fleet to Plymouth. The admiral nevertheless continued his
course with his little squadron and took possession with the feudal ceremony
of Newfoundland, to be held by him as a fief of the crown of England,
in accordance with the terms of his charter.

The looseness of morals displayed by the mariners of that day is truly
disgusting, and increases our wonder at the daring of men who could venture
so far from home, in such frail barks, with almost a certainty of encountering
on the great highway in their fellow-men, greater perils than
were presented by all the terrors of the deep. Robbery by sea was too
common, and often committed in violation of the most sacred obligations,
even upon persons engaged in the very act of relieving the distress of the
depredators.[93] Gilbert seems to have been cursed with a remarkably riotous
and insubordinate company. The sick and disaffected were left at Newfoundland
to be sent home with the Swallow, and the Admiral proceeded
with his three remaining barks.

On Tuesday the 20th of August they sailed from the harbor of St. John's
and on the 29th in about latitude 44 degrees, the largest remaining vessel,
by the carelessness of the crew, struck, and went to pieces, and the other
barks were forced by a high sea and a lea shore to struggle for their own
preservation, which they accomplished with difficulty; alleging at the same
time that they could see none of the crew of the wreck floating upon timbers,
but all seemed to have gone down, when the ship broke up. A few
however escaped to Newfoundland in the ship's pinnace, as was afterwards
discovered.

This calamity followed by continual storms, in an unknown and shoaly
sea, enhanced by an extreme scantiness of provisions, and want of clothes
and comforts in the two little barks, which yet remained, induced the Admiral,
at the earnest solicitation of his men to return home-

wards. Sir Humphrey Gilbert was vehemently persuaded
by the crew of the Golden Hind to remain with them during the voyage,
but as some malicious taunts had been thrown out by some evil disposed
person accusing him of being afraid of the sea, he chose to continue to sail in
his little pinnace the Squirrel, which was burthened beyond her strength.

After the vessels had left the Azores to the south, and reached the latiitude
of England, they encountered violent and continued storms. On Monday
the ninth of September the Squirrel was nearly cast away, but recovered,
and the Admiral was seen sitting abaft with a book in his hand, and
heard to cry out to those in the Hind, "we are as near to heaven by sea as
by land." That same night at 12 o'clock, the Squirrel being in advance
her light suddenly disappeared, and her hardy crew with their gallant commander
sleep forever in the deep. The Hind reached Fal-

mouth in safety, but after encountering eminent peril to the
last moment.[97]

The daring spirit of the mariners of that day is amazing. Sir Walter
Raleigh, the step brother of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, so far from being intimidated
by the melancholy fate of his relative, or disheartened by the unprofitable
and disastrous termination of most of the voyages to America,
undertook in the very next year, an expedition to the coast

of the present United States. He easily obtained one of
the usual unlimited patents from Elizabeth, and leaving the cold north with
its barren snows, its storms, icebergs, and certain evils, together with its
imaginary wealth, he spread his sails for the sweet south, where he was
sure to find a fertile soil and a delightful climate, though his ship's company
might not all be enriched by the discovery of gold.

On the second of July they founded shoal water, "and smelt so sweet and
strong a smell, as if they had been in the midst of some delicate gar-

den abounding with all kinds of odoriferous flowers."

On the thirteenth they entered Ocracock inlet, on the coast of the present
state of North Carolina, and landed on Wocoken Island. They

commenced an intercourse with the natives, who proved to be bold,
confiding, intelligent and honorable,[101] to their friends, but treacherous, revengeful
and cruel towards their enemies.

The English explored a little the surrounding islands, and bays, and returned
home in September, carrying with them two natives,

Manteo and Wanchese. The glowing description given by the
adventurers on their return of the beauty of the country, the fertility of the
soil, and pleasantness of the climate delighted the Queen, and induced her
to name the country of which she had taken possession, Virginia, in commemoration
of her unmarried life.

It might be expected that so favorable an account would soon lead to a
new expedition; accordingly another was prepared for the succeeding

year, consisting of seven vessels. Ralph Lane was appointed by
Raleigh, govenor of the colony, which consisted of one hundred and eight
persons.[104] Sir Richard Greenville took command of the fleet, and several
learned and accomplished men attended the expedition, one of whom has
transmitted to posterity many interesting particulars of the nature, of the
country, and the habits, manners, and government of its inhabitants.[105]

The English soon began to maltreat the harmless, unpretending, and
simple natives, and they on the other hand to grow jealous

of the power of the overbearing strangers. They soon
learned the inordinate passion of the new comers for gold, and taking advantage
of their credulity inflicted upon them the labor of many fruitless expeditions
in search of pretended mines, hoping at the same time by these
divisions to weaken the power of the little colony to such a degree that
they might be able to destroy it in detachment; but the English were too
cautious for this, and went too short a distance, and in force too powerful
for the Indians to encounter, with the great disparity of arms. The greatest
advantage which accrued from these expeditions, and indeed from the
whole attempt at a settlement, was the discovery of Chesapeake bay.

The little colony finding no gold and receiving no supplies from England
had begun to despond, when most unexpectedly Sir Francis Drake

arrived, on his return from his expedition against the Spaniards, in South
America, with a fleet of three and twenty ships. The sagacity of Drake
perceived in a moment what was necessary for the colony, and his generosity
supplied them with provisions, vessels, and other things necessary to
maintain their position, extend their researches, and if necessary to return to
England; but the accomplishment of his purpose was defeated by a violent
storm which suddenly arose, and nearly wrecked his whole fleet, driving
the vessel of provisions intended for the colony to sea, and destroying the
vessels which had been set apart, to be left for their use. He would have
supplied others, but the colony with their governor at their head, earnestly
requesting permission to return to England, he complied with
their wishes. Thus terminated the first English settlement in
America.

This little colony during its sojourn with the Indians, had acquired something
of their fondness for the use of tobacco, and learned to regard it with
almost the same superstitious reverence as a powerful medicinal agent.
Upon their return they introduced the use of this plant into England, and
a weed at first disgusting and nauseating to all who use it, has become gradually
the favorite luxury (and indeed with many a necessary of life) of all
classes of society and of both the young and the old throughout the world,
and this after experience has proven that in most cases it is an injury rather
than a benefit to the health.

A few days after Lane's departure, an English vessel arrived on the coast
with every necessary for the colony, but finding it deserted returned home.
Sir Richard Grenville arrived soon after with three ships well furnished
with stores, for the colony, but not finding it, he also returned, leaving fifteen
men on Roanoke Island, to keep possession in the name of Great
Britain.[108]

The genius of Sir Walter Raleigh was not of a nature to

succumb to slight failures, or ordinary difficulties. The succeeding
year another colony was despatched to settle in Virginia, and that
they might consider their settlement permanent and Virginia their home,
many persons with wives and families were sent.

A charter of incorporation was granted for a town to be call-

ed the City of Raleigh, a name revived in after times in the
present metropolis of North Carolina. John White was appointed governor,
and with eleven assistants constituted the administration for the control
of the colony. Ample provision was made by the noble and liberal proprietor
for the comfort of the colonists, and a plentiful stock of instruments
of husbandry provided, to enable them to supply their own future wants
and establish themselves on the only footing which could possibly be expected
to be permanent.

The company embarked in April and arrived in July, at the

place where they expected to find the fifteen unfortunate men
whom Grenville had left. But their grounds were grown up in weeds,
their tenantless dwellings had become the abode of the wild animals of the
forest, and their scattered bones blanching in the sun, were the last sad memorials
which told their fate to their anxious countrymen. Whether they
fell by civil dissentions among themselves, by famine or disease, or were
yet more miserably cut off by the overpowering numbers of a savage host,
taking advantage of their desolate situation, deprived of sympathy, and destitute
of the hope of succour, is one of the mysteries of history which the
ken of man may not unravel.

The sagacity of Raleigh had directed the new settlement to be made on
the shores of the magnificent Chesapeak, and there was the new city to be
built, but the naval officer preferring trade with the West Indies, to exploring
the coast, left White on Roanoke Island, and compelled him

to establish himself there.

The colony soon became involved in difficulties with the natives, partly
from accident, and partly from the previously engendered hostility of

some of the tribes. Indeed it would seem impossible a priori, even
if we had not unfortunately too much experience of the fact, that two nations,
of such different degrees of civilization, manners and habits, with such different
designs, could longer remain together in peace, harmony and the
footing of equals. It would seem to be the nature of man that the ignorant
tribe should be jealous, treacherous and vindictive, that the more civilized,
should be greedy, rapacious and overbearing. And when a spirit of suspicion
is once excited, the imprudence of a single individual too often involves
in a quarrel all of the citizens of the little communities, nothing is
extenuated, and nothing is attributed to accident, but suspicion in the injured
party supplies the place of malice in the aggressor. These difficulties made the
colonists feel more anxiously their dependance upon England, and forced upon
them a melancholy foreboding that without frequent and effectual assistance
from the mother country, they could not long sustain themselves in a strange
and distant land, the natives of which had become bitterly hostile. Under
this impression when their last ship was about to depart for England they
forced their reluctant Governor by excessive importunity to desert his charge
in order that he might lend his personal aid and influence in sending them
succour from home. He sailed with the ship but not until after
his daughter Eleanor Dare, the wife of one of the assistant Governors,
had presented him with the first white child born on the continent
of North America. This child was christened Virginia Dare, and
with her mother was esteemed a sufficient pledge of the exertions
of the Governor in aid of the colony, and of his speedy return.

White found all England engaged in anxious preparation to meet the
threatened Spanish invasion, but this did not prevent the ge-

nerous Raleigh from despatching him with two ships of supplies
for the relief of the colony. But the spirit of gain overcame the spirit
of humanity, and even the tender ties of parental affection,
instead of going at once to the colony, he employed himself in
taking Spanish prizes, and was at last himself overcome, and rifled, which
compelled him to return to England, much to the chagrin of the noble proprietor,
and probably the destruction of the neglected colony.

The Invincible Armada of Spain had to be overcome, and the safety of
England herself to be secured before another effort could be made to succour
the little colony at Roanoke, and when this was accomplished, leisure
found the noble patron of the enterprise too much impoverished by his previous
unprofitable exertions, to fit out at his own expense another expedition.
He was obliged to assign an extensive portion of his powers to a
company of merchants and others who might carry his schemes into execution,
but with his profuse liberality, the active spring which had quickened
previous expeditions was gone, the spirit of gain rather than of glory

presided over the destinies of infant America, and it was not until another
year had elapsed, that White was sent in quest of his sub-
jects and his daughter.

When he arrived the colony was gone, an inscription on the bark of a
tree, indicating Croatan as the place whither they had gone, was the last record
of their existence seen by a civilized eye. Conjecture has pointed
to an amalgamation with the tribe of Hatteras Indians as the history of
their destiny, and old Indian traditions and the physical characteristics of
that tribe are said to confirm the idea, but whilst humanity may indulge a
hope, credulity itself must entertain a doubt of the truth of the hypothesis.

White returned to England as soon as he found out that the colony was
gone, and Raleigh is said to have sent five several times in vain, to search
for his liege-men, but no tidings were ever received of their existence or
their fate. Thus terminated the attempts at settlement on the coast of North
Carolina, then called Virginia, the scene next opens upon the broad bosom
of the "mother of the waters."[119]

CHAPTER II.

SETTLEMENT AT JAMES TOWN—SUFFERINGS OF THE COLONISTS—ADVENTURES
OF SMITH.

We have now approached the period in which the British were destined
to make a permanent settlement in America. England already possessed
a population considered redundant, in consequence of the inadequate means
of support afforded by her limited commerce, and inefficient agriculture.
The pacific and timid character of James I. threw out of employment
many of the brave spirits who had served under Elizabeth, and left them
the choice of only two means of acquiring wealth or distinction,—and these
were either to draw a mercenary sword in the quarrels of strangers, or to
serve their king and country by transplanting their energy and enterprise
to a new world.

Bartholomew Gosnold chose the latter. He was a person of rank
and intelligence, and had already acquired distinction by his courage and
skill in arms. He solicited his friends for aid for many years in vain, but

at length attracted the attention of the distinguished adventurer Capt.
John Smith, Edward Maria Wingfield, a merchant, and Robert
Hunt, a clergymen, who after taking a year for reflection entered zealously
into his projects.

Nothing however could be effected until persons of wealth and distinction
could be found to patronise by their favor, and aid by their capital the
enthusiasm of the adventurers. Sir Ferdinand Gorges, a man of
wealth, rank, and influence, had been informing himself by conversation
with several American Indians who had been carried to England by previous
voyages, and by every other means in his power of the nature of
the country; and from the information he obtained became exceedingly
anxious to possess a domain on the western side of the Atlantic. He persuaded
Sir John Popham, lord chief justice of England, to unite in his
views. Richard Hacklyt, the distinguished compiler of narratives of
maritime adventures, and one of the assignees of Raleigh, had not yet relinquished
his hopes of a permanent settlement in America, notwithstanding
the frequent previous discouraging failures, and cheerfully joined in
this new scheme of American colonization. The exertions of these energetic
and distinguished individuals speedily raised a company, and procured
a charter from King James.

As this was the first charter under which a permanent settlement was
made, it may be worth attention to notice some of its prominent features.
The charter bears date on the tenth of April sixteen

hundred and six.[121] It grants all the country from
four and thirty to five and forty degrees of north latitude, and all islands
within one hundred miles of the coast. This immense extent of country
was divided by the charter between two companies, for the more speedy
accomplishment of their purpose,—which have been ever since designated
as the London and the Plymouth companies. The London company
wished to establish a colony between the 34th and 41st degrees of latitude,
and the Plymouth between the 38th and 45th, and the grants were
made in conformity to their wishes. But as there was room for collision
between the 38th and 41st degree of latitude, the colony which first settled
was to possess the land for fifty miles north and south of its location, and
the other colony was forbidden to settle within one hundred miles of the
colony first planted. Each of the colonies was to be governed by a council
of thirteen[122] persons, under the management and direction of a council
of thirteen in England, which was to regulate both colonies. The council
in the colonies were to govern according to laws, ordinances and instructions
prescribed by the king himself. The colonies had full power given
to search for and work mines, paying to the king a fifth part of the gold
and silver obtained, and a fifteenth of the copper; and they were further
allowed to coin money to pass current in the colonies. They were also
empowered to levy a duty of two and a half per cent upon the property of
the king's subjects trading within their limits, and five per cent upon all
others so trading, for the use of the colony for twenty one years, and afterwards
for the use of the king.

Certain articles of necessity were allowed to be carried to the colonies

from any part of the king's dominions free of duty for the first seven
years; and the colonists and their descendants were to have forever the
privileges, franchises, and immunities of native born Englishmen.

The English council was to have power to name the persons who were
to compose the colonial council, and the latter elected their own president,
and supplied vacancies in their own body. The religion of the church of
England was established; lands were to descend as at common law; manslaughter,
adultery, and dangerous tumults and seditions were to be punished
with death. The president and council constituted the supreme tribunal
in all cases. The property of the colonists was to continue in joint
stock for five years.

One hundred and nine years from the discovery of the North American
continent by Cabot, three small vessels whose joint tonnage

amounted to only 160 tons burthen, sailed for the coast of
Virginia with a colony of 105 men. They were detained for six weeks in
sight of England by adverse winds. The voyage was prosecuted under
the command of Captain Newport, who sailed by the old route of the Canaries
and the West India Islands; thus consuming the valuable time and
provisions of the colonists in a voyage unnecessarily long and circuitous.
He did not arrive in the Chesapeake until the 26th of April.

Dissensions had sprung up in the course of the voyage, which there
was no competent authority to quell, as the absurd affectation of diplomatic
mystery on the part of King James had sealed up his instructions
and the names of those who were to constitute the council, in a box which
was not to be opened until after they arrived in Virginia.

The southern cape of the Chesapeake received the name of Henry, and
the northern that of Charles, after the names of the sons of James. After
landing on cape Henry, the box of instructions was opened, and Smith[124] was
found to be named as one of the council, but he was excluded by the jealous
malignity of the rest. Wingfield was chosen President.

Soon after passing the capes they reached the mouth of a large and
beautiful river which they named after their sovereign James, but which
the natives called Powhatan. About fifty miles from the mouth of this
river they selected a spot for their settlement, to which they gave

the name of James Town. There could not perhaps be a
company more unfitted for the duty which it had to perform than that
which now commenced the foundation of the British empire in America.
The colonists were in a wilderness surrounded by savages, without a fortification
to repel their incursions, possessed of a scanty supply of provisions,
without means of planting,—and without a habitation, to protect
them from the weather, save such as they might themselves erect; yet in
the whole company there were but four carpenters, and twelve laborers, to
fifty-four gentlemen. At first however this rare collection of pioneers fell
to work with spirit, each to his appropriate duty. The president who
seems to have been a very weak man and ill-suited for his station, was too
jealous of his own men to allow exercises at arms, or a fortification to
be erected; and the only protection provided was a sort of half moon
formed of the boughs of trees by the exertions of Kendall. Newport,
Smith, and twenty others were sent to discover the head of the river. In
six days they arrived at a town called Powhatan, belonging to king Powhatan,
situated at the falls of the river, near the site of the present city of
Richmond,—they were kindly treated by the Indians. When the expedition
returned, they found that James Town had been attacked by the
savages, and 17 men wounded, and a boy killed. They were attacked
while at work, and their arms out of order; so that the whole were only
saved from destruction by the timely aid of the vessels. After this experience
of his folly the President permitted the place to be fortified, and the
labor necessary to effect this, with so small a force, whilst it was necessary
at the same time to guard their workmen by day, to watch by night, to
prepare ground for corn, and lumber to relade the ships, may be better
conceived than described. After a stay of six weeks, Newport prepared
to depart, and the council affecting a tender regard for the character of
Smith, whom they had falsely accused of a treacherous design to usurp
royal authority in the colony, and kept out of his seat in the council under
these charges, now proposed that he might not be utterly ruined by a trial,
to send him home to the council to be disposed of as it might think proper.
But Smith conscious of innocence of the absurd charge, boldly defied
them, and demanded a trial. His accusers suborned witnesses, who instead
of answering the expectations of their employers, only exposed the subornation.
The company were so incensed at the infamous conduct of
his accusers, that they condemned the President to pay him £200,
which, when received, he generously threw into the common stock. Newport
sailed on the 15th of June, leaving 100 men in Virginia.

The condition of the men thus left was the most melancholy that can
well be imagined. They consisted for the most part of men entirely
unused to labor, or hardship; who were doomed to encounter every kind
of difficulty, in the midst of summer, in a hot and sickly climate. In ten
days from the departure of Newport scarce ten men could stand from sickness
and weakness. The food was scanty in quantity, and of the most
unwholesome quality. The allowance of each man was half a pint of
wheat, and as much barley, boiled in water, which was served out from a
common kettle, and which having been closely stowed in the ship's hold
for 26 weeks in a warm and moist atmosphere, was reduced to a condition
any thing but tempting. Smith, the narrator of these sufferings, humorously
remarks, "If we had been as free from all sins as from gluttony and
drunkenness, we might have been canonized for saints." As might be
supposed in such an unfortunate state of affairs great mortality prevailed,
and fifty were buried between May and September, and those that survived
relied principally for their subsistence upon sturgeon and sea crabs. The
suffering in this state of affairs must have been greatly aggravated by the
knowledge, that the President was indulging himself in every luxury
which the stores afforded,—and his detection in an attempt to escape in the
pinnace, from the suffering colony. This last act of treachery was more
than the little colony could endure, and weak as it was, it deposed him,
and Kendall his accomplice. Ratcliffe was made President. The council
do not seem to have exercised the power granted them in their charter, of
filling up vacancies, and it was now reduced to three,—Ratcliffe, Smith,
and Martin; Gosnold had perished, Newport sailed for England, and
Wingfield and Kendall had been deposed.

The President and Martin being unpopular men, and very deficient in
judgment and energy, committed the control of affairs nearly entirely to

Smith, who by his example and his skill in managing men, speedily reduced
affairs to order, induced the men to work, and provided comfortable habitations.
His next object was to obtain a supply of corn for the immediate
necessity of the people, which he did effectually by frightening the people
of Kecoughtan, an Indian village situated near the site of the present town
of Hampton,—after first trying every means to purchase their provision.
Smith now constituted the only hope not only for the existence of the colony
as such, but for the lives of the individuals of whom it consisted. Their
recent wretchedness was not a sufficient warning to them to preserve order,
and to husband their resources with prudence, now that plenty was provided,
but they lived as wastefully as if they had boundless magazines at command.
Smith seeing this, caused the pinnace to be fitted up for a cruise,
and in the mean time availed himself of the opportunity to become acquainted
with the country lying on the Chickahominy.

During one of these temporary absences of Smith, Wing field and Kendall,
who had lived in disgrace since they were deposed, laid a plot to carry
off the pinnace to England, which the fortunate return of Smith before
they had time to effect their purpose, prevented. But not even then were
they defeated, without firing on the pinnace, by which means Kendall lost
his life.

Smith having gained possession of the pinnace, ascended the Chickahominy,
and procured an abundance of corn. Winter coming on soon after
afforded an ample supply of game, and wild fowl, so that plenty was
once more restored, and thought no longer entertained of going to England.

Little souls cannot look upon the greatest exploits of nobler creatures,
without suffering a captious and jealous malignity to detract from their
merit. The very beings whom Smith had preserved by his good conduct,
now murmured against him their absurd complaints—because he had not
discovered the head of the Chickahominy, although he had returned only
to supply them with food. His spirit could not brook reproach, however
undeserved, for any thing which was yet possible to be accomplished. He
again ascended the Chickahominy as far as was practicable in the pinnace,
and leaving it in a position which he supposed to be safe, he advanced yet
higher, with two whites and two Indians in a canoe. He left his men with
his little boat, and taking only his Indian guide, advanced into the forest
with his gun to procure them provision. Unfortunately, in disobedience to
his orders, the men in the pinnace went ashore, and one of them was taken
by the Indians, who learned from their prisoner whither the Captain had
gone. The savages pursued him, and slew the men left with the canoe
whilst they slept. They next sought Smith, but found him no easy prey,
for tying his guide to his arm as a buckler to keep off their arrows, he defended
himself so gallantly that they dare not approach him, until falling
accidentally into a marsh, he was at length forced by cold and fatigue to
surrender. The savages conducted him to their Chief Opechankanough,
king of Pamunkee. Smith endeavored to impress the king with a high idea
of his powers, by presenting him with a mariner's compass, explaining its
uses, and instructing him in the rudiments of astronomy, by explaining the
motion of the earth, its shape, and the motion of the sun, moon and planets;
truths which it is difficult to believe he could make the savage comprehend,
especially as he had but little knowledge of their language. It is more
probable that the king was pleased with the ivory case of the compass, and
the mysterious play of the needle, which he could see but not touch, and

which moved without an apparent cause. Accordingly, we find when his
men had tied Smith to a tree and were about to slay him, the king did not
attempt to prevent it by explaining the motion of the earth around the sun,
but merely held up the compass, the sight of which, seems to have been
sufficient to disarm their wrath.

For six or seven weeks Smith was led about in triumph by these simple
people, and exhibited to the tribes between the James and Potomac rivers,
during the whole of which time he was in hourly apprehension of being
put to death, but was generally well treated, and provided with most of the
luxuries which their simple state afforded. At length he was brought before
their Emperor, Powhatan, who received him with all the formal pomp
and state known to his savage court. A long consultation was held by the
council there assembled, upon the disposition to be made of him, which terminated
unfavorably. He was seized by a number of the savages, and his
head laid upon two great stones which had been brought there for the purpose.
His executioners had already raised their clubs to dash out his brains,
and thus at once end his toil and difficulties, and cut off the only hope of
the colony, when an advocate appeared, as unexpected as would have been
the appearance of an angel sent immediately from heaven to ask his release.
This was Pocahontas, the Emperor's favorite daughter, who generously
stepped forth and entreated with tears, that Smith might be spared. And
when she found this unavailing with the inexorable judges, she seized his
head, and placed it under her own, to protect it from the blows. This sight
so moved Powhatan, that he permitted Smith to live, intending to retain
him to make trinkets and utensils for his family and himself. But a few
days afterwards Powhatan told him they would be friends again, and sent
him back to Jamestown, with an offer of a large district of country in exchange
for two great guns, and a grindstone, but the party who were to
carry these things found them so heavy, and were so much terrified by the
effect of the guns when discharged at a tree, that they were well satisfied
to return without them, having received a few paltry baubles and trinkets.
Smith's return again prevented a party from running off with the pinnace;
which so incensed them that they laid a plot to slay him, by a mock trial
for the death of the two men he had left in the canoe, and who were slain
by the savages, but he was too prompt for the conspirators, whom he seized
and kept close prisoners until he had an opportunity of sending them to
England for trial. The colony was now only preserved from perishing by
the kindness of Pocahontas, who brought ample supplies every four or five
days.

During this time the little colony had not been forgotten by the company
in England, but Newport soon after his return was again despatched in
company with another vessel commanded by Francis Nelson, furnished
with all things which could be imagined necessary either for the crews or
the colonists. Nelson when in sight of Cape Henry was driven by a storm
so far to sea, that he was obliged to land in the West Indies to refit and renew
his supply of water. Newport arrived without an accident. Before
the arrival of this supply Smith had established a regular intercourse with
the savages, and bought their provisions at moderate prices, which the
high estimation in which he was held by them, and the awe which his
name inspired, enabled him to fix for himself. But now the poor colonists
were so grateful to the mariners who had come to their relief that they
were permitted to trade at such price as they thought proper, by which

means it followed in a short time that a pound of copper would not purchase
what had before sold for an ounce. Newport thought proper to pay a visit
of ceremony to Powhatan, who received the party with great dignity and
state. During this visit a contest of wits took place between the two parties
in which Powhatan evinced infinitely greater diplomatic skill than
Captain Newport, and by working upon his pride was very near consummating
a highly advantageous bargain, but he in his turn was out-witted
by the ingenuity of Smith, who having passed many bawbles before his
eyes, and finding that his attention was attracted by some blue beads, affected
to value them exceedingly, and intimated that they were not to be
worn except by the greatest personages. This inflamed the desire of the
Emperor to such an extent that he cheerfully gave several hundred bushels
of corn for a pound or two of these rare jewels, whose beautiful color resembled
the pure ether of heaven. The same stratagem was afterwards
played off by Smith with equal success upon Opechankanough, king of
Pamunkee.

Unfortunately when Smith and Newport returned to Jamestown with
this new supply, and added it to their former store, it took fire and the
greater part was consumed, together with many of their dry thatched dwellings,
a portion of their pallisade fortifications, and some of their arms, bedding
and apparel.

Instead of returning home with all possible expedition Newport remained
14 weeks in the colony, consuming the precious provision which should
have been applied to the support of the unfortunate individuals he was to
leave behind him. Unfortunately too he had brought out some gold refiners
in his ship, who having discovered a glittering earth near Jamestown
thought it gold, and all hands were diverted from their useful toil for the
purpose of lading his ship with this worthless article. To such an extent
did this mania prevail, that Smith says, "there was no talk, no hope, no
work, but dig gold, wash gold, refine gold, load gold." Newport having
completed his cargo at length returned home. Soon after his departure the
Phœnix, the vessel of Nelson, which had been given up for lost arrived,
with all his men in safety, and a good stock of provisions, which he freely
and fairly gave to the colonists to the extent of his ability. The next subject,
for consideration, was the return cargo,—to obtain which the President
wished Smith to examine the commodities to be found in the country
above the falls,—others wished the lading to be of the same gold with
which Newport was freighted,—but Smith more prudent than either succeeded
in loading the Phœnix with cedar, which was the first available
cargo sent from Virginia to England.

Smith accompanied the Phœnix as far as Cape Henry in a small open
barge with 14 men, with which equipment he proposed to ac-

complish his long cherished object of exploring the Chesapeak
and its tributary waters. It is not our purpose to follow him through
his two wonderful voyages, undertaken for this purpose, but we will merely
present an outline of his course from the pen of an able modern author,[127] from whom we have before quoted. "Two voyages, made in an open boat,
with a few companions, over whom his superior courage, rather than his
station as a magistrate, gave him authority, occupied him about three
months of the summer, and embraced a navigation of nearly three thousand
miles. The slenderness of his means has been contrasted with the dignity
and utility of his discoveries, and his name has been placed in the highest
rank with the distinguished men, who have enlarged the bounds of geographical
knowledge, and opened the way by their investigations for colonies
and commerce. He surveyed the bay of the Chesapeake to the Susquehannah,
and left only the borders of that remote river, to remain for
some years longer the fabled dwelling place of a giant progeny. The Patapsco
was discovered and explored, and Smith probably entered the harbor
of Baltimore. The majestic Potomac, which at its mouth is seven miles
broad, especially invited curiosity and passing beyond the heights of Mount
Vernon and the City of Washington, be ascended to the falls above Georgetown.
Nor did he merely explore the river and inlets. He penetrated the
territories, established friendly relations with the native tribes, and laid the
foundation for future beneficial intercourse. The map which he prepared
and sent to the company in London is still extant, and delineates correctly
the great outlines of nature. The expedition was worthy the romantic age
of American history." The map is indeed astonishingly accurate, we cannot
forbear adding the corroborating testimony of the distinguished Robertson[128]
upon this subject, which is also quoted and approved by Marshall.[129]
"He brought with him an account of that large portion of the American
continent now comprehended in the two provinces of Virginia and Maryland,
so full and exact, that after the progress of information and research
for a century and a half, his map exhibits no inaccurate view of both countries,
and is the original upon which all subsequent descriptions have been
formed."

When Smith returned to Jamestown be found that little had been done,
and a whole summer, which was a season of plenty, was

wasted in idleness by the folly and imbecility of the President
whose conduct was so outrageous that the company had been at last forced
to depose and imprison him.

Smith was now elected President, and his energetic conduct speedily
brought affairs into good order, and repaired as far as possible the

injuries occasioned by the misconduct of his predecessor.

Soon after Smith's election Newport again arrived, with the preposterous
order, supposed to have been procured by his own representations, not to
return without a lump of gold, discovery of a passage to the south sea, or
one of the lost company sent out by Sir Walter Raleigh. He also absurdly
brought some costly articles for the royal household of Powhatan, which
served only to inflate the pride, without conciliating the affection of that
Prince. Some Poles and Dutchmen were also brought for the purpose of
manufacturing, pitch, tar, glass, ashes, &c. which would have been well enough
if the colony had been in a condition always to defy famine, but which it
was impossible to accomplish now, when every man's exertions were necessary
to procure a sufficiency of food. Notwithstanding Smith's remonstrances,
Newport insisted upon his trip of discovery above the falls of
James river, for the purpose of discovering a rout to the south sea, although
Powhatan had assured them that the story they had heard of there being a
sea in that direction was utterly false. The party returned as Smith had
predicted, disappointed and disheartened. Since this project had failed

Smith having first procured a supply of provisions which Newport and the
rest with all their vain boasting and their costly presents had failed to do,
and knowing that it was as impossible to find a lump of gold, or one of
Raleigh's company as it was to find the south sea on James river, set himself
to work to supply a cargo of tar, pitch, boards, ashes and such articles
as they had it in their power to procure, although with great difficulty and
labor. So effectually did he exert himself and so much authority had he
acquired over the delicate gentlemen under his controul, whose tender
hands blistered with the use of the axe, that in a short time he had provided
a sufficient cargo, for Captain Newport, who at length departed, leaving
two hundred souls in the colony. By the return of the vessel Smith wrote
to the council a letter detailing the cause of their mishaps, assuring them
that they need not expect a sudden acquisition of wealth, and that nothing
was to be obtained but by labor. He complained of the want of judgment
and economy in the expenditure for the benefit of the colony, which prevented
them from reaping an advantage of greater value than a hundred
pounds judiciously expended would purchase, from an actual outlay by the
company of two or three thousand. He also especially complained of the
habits and character of the men sent out, and ntrated them when they
sent again, rather to send "but thirty carpenters, husbandmen, gardeners,
fishermen, blacksmiths, masons and diggers up of tree-roots, well provided,
than a thousand such as they had, for unless they could both lodge and
feed them, they would perish with want before they could be made good for
any thing."

From the departure of the ship, until the next arrival the men were only
preserved from perishing by the most active and unremitting

exertions of their President, the detail of whose conduct in his
intercourse with the savages, and his management of the ill-assorted, disorderly,
turbulent spirits under his controul, is one of the most interesting stories
in history, and proves him to have been a man of extraordinary abilities.

Although the fond anticipations of the Virginia company had been entirely
disappointed, a spirit seems to have prevailed, which was rather disposed
to surmount all difficulties by increased exertion, than to succumb to
the accumulated misfortunes which had already been encountered.

The company seemed to have perceived their error in expecting a sudden
acquisition of wealth from their American possessions; and the defects in
the government established by the first charter. To remedy these evils a
new charter[133] was obtained, in which many individuals,

and corporate bodies were included, of great wealth, power
and reputation.

By the new charter the power which had before been reserved by the
king was now transferred to the company itself; which was to have the
power of choosing the supreme council in England, and of legislating in
all cases for the colony. The powers of the governor were enlarged from
those of a mere president of the council, to supreme and absolute, civil and
military controul; the instructions and regulations of the supreme council
being his only guide or check. There can be no doubt but that this was
the only practicable government which could be offered to a colony in the
situation and composed of the materials which then existed in Virginia.

The members of the council had only been so many petty tyrants,—the indolent
and weak thwarting the exertions of the industrious and the intelligent,
and the cowardly and factious disputing the authority, and impugning
the motives of such as were brave and honorable. In truth whenever any
thing good had thus far been done it was by the exercise of absolute authority
by a mind superior to the rest, and whatever had gone wrong might
with truth be attributed almost as much to the opposing views of the various
members of the council, as to the disposition of some to do wrong.

Lord De La Ware received the appointment of governor for life under
the new charter, and an avarice which would listen to no possibility of defeat,
and which already dreamed of a flourishing empire in America, surrounded
him with stately officers, suited by their titles and nominal charges
to the dignity of an opulent kingdom. The condition of the public
mind favored colonization; swarms of people desired to be transported; and
the adventurers with cheerful alacrity contributed free-will offerings. The
widely diffused enthusiasm soon enabled the company to despatch a fleet of
nine vessels, containing more than five hundred emigrants.[135] Newport was
made Admiral, and was joint commissioner with Sir Thomas Gates and Sir
George Somers to administer the affairs of the colony until the arrival of
the governor. But these three individuals, with a ceremonious punctilio
characteristic of little minds, seeling that distinction from artificial positions
in society, which they cannot obtain by their own merit, could not agree in
a contest for precedence, and hence were compelled as a compromise, all to
go in the same ship. Thus exposing the colony to all the danger of anarchy
rather than that one should appear by the ship he occupied to be a greater
man than the other.

They accordingly embarked with their commission, their directions and
much of the provision in the Sea Venture. When near the coast of Virginia
they encountered a violent storm which destroyed one small vessel,
and drove the Sea Venture so far to sea that she stranded on the rocks of
the Bermudas. Seven ships arrived in safety.

When Smith heard of the arrival of this immense fleet, he at first supposed
it belonged to Spain and was sent to take possession of the colony,
he accordingly made all things ready with his usual promptness and energy
of character, to give them a warm reception, and little fear was entertained
of the result. Smith had by this time by his good conduct brought the
savages so completely into subjection by their admiration for his qualities
and fear of his power, that they had become subjects and servants, planting
and working for him as he required; and now when it was thought he
was about to be attacked by the Spaniards they lent him all the aid in their
power.

The company in England had not attended to the wise advice of Smith
in the selection of their colonists, for it must be remarked that he had no
friend at home, whilst his enemies were suffered there to make their own
representations. In the new batch of officers Ratcliffe and Archer were
sent back, who had been sent home in disgrace for their idle, dissolute and
mutinous conduct. They prejudiced the minds of the other officers so
much against Smith, on the voyage, that they hated him mortally before
they had seen him. The historian of the times regrets that the fleet was

not composed of Spaniards instead of Englishmen, and thinks it would
have been better for the colony.[136]

The newly imported "unruly gallants, packed hither by their friends to
escape ill destinies," taking sides with Ratcliffe, Archer and their confederates
against the President, whose commission they affected to consider as
having been superceded by the new commission, conducted themselves
very riotously, and refused to remain in subordination to any authority.
Smith bore this for some time patiently, expecting every moment the arrival
of the new commission, and wishing when that event happened to depart
for England, and leave the scene of his great sufferings and glorious
exertions; being willing to quit the service of a company who could so
unceremoniously dispense with his authority for the purpose of putting
individuals over him who had no claims upon them, and who knew nothing
of the management of the colony. Fortunately the commissioners had
been stranded and did not arrive, and Smith could no longer suffer affairs
to remain in confusion. After his resolution was taken he quickly laid
by the heels the most factious, who had been perpetually plotting his destruction
and engaging in all kinds of mischief, until he could have leisure
to do them justice.

The number still remaining at large in James Town being too great for
that position, and more than could be well supported or easily managed,—
he despatched West with a hundred and twenty of the best men he could
select to form a settlement at the falls; and Martin with nearly as many
more to Nansemond; providing them with a fair proportion of food and
other necessary articles. Martin managed badly;—his jealous fears induced
him to attack the savages in his neighborhood who had treated him
well, and take possession of a large quantity of their corn and other property,—whilst
his cowardly caution or criminal tenderness permitted them
to rally and in their turn attack his men with impunity, to kill and wound
several and retake all they had lost. He sent to James Town for a reinforcement,
which he did not employ when he received, but hastened thither
himself, cowering under the protection of Smith's prowess, and leaving his
men to their fate.

The President set out for the falls a few days after West had departed,
and found that he had located himself in an exceedingly inconvenient station,
subject to inundation, and surrounded by other intolerable inconveniences.
He offered a fair proposition to Powhatan, for the purchase of his
place called Powhatan, which he was willing to accept, but the disorderly
spirits he had sent thither, who were dreaming that the country immediately
above them was full of gold, to which they wished no one to have access
but themselves, refused the place, or to ratify the contract, despising alike
his kindness and his authority. The President with his five men went
boldly among them, and seized the ringleaders of the mutiny, but the
whole number of a hundred and twenty gathering in upon him, forced
him to retire, but not without seizing one of their boats, with which he

took possession of the hip, in which their provision was lodged. Fortunately
for Smith he was sustained by the mariners who had learned his
character from his old soldiers, and their own observations of his conduct,
as well as by several of the officers who had learned the error of their
first prejudices, deserted his adversaries, and become his firm friends. The
Indians came to Smith, whom they considered as their friend and protector,
complaining bitterly of the maltreatment of the party at the falls, stating
that they were worse than their old enemies the Monocans, from whom
it was the duty of the party to protect them, and seeing their turbulent
disobedience, they offered their aid to chastise them. Smith remained nine
days longer trying to heal these differences, and to convince them of the
absurdity of their "guilded hopes of the South sea mines." But finding
all in vain he set out for James Town. Such visionary and disorderly
persons were the first civilized inhabitants of the present polished, intelligent
and hospitable city of Richmond. No sooner was Smith's voyage
commenced down the river, than the savages attacked those he left behind
him, and slew many and so frightened the rest that they suffered the prisoners
they held in custody to escape. The terrified wretches fled for safety
to Smith, whose ship had grounded, and submitted without stipulation to
his mercy. He seized six or seven of the ringleaders, and imprisoned
them; the rest he placed in the savage fort Powhatan, which from the
beauty of its position, the excellence of its houses and fortifications, and
other advantages, was called Non-such. He also satisfied the savages.
This fair prospect was again marred by the imbecility of West, who listened
to the deceitful tales, and whining entreaties of the prisoners, and released
them, which again threw all things into disorder; the evil disposed
being the more encouraged in their mutinous conduct now by the possession
of their provisions and stores which had been returned to them at the
time of their previous submission. They abandoned Non-such and returned
to their former inconvenient station at West's fort. Smith finding
it impossible to restore tranquility, again set sail down the river.

In his progress an unfortunate accident occurred which deprived the
colony of his services, and was near depriving him of life. His powder
bag accidentally exploded whilst he was sleeping, and tore the flesh from
his body and thighs in a horrible manner. The pain was so acute that
he threw himself into the river to cool the burning sensation, and was near
drowning before he could be recovered. He had yet to go nearly one hundred
miles in this situation before he could reach a surgeon, or have any
soothing application applied to his wound.

When he returned to James Town, the time for the trial of Ratcliffe
and Archer was approaching, and these worthies fearing the result, hired
an assassin to murder him in his bed, but the heart of the wretch failed
him, ere he could fire the fatal shot. Failing in this, their next hope was
to save their lives by possessing themselves of the government, but in this
they were disappointed by Smith, who having in vain urged all those he
thought most worthy to accept the Presidency, resigned it to Mr. Percy,
who was about to sail for England but was induced to stay under the present
embarrassing circumstances, to prevent the supreme control of the
colony from falling into the hands of the miscreants who aspired to it.

Smith finding himself disabled by his wound, the pain of which almost
deprived him of his reason, and seeing that there was not sufficient surgical
skill in the colony to restore him, determined to depart for England

He well knew that in his disabled state the colony was no place for him,
for it had required his utmost exertion in health to suppress faction at
home, keep the Indians in awe, and by the most unceasing activity supply
the colony with provision. He departed under the most mortifying circumstances;—"his
commission was suppressed he knew not why, himself
and soldiers to be rewarded he knew not how, and a new commission
granted they knew not to whom." After his determination was known
the ships which were to have departed the next day were retained three
weeks, whilst the mutinous captains were perfecting some colorable charge
to send home against him. Never had the colony sustained such a loss.
His conduct and his character will be best given in the language of those
who knew him best. A writer who was with him in his troubles speaking
of the attempt to usurp the government immediately before his departure,
says:—

"But had that unhappy blast not happened, he would quickly have
qualified the heat of those humors, and factions, had the ships but once left
them and us to our fortunes; and have made the provision from among
the savages, as we neither feared Spaniard, savage, or famine; nor would
have left Virginia nor our lawful authority, but at as dear a price as we
had bought it and paid for it. What shall I say but thus, we left him, that
in all his proceedings, made justice his first guide, and experience his
second, even hating baseness, sloth, pride, and indignity, more than any
danger,—that never allowed more for himself, than his soldiers with him;
that upon no danger would send them where he would not lead them himself;—that
would never see us want what he either had, or could by any
means get us;—that would rather want than borrow, or starve than not
pay;—that loved action more than words, and hated falsehood and covetousness
worse than death; whose adventures were our lives, and whose
loss our deaths."

CHAPTER III.

PROGRESS OF THE COLONY—MASSACRE OF 1622—DISSOLUTION OF THE
LONDON COMPANY.

When Smith left the colony, it contained four hundred and ninety odd
persons. The harvest was newly gathered and there was provision for
ten weeks in the stores. The savages were in a good state of subjection
and readily yielded at a reasonable price whatever they could spare. All
things were in such a condition that prudent management might have insured
the most brilliant success, but the wildest confusion and anarchy prevailed.
The new President was so ill that he could not attend to business,
and twenty others endeavored to hold the reins of government. When
the savages found that Smith was gone they speedily attacked and broke
up the establishments at Powhatan and Nansemond, driving in the remnant
of the men their butcheries left, to subsist upon the rapidly wasting
provisions of James Town. Ratcliffe with a vessel and thirty men attempting
to trade with Powhatan was by his carelessness cut off, and he himself
with all his company perished except two, who were saved by the humanity
of Pocahontas. West with a crew of thirty escaped in a ship to become
pirates.[137] The miserable company now left without control or
authority, and composed with a few exceptions of "gentlemen, tradesmen,
servingmen, libertines, and such-like, ten times more fit to spoil a commonwealth,
than either begin one, or but help to maintain one," now gave free
rein to all their evil dispositions. Each one sought only to gratify his
passions or preserve his own life, without regard to the wants or sufferings
of the rest. There was no union, no concert, no harmony. Vice stalked
abroad in her naked deformity, and her handmaids, misery and famine
followed in her train. The savages attacked and slew the whites upon
every occasion, and forming a systematic plan to starve the remainder, they
would supply no further provisions; after they had bought every disposable
article at the fort, even to most of their arms, at such a price as they

chose to exact. The corn was speedily consumed, next followed the
domestic animals, poultry, hogs, goats, sheep, and finally the horses; all
were consumed even to their skins. The only resource was in roots,
acorns, berries, and such other unwholesome stuff as could be found; nay
so pinching was the hunger, that savages who had been slain and buried
were disinterred to be consumed, and even some of the whites who had
perished were used to preserve life by the rest. Of nearly five hundred
that Smith left, in six months only sixty emaciated beings remained alive;
and these were without the possibility of support for longer than ten days.

When Gates and Summers were shipwrecked on the Bermuda rocks,
their good management saved the life of every individual, and a large
proportion of their provision and stores. On this island although uninhabited,
nature was so bountiful, and presented spontaneously such a rich
variety of productions suitable to the sustenance of man, that their hundred
and fifty men lived in ease and abundance for nearly ten months.
The disagreeable idea of remaining thus upon an island, cut off from all
intercourse with the rest of the world, stimulated them to the exertion
necessary to build two barks, with such rude instruments as they possessed,
from the wreck of their old ship and the cedars of the island. In these
they embarked for Virginia, expecting to find in the comforts and plenty of a
flourishing colony ample solace for all their toil and difficulties. What then
was their astonishment when they reached James Town, after a

more prosperous voyage than they could have expected in their
crazy vessels, to meet instead of the warm and joyful welcome of their countrymen,
in the full fruition of health and plenty, only the greedy cravings of
a few miserable wretches, begging for a sufficiency of food to preserve
their existence. Not anticipating this melancholy situation they had only
provided themselves with enough provision for their voyage, and were
unable to releive the necessities of their fellow creatures, whose sufferings
it was so painful to witness. It was impossible in this situation to remain
longer in the colony. All were embarked on board the vessels,
James Town was abandoned, and it was with difficulty that its departing
citizens could be prevented from setting fire to the habitations in which
they had suffered so much misery. All the provisions which could be
raised did not amount to more than would support them for sixteen days,
at the most limited allowance, yet with this they set out with the hope to
reach Newfoundland, where they expected to be relieved by the British
fishing vessels.

But although it had been the will of heaven to permit the colonists to
receive an awful chastisement for their misconduct, yet it was not decreed
by the ruler of all human affairs that the colony should be entirely abandoned,
and so much labor and suffering be useless to mankind, or so fine a
country left in its original wild and unimproved condition. Before Gates
and his associates had reached the mouth of James river, they were met
by Lord De La Ware with three ships, having on board a number of new
settlers, an ample stock of provisions, and every thing requisite for defence
or cultivation. By persuasion and authority he prevailed upon them to
return to James Town, where they found their fort, and

houses and magazines in the same situation in which they
had been left. A society with so bad a constitution and such a weak and
disordered frame required skillful and tender nursing to restore it to vigor.
Lord De La Ware was fully competent to his station. He held a long
consultation to ascertain the cause of the previous difficulties, and concluded
after listening to their mutual accusations, by a speech full of wholesome
advice, recommending the course they should pursue, and assuring them
that he should not hesitate to exercise his lawful authority in punishing
the insubordinate, dissolute, and idle. By unwearied assiduity, by the
respect due to an amiable and benificent character, by knowing how to
mingle severity with indulgence, and when to assume the dignity of his
office, as well as when to display the gentleness natural to his own temper,
he gradually reconciled men corrupted by anarchy, to subordination and
discipline, he turned the attention of the idle and profligate to industry, and
taught the Indians again to reverence and dread the English name. Under
such an administration, the colony began once more
to assume a promising appearance; when, unhappily for
it, a complication of diseases brought on by the climate obliged Lord
De La Ware to quit the country: the government of which he committed
to Mr. Percy.[141] The colony at this time, consisted of about two hundred
men; but the departure of the governor was a disastrous event, which
produced not only a despondency at James Town, but chilled the zealous
warmth of the London company, and caused a decided reaction in the
popular mind in England, which was exhibited in the manner in which
popular feeling delights to display itself, by exhibiting the Virginia colony
as a subject of derision upon the stage.[142]

Before the departure of Lord De La Ware the company in England had
despatched Sir Thomas Dale with supplies, and it was well he arrived so
soon, for the company was already fast relapsing to their

former state of idleness and improvidence, and had neglected
to plant corn; which he caused to be done immediately. The company
having found all their previous systems of government inefficient,
granted to Sir Thomas Dale more absolute authority than had been granted
to any of his predecessors, impowering him to rule by martial law; a
short code of which founded on the practice of the armies in the low
countries, the most rigid school at that time in Europe, they sent out with
him. This system of violent and arbitrary government was recommended
by Sir Francis Bacon, the most enlightened philosopher, and one of the
most eminent lawyers of his age. It proves the depth of his sagacity, for
it would have been absurd to apply the refined speculative theories of civil
government to a set of mutinous, undisciplined, idle, ignorant creatures,
shut up in a fort, surrounded by hostile nations, and dependent upon their
own exertions for support. Surely in such a case a strong government
was as necessary as in a ship at sea, and more so than in ordinary military
stations, where habitual discipline preserves order, and ensures respect to
the officers.

The governor who was now entrusted with this great but necessary
power exercised it with prudence and moderation. By the vigor which
the summary mode of military punishment gave to his administration, he
introduced into the colony more perfect order than had ever been established
there; and at the same time he tempered its vigor with so much
discretion, that no alarm seems to have been given by this innovation.

In May Sir Thomas Dale wrote to England full information of the

weakness of the colony, but recommending in strong terms the importance
of the place. His favorable representations were fully confirmed by Lord
De La Ware and Sir Thomas Gates. The hopes of the company were
resuscitated, and in August, Gates arrived at James Town with six ships,
and three hundred emigrants. The colony which now consisted of seven
hundred men, was surrendered into the hands of Gates, and Dale by his
permission made a settlement with three hundred and fifty chosen men
upon a neck nearly surrounded by the river, which in honor of Prince
Henry, he called Henrico.

One of the greatest checks to industry which had hitherto existed in the
colony was the community of property in the provisions and stores. The
idle and dissipated seeing that they were to have a full share, had no stimulus
to exertion, and the industrious were disheartened by seeing the larger
portion of the fruits of their industry consumed by the idle members of the
little society. So discouraging was this state of things to exertion, that frequently
in the best times, the labor of thirty did not accomplish more than
was done under a different system by three. Gates perceived the evil and
applied the remedy. He distributed a certain portion of land to each individual
to be worked for his own benefit, still paying however a small portion
of his produce to the general store to provide against contingencies.
This policy was found so advantageous that every encouragement was afforded
to individual enterprize in the acquisition of wealth. But little respect
was paid to the rights of the Indians, for some depredation or injury
from the tribe of Apamatuck, they were dispossessed of their corn and their
cabins, which "considering the position commodious" were unceremoniously
appropriated by the English to their own benefit.

The colony now having extended considerably, assumed a more regular
form by pursuing a more consistent system of policy; and

beginning to promise permanency, a new charter was
granted by James. This confirmed and enlarged all the privileges and immunities
which had been proviously granted, extended the time of exemption
from duties, and enlarged their territory and jurisdiction to all islands
and seats within three hundred miles of the coast. This included the newly
discovered, fertile Bermudas, which were soon after sold by the company
to one hundred and twenty of its members.[145]

This new charter made some changes in the constitution of the company,
by giving more power to the company itself and less to the council, it also
conferred the power of raising money by lottery for the benefit of the colony,
which was the first introduction of this pernicious system of taxation
into England, and which was soon after prohibited by act of

Parliament, but not until the company had raised nearly
thirty thousand pounds by the privilege.

As the new system of policy had increased the independence and preserved
the numbers of the colony, so had it increased its strength, and the
respect of the savages. One powerful tribe now voluntary sought British
protection and became British subjects, another was brought to a close and
friendly alliance by a tenderer tie than fear could afford.

Captain Argall in a voyage to the Potomac for the purpose of purchasing
corn, fell in with an old chief named lapazaws, to whom Powhatan had entrusted
Pocahontas, which he disclosed to Argall, and offered to sell her to

him for a copper kettle. The bargain was made, and Pocahontas being enticed
on board by the cunning of her guardian, was carried off without once
suspecting the treachery of the old hypocrite. The authorities at Jamestown
availed themselves of the possession of this lucky prize to endeavor to extort
from Powhatan a high ransom, but the old Emperor though he really
loved his daughter, seemed to be so highly affronted at the indignity offered
him, that he preferred fighting those who had robbed him of his daughter
to purchasing her freedom. But whilst this matter was in agitation a treaty
of a different character was going forward between the young princess
herself and Mr. Rolfe, a highly respectable young gentleman of Jamestown,
who struck by her beauty, and fascinated by her manners so far superior
to the rest of her race, wooed and won her affections and obtained a promise
of her hand. The news of this amicable adjustment of all difficulties
soon reached the ears of Powhatan, and met with his cordial approbation.
He sent the uncle and two brothers of Pocahontas to witness the nuptial
ceremonies at Jamestown, which were solemnized with great pomp, according
to the rites of the English church. From this marriage several of the
most highly respected families in Virginia trace their descent. Happy
would it have been for both races, if this amalgamation had been promoted
by other instances, but this is the only case upon record. This marriage
secured the permanent friendship of Powhatan and all under
his influence, and the Chickahominies, his next neighbors, when they heard
of it, sent deputies, and submitted by solemn treaty to become subjects to
king James, and to submit to his governor in the colony,—to pay tribute,—
and furnish men to fight against whatever enemies should attack the colony;
only stipulating that at home they should continue to be governed by
their own laws.

No better evidence could exist of the opinion which the colony entertained
at this time of its own stability and power, than the fact that they

sent two successive expeditions under Captain Argall to the French
settlements at Port Royal, in Acadia which he effectually succeeded in destroying.
This was done in a time of profound peace between the two nations,
and the only semblance of right is afforded in the prior discovery
of the contment by Cabot, for the French settlement was beyond the limits
of the Virginia charter. As Argall returned he stopped at the port of New
York, and forced Hendrick Christiaens, the governor of the Dutch colony
there located, to become a subject of the crown of England, and submit to
the authority of its representative the governor of Virginia, and to pay
tribute. When Argall was gone, the Dutchman no doubt smoked his pipe
and pursued his trade as composedly as he had before, for no use was ever
made of this conquest.

We have already mentioned a partial distribution of lands by Sir Thomas
Dale, for the purpose of encouraging individual industry; it may be well
to explain more in detail the tenure by which lands were held by individuals.
At the favored Bermudas plantation, near the mouth of the Appomattox,
either on account of the greater merit, longer service, or some favorable
circumstances attending the expense of the emigration of the tenants,
the lands were held by a rent of two and a half barrels of corn annually
to the general stock, and one months' service, which was not to be in
time of sowing, or of harvest. Those who had been brought over at the expense
of the company, had three acres of land allotted them and two bushels
of corn from the public store, and with this scanty allowance were required

to support themselves by one month's labor; the other eleven being required
by the company. This species of laborers had decreased in 1617 to fifty
four, including all classes; and these were finally released entirely from
their vassalage by Sir George Yeardly in 1617. The original bounty to
emigrants, coming at their own expense, or that of others than the company,
had been one hundred acres of land, but after the colony became better settled
it was reduced to fifty, the actual occupancy of which gave a right to
as many more. The payment of twelve pounds and ten shillings to the
treasurer of the company, entitled the adventurer to a grant of one hundred
acres, the occupancy of which also secured a right to as many more.[148]

The labor of the colony which had been for a long time misdirected in
the manufacture of ashes, soap, glass and tar in which they could by no
means compete with Sweden and Russia, and also in planting vines which
require infinite labor and attention, and for which subsequent experiments
have indicated the climate to be unfit; was at length directed by the extended
use of tobacco, in England[149] almost exclusively to the cultivation of that
article. This commodity always finding a ready price, and affairs

being now so regulated that each one could enjoy the fruits of his
labor, was cultivated so assidiously, as to take off the attention of the planters
too much from raising corn, so that it became scarce, and supplies had
again to be looked for from England or purchased of the Indians. The
fields, gardens, public squares, and even the streets of Jamestown were
planted with tobacco, and thus becoming an article of universal desire it
became to a great extent the circulating medium of the colony. Not only
private debts but salaries and officers' fees were paid in tobacco, and the
statute book to this day rarely mentions the payment of money, that it does
not add as an equivalent "or tobacco."

Early in the year 1614 Sir Thomas Gates had returned to England leaving
the colony, which then consisted of about four hundred men, under the command
of Sir Thomas Dale, who in his turn desiring to visit England and
his family, left the colony in 1616 under the protection and control of Sir
Thomas Yeardley.

With Dale, Mr. Rolfe and his interesting bride Pocahontas sailed. By
a communication from Smith her amiable and valuable conduct was made
known at court, and every attention was shown her both by the Queen and
many of the nobility. This excellent Princess, whose deportment was so
far superior to that which the condition of her face would authorize one to
expect, that it won for her universal admiration and esteem, was destined
never more to behold her father or her native land. She died at Gravesend,
where she was preparing to embark with her husband and child for
Virginia. Peace to her gentle spirit, her memory will not perish whilst

the commonwealth of Virginia endures, or noble and generous actions are
valued by her sons.

Yeardley's administration was similar to that of his predecessors, enforcing
obedience from his own men, and the respect of the savages. He was
succeeded in 1617 by Captain Argall, who was a rough seamen, accustomed
to the despotic sway of his own ship, naturally tyrannical in his disposition,
cruel and covetous, in short a person utterly unfit to be trusted with the administration
of the arbitrary government which then existed in Virginia.
For although we have considered such a government the only practicable
one which could have been then established, yet it required the utmost firmness
in the governor, tempered by mildness, prudence and discretion to
make it tolerable. Such had been the case under the administration of
Gates, Dale and Yeardley, and under them the colony had prospered more
than it had ever done before, but such was not the disposition of this new
governor. Instead of holding the severity of the laws in terrorem over
them, and not actually resorting to the extent of his power except in cases
of extreme necessity, he sought to bring innocent actions within the letter
of the law, which indeed was not very difficult with the bloody military
code which then existed. These arbitrary exertions of power were principally
used in the gratification of his inordinate rapacity, which in its indiscriminate
grasp sought not only to clutch the property of the colonists, but
also trespassed upon the profits of the compnay. Not satisfied with perverting
the labor of the free colonists to his own use or pleasures, he consumed
the time of the servants of the company upon his own plantations.
At length his conduct was so flagitious in the case of one Brewster, who
was left by Lord Delaware to manage his estate, and who only sought to
prevent Argall from utterly despoiling 1, that neither the colony or company
could bear his tyranny longer, but he was deposed and Sir George
Yeardley sent in his place. Yet he contrived to escape punishment, by the
mismanagement of some, and the connivance of others, and preserved all of
his ill-gotten booty.

One of the first acts of Yeardly was to emancipate the remaining servants
of the colony. The labor now being free, each man enjoying

the fruits of his own industry and anxious to increase his store, there
was no fear of scarcity, and no time or opportunity for mutiny among the
scattered and industrious planters. With the increasing strength and independence[152]
of the colony all fear of the savages had vanished. It is manifest
that in these altered circumstances a modification of the despotic government
ought to have been made, because its severity was no longer necessary,
and whilst the power existed it might be abused, as the colony seriously
experienced in the case of Argall. The only use of government is
to insure the safety of the state from external foes, to secure justice and the
free disposition of person and property to each individual, and sometimes to
aid in the prosecution of such objects of general utility as individual enterprize
cannot accomplish. The moment the colonists began to take an interest
in the country, by the enjoyment of their own labor, and the possession
of property, it was right that they should have some share in that government,
in the prudent conduct of which they were most interested.—
Yeardley was aware of this, for without any authority from home which
we can trace[153] he called together a General Assembly consisting of two members
from every town, borough or hundred, besides the governor and council,
which met at Jamestown, near the end of June 1619. In this assembly
seven corporations were represented, and four more were laid off in the
course of the same summer.

In this first North American Legislature, wherein was "debated all matters
thought expedient for the good of the colony," several acts were passed
which were pronounced by the treasurer of the company to be "well and
judiciously carried," but which are unfortunately lost to posterity. This
was an eventful year to the colony, for in addition to their assembly, a college
was established in Henrico, with a liberal endowment. King James
had exacted £15,000 from the several bishops of his kingdom for the purpose
of educating Indian children, and 10,000 acres of land were now added
by the company, and the original design was extended to make it a
seminary of learning also for the English. One hundred idle and dissolute
persons, in custody for various misdemeanors, were transported by the authority
of the king and against the wishes of the company to Virginia.
They were distributed through the colony as servants to the planters; and
the degradation of the colonial character produced by such a process, was
endured for the assistance derived from them in executing the various plans
of industry, that were daily extending themselves. This beginning excited
in the colonists a desire for using more extensively other labor than their
own, an opportunity for the gratification, of which unfortunately too soon
occurred. In this eventful year too, a new article was introduced into the
trade of the company with the colony, by the good policy of the treasurer
Sir Edwin Sandys, which produced a material change in the views and feelings
of the colonists with regard to the country. At the accession of Sir
Edwin to office, after twelve years labor, and an expenditure of eighty thousand
pounds by the company, there was in the colony no more than six
hundred persons, men, women and children. In one year he provided a
passage for twelve hundred and sixty one new emigrants. Among these
were ninety agreeable young women, poor but respectable and incorrupt,
to furnish wives to the colonists. The wisdom of this policy is evident,—
the men had hitherto regarded. Virginia only as a place of temporary sojourn
for the acquisition of wealth, and never dreamed of making a permanent
residence in a place where it was impossible to enjoy any of the comforts
of domestic life. They had consequently none of those endearing ties
of home and kindred to bind them to the country, or attach them to its interests
which are so necessary to make a good citizen. This new commodity
was transported at the expense of the colony, and sold to the young
planters, and the following year another consignment was made of sixty
young maids of virtuous education, young, handsome, and well recommended.
A wife in the first lot sold generally for one hundred pounds of tobacco,
but as the value of the new article became known in the market, the

price rose, and a wife would bring a hundred and fifty pounds of tobacco.
A debt for a wife was of higher dignity than other debts, and to be paid
first. As an additional inducement to marriage, married men were generally
preferred in the selection of officers for the colony. Domestic ties
were formed, habits of thrift ensued, comforts were increased, and happiness
diffused; the tide of emigration swelled, within three years fifty patents
for land were granted, and three thousand five hundred persons found their
way to Virginia.

In the month of August of this year an event occurred which stamped
its impress upon the constitution of Virginia, and indeed of the

whole southern portion of America so deeply, that it will be difficult
to erase it save by the destruction of society. This was the introduction of
20 African slaves by a Dntch vessel, which availed itself of the freedom of
commerce which had been released from the shackles of the company's
monopoly in the early part of this year, to rivet forever the bonds of slavery
upon a portion of their fellow-creatures and their descendants. The indented
and covenanted servants which had been long known in Virginia,
and whose condition was little better than that of slavery, was a small evil
and easily removed, because they were of the same color and country with
their masters; when they were emancipated they leaped at once from their
shackels to the full dignity of freedom. No one scorned to associate with
them, and no one spurned their alliance, if honorable and worthy in other
respects they were equal to their masters and might even rise to distinction
But not so to the poor African. Nature has fixed upon him a stamp which
cannot be erased or forgotten, the badge of his bondage is borne with him,
when his fetters have crumbled to the dust, the curse of Cain is upon him,
and no one will mingle with him. By the white man he is loved and cherished
as a distant and humble dependant—but he is despised with disgust
as a companion;—and the contamination of a mixture with his blood is
loathed as a deep, endless, irremediable stain. Under such circumstances
emancipation is impossible without removal, but when and where and how
is this to be effected? This question posterity must answer,—all that we
can do is to treat them with kindness and humanity, and this is done.

The overbearing disposition of king James created a powerful popular
party in England, which being unable to establish a liberal government at
home, was determined to secure for free principles a safe asylum in the colonies.
The accomplishment of this determination was accelerated by the
disposition of the king to intermeddle with this very subject. He was exceedingly
jealous of the company, in which the patriot party prevailed, and
suspicious of the liberal principles discussed in its meetings with uncontroled
freedom: he feared it as the school of debate, and nursery of Parliamentary
leaders. Upon the resignation of Sir Edwin Sandys of his office as
treasurer, the king determined to try the extent of his influ-

ence in the election of a successor to this first office in the
company. He accordingly sent in a nomination of four individuals, to one
of whom he desired the office to be given; but he proved unsuccessful in
his attempt at dictation, and none of his nominees were elected, but the
choice fell upon the earl of Southampton.

The company having thus vindicated its own privileges, proceeded next
to guarantee freedom to the colonists, by a constitution remarkably liberal
for the time and circumstances. This charter of freedom, the principles of
which the Virginians never could be brought subsequently to relinquish, has

been preserved to posterity in "summary of the ordinance and constitution
of the treasurer, council and company in England, for a council of state, and
another council to be called the General Assembly in Virginia, contained in
a commission to Sir Francis Wyatt (the first governor under that ordinance
and constitution) and his council," dated July 24, 1621.[156]

The council of state was to be chosen by the treasurer, council and company
in England, with the power of removal at pleasure, their duty was to
advise, and assist the governor, and to constitute a portion of the General
Assembly. This General Assembly was to be called by the governor once
a year, and not oftener, unless on very extraordinary and important occasions,
it was to consist, in addition to the council of state, of two burgesses,
out of every town, hundred or other particular plantation, to be respectively
chosen by the inhabitants, in which council all matters were to be decided,
determined and ordered by the greater part of the voices then present, reserving
to the governor always a negative voice. "And this General Assembly
was to have full power, to treat, consult and conclude, as well of all
emergent occasions concerning the public weal of the said colony, and every
part thereof, as also to make, ordain and enact such general laws and orders,
for the behoof of said colony, and the good government thereof, as from
time to time might seem necessary."

The General Assembly and council of state were required to imitate and
follow the policy of the form of government, laws, customs and manner of
trial, and of the administration of justice, used in the realm of England, as
near as might be, as the company itself was required to do, by its charter.
No law or ordinance was to continue in force or validity unless it was solemnly
ratified in a general quarterly court of the company, and returned
under seal; and it was promised that as soon as the government of the colony
should once have been well framed and settled, that no orders of court
should afterwards bind the colony, unless they were ratified in the same
manner by the General Assembly.

Thus were the elements of a free government established, at the arrival
of Sir Francis Wyatt, on a soil from which they were never to be eradicated,
in less than one year from the time when domestic slavery was instituted in
the same place, on a footing which promises equal permanence.

When Sir Francis arrived he found that negligence and security amongst
the colonists, which is the inevitable consequence of a long peace. Old
Powhatan had died in 1618, honored by the esteem and respect of all who
knew him,—his own people, holding in grateful remembrance his prowess
and policy in youth, and his mildness in age,—and his English friends and
brethren admiring his firm support of his dignity, his paternal affection, his
mild simplicity, and his native intelligence. He was succeeded in his power
by Opechancanough his younger brother, who was cunning, treacherous,
revengeful and cruel. He renewed the former treaties, with every assurance
of good faith, and wore the mask of peace and friendship so successfully
as completely to lull the whites to security. But this crafty
prince had always viewed with peculiar jealousy and hate the progress of
the colony. He had given much trouble, and engaged in frequent hostilities,
whilst he was king of Pamunkee, and it was not to be supposed that
he would patiently submit to the continued and rapid encroachments of the
whites upon his lands, to the entire extermination or banishment of his people,

now that he possessed the empire of his brother. But to meet them in
the field was impossible, the disparity in arms was too great, and the numbers
in fighting men now equal,[157] the attempt would be madness and desperation,
and lead to that extermination of his race which he wished to
avoid. His only resource was to strike some great and sudden blow which
should annibilate the power of the colony at once. He had applied to a
king who resided on the Eastern Shore, to purchase a subtle poison[158] which
grew only in his dominions, but this king being on good terms with the
whites and wishing to enjoy then tiade refused to gratify him. His next
resource was in a general massacre, to take effect upon all of the scattered
plantations on the same day. The situation of the whites favored this design,
they not only placed confidence in the words of the savages which
had now been so long faithfully kept, but in then weakness and cowardice.
They had extended their plantations over a space of one hundred and forty
miles, on both sides of Jaines river, and made some settlements in the neighborhood
of the Potomac, in short wherever a rich spot invited to the cultivation
of tobacco, there were they established, and an absence of neighbors
was preferred.[159] The planters were careless with their arms, never using
their swords, and their fire-arms only for game. The old law making it
criminal to teach a savage the use of arms was forgotten, and they were
fowlers and hunters, for many of the planters, by which means they became
well acquainted with the use of arms and the places in which they were
kept. One great object with the settlers, and with the company, in whose
instructions we find it perpetually enjoined, had been the conversion of the
Indians to the christian religion. To promote this pious object, they had
always been received in the most friendly manner, they became market
people to the planters, and they were fed at their tables, and lodged in their
bed-chambers as friends and brothers.

Opechancanough had renewed the treaty with governor Wyatt, and took
every other means in his power to avoid suspicion. He told a messenger
about the middle of March, that the sky should fall ere he would violate the
treaty of peace; only two days before the fatal 22nd, the English were guided
in safety and kindness through the forest by the unsuspected Indians,
and a Mr. Browne who had been sent to live among them to learn their
language was sent safely to his friends,—nay, so well was the dread secret
kept that the English boats were borrowed to transport the Indians over the
river to consult on the "devilish murder that ensued," and even on the day
itself, as well as on the evening before, they came as usual unarmed into
the settlements with deer, turkies, fish, fruits and other provisions to sell,
and in some places sat down to breakfast with the English. The concert
and secrecy of this great plot is the more astonishing when we reflect that
the savages were not living together as one nation, and did not have for
most purposes, unity of action, but were dispersed in little hamlets containing
from thirty to two hundred in a company; "yet they all had warning
given them one from another in all their habitations, though far asunder,
to meet at the day and hour appointed for the destruction

of the English at their several plantations; some directed
to one place, some to another, all to be done at the time appointed, which
they did accordingly some entering their houses under color of trading, so
took their advantage, others drawing them abroad under fair pretences, and
the rest suddenly falling upon those that were at their labors." They spared
no age, sex, or condition, and were so sudden in their indiscriminate
slaughter that few could discern the blow or weapon, which brought them
to destruction. Their familiarity with the whites led them with fatal precision
to the points at which they were certain to be found, and that "fatal
morning fell under the bloody and barbarous hands of that perfidious and
inhuman people, three hundred and forty seven men, women and children,
principally by their own weapons." Not content with this destruction, they
brutally defaced and mangled the dead bodies, as if they would perpetrate
a new murder, and bore off the severed portions in fiendish triumph. Those
who had treated them with especial kindness, and conferred many benefits
upon them, who confided so much in them that to the last moment they
could not believe mischief was intended, fared no better than the rest. The
ties of love and gratitude, the sacred rights of hospitality and reciprocal friendship,
oaths, pledges and promises, and even the recent and solemn profession of
fidelity to an all-merciful and omnipotent God, were broken asunder or forgotten
in obedience to the command of their chief for the execution of a
great but diabolical stroke of state policy. With one and only one of all
who had been cherished by the whites did gratitude for their kindness and
fidelity to his new religion prevail over his allegiance to his king, and affection
for his people. A converted Indian who resided with a Mr. Pace, and
who was treated by him as a son, revealed the plot to him in the night of
the 21st. Pace immediately secured his house and rowed himself up to
Jamestown where he disclosed it to the governor, by which means that
place and all the neigboring plantations, to which intelligence could be conveyed,
was saved from destruction, for the cowardly Indians when they saw
the whites upon their guard immediately retreated. Some other places
were also preserved, by the undaunted courage of the occupants, who never
failed to beat off their assailants, if they were not slain, before their suspicions
were excited. By these means was Virginia preserved from total annihilation
in a single hour, by this well conceived, well concealed, and well
executed plot of her weak and simple adversaries. The larger portion of
the colony was saved; for a year after the massacre it contained two thousand
five hundred persons; but the consternation produced by it,
caused the adoption of a ruinous policy. Instead of marching at once boldly
to meet the adversary and driving him from the country or reducing
him to subjection by a bloody retaliation, the colonists were huddled together
from their eighty plantations into eight, the college, manufactories
and other works of public utility, were abandoned, and cultivation confined
to a space almost too limited, merely for subsistence. These crowded quarters
produced sicknes; and some were so disheartened that they sailed for
England.

In England this disastrous intelligence so far from dispiriting the company,
excited their sympathies to such a degree, that it aroused them to renewed
exertion, and a more obstinate determination to secure at all hazards
a country which had cost so much blood and treasure. Supplies were
promptly despatched, and even the king was moved to the generosity of
giving some old rusty arms from the tower, which he never meant to use,
and promising further assistance, which he never meant to render.

Serious discussions now took place in the courts of the company as to
the policy proper to be pursued with the Indians, and some advocated their

entire subjection, in imitation of the example of the Spaniards, which policy
would surely have been more merciful than that war of extermination
which was carried into effect, whether by deliberate design or a system of
temporary expedients does not appear. Smith offered the company to protect
all their planters from the James to the Potomac, with a permanent
force of one hundred soldiers and thirty sailors, with one small bark, and
means to build several shallops; and there is no doubt but that he would
have accomplished it, by which means the planters could have employed
themselves much more successfully in attending to their crops, than when
they had to keep perpetual watch, and occasionally to take up arms to defend
themselves, or make an attack upon the enemy. Smith received for
answer that the company was impoverished, but that he had leave
to carry his proposal into effect, if he could find means in the colony,
and would give the company half the booty he should acquire; upon
which answer he observes, that except some little corn, he would not give
twenty pounds for all the booty to be made from the savages for twenty
years. The colonists, although they could not be soon again lulled to their
former security, speedily recovered from their recent panic, and on July of
the same year[161] sallied forth with three hundred men to seize the corn and
inflict other punishment on the Indians; but they suffered themselves to be
deceived by false pretences until the coin was removed from their reach so
that they got but little; they succeeded however in burning many of
their villages, and destroying much of their property, by which they said they
were likely to suffer much during the ensuing winter. We find that a law
was passed on the following session by the General Assembly, requiring that
on the beginning of July next, the inhabitants of every corporation should
fall upon the adjoining savages as had been done the last year; and enacting
that those who were hurt should be cured at the public charge, and such as
were maimed should be maintained by the country, according to their quality.[162]
We find it also further enacted in 1630, "that the war begun upon the Indians
be effectually followed, and that no peace be concluded with them; and
that all expeditions undertaken against them should be prosecuted with diligence.[163]
This state of fierce warfare continued to rage with uninterrupted
fury until a peace was concluded in 1632, under the administration of governor
Harvey.[164] In the course of this warfare the Indians were not treated
with the same tenderness, with which they had generally been before[165] the
massacre, but their habitations, cleared lands, and pleasant sites, when once
taken possession of, were generally retained by the victors, and the vanquished
forced to take refuge in the woods and marshes.

Whilst these events were transpiring in the colony, an important change in
the character of their government was about to take place in England.

The company had been unsuccessful; the fact could no longer be denied.
They had transported more than nine thousand persons, at an expense exceeding
a hundred thousand pounds, and yet in nearly eighteen years there
were only about two thousand persons in the colony, and its annual exports
did not exceed twenty thousand pounds in value. The king took advantage
of the present unfortunate state of affairs, to push his plans for the dissolution
of the company. He carefully fomented the dissentions which arose,
and encouraged the weaker party; which readily sought the aid of his
powerful arm. He had long disliked the democratic freedom of their discussions,
and had of late become envious of their little profits on the trade
of the colonists, which he felt every disposition to divert into his own coffers,
and determined to make good use of the present state of despondency
in most of the company, and unpopularity with the public, to effect his designs.
Wishing however to gain his end by stealth, and secret influence
with their officers, rather than by open violence, he again tried his
strength in the nomination of four individuals from whom the company
were to choose their treasurer. But he was again signally defeated,
and the earl of Southampton re-elected by a large majority, the king's candidates
receiving only eight votes in seventy.

Failing in this, it was manifest that the company was not to be browbeaten
into submission to his dictation, and he only considered how the
charter of the company might be revoked, with the least violation to the
laws of England. To effect this with plausible decency some allegation of
improper conduct was to be made, and some proof ferreted out. The first
of these objects was effected by two long petitions by members of the Royal
faction in the company, setting forth at full length every evil which had
accrued to the colony, from its earliest establishment to that hour, and charging
all upon the mismanagement of the company. For many of these
charges there was too much truth, and the faults of the company could be
easily seen after the accidents had happened, but whether they were not
necessarily incidental to the situation of things in Virginia, or they might
have been avoided by the king or a corporation differently constituted, are
questions difficult to answer, but these petitions contained, mingled with
these truths, a great proportion of glaring falsehood as to the physical and
moral condition of the colony. They had been prepared and presented
with great secrecy, but the company contrived to obtain copies of them,
and refuted their slanders by the most irrefragible testimony, many facts being
in the cognziance of the members themselves, and others established by
the evidence of respectable persons who had long resided in Virginia.
This mass of evidence was laid before the king, in the vain hope, that he
might be induced to disregard the petitions; but part of his object was now
gained, the charges were made, the next step was to procure a semblance of
proof, for this purpose in a few days, in answer to the prayer in one of the
petitions, he issued a commission under the great seal, to seven persons to
enquire into all matters respecting Virginia, from the beginning of its settlement.

The better to enable these commissioners to conduct their investigations,
by an order of the privy council, all the records of the company
of whatsoever nature were seized, the deputy treasurer was imprisoned,
and on the arrival of a ship from Virginia, all the papers on board were
inspected.

The report of these commissioners has never transpired, but it was without
doubt, such as the king wished and expected; for by an

order in council he made known, that having taken into his
princely consideration, the distressed state of Virginia, occasioned by the
ill-government of the company, he had resolved by a new charter, to appoint
a governor and twelve assistants to reside in England; and a governor
and twelve assistants to reside in Virginia; the former to be nominated
by his majesty in council, the latter to be nominated by the governor and
assistants in England, and be appointed by the king in council, and that
all proceedings should be subject to the royal direction. This was a return
at one step to the charter of 1606. The company was called together to
consider upon this arbitrary edict, under an alternative similar to the one
given to witches upon their trial; if they could swim with a heavy weight
about their necks, they were burned as guilty, if they sunk and drowned
they were acquitted; the king gave the company the privilege of accepting
his proposition and resigning its charter, or of refusing and having the
charter annulled.

The company which had refused to gratify the king in the choice of its
officers, was less disposed to comply with this suicidal requisition. The
astounding order was read over three several times before they could convince
themselves that their ears informed them correctly of its purport. At
length the vote was taken and one hundred and twelve votes were against
the relinquishment, and twenty-six, the precise number of the king's faction,
in favor of it. The company asked further time for a more deliberate
decision, as there had not been sufficient notice, few members were present,
and it was one of those matters of importance which could not be decided,
by the terms of their charter, except at a regular quarterly meeting, but
the council would not listen to the proposition, ordering the company to
meet again in three days, and give a clear, direct and final answer. In
obedience to this order an extraordinary court was summoned, and the question
of surrender submitted to their consideration, upon which only nine of
the seventy present voted in its favor, an answer was returned that they
would defend their charter. The knowledge of these proceedings transpiring
produced a shock to the credit of the company, which palsied for the
time the spirit of commercial enterprise; to remedy this evil the privy
council declared that the private property of every one should be protected,
and secured by additional guarantees if necessary; that they should proceed
with their regular business; and all ships bound for Virginia should
sail. To endeavor to discover something more authentic against the company
than his secret conclave of commissioners had yet been able to obtain,
the king now thought proper to send John Harvey, John

Pory, Abraham Piersey, Samuel Matthews, and John Jefferson,
as commissioners to Virginia. "To make more particular and diligent
enquiry touching divers matters, which concerned the state of Virginia,
and in order to facilitate this enquiry, the governor and council of Virginia
were ordered to assist the commissioners in this scrutiny, by all their
knowledge and influence."[170]

The commissioners early in the ensuing year arrived in the colony. In
all of this controversy between the king and the company, the colony

not supposing its chartered rights were likely to be violated by either
party, and feeling little interest in the discussion of rights which belonged
entirely to others, which they never supposed that they were to possess;
had acted with entire neutrality, and cared little whether they were to be under
the general superintendence of the courts of the company, or a council
chosen by the king, so long as they could regulate their own affairs by their
own General Assembly.[172]

In such a mood would the commissioners have found the colony and
General Assembly, had they not procured copies of the two slanderous petitions,
in spite of all the precautions of the king and the secrecy of his
council and commissioners. Although they felt little interest in the controversy,
they felt great interest in defending themselves from defamation,
and their country from false and malicious representations, well calculated
to disparage and depreciate it in the estimation of those, with whom they
wished it to stand fairest. In six days from their meeting

they had prepared spirited and able answers to these petitions;
declaring in their preamble, "that they holding it a sin against God
and their own sufferings, to permit the world to be abused with false reports,
and to give to vice the reward of virtue,—They, in the name of the
whole colony of Virginia, in their General Assembly met, many of them
having been eye-witnesses and sufferers in those times, had framed out of
their duty to their country, and love of truth the following answer given to
the praises of Sir T. Smith's government, in the said declaration."

They next drafted a petition to the king, which with a letter to the privy
council and the other papers, were committed to the care of Mr. John Pountis,
a member of the council, who was selected to go to England to represent
the general interests of the colony before his majesty and the privy
council; and whose expenses were provided for by a tax of four pounds of
the best merchantable tobacco for every male person sixteen years of age,
who had been in the country for one year. This gentleman unfortunately
died on his passage. The letter to the privy council marks very strongly
the value which they set even at that early day upon the right of legislating
for themselves, the principal prayer in it, being "that the governors
may not have absolute power, and that they might still retain the liberty of
popular assemblies, than which, nothing could more conduce to the public
satisfaction, and public utility."

A contest of wits was commenced between the commissioners and the
Assembly. The former under various pretexts withheld from the latter a
a sight of their commission, and the other papers with which they had been
charged, and the governor and the Assembly thought proper to preserve an
equal mystery as to their own proceedings. In this dilemma Mr. Pory,
who was one of the commissioners, and who had been secretary to the
company, and discharged from his post for betraying its councils to the earl
of Warwick; now suborned Edward Sharpless, a clerk of the council, to
give him copies of the proceedings of that body and of the Assembly.
This treachery was discovered, and the clerk was punished with the loss of
his ears; whilst an account was sent home to the company; expressive of
the greatest abhorrence at the baseness and treachery of Pory. The commissioners
finding their secret manœuvering defeated, next endeavored, by
the most artful wheedling, to induce the Assembly to petition the crown for
a revocation of the charter. In reply to this the Assembly asked for their

authority to make such a proposition, which of course they could not give
without betraying their secret instructions, and were compelled to answer
the requisition in general terms and professions. The Assembly took no
farther notice of the commissioners, but proceeded with their ordinary legislation.

Thirty-five acts of this Assembly have been preserved to the present
time, and exhibit with great strength, the propriety and good sense with
which men can pass laws for the regulation of their own interests and concerns.
One of these acts establishes at once in the most simple and intelligible
language the great right of exemption from taxation without representation;
it runs in these words:—"The governor shall not lay any taxes or
impositions upon the colony, their lands or commodities, other way than by
the authority of the General Assembly, to be levied and employed as the
said Assembly shall appoint."—By a subsequent act at was declared that
the governor should not withdraw the inhabitants from their private labors
to any service of his own, upon any color whatsoever, and in case the
public service required the employment of many hands, before the holding
of a General Assembly, he was to order it, and the levy of men was to be
made by the governor and whole body of the council in such manner as
would be least burthensome to the people and most free from partiality. To
encourage good conduct, the old planters who had been in the colony
since the last arrival of Gates, were exempted from taxation or military
duty. Many acts of general utility were passed, the members of
the Assembly were privileged from arrest, lands were to be surveyed
and their boundaries recorded, which is no doubt the origin of our highly
beneficial recording statutes, vessels arriving were prohibited from breaking
their cargoes until they had reported themselves, inspectors of tobacco
were established in every settlement, the use of sealed weights and measures
was enforced, provision was made for paying the public debt, "brought
on by the late troubles," no person was, upon the rumor of supposed change
and alteration, to presume to be disobedient to the present government, or
servants to their private officers, masters or overseers, at their uttermost
perils.

Wise regulations were likewise made to prevent surprises by the Indians,
every house was to be fortified with palisadoes; no man should go
or send abroad without a party sufficiently armed, or to work without their
arms, with a centinel over them, the inhabitants were forbidden to go
aboard ships or elsewhere in such numbers as to endanger the safety of
their plantations, every planter was to take care to have sufficient arms and
ammunition in good order; watch was to be kept by night, and no planter
was to suffer powder to be expended in amusement or entertainments. To
promote corn-planting, and ensure plenty of provision, no limit was fixed
to its price viewers were appointed to see that every man planted a sufficiency
for his family, and all trade with the savages for corn was strictly
prohibited.

Having thus given a specimen of colonial spirit, and colonial legislation,
we return to the little intrigues of James, who was striving by every means
in his power to become possessed of the control of the colony, partly to
gratify his love of arbitrary authority and of money, and partly to gratify
his royal self-complacency by framing a code of laws, for a people with
whose character and condition he was utterly unacquainted, and who from
the specimens recently given appeared to be fully competent to the management

of their own affairs, without the dictation or advice of this royal guardian,
who while he displayed the craft without the talent of a Philip, aspired
to the character of a Solon. The recent acts of the king led to a solemn
council of the company on the state of their affairs, in which they confirmed
by an overwhelming majority the previous determination to defend their
charter, and asked for a restitution of their papers for the purpose of preparing
their defence. This request was pronounced reasonable by the attorney
general, and complied with. Whilst these papers were in the hands
of the company, they were transcribed, and the copy has been fortunately
preserved, and presents a faithful record of many portions of Virginia history
which it would be otherwise impossible to elucidate.[174]

The king had caused a quo warranto to be issued against the company
soon after the appointment of his commissioners to go to

Virginia, and the cause was tried in the King's Bench, in
Trinity Term of 1624. A cause which their Royal master had so much
at heart could not long be doubtful with judges entirely dependent upon his
will for their places, it is even credibly reported that this important case,
whereby the rights of a powerful corporation were divested, and the possibility
of remuneration for all of their trouble and expense forever cut off,
was decided upon a mere technical question of special pleading.[176]

In the mean time the commissioners had returned, and reported very favorably
of the soil and climate of Virginia, but censuring deeply the conduct
of the company,—recommending the government of the original charter
of 1606, and declaring that a body so large and so democratic in its
forms as the company, could never persevere in a consistent course of policy,
but must veer about as the different factions should prevail. In this it
must be admitted that there was much truth, and all hopes of profit having
for some time expired, and the company only being kept up by the distinguished
men of its members, from patriotic motives and as an instrument
of power for thwaiting the king, in which capacity its present unpopularity
rendered it of little use,—it was now suffered to expire under the judicial
edict, without a groan. The expiration of the charter brought little
immediate charge to the actual government of the colony,—a large committee
was formed by the king, consisting principally of his privy council,
to discharge the functions of the extinct company, Sir Francis Wyatt was
reappointed governor, and he and his council only empowered to govern
"as fully and amply as any governor and council resident there, at any time
within the space of five years last past,"—which was the exact period of
their representative government. The king in appointing the council in
Virginia, refused to appoint embittered paitisans of the court faction, but
formed the government of men of moderation.

So leaving Virginia free, whilst his Royal Highness is graciously pleased
to gratify his own vanity in preparing a new code of laws to regulate
her affairs, we pass on to a new chapter.

† Note to Bancroft, pa. 207. Stith, pa. 329, 330, doubts if judgment was passed.
The doubt may be removed. "Before the end of the same term, a judgment was declared
by the Lord Chief Juitice Ley, against the company and their charter, only
upon failer on mistake in pleading." See a Short Collection of the most Remarkable
Passages from the Original to the Dissolution of the Virginia Company, London,
1651, pa. 15. See also Hazard V. I. pa. 19, Chalmer's, pa. 62, Proud's Pennsylvania,
V. I. pa. 107.

CHAPTER IV

PROGRESS OF THE COLONY FROM THE DISSOLUTION OF THE LONDON
COMPANY, TO THE BREAKING OUT OF BACON'S REBELLION IN 1675.

The dissolution of the London Company was soon followed by the death
of James, and the accession of his son Charles I. The

king troubled himself little about the political rights and
privileges of the colony, and suffered them to grow to the strength of established
usage by his wholesome neglect; whilst he was employed in obtaining
a monopoly of their tobacco. This valuable article, the use of which extended
with such unaccountable rapidity, had early attracted the avidity of
king James. The 19th article of the charter of 1609 had exempted the
company, their agents, factors and assignees from the payment of all subsidies
and customs in Virginia for the space of one and twenty years, and
from all taxes and impositions forever, upon any goods imported thither,
or exported thence into any of the realms or dominions of England; except
the five per cent usual by the ancient trade of merchants.[178] But notwithstanding
the express words of this charter, a tax was laid by the farmers
of the customs in the year 1620 upon the tobacco of the colony; which
was not only high of itself, but the more oppressive because it laid the
same tax upon Virginia and Spanish tobacco, when the latter sold in the
market for three times the price of the former. In the same year, the same
prince was guilty of another violation of the charter in forcing the company
to bring all of their tobacco into England, when he found that a
portion of their trade had been diverted into Holland, and establishments
made at Middleburg and Flushing. The charters all guaranteed to the
colony all of the rights, privileges, franchises, and immunities of native
born Englishmen, and this act of usurpation was the first attempt on the
part of the mother country to monopolize the trade of the colony. The
next year the king, either his avidity being unsatisfied, or not liking the
usurped and precarious tenure by which his gains were held, inviegled the
Virginia and Somer's Isle's company into an arrangement, by which they
were to become the sole importers of tobacco; being bound however to import
not less than forty nor more than sixty thousand pounds of Spanish varinas,
and paying to the king in addition to the six pence duty before paid, one-third
part of all the tobacco landed in the realms. The king on his part
was to prohibit all other importation and all planting in England and Ireland;
and that which was already planted was to be confiscated.

When the company petitioned Parliament to prolong its existence in
opposition to the efforts of the king, they failed,—but that portion of their
petition which asked for the exclusive monopoly of tobacco to Virginia
and the Somer Isles, was granted, and a royal proclamation

issued accordingly; whether this exclusiveness was understood
with the limitation in the previous contract between the king and the
two companies, it is impossible to say, as the original documents are not
accessible to the writer.[180] But the probabilities are greatly against the
limitation.

Charles had not been long on the throne before he issued a proclamation
confirming the exclusive privileges of the Virginia and

Somer Isles tobacco; and prohibiting a violation of their
monopoly, under penalty of censure by the dread star chamber. This was
soon followed by another in which he carefully set forth the forfeiture of
their charter by the company, and the immediate dependance of the colony
upon the crown; concluding by a plain intimation of his intention to become
their sole factor.

Soon after this a rumor reached the colonies that an individual was in
treaty with the king for an exclusive contract for tobacco, one of the conditions
of which would have led to the importation of so large an amount
of Spanish tobacco as would have driven that of the colonists from the
market; the earnest representations of the colony on this subject caused an
abandonment of the scheme, but in return the colony was obliged to excuse
itself from a charge of trade with the lower countries, and promise to trade
only with England.[182] But the king's eagerness for the possession of this
monopoly was not to be baffled thus; he made a formal proposition to the
colony for their exclusive trade, in much the same language as one tradesman
would use to another, and desired that the General Assembly might
be convened for the purpose of considering his proposition. The answer
by the General Assembly to this proposition is preserved

It sets forth in strong but respectful language the injury
which had been done the planters by the mere report of an intention to
subject their trade to a monopoly; they state the reasons for not engaging
in the production of the other staples mentioned by the king; and dissent
from his proposition as to the purchase of their tobacco, demanding a higher
price and better terms of admission, in exchange for the exclusive monopoly
which he wished.[184]

In the mean time the death of his father rendered it necesary for Sir
Francis Wyatt to return to Europe to attend to his private affairs,

and the king appointed Sir George Yeardley his successor. This
was itself a sufficient guarantee of the political privileges of the colony, as
he had had the honor of calling the first colonial assembly but in addition
to this his powers were like those of his predecessor, limited to the executive
authority exercised by the governor within five years last past. These
circumstances taken in connection with the express sanction given by
Charles to the power of a Legislative Assembly with regard to his proffered
contract for tobacco sufficiently prove that he had no design of interfering
with the highly-prized privilege of self-government enjoyed by the
colonists and fully justifies the General Assembly in putting the most favorable
construction upon the king's ambiguous words announcing his determination
to preserve inviolate all the "former interests" of Virginia, which
occur in his letter of 1627.[186]

Thus were those free principles established in Virginia, for which the
mother country had to struggle for sometime longer; the colony rose in
the estimation of the public, and a thousand new emigrants arrived in one
year; which of course much enhanced the price of provision.

Death now closed the career of Yeardley. The character of his administration
is exhibited in the history of the colony; and

the estimate placed upon his character by those who were
best acquainted with his conduct, and who were little disposed to flatter
undeservedly either the living or the dead, is to be found in a eulogy written
by the government of Virginia to the privy council, announcing his
death. In obedience to the king's commission to the council, they elected
Francis West governor, the day after the burial of Yeardley. He held
the commission until the 5th of March 1628, when designing to sail for
England, John Pott was chosen to succeed him.[188] Pott did not continue
long in office, for the king, when the death of Yeardley was known, issued
his commission to Sir John Harvey, who arrived some time between October
1628 and March 1629.

In the interval between the death of Yeardley and the arrival of Harvey,
occurred the first act of religious intolerance, which defile the annals
of Virginia.

Lord Baltimore, a catholic nobleman, allured by the rising reputation of
the colony, abandoned his settlement in Newfoundland and came to Virginia,
where instead of being received with the cheerful welcome of a
friend and a brother, he was greeted with the oath of allegiance and supremacy,
the latter of which it was well known his conscience would not
allow him to take.

Much allowance is to be made for this trespass upon religious freedom,
before we attribute it to a wilful violation of natural liberty. The times and
circumstances ought to be considered. The colony had grown into life
while the violent struggles between the Romish and Protestant churches
were yet rie The ancient tyranny and oppression of the Holy See were
yet fresh in the memory of all, its cruelties and harsh intolerance in England
were recent, and yet continuing in the countries in which its votaries
had the control of the civil government. The light of Protestantism itself
was the first dawn of religious freedom, and the thraldom in which mankind
had been eld by Catholic fetters for so many ages was too terrible,

to risque the possibility of their acquiring any authority in government.
Eye-witnesses of the severities of Mary were yet alive in England, and
doubtless many of the colonists had heard fearful relations of the religious
sufferings during her reign, probably some had suffered in their own families;
most of them had emigrated whilst the excitement against the Papists
was still raging in England with its greatest fury, and continually kept in
action by the discovery or pretended discovery of Popish plots to obtain
possession of the government. Was it wonderful then that a colony which
with a remarkable uniformity of sentiment professed a different religion,
should be jealous of a faith which sought by every means in its power to
obtain supreme control, and used that control for the extermination, by the
harshest means, of all other creeds?

The colony in Virginia was planted when the incestuous and monstrous
connection of church and state had not been severed in any civilized country
on the globe;—at a period when it would have been heresy to attempt
such a divorce, because it required all the aid of the civil power to give
men sufficient freedom to "profess and by argument to maintain" any other
creed than one,—and that one the creed of Rome. The anxiety of the
British government upon this subject, so far from being unnatural was
highly laudable, since all its efforts were necessary to sustain its new-born
power of professing its own creed. The awful effect of Catholic supremacy,
displayed in a neighboring kingdom, afforded a warning too terrible[189]
to be easily forgotten, and it would have been as unwise to allow the
Catholics equal civil privileges at that day, as it would be impolitic and
unjust now to exclude them. We find this regard for religious freedom,
(for emancipation from the Pope's authority was a great step in religious
freedom,) carefully fostered in the colonies. Every charter requires the
establishment of the church of England, and authorises the infliction of
punishment for drawing off the people from their religion, as a matter of
equal importance with their allegiance. For at that period before any important
differences between the Protestants had arisen, when but two religions
were struggling for existence, not to be of the church of England
was to be a Papist, and not to acknowledge the secular supremacy of the
King, was to bow to the authority of the Pope. The catholics as the only
subject of terror, were the only subjects of intolerance; no sufficient number
of dissenters had availed themselves of the great example of Protestantism
in rejecting any creed which did not precisely satisfy their consciences,
to become formidable to mother church; nor had she grown so
strong and haughty in her new-fledged power as to level her blows at any
but her first great antagonist.[190]

The colony in Virginia consisted of church of England men, and many
of the first acts of their Legislature relate to provision for the church.
Glebe lands were early laid off, and livings provided. The ministers were
considered not as pious and charitable individuals, but as officers of the

state, bound to promote the true faith and sound morality by authority of
the community, by which they were paid and to which they were held
responsible for the performance of their duty. The very first act of Assembly,
which was passed, required that in every settlement in which the
people met to worship God, a house should be appropriated exclusively to
that purpose; and a place paled in to be used solely as a burying ground;
the second act imposed the penalty of a pound of tobacco for absence from
divine service on Sunday without sufficient excuse, and fifty pounds for a
month's absence; the third required uniformity, as near as might be, with
the canons in England; the fourth enjoined the observance of the holy
days, (adding the 22d March, the day of the Massacre to the number) dispensing
with some `by reason of our necessities;' the fifth punished any
minister absenting himself from his church above two months in the year
with forfeiture of half of his estate,—and four months, his whole estate
and curacy; the sixth punished disparagement of a minister; the seventh
prohibited any man from disposing of his tobacco or corn until the minister's
portion was first paid.[191] This sacred duty discharged, the Assembly
next enact salutary regulations for the state. We find at the session of
1629 the act requiring attendance at church on the Sabbath specially enforced,
and a clause added forbidding profanation of that day by travelling
or work; also an act declaring that all those who work in the ground shall
pay tithes to the minister. We find requisition of uniformity with the
canons of the English church not only repeated in every new commission
from England, but re-enacted by the Legislature of 1629-30, and in 1631-2,
as well as in the several revisals of the laws. In the acts of 1631-2, we
find many acts conveying the idea advanced of ministers being considered
public officers; and churchwardens required to take an oath to present
offences against decency or morality, which made them in effect censors of
the public morals. In these acts it is made the duty of ministers to teach
children the Lord's prayer, commandments, and the articles of faith; also
to attend all persons dangerously sick, to instruct and comfort them in their
distress; to keep registers of christening, marriages and deaths; and to
preserve in themselves strict moral conduct, as an advancement to religion
and an example to others. We find also frequent acts passed providing for
the payment of the ministers, until the session of 1657-8, when church
and state seem to have been effectually divorced; for though no act of religious
freedom was passed, but all were still expected, rather than compelled,
to conform to the church of England, yet the compulsory payment
of ministers was abandoned, and all matters relating to the church were
left entirely to the control of the people.[192]

From the review which we have given of the religious condition of
England and the colony, it must be manifest that the tender of the oath of
supremacy to Lord Baltimore was not only a religious but a civil duty in
the council, which they could by no means have omitted without a violation
of their own oaths, laws and charters. But if any further proof were
necessary, to show that it flowed from this source and not from a disposition
to religious intolerance,—it is afforded by the liberal invitation given
in the instructions to Captain Bass to the Puritans who had settled at New
Plymouth, to desert their cold and barren soil and come and settle upon
Delaware Bay, which was in the limits of Virginia.[193]

Harvey met his first General Assembly in March, and its acts as those
of several succeding sessions, only consist of the usual business acts of

the colony. We have now approached a period in our history upon
which the few scattered and glimmering lights which exist, have rather served
to mislead than to guide historians. It is a period replete with charges made
by historians, of the most heinous character against the governor, with no
evidence upon record to support them. The truth is that Sir John Harvey
was deposed and sent home by the colony for some improper conduct, but
what that was, does not fully appear, and historians seem to have thought
it their duty to supply the defect in the record, by abusing his administration
as arbitrary and tyrannical from the first; the charge is without evidence,
and every probability is against its truth. During the whole of his
administration the General Assembly met and transacted their business as
usual. The fundamental laws which they had passed to which we have
before referred, restraining the powers of the governor, and asserting the
powers of the Assembly, were passed again as of course. There could
manifestly be no oppression from this source. The General Assembly ordered
the building of forts, made the contracts, provided the payments, provided
garrisons and soldiers for the field when necessary, and disbanded
them when the occasion for their services had ceased.[195] The Assembly and
the soldiers were planters and they could be little disposed to oppress themselves,
their families and friends. The only evidence which exists against
Harvey is the fact of his being deposed, and sent home with commissioners
to complain of his conduct to the king, but this did not occur until 1635,
after the extensive grants had been made to Lord Baltimore and others,
which dismembered the colony, and were so displeasing to the planters; and
we shall see that aid or connivance in these grants were the probable
causes of Harvey's unpopularity. Burke supports his charge of attempted
speculation and tyranny, upon the fact that the assembly of 1631, provided
against the raising or expending of money, or levying men without the
consent of the assembly; but this was a mere re-enactment of the laws of
1623-4, which we have seen, and which were passed under the popular administration
of Wyatt, and seem to have been very justly looked upon by the legislature
as fundamental laws.[196] The same remark applies to the provision of
security for the Burgesses from arrest,—that was provided in the first set of
laws of which we have any record. Since Burke has committed such an
error, whilst he finds great fault with those who went before him, it will be
unnecessary here to notice the wild and unfounded speculations in which
his predecessors indulged.[197]

The first act of tyranny towards the colony which we find recorded
against Charles, was his grant in 1630 to Sir Robert Heath of a large portion
of the lands of the colony; commencing at the 36th degree of latitude

and including the whole southern portion of the United States, under the
name of Carolina. But as this country was not settled until long afterwards,
and the charter became void by non-compliance with its terms, it
could not be regarded as injurious by the colony, except as an evidence of
the facility with which their chartered rights could be divested. Another
instance of a more objectionable character soon occurred. Cecilius
Calvert, Lord Baltimore, obtained a grant of that portion of Virginia
which is now included in the state of Maryland, and immediately
commenced a settlement upon it, notwithstanding the value which the Virginians
set upon it, and their having actually made settlements within its
limits.[199] William Claiborne who had been a member of the council and
secretary of state for Virginia had obtained a license from the king to "traffic
in those parts of America, where there was no license," which had been
confirmed by Harvey. In pursuance of this authority he had settled himself
at Kent Island near the city of Annapolis, and seemed by no means inclined
tamely to relinquish his possessions. He resisted the encroachments
of Maryland by force. This was the first controversy between the whites
which ever took place on the waters of the Chesapeake. Claiborne was indicted
and found guilty of murder, piracy and sedition, and to escape punishment
he fled to Virginia. When the Maryland commissioners demanded
him, Harvey refused to give him up, but sent him to England to be tried.
It is highly probable that the conduct of Harvey in giving up instead of
protecting Claiborne, incensed the colony against him, for they clearly
thought the Maryland charter an infringement of their rights, and they were
little inclined to submit to imposition from any quarter. Burke himself
who thinks the colony wished Claiborne to be given up to Maryland, says
that in the year 1633 there was a developement of a land speculation on the
part of the governor, highly injurious to the colony. "It appears that by a
collision with the king's commissioners, large tracts of land were disposed
of to absentees, not unfrequently interferring with the rights of actual settlers,
and involving subjects of future litigation. By this proceeding, the
colony was threatened with dismemberment, and the mischiefs were aggravated
by the conditions of those grants, which exempted the proprietors
from the payment of quit rents. Property conveyed with such absolute and
unqualified formalities, seemed to give the proprietors the rights of sovereign
authority, instead of the guarded restraints of a fœdal tenure; and an
abundant source of litigation was laid up for posterity by establishing an
imperium in imperio[200] within the bosom of the colony." Surely this speculation
was of itself sufficient cause for dissatisfaction, and renders it unnecessary
to look further to account for the conduct of the colony. To have
the lands for which they had fought and struggled with so much perseverance,
and through so many difficulties suddenly wrested from them by an
act of arbitrary authority; and their governor not only conniving, but
making a speculation on the alienation of their blood bought territory, was
enough to have excited a people to take even more summary vengeance
than that afforded by a trial and ejection from the gubernatorial chair. Nor
was it any palliation to the evil that few of their actual settlements were
within the ceded territory, for they had not struggled so strenuously only
for such small portion of ground as they might actually live upon, but upon
a grant of a vast territory, with all its broad waters, magnificent forests,
lofty mountains and fertile plains,—a mighty empire worthy of the people
who had strived so hard to win it. But now the whole south was cut off
at one blow; the jurisdiction of the upper portion of their own beautiful bay
which they actually occupied, was torn from them, their territory was severed
into two portions by the intrusion of a new power into its centre, and
the hardy citizens who had won the country and established the blessings
of a free government, were to bend the knee in feudal vassalage, or surrender
their homes and possessions to their new lords, who never struck a
blow in the acquisition of their vast estates. Virginia sent a remonstrance
in the name of all her planters, against the grant of Maryland; and the
privy council unable to deny the manifest justice of their representations,
but unwilling to offend the king by a decision against the validity of lord
Baltimore's patent, decided that he might retain it, and the Virginians have
their remedy at law. The law at that time in the king's courts, in cases in
which he was concerned being the king's will; the Virginians declined entering
the tribunal, and making a virtue of necessity, entered into a treaty of commerce
and amity with their new neighbor.

The account which we have of the trial of Harvey is extremely meagre,
detailing neither the accusations or the evidence, but only the fact. The
manner of proceeding however, as it appears on the record, is as little like
that of an enslaved people as it is like a "transport of popular rage and indignation."
The whole matter seems to have been conducted with calm deliberation,
as a free people acting upon the conduct of an unworthy servant.
The first entry upon the subject runs thus:—"an Assembly to be called to
receive complaints against Sir John Harvey, on the petition of many inhabitants,
to meet 7th of May." Could as much coolness, deliberation and
publicity be given to action against a tyrant who had already trodden liberty
under foot, or is a transport of popular rage so slow in action? The
next entry upon this subject is the following:—"on the 28th of April 1635,
Sir John Harvey thrust out of his government, and Captain John West
acts as governor, till the king's pleasure known."[201] It appears from another
ancient record[202] that before the assembly met which was to have heard
complaints against Harvey, he agreed in council to go to England to answer
them, and upon that West was elected governor.

How long West governed is uncertain, but it appears by a paper among
the records that Harvey was governor again in January 1636. It appears
that Charles regarded the conduct of the colony as an unwarrantable piece
of insolence little short of treason, and would not even hear them least the
spetacle of so noble an example might inflame the growing discontents
in his own kingdom, which finally rose to such a pitch as not only to take
the same unwarrantable liberty of deposing him, but even laid violent hands
upon his sacred person. He accordingly sent the commissioners home
with their grievances untold, and Harvey was re-instated in his power
without undergoing even a trial. The conduct of the colony appears to
have been a salutary lesson to him; and he probably feared that for the
next offence they would take justice into their own hands; for we hear no
complaints of him during his administration, which expired in November
1639. Sir Francis Wyatt succeeded him.

In 1634 the colony was divided into eight shires,[203] which were to be governed
as the shires in England, lieutenants were to be appointed in the
same manner as in England, and it was their especial duty to pay attention
to the war against the Indians. Sheriffs, Sergeants and Bailiffs were also
to be elected as in England. In 1628-9 commissions were issued to hold
monthly courts in the different settlements, which was the origin of our
county court system.[204]

At the first assembly which was held after the return of Wyatt, several
acts were passed, which from the inattention of historians to the circumstances
of the times, have received universal reprobation, but which when properly
considered, will be found to be marked with great shrewdness and
dictated by the soundest policy.

The act declares that, "tobacco by reason of excessive quantities made,
being so low, that the planters could not subsist by it, or be enabled to raise
more staple commodities or pay their debts: therefore it was enacted that the
tobacco of that year be viewed by sworn viewers, and the rotten and unmerchantable,
and half the good to be burned. So the whole quantity made
would come to 1,500,000 lbs. without stripping and smoothing; and the next
two years 170 pounds tobacco per poll, stript and smoothed, was to be made,
which would make in the whole about 1,300,000 lbs. and all creditors were to
take 40 lbs. for a hundred." By a second act it was declared that, "no man
should be obliged to perform above half his covenants about freighting tobacco
in 1639." Nothing could be more absurd than such acts at the present
day, and hence they have been pronounced absurd at that time. But
let us look to the circumstances. Except the little tobacco made in the
Somer Isles, Virginia at that time had the monopoly of the English market.
The taste for tobacco was new, existed with few and could not be suddenly
extended; consequently the consumption could not be increased in proportion
to the increase of supply, but those who used it would obtain it at a
price proportionably less. Thus a superabundant supply so glutted the
market as to reduce the article to a price ruinous to the planters. On the
other hand with those who had acquired a taste for tobacco, it was nearly
indispensable, and if less than a usual crop was made the demand enhanced
the value of the remainder beyond that of the full crop, hence the propriety
of burning half of the good tobacco. This seems to have been perceived,
and we have seen no fault found with the first portion of the act, but the
latter part, forcing creditors to take less than their full dues, has been pronounced
flagrantly unjust. But if this had not been done what would have
been the condition of the planter? If he had made a hundred pounds, and
owed fifty, the burning and his creditor would deprive him of his whole
crop, whilst the creditor receiving the fity pounds at its enhanced value,
would receive more than double what was due him. This would have
been highly oppressive to the debtor, and made the whole act redound entirely
to the benefit of the creditor. Whereas making him take 40
pounds in the hundred, when that 40 was enhanced to more than the value
of the hundred, was no hardship.

In the early stages of the colony, the planters wanted the comforts of
life from England and not money, for money could purchase nothing in

America. It would have been wasteful extravagance to have brought it.
The Virginians had but one article of export,—all trading vessels came
for tobacco,—hence that would purchase every thing, and became on that
account useful to every man and an article of universal desire as money
is in other countries, and hence the standard of value and circulating
medium of the colony. We find when money first began to be introduced,
as the keeping accounts in tobacco was inconvenient to the foreign merchants
who came to trade, an act was passed with the following preamble.—
—"Whereas it hath been the usual custom of merchants and others dealing
intermutually in this colony, to make all bargains, contracts, and to keep
all accounts in tobacco, and not in money," &c. It then goes on to enact
that in future they should be kept in money, and that in all pleas and actions
the value should be represented in money. This was in 1633.[205]
But it was found so inconvenient to represent value by an arbitrary standard,
the representative of which did not exist in the colony, that another
act was passed in January 1641, declaring that,—"Whereas many and
great inconveniences do daily arise by dealing for money, Be it enacted and
confirmed by the authority of this present Grand Assembly, that all money
debts made since the 26th day of March, 1642, or which hereafter shall be
made, shall not be pleadable or recoverable in any court of justice under this
government."[206] An exception was afterwards made in 1642-3, in favor of
debts contracted for horses or sheep,[207] but money debts generally were not
even made recoverable again until 1656.[208] We thus see that tobacco was
the currency, and an excess as injurious as an over issue of bank paper,
depreciating itself in the market, or in common parlance causing every
thing to rise. We see moreover the cause of the excessive care taken in
burning bad tobacco, since that was as important to the uniformity of their
currency as the exclusion of counterfeits in a money currency. All the
viewings, censorships, inspections, regulations of the amount to be cultivated
by each planter, each hand,—the quantity to be gathered from each
plant,—the regulations prescribed as to curing it,—are to be regarded more
as mint regulations than as regulations of agricultural industry. Indeed
we find the attempt to sell or pay bad tobacco is made a crime precisely
as it is now to sell or pay counterfeit money.[209] This act of Assembly then
allowed debtors to discharge themselves by paying half their debts in
amount, did in effect make them pay all in value, and can by no means
be compared to the acts of states or princes in debasing the coin and allowing
it to retain its old nominal value, or by introducing valueless paper
money; in these cases, the debt is paid nominally or in words but not in
value, whereas in Virginia it was not paid nominally as it had been contracted
for so many pounds of tobacco, but it was paid in fewer pounds
rendered of greater actual value than the debt would have amounted to if
paid in pounds before the burning of half the quantity made.[210]

Wyatt remained governor only for one year and a few months, when he
was succeeded by Sir William Berkeley. Historians who have not been
aware of the intermediate administration of Wyatt, and have heard no complaint
of Berkeley, have delighted to deck his character in the gayest colors,
in contrast to the black character which they have drawn of Harvey. There
can be no doubt that he was esteemed an accomplished and chivalric gentleman;
but his accession brought no increase of political freedom to Virginia,
and his commission did not differ from those of his predecessors. On
the contrary the instructions which he brought, so far from granting new
franchises, imposed new, severe, and unwarrantable restrictions on the liberty
of trade, England claiming that monopoly of colonial commerce,
which was ultimately enforced by the navigation act, and which was a perpetual
source of contention, until all differences were finally healed by the
revolution.[211]

Berkeley arrived in February, 1642; an assembly met in March, and
soon after passed a solemn protest against a petition which Sir George Sandys
had presented to Parliament for the restoration of the company. This
paper is drawn with great ability, and sets forth the objections to the petition
in very strong and striking terms. They enlarge especially upon the wish
and power of the company to monopolise their trade, the advantages and
happiness secured to them by their present form of government, with its
annual assemblies and trial by jury; the fact that a restitution of the power
of the company would be an admission of the illegality of the king's authority
and a consequent nullification of the grants and commissions issued
by him; and the impossibility of men, however wise, at such a distance and
unacquainted with the climate or condition of the country, to govern the
colony as well as it could be governed by their own Grand Assembly.[212]
The king in reply to this declared his purpose not to change a form of government
in which they received so much content and satisfaction.

Other important matters were settled at this legislature. A tax for the
benefit of the governor was abolished. The punishment by condemnation
to temporary service was abolished, which had existed ever since the foundation
of the colony; and this protection to liberty was considered as so
important to the Assembly that they declared it was to be considered as a
record by the inhabitants of their birthright as Englishmen, and that the
oppression of the late company was quite extinguished. The governor
probably received some benefit from these considerations, for he is praised
for giving his assent to an act in which he preferred the public freedom to
his particular profit. A nearer approach was made to the laws and customs
of England in proceedings of courts and trials of causes. Better regulations
were prescribed for discussing and deciding land titles. The
bounds of parishes were more accurately marked. A treaty with Maryland,
opening the trade of the Chesapeake was matured; and peace with
the Indians confirmed. Taxes were proportioned more to men's estates
and abilities than to the numbers, by which the poor were much relieved,
"but which through the strangeness thereof could not but require much
time and debating." They published a list of their acts in order to show
to the colony that they had not swerved from "the true intent of their happy
constitution," which required them to "enact good and wholesome laws,

and rectify and relieve such disorders and grievances as are incident to all
states and republics; but that their late consultations would redound greatly
to the benefit of the colony and their posterity." In the conclusion of that
list they state that the gracious inclination of his majesty, ever ready to
protect them, and now more particularly assured to them, together with the
concurrence of a happy parliament in England,—were the motives which
induced them to take this opportunity to "establish their liberties and privileges
and settle their estates often before assaulted and threatened, and lately
invaded by the corporation; and to prevent the future designs of monopolizers,
contractors, and preemptors, ever usurping the benefit of their labors;
and they apprehended that no time could be misspent, or labor misplaced
in gaining a firm peace to themselves and posterity, and a future immunity
and ease to themselves from taxes and impositions, which they expected
to be the fruits of their endeavors."

The Indians had been driven back, and weakened by a perpetual succession
of hostilities from the time of the great massacre until the year 1644.
During the latter years of this period we have little account of their proceedings,
but the rapid increase of the settlements had driven them from the
rich borders of the rivers in the lower country higher into the interior, and
the new grants were every day driving them still further from the homes
of their fathers. This incessant warfare, whilst it weakened them as a nation,
had increased their cunning and skill in partisan warfare. Ope-

chancanough, though now so old that he had to be carried in a litter,
and so feeble that he could not raise his eyelids without assistance, still retained
sufficient strength of mind to embody a combination of the various
tribes under his control, and make a sudden and violent attack upon many
of the frontier settlements at once. Little is known of the circumstances
attending this second great massacre. An act of Assembly of 1645, making
the eighteenth day of April a holyday and day of thanksgiving, for
escape from the Indians, marks the period of the massacre. Other evidence
makes the number of their victims three hundred.[214]
The precautions which
the whites had been taught to take by the previous massacre, in trading with
them only at particular places, in always going armed, in never admitting
them to the same familiarity, effectually prevented them, with all their caution
in approach, and violence of attack, from committing as great slaughter
as they had upon the former occasion. The whites do not seem to have
been stricken with a panic now as formerly, but quickly sallied upon their
assailants, and drove them back so rapidly that their venerable chieftain
himself had to be deserted by his attendants, and was taken by Sir William
Berkeley, at the head of a squadron of light cavalry. He was carried to
Jamestown, and manifested in his imprisonment the same haughty dignity
which had always distinguished him. He preserved a proud and disdainful
silence, and such indifference to the passing scenes, that he rarely requested
his eyelids to be raised. In this melancholy condition, he was
basely shot in the back by his sentinel, with whom recollection of former
injuries overcame all respect for helpless age, or former greatness. The
only subject which called forth any show of regret from him was a flash
of angry indignation, at being exposed in his dying hours to the idle and
curious gaze of his enemies.

So little regard was now paid to the Indian hostilities, that on the following
June, Sir William Berkeley sailed for England, and the council elected
Richard Kemp to occupy his post until his return. In the mean time, the
warfare with the Indians continued without remission. It appears by an
act of the latter part of the year 1644, that many of the inhabitants, probably
on the frontiers, had been collected in large bodies; but leave was then
given them to dispose of themselves "for their best advantage and convenience,
provided that in places of danger, there should not be less than ten
men allowed to settle."[215]

Sir William Berkeley again took possession of his government in June,
1645. And in the following year a treaty of peace was con-

cluded with the Indians, by which Necotowance the successor
of Opechancanough, acknowledged that he held his kingdom of the
crown of England, and agreed that his successors should be appointed or
confirmed by the king's governor; on the other hand the Assembly on behalf
of the colony, undertook to protect him against rebels and all enemies
whatsoever. In this treaty the Indians were permitted to dwell on the north
side of York river, but ceded to the whites all the country from the falls
of the James and York to the bay, forever; and any Indian coming upon
that territory was to suffer death unless he bore the badge of a messenger.
The Indians were also to surrender all prisoners, negroes, and arms taken.
Other articles were added prescribing the form of intercourse.[217] Thus
were the Aborigines at length finally excluded from their father-land, leaving
no monument of their having existed, save the names of the waters and
mountains, and the barrows containing the ashes of their ancestors.[218]

Thus the colony of Virginia acquired the management of all its concerns;
war was levied, and peace concluded, and territory acquired, in conformity
to the acts of the representatives of the people; whilst the people
of the mother country, had just acquired these privileges after a long and
bloody conflict with their former sovereign. Possessed of security and
quiet, abundance of land, a free market for their staple, and practically, all
the rights of an independent state, having England for its guardian against
foreign oppression, rather than its ruler, the colonists enjoyed all the prosperity
which a virgin soil, equal laws, and general uniformity of condition
and industry, could bestow. Their numbers increased; the cottages
were filled with children, as the ports were with ships and emigrants. At
Christmas, 1648, there were trading in Virginia, ten ships from London,
two from Bristol, twelve Hollanders, and seven from New England. The
number of the colonists was already twenty thousand; and they, who had
sustained no griefs, were not tempted to engage in the feuds by which the
mother country was divided. They were attached to the cause of Charles,
not because they loved monarchy, but because they cherished the lib-

erties of which he had left them in the undisturbed possession; and
after his execution, though there were not wanting some who favored republicanism,
the government recognised his son without dispute.[220]

The loyalty of the Virginians did not escape the attention of the royal
exile; from his retreat in Breda he transmitted to Berkeley a

new commission, and Charles the Second, a fugitive from England,
was still the sovereign of Virginia.[222]

But the Parliament did not long permit its authority to be denied. Having,
by the vigorous energy and fearless enthusiasm of republicanism, triumphed
over all its enemies in Europe, it turned its attention to the colonies;
and a memorable ordinance at once empowered the council of state
to reduce the rebellious colonies to obedience, and at the same time, established
it as a law, that foreign ships should not trade at any of the ports
"in Barbadoes, Antigua, Bermudas and Virginia." Thus giving the first
example of that wholesale blockade afterwards rendered so notorious by the
celebrated orders in council during the wars of the French revolution.
Maryland, which was not expressly included in the ordinance, had taken
care to acknowledge the new order of things; and Massachusetts, alike
unwilling to encounter the hostility of parliament, and jealous of the rights
of independent legislation, by its own enactment, prohibited all intercourse
with Virginia till the supremacy of the commonwealth should be established;
although the order, when it was found to be injurious to commerce, was
promptly repealed, even while royalty still flourished at Jamestown.[223]

A powerful fleet with a considerable body of land forces on board, sent
out to bring the colonies to submission, having subdued Barbadoes and
Antigua, cast anchor before James Town. Sir William Berkeley and his
hardy colonists had not been inactive, the growing strength of the colony
had recently been increased by the acquisition of many veteran cavaliers
from the king's army, and it now presented no comtemptible force. Several
Dutch ships which were lying in the river, and which as trading contrary
to the prohibition of Parliament, were armed to provide against surprise
by the commonwealth's fleets, were also pressed into service. This
show of resistance induced the commissioners of Parliament to hesitate,
before they attempted to reduce the colony to obedience by force; and to
offer them fair and honorable terms of submission. The terms offered being
such as completely satisfied the Virginians that their freedom was to
be preserved inviolate, and their present happy constitution guaranteed,
whilst they were to suffer nothing for past conduct, readily acquiesced,
since they gained all by such a surrender which they could effect by the
most successful warfare. It appears that they never anticipated anything
more than the preservation of their own liberties from wanton violation
from the new and untried power which now held the reins of government
in England; and could scarcely have been mad enough to hope to effect
anything favorable to the king by their resistance.[224]

The articles of surrender are concluded between the commissioners of
the commonwealth, and the council of state, and Grand Assembly of Virginia;
as equal treating with equal. It secures:—

1st. That this should be considered a voluntary act, not forced or constrained
by a conquest upon the country; and that the colonists should have
and enjoy such freedoms and privileges as belong to the freeborn people of
England.

2dly. That the Grand Assembly as formerly should convene and transact
the affairs of Virginia; doing nothing contrary to the government of
the commonwealth or laws of England:

3dly. That there should be a full and total remission of all acts, words
or writings against the Parliament:

4thly. That Virginia should have her ancient bounds and limits granted
by the charters of the former kings, and that a new charter was to be
sought from Parliament to that effect, against such as had trespassed upon
their ancient rights:—[This clause would seem to be aimed at some of the
neighboring colonies.]

5thly. That all patents of land under the seal of the colony, granted by
the governor, should remain in full force:

6thly. That the privilege of fifty acres of land for every person emigrating
to the colony should remain in full force:

7thly. That the people of Virginia have free trade, as the people of England
enjoy with all places and nations, according to the laws of the commonwealth,
and that Virginia should enjoy equal privileges in every respect
with any other colony in America:

8thly. That Virginia should be free from all taxes, customs and impositions
whatsoever, and that none should be imposed upon them without the
consent of their Grand Assembly. And no forts or castle be erected, or
garrisons maintained without their consent:

9thly. That no charge should be required from the country on account
of the expence incurred in the present fleet:

10thly. That this agreement should be tendered to all persons, and that
such as should refuse to subscribe to it, should have a years time to remove
themselves and effects from Virginia, and in the meantime enjoy equal justice.

The remaining articles were of less importance. This was followed by
a supplemental treaty, for the benefit of the governor and council, and such
soldiers as had served against the commonwealth in England; allowing
them the most favorable terms.

If this was a conquest,—happy would it be for most colonies to be conquered;
every privilege was secured which could possibly be asked, and
the liberties of the colony were established more thoroughly than they had

ever been, and the conquest was only less favorable to Virginia than her
declaration of independence, by having her rights depending upon the
pledged faith of another nation, instead of having them entirely under her
own control. The correspondence between the rights now secured, and
the rights mentioned in the Declaration of Independence as violated by the
British king, is remarkable.

All matters were thus happily and amicably arranged, and as Sir William
Berkeley was too loyal a subject to be willing to take office under
Parliament,—Richard Bennett, one of the commissioners was elected governor.
A council was also elected with powers to act in conformity to the
instructions they should receive from the Parliament, the known law of
England, and the Acts of Assembly, and such other powers as the Assembly
should think proper from time to time to give them. It was declared
at the same session that it was best that officers should be elected by the
Burgesses, "the representatives of the people;" and after discussion upon
the propriety of allowing the governor and council to be members of the
Assembly, it was determined that they might, by taking the same oath
which was taken by the Burgesses. The Assembly thus having no written
constitution as their guide, took upon themselves the office of a convention
of the people, and granted or resumed powers as it might seem best
for the good of the country.

The whites and the remnants of the neighboring Indian tribes continued
to be upon good terms, and the latter were kindly and humanely treated by
the guardian care of the Assembly. A slight irruption of the Rappahannocks,
seems to have been soon terminated. But a new scene in the history
of the colony now presented itself. The Rechahecrians, a fierce and
warlike tribe came down from the mountains and took up a strong position
on the falls of James river, with six or seven hundred warriors. This excited
no little uneasiness, as it had been very difficult to extirpate the Indians
who had formerly possessed the spot. The first expedition against
them failed, a new one was prepared and the subject Indians being called
upon for aid furnished a hundred warriors, most of whom with their chief
Totopotomoi, fell fighting gallantly.[225]

When Bennett retired from office, and the Assembly elected Edward Digges
his successor. The commissioners of the commonwealth

had little to do with controling the destinies of Virginia,
but were engaged in settling the affairs and adjusting the boundaries, of
Maryland.

The Assembly reciting the articles of Agreement with the commissioners
of Parliament, which admitted that the election of all

officers of the colony appertained to the Burgesses, the
representatives of the people proceeded to the election of a governor and
council until the next Assembly; and the choice fell upon "worthy Samuel
Matthews, an old planter, of nearly forty years standing, a most deserving
commonwealth's man, who kept a good house, lived bravely, and was a
true lover of Virginia."[228] But this worthy old gentleman seems to have
conceived higher ideas of his powers than the Assembly was willing to
allow. The Assembly had determined not to dissolve itself, but only to
adjourn until the first of November.[229] They then proceeded with their
ordinary business; making however one important change in the constitution,
which was to require that all propositions and laws presented by a
committee should be first discussed by the House of Burgesses in private,
before the admission of the governor and council. The governor and
council on the first of April sent a message declaring that they thought fit
then to dissolve the Assembly, and requiring the speaker to dismiss the
Burgesses. To this the Assembly returned for answer that the act was
illegal, and without precedent, and requested a revocation of it, as they expected
speedily to finish their business. The house then declared than any
member who should depart should be censured as betraying the trust reposed
in him by his country; and that the remainder should act in all
things and to all intents and purposes as an entire house; that the Speaker
should sign nothing without the consent of a majority of the House, and
that the members should take an oath not to disclose the acts or debates of
that body. The governor replied to the communication from the house,
that he was willing that the house would conclude its business speedily,
and refer the dispute as to the legality of his power to dissolve, to the decision
of the Lord Protector. The House unanimously decided this
answer to be unsatisfactory; expressed an earnest desire that public business
might be soon despatched, and requested the governor and council to
declare the house undissolved, in order that a speedy period might be put
to public affairs. In reply to this the governor and council revoked the
order of dissolution upon their promise of a speedy conclusion, and again
referred the matter of disputed right to the Lord Protector. The House
still unsatisfied with this answer appointed a committee to draw up a report
in vindication of the conduct of the Assembly and in support of its power.
In the report the Burgesses declare that they have in themselves full
power of election and appointment of all officers in the country, until they
should have an order to the contrary from the supreme power in England;
that the house of Burgesses, the representatives of the people, were not
dissolvable by any power yet extant in Virginia, except their own; that
the former election of governor and council was null, and that in future
no one should be admitted a councillor unless he was nominated, appointed
and confirmed by the house of Burgesses.

They then directed an order to the sheriff of James City county, who
was their sergeant at-arms, that he should execute no warrant, precept or
command directed to him by any other power or person than the Speaker
of the House. They then ordered that "as the supreme power of the
country of Virginia had been declared resident in the Burgesses," the
secretary of state should be required to deliver up the public records to the
Speaker. An oath was prescribed for the governor and council to take,
and the same governor was elected and most of the same council. Thus
were all difficulties adjusted, and popular sovereignty fully established.

Upon the death of Cromwell, the House of Burgesses unanimously recognized
his son Richard and adopted an address praying a

confirmation of their former privileges, in which address the
governor was required to join, after solemnly acknowleding in the presence
of the whole Assembly, that the supreme power of electing officers was by
the present laws resident in the Grand Assembly;[231] which was alleged to
be required for this reason, that what was their privilege now might belong
to their posterity hereafter.

Matthews died, leaving the colony of Virginia without a governor, about
the same time that the resignation of Richard Cromwell

left England without a head. In this emergency the Assembly
reciting that the late frequent distractions in England preventing
any power from being generally confessed; that the supreme power of the
colony should be vested in the Assembly, and that all writs should issue in
its name, until such a command and commission should come from England
as should by the Assembly be adjudged lawful.[233] Sir William Berkeley
was then elected governor, with the express stipulation that he should
call an Assembly once in two years at least, and should not dissolve the
Assembly without its own consent. This old royalist probably thinking
now that there was a prospect of the restoration, accepted the office under
the prescribed conditions, and acknowledged himself to be but the servant
of the Assembly.

During the suspension of the royal government in England, Virginia
attained unlimited liberty of commerce, which they regulated by independent
laws. The ordinance of 1650 was rendered void by the act of capitulation;
the navigation act of Cromwell was not designed for her oppression,
and was not enforced within her borders. Only one confiscation appears
to have taken place, and that was entirely by the authority of the
Grand Assembly. The war between England and Holland necessarily
interrupted the intercourse of the Dutch with the English colonies; but if
after the treaty of peace the trade was considered contraband, the English
restrictions were entirely disregarded. Commissioners were sent to England
to undeceive Cromwell with regard to the course Virginia had

taken with reference to the boundary of Maryland, with regard to
which he had been misinformed; and to present a remonstrance demanding
unlimited freedom of trade; which it appears was not refused, for some
months before the Protector's death, the Virginians invited the "Dutch
and all foreigners" to trade with them on payment of no higher duty, than
that which was levied on such English vessels, as were bound for a foreign
port. Proposals of peace and commerce between New-Netherlands and Virginia
were discussed without scruple by the respective colonial governments;
and at last a special statute of Virginia extended to every christian nation,
in amity with England, a promise of liberty of trade and equal justice.[235]

At the restoration, Virginia enjoyed freedom of commerce with the

whole world.

Virginia was the first state in the world, composed of separate townships,
diffused over an extensive surface, where the government was organized
on the principle of universal suffrage. All freemen without

exception were entitled to vote. The right of suffrage was once
restricted, but it was soon after determined to be "hard and unagree-
able to reason, that any person shall pay equal taxes and yet have
no vote in the election;" and the electoral franchise was restored to all
freemen. Servants, when the time of their bondage was completed, at once
became electors; and might be chosen burgesses. Thus Virginia established
upon her soil the supremacy of the popular branch, the freedom of
trade, the independence of religious societies, the security from foreign
taxation, and the universal elective franchise. If in the following years
she departed from either of these principles, and yielded a reluctant consent
to change, it was from the influence of foreign authority. Virginia had
herself established a nearly independent democracy. Prosperity advanced
with freedom; dreams of new staples and infinite wealth were indulged;
while the population of Virginia at the epoch of the restoration may have
been about thirty thousand. Many of the recent emigrants had been royalists
in England, good officers in the war, men of education, of property,
and of condition. But the waters of the Atlantic divided them from the
political strifes of Europe; their industry was employed in making the
best advantage of their plantations; the interests and liberties of Virginia,
the land which they adopted as their country, were dearer to them than the
monarchical principles, which they had espoused in England; and therefore
no bitterness could exist between the partizans of the Stuarts and the
friends of republican liberty. Virginia had long been the home of its inhabitants—"Among
many other blessings," said their statute book, "God
Almighty hath vouchsafed increase of children to this colony; who are
now multiplied to a considerable number;" and the huts in the wilderness
were as full as the bird's nests of the woods.

The genial climate and transparent atmosphere delighted those, who had
come from the denser air of England. Every object in nature was new
and wonderful.

The hospitality of the Virginians became proverbial. Labor was valuable;
land was cheap; competence promptly followed industry. There
was no need of a scramble; abundance gushed from the earth for all. The
morasses were alive with water fowl; the forests were nimble with game,
the woods rustled with covies of quail and wild turkies, while they sung
with the merry notes of the singing birds; and hogs swarming like vermin,
ran at large in troops. It was "the best poor man's country in the world."
"If a happy peace be settled in poor England," it had been said "then they
in Virginia shall be as happy a people as any under heaven." But plenty
encouraged indolence. No domestic manufactures were established; every
thing was imported from England. The chief branch of industry, for the
purpose of exchanges, was tobacco planting; and the spirit of invention was
enfeebled by the uniformity of pursuit.[239]

NOTE A.

See p. 585.—From the settlement of the colony to the death of Charles I. and the commencement
of the commonwealth thereupon, an uniformity to the doctrines and discipline
of the church of England was strictly enjoined; all non-conformists were compelled
to leave the colony, with all convenience; popish recusants were disabled from
holding any office, and their priests not suffered to remain more than five days in the
country. During the commonwealth, the affairs of the church were left to the discretion
of the parishioners, but no sooner did the Quakers, who had fled from the persecutions
in England, arrive on our shores than they were met by the terrors of an act
"for suppressing them;[240] masters of vessels were subjected to a penalty of one hundred
pounds sterling for each Quaker brought into the colony; all Quakers were imprisoned
without bail or mainprize, till they found sufficient security to depart the colony:
for returning they were directed to be proceeded against as contemners of the laws
and magistracy, and punished accordingly; and if they should come in a third time
they were to be prosecuted as felons. All persons were prohibited, under the penalty
of one hundred pounds sterling, from entertaining them, or permitting their assemblies
in or near their houses; and no person was permitted to dispose of, or publish,
any books or pamphlets containing the tenets of their religion.

It is worthy of observation that a similar principle to that which has obtained in
Kentucky with respect to compensation for improvements made upon lands by one
man, the title of which appeared, from investigation, to be in another, existed in a law
of Virginia, so long ago as the year 1643. And as this law has never before been
published, we can only account for the coincidence, by supposing that mankind, in
every age, placed in similar situations, will generally pursue the same course. The
act, after reciting that many suits had been commenced, founded on controversies relating
to land, "to the great trouble and molestation of the whole colony," goes on to
declare, that if any man should settle on a tract of land, which, on a just survey,
should prove to be the property of another, a valuable consideration should be allowed
by the judgment of twelve men upon oath, to the first who seated it, for clearing and
improving it; but if the charge should amount to more than the real owner was willing
to give, the person in possession was bound to keep the land, and pay the owner
what it should be judged by twelve men to be worth, "before the seating thereof;" and,
of course, without regard to the improvements. An exception was made in favor of
orphans; and afterwards a further proviso, that an allowance for "building and clearing"
should not be made to those who had "lawful warning" of a prior right. About
the same period (1643) the assembly passed an act directing that all process against
debtors lately arrived from England (except where the debts were contracted for
goods purchased in England, or for the accommodation of planters returning to this
country,) should be suspended. This act is introduced by a lengthy preamble, assigning
reasons which fully satisfied the minds of the legislature as to the policy and even
justice of the measure. These laws had an obvious tendency to increase the population,
and promote the improvement of the country; by rendering the persons of many
of the inhabitants free from restraint, and by securing to every man the fruits of his
labor.

The culture of tobacco seems to have been a favorite object with the first settlers,
and was the only staple commodity to which they could be induced to turn their attention.
In order to improve its quality various laws were passed limiting the number
of plants to be cultivated by each hand, and the leaves to be gathered from a
plant. Other details in the process of making it, were also prescribed by the legislature;
and to insure a just compensation for the labor of the planter, the price at which
it was to be sold was fixed by the assembly, at different times. The first idea of inspecting
tobacco is contained in an act passed in 1630, before any warehouses were
established. The process was very simple, and the penalty for offering unmerchantable

tobacco in payment equally severe. If a planter offered to pay away, or barter
any bad tobacco, the commander of the plantation (an officer who united with the
powers of a justice of the peace, the supreme military command of the settlement)
with two or three discreet men, were directed to view it, and if found of bad quality,
to cause it to be burnt; and the owner was prohibited from planting any more tobacco
until authorized by the General Assembly. At the next session the law was amended
so as to make it the duty of the commander to issue his order either verbally or in
writing to two "sufficient men" to view the tobacco, who were, in like manner, to
burn it, if of bad quality. The same law was re-enacted in the revisal of 1632. In
1633, warehouses (then called storehouses) were established, and the inspectors were
to be composed of that member of the king's council, whose residence was nearest any
warehouse, and the commissioners of the several plantations, as assistants.

To prevent the recurrence of a scarcity of corn, which had been severely felt in the
colony, each master of a family was compelled to plant and sufficiently tend, two
acres a head, for each laboring person in his family; and as an encouragement to cultivate
that article, the price was not to be limited, but every planter might sell it as dear
as he could. Nor does it appear that the legislature ever interfered with the exportation
of corn, or restricted the price, except in times of pressing want. In the year 1630,
the contents of a barrel of corn were fixed at five bushels, Winchester measure, and
has so continued to the present day.

Various and severe laws were very early enacted against forestalling and ingrossing
imported articles, but their inefficacy having been experienced, they were all repealed
and a free trade allowed.

The administration of justice, in Virginia, was originally extremely cheap, and
simple in its details. Commanders of plantations held monthly courts for the trial of
civil actions, not exceeding the value of one hundred pounds of tobacco, and for the
punishment of petty offences, reserving the right of appeal to the quarter court held
by the governor and council, which possessed the supreme judicial power, under the
different charters, and had original jurisdiction in all cases whatsoever. Commissioners
of monthly courts succeeded to commanders of plantations, with the like jurisdiction
in civil cases; which was afterwards extended to five pounds sterling. The
jurisdiction of the court was further extended to sixteen hundred pounds of tobacco,
and they were to be called county instead of monthly courts; and that of a single magistrate
was final as far as twenty shillings sterling. In consequence of the great distance
of many of the counties from James City, where the quarter courts were held,
jurisdiction was finally given to the county courts, in all cases of law and equity, and
the trial by jury secured to those who desired it. The decision of the county court
was, at first, final as far as sixteen hundred pounds of tobacco, and for all sums above
that an appeal was allowed to the quarter court, and from thence to the assembly;
which afterwards had jurisdiction of appeals in all cases, of whatever amount. Besides
the general jurisdiction of the county and quarter courts, special provision was
made for certain counties and settlements where it was considered too inconvenient
to the people to attend at the usual place of holding courts. The leading principle
seems to have been to carry justice to the doors of the inhabitants. Thus, the county
court of Northampton, "on account of its remoteness from James City," had final jurisdiction
as far as three thousand two hundred pounds of tobacco; one commissioner on
the South side of the river in James City county, was vested with the powers of a
county court; the inhabitants of Appamattook or Bristol parish, were also authorised
to hold courts, with the right of appeal to Henrico or Charles City county courts.
Two courts were permitted to be held in Northampton; two in Isle of Wight; and two
in Charles City. As the population of the county increased, and new counties were
formed, these special courts were abolished.

In the year 1643, the first act passed for regulating lawyers; though they had certainly
attended the several courts before that period. By the first law on the subject,
no attorney was permitted to plead, without a license; which was grantable by the
court in which he practised; nor could an attorney have a license from more courts
than the quarter, and one county court,—Their fees were twenty pounds of tobacco,
in the county, and fifty pounds in the quarter court: and no attorney could refuse to
be retained unless employed on the other side. In 1645, all mercenary attornies were
expelled from office: In 1647, that act was amended by adding a clause to it declaring
that no attornies should take any fees; and if the court should perceive that either party,
by his weakness, was likely to lose his cause, they themselves should either open
the case or "appoint some fit man out of the people," to plead the cause, and allow
him a reasonable compensation: no other attornies were admitted. In 1656, the act
prohibiting attornies was repealed; the governor and council were authorised to license
them for the quarter courts, and the commissioners for the county courts, and

if any controversy should arise concerning their fees, it was to be settled by the courts
respectively. In 1657-8, the law against mercenary attornies, was again revived.

An inspection of the different fee bills will shew the simplicity of judicial proceedings,
and the small compensation allowed to the officers of court. The first officers
whose fees were established by law, were the secretary who was clerk of the quarter
court, and the marshall, who executed the same duties which devolved upon the sheriff,
after the appointment of that officer, which was not until the year 1634. The
fees of clerks and sheriffs embraced but few objects, and were very moderate.

Clerks of county courts were, at one time, appointed by the governor, but afterwards
by the courts themselves. Commissioners of county courts, (the same as justices
of the peace) were formerly appointed by the governor, afterwards by act of assembly;
but at the commencement of the commonwealth they were appointed by the
house of burgesses; afterwards they were recommended by their courts, and commissioned
by the governor and council, and finally their appointment was confirmed by
the assembly. During the same period the county courts recommended three or more
to the governor and council, out of which they made a selection for sheriffs, who were
to continue in office for one year only.

No representative government was ever instituted in which the principles of universal
suffrage, and of full representation, were carried further than in Virginia. The
right of suffrage was originally exercised by ALL freemen; who were not compellable
to go from their plantations to vote for burgesses; but might give their suffrages by
subscribing a paper. This mode having been attended with considerable inconvenience,
it was provided that all future elections should be by plurality of voices present;
and a fine was imposed on all free men, who should fail to attend at the time and place
appointed for the election. The number of burgesses to a plantation or settlement (before
the formation of counties) was unlimited; nor does it appear that, at that time,
any particular qualifications were necessary. After counties were laid off, the number
of representatives to a county remained without limitation, until November, 1645,
when they were reduced to four to each county, except James City county, which
might send five, and the city itself one; and the election was directed to be held where
the county courts were, except in those places which were specially authorised by act
of assembly to hold elections. These were certain parishes to which that privilege
was granted; and it was afterwards extended to all parishes, they paying the expenses
of their burgesses, as the counties in general were compelled to do in relation to theirs.
At the March session, 1660-1, the number of burgesses was limited to two for each
county, and one for James City, it being the metropolis.

The first act which in the smallest degree abridged the right of suffrage, or prescribed
the qualifications of the members, passed at the March session, 1654-5. By
this act it was declared, that the persons who should be elected to serve in assembly
be such, and no "other than such, as were persons of known integrity and of good
conversation, and of the age of one and twenty years." That all house keepers,
"whether freeholders, lease-holders, or otherwise tenants, should only be capable to
elect burgesses;" provided that the term "house-keepers should extend no further than
to one person in a family." At the next session, however, so much of this act as
excluded ANY FREEMAN from voting was repealed: the assembly declaring "that they
conceived it something hard and unagreeable to reason that any persons should pay
equal taxes, and yet have no votes in election." In the revisal of 1657-8, the same
principle is preserved; the right of suffrage being extended to "ALL persons inhabiting
in the colony, that are FREE MEN." By an act of 1670, that right was, for the first
time, confined to FREE HOLDERS only; and the necessity of this qualification was further
enforced by instructions from king Charles II, to sir Wm. Berkeley, governor, in
1676: "You shall take care," says the second article of the instructions, "that the
members of the assembly be elected, only by FREE HOLDERS, as being more agreeable
to the custome of England, to which you are as nigh as conveniently you can to conform
yourselfe."

Bridges and ferries were at first established and maintained at public expense; but
this being considered burthensome to the inhabitants of many of the counties, especially
the poor, who seldom used them; the law, as to ferries, was repealed, and the
county courts vested with power to establish ferries on the application of individuals,
and fix their rates. The exclusive right of establishing ferries was afterwards resumed
by the assembly; and having exercised it for a series of years, to the great interruption
of other public business, the legislature at the session of 1806, restored to
the county courts the power exercised by them so long ago as the year 1647.

CHAPTER V.

BACON'S REBELLION—HOSTILE DESIGNS OF THE FRENCH

As Virginia had provided for herself a government substantially free,
the political changes in England could have little effect upon her repose,
provided no attempt was made to interfere with the freedom of her trade,
or her local government. She seemed content to be under the protection
rather than control, of whatever power the people of England thought
proper to place at the head of affairs, provided that power did not seek to
extend the conceded authority. In this mood she had adhered to Charles I.
until the Parliament by its commissioners promised a preservation of all
her privileges; she acknowledged Cromwell upon a similar promise, and
his son Richard under the same idea; upon his resignation she held herself
aloof, thus proving how perfect and how independent was her own
local government, until the voice of England should declare who should
rule; and upon the accession of Charles II. she gave in her allegiance to
him. As in all these British changes she remained unconcerned and unmoved,
so the last caused neither extraordinary joy or regret. The colonists
thus free from external sources of uneasiness, proceeded to legislate
upon internal matters; providing rewards for the encouragement of silk
and other staples; negociating with Carolina and Maryland for the adoption
of uniform measures for the improvement of tobacco, and diminishing
its quantity; and providing for the erection of public buildings, the improvement
of James Town, and other subjects of general utility.

Whilst the colonists were proceeding in this useful occupation they were
alarmed by the intelligence of the reenaction of the navigation act,

odious with new prohibitions, and armed with now penalties. The
Virginians had long enjoyed a very beneficial trade with other countries
besides England, and had early perceived its advantages, often urging the
propriety of its continuance, and contending that "freedom of trade was the
life of a commonwealth." But the object of the navigation act was to confine
its trade exclusively to England, for the encouragement of English
shipping and the emolument of English merchants, as well as the promotion
of the king's revenue; without regard to the gross injury done to the
colony by depriving her of the benefit of competition in her harbors. The
colony remonstrated in vain, and continued boldly her trade with all such
foreigners as would venture to encounter the risque of being taken by the
English cruisers and encountering the penalties of the act.

It appears to have been for some time the practice to send felons and
other obnoxious persons to the colony, to expiate their offences by serving
the planters for a term of years. At the restoration many of the veteran
soldiers of Cromwell to whom it was anticipated the return of the ancien
regime would not be particularly palatable, were shipped to Virginia to
work off their spleen in the cultivation of tobacco. It appears that this
new business was not as agreeable to them as they had found the psalmsinging
and plundering of the royalists under the command of their devout
leader; and they accordingly quickly organized an insurrection, by the
operation of which they were to change places with such of their masters
as were left alive by the process. But this out-breaking which seems to
have been well planned and extensively organized, was prevented by the
compunction of one of their associates, who disclosed the whole affair to
the governor the evening before it was to have gone into effect; and adequate
means were taken to prevent the design. Four of the con-

spirators were executed. But this evil of importing jail-birds
as they were called, increased to such an extent that it was prohibited by
the General Court in 1670, under severe penalties.[243]

The increase in the amount of tobacco raised by the increase of the colony
and the settlement of Maryland and Carolina, far outstripped the

increase of taste for it, rapid as that was, and caused such a
glut of the commodity that its price fell to an amount utterly ruinous to the
planter. In this the exclusive privilege of purchase which England enjoyed,
notwithstanding the extensive contraband trade, no doubt largely contributed;
but this the planters could not prevent, and their only remaining resource
was in diminishing the amount of tobacco raised. To effect this various
schemes had been devised, but they were all liable to be evaded, and were
if successful, too partial in their operation to effect the object desired.
Nothing could be efficient, short of a total cessation from planting for one
year, and this was at last accomplished after long negotiations with Maryland
and Carolina.

Many other staples had been recommended from time to time to the
planters, and even encouraged by bounties and rewards, and this year it
was thought would give them more leisure to attend to the subject. But it
is not probable that many engaged in the occupations proposed, which required
the investment of capital, the acquisition of skill, and the aid of
time to render them profitable; and the year's leisure only served to increase
the growing discontent, especially as towards its end Maryland began to
be suspected of bad faith.

There were other causes of discontent which probably prevailed between
different classes of society. Loud complaint was made of the manner in
which taxes were levied, entirely on persons without regard to property,
which as there must have been a very large class of poor free persons now
existing from the frequent emancipation, and expiration of the terms of
those who came over as servants, besides those who were free but poor
when they came to the country, must have created considerable excitement.
An effort was made to remedy this evil by laying a tax on property but
ineffectually; the only result being a small export duty on tobacco, in aid
of the general revenue.

While the taxes bore thus hard upon the poorer portion of the community
they also had just reason to complain of exclusion from the right of
suffrage by an act of 1670, and from the Legislature, to which none but
freeholders could be chosen; as well as of the enormous pay which the
Burgesses appropriated to themselves, of one hundred and fifty pounds of
tobacco per diem, and one hundred for their horses and servants. The
forts were also complained of as a source of heavy expenditure without
any benefit; their chief use indeed being rather injurious, as they kept off
traders who violated the navigation acts.

But these evils in domestic legislation were trivial compared with those
produced by the criminal prodigality of Charles, who wantonly made
exorbitant grants to his favorites of large tracts of lands, without a knowledge
of localities, and consequently without regard to the claims or even
the settlements of others. To cap the climax of royal munificence
the gay monarch in perhaps a merry mood, granted to Lords Culpeper
and Arlington the whole colony of Virginia for thirty-one years, with
privileges effectually royal, as far as the colony was concerned, only reserving
some mark of homage to himself. This might be considered at
court perhaps as a small bounty to a favorite, but was taken in a very serious
light by the forty thousand people thus unceremoniously transferred.
The Assembly in its extravagance only took from them a great proportion
of their profits; but the king was filching their capital, their lands, and
their homes which they had inherited from their fathers, or laboriously acquired
by their own strenuous exertion.

The Legislature sent three deputies to England to remonstrate with the
king against these intolerable grants, to endeavor to procure his assent to
some charter which might secure them against such impositions for the
future; and if they should fail in the first of these objects to endeavor to
buy out the rights of the patentees. To bear the expense of these three
deputies, Mr. Ludwell, Mr. Morryson, and Mr. Smith, the enormous annual
tax of fifty pounds of tobacco was laid upon every tithable person for two
years, which, though it was for a popular object, was considered as of itself
an intolerable grievance, at which we cannot wonder when we reflect that
many who had to pay this tax did not own a foot of land. The amount
can only be accounted for by supposing much of it was to be used as secret
service money, with such of his majesty's minions as could only see justice
through a golden medium.

These deputies exerted themselves with remarkable success, and procured
from the king an order for a charter, precisely in conformity to the
petition which they presented, and providing against the grieyances of
which they complained, especially grants from the crown without information
from the governor and council in Virginia that such grant would

be of no injury; dependence immediately upon the crown of England and
not on any subfeudatory; and exemption from taxation without consent of
the Grand Assembly. His majesty ordered the solicitor general and attorney
general to prepare a bill embodying these and the other matters embraced
in their petition in due legal form for his signature; but the matter,
notwithstanding the most assiduous attention of the deputies, was so long
delayed in going through the official forms that it was finally stopped, before
its completion, in the Hanaper office, by the news of Bacon's Rebellion.[245]

Soon after the deputies left Virginia, the difficulties of the colony had
been increased by the addition of an Indian war, which although not now
as formerly a matter causing danger of destruction to the whole colony,
and requiring all its strength to repel it, was yet a subject of great terror
and annoyance to the frontier.

A standing army of five hundred men, one-fourth of which was to consist
of cavalry, was raised by the Legislature, and every provision

made for their support and regulation;[247] but after it was raised
and in a complete state of preparation to march against the Indians, it was
suddenly disbanded by the governor without any apparent cause.[248] This was
followed by earnest petitions to the governor from various quarters of the country,
to grant a commission to some person to chastise the Indians, the petitioners
offering to serve in the expedition at their own expense. This reasonable
request was refused, and the people seeing their country left defenceless to
the inroads of a savage foe, assembled of themselves in their primary
capacity, in virtue of their right of self-defence, to march against the enemy.
They chose for their leader Nathaniel Bacon, junior, a young gentleman
of highly respectable family, and education, who although he had
returned to Virginia but three years before, from the completion of his
studies in England, had already received the honor of a colonel's rank in
the militia and a seat in the Legislature for Henrico, in which county his
estate lay,—exposed by its situation to the fury of the Indians. He stood
high in the colony, and was possessed of courage, talent and address
which fitted him well for such an enterprise. After Bacon had been selected
by this volunteer army as their leader, his first step was to apply to the
governor for a commission, in order if possible to have the sanction of the
legitimate authorities for his conduct. The governor evaded this rational
and respectful request, by saying that he could not decide upon so important
a matter without his council, which he summoned to consult, at the
same time artfully hinting to Bacon the injury which he might probably
do himself by persevering in his course.[249] Bacon despatched messengers
to James Town to receive the commission which he did not doubt would
be ultimately granted; and as public impatience would not abide the dilatory
proceedings of the governor, and he was probably nettled at the insinuations
addressed to his selfishness, in the governor's communication,—
he proceeded on his expedition, authorized only by the will of the people,
the danger of the country, and the anxious wish of those who trusted their
lives to his control.

Sir William Berkeley, (whose conduct notwithstanding the high encomiums
bestowed upon him, seems to have been marked in ordinary times
only by a haughty condescension, which in his excellency was called suavity
of manners, and in times of difficulty, by vacillating imbecility,) after temporising
in the most conciliating manner with Bacon until his departure,
now denounced him and his followers as mutineers and traitors for daring
to defend their country after his excellency had refused them a commission;
and gathering together such forces as he could collect consisting principally
of the wealthy aristocrats in the settled country, who probably liked
the mode of taxation which was least injurious to them, and who suffered
little from Indian incursions upon the frontier, he marched to put down the
rebellious troops. He had not proceeded further than the falls of James
river, when he received intelligence of a rising in the neighborhood of
James Town of a more formidable nature than Bacon's, which compelled
him to retreat and take care of affairs at home. This new ebullition of
feeling was headed by Ingram and Walklate, and was probably produced
by the indignation of the common people at the absurd conduct of the
governor in first refusing a commission to Bacon, and then marching to
destroy him, whilst engaged in so useful an occupation; be this as it may,
we find them insisting upon dismantling the forts which were intolerably
oppressive, without producing any good effect against an enemy whose
progress was by stealth, whose onset was sudden and furious, and whose
retreat was immediate. Against such an enemy active operations in the
field were required, and the vigorous prosecution of the war in his own
country. The forts probably were regarded by the poor as instruments of
power in the hands of the rich; which they kept up by oppressive acts
whilst they took measures to put down Bacon's operations, which constituted
the only hope which the people had for protection. The governor
was obliged to yield to the storm. The forts were ordered to be dismantled,
and the obnoxious Assembly was dissolved, and writs issued for a new
election, in which for the first time freemen, as distinguished from freeholders,
were elected.

In the mean time Bacon had been very successful in defeating the Indians,
destroying their towns, and taking them captive, and was returning
leisurely to James Town when he heard of the revolution there. This
induced him to leave his little army and with a few followers embark for
James Town, but he was taken on his voyage by Gardiner who was cruising
to intercept him; and sent a prisoner to the governor. Bacon had
been elected a member for Henrico in the new Legislature, and was pardoned
and permitted to take his seat upon his confessing the impropriety
and disobedience of his conduct, praying pardon of the governor and promising
future obedience. Credible report[250] says that he was induced to
make this full and humiliating acknowledgment[251] upon a promise by the
governor not only of pardon but of a commission; and indeed without
supposing it the result of a compromise, it is difficult to account either for
this act, or his subsequent conduct. The causes which induced his next
step are not sufficiently explained by the historians of the times, but it
was probably produced by the solicitations of his friends in the Legislature,
who found that they could gain no redress of grievances. He collected

troops in the country, and marched to James Town; he surrounded the
state house with his enraged soldiers, demanding a commission for him,
which by the earnest solicitation of the Council and Assembly was at
length obtained from the governor, together with a full act of indemnity
for his present conduct, and a letter highly applauding his designs and his
proceedings addressed to the king and signed by the Burgesses, the Council
and the governor.

Thus relieved from all former sources of fear and provided against future
contingencies Bacon again sallied forth towards the frontier. But
the governor had not long been relieved from his presence before he dissolved
the Assembly and retiring into Gloucester again declared Bacon a
rebel and his army traitors, and raised the standard of opposition. Upon
being informed of this Bacon immediately fell back by forced marches
upon Gloucester, and compelled his puissant excellency to retreat with
precipitation to Accomac. This county was at that time considered as a
distinct territory although under the control of Virginia, and Bacon taking
advantage of this against an unpopular governor, called a convention for
the purpose of settling the government, declaring that the governor had
abdicated. This convention met a Middle Plantation on the third of
August, 1676, and declared that the government was vacant by the abdication
of Sir William Berkeley, and that by invariable usage the council
or the people might fill the vacancy until the king's pleasure should be
known. Writs were then issued by five[252] members of the council for a
new election of Burgesses. The convention next declared Sir William
Berkeley guilty of aiding and abetting certain evil disposed persons in
fomenting and stirring up the people to civil war; and that they would aid
in discovering all such evil disposed persons and opposing their forces
until the king be fully informed of the state of the case; and that they
would aid Bacon and his army against the common enemy, and in suppressing
the horrid outrages and murders daily committed by them.

Bacon having now provided a regular government for the country proceeded
once more against the Indians, who had formed a confederacy and
gained several advantages since his retreat. He destroyed the Pamunkey,
Chickahominy and Mattaponi towns and their corn, in retaliation of the
late excesses. The Indians retreated before him, with occasional skirmishes
until they reached their place of general rendezvous near the falls
of James river. He there found their whole force posted on an eminence
overhanging a stream which from the sanguinary nature of the conflict
has been since called Bloody Run. They were protected by a stockade
fort, which was stormed by the impetuous ardor of Bacon and his followers,
who made great slaughter among them, encumbered as they were with
their old men, women and children.

In the mean time Berkeley had not met with that warm reception which
he had anticipated amongst the loyalists of Accomac, but on the other
hand he had been presented with a strong and spirited remonstrance against
the objectionable acts of Parliament, and a requisition that they should be
suspended at least so far as regarded that portion of the country. How
the matter terminated we are not informed.

The governor was not allowed to remain undisturbed in Accomac, until
he could again succeed in raising a force which might give trouble. Bacon's
party was in possession of all the vessels in the colony, and two of
his friends, Giles Bland and William Carver, went with their force to cut
off supplies from the governor, or as his friends surmised, to surprise him.
But if such was their object they were defeated, for Capt. Larimore from
whom one of the vessels had been taken, gave intimation to the governor's
friends that he would betray his vessel into the hands of a party sufficiently
strong to keep possession. The proposal was acceded to, and at midnight
six and twenty men, obeying Larimore's signal, were along side of
his ship and had possession almost before the crew were aroused from
their slumbers; the other vessels were then easily taken. Thus Sir William
finding himself in possession of the whole naval force of the colony
whilst Bacon was absent in his expedition against the Indians, he collected
together a force of some six hundred men, consisting mostly of aristocratic
gentlemen and their servile dependants, and took possession once more of
James Town. As usual his first act in returning to power was to disavow
his acts in favor of Bacon as made under duress, and again to declare him
a rebel, and his soldiers traitors.

Bacon was on his return from his successful campaign when this news
reached him; most of his followers had dispersed, but he hastened on with
the remainder without regard to their fatigues in the recent campaign.
He arrived before James Town late in the evening, fired his artillery and
sounded a defiance, and then cooly dismounted and laid off his trenches.
His men that very night by the aid of trees, earth and brush-wood formed
a tolerable breast-work, and the next morning advanced to the pallsadoes
of the town and fired upon the guard, without loss. Sir William Berkeley
well knowing that time would increase the force of his adversary
whilst it diminished his own, next resolved to try the effects of a sally, and
some of his men at first behaved with some show of courage, but the whole
body soon retreated in disorder before the well directed fire of Bacon's
men, leaving their drum and their dead as trophies to the victors. Bacon
would not allow the victory to be followed up, as it would have placed his
men under the range of the guns of the shipping. To prevent the use
which might be made of this auxiliary, he planted several great guns, so
as to bear on the ships, which served also to alarm though they could not
annoy the town.

Now the marked difference which existed between the character of Bacon's
troops and those of the governor was exhibited, and that too in a manner
well calculated to exhibit the character of Bacon's proceedings.
Berkeley's troops consisting principally of mercenary wretches, whom he
had scraped together by the hopes of plunder, deserted every day when
they found that the governor was determined to defend the place, and that
they were likely to get more blows than booty in the contest, until at last
the governor was left with little more than twenty gentlemen, whose sense
of honor would not allow them to desert his person. Bacon's troops on the
other hand were daily reinforced by accessions from the country people,
who clearly considered him as an intrepid soldier who had delivered them
from the butcheries of the savages, and a patriot who was now endeavoring
to put down an odious and oppressive government.

The governor finding his followers reduced to so small a number that it
would be madness to attempt to defend the place, at length yielded to the

earnest solicitations of those about him, and deceiving his adversaries as to
his real design by exhibiting evidences of a contemplated attack, he went
on board a ship at midnight and was seen next morning riding at anchor
beyond the reach of the guns in the fort at James Town. Bacon with his
followers, after their week's seige marched into the empty town the next
morning, the governor and his party having carried off or destroyed every
article of value. The possession of James Town in this situation was of
no advantage to Bacon or his followers. The men who had left their
homes to defend their country from the incursions of the Indians, could
not remain together for the purpose of defending the capital from their
hostile governor, who was quietly waiting in the river for them to depart, in
order that he might again resume possession. What could be done with
a town which could not be defended, and if defended was of no value to the
possessors; but which was all-important to the enemy? The answer to
this question was manifest, and Bacon's proposal for its destruction was
received with acclamation; several of his followers, who owned the most
valuable houses, applying the firebrand with their own hands to their own
property. The sight of the flames started Sir William Berkeley on a
cruize to Accomac; and Bacon having overcome all opposition to the
government established by the convention, dismissed his troops to their
homes.

We have little account of Bacon's proceedings after this successful termination
of his labors; we presume he did not do much as he was ill of a
disease caught by sleeping exposed in the trenches before Jamestown,
which in a short time terminated his existence. He died at the house of a
Mr. Pate in Gloucester county. Thus died the distinguished individual,
who overcame both the foreign and domestic enemies of his country, and
left it enjoying the blessings of a free government. Had he lived precisely
a century later he would have been one of the distinguished heroes of the
revolution, and historians would have delighted as much in eulogizing his
conduct as they have, under existing circumstances in blackening his character.
He accomplished all which it was possible for him to do. He
never opposed the British government but only foreign enemies, and domestic
mal-administration, which he succeeded in defeating. He seems always
to have acted by the consent and wish of the people, and never to
have sought self-agrandizement. It was manifestly impossible for him to
elevate himself to absolute power in Virginia without the consent of the
government in England, and the people of Virginia; and the idea of resisting
both of these powers was absurd. For all the evils which accrued to
the country after his death, and the restoration of Sir William Berkeley, he
has been unjustly made responsible, whilst he has received no credit for his
good conduct, or the beneficial acts passed by the legislature during his ascendency.
In short we can see no difference between his course, and that
pursued in the previous expulsion of Sir John Harvey from the government,
or the subsequent treatment of Lord Dunmore and many other royal governors
at the commencement of the revolution. The only difference between
the patriots of 1676 and 1776 was in the establishment of a free government,
subject to the general controul of Great Britain, which was all
that could be done in 1676, and the establishment of a free government independent
of Great Britain, which was accomplished in 1776. The unfortunate
death of Bacon, and the power of the mother country, destroyed in
a great measure the benefit of the exertion of the little band of patriots of

the first period, whilst the benefit of the latter have continued to exist. The
loyal writers after the re-establishment of Berkeley, sought to hide his pusillanimity
by extolling his virtues, and blackening his adversary, in which
they have been blindly followed by other writers, who have attributed
the subsequent misery to the previous rebellion instead of to the avarice,
malignity and revenge of the governor and his party, seeking to overawe
and suppress popular indignation, and break the strength of the popular
party by the forcible exertion of arbitrary authority, as well as to avenge
themselves for the indignities to which their own folly subjected them. On
the other hand the patriots of the revolution have only received the just reward
of their merit, in the lavish praises of a grateful posterity; and the
loyal party of their day, has been justly handed down to universal execration.[253]

The death of Bacon, by leaving the republicans without a head, revived
the courage of the governor so far, that he ventured in his ships to move
about upon the bay and rivers and attack the inhabitants wherever he could
find them defenceless, and snatch a little plunder to gratify his needy followers;
always retiring when the opposite party appeared to oppose him.
This predatory species of warfare, preventing the quiet pursuit of agricultural
labors, and destroying all the comfort and happiness of society without
producing any beneficial result, soon grew wearisome to both parties.
Sir William Berkeley whose cruelties, especially to his prisoners[254] had
gone far to keep up the enthusiasm of popular excitement, finding that his
name had ceased to strike that awe which habitual respect for one high in
authority had formerly given it, and that his punishments excited indignation
rather than terror, felt disposed to take advantage by milder means of
the returning pacific disposition on the part of a people whose stubborn
tempers could not be brought into obedience by force. With this view
he treated his prisoners with more liberality, published an act of general indemnity,
and proposed a treaty of peace to Ingram and Walklate, the principal
leaders of the opposing party since the death of Bacon. So anxious
were the people to be relieved from the present confusion and anarchy, and
the governor once more to rule with uncurbed sway, that a treaty was
speedily concluded, only stipulating on the part of the governor a general
oblivion, and indemnity of past offences, and on the part of his opponents a
surrender of their arms and a restoration of such property as they had
taken. Thus easily did these unfortunate men deliver themselves again
into the lions power, after having defeated him at all points, and inflicted
deep and irremediable wounds upon his inflated vanity, and pompous mockdignity.
The governor when he had his enemies in his power, instead of
trying to heal the wounds of the bleeding state by mildness and conciliation,
only added to its sufferings by a bloody retribution for all the trouble
which he had been made to endure. Fines and confiscations for the benefit
of his excellency became the order of the day, and an occasional execution
as an extra treat to his vengeance. He at first attempted to wrest the
honest juries of the county to his purpose, but in vain,—ten prisoners were
acquitted in a single day. Finding that his enemies were thus likely to
escape his grasp by the unflinching integrity, and sense of justice prevailing
among the people, he determined to avoid the use of a court constituted
upon principles of the English constitution, which he found so little subservient
to his will; and tried his next victims under martial law. He here
found a court of more congenial spirits. The commissioners of the king
give an account of some of these trials, such as they were carried on even
after their arrival, which mark well the spirit of the times. "We also observed
some of the royal party, that sat on the bench with us at the trial, to
be so forward in impeaching, accusing, reviling, the prisoners at bar, with
that inveteracy, as if they had been the worst of witnesses, rather than justices
of the commission; both accusing and condemning at the same time.
This severe way of proceeding represented to the assembly, they voted an
address to the governor, that he would desist from any further sanguinary
punishments, for none could tell when or where it would terminate. So
the governor was prevailed on to hold his hands, after hanging 23."[255]

A notable way which the governor adopted to replenish his purse

after the disasters of the war, was to relieve the rebels from a trial in one of
his courts martial, in which they were to be condemned, upon their paying
him a great portion of their estates, by way of compromise. This method
of disposing of men's estates without trial or conviction was protested
against by his majesty's commissioners as a gross violation of the laws of
England, but which Sir William's friends seem to think only a just retribution
for the losses sustained by himself and the royal party during the
rebellion.[256] Enormous fines payable in provision were also found a convenient
method of providing for the king's troops which had been sent over
to subdue the colony.

His majesty's commissioners fortunately arrived in time to stay the wrath
of the vindictive old man, who would as an eye witness says, "he verily
believes, have hanged half the county if they had let him alone."[257] They
urged him in vain to publish the king's proclamation of a general pardon
and indemnity, and then proceeded to hold their commission for hearing
and redressing grievances. As the proceedings of the governor diffused a
gloom, the generality of which was co-extensive with the immense numbers
that were engaged in the rebellion, so did the proceedings of the commissioners
spread a universal joy. Crowds of persons now came forward
to present their grievances; widows and orphans to ask for the confiscated
estates of their husbands, and fathers who had been butchered by the military
tribunals of the governor; others come in to complain of the seizing
their estates without the form of a trial, and many who had submitted themselves
upon the governor's proclamation of indemnity and pardon, conplained
of subsequent imprisonment and confiscations of their property.

The commissioners state in their report to the king and council,—that
"in the whole course of their proceedings they had avoided receiving any
complaints of public grievances; but by and under the hand of the most credible,
loyal and sober persons of each county, with caution, that they did not
do it in any mutinous manner, and without mixture of their old leaven, but
in such sort as might become dutiful subjects and sober, rational men to
present." When they found that all their representations to Sir William
Berkeley, to endeavor to induce him to restore the confiscated estates, which
were in the possession of himself or his most faithful friends, were in vain,
they ascertained as many of the possessors as possible, and made them give
security to take care of them, until his majesty should determine as to the
restitution, which they recommended him to make. The commissioners
also devised several matters of utility for the peace, good government and
safety of the colony, which they recommended his majesty to adopt. Sir
William Berkeley returned in the fleet to England, leaving Sir Herbert
Jeffries, who had been sent over with the commissioners, as governor.—
Upon his arrival he found that his cruel conduct in Virginia was looked
upon with horror by most of his former friends, and the council, and was
not sustained by the king, subservient loyalty to whom had been the source
and spring of his high-handed measures. The old knight, thus finding
himself execrated in Virginia, and despised in England, soon languished
and died under the load of infamy, with which he had crushed the fair fame
of his earlier years. Thus ended the life of Sir William Berkeley, a governor,
whose early character historians have delighted to honor, and

whose subsequent conduct they have sought to excuse; but of whom we can
find nothing better upon record, than the negative merit of not opposing the
legislature in its schemes of government, in the early part of his reign; but
whose latter years are disgraced by cowardly imbecillity, and stained with
crime.

Before we take leave of the transaction which has been termed in complaisance
to the royal governor, Bacon's Rebellion, it may not be amiss to
cast a hurried glance at the laws passed by the Legislature which met
under his influence; which must go far with posterity in determining
whether the name of rebels or patriots would be most consistent with the
character of their acts. They strike first at the most important and pressing
subject, and the one which had been most neglected,—the Indian war.
They provide efficient means for conducting it, and for regulating the
army. The next act prescribed regulations for Indian trading, the abuse
of which was thought to have been very mischievous. They next pray
his majesty's governor and council that the lands which had been set apart
at the last peace exclusively for the Indians, and which had been or might
be subsequently deserted by them, might not be granted away to individuals,
but might be used for the purpose of defraying the expenses of the
war. The fourth act looks very little like an encouragement of rebellion,
—reciting that tumults, riots and unlawful assemblies had recently been
frequent, they make it the duty of every officer, civil and military in the
country, to aid in suppressing them, and the duty of all citizens to assist
such officers under penalty of punishment for refusal, and the governor is
specially requested to assemble a force at the public charge with all possible
expedition, to suppress such tumults, and inflict condign punishment
upon the offenders; which says the act "will conduce to the great safety
and peace of this country, and enable us the better to defend ourselves
against the barbarous and common enemy." This single act sheds more
light upon the history of the times and exhibits more plainly the history
of the views of the principal actors than any or perhaps all other documents;
we see in it the reason why no private persons took advantage of
the unsettled state of affairs to disturb the public peace, and that there was
no tumult or armed force except the regular army raised by the Assembly
and put under Bacon's command, and no rebellious assembly except the
miscreant crew raised by Berkeley in opposition to the government established
by the people.

Having thus provided for safety from foes without and for peace within,
the Assembly next proceeded to the investigation of abuses by civil officers.
Under this head they made several provisions for the prevention of abuses,
which have been found so well devised that they have continued in use to
the present day. They next provide against the long continuance of vestries
in office; for the election of burgesses by freemen as well as freeholders;
and against false returns of burgesses. Their eighth act provides against
abuses committed by the justices in laying county levies, and requires that a
number of discreet men chosen by the people, equal in number to the justices
appointed by the governor, should act with the justices in laying the
county levy. They next empowered the county courts to select their own
collectors of county levies and dues; and prohibit any member of the
council from sitting on the county court bench. Passing some acts of less
general importance, but which were wise and useful, we come to an act of
general pardon and indemnity for all crimes committed between the first of

March and twenty-fifth of June, passed "out of a hearty and pious desire
to put an end to all suits and controversies, that by occasion of the late
fatal distractions have arisen," "and to bury all seeds of future discord and
remembrance of anything whereby the citizens might be obnoxious to any
pains or penalties whatsoever."

Their last act deprives Edward Hill and John Stith forever of the right
to hold any office of trust, judicature, or profit, because it was notoriously
manifest that they had been the greatest instruments in raising, promoting,
and stirring up the late differences and misunderstanding that had arisen
between the honorable governor and his majesty's good and loyal subjects.
The acts of this Assembly were signed by Berkeley in all due form, but
were subsequently all declared void, though many of them were re-enacted
by the Legislature, which under the influence and control of Berkeley, declared
them void.

Although the people of Virginia had laid down their arms they were
not subdued, but continued to manifest through their Legislature the same
undaunted tenacity of their rights which had ever characterised them.
This was exhibited towards the king's commissioners in one of the boldest
defences of privilege which the records of any nation can exhibit, and
shows how strongly imbued with the spirit of freedom the people must
have been when they could snuff the approach of tyranny at such a distance,
and put themselves on their defence against their friends, lest their
enemies might take advantage of their concessions. The king's commissioners
were empowered to call for persons and papers, for the purpose of
prosecuting more effectually their inquiries into the grievances of the colony.
In conformity with their powers they called upon the secretary of
the Legislature for its journals, but were surprised to find that although
their proceedings were popular, and their object was to investigate and redress
grievances of which these very men complained, that they refused to
allow them to inspect their journals, returning for answer that it was a
dangerous precedent which might be used in violation of their priviliges.
At this time the governor and commissioners had complete physical power
over the colony by the entire absence of anything like organized opposition,
and from the presence of the king's troops; and availing themselves
of this power they did not hesitate to wrest the journals of the Assembly
from the hands of its officer by force. Upon which the Virginia Assembly
published a bold and manly declaration, setting forth "that his majesty's
commissioners having called for and forced from the clerk of the Assembly
all the original journals of the Assembly, which power they supposed his
majesty would not grant them, for that they find not the same to have been
practised by any of the kings of England, and did therefore take the same
to be a violation of their privileges, desiring withall satisfaction to be given
them that they might be assured no such violation of their privileges should
be offered for the future." The king was so much displeased with this
declaration, that although he pardoned the members of the Legislature, he
directed the record of it to be erased, and required the governor to propose
a bill to the next General Assembly condemning the proceeding, and declaring
the right of his majesty and his officers to call for all the public
records and journals whenever they shall think it necessary for his royal
service.[258]

Sir Herbert Jeffries deserves the merit due to an advantageous treaty with
the Indians, and a successful opposition to the petty intrigues of the loyalists.
He died in 1678, leaving the colony in the hands of the Lieutenant
governor, Sir Henry Chickerly, during whose administration magazines
and forts were established at the heads of the four great rivers to overawe
the savages, and a silly act passed prohibiting the importation of tobacco
from Carolina and Maryland for the purpose of transhipment, which practice
if they had suffered it to continue might have proved very profitable to
the colony, besides putting the tobacco trade more exclusively into its own
hands. In the succeeding spring Sir Henry delivered the government to
Lord Culpeper. The first act of his lordship was to declare full and unqualified
indemnity to all for their conduct in Bacon's rebellion, and allowing
reparation to those who should be reproached for their conduct upon
that occasion. This popular act, added to the pleasing and conciliatory
manners of his lordship, so won upon the good-natured simplicity of the
Assembly, that they passed an act which probably no force could have extorted
from them. They raised the duties and made them perpetual instead
of annual as before, and what was at once surrendering up the great bulwark
of that freedom for the safety of which they had been so long contending,
they made the duties henceforth subject to his majesty's sole direction
and disposal.

The king rewarded Culpeper's address in obtaining this acquisition to
his power, by the addition of a thousand pounds to his salary and one hundred
and sixty pounds per annum for his rent. The Assembly too, as if
they could not do enough for a royal governor who could condescend to
smile upon them, granted his excellency a regular duty proportionate to
the tonnage of every vessel trading to Virginia. Culpeper having thus
obtained a considerable increase to his revenue by his trip to Virginia,
proceeded to England to enjoy it, leaving the colony once more with Sir
Henry Chicherly.

The discontents of the people again began to extend to a degree which
could scarcely be kept within bounds. The troops which had been sent
over to suppress Bacon's Rebellion were still kept up. There were no
barracks and the people positively refused to receive these idle and troublesome
drones into their houses, although they were regularly billeted by
the government. The low price of tobacco too was a never failing source
of complaint, as well as the commercial regulations which aided in producing
it. The colony had urged Culpeper to exert his influence at court
to procure a cessation from planting, to which they had for some time in
vain endeavored to obtain the assent of Carolina and Maryland.

To these evils another was now added which struck another blow at
commerce. The idea had been conceived that the colony could not prosper
without towns, and to promote their growth the planters living principally
on the shores of the magnificent Chesapeake and the broad navigable
rivers of Virginia, were required to bring their produce to particular
spots for the purpose of being shipped. Thus taxing the planter with
unnecessary freight and commission for the benefit of such idlers as might
congregate in the towns. These acts were enforced by heavy penalties,
and as they contributed very much to the benefit of the town's people, the
penalty for the violation was rigorously enforced. These prosecutions
drove many traders from the country, and the poor planters to whom it
was physically impossible to convey their crops to these paper-towns, were

doomed to see their crops rotting on their hands by this injudicious legislation,
or if they attempted to evade the law, have them wrested from them in
the shape of penalties.[259] These several subjects of complaint induced the
people of several counties to petition the deputy governor to call an assembly,
to endeavor to provide a remedy for the evils. At the meeting of the
Assembly, there was much debate and declamation upon the condition of
the country, but no measure of relief was adopted. By order of the king
however the two companies of infantry were paid off and disbanded, which
put an end to one of the subjects of difficulty. The dissolution of the Assembly
without effecting anything caused the impatience of the poor and
ignorant people of several of the counties to break through all restraint,
and expend their wrath in the destruction of tobacco plants, at a season of
the year when it was too late to sow more seed. Sir Henry Chicherly
with commendable moderation only took measures to stop these misguided
people, without resorting to harsh punishments, but lest it should be drawn
into a precedent, the Legislature not long afterwards made it treason.[260] In
the mean time Lord Culpeper arrived and his haughty bearing to the Council
and the Burgesses soon gave intimation to them that his Lordship's feelings
towards the colony had undergone a change. He enlarged, in his speech
to the Assembly, much upon the favor of his majesty in disbanding the
troops, and spoke of permission which he had obtained to raise the value
of the current coin,—he then went on to declare that the colonists did not
deserve these gracious favors, but rather punishment for their recent turbulence;
he also expressed his majesty's great dissatisfaction at the refusal of
the journals, and desired that that portion of their proceedings should be
expunged.

The Assembly expressed their gratitude for the concessions which had
been made by the king, but at the same time with admirable good sense,
and a knowledge of the principles of commerce which shows that they
were not acting blindfold with regard to the alterations in the price of tobacco
heretofore alluded to, protested by a large majority against raising the
value of the coin; stating as a reason that the exercise of this dangerous
power would be made a precedent, and specie which of course as the
standard of other value should be as fixed as possible itself, would be blown
about by the breath of the governor, and the people would have no certainty
of the value of the coin in their pockets. They stated moreover
that it was the duty of the Legislature to enact all laws for the regulation
of commerce, and of course to prescribe the current price of specie, and
they accordingly introduced a bill for that purpose; but this bill, which
was necessary, as the coins of many different countries were in circulation,
was stopped short in its progress by the governor, who declared that it was
trespassing upon executive prerogative, and that he would veto any bill
which the legislature might pass upon the subject. He then proceeded to
fix the value himself by proclamation, raising the current price considerably,
but making exception of his own salary and the revenue of the king.
This exception was in effect nothing more or less than a new tax of the
most odious and oppressive character, and the colony plainly recognised it
as such, and refused to regard the exceptions, but paid the revenue as other
debts according to the new standard. And the governor afraid to bring

such a case before any court of law, which he well knew would expose
his contemptible meanness, and yet afraid to allow his proclamation to be
openly disregarded, which would have put an end at once to the authority
of his edicts, was compelled by the dilemma to lower the value of the coin
as suddenly as he had raised it. This was at once realizing all the worst
anticipations of the legislature as to the arbitrary fluctuations in the standard
of value, besides being highly unjust and oppressive to such persons as
had made payment of debts according to the new standard, and such as had
given credit during the time of the alteration. The governors had by some
means been suffered to exercise the power of dissolving the Assemblies,
and this having now grown into a usage was a favorite method of silencing
their clamors, and they having rashly made the provision for the revenue
perpetual and put the control of that subject into the king's hands, were
bound hand and foot, and could not control executive usurpation by stopping
the wheels of government. The governor now made use of this dangerous
power and dissolved the Assembly. The governor thus left without a
watch or control over his actions proceeded to a vigorous exercise of executive
powers. The unfortunate plant-cutters who had merely been imprisoned,
and such of them dismissed from time to time as would give
assurance of penitence, and promise a peaceable demeanor, were now proceeded
against with the utmost rigor for what the king was pleased to call
their treasonable conduct. But the noblest victim for tyrannical persecution
was Robert Beverly, the former clerk of the Assembly, who had refused
to give up its papers without authority from "his masters, the house
of Burgesses." For some reason it seems that an inspection of journals
was demanded by the council again in 1682, and Beverley again refusing
to deliver them was thrown into prison, in a king's ship, the Duke of York,
then lying in the river, his persecutors being afraid to trust him to the
keeping of the jails among his countrymen. Whilst he was in prison a
committee of the council was appointed to seize the papers, which he foreseeing
this event had secreted. The pretence for this imprisonment were
the most frivolous that can well be imagined; he is accused of fomenting
discord and stirring up the late partial insurrections, but the only specific
act of which he was accused was setting on foot petitions for an Assembly.[261]
Under these arbitrary proceedings he was detained a prisoner, denied
the writ of habeas corpus, and hurried about from prison to prison
until the governor at last thought proper, after two years searching for
charges, to commence a regular prosecution.

The accusation consisted of three heads:—

1st. That he had broken open public letters, directed to the Secretary's
office, with the writs enclosed for calling an Assembly, in April 1682, and
took upon him the exercise of that part of the government, which belongs
to the Secretary's office and was contrary to his;—

2nd. That he had made up the journal, and inserted his majesty's letter
therein (which was first communicated to the house of Burgesses at their
prorogation) after their prorogation;—

3d. That he had refused to deliver copies of the journal of the house of
Burgesses in 1682, to the lieutenant governor and council, saying, "that
he might not do it without leave of his masters."

This was all which could be charged against this faithful officer, after so

long an imprisonment, and so long a preparation for the prosecution. But
of course they will not bear scrutiny, being only a flimsy veil thrown over
their designs, rather indicating a wish to hide the naked deformity of the
prosecution, than actually concealing it.

Before this notable prosecution was ended Lord Culpeper forfeited his
commission, and was superceded by Lord Howard, who took the oaths of
office on the 28th of February 1684. His first measure was to call an assembly
which as a popular act, induced the colony to hope some degree of
mildness in his administration; but these hopes were soon dissipated. He
pursued the unfortunate plant-cutters with renovated vigor, and such of
them as had been excepted in a proclamation of general pardon, were now
executed and their estates after paying officer's fees, appropriated to the governor's
own use.

The assembly met and refused to proceed with business for the want of a
clerk, as their former clerk was in prison, and they refused to elect another.
In this situation of affairs the matter seems to have been compromised, the
governor no doubt despairing of his conviction upon the absurd charges
made, and Beverley and his friends willing to end his long imprisonment
and sufferings, by asking pardon, at the same time not giving up the papers
or the principles for which he suffered. Be this as it may Beverley
threw himself upon the mercy of the court, declining to employ counsel or
make any defence, and was pardoned.[262] Probably these long continued
sufferings, with other persecutions afterwards endured, injured the constitution
of Beverley, for we find that he died prior to April 1687. His noble
conduct induced king James the then reigning monarch, to deprive the
Burgesses of the election of their own clerk, ordering the governor to elect
him, and requiring the assembly to make the clerk so elected, the usual allowance
for his services.

The accession of James II. was proclaimed with the usual demonstrations
of respect in the colony, and complimentary assurances of

loyalty on the one side and gracious regard on the other
were exchanged between his subjects and the assembly. But nothing was
done to secure the freedom of the colony, and Lord Howard took advantage
of the succeeding recess of the assembly, to enlarge the fees and perquisites
of his office, and to impose new ones without the advice or authority
of the assembly. This body which met in November, immediately took
into consideration these arbitrary exactions, and passed spirited resolutions
in reprobation of them, and made provision for the defence of the citizens
from similar encroachments in future. To these acts the governor applied
his negative, without assigning any reason. Lord Howard not satisfied
with thus stopping the legislation of the colony, proceeded in effect to acts
of executive legislation, by issuing a proclamation, in obedience he said to
the king's instructions, repealing several acts of the legislature, which were
themselves repeals of former acts, and declaring the acts repealed by that
body to be revived, and in full force as before the passage of the repealing
acts. This proclamation the assembly protested against as illegal and unwarrantable,
as utterly subversive of the government, annihilating the right
of the popular branch, and bringing all to bow in humble submission to the
mercy of the prerogative. The spirited conduct of the Burgesses, could
not be endured by the governor and he prorogued them.
The governor had sent to James an account of the conduct
of this assembly. This representation produced in reply from James, a
furious, quarrelsome order, calling their conduct mutinous, and attributing
it to their "unquiet dispositions and sinister intentions to protract the time
of their sitting to the great oppression of his subjects, from whom they received
wages;" concluding by an order for the prosecution of their clerk
Beverley, to whom he ascribes all of these evils.

In the same year several persons were imprisoned and punished for
treasonable expressions. The council was now as servile as the governor
could wish, and he proceeded without interruption in his system of arbitrary
innovation upon the established usuages of the colony, and the liberties of
its citizens.

The province of New York belonged to the king as proprietor as well
as sovereign; and in order to strengthen this his own es-

tate, he sent orders for all the other colonies to assist in
building forts, and supplying garrisons for its western frontier, alledging
that these measures were equally necessary for the protection of all; in conformity
to these orders a message was received from governor Dungan, requiring
the quota of Virginia, but the legislature refused to appropriate a
man or a farthing for purposes from which they were to derive no benefit
but rather an injury, as the protection of the north-western frontier would
drive the Indians further south, where they might commit their depredations
upon the unprotected citizens with more impunity.

Whilst the colony was contending against their governor, a revolution
in England had dethroned the sovereign, and placed William and

Mary upon the throne. This change whilst it placed the council
which had made many loyal professions to James, in an awkward position,
was an event producing analloyed joy to the people of Virginia, as they
could now hope for justice to be done to their oppressive governor.

Soon after this occurrence the war broke out between the allied powers
and Lewis XIV, of France, and the colony was ordered to place itself in the
best posture of defence.

The complaints of the Virginia legislature against their governor at
length were taken up by the privy council, and although the charges against.
Howard were not tried, yet redress against his usurpation was granted, at
the same time that the principles upon which they contended that their
rights had been violated; were denied to be correct. Howard pleading ill-health
was not deprived of his commission for not returning to the colony,
but as it was necessary that there should be a governor upon the eve of a
war, Sir Francis Nicholson was sent over. His conduct was mild and conciliatory,
and consequently popular; among other highly beneficial acts
passed under his government, was one for the establishment of a college
which was very liberally endowed.

He was succeeded by Sir Edmund Andros as governor-in-chief, who is
represented to have been actuated in his administration by

a sound judgment and a liberal policy; to have been exact,
diligent and methodical in the management of business; of a conciliatory
deportment and great generosity.[268] Sir Francis Nicholson was again made
governor-in-chief, in November 1698. He was an ambitious man, who had
served in the capacity of a governor, and deputy governor in several of the
colonies, and taken great pains to become popular, and to make himself
well acquainted with the situation of all the colonies,—their wants,—their
trade, and their capabilities, with a view to unite them if possible under one
government, over which he hoped to obtain the appointment of governor
general. The pressure of war with the combined force of the French and
Indians, which seemed now about to fall upon the colonies, and rendered
some union necessary for the purpose of defence, seemed highly favorable
to his design.

The French at an early day conceived a correct idea of the importance
of the British colonies in America. The Count De Callier, governor of
Montreal, during his residence in Canada, after a long experience derived
from observations on the spot, had formed the bold project of separating in two
the English colonies by the capture of New York. The success of this
scheme would manifestly have destroyed that concert so necessary to harmony
and efficiency of co-operation, and left the other colonies liable to be
cut off in detail, and would effectually establish the safety of Canada by
enabling the French to keep in check the powerful savage confederation,
composed of the Five Nations which had lately by a furious irruption laid
waste the country even to the gates of Montreal and Quebec. This plan of
Callier's was adopted by the French government. A fleet was

sent to the bay of New York, with orders to retain possession
of it, until December, when if no further orders were received, it was to sail
for Port Royal, land its munition and stores and return to France. The
land force were to have marched from Quebec by the route of the Sorel
river and Lake Champlain. This expedition was defeated by a destructive
inroad of the Five Nations, which carried death and desolation over the
whole country, even to the very gates of the capital. This unforeseen occurrence
rendered it necessary to retain the whole force at home in measures
of self-defence, and saved New York, without her having to strike a
blow in her own behalf.

The British government daily becoming more sensible of the importance
of the North American colonies, and seeing the danger to which they were
exposed by the plan of De Callier, set on foot a plan of general defence in
the year 1695, adjusting the quotas of each colony to the ratio of its population,
and forwarding the scale to the different governors, to recommend
for the adoption of the respective colonial assemblies. Several of the colonies
rejected this scheme, because several of those which were thought most
exposed wished to employ it as their own interest dictated. Among the refractory
was Virginia, which could not be prevailed upon by all the art and
ingenuity of the governor, aided by his great enthusiasm in this his favorite
plan,—to vote a cent to the enterprize,—to his inconceivable chagrin
and mortification. Nicholson finding his own efforts utterly unavailing,
laid the matter before the king, and urged the propriety of forcing Virginia
to see her true interests upon this occasion. William in reply recommended
a new consideration of the matter by the General Assembly, alledging
upon the authority of Nicholson's report, "that New York was the barrier
of Virginia against the Indians and the French of Canada; and as such it
was but justice she should defend it." The assembly deemed it but due respect
to his majesty to take the subject again into consideration, but found no reason
to change then former opinion, declaring "that neither the forts then in

being, nor any others that might be built in the province of New York,
could in the least avail in the defence or security of Virginia; for that either
the French or the northern Indians, might invade the colony, and not come
within a hundred miles of such fort."

The failure of this great subject irritated the governor beyond expression;
and excited in his mind the most inordinate antipathy to the assembly. He
charged the conduct of the assembly to a spirit of rebellion, and inveighed
against what he called its parsimony in the most unmeasured terms, offering
to pay the quota of Virginia out of his own pocket, and boasting afterwards
that he had done it, but at the same time, taking the obligation of the gentleman
to whom he gave the bills, that no use should be made of them until
the Queen should remit money to pay them. This affectation of generosity
was designed to gain popularity with the other colonies.

The history of Virginia from this period to the breaking out of the war
with France, presents a remarkable dearth of interesting or striking incident,
all of which could be related would be a list of the governors, a detail of
petty domestic affairs, a gradual extension and improvement of the colony,
and a development of the designs of France; designs which were seen by
some more penetrating spirits in the colonies, and measures recommended
to defeat them, but which received no effectual check until the war broke
out in 1754.

We have now traced the progress of Virginia as far as it is possible to go
with her affairs as an isolated province, cut off from all the world, and only
struggling for existence at first with the savages, and afterwards for freedom
with the mother country. She now becomes of importance in the political
world, she emerges from obscurity and becomes a prize to be contended for
by two of the richest and most powerful nations upon earth. She herself
begins to feel her strength, and dares to wrestle with the civilized nations
of the world. She becomes one of a confederacy of colonies for the purpose
of resisting the attacks of a foreign enemy, and finally to resist successfully
the power of the mother country itself, and then a leading member of a confederacy
of independent nations. Our presumption and the necessity of the
case have led us to attempt much more than will be forgiven, but cannot allure
our feeble wing to essay a flight so daring as would be necessary to
survey the broad field which now expands before us. We leave it rich,
tempting and beautiful as it is, to be painted by some master whose skill
will enable him to exhibit the grandeur and symmetry of the whole, and
yet present upon the same canvass a detail of each separate beauty. For
ourselves, we cannot be so barbarous as to disfigure so magnificent a subject
by daubing it over with the same wretched colors, which we have laid
on the preceding piece, in such extreme haste that we fear it will be difficult
to distinguish the characters or design. For the rest our readers must be
content with a very brief and general outline of the progress of affairs presented
in the following:—

Sketch of Virginia, history from the beginning of the French war to the
beginning of the Revolution.

After the accidental failure of De Callier's design upon New York, the

French governors in possession of Canada and Louisiana, endeavored to
strengthen themselves by uniting as far as possible their respective provinces.
With this view, acting in concert they made no direct attacks, but continued
to extend their forts and strengthen their power by alliances with
the wild Indian tribes located between them; thus at once endeavoring to
connect their possessions,—to monopolize the Indian trade; and to limit the
British settlements.

These designs of France produced a mission from the governor of Virginia
to the commander of a fort, erected on the Ohio, in the year 1751.
The commissioner sent was George Washington, then 19 years old. The
answer of the commandant was evasive. The Virginians prepared for war
and the French commenced an attack on the American trades and forts.

An expedition was soon sent against the French, the command of which
devolved upon. Washington after the death of Col. Fry. Washington at
first gained a trivial success against a detachment under Monsieur Jumonville,
who was killed, and was proceeding to the attack of fort Duquesne,
the main object of his enterprize, when he learned that the French, considerably
re-inforced were advancing; this induced him to retreat to Fort Necessity,
a small stockade work which he had erected at the Great Meadows;
in this work he sustained the incessant fire of the French for a day, when
the French asked a parley and Washington surrendered the place upon
highly honorable terms, being allowed to pass with his troops and baggage
into the settled parts of Virginia.

Great Britain began to see the necessity of aiding the colonies in their
manly efforts to repel the enemy from their borders, and she sent an army
under General Braddock, to protect the colonies and drive the French from
the Ohio. Braddock met a convention of war from the several colonies at
Annapolis on the 14th of April 1755, composed of the governors of New
England, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia, at which convention concert
of military operations was agreed upon. The legislature of Virginia
made liberal appropriations. Washington accompanied the expedition as a
volunteer aid to Braddock.

The fate of this unfortunate expedition is too well known, Braddock valued
too highly his own military skill, and the discipline of the British
troops, he knew nothing of the character of his enemy, and so little did he
esteem the provincials, (in his situation the best troops of his army,) that he
left them all behind at fort Cumberland,—the Little and the Great Meadows,—and
with General Dunbar,—except three companies of Virginians.

Braddock advanced with too much confidence, and kept up in a savage
wilderness all the "pomp and circumstance of war" which his military
education had taught him were indispensable in Europe; he advanced unmolested
until he had crossed the Monongahela, and arrived within a few
miles of fort Duquesne, when he fell into an ambuscade of French and Indians;
his troops were thrown into confusion, and after sustaining the murderous
fire of an enemy concealed from their view for several hours, and
having most of their officers killed, and their General mortally wounded,
retreated in confusion; their rear was protected by the friendly Indians and
few provincials left. The army fell back upon Col. Dunbar, who was next
in command; and who marched off to Philadelphia, leaving two companies
of provincials with the sick and wounded at Fort Cumberland.

Braddock's defeat was of course followed by barbarous and distressing
cruelties of the Indians to the frontier settlers; these were resisted by Washington

as well as he was able with the small force under his command; but
no regular expedition was undertaken against the enemy until the year
1758, when General Grant was disgracefully defeated before the walls of
fort Duquesne, by the same rigid adherence to European tactics which had
defeated Braddock.

After the defeat of Grant the scattered and terrified troops were again
collected, and the fort taken by Washington in the third year of the war,
who repaired and garrisoned it, and named it Pittsburgh, in honor of the
minister, who then presided over the councils of Great Britain.

The treaty of Fontainbleau in November, 1762, between Great Britain,
France, Spain and Portugal at length put a period to the war.

Questions touching the power of the British Parliament to interfere with
the concerns of the colonies had arisen more than once before the war, and
during its continuance the delicate question arose of the proportions which
the several colonies should pay for the common defence; the British
ministry proposed that deputies should meet and determine the amount
necessary, and draw on the British treasury which in turn should be reimbursed
by an equal tax on all the colonies to be laid by Parliament: but
the colonies were afraid to let the lion put his paw in their pockets even to
to take back his own, and this being no time to raise difficulties the colonial
legislatures were left to their own discretion in voting supplies, which
they did with a liberality so disproportioned to their ability as to excite the
praise and in some instances to induce a reimbursement on the part of the
mother country.

Virginia had always resisted any interference on the part of Parliament,
especially in the navigation acts, and asserted as early as 1624 that she only
had the undoubted right "to lay taxes and impositions, and none other,"
and afterwards refused to let any member of the council of governor Berkeley,
in the height of his popularity, to assist them in determining the
amount of the public levy. Again in 1676 even stronger language was
used and acquiesced in by the king to whom it was immediately addressed.

The slight taxes imposed for the regulation of commerce and the support
of a post-office were borne by the colonies without a murmur, being
considered only a fair compensation for a benefit received.

In March, 1764, the ministers declared it "expedient to raise a revenue
on stamps in America to be paid into the king's exchequer," the discussion
of this was postponed until the next year in Parliament, but commenced
immediately in America, and the proposition was met by every form of
respectful petition and indignant remonstrance; which were however
equally unavailing, and the stamp act passed in 1765.

The passage of this act excited universal and indignant hostility throughout
the colonies, which was displayed in the forms of mourning and the
cessation of business; the courts refused to sanction the act by sitting, and
the bar by using the stamps. In the succeeding Virginia legislature Patrick
Henry introduced and carried among others the following resolution:—

"Resolved, that the General Assembly of this colony, together with his
majesty, or substitute, have in their representative capacity, the only exclusive
right and power to lay taxes and impositions upon the inhabitants
of this colony: and that every attempt to vest such power in any person
or persons whatsoever, other than the General Assembly aforesaid, is illegal,
unconstitutional and unjust, and has a manifest tendency to destroy
British as well as American freedom."

After the passage of Henry's resolutions the governor dissolved the Assembly,
but the people re-elected the friends and excluded the opposer of
the resolutions.

The spirited conduct of Virginia fired the ardour of the other colonies,
they passed similar resolutions, and a general congress was proposed.
The deputies of nine states met in New York on the first of October; they
drafted a Declaration of Rights, a petition to the King, the Commons, and
the Lords. The stamp act was repealed, and Virginia sent an address of
thanks to the king and Parliament.

The joy of the colonies was short-lived. British ministers imagined
that they could cheat the colonies out of their opposition to taxation without
representation, by laying an import duty instead of a direct tax, and
accordingly a duty was laid upon glass, tea, paper and painter's colors; but
this was equally against the spirit of the British constitution, and met with
a warmer and more indignant resistance on the part of the colonies, who
now began to believe they had little to hope from the justice of Parliament.
The Legislature of Virginia passed very spirited resolutions, which it
ordered to be sent only to the king: upon the passage of which the governor
dissolved it; and the members immediately met and entered unanimously
into a non-importation agreement.

The British ministers perceived their error and determined to pause in
their violence, to effect this object the governors were directed to inform
the colonies that his majesty's ministers did not intend to raise a revenue
in America and the duties objected to should be speedily repealed. These
assurances made to Virginia by Lord Botetourt, a governor whom they
highly respected, served with his own good conduct for a time to allay her
suspicions of the ministry, but the course they pursued towards Massachusetts
was more than sufficient to re-kindle her jealousy. She passed a
protest declaring that partial remedies could not heal the present disorders,
and renewed their non-importation agreement. In 1771 Botetourt died,
and Virginia erected a statue to his memory, which still stands in the town
of Williamsburg.

The delay of Lord Dunmore in New York for some months after his
appointment to the gubernatorial chair of Virginia, excited the prejudices
of the colony, which his sending a man of some military distinction as a
clerk, and raising a salary and fees for him out of the colony, were by no
means calculated to dissipate. The first legislature that met compelled
the governor to dispense with the emoluments of his secretary Capt. Foy;
and the next after thanking him his activity in apprehending some
counterfeiters of the colony paper, strongly reprove him for dispensing
with the usual forms and ceremonies with which the law has guarded the
liberty of the citizen. The same legislature having provided for the soundness
and security of the currency, the punishment of the guilty, and required
the governor to respect the law; turned their eyes to their sister
colonies, and appointed a committee of correspondence to inquire into the
various violations of their constitutional rights by the British ministry.

Whilst Virginia was employed in animating her sister states to resistance,
her governor was employed in the ignoble occupation of fomenting
jealousies and feuds between the province, which it should have been his
duty to protect from such a calamity, and Pennsylvania, by raising difficult
questions of boundary and exciting the inhabitants of the disputed territory
to forswear allegiance to the latter province: hoping thus by affording a

more immediately exciting question to draw off the attention of these two
important provinces from the encroachments of Great Britain. This
scheme as contemptible as it was iniquitous wholly failed, through the
good sense and magnanimity of the Virginia council.

Lord North full of his feeble and futile schemes of cheating the colonies
out of their rights, took off the obnoxious duties with the exception of
three pence per pound on tea, and with the ridiculous idea that he might
fix the principle upon the colonies by a precedent, which should strip it of
all that was odious, offered a draw-back equal to the import duty. This
induced the importation of tea into Boston harbor, which being thrown
overboard by some of the citizens, called down upon their city all the rigor
of the celebrated Boston port bill.

A draught of this bill reached the Virginia legislature whilst in session,
an animated protest, and a dissolution of the Assembly by the governor of
course followed. On the following day the members convened in the Raleigh
tavern, and in an able and manly paper expressed to their constituents
and their government those sentiments and opinions which they had
not been allowed to express in a legislative form. This meeting recommended
a cessation of trade with the East India company, a congress of
deputies from all of the colonies, "declaring their opinion that an attack
upon one of the colonies was an attack upon all British America," and a
convention of the people of Virginia. The sentiments of the people
accorded with those of their late delegates,—they elected members who
met in convention at Williamsburg on the first of August 1774. This
convention went into a detailed view of their rights and grievances, discussed
measures of redress for the latter, and declared their determination
never to relinquish the former; they appointed deputies to attend a
general congress, and they instructed them how to proceed. The congress
met in Philadelphia on the 4th September, 1774.

Whilst Virginia was engaged in her efforts for the general good she
was not without her peculiar troubles at home. The Indians had been for
some time waging a horrid war upon the frontiers, when the indignation
of the people at length compelled the reluctant governor to take up arms
and march to suppress the very savages he was thought to have encouraged
and excited to hostility by his intrigues.

Lord Dunmore marched the army in two divisions, the one under Col.
Andrew Lewis he sent to the junction of the Great Kanawha with the
Ohio, whilst he himself marched to a higher point on the latter river, with
the pretended purpose of destroying the Indian towns and joining Lewis
at Point Pleasant; but it was believed with the real[270] object of sending the
whole Indian force to annihilate Lewis' detachment, and thereby weaken
the power and break down the spirit of Virginia. If such was his object
he was signally defeated through the gallantry of the detachment, which
met and defeated the superior numbers of the enemy at Point Pleasant,
after an exceeding hard fought day and the loss of nearly all its officers.
The day after the victory an express arrived from Dunmore with orders
for the detachment to join him at a distance of 80 miles, through an enemy's
country, without any conceivable object but the destruction of the

corps. As these orders were given without a knowledge of the victory,
Col. Lewis was proceeding to the destruction of the Shawanese villages,
when he was informed that the governor had made peace.

The state of exasperation on the part of the colonies and the stubborn
determination of the ministry made it manifest that there must soon be
some overt act of hostility: this act was first committed in Virginia by its
governor, who removed the gunpowder belonging to the colony from the
magazine in Williamsburg to his Majesty's ship Magdalen, on the night of
the 19th of April, 1775. This act threw the whole colony into a blaze,
the people of Williamsburg demanded immediate restitution, and their
demands were politely evaded. The citizens of Fredericksburg offered
assistance to the town of Williamsburg, which was deemed in danger from
the governor, and Patrick Henry marched at the head of a company of
Hanover volunteers and forced the king's treasurer to make just compensation
for the powder. The governor called a council which advised him
to issue a proclamation calling the people to their duty, which he accordingly
did, but with an effect so little beneficial to himself, that feeling no
longer safe he sent for marines to protect him in his palace, and Captain
Montague threatened to fire upon York if the detachment was interrupted.
This threat excited in a still greater degree the animosity of the people,
whose open and bitter denunciations so alarmed the governor as to make
him again have recourse to his council, which advised recourse to an assembly
to appease and alleviate the excited wrath of the citizens.

The meeting of this assembly at once proclaimed that all confidence
between the governor and people was gone, many met in arms, they feared
the solemn sanctity of their character would not be respected, and they
depended for protection upon their individual prowess. It was a humiliating
and exciting spectacle for the people. The governor was alarmed
and fled by night to a British ship, and refused upon invitation of the
Assembly to return to his palace, or to sign bills presented to him, of the
utmost importance to the colony, and refused to perform this branch of his
duty unless the assembly would come and hold their meetings under the
guns of his ship. In this emergency the governor was declared to have
abdicated, and the president of the council appointed to act in his place,
and as it appeared that on his retreat he had liberated the Indian hostages
without having ratified the treaty, commissioners were appointed to ratify
in behalf of the colony. His Lordship after the termination of intercourse
between himself and the Assembly, sailed down the river, attempting to
enlist citizens against their country, and slaves against their masters. He
never again resumed his power. From that moment to the present day
the people of Virginia have governed themselves.