Annals of Augusta County

by Joseph Addison Waddell

ANNALS
OF
Augusta County, Virginia,
With Reminiscences
ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE VICISSITUDES OF ITS PIONEER SETTLERS;
Biographical Sketches
OF CITIZENS LOCALLY PROMINENT, AND OF THOSE WHO HAVE FOUNDED FAMILIES IN THE SOUTHERN AND WESTERN STATES;
A Diary of the War, 1861–'5,
AND A
CHAPTER ON RECONSTRUCTION,
WITH
A SUPPLEMENT,
BY
JOS. A. WADDELL.
Member of the Virginia Historical Society.

[COUNTY SEAL.]

J. W. RANDOLPH & ENGLISH, Publishers,
RICHMOND, VA.
1888.

---

COPYRIGHT, 1886,
By JOS. A. WADDELL.

---

---

WM. ELLIS JONES, PRINTER.

PREFACE.

---

The basis of these Annals was prepared as a contribution to the "Historical and Geographical Atlas of Augusta County," issued by Messrs. Waterman, Watkins & Co., of Chicago. That sketch was executed very hurriedly, and the space allotted to it in the Atlas was limited. Therefore some errors appear in the work, and much matter then on hand was necessarily omitted. Moreover, the work was hardly in press before I found new matter, not known or not accessible to me previously. My interest in the subject having been quickened, information in regard to the history of the county came to me almost unsought, and often from unexpected sources. This augmented result is intended as well to correct former errors, as to relate the history more fully from the first settlement of the county, in 1732, to the year 1871.

The county of Augusta originally extended from the Blue Ridge to the Mississippi river, east and west, and from the great lakes on the north to the northern boundary of the present State of Tennessee on the south. The history of this vast region properly belongs to our Annals until the year 1769, when Botetourt county was formed. As the limits of Augusta were reduced by the formation of other counties out of her territory, from time to time, the scope of the history is simultaneously and correspondingly contracted.

I have taken the utmost pains to secure perfect accuracy. The errors in details of most writers who have alluded to our county affairs and people, are remarkable. The writers referred to have not only copied from one another without investigation, and thereby repeated erroneous statements, out some of them have contradicted themselves in the same volume. Even the statements of the public records, especially in respect to dates, often require to be verified. From the order book of the County Court of Augusta, it would appear that the second term of the court was held in February, 1745, instead of February, 1746. Similar errors occur in the volumes of complete records of chancery causes, preserved in the clerk's office of the Circuit Court.

But while I have aspired to perfect accuracy, I do not flatter myself that the following pages are entirely free from error. I have stated nothing as a fact, of the truth of which I am doubtful. Many statements which I do not regard as certainly correct, are given on the authority of other writers, prefaced by the words, "It is said," or "It is related."

It has been my intention to give full credit to every writer whom I have quoted, and I think this has been done in the body of the work. I am indebted to the files of the Staunton Spectator, edited by Richard Mauzy, Esq., for most of the facts embraced in the last chapter, on "Reconstruction." To forestall any charge of plagiarism, I state that having at different times published in the columns of Staunton newspapers communications relating to the history of the county, I have copied from these without credit whenever it suited my purpose to do so. Through the kindness of Judge William McLaughlin I have had the opportunity of making extracts from the "History of Washington College," by the Rev. Dr. Ruffner; and "Sketches of the Early Trustees of Washington College," by Hugh Blair Grigsby, Esq. Both these interesting works are still in manuscript, and neither was completed by its author. To the following gentlemen I am indebted for assistance: John McD. Alexander and Wm. A. Anderson, Esqs., of Lexington; Hon. W. C. P. Breckenridge, of Kentucky; R. A. Brock, Esq., of Richmond; G. F. Compton, Esq., of Harrisonburg; Dr. Cary B. Gamble, of Baltimore; Armistead C. Gordon, Esq., of Staunton; Dr. Andrew Simonds, of Charleston, S. C, and John W. Stephenson, Esq., of the Warm Springs. I am also under obligations to Mrs. S. C. P. Miller, of Princeton, N. J.

I have not attempted to write a stately history, but merely to relate all interesting facts concerning the county, in a lucid style and in chronological order. Hence the title "Annals," has been adopted dehberately. Many trivial incidents have been mentioned, because they seem to illustrate the history of the times and the manners and customs of the people.

The present work was undertaken with no expectation of pecuniary reward. It has been to me a labor of love. From my early childhood I have cherished a warm affection for my native county—her people, and her very soil. I have sought to rescue from oblivion and hand down to posterity, at least the names of many citizens, who, although not great in the ordinary sense, lived well in their day and are worthy of commemoration.

A representation of the seal of the County Court of Augusta, commonly called the County Seal, is given on the title page. When and by whom the seal was designed is not known. Possibly it was by a member of the faculty of William and Mary College, at the request of one of our colonial governors, who were required by law to provide seals for courts.

The motto is an accommodation of a passage in Horace, Book IV, Ode 2. This Ode expresses delight in the peace and prosperity which came after the long civil wars of Rome. Referring to Augustus, the poet says the heavenly powers ne'er gave the earth a nobler son—

"Nor e'er will give, though backward time should run
⁠To its first golden hours."

The Latin words are: Nec dabunt quamvis redeant in aurum Tempora priscum.

The motto maybe translated thus: "Let the ages return to the first golden period." The allusion is, of course, to the fabulous "Golden Age" of primal simplicity and enjoyment; and the Roman poets held out the hope that this happy state of things would one day return.

It would seem that the seal was devised during the fearful Indian wars, when every one was longing for the safety and rest of former times. Full of such aspirations, the designer, in addition to the motto, delineated in the centre of the seal a tranquil pastoral scene, as emblematic of the wished for times. Such a scene would not ordinarily have been depicted in a time of peace, but during, or immediately after, the havoc of war. In peace, the minds of men gloat over the achievements of war, and in war they dwell upon "the piping times of peace."

The name of the county, however, was suggestive of the motto and emblem, as the poet Virgil celebrated the Emperor Augustus as

"Restorer of the age of gold."

J. A. W.

Staunton, November 1, 1886.

CONTENTS.

---

INTRODUCTION.

The Scotch-Irish ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

1

CHAPTER I.

From the First Settlement to the First County Court ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

6

CHAPTER II.

From the First Court to the First Indian War ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

26

CHAPTER III.

Indian Wars, etc., from 1753 to 1756 ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

54

CHAPTER IV.

Indian Wars, etc., from 1756 to 1758 ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

79

CHAPTER V.

Indian Wars, etc., from 1758 to 1764 ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

102

CHAPTER VI.

Indian Wars, etc., from 1764 to 1775 ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

119

CHAPTER VII.

The War of the Revolution, etc., from 1774 to 1783 ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

144

CHAPTER VIII.

From the close of the Revolution to the year 1800 ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

195

CHAPTER IX

From 1800 to 1812 ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

212

CHAPTER X.

From the year 1812 to the year 1833 ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

226

CHAPTER XI.

From 1833 to 1844 ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

252

CHAPTER XII.

From 1844 to 1860 ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

271

CHAPTER XIII.

Augusta County and the War of Secession—1860–'2 ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

280

CHAPTER XIV.

Second Year of the War—1862–'3 ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

296

CHAPTER XV.

Third Year of the War—1863–'4 ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

308

CHAPTER XVI;

Fourth Year of the War—1864–'5 ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

316

CHAPTER XVII.

After the War—1865 ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

335

CHAPTER XVIII.

Reconstruction—1865 to 1871 ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

344

APPENDIX.

Bessy Bell and Mary Gray ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

361

Chapters (not listed in original)

INDEX

....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

367

SUPPLEMENT

....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

377