Chapter V: Part 5

The substantial planter and burgher dressed well but were not so particular about their wigs, of which they probably owned no more than one, kept for visiting and for Sabbath use. They usually yielded to the custom of shaving their heads, however, and wore white linen caps under their hats. During the Revolutionary War wigs were scare and costly, linen was almost unobtainable and the practice of shaving heads accordingly fell rapidly into desuetude. Sometimes the burgher's hat was of wool or felt, with a low crown and broad brim, turned up and cocked. About his neck he wore a white linen stock, fastening with a buckle at the back. His coat was of cloth, broad-backed, with flap-pockets, and his waist-coat, of the same stuff, extended to his knees. He wore short breeches with brass or silver knee-buckles, red or blue garters, and rather stout, coarse leather shoes, strapped over the quarter. He wore no sword, but often carried a staff, and knew how to use it to advantage.

Mechanics, laborers and servants wore leather-breeches and aprons, sagathy coats, osnaburg shirts and hair-shag jackets, coarse shoes, and worsted or jean stockings, knit at home.

The dress of the women of these classes was shabbier still, their costumes, for the most part, comprising stamped cotton and white dimity gowns, coarse shift (osnaburg), country cloth, and black quilted petticoats. In the backwoods and the primitive German settlements the women all wore the short gowns and petticoats, also tight-fitting calico caps. In summer, when employed in the fields, they wore only a linen shift and a petticoat of home-made linsey. All their clothing, in fact, was home-made.

The ladies of quality, however, as has been intimated, dressed extravagantly, frizzed, rouged, wore trains, and acted as fashionable women have done from the immemorial beginning of things.

The pioneers dressed universally in the hunting shirt or blouse, sometimes fringed and decorated, and perhaps the most convenient frock ever conceived. It fit loosely, was open in front, reached almost to the knees, and had large sleeves, and a cape for the protection of the shoulders in bad weather. In the ample bosom of this shirt the hunter carried his bread and meat, the tow with which to wipe out the barrel of his rifle, and other small requisites. To his belt, tied or buckled behind, he suspended his mittens, bullet-pouch, tomahawk, and knife and sheath. His hunting-shirt was made of dressed deer-skin--very uncomfortable in wet weather--or of linsey, when it was to be had. The pioneer dressed his lower body in drawers and leathern cloth leggins, and his feet in moccasins; a coon-skin cap completing the attire.

His wife wore a linsey petticoat, home-spun and home-made, and a short gown of linsey or "callimanco," when that material could be obtained. She wore no covering for the feet in ordinary weather, and moccasins, coarse, "country-made" shoes, or "shoe-packs" during more rigorous seasons. To complete the picture Kercheval, the historian of the Shenandoah Valley, is here quoted: "The coats and bed-gowns of the women, as well as the hunting-shirts of the men, were hung in full display on wooden pegs around the walls of their cabins, so that while they answered in some degree the purpose of paper-hangings or tapestry, they announced to the stranger as well as the neighbor the wealth or poverty of the family in the articles of clothing."

* * * * *

It is to be hoped that the desultory sketch furnished above will not be found uninteresting despite its imperfections. Many details have been omitted or neglected, but enough has been written to illustrate in a general way the qualities for which our ancestors were most distinguished, for which their characters have excited most comment and perhaps deserved most praise.

As a whole, they were a generous, large-hearted, liberal-minded people, and their faults were far fewer than their virtues. The yeomanry, in their own rude, rough-and-ready manner, reflected the same sort of personal independence of character and proud sense of individuality as the social aristocracy.

FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.

Little can be learned of Loudoun's participation in the last great French and Indian War (1754-1763). It had its beginning three years prior to her admission into the sisterhood of Virginia counties, and the services she must have rendered during that period are, of course, accredited to Fairfax, of which county she was then a part. The few existing or available records of the remaining six years of warfare, as of the entire period, are imperfect and unlocalized and would baffle the most experienced and persevering compiler.

The only deductions that have seemed at all noteworthy are here presented:

The General Assembly of Virginia, on April 14, 1757, passed an act providing for the appointment of a committee to direct the pay of the officers and soldiers then in the pay of the Colony, of "the rangers formerly employed, and for the expense of building a fort in the Cherokee country," for the pay of the militia that had "been drawn out into actual service, and also for provisions for the said soldiers, rangers, and militia...."

In the following schedule are given the names of Loudoun payees and the amount received by each:

£ s. d.
To Captain Nicholas Minor 1 00 00
Æneas Campbell, lieutenant 7 6
Francis Wilks 1 17
James Willock 1 15
John Owsley and William Stephens, 15s. each 1 10
Robert Thomas 10
John Moss, Jr. 4
John Thomas, for provisions 5
John Moss, for provisions 2 8
William Ross, for provisions 2
__ __ __
7 13 2

By a later act of the same body commissioners were empowered "to examine, state, and settle the accounts of such pay, provisions, arms, etc.," of the six counties from which they were appointed, "and all arrears whatsoever relating to the militia."

The following list of Loudoun beneficiaries, with the amounts opposite, is reproduced in the identical form in which it was then submitted:

£ s. d.
"1757. To Robert Adams, assignee of Stephen Thatcher, for
his pay, 5 12 6
Do. do of Thomas Bond, for do., 4 10
Thomas Gore, for a rifle gun impressed, 4 10
Stephen Emorie, for dressing guns for militia, 13
James Clemons, for a gun impressed, 4 10
1763. Captain Moss, for 60 days' pay at 6s., 18
Lieutenant Gore, for do. at 3s., 6d., 10 10"

REPRESENTATION.

_Colonial Assemblies._--General Assembly of 1758-'61, Francis Lightfoot Lee and James Hamilton; General Assembly of 1761-'65, Francis Lightfoot Lee and James Hamilton; General Assembly of October, 1765, Francis Lightfoot Lee and James Hamilton; General Assembly of 1766-'68, Francis Lightfoot Lee and James Hamilton; General Assembly of May, 1769, Francis Peyton and James Hamilton; General Assembly of 1769-'71, Francis Peyton and James Hamilton (the latter vacated his seat during the session of May 21, 1770, to accept the office of coroner. He was succeeded by Josiah Clapham); General Assembly of 1772-'74, Thomas Mason and Francis Peyton; General Assembly of 1775-'76, Josiah Clapham and Francis Peyton.

_State Conventions._

Below will be found a compendium of Virginia conventions, with the names of the delegates returned by Loudoun County. Few, if any, counties of Virginia have had an abler or more influential representation in the various State conventions. From the meeting of the first to the adjournment of the last Loudoun has been represented by fifteen of her wisest and most prominent citizens.

_Convention of 1774._--Met August 1, 1774. Adjourned August 6, 1774. Loudoun delegates: Francis Peyton and Thomas Mason.

_Convention of March 20, 1775._--Met at Richmond, Monday, March 20, 1775. Adjourned March 27, 1775. Loudoun delegates: Francis Peyton and Josiah Clapham.

_Convention of July 17, 1775._--Met at Richmond, July 17, 1775. Adjourned August 26, 1775. Loudoun delegates: Francis Peyton and Josiah Clapham.

_Convention of December 1, 1775._--Met at Richmond, December 1, 1775. Adjourned January 20, 1776. Loudoun delegates: Francis Peyton and Josiah Clapham.

_Convention of 1776._--This convention met in the city of Williamsburg, on Monday, May 6, 1776, and "framed the first written constitution of a free State in the annals of the world." Adjourned July 5, 1776. Loudoun delegates: Francis Peyton and Josiah Clapham.

Previous conventions did not frame constitutions, but they directed the affairs of the colony, and, in a measure, controlled the destinies of her people. Like the convention of 1776, they were instead revolutionary bodies.

_Convention of 1788._--This convention met in the State House in the city of Richmond, June 2, 1788, to ratify or reject the Constitution which had been recommended to the States by the Federal Convention on the 17th of September, 1787, at Philadelphia. Adjourned _sine die_ June 27, 1788. Loudoun delegates: Stephen T. Mason and Levin Powell.

_Convention of 1829-'30._--Assembled in Richmond on the 5th day of October, 1829. Tenth District (Loudoun and Fairfax) delegates: James Monroe, Charles Fenton Mercer, William H. Fitzhugh, and Richard H. Henderson.

_Convention of 1850-51._--Met at the Capitol in the city of Richmond, on Monday, October 14, 1850. Adjourned _sine die_, August 1, 1851. District of Loudoun delegates: John Janney, John A. Carter, and Robert J.T. White.

_Convention of 1861._--Met February 13, 1861. Adjourned _sine die_, December 6, 1861. Loudoun delegates: John Janney and John A. Carter. The former was elected President of the Convention. Both voted against the ordinance of secession, April 17, 1861. Mr. Janney's resignation as President of the Convention was tendered on November 14, 1861.

_Convention of 1864._--(Restored Government of Virginia.) Met February 13, 1864. Adjourned _sine die_, April 11, 1864. Loudoun delegates: John J. Henshaw, James M. Downey, and E.R. Gover.

_Convention of 1867-'68._--Met at Richmond, Tuesday, December 3, 1867. Adjourned April 17, 1868. Loudoun delegates: Norborne Berkeley and George E. Plaster.

_Convention of 1901-'02._--Met June 12, 1901. Adjourned _sine die_, June 26, 1902. Loudoun and Fauquier district delegates: Henry Fairfax and Albert Fletcher.

THE REVOLUTION.

_Loudoun's Loyalty._

The story of the Revolution and the causes which led to that great event are properly treated in a more general history than this purports to be. If, in the few succeeding pages, it can be shown that Loudoun County was most forward in resisting the arbitrary aggressions of the British government and that the valor and patriotism she evinced during the Revolution was equal to that of her sister counties, who had suffered with her under the yoke of British oppression, then the primary object of this sketch will be accomplished. Her blood and treasure were freely dedicated to the cause of liberty, and, having once entered the Revolution, she determined to persevere in the struggle until every resource was exhausted.

Armed with flint-lock muskets of small bore and with long-barreled rifles which they loaded from the muzzle by the use of the ramrod; equipped with powder horn, charges made of cane for loading, bullet molds and wadding, but bravely arrayed in home-spun of blue, and belted with cutlass and broadsword by the side, cockade on the hat and courage in the heart, her revolutionary soldiers marched to the music of fife and drum into battle for freedom against the power and might of the mother country.

_Resolutions of Loudoun County._

In 1877, the following article appeared in a Leesburg newspaper under the caption "Loudoun County a Hundred Years Ago:"

"Major B. P. Nolan, grandson of Burr Powell, has just put us
in possession of a verified copy of the proceedings of a
public meeting held at Leesburg, Loudoun County, on the
14th of June, 1774, nearly one hundred and five years ago.
It is interesting, not merely for its antiquity, but as
showing the spirit of independence that animated the breasts
of our liberty-loving countrymen two years before the
Declaration of American Independence in 1776. The original
document was found among the papers of Col. Leven Powell, at
one time member of Congress from this district, who died in
1810. His son, Burr Powell, forwarded a copy to R. H. Lee,
Esq., who in 1826 was about to publish a second edition of
his 'Memoirs of the Life of R. H. Lee,' of Revolutionary
fame."

* * * * *

The proceedings or resolutions follow:

"PUBLIC MEETING IN LOUDOUN IN 1774."

"At a meeting of the Freeholders and other inhabitants of
the County of Loudoun, in the Colony of Virginia, held at
the Court-House in Leesburg the 14th of June, 1774, F.
Peyton, Esq., in the Chair, to consider the most effectual
method to preserve the rights and liberties of North
America, and relieve our brethren of Boston, suffering under
the most oppressive and tyrannical Act of the British
Parliament, made in the 14th year of his present Majesty's
reign, whereby their Harbor is blocked up, their commerce
totally obstructed, their property rendered useless--

"_Resolved_, That we will always cheerfully submit to such
prerogatives as his Majesty has a right, by law, to
exercise, as Sovereign of the British Dominions, and to no
others.

"_Resolved_, That it is beneath the dignity of freemen to
submit to any tax not imposed on them in the usual manner,
by representatives of their own choosing.

"_Resolved_, That the Act of the British Parliament, above
mentioned, is utterly repugnant to the fundamental laws of
justice, in punishing persons without even the form of a
trial; but a despotic exertion of unconstitutional power
designedly calculated to enslave a free and loyal people.

"_Resolved_, That the enforcing the execution of the said
Act of Parliament by a military power, must have a necessary
tendency to raise a civil war, and that we will, with our
lives and fortunes, assist and support our suffering
brethren, of Boston, and every part of North America that
may fall under the immediate hand of oppression, until a
redress of all our grievances shall be procured, and our
common liberties established on a permanent foundation.

"_Resolved_, That the East India Company, by exporting their
tea from England to America, whilst subject to a tax imposed
thereon by the British Parliament, have evidently designed
to fix on the Americans those chains forged for them by a
venal ministry, and have thereby rendered themselves odious
and detestable throughout all America. It is, therefore, the
unanimous opinion of this meeting not to purchase any tea or
other East India commodity whatever, imported after the
first of this Month.

"_Resolved_, That we will have no commercial intercourse
with Great Britain until the above mentioned act of
Parliament shall be totally repealed, and the right of
regulating the internal policy of North America by a British
Parliament shall be absolutely and positively given up.

"Resolved, That Thompson Mason and Francis Peyton, Esqs.,
be appointed to represent the County at a general meeting to
be held at Williamsburg on the 1st day of August next, to
take the sense of this Colony at large on the subject of the
preceding resolves, and that they, together with Leven
Powell, William Ellzey, John Thornton, George Johnston, and
Samuel Levi, or any three of them, be a committee to
correspond with the several committees appointed for this
purpose.

"Signed by--

"John Morton,
Thomas Ray,
Thomas Drake,
William Booram,
Benj. Isaac Humphrey,
Samuel Mills,
Joshua Singleton,
Jonathan Drake,
Matthew Rust,
Barney Sims,
John Sims,
Samuel Butler,
Thomas Chinn,
Appollos Cooper,
Lina Hanconk,
John McVicker,
Simon Triplett,
John Wildey,
Joseph Bayley,
Isaac Sanders,
Thos. Williams,
John Williams,
William Finnekin,
Richard Hanson,
John Dunker,
Thomas Williams,
James Nolan,
Samuel Peugh,
William Nornail,
Thomas Luttrell,
James Brair,
Poins Awsley,
John Kendrick,
Edward O'Neal,
Francis Triplett,
Joseph Combs,
John Peyton Harrison,
Robert Combs,
Stephen Combs,
Samuel Henderson,
Benjamin Overfield,
Adam Sangster,
Bazzell Roads,
James Graydey,
Thomas Awsley,
John Reardon,
Henry Awsley,
Edward Miller,
Richard Hirst,
James Davis,
Jasper Grant."

_Revolutionary Committees._

The County Committee of Loudoun for 1774-'75 was composed of the following members:

Francis Peyton, Josias Clapham, Thomas Lewis, Anthony Russell, John Thomas, George Johnston, Thomas Shore, Jacob Reed, Leven Powell, William Smith, Robert Jamison, Hardage Lane, John Lewis, James Lane, George Johnston, Clerk.

The appended findings of this as well as a later committee exemplify the work of these Revolutionary bodies.

"At a meeting of the Committee of Loudoun County, held at
Leesburg on Friday, May 26, 1775....

"The Committee, taking into consideration the conduct of the
Governour relative to the powder which was, by his express
orders, taken secretly out of the publick Magazine belonging
to this Colony, in the night of the twentieth ult., and
carried on board the Magdaline schooner.

"_Resolved, nemine contra dicente_, That his Lordship, by
this and other parts of his conduct which have lately
transpired, has not only forfeited the confidence of the
good people of this Colony, but that he may be justly
esteemed an enemy to America; and that as well his excuse
published in his Proclamation of the fourth instant, as his
verbal answer to the address presented him on that occasion
by the city of Williamsburgh, are unsatisfactory and
evasive, and reflect, in our opinion, great dishonour on the
General Assembly and inhabitants of this Colony, as from the
latter a suspicion may be easily deduced, that the
Representatives of the people are not competent judges of
the place wherein arms and ammunition, intended for the
defense of the Colony, may be safely lodged, and that the
inhabitants (unlike other subjects) can not, in prudence, be
trusted with the means necessary for their protection from
insurrection, or even evasion; so in the former a very heavy
charge is exhibited against the best men among us, of
seducing their fellow-subjects from their duty and
allegiance; a charge, we are confident, not founded in
reality, and which, we believe, is construed out of the
discharge of that duty which every good man is under, to
point out to his weaker countrymen, in the day of publick
trial, the part they should act, and explain, on
constitutional principles, the nature of their allegiance,
the ground of which we fervently pray may never be removed,
whose force we desire may never with reason be relaxed, but
yet may be subservient to considerations of superior regard.

"The Committee being informed by some of the officers who
commanded the Troops of this County that marched on the
above occasion, that the reason of their marching no farther
than Fredericksburgh was, their having received repeated
requests from the Honourable Peyton Randolph, Esq., to
return home, assuring them that the peaceable citizens of
Williamsburgh were under no apprehensions of danger, either
in their persons or properties; that the publick treasury
and records were perfectly safe, and that there was no
necessity for their proceeding any further; three of the
other Delegates appointed to the Continental Congress, the
only civil power we know of in this great struggle for
liberty, being of the same opinion.

"_Resolved, nemine contra dicente_, That under such
circumstances we approve the conduct of the said Officers
and Troops.

"_Resolved, nemine contra dicente_, That we cordially
approve the conduct of our countrymen, Captain Patrick
Henry, and the other volunteers of Hanover County, who
marched under him, in making reprisals on the King's
property for the trespass committed as aforesaid, and that
we are determined to hazard all the blessings of this life
rather than suffer the smallest injury offered to their
persons or estates, on this account, to pass unrewarded with
its equal punishment.

"_Resolved, nemine contra dicente_, That it be recommended
to the Representatives of this County, as the opinion of
this Committee, that they by no means agree to the
reprisals, taken as aforesaid, being returned.

"_Ordered_, That the clerk transmit immediately a copy of
the preceding resolves to the Printers of the Virginia and
Pennsylvania gazettes, to be published.

"By order of the Committee.

"GEORGE JOHNSTON, _Clerk._"

In session in Loudoun, May 14, 1776:

"Richard Morlan being summoned to appear before this
Committee, for speaking words inimical to the liberties of
America, and tending to discourage a Minute-man from
returning to his duty; and also publickly declaring he would
not muster, and if fined would oppose the collection of the
fine with his gun: The charge being proved against him, and
he heard in his defense, the Committee think proper to hold
the said Morlan up to the publick as an enemy to their
rights and liberties; and have ordered that this resolution
be published in the Virginia _Gazette_.

"CHRISTOPHER GREENUP, _Clerk._"

_Soldiery._

Loudoun, at the time of the Revolution, was one of the most densely populated counties in the State. Her militia, according to the returns of 1780 and 1781, numbered 1,746, which number was far in excess of that reported by any other Virginia county.

It is probable that a few Loudoun patriots served in Captain Daniel Morgan's celebrated "Company of Virgina Riflemen," thus described by a line officer of the Continental Army: "They are remarkably stout and hardy men; many of them exceeding six feet in height. They are dressed in white frocks, or rifle shirts, and round hats. These men are remarkable for the accuracy of their aim; striking a mark with great certainty at two hundred yards distance. At a review, a company of them, while on a quick advance, fired their balls into objects of seven inches diameter at the distance of two hundred and fifty yards. They are now stationed on our lines, and their shot have frequently proved fatal to British officers and soldiers, who expose themselves to view even at more than double the distance of common musket shot."

The Germans of Loudoun were intensely loyal to the cause of freedom, many serving in Armand's Legion, recruited by authority of Congress during the summer of 1777, and composed of men who could not speak English.

_Quaker Non-Participation._

During the period preceding the Revolution, important offices had been bestowed on the Friends or Quakers of Loudoun and they exercised a decided influence in the government of the County. They, however, withdrew participation in public affairs on the approach of war; and, to the determination of the American patriots to throw off the yoke of British tyranny, they opposed their principles of non-resistance, not only refusing to perform military duty, but also to pay the taxes levied on them, as on all other citizens, for the prosecution of the War of Independence.

This non-conformity to the military laws of the State from conscientious motives, brought them into difficulty, as will be seen in the annexed extract from Kercheval's _History of the Shenandoah Valley_:

"At the beginning of the war, attempts were made to compel
them to bear arms and serve in the militia; but it was soon
found unavailing. They would not perform any military duty
required of them, not even the scourge would compel them to
submit to discipline. The practice of coercion was therefore
abandoned, and the legislature enacted a law to levy a tax
upon their property, to hire substitutes to perform militia
duty in their stead. This, with other taxes, bore peculiarly
heavy upon them. Their personal property was sold under the
hammer to raise the public demands; and before the war was
over, many of them were reduced to great distress in their
pecuniary circumstances.

"This selling of Quakers' property afforded great
opportunity for designing individuals to make profitable
speculations. They continued to refuse to pay taxes for
several years after the war, holding it unlawful to
contribute their money towards discharging the war debt.
This being at length adjusted, no part of our citizens pay
their public demands with more punctuality (except their
muster fines, which they still refuse to pay)."

_Loudoun's Revolutionary Hero._

John Champe, the tall and saturnine sergeant-major of Lee's celebrated partisan legion, was a resident of Loudoun County. Readers of Lee's "Memoirs of the War" will recall the account of Champe's pretended desertion from the Continental armies. This perilous adventure was undertaken for the threefold purpose of capturing the traitor Arnold, saving the life of the unfortunate André, and establishing the innocence of General Gates, who had been charged with complicity in Arnold's nefarious intrigue. His investigations secured the complete vindication of Gates; but, failing in his other attempts, he drifted with the Red Coats to North Carolina, where he deserted their ranks and rejoined the American forces under General Greene.

That officer provided him with a good horse and money for his journey, and sent him to General Washington. The commander-in-chief "munificently anticipated every desire of the sergeant, and presented him with a discharge from further service, lest he might, in the vicissitudes of war, fall into the enemy's hands; when, if recognized, he was sure to die on a gibbet." His connection with the army thus abruptly, though honorably, severed, with no little regret we are to suppose, he straightway repaired to his home near Leesburg.

In after years, when General Washington was called by President Adams to the command of the army organized to defend the country from French hostility, he inquired for Champe, with the avowed purpose of placing him at the head of a company of infantry. Lieutenant-Colonel Lee, through whom the inquiry had been made, dispatched a courier to Loudoun County in search of Champe. There he learned that the intrepid soldier and daring adventurer had removed to Kentucky, where he soon afterward died.

Some interesting anecdotes concerning Champe are related in a portion of Captain Cameron's private journal, published in the British United Service Journal. Champe was assigned to his company, a part of Arnold's British legion, upon his arrival in New York.

_Army Recommendations._

The following list of militia officers were "recommended by the gentlemen justices of the county Court for Loudoun County, Virginia, to the Governor for appointments from March, 1778, to December, 1782:"

[22]"March, 1778: James Whaley, Jr., second lieutenant;
William Carnan, ensign; Daniel Lewis, second lieutenant;
Josias Miles and Thomas King, lieutenants; Hugh Douglass,
ensign; Isaac Vandevanter, lieutenant; John Dodd, ensign.
May, 1778: George Summers and Charles G. Eskridge, colonels;
William McClellan, Robert McClain and John Henry, captains;
Samuel Cox, major; Frans Russell, James Beavers, Scarlet
Burkley, Moses Thomas, Henry Farnsworth, John Russell,
Gustavus Elgin, John Miller, Samuel Butcher, Joshua Botts,
John Williams, George Tyler, Nathaniel Adams and George
Mason, lieutenants; Isaac Grant, John Thatcher, William
Elliott, Richard Shore and Peter Benham, ensigns. 1778,
August: Thomas Marks, William Robison, Joseph Butler and
John Linton, lieutenants; Joseph Wildman and George Asbury,
ensigns. 1778, September: Francis Russell, lieutenant, and
George Shrieve, ensign. 1779, May: Joseph Wildman,
lieutenant, and Francis Elgin, Jr., ensign. 1779, June 14:
George Kilgour, lieutenant, and Jacob Caton, ensign. 1779,
July 12: John Debell, lieutenant, and William Hutchison,
ensign. 1779, October 11: Francis Russell, captain. 1779,
November 8: James Cleveland, captain; Thomas Millan, ensign.
1780, February 14: Thomas Williams, ensign. 1780, March:
John Benham, ensign. 1780, June: Wethers Smith and William
Debell, second lieutenants; Francis Adams and Joel White,
ensigns. 1780, August: Robert Russell, ensign. 1780,
October: John Spitzfathem, first lieutenant; Thomas Thomas
and Matthew Rust, second lieutenants; Nicholas Minor, Jr.,
David Hopkins, William McGeath and Samuel Oliphant, ensigns;
Charles Bennett, captain. 1780, November: James Coleman,
Esq., colonel; George West, lieutenant-colonel; James
McLlhaney, major. 1781, February: Simon Triplett, colonel;
John Alexander, lieutenant-colonel; Jacob Reed, major; John
Linton, captain; William Debell and Joel White, lieutenants;
Thomas Minor, ensign; Thomas Shores, captain; John Tayler
and Thomas Beaty, lieutenants; John McClain, ensign. 1781,
March: John McGeath, captain; Ignatius Burnes, captain; Hugh
Douglass, first lieutenant; John Cornelison, second
lieutenant; Joseph Butler and Conn Oneale, lieutenants; John
Jones, Jr., ensign; William Taylor, major first battalion;
James Coleman, colonel; George West, lieutenant-colonel;
Josiah Maffett, captain; John Binns, first lieutenant;
Charles Binns, Jr., second lieutenant, and Joseph Hough,
ensign. 1781, April: Samson Trammell, captain; Spence
Wiggington and Smith King, lieutenants. 1781, May: Thomas
Respass, Esq., major; Hugh Douglass, Gent, captain; Thomas
King, lieutenant; William T. Mason, ensign; Samuel Noland,
captain; Abraham Dehaven and Enoch Thomas, lieutenants;
Isaac Dehaven and Thomas Vince, ensigns; James McLlhaney,
captain; Thomas Kennan, captain; John Bagley, first
lieutenant. 1781, June: Enoch Furr and George Rust,
lieutenants; Withers Berry and William Hutchison (son of
Benjamin), ensign. 1781, September: Gustavus Elgin, captain;
John Littleton, ensign. 1782, January: William McClellan,
captain. February, 1782: William George, Timothy Hixon, and
Joseph Butler, captains. 1782, March: James McLlhaney,
captain; George West, colonel; Thomas Respass,
lieutenant-colonel. 1782, July: Samuel Noland, major; James
Lewin Gibbs, second lieutenant, and Giles Turley, ensign.
1782, August: Enoch Thomas, captain; Samuel Smith,
lieutenant; Matthias Smitley, first lieutenant; Charles
Tyler and David Beaty, ensigns. 1782, December: Thomas King,
captain; William Mason, first lieutenant, and Silas Gilbert,
ensign."

[Footnote 22: Abstract from Court Order Book G., pages 517-522.]

_Court Orders and Reimbursements._

Needy families of the Revolutionary soldiers of Loudoun were supplied with the necessaries of life as per the following orders:

"1778, November 9th: John Alexander to furnish Elizabeth
Welch, her husband being in the army.

"1778, Nov. 15th: George Emrey to furnish the child of Jacob
Rhodes, said Jacob being in the Continental army. William
Douglass to furnish Mary Rhodes, her husband being in the
army. George Summers to furnish William Gilmore, his son
being in the army.

"1778, Dec. 14: Leven Powell to furnish Andrew Laswell.

"1779, Feb. 8th: Samuel Triplett to furnish the wife of Hugh
Henderson. Josias Clapham to furnish Ann Philips.

"1779, March 8th: Farling Ball to furnish the widow of
Joseph Collens and the wife of William Eaton. William
Stanhope to furnish Ann Barton.

"1779, April: John Lewis, Gent, to furnish the wife of
Shadrack Reeder. Hardage Lane to furnish Sarah Gilmore, wife
of William, whose son is in the army. William Ellzey to
furnish wife of Shadrack Reeder. Josias Clapham appointed to
apply to the Treasurer for 500 pounds to be placed in the
hands of John Lewis, Gent, to supply the necessaries of life
for those who have husbands or children in the Continental
army.

"1779, May: Farling Ball to furnish Edward McGinnis and
William Means. John Alexander to furnish Ann Bartan.
(William Stanhope to furnish Ann Barton, July 1779.)

"1779, August: Robert Jamison to furnish Conard Shanks,
whose son is in the army. Jonathan Davis to furnish Mary
Stoker. Pierce Bayly do. wife of Joel Coleman.

"1780, March: John Tyler do. Jemima Coleman.

"1780, July: Simon Triplett to furnish Jemima Coleman, wife
of Joel, not exceeding two barrels of flour and 200 pounds
of Pork.

"1780, September: John Alexander to furnish Ann Barton one
barrel of corn and fifty pounds of Pork. Josias Clapham do.
Catherine Henderson, widow of Adam Henderson. William Cavans
to furnish Ann Richards, her husband being in the army, and
Isabella Collens, widow of Joseph.

"1780, November: Wm. Bronough do. Sarah Russell, wife of
Samuel.

"1781, April: William Owsley to supply Hannah Rice & two
children, the family of James Rice, who died in the
Continental army.

"1781, May: Adam Vincel to supply Mary Tritipoe, wife of
Conrad, her husband being in the army.

"1781, Sept.: Joseph Thomas to supply the widow of David
Hamilton (a soldier who was killed in the Continental army).

"1782, Jan.: John Tyler, Gent, to furnish the family of
Cornelius Slacht (he being an 18 months' draft).

"1782, Feb.: John Lewis, Gent, to furnish Eleanor Wilcox (a
soldier's wife).

"1782, March: William Douglass to furnish Eleanor Wilcox,
agreeable to an order of the last Court directed to John
Lewis, Gent, the said Lewis declining."

"Treasurer to pay sundry persons for furnishing supplies as
per their several accounts:

"1778, May 12: William Ellzey, Esq., £3 8s. 9d., on account
of wife of John Stoker and £2 10s. ditto for wife of
Shadrack Reeder. Wm. Douglass, £50 14s. 6d. as per acct.

"1778, June 9: Andrew Adam, £13 5d., for Margaret Hill
(service).

"1778, Aug. 10: Farling Ball. £4 16s. 9d. John Alexander,
£5.

"1778, Sept. 14: Leven Powell, Gent, £6 1s. William Douglass,
Gent, £47 7s. John Tyler, £3 19s. 6d.

"1778, Sept. 15: Farling Ball, Gent, £1 17s. 6d.

"1778, Nov. 9: Andrew Adam, £16 15s.

"1778, Nov. 15: Daniel Losh, £24 6s. 9d. Geo. West, Gent, £3
10s. Farling Ball, ditto, £2.

"1778, Dec. 14: Joshua Daniel, Gent, £9 15s. John Orr, £7,
16s.

"1779, Feb. 9, Farling Ball, £18 13s. 9d. Wm. Douglass, £53
9s. 1d. Chas. Binns, £3 on acct. of widow of Hamilton.

"1779, April: John Alexander, £68 15s. Daniel Losh, £10 37s.
William Douglass, Gent, £28 16s. Andrew Adam, £17 13s. Wm.
Ellzey, £24 2s.

"1779, May: Geo. West, Gent, £42 14s.

"1779, June: Andrew Adam, £12 3s. 6d. John Orr, £43 16s. Wm.
Douglass, £18 16s. Farling Ball, Gent, £175 5s.

"1779, July: John Alexander, £18.

"1779, August: Jacob Tracey, £20 for nursing and burying
Sophia Harris, the wife of a continental soldier.

"1779, Oct: Pierce Bayly, Gent, £10. Simon Triplett, £43,
9s. 10d. Robert Jamison, £30. Jonathan Davis, £32 10s.
Farling Ball, £61 10s. 6d. Wm. Douglass, Gent, £51 15s.

"1779, John Orr, Gent, £93 8s. 3d. Leven Powell, Gent, £69
10s. Wm. Stanhope, Gent, £4 4s.

"1780, Jan.: Jonathan Davis, Gent, £50. Wm. Stanhope, Gent,
£4 4s.

"1780, February: Thomas George, £206. Israel Thompson, £119
2s. George Emrey, £46 19s.

"1780, March: Hardage Lane, Gent, £83 8s.

"1780, April: Thomas George, £15. Farling Ball, Gent, £99
6s. Wm. Douglass, Gent, £69 10s.

"1780, June: John Tyler, Gent, £40. Pierce Bayly, Gent, £20.

"1780, August: John Orr, Gent, £500. Wm. Douglass, Gent,
£44.

"1780, November: Thomas George, £221. Farling Ball, £50.
George Tyler, Gent, £8. George Emrey, Gent, £163 12s.

"1781, March: John Orr, Gent, £431 16s. Wm. Cavans, £120.

"1782, Feb.: John Orr, as per acct., for furnishing Mary
Butler, a soldier's wife, with necessaries."

_Close of the Struggle_.

On the 25th of November, 1783, the British army evacuated New York. The independence of the United States had been acknowledged by the British Government and the war was ended. During the following month most of the Continental troops from Loudoun returned to their homes, many of them to spend the remainder of their days in hard-earned peace.

WAR OF 1812.

_The Compelling Cause._

Following the Revolution, a number of new towns sprang into being, educational institutions multiplied, the population of the County steadily increased, and the people were industrious, enterprising, and happy.

A second difficulty, however, soon interrupted this tranquillity, and the quarrel between the two governments was referred to the arbitrament of the War of 1812, fought by the United States against England for maritime independence.

The honor of the new republic was assailed on the high seas by the insistence of Great Britain of a right to search American vessels for fugitive British subjects. A doctrine which America regarded as established by the Revolution, to wit, that a citizen of a foreign country could voluntarily surrender his native citizenship and swear allegiance to another government, was disputed by Great Britain, who held that "once an Englishman was to be an Englishman always." Upon this ground American vessels were held up on the ocean by English men-of-war and searched to such an extent that within the eight years of forbearance over 6,000 men were taken from the ships of the United States and forced into the British navy.

This audacious conduct thoroughly aroused the indignation of the American people, in which resentment it is supposed the people of Loudoun warmly concurred. Seeing that bloodshed was necessary in order to maintain the national honor, and spurred by urgent petitions, President Madison recommended to Congress a declaration of war, which was accordingly promulgated June 18, 1812.

_State Archives at Leesburg._[23]

When the British were on their way from Bladensburg to Washington, in August, 1814, James Monroe, then Secretary of State, had been for several days with General Winder, reconnoitering the enemy, and watching the movements of both armies. Knowing the weakness of the American forces, he believed Washington to be in great peril. He dispatched a letter to President Madison, advising the removal of the official records. Stephen Pleasanton, then a clerk in the State Department, made immediate preparation for the removal of the books and papers in that department. He had linen bags hastily made and placed in them the State archives, which were then loaded in wagons and hauled across the chain bridge, over the Potomac, to the grist mill of Edgar Patterson, two miles above Georgetown. Not feeling sure of their safety there, he had them reloaded on wagons and conveyed to Leesburg, where they were placed in an unoccupied building,[24] the key of which was given to a recently ordained clergyman, named Littlejohn. There they remained until the last hostile Briton had reached Baltimore, when they were carefully hauled back to Washington.[25] Thus we saved the precious documents of the revolutionary war, as well as our state archives, and thus does Leesburg boast, with abstract truthfulness, that for a little more than two weeks it was the Capital of the United States.

[Footnote 23: Anonymous.]

[Footnote 24: Perhaps the most precious of these documents was the Declaration of Independence, which it has been asserted, was deposited here.]

[Footnote 25: Mrs. A.H. Throckmorton, in an interesting narrative to which allusion is made elsewhere in this volume, differs with the authority here quoted as to the disposition of these important papers. She says: "For one night they remained in the court-house here (Leesburg) and were then carried several miles out in the country to the estate of "Rockeby," now owned by Mr. H.B. Nalle,... and securely locked within the old vault and remained out of reach of the enemy for two weeks."]

THE MASON-McCARTY DUEL.

The duel, February 6, 1819, between Armistead T. Mason and John M. McCarty, both residents of Loudoun County, was the second "affair of honor" to be settled on the now famous field of Bladensburg. They were cousins, who became enemies during Mason's brief term in the United States Senate. Mason, known as "The Chief of Selma," was a graduate of William and Mary College and the commander of a cavalry regiment[26] in the war of 1812. He later became brigadier general of the Virginia militia. He married and took up his residence at Selma plantation, four miles north of Leesburg. Wishing to make it possible for the Quakers of Loudoun to contribute their share toward the support of the army, Mason introduced in the Senate a bill to permit, in case of draft, the furnishing of substitutes on payment of $500 each. For this McCarty branded him a coward, and thence sprung a succession of bitter quarrels, the real basis of which was a difference of political opinions. The details of both sides of the feud were published weekly in the Leesburg "Genius of Liberty," and later were issued in pamphlet form as campaign material.

[Footnote 26: Many of the Germans of Loudoun served in this regiment which participated in the Battle of Baltimore.]

Mason's side was defeated. He earnestly wished to avoid a duel, but McCarty continued to provoke him, with the hope of compelling him to fight. This he finally decided to do. He left his home without revealing his intentions and on reaching Washington made his final preparations with great deliberation. "The Chief of Selma" fell February 6, 1819, his heart pierced by the ball of his antagonist. He was but 32 years of age. His body was borne to Leesburg, where it was buried in the Episcopal churchyard, with an imposing Masonic ritual. The grief of his slaves was painful to witness. His only child became an officer in the United States army, and was mortally wounded in the battle of Cerro Gordo.

HOME OF PRESIDENT MONROE.

"Oak Hill," the country seat of James Monroe, ex-President of the United States and author of the world-famed Monroe Doctrine, is situated near Aldie, in Loudoun County, on the turnpike running south from Leesburg to Aldie, about nine miles from the former and three from the latter place.

The main building, with an imposing Grecian façade, was planned by Monroe while in the presidential chair, and its construction superintended by William Benton, an Englishman, who served him in the triple capacity of steward, counselor, and friend. The dimensions are about 50 by 90 feet; it is built of brick in a most substantial manner, and handsomely finished; has three stories (including basement), a wide portico fronting south, with massive Doric columns thirty feet in height, and is surrounded by a grove of magnificent oaks, locusts, and poplars, covering several acres. It has been said that prior to his inauguration he occupied a wooden dwelling of humble pretensions standing within a stone's throw of its palatial progeny. Monroe's term of office expired March 4, 1825, and soon after the inauguration of his successor he retired to "Oak Hill," which immediately became, like Monticello and Montpelier, although to a lesser degree, a center of social and political pilgrimages.

The financial affairs of its owner were seriously embarrassed from the first, and he labored in vain to obtain justice from the country he had served so long and so well, at heavy pecuniary cost and loss. His old friend, Lafayette, now once more prosperous, sent an offer of assistance with a delicacy and generosity which did him honor. A little was done at last by Congress, but not enough, and the day came when "Oak Hill" was offered for sale.

While residing here, the post of regent of the University of Virginia, which was instituted in 1826, was accepted by Mr. Monroe as not inconsistent with his view of the entire retirement from public life becoming an ex-President. Associated with him in the discharge of his duties as regent, as in so many long years of patriotic toil, were Jefferson and Madison.

When the State of Virginia called a convention for the revision of her constitution, Mr. Monroe consented to become a member. He took an active interest in the affairs of his own neighborhood, discharging the duties of a local magistrate.

Mrs. Monroe died at "Oak Hill" on September 23d, 1830, and after her departure the old man found his lonely farm life insupportable. He had previously visited much with his daughters, and he now went to live with Mrs. Gouverneur, in New York. He wrote to Mr. Madison, April 11, 1831:

* * * * *

"It is very distressing to me to sell my property in Loudoun, for besides parting with all I have in the State, I indulged a hope, if I could retain it, that I might be able occasionally to visit it, and meet my friends, or many of them, there. But ill health and advanced years prescribe a course which we must pursue...."

GENERAL LAFAYETTE'S VISIT.[27]

The greatest social event in the history of Leesburg was the visit of General Lafayette, August 9, 1825. The great Frenchman, accompanied by President John Quincy Adams, had visited ex-President Monroe at "Oak Hill," from which place the august procession, headed by two troops of cavalry, made the eleven mile journey to Leesburg. Lafayette, the President, the ex-President and the chairman of the Town Council, rode in the first carriage, drawn by four white horses. On reaching Leesburg, they were greeted by six companies of militia, among them a few old soldiers of the Revolution. At the firing of the national salute, Lafayette descended from his carriage and shook hands with those veterans and heroes.

[Footnote 27: This account of General Lafayette's visit, save for a few minor alterations and one or two supplementary facts, is from the pen of Mrs. A. H. Throckmorton, of this County, having formed part of an historical sketch of Leesburg contributed by her to the old Richmond _Times_, July 19, 1902.]

Standing on his front porch, Dr. McCabe, the town's Mayor, delivered an address of welcome to which Lafayette responded. Across the street at Osborne's Hotel[28] a reception was tendered him, after which the distinguished visitor was driven through the principal streets of the town. On reaching the court-house square, then, as now, a large inclosure shaded by giant trees, Lafayette, on alighting from the coach, kissed a tiny maiden upheld in the arms of her negro nurse. The little girl was Mrs. Wildman, who after reaching a venerable age departed this life in the summer of 1901.

[Footnote 28: A fine stone mansion, still standing, and the residence of the late Colonel John H. Alexander, during his lifetime one of the foremost lawyers of the State.]

Lafayette passed up an avenue formed on the right by boys and girls and the young ladies of Leesburg Female Academy, and on the left by the youths of the Leesburg Institute. The former wore white, with blue sashes, and their heads were tastefully adorned with evergreens. They held sprigs of laurel with which they strewed the great guest's pathway. The lads wore red sashes and white and black cockades.

One of them pronounced an address of welcome, and was amply rewarded by a grasp of the hero's hand. As Lafayette ascended the portico of the court-house a little girl stepped forward, holding a wreath of laurel, and said:

Hail Patriot, Statesman, Hero, Sage!
Hail Freedom's friend, hail Gallia's son,
Whose laurels greener grow in age,
Plucked by the side of Washington.

Hail, champion in a holy cause,
When hostile bands our shores beset;
Whose valor made the oppressor pause,
Hail, holy warrior, Lafayette?

She, too, was honored by a grasp of Lafayette's hand as well as a kiss. After an oration by Ludwell Lee, the distinguished party returned to the hotel where they were entertained by a delegation of the ladies of the village, while another delegation superintended the spreading of a banquet on court-house square. Two hundred persons participated in this banquet. The numerous toasts were remarkable for loftiness of thought and elegance of diction. President Adams launched the following sentiment:

"The living records of the war of Independence like the prophetic books of the Sibyl, increasing in value as they diminish in numbers."

Lafayette toasted General Bolivar, "who has felt true patriotism, and understood true glory." Another toast was "To the memory of Washington, fresh as the passing moment, lasting as eternity."

It is estimated that 10,000 persons witnessed the festivities. Lafayette, after a brief sojourn at the plantation of Ludwell Lee, departed for a visit to Madison at "Montpelier," and Jefferson, at "Monticello."

MEXICAN WAR.

Scarcely a generation had passed, during which the whole country passed through several years of financial distress, when the United States became involved in a brief successful war with Mexico, caused chiefly by the resistance of that country to the "annexation of Texas." But it is not within the scope of this sketch to follow the history of that foreign struggle. It is sufficient to say that the people of Loudoun favored most heartily the annexation of Texas, and responded, indirectly of course, to the small quota of men and money required by the Government.

The entire United States force employed in the invasion of Mexico was composed of 26,690 regulars and 56,926 volunteers, not including those serving in the navy. The losses of men by death from disease and wounds were about 11,000, and the number killed in battle, about 1,500. The cost in money amounted to $150,000,000. The gain consisted of the cession of extensive territory stretching to the Pacific Ocean, several thousand miles of valuable sea coast and an immense bound of the United States into international power. In the accomplishment of this general result Loudoun sent many of her sturdiest sons, who served from the State in various bodies throughout the war.

SECESSION AND CIVIL WAR.

_Loudoun County in the Secession Movement._

The election of Lincoln and attendant success of the Republican party revived the determination of the South to secede from the Union.

Just at this juncture the prosperity of Loudoun was unprecedented, and the threatened dissolution was a serious menace to her progress. General trade had recently been greatly stimulated, and the resources of the County were being daily multiplied.

Following the resolute lead of the other southern States, the legislature of Virginia, on January 14, 1861, authorized a State convention to consider the advisability of secession, and the members elected in pursuance thereof met in the capitol, at Richmond, at 12 o'clock a.m., on Wednesday, the 13th day of the February following. They constituted what was perhaps the ablest body of men that ever assembled in the State, and the friends and foes of secession were alike represented. The delegates from Loudoun were John Janney and John A. Carter, both of whom had represented her in the constitutional convention of 1850,51.

Roll call was followed by the election of a permanent chairman, Mr. Janney, of Loudoun, receiving a majority of the whole number of votes cast. Two of the members were then designated a committee to wait upon the president of the convention to inform him of his election and conduct him to his seat. Whereupon he addressed the convention as follows:[29]

[Footnote 29: The unabridged publication in this work of Mr. Janney's speech of acceptance has seemed specially appropriate. It is the plea of a Loudoun man for conservative action boldly put forth at a time when men's passions were inflamed almost beyond human credulity, and while he himself was the presiding officer of a body which had met to decide the destiny of the Old Dominion and whose deliberations were to be watched with breathless interest by the people of both hemispheres.]

"_Gentlemen of the Convention_: I tender you my sincere and
cordial thanks for the honor you have bestowed upon me by
calling me to preside over the deliberations of the most
important convention that has assembled in this State since
the year 1776.

"I am without experience in the performance of the duties to
which you have assigned me, with but little knowledge of
parliamentary law and the rules which are to govern our
proceedings, and I have nothing to promise you but fidelity
and impartiality. Errors I know I shall commit, but these
will be excused by your kindness, and promptly corrected by
your wisdom.

"Gentlemen, it is now almost seventy-three years since a
convention of the people of Virginia was assembled in this
hall to ratify the Constitution of the United States, one of
the chief objects of which was to consolidate, not the
Government, but the Union of the States.

"Causes which have passed, and are daily passing, into
history, which will set its seal upon them, but which I do
not mean to review, have brought the Constitution and the
Union into imminent peril, and Virginia has come to the
rescue. It is what the whole country expected of her. Her
pride as well as her patriotism--her interest as well as her
honor, called upon her with an emphasis which she could not
disregard, to save the monuments of her own glory. Her
honored son who sleeps at Mount Vernon, the political mecca
of all future ages, presided over the body which framed the
Constitution; and another of her honored sons, whose brow
was adorned with a civic wreath which will never fade, and
who now reposes in Orange county, was its principal
architect, and one of its ablest expounders--and, in the
administration of the government, five of her citizens have
been elected to the chief magistracy of the Republic.

"It can not be that a Government thus founded and
administered can fail, without the hazard of bringing
reproach, either upon the wisdom of our fathers, or upon the
intelligence, patriotism, and virtue of their descendants.
It is not my purpose to indicate the course which this body
will probably pursue, or the measures it may be proper to
adopt. The opinions of today may all be changed to-morrow.
Events are thronging upon us, and we must deal with them as
they present themselves.

"Gentlemen, there is a flag which for nearly a century has
been borne in triumph through the battle and the breeze, and
which now floats over this capitol, on which there is a star
representing this ancient Commonwealth, and my earnest
prayer, in which I know every member of this body will
cordially unite, is that it may remain there forever,
provided always that its lustre is untarnished. We demand
for our own citizens perfect equality of rights with those
of the empire States of New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio,
but we ask for nothing that we will not cheerfully concede
to those of Delaware and Rhode Island.

"The amount of responsibility which rests upon this body can
not be exaggerated. When my constituents asked me if I would
consent to serve them here if elected, I answered in the
affirmative, but I did so with fear and trembling. The
people of Virginia have, it is true, reserved to
themselves, in a certain contingency, the right to review
our action, but still the measures which we adopt may be
fraught with good or evil to the whole country.

"Is it too much to hope that we, and others who are engaged
in the work of peace and conciliation, may so solve the
problems which now perplex us, as to win back our sisters of
the South, who, for what they deem sufficient cause, have
wandered from their old orbits? May we not expect that our
old sister, Massachusetts, will retrace her steps? Will she
not follow the noble example of Rhode Island, the little
State with a heart large enough for a whole continent? Will
she not, when she remembers who it was who first drew his
sword from the scabbard on her own soil at Cambridge, and
never finally returned it, until her liberty and
independence were achieved, and whence he came, repeal her
obnoxious laws, which many of her wisest and best citizens
regard as a stain upon her legislative records?

"Gentlemen, this is no party convention. It is our duty on
an occasion like this to elevate ourselves into an
atmosphere, in which party passion and prejudice can not
exist--to conduct all our deliberations with calmness and
wisdom, and to maintain, with inflexible firmness, whatever
position we may find it necessary to assume."