University of Virginia Library

I. Rockfish Gap Commission

It was on February 21, 1818, that the bill for the establishment of a State university received the final approval of the General Assembly. The clause providing for the choice of the site was vague and general: it simply required that it should be "convenient and proper"; and as these words left a broad field for selection, the decision was really reserved for a Board of twenty-four Commissioners. This Board was to be appointed, not by the President and Directors of the Literary Fund, but by the Governor and Council. Cabell used his influence to have this latter method adopted because he looked upon it as the first important step towards the designation of Charlottesville as the site; for was not the Governor a citizen of Albemarle, and in picking out the Commissioners might he not be biassed by that fact to nominate men known to be friendly to the selection of Central College?

But there was another fact quite as auspicious: a Commissioner was to be chosen from each senatorial district, and the districts situated east of the Blue Ridge were more numerous than those lying west. With the rivalry narrowed down to Staunton, Lexington, and Charlottesville, the local partizanship of the eastern majority would probably tip the scale on the side of Charlottesville even should the Commissioners from beyond the mountains,

who were in the minority, cast their votes as a body in favor of a western site.

But Cabell was not satisfied with creating all these propitious conditions in advance: he was acutely solicitous that Jefferson should serve as a member of the Board; and that he should induce Madison to consent to his appointment also. The influence of these two distinguished men, Cabell rightly anticipated, would carry extraordinary weight with their associates. Deeply interested as Jefferson was in the approaching conference, he debated with hesitation for some time the wisdom of his becoming a Commissioner. "There are fanatics both in religion and politics," he said in reply to Cabell, "who, without knowing me personally, have long been taught to consider me as a rawhead and bloody bones; and as we can afford to lose no votes in that body (General Assembly), I do think that it would be better for you to be named for our district. Do not consider this to be a mock modesty. It is the cool and deliberate act of my own judgment. I believe that the institution would be more popular without me than with me, and this is the most important consideration, and I am confident that you would be a more efficient member of the Board than I would be." Cabell submitted Jefferson's candid suggestion of his own unfitness to a parley of their friends, who decided unanimously and wisely in favor of Jefferson's nomination as the Commissioner of the Albemarle district. Madison was appointed for the Orange district. Their fellows on the Board were men of substance, distinction, and influence. The full membership of that body embraced Creed Taylor, of Cumberland, Peter Randolph, of Dinwiddie, William Brockenbrough, of Henrico, Archibald Rutherford of Rockingham, Archibald Stuart, of Augusta, James Breckinridge, of Botetourt, Henry E. Watkins, of Charlotte,

James Madison, of Orange, A. T. Mason, of Loudoun, Hugh Holmes, of Frederick, Philip C. Pendleton, of Berkeley, Spencer Roane, of Hanover, James M. Taylor, of Montgomery, John G. Jackson, of Harrison, Thomas Wilson, of Monongahela, Philip Slaughter, of Culpeper, W. H. Cabell, of Buckingham, N. H. Claiborne, of Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, of Albemarle, W. A. G. Facie, of Prince William, William Jones, and four other, Commissioners, who sent word that they were unable to be present to take part in the deliberations. But it was remarked at the time that the absentees represented that part of the State which had always been loyal to the College of William and Mary.

The specific duty imposed on this Board by the Legislature was to report to that body (1) a site for the University; (2) a plan for the building of it; (3) the branches of learning which should be taught therein; (5) the number and character of the professorships; and (5) such general provisions for the organization and government of the institution as the General Assembly ought to adopt. All these requirements were precisely in harmony with Jefferson's wishes, and they had quite probably been indirectly, through Cabell, proposed by him. An additional clause in the Act, -which, no doubt, caused him equal satisfaction, as increasing the chance of Central College winning the coveted prize, -authorized the Board to "receive any voluntary contributions, whether conditional or absolute, in land, money, or other property, which may he offered through them to the President and Directors of the Literary Fund for the benefit of the University."

On Saturday, August 1, the Commissioners assembled at the Rockfish Gap in the Blue Ride Mountains. This spot had been selected as lying on the great natural line

of division between the western and eastern sections of Virginia; and as the Gap was crossed by a public road that was very much frequented, and was near the centre of the State, it could be reached by an equality of exertion from the Potomac and the Carolina border, from Chesapeake Bay and the Ohio River. In our own age of rapid, easy, and constant transit by steam, it is difficult to take in fully the inconveniences and discomforts which all the Commissioners had to endure in order to attend the Conference. There were lines of stages, it is true, running from Richmond to Western Virginia, and from Lynchburg to Washington, or the reverse, but it was necessary for many of the Commissioners who were not travelling in their own carriages to go some distance before they could connect with one of these cumbrous public coaches. After it had been caught at some small roadside tavern, a journey of two days was required, in some instances, before the Gap could be reached. The rough jolting, the deep stallings, the blinding dust, and the inclement weather, which was so often encountered in these primitive vehicles, must have been irksome and fatiguing to men already past their prime. General Breckinridge, of Botetourt, Mr. Claiborne, of Franklin, and Mr. Taylor, of Montgomery, who were compelled to come all the way from the Southwest, or Judge Cabell, Judge Creed Taylor, or Mr. Watkins, from the equally remote Southside, quite probably traversed the intervening ground in their own carriages, driven by their own servants. Mr. Holmes, of Frederick, Judge Jackson, of Harrison, Mr. Pendleton, of Berkeley, and Mr. Wilson, of Monongahela, were able to make the journey more easily, whether by stage or private coach, since good turnpikes had been constructed through the Alleghanies and down the Valley; but not so with those whose homes were situated east, south, or north of Charlottesville, for, in these regions of the State, the roads were often in a condition of aboriginal imperfection. August was chosen as the month for the Conference, not only because the weather was certain to be then at its best, and the highways more passable, but also because. the larger number of the persons to attend it were judges or lawyers, who, during that month, were in the habit of taking their annual vacation. This too was the time of the year when the mountain resorts were most visited, and some of the Commissioners, following.-their annual custom, could, after participating in the Conference, continue their journey to the Sulphur, the Hot, or the Sweet Springs.

There was not within the bounds of the Commonwealth a more romantic prospect than the one which was unrolled before the gaze of the Commissioners as they climbed up from the side of the Valley or of Piedmont to the tavern that stood in the Gap. Here, towards the north and towards the south alike, the peaks of the chain rose to a cloudy height; and far below, in every direction of the compass, the region spread out like a gigantic map, the great Valley on the one hand, and on the other, a landscape broken by foothills, plateaus, forests, streams, and cultivated lands, as far as the eye could reach. The country, in this double picture, promised in its extensiveness and in its fertility even more than it, at this time, actually possessed, for it was still only sparsely inhabited in comparison with the surface of the Old World. The little company of thoughtful men, who, on the first day of August, 1818, looked down on that wide panorama, from the green mountain flanks, might justifiably enough have been meditating more on its future than on its present, in associating it, and all the territory beyond, with the university which they were about to define in

character and fix in site. Where they saw an hundred people now, there would be a thousand tomorrow; and they were not too sanguine in anticipating that the seat of learning which they were about to locate, would shed its kindly light, either directly or indirectly, over them all for centuries.

But if the magnificence of the views from these mountain heights was in harmony with the noble enterprise which they had come to launch, the actual place of meeting was plain and democratic enough to suit the birthplace of a popular university. It was a tavern, spacious and comfortable, but like all its fellows of that day lacking in pretension to even the simplest elements of architectural beauty. Around it, however, there must have been always a scene of extraordinary liveliness, for the regular stages, private carriages, and the jingling caravans of canvas-covered wagons, with their ribbon-bedecked teams, passing in a broken stream eastward and westward, halted there to allow the horses to be fed or watered, and the travelers to breakfast or to dine. This customary animation was conspicuously increased by the arrival of the Commissioners, so many of whom had brought with them their own coaches and servants. Never, indeed, before had there been such a throng of distinguished citizens under its roof.

There has been handed down the tradition that the first session of the Conference was held in the large public dining-room, an apartment which possessed no other pieces of furniture besides a long, rough table and numerous well-worn split-bottom chairs, such as were then in common use in the log-huts of the mountaineers. Jefferson, the most eminent member of the Board, was promptly chosen to preside; and it was, perhaps, in some measure, due to his moderate and urbane spirit that the

proceedings were, from start to finish, characterized by so much smoothness and harmony. There was a sharp antagonism in the views advanced as to the proper site for the new university, but no bitterness entered into this diversity of opinion; or if it really existed below the surface, it was held in check by the silent force of the quiet and impartial bearing of the chairman, who, as all were aware, was so earnestly in favor of Charlottesville's selection, and yet who did not permit an opposing partizanship in others present to ruffle his temper or to color his decisions. "If any undue influence (in favor of Central College), was exercised," Judge T. G. Jackson, the Commissioner from the Harrison district, has recorded, "there certainly never was an instance of greater forbearance or moderation in its exercise. Mr. Jefferson did not even intimate a wish at any time or in any shape except when his name was called and his vote given." [35]

The choice to be made did not concern simply the welfare of literature and education. Had that been the sole issue, the dignity of it would have explained the self-restraint shown in the discussions of the body; but there was an inflammatory political question involved, which was known to all, whether or not frankly mentioned and discussed, for every man present was convinced that the choice of a site for the University would give a powerful bias to the choice of a site for the new Capital, should the General Assembly determine to abandon Richmond as it had formerly deserted Williamsburg. The antagonism which such a thought was so calculated to raise did

not crop up in word or act; and there was apparently a common desire, even in pushing individual and sectional preferences, to do so in a spirit, and in a manner, worthy of the great purpose which had brought them together. The first day of the session seems to have been given up. to a debate on the advantages which each of the three places canvassed, -Staunton, Washington College; and Central College, -possessed as a site for the projected university. It was admitted by all that there was no difference in the fertility and salubrity of the respective regions in which they were situated; the decision, therefore, rested upon the two vital points: (1) which of the three could offer the most opulent inducements in the way of buildings and endowments; and above all, (2) which of the three was nearest to the centre of the State. If any proposal was made in the name of Staunton by her representative, Judge Archibald Stuart, it was only done in the form of a promise of a future appropriation of money and land; but Washington College and Central College alike were in a position at once to contribute substantially, in both buildings and endowments, to the new institution, should either be chosen as its site. Washington College offered to transfer one hundred shares in the stock of the James River Company, the thirty-one acres on which its buildings were standing, its philosophical apparatus, its expected interest in the funds of the Cincinnati Society, the libraries of its two debating societies, and three thousand dollars in cash. In addition, the people of Lexington at large gave their bond to contribute the sum of $17,878. But a more valuable donation still was the estate of 3,337 acres of agricultural land, twenty-two acres of suburban property, fifty-seven slaves, and all his remaining personalty, which John Robinson, a citizen of Rockbridge, would convey to the President and Directors of the Literary Fund for the benefit of the university after his death, should Washington College be preferred.

The offer submitted by the Central College was also an imposing one. It consisted of its entire possessions the one hundred and ninety acres purchased of Perry; a pavilion and its dormitories "already far advanced"; a second pavilion also, with its appendix of dormitories, which was to be completed before the end of the year; the proceeds in hand of the sales of two glebes, aggregating $3,280.86, and of a subscription list of $41,248. The whole of this last amount had not yet been collected, and it was also subject to deductions for sums due under existing contracts. A deed conveying these several properties to the Literary Fund had already been executed and recorded in the clerk's office of Albemarle county.

The value of the estate offered by Washington College as compared with the value of the one offered by Central College, -had the difference between the two been accepted as the final test in the choice of a site, would have given the superior claim to the institution in which Jefferson was so zealously interested. But he was not satisfied to rest his chances of winning the prize on this foundation alone; the query in the minds of the Commissioners which he knew was to shape their decision more powerfully than any other was this: which of the three sites lies nearest to the centre of the State's population? Having fully anticipated this controlling point, he came amply fortified with statistics to uphold his contention in favor of Central College. It required little shrewdness on his part to foresee that Lexington, and not Staunton, was the formidable rival which had to be overthrown, for Lexington alone of the two had substantial advantages in buildings and endowments to offer

at once. The information which he was now to use so effectively had been collected with characteristic comprehensiveness and minuteness: through Alexander Garrett, he had written to each court clerk in Virginia, and from him obtained a statement of the distance of his county-seat from some well known town in the State, whilst additional facts relating to transportation, highways, and population had been gathered up from the same or similar obscure but reliable sources. With this mass carefully sifted and skilfully arranged to guide him, he had patiently and industriously constructed a large map, which indicated alike the geographical centre of the State and the centre of its population. This map was the most esteemed part of his baggage in his journey to Rockfish Gap.

During the progress of the debate which sprang up on the subject of centrality the first day, Jefferson sat in silent attention to it until the arguments on that point for and against Staunton, Washington College, and Central College had caused such confusion in the minds of the Commissioners that they appeared entirely incapable of arriving at an accurate and common conclusion. It was at this critical moment that he modestly drew forth that innocent-looking blunderbus, his map, and quietly spread it out for the inspection of the body.[36] While the vote was not taken at this sitting, there is reason to think that the evidence, so unostentatiously presented in this graphic form, proved so unanswerable that it brought about the decision announced a few days afterwards.

What did the map demonstrate? First, that, if a straight line was drawn from the mouth of the Chesapeake

Bay to the Ohio River, by way of Central College, Rockfish Gap, and Staunton, there would be a difference of only 15,000 individuals between the population south and the population north of its course. On the other hand, the number of persons inhabiting the region north of a line drawn from the same point through Lexington to the Ohio River was 91,009 in excess of the number residing south of that line. There were 150,121 more white people to be found to the east of a line drawn from south to north along the crest of the Blue Ridge than were to be found to the west of it. Draw the like north and south line through Staunton, and the numerical superiority in favor of the east would be 221,733. Draw it again through Lexington, and the eastern majority would be 175,191. If, however, it was drawn through Central College, the majority would be only 36,315. In other words, whether the line was drawn from east to west, or south to north, through Central College, the numerical difference between the two sections of the divided population would approach nearest to equality.[37] On the other hand, if the decision was to be governed by a comparison of distances, then the argument in its favor was quite as strong, according to the figures of the same necromantic map. From Staunton to the boundary line of North Carolina, as the crow would fly, was one hundred and twelve and a half miles, and from Staunton to the Potomac, one hundred and ten, -a difference of two and a half miles. In the case of Lexington, the difference between the two like reaches was fifty-two and a half miles. On the other hand, the difference in the case of Central College was only eleven and a half miles, -about nine miles more than marked the situation of Staunton, but forty-one and a half miles less than distinguished that of Lexington. It was Lexington, not Staunton, which caused Jefferson the most serious apprehension, and it was the pretension of Washington College that he was really aiming to prick.

There has long been a tradition that, besides securing these convincing statistics in support of his claims for Central College, he hunted down the name of every man and woman in Albemarle county, who had passed their eightieth mile-stone, and presented the list, which was of extraordinary length, to the Conference as a proof that the salubrity of its climate was as productive of Methuselahs as ancient Judea. Doubtless, some jocularity was excited by the reading of this list, but it did not strike the less straight to its mark because of that genial accompaniment.

After carefully examining the map, the Commissioners agreed to defer their decision as to the site from Saturday until Monday, and in the meanwhile, a very distinguished committee was appointed to draw up the statement required by the General Assembly touching the plan of the buildings, the courses of instruction, the number of professors, and the provisions for organization and government. Its members were Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, General Breckinridge, Judges Roane, Stuart, and Dade. Now, there was not in Virginia, at this time, an equal number of men more competent to draft the necessary recommendations within a period of forty-eight hours than these seven Commissioners; but the principal contents of the report that was submitted would seem to prove that it had been composed by the brain of Jefferson alone, -not under the roof of the tavern where they were assembled, but in the philosophical and stimulating quiet of Monticello. No doubt, the manuscript of most

of its clauses had accompanied the map to Rockfish Gap, under cover of the same portmanteau stored away in the boot of his carriage. If any amendments to these particular parts were offered by members of the committee, no record of that fact has survived; and all had probably too much discernment to think .that any change would improve the substance of that remarkable document.

At least two additions to it, however, were made after Jefferson's arrival on the ground: first the offer of the Board of Trustees of Washington College and the provisional donation by John Robinson; and second, the insertion of the name of Central College as the place finally adopted as the site for the projected university. This decision was reached in the course of the meeting of the Commissioners on Monday. When the votes were counted, it was found that Breckinridge, Pendleton, and John M. Taylor had expressed a preference for Lexington; Stuart and Wilson for Staunton; and the remainder of the Commissioners for Charlottesville. The selection of the latter site was then unanimously confirmed, in a spirit of harmony worthy of the highest demands of popular education, which all were anxious to advance in spite of natural local aspirations. A conciliatory attitude had distinguished the members of the Conference throughout their deliberations, upon which Jefferson commented in feeling language at the close. Adjournment did not take place until Tuesday, August 4. In the meanwhile, the report had been read and adopted.