Historical collections of Virginia containing a collection of the most interesting facts, traditions, biographical sketches, anecdotes, &c., relating to its history and antiquities, together with geographical and statistical descriptions : to which is appended, an historical and descriptive sketch of the District of Columbia : illustrated by over 100 engravings, giving views of the principal towns, seats of eminent men, public buildings, relics of antiquity, historic localities, natural scenery, etc., etc. |
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ELIZABETH CITY. |
 | Historical collections of Virginia |  |
ELIZABETH CITY.
Elizabeth City was one of the eight original shires into which
Virginia was divided in 1634. Its form is nearly a square of 18
miles on a side. The land is generally fertile; and that portion
known as "the back river district," comprising about one-third of
its area, is remarkably rich. There were in 1840, whites 1,954,
slaves 1,708, free colored 44; total 3,706.
Hampton, the county-seat, is 96 miles SE. of Richmond. It is on
Hampton Roads, 18 miles from Norfolk, 24 from Yorktown, 36
from Williamsburg. Hampton is the residence of many of the
pilots of James River. It contains 2 Methodist, 1 Baptist church,
and one Episcopalian church. The Methodist society was established
in 1789, and the Baptist in 1791. It has 18 stores and shops,
and a population of about 1200.
Hampton is an old town, and one of historic interest. Its site
was visited by Capt. John Smith in 1607, on his first exploratory
voyage up the Potomac, previous to the settlement of Jamestown.
Burk says, "While engaged in seeking a fit place for the first
settlement, they met five of the natives, who invited them to their
town, Kecoughtan or Kichotan, where Hampton now stands. Here
they were feasted with cakes made of Indian corn, and `regaled
with tobacco and a dance.' In return, they presented the natives
beads and other trinkets." Hampton was established a town by
law in 1705, the same year with Norfolk. The locality was settled
in 1610, from Jamestown.[1]
The Episcopal church is the oldest
church in the state. The oldest inscription in the grave-yard attached
to this venerable edifice, is that of Capt. Willis Wilson,
who died Nov. 19th, 1701. Among the public men who lie buried
there is Dr. George Balfour, who died at Norfolk, in 1830.
He was a member of the medical staff in the U. S. Army; and
"braved the perils of the west under the gallant Wayne, who, at
a subsequent period, on Presque Isle, breathed his last in his arms.
In 1798, on the organization of the Navy, he was appointed its
senior surgeon, and performed the responsible duties of that office
until 1804, when he retired to private practice in Norfolk." Major
James M. Glassell, who died Nov. 3, 1838, and Lieut. James D.
Burnham, who died March 6, 1828, both of whom were of the U.
S. Army, are interred there. Tradition says, that anciently, the
king's coat-of-arms was placed upon the steeple; but that in
1776, shortly after the Declaration of Independence, the steeple
was rent lengthwise by lightning, and the insignia of royalty hurled
to the earth.
On the Pembroke farm, near Hampton, are four ancient monuments
of black marble. Each is 6 feet long and 3 wide, and surmounted
with a coat-of-arms. Annexed are the inscriptions:
Here lies ye body of John Nevill, Esq., Vice Admiral of His Majesty's fleet and commander-in-chiefe
of ye squadron cruising in ye West Indies, who dyed on board ye
Cambridge, ye 17 day of August, 1697, in the ninth yeare of the reign of King William
ye third, aged 57 years.
In hopes of a blessed resurrection, here lies ye body of Thomas Curle, gent., who
was born Nov. 24, 1641, in ye parish of Saint Michael, in Lewis, in ye county of Surry,
in England, and dyed May 30, 1700.
When a few years are come then shall I go ye way whence I shall not return.—Job,
16 ch. 22 v.
Here lyeth ye body of ye Reverend Mr. Andrew Thompson, who was born at Stonehive
in Scotland, and was minister of this parish 7 yeares, and departed this life ye 11
Sep. 1719, in ye 46 yeare of his age, leaving ye character of a sober and religious man.
This stone was given by His Excellency Francis Nicholson, Esq., Lieutenant and
Governor-General of Virginia, in memory of Peter Heyman, Esq., grandson to Sir Peter
Heyman of Summerfield in ye county of Kent—he was collector of ye customs in ye
lower district of James River, and went voluntarily on board ye king's ship Shoreham,
in pursuit of a pyrate who greatly infested this coast—after he had behaved himself
7 hours with undaunted courage, was killed with a small shot, ye 29 day of April,
1700. In the engagement he stood next the governor upon the quarter deck, and was
here honorably interred by his order.
Hampton was attacked by the British in the war of the revolution,
and also invaded by them in the late war.
The first was in Oct. 1775, and was, says Burk, dictated by revenge on the part of
Lord Dunmore, for two schooners which had been burnt by two enterprising young men
of the name of Barron. These men, afterwards distinguished for their courage and
success in maritime adventure against the British, commanded, at this time, two pilot
boats—a species of vessel constructed chiefly with an attention to sailing—and kept the
fleet of Dunmore constantly on the alert by the rapidity of their movements. If pursued,
by keeping close in with the shore, they took refuge in Hampton. The people of
the town, fearing an attack, had applied to the committee of safety for assistance, who
sent down "Col. Woodford, with 100 mounted riflemen of the Culpeper battalion, without
any other incumbrance than their provisions and blankets. But before the arrival
and commenced an attack on the town. He imagined that the mere display of his
squadron would have paralyzed the courage of the new-raised troops, and that no resistance
would have been attempted. Under this impression, the boats, under cover of a
fierce cannonade, rowed towards the shore for the purpose of setting fire to the houses,
and carrying off whatever property should be spared from the conflagration. A few
moments disclosed the vanity of these expectations. A shower of bullets soon compelled
the boats to return to the ships, while the riflemen, disposed in the houses and the bushes
along the beach, proved that even the tenders were not secure against their fatal precision.
Checked by a resistance so fierce and unexpected, the tenders hauled further into
the stream, and further operations were suspended until a reinforcement, which was
hourly expected, would render an assault more certain and decisive.
"Meanwhile Woodford, who had used the most extraordinary expedition, arrived at
daybreak with his riflemen, and as it was certainly known that the enemy would renew
the attack, a new disposition was made of the American troops. The enemy's fleet had
spread themselves with the view of dividing the force of the Americans; and though it
was intended perhaps only as a diversion, it was not improbable that an attempt would
be made to land troops at a considerable distance in the rear of the Americans. To
guard against this, Woodford disposed the minute-men, with a part of the militia, in his
rear; the remainder of the militia was distributed at different points on the creek, to act
as parties of observation, according to circumstances, while he himself took post with
the riflemen in the houses, and every other low and covered position that presented itself
on the beach.
"At sunrise the enemy's fleet was seen standing in for the shore, and having at length
reached a convenient position, they lay with springs on their cables, and commenced a
furious cannonade. Double-headed and chain shot, and grape, flew in showers through
all parts of the town; and as the position of the ships enabled them to enfilade, it was
thought impossible to defend it, even for a few minutes. Nothing could exceed the cool
and steady valor of the Virginians; and although, with very few exceptions, wholly
unacquainted with military service, they displayed the countenance and collection of
veterans. Woodford's commands to his riflemen, previous to the cannonade, were simply
to fire with coolness and decision, and observe the profoundest silence. The effects
of this advice were soon visible; the riflemen answered the cannonade by a well-directed
fire against every part of the line, and it soon appeared that no part of the ship was
secure against their astonishing precision. In a short time the enemy appeared to be in
some confusion; their cannonade gradually slackened, and a signal was given by the
commander to slip their cables and retire. But even this was attended with the most
imminent danger. No man could stand at the helm in safety; if the men went aloft to
hand the sails, they were immediately singled out. In this condition two of the schooners
drifted to the shore. The commander of one of these in vain called on his men to assist
in keeping her off; they had all retired to the hold, and declared their utter refusal to
expose themselves to inevitable destruction. In this exigency, deserted by his men, he
jumped into the water and escaped to the opposite shore. The rest of the fleet had
been fortunate enough to escape, although with some difficulty, and returned to Norfolk."[2]
After the British fleet were defeated in their attempt upon Norfolk,
in June, 1813, by the gallant defence of Craney Island, they
proceeded to attack Hampton, which was defended by a garrison
of 450 militia, protected by some slight fortifications. The annexed
account of this event is from Perkins' History of the Late War:
Admiral Cockburn, on the 25th of June, with his forces, advanced towards the town
in barges and small vessels, throwing shells and rockets, while Sir Sidney Beckwith
effected a landing below with two thousand men. Cockburn's party were repulsed by
the garrison, and driven back behind a point, until General Beckwith's troops advanced
and compelled the garrison to retire. The town being now completely in the possession
of the British, was given up to pillage. Many of the inhabitants had fled with their
valuable effects; those who remained suffered the most shameful barbarities. That
renegado corps, composed of French prisoners accustomed to plunder and murder in
Spain, and who had been induced to enter the British service by promises of similar
indulgence in America, were now to be gratified, and were let loose upon the wretched
inhabitants of Hampton without restraint. For two days the town was given up to
and unoffending individuals grossly abused; females violated; and, in one instance, an
aged sick man murdered in the arms of his wife, who, at the same time, was dangerously
wounded. A collection of well-attested facts, made by a committee of Congress
respecting the outrages at Hampton, stand on their journals as lasting monuments of
disgrace to the British nation.
Hampton has been the birth-place of several distinguished naval
officers. Among them were the two Barrons,[3]
of the Virginia
navy, who performed several gallant exploits in the revolution.
The grandfather of Com. Lewis Warrington, who, in 1814, while
in command of the Peacock, captured the Epervier, was pastor of
the old Episcopal church in this town. Major Finn, of the army,
was from this place. Capt. Meredith and Capt. William Cunningham,
of the Virginia navy in the revolution, were also born at
Hampton. The first was a remarkably bold and enterprising officer,
and on one moonlight night ventured to sail out to sea in a
small vessel, passing through a British fleet anchored in Hampton
Roads. The following notice of the latter is abridged from the U.
S. Military and Naval Magazine:
At the beginning of the war of the revolution, Capt. Cunningham enlisted in one of
the minute companies, and continued in that service until Virginia armed a few fastsailing
pilot-boat schooners. Thus was the navy of that state commenced. It, however,
varied materially; sometimes amounting to as many as 50 vessels, and occasionally to
only one. Among them was the schooner Liberty, which was never captured, although
several times sunk in the rivers to conceal her from the enemy. Capt. Cunningham
embarked and remained in the Liberty, as her first lieutenant, until the war assumed a
more regular form. Capt. Cunningham purchased a small schooner, and engaged in
traffic to the West Indies. Sea-officers were encouraged to engage in commerce as the
only means of procuring the munitions of war.
On these occasions, he encountered great risk from the enemy's fleets. Once, in the
month of June, he suddenly came upon an English frigate, off Cape Henry, in a dense
fog. The English commander ordered him to strike his colors, and haul down his light
sails, or he would sink him. By a judicious and skilful stratagem, he made the enemy
believe that he intended to surrender. He, therefore, suspended his threatened firing. At
the moment they discovered that Cunningham intended to escape, the jib-boom of the
frigate caught in the topping-lift of the schooner's main-boom. Capt. C. sprang up to
the stern, with a knife, to free his vessel. While in the act of cutting the rope, a
British marine shot him through the arm. Nothing daunted, he deliberately effected his
object, and amid a shower of grape, his vessel shot away from the frigate, and was in a
few moments out of sight.
Some time after, Capt. Cunningham joined the army on the south side of James
River, and had the misfortune, while on a foraging expedition, to be taken by the enemy
and carried into Portsmouth. He had then been recently married.
One day he said to an uncle of his, (also a prisoner,) that he would see his wife the
next evening, or perish in the attempt. "My dear Will, are you mad?" was the reply.
The prison in which he was confined was a large sugar-house, at the extreme south end
of the town, enclosed by a strong stockade fence. At sunset every evening, the guard,
composed of 40 or 50 men, were relieved by fresh troops, and on their arrival, the two
guards, with their officers, were paraded in front of the prison, on each side of the pathway
to the gate. At this hour, the ceremony observed on the occasion was in progress;
the relieved guard had stacked their arms, and were looking up their baggage; the fresh
guard were relieving sentinels, and, in a degree, at their ease. This was the time selected
by Capt. C. The sentinel had just begun to pace his sacred ground, and awful, indeed,
was the moment. Capt. C. was justly a great favorite with the prisoners, who all, in
silent terror, expected to see their beloved companion pinned to the earth by many bayonets,
for expostulation had been exhausted. "My wife, or death!" was his watchword.
The sentinel's motions had been sagaciously calculated upon, and as he turned from
through the gate. It was now nearly dark. All was uproar and confusion. Cunningham
soon reached a marsh near the house, and was nowhere to be found. Volley after
volley was fired after him, and some of the balls whistled over his head. Ere long he
arrived at the southern branch of Elizabeth River, which he swam over a little below
the navy-yard at Gosport, and finally reached the place whither his wife had fled.
Lieut. Church, who had served as Capt. C.'s first, was determined that his commander
should not alone encounter the danger of an escape. He, therefore, followed him; and
strange as it may appear, he was never heard of, or accounted for.
Old Point Comfort, on which stands fortress Monroe, is 2½ miles
from Hampton, and about 12 in a direct line from Norfolk. It is a
promontory, exactly on lat. 37°, and with the opposing point, Willoughby,
forms the mouth of James River.
The name was given to it in 1607 by the first colonists of Virginia, who, on their
exploratory voyage up the James, previous to landing at Jamestown, called it Point
Comfort "on account of the good channel and safe anchorage it afforded." The prefix
of "Old," was afterwards given to distinguish it from "New Point Comfort."
A fort was built on the Point a few years after the first settlement of the country.
The following act for its erection was passed in March, 1629-30. "Matter of ffortifications
was againe taken into consideration, and Capt. Samuel Mathewes was content to
undertake the raysing of a ffort at Poynt Comfort; whereupon, Capt. Robert Ffelgate,
Capt. Thomas Purfury, Capt. Thomas Graies, Capt. John Uty, Capt. Tho. Willoby, Mr.
Tho. Heyrick, and Leu't. Wm. Perry, by full consent of the whole Assembly, were chosen
to view the place, conclude what manner of fforte shall bee erected, and to compounde
and agree with the said Capt. Mathewes for the building, raysing, and finishing the
same," &c.
Count de Grasse, the admiral of the French fleet, threw up some fortifications on old
Point Comfort a short time previous to the surrender at York.
The salutary experience, dearly bought in the lessons of the late war, when these waters
were the resort of British fleets, has doubtless had much influence in prompting the erection
of the fortresses of Monroe and Calhoun. The first is one of the largest single fortifications
in the world, and is generally garrisoned by a regiment of U. S. troops. The
channel leading 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 up in an unremitting ripple, has given the
name of Rip Raps to this place. When the bar is passed, Hampton Roads affords
one of the finest anchorages, in which navies could ride in safety. Fort Calhoun, or
the castle of the Rip Raps, is directly opposite fort Monroe, at the distance of 1900
yards. The two forts are so constructed as to present immense batteries of cannon at
an approaching hostile ship; and the probabilities are, that long before she had completed
the bendings of the channel, she would be a wreck, or a conflagration from the
hot shot thrown into her. The Rip Raps structure is a monument of the genius of the
engineers by whom it was planned. It is formed upon an island, made from the sea
by casting in rocks in a depth of 20 feet of water, until, by gradual accumulation, it
emerged above the tides. The present aspect of the place is rough and savage; the
music of the surrounding elements of air and sea, is in keeping with the dreariness and
desolation of the spot.
The beach at Old Point, affords excellent bathing-ground; this, with a fine hotel, and
other attractions, make the place much resorted to in the summer months. The officers'
quarters occupy several neat buildings within the area of the fort, where there is a fine
level parade-ground, ornamented by clumps of live-oak, which is the most northern
point in the Union in which that tree is found.
George Wythe, a signer of the Declaration of Independence,
was born in this county in 1726. "His education was principally
directed by his mother. The death of both his parents before
he became of age, and the uncontrolled possession of a large fortune,
led him for some time into a course of amusement and dissipation.
At the age of thirty, however, his conduct underwent an
![illustration](https://iiif.lib.virginia.edu/iiif/uva-lib:427279/full/!1600,1600/0/default.jpg")
View of the Harbor of NORFOLK and PORTSMOUTH, from Fort Norfolk.
Fort Monroe is seen in front, on OLD POINT COMFORT, and in the distance, Fort Calhoun, at the Rip Raps.
law; and soon after his admission to the bar, his learning, industry,
and eloquence, made him eminent. For several years previous
to the revolution, he was conspicuous in the House of Burgesses;
and in the commencement of the opposition to England, evinced
an ardent attachment to liberty. In 1764, he drew up a remonstrance
to the House of Commons, in a tone of independence too
decided for that period, and which was greatly modified by the
Assembly before assenting to it. In 1775, he was appointed a
delegate to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. In the following
year he was appointed, in connection with Mr. Jefferson
and others, to revise the laws of Virginia—a duty which was performed
with great ability. In 1777, he was appointed Speaker of
the House of Delegates, and during the same year judge of the
high court of chancery. On a new organization of the court of
equity, in the subsequent year, he was appointed sole chancellor—
a station which he filled for more than twenty years. In 1787, he
was a member of the convention which formed the federal constitution,
and during the debates acted, for the most part, as chairman.
He was a strenuous advocate of the instrument adopted.
He subsequently presided twice, successively, in the college of
electors in Virginia. His death occurred on the 8th of June, 1806,
in the 81st year of his age. It was supposed that he was poisoned;
but the person suspected was acquitted by a jury. In learning,
industry, and judgment, Chancellor Wythe had few superiors. His
integrity was never stained, even by a suspicion; and from the
moment of his abandonment of the follies of his youth, his reputation
was unspotted. The kindness and benevolence of his heart
were commensurate with the strength and attainments of his
mind."
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