Chapter IX: Part II: Eighteenth Century (2)

George undressed on the Fredericksburg side of the River. He probably picked a secluded spot and believed that he was alone, for he undressed and went in the water to "wash."

When George came out of the water and started to dress he found that his clothes had been robbed!

George reported the theft to the Sheriff, or Constable. As a result two women servants of Fredericksburg were arrested and locked in jail--

"Ann Carroll and Mary McDaniel, of Friedericksburg, being committed to the gaol of this county by William Hunter, Gent, on suspicion of felony and charged with robbing the cloaths of Mr. George Washington when he was washing in the river some time last summer, the court having heard several evidences are of the opinion that the said Ann Carroll be discharged, and admitted on evidence for Lord the King against the said Mary McDaniel, and upon considering the whole evidence and the prisoners defense, the court are of the opinion that the said Mary Mc Daniel is guilty of petty larcency, whereupon the said Mary desired immediate punishment for the said crime and relied on the mercy of the court, therefore it is ordered that the sheriff carry her to the whipping post and inflict fifteen lashes on her bare back, and then she be discharged."

The case was heard, December 3, 1751, and Ann had turned King's witness and testified against Mary. George was ignorant of the outcome of the trial for he was far away at the time. He had sailed in September to the Barbadoes with his brother Lawrence, who had not been well since his return from the war at Cartagena.

Whether George ever recovered his stolen money or valuables is not known.

_THE ORDINARY_

At some time between 1750-55 George Fisher of London crossed the Northern Neck on his way from Williamsburg to Philadelphia by horseback. When he returned to England he wrote an account of his trip to America. The following excerpt from his narrative tells of the night he spent at Leedstown, Westmoreland County, a thriving tobacco port of the Rappahannock River. George Fisher writes as follows:

"So taking a feed of Corn with me into the Boat, which my Horse
eat in his passage, I crossed the River Rappahannock. In going
over the River about Two miles wide, I could see Leids Town on
the other side, two or Three miles up the River, the Place I
now intended to rest this night in.... I did not arrive till
Seven o'clock.... I put up at one Mr. T----ts, esteemed the
best Ordinary in Town, and indeed the House and Furniture has
as elegant an appearance as any I have seen in the country, Mr.
Finnays or Wetherburnes in Williamsburg not excepted. The
chairs, Tables, &c of the Room I was conducted into, was all of
Mahogany, & so stuft with fine large glaized copper Plate
Prints; That I almost fancied myself in Jeffriess' or some
other elegant Print Shops. I had the happiness, at my first
Coming in of my Landlord's Company, who understanding I came
from the Metroplis (and the Assembly now sitting) gaped after
news; he was troubled with gout, for he came limping in upon a
stick; When I had answered all his interrogatories, and he had
picked what intelligence of me he was able, and I calling at
First for a half Pint of wine only, he vanished and I could see
him no more; tho' I sent twice (at supper and afterwards) to
request the favor of his Company, in hopes of receiving in my
turn some useful directions, in the ensuing Day's Journey. His
excuse was, first, indisposition, and afterwards he was gone to
Bed; tho' the Boy who lighted me to mine assured me he was
sitting with his House-keeper, and that not one Person had been
in the House since my arrival. By what I could hear and
preceive myself this Landlord who bears the name honest Mr.
T----, like most of his Trade, proportions his regard to their
extravagance, in which respect I was doubtless too
contemptible for his notice. The Host--he could tell me nothing
of the Rout I was to take, so that I was now quite destitute of
intelligence.

"This House stands pleasantly upon the North side of the River,
and a tolerable garden seemed to be in as decent order as most
I have seen in America. The method of Single men having
House-keepers is esteemed here very reputable and genteel. In
the morning while my Breakfast and Horse was getting ready, I
sought after some instruction for my journey, and as it
happened, I found a Person up that kepped a store, who gave me
a draught of the road to Hoes Ferry on Potomac River. I have
since been informed of my true Route was from Southern on this
Rappahannocke River to Lovels Ferry on Potomac River, it being
not only a better Road, but I should have saved at least Ten or
Twelve miles in the Riding of Thirty, the only objection being
that at the Hoes the River is not more than five miles wide;
but at Lovels to Cedar Point (in Md.) it is eight or ten,
consequently in windy weather the passage is more difficult and
unsafe; but at this time of the year no great danger was to be
apprehended. The Gentleman's name who delineated the Road for
me to Hoes Ferry is Thompson."

_NELLY_

It was for a special reason that Nelly wanted to go back home. It was not that she was unhappy in her new home for it was beautiful there at the head of the deeply wooded valley with the Blue Ridge towering in the distance. The frame house, which had been built by her husband's father, was modest but comfortable, and there were slaves to do the heavy work. Still, she wanted to go home and her husband humoured his nineteen-year-old wife, and prepared for the journey.

To Nelly home was the low country--the flat lands where the air was damp and the fogs rolled in from the River.

Nelly probably traveled home in a carriage of some sort for the trail led through the virgin forest. The nights were doubtless spent at farmhouses along the way. As they neared Fredericksburg they probably met up with other travelers on horseback, and teamsters with wagons loaded with wheat and tobacco for export.

Fredericksburg was all "a-bustle" at that time with foreign ships lying at the wharves and wagons rumbling along the streets. What a welcome sight the Rappahannock must have been to Nelly! And there was the ferry which would carry her across to her homeland! It was a rope-hauled ferry, pulled back and forth across the River by the ferryman.

Once the River was crossed it was only a ten or twelve mile ride down through King George County to her childhood home on the banks of the Rappahannock. This was the plantation of Nelly's stepfather, John Moore. She had known him as a father as long as she could remember, for her own father, Francis Conway, had died when she was only a year old. Her mother, Rebecca Catlett Conway, had soon married John Moore. Many of Nelly's relatives lived in this region of the Northern Neck. What a happy home-coming it must have been for Nelly.

The chill winds of winter were still blowing across the Rappahannock, but the crocuses were in bloom, when Nelly's baby arrived, on March 16, 1751.

The Northern Neck relatives assembled for the christening. Nelly's cousins, Judith and Elizabeth Catlett, acted as godmothers, and Mary Catlett's husband, Jonathan Gibson, was godfather. The infant was named for his father, James Madison.

The Catletts and Conways and Madisons must have rejoiced at the birth of Nelly's first baby, but they had no reason to think that the birth of little "Jemmy" Madison would some day be a matter of national importance. And little did Nelly dream when she made the long journey home that by so doing the Northern Neck would fall heir to another famous son.

"Little Jemmy" grew up to be one of the foremost figures in the creation of the American nation. He became the fourth President of the United States, and he is remembered as "the Father of the Constitution."

James Madison's birthsite in King George County later became known as Port Conway.

_MISS BETSY_

In the spring of 1752 George Washington was riding down to Naylor's Hole, in Richmond County. He had his mind set on a certain young lady who lived there, but up to this time she had been uncooperative. George had written to her father, Colonel William Fauntleroy:

"I purpose ... to wait on Miss Betsy, in hopes of a revocation of the former cruel sentence and see if I can meet with any alteration in my favor."

Betsy was just sixteen and she was probably having a good time at her home on the Rappahannock. It was lively there on the River, for the Rappahannock was the main highway for the tobacco trade and her father was interested in ships and trade, and he operated a ferry. When she tired of the River she could always go visiting in her father's imported riding chair, drawn by "two horses abreast." It was a smart "turn-out"; even the whip had her father's name on it.

As George rode through the blossoming forest, which Betsy's ancestor had bought from the Indians a century before, he must have had mingled emotions. There was the pleasure of the expectation of seeing Betsy again, mixed with the uncertainty of the outcome of his suit. Then too, he must have wondered if she would notice the scars on his face. While he had been in the Barbadoes, where he had accompanied his brother Lawrence in his fruitless search for health, George had contracted the smallpox which had left permanent scars on his face.

Tradition says that Betsy did notice the scars. Whatever the reason may have been--George's mission was unsuccessful.

For years historians have tried without success to settle the question--was Betsy Fauntleroy the "Lowland Beauty" to whom Washington made references in his correspondence, or did he have in mind another Northern Neck beauty named Lucy Grymes?

_THE PROPRIETOR OF THE NORTHERN NECK_

It was an autumn day in the year 1753. A group of men lounged in the sunshine before a rudely constructed log tavern in a Virginia wilderness clearing. Their rough attire of buckskin and homespun and their knives and rifles proclaimed them to be hunters, trappers and settlers.

Suddenly they were aroused by a noise in the forest. The drooping tree boughs came to life and the tall grasses were pushed aside as an amazing spectacle for this frontier setting emerged. With a great rattling of wheels, creaking of leather and clumping of hooves, four shiny horses came forth drawing behind them an English chariot that would very well have graced the streets of London.

The liveried driver drew up before the hitching rack and the footmen descended from behind and opened the door of the chariot. Out stepped a middle-aged man, so tall and so gigantic in frame, that he had difficulty in getting through the opening. He was richly clad in a coat of brown cloth decorated with embroidery and a waistcoat of yellow silk, ornamented with silver thread and flowers. His peruke was carefully powdered and his shirt ruffles were snow-white.

As he issued from the chariot he drew about him the folds of a red velvet cloak, and then bowing his head slightly to the admiring crowd, he entered the tavern.

This man was no stranger to these frontiersmen. Most of them had hunted with him, or eaten at his "broad board," or transacted business with him in his little stone office. But it was rarely that they saw him thus, in the trappings of an English gentleman. They had seen him stab his hunting-knife into a deer's throat, and hold up the brush of a fox at the end of the chase, but then his garments had been weather-beaten and on his head he had worn an otter-skin cap with a buck's tail stuck in it.

But this strange gentleman had no hunting trip in mind to-day. He soon came out of the tavern and the chariot was rumbling away down the forest road, for he was due to preside over a session of the justices' court at the frontier town of Winchester. And although the Shawnee Indians were still not too far distant, this gentleman evidently believed in carrying into the wilds of the New World something of the English idea of the propriety of full dress on occasions of ceremony.

And who was this man who could change so easily from back-woodsman to gentleman? None other than Thomas, sixth Lord Fairfax of Cameron, and sole proprietor of that vast tract of land known as the Northern Neck. This, his inheritance, embraced all lands lying between the headwaters of the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers to the Chesapeake Bay, comprising more than five million acres.

Thomas, sixth Lord Fairfax had inherited, in 1719, the Northern Neck of Virginia, through his mother, Catherine, daughter of Thomas, Lord Culpeper, and wife of Lord Fairfax. It was through this marriage that the grant became known as the Fairfax Proprietary.

In 1673, Thomas, Lord Culpeper had bought out the other grantees and had become the sole proprietor of the original grant. He had cunningly had the terms of the patent changed to the "first heads of springs" of the two rivers, instead of "within the heads" of the two rivers, as originally stated in 1649. The change in these few words changed the size of the tract from one million to more than five million acres. This change in description apparently was not noticed in the colony at the time.

It was in this way that Culpeper's grandson, Thomas, sixth Lord Fairfax, through inheritance became sole proprietor of the Northern Neck.

Lord Fairfax was born in Leeds Castle, England, in 1693. He was educated at Oxford University and developed such a fondness for literature that he wrote a number of papers for the _Spectator_. But he was unlucky in affairs of the heart--he was jilted at the altar.

After a time the embittered Fairfax decided to take a voyage to Virginia to examine his inheritance. So well pleased was he with his domain that he decided to make it his home. Perhaps the free way of life and new hunting grounds appealed to him. He returned to England, arranged his affairs and voyaged back to his wild new home, in 1748.

Fairfax built a home in the Shenandoah Valley, called Greenway Court, and went there to live in 1751. Tradition says that he planted a white post--one mile distant--as a guide to his dwelling, and thus the town of White Post was later so named.

Lord Fairfax cultivated a large farm at Greenway Court. He had probably one hundred and fifty negro slaves, who lived in huts scattered about in the woods. There was very little cultivated ground around his house because he preferred to leave the land as a natural park. The grounds were encircled by a rude fence, which served also as a hitching rack.

Locust trees shaded the mansion. It was a long stone building with a slender chimney on each end and two belfries between on top of the roof. These bells were probably used to call the servants or as an alarm when Indians were near. There were four dormer-windows and a portico across the front. This building was used by the steward, it was said, while Fairfax lived and died in a single clapboard story-and-a-half house.

Nearby the main house stood a small limestone structure, where quit-rents were given and titles drawn of his lordship's domains. He lived almost wholly from his rents. We can imagine him there, with a court of deer-hounds at his feet. On the table lies a rudely drawn map of the frontier, some folded letters, an inkstand and an eagle's quill pen. Here he delivered the title deeds of nearly all of that portion of Virginia over which he had dominion.

Perhaps, too, it was here that he conversed with his young friend, George Washington, who surveyed part of the immense tract among the valleys of the Alleghany mountains for him. These were divided into lots to enable Fairfax to claim quit-rents and give titles.

In spite of the difference in their ages, Fairfax and Washington had another interest in common--they were both passionately fond of hunting. Tradition says that sometimes they passed weeks together in the pleasures of the chase.

When fox-hunting Lord Fairfax made it a rule that "he who got the fox, cut off his tail, and held it up, should share in the jollification which was to follow, free of expense." An early historian says that "as soon as a fox was started, the young men of the company usually dashed after him with great impetuosity, while Fairfax leisurely waited behind with a favorite servant who was familiar with the water-courses, and of a quick ear, to discover the course of the fox. Following his directions, his lordship would start after the game, and, in most instances, secure the prize, and stick the tail of the fox in his hat in triumph."

It is probable that some of these "jollifications" that followed the hunt were held in a tavern in Winchester, for tradition says that he occasionally held "levees" there. (This building was later used as a stable.)

Sometimes Fairfax entertained in the great room at Greenway Court. This room, according to tradition, was a combination of crudity and refinement. Rough oak furniture, carven mahogany, silver plate, cheap crockery, leather-bound books, fishing nets, portraits, antlers and blunderbuses, all intermingled. But Fairfax was a generous host and the board groaned with ham, beef, fowl, game as well as mellow Jamaica rum. But Fairfax did not drink, and women were never invited to his parties.

When in the humor Fairfax sometimes gave away whole farms to his tenants, simply demanding for rent some trifle like a turkey for his Christmas dinner.

Fairfax lived the life of a bachelor and adopted the rough customs of his new land, but his life was not altogether happy in the New World. Quit-rents were not willingly paid and he was constantly occupied with lawsuits over boundaries. The Indian hostilities retarded the settlement of his domain and therefore lessened his revenue. He was considered eccentric and "a hoarder up of English gold."

In spite of his friendship with George Washington, Fairfax was a Tory to the end. When he heard that Cornwallis had surrendered he told his body servant, "Take me to bed, John, it is time for me to die." He died shortly after, on December 9, 1781.

He was buried at Winchester, under the old Episcopal church, which was on the public square. When this structure was later taken down the bones of Fairfax were removed to a tomb in the crypt of Christ Church in Winchester. At the time of his disinterment, it is said that a large mass of silver was found, which was the mounting of his coffin.

Around 1840 some excavating was done about the grounds at Greenway Court and a large quantity of joes and half-joes were found. These were what was termed cob-coin, of a square form, and dated about 1730. They were supposed to have been secreted there by Lord Fairfax.

Fairfax never married, therefore he left no child to inherit his vast estate. He devised a large portion of his property to a nephew in England. Later the estate passed through several hands and was finally sold.

A few years after the war of the Revolution an attempt was made by the colonists to confiscate the estate. At last a compromise took place between those who had bought it and the Virginia state government.

During and after the Revolution no quit-rents were paid, and in 1785 an act was passed by the Virginia Legislature which abolished the proprietary system in the Northern Neck. The people there were finally free of landlords, after one hundred and twenty-five years.

_THE MARSHALLS_

John Marshall "of the forest" owned two hundred acres of land in Westmoreland County. "Of the forest" was a term used in the Northern Neck in referring to those whose homes were some distance from the water.

John "of the forest" acquired this land by deed, for five shillings, from William Marshall of King and Queen County. It is probable that this William was the elder brother of John "of the forest" and that they were both sons of Thomas "the carpenter," of Westmoreland. The latter's will was probated in the same county in 1704. (In this will there was mentioned "a heifer ... called White-Belly.")

This land of John "of the forest" was located on Appomattox Creek. It was low marshy land of such inferior quality that the former owners had not bothered with it. Originally it had been a part of twelve hundred acres which had been granted to "Jno. Washington & Thos. Pope, gents.--& by them lost for want of seating."

John "of the forest" married Elizabeth Markham, daughter of the Sheriff of Westmoreland County. To John and Elizabeth were born ten children. They lived simply on their farm until John died in 1752.

Among the items left to Elizabeth by John was "one Gray mair named beauty and side saddle." He also left her the use of his land "during her widowhood and afterwards to fall to my son Thomas Marshall and his heirs forever."

Thomas was twenty-two years old at the time of his father's death. One year later his mother deeded half of the two hundred acres to him.

Thomas Marshall was fortunate in that he was powerful of stature and intelligent. He was of a serious but adventurous nature. He and his neighbor, George Washington, seem to have been friends from boyhood. For about three years Thomas had been Washington's companion when he helped him to survey the western part of the Fairfax domain.

Thomas Marshall left Westmoreland County not long after his father's death to seek his fortune in the frontier country toward the Blue Ridge.

In 1754 Thomas married a well born and well educated girl named Mary Randolph Keith. To this union were born fifteen children, the best known being John, who became the fourth Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

_THE LEEDSTOWN RESOLUTIONS_

The town of Leeds on the banks of the Rappahannock River was a thriving center of trade and shipping in colonial days. Here the big ships lay at anchor while their holds were filled with tobacco for the London market. Here the returning ships unloaded the English luxuries that were so dear to the hearts of the Northern Neck planter-families.

Leeds had been incorporated in 1742. When ten or twelve years later the English visitor, George Fisher, spent a night at "Leids Town" he was well pleased with the fine furnishings he found in the ordinary. There were other ordinaries in the village, comfortable homes with gardens and Leeds Church.

George Washington often visited Leedstown. With his wife he dined there in 1759. He spent the night there in 1763. Many times he crossed the nearby ferry as he traveled between Mount Vernon and Williamsburg.

On a winter's day in 1766 there was unusual activity at Leeds. The excitement came about because Thomas Ludwell Lee had written to his brother Richard Henry Lee as follows: "We propose to be in Leedstown in the afternoon of the 27th inst., Feb. 1766, where we expect to meet those who will come from your way. This would be a fine opportunity to effect the scheme of an association, and I should be glad if you would think of a plan."

It is easy to visualize the arrival of the planters in their coaches and on horseback--to hear the rattle of wheels, the thud of hoofs, the creaking of saddle-leather and the excited voices speaking with a London accent.

The "plan" that Richard Henry Lee had thought of and prepared in manuscript form and had brought to Leedstown that day could probably have hanged him, and the one hundred and fourteen others who signed it, if it had fallen into the wrong hands. But the Northern Neck was a remote fortress and its inhabitants were bold when their freedom was threatened.

Among those who signed Lee's document were six Lees, five Washingtons, and Spence Monroe, father of President James Monroe. The text of The Leedstown Resolutions follows:

"Rouzed by Danger and alarmed at Attempts foreign & domestic to
reduce the People of this Country to a State of abject and
detestable slavery by destroying that free and happy
constitution of Government under which they have hitherto
lived,--We who subscribe this Paper, have Associated, & do bind
ourselves to each other, to God, and to our Country, by the
Firmest Tyes that Religion & Virtue can frame, most sacredly
and punctually to stand by, and with our Lives & Fortunes to
support, maintain and defend each other, in the Observation and
Execution of these following Articles.

"First, we declare all due Allegiance and Obedience to our
lawful Sovereign George the Third King of Great Britain. And we
determine to the utmost of our Power to preserve the Laws, the
Peace and good Order of this Colony as far as is consistent
with the Preservation of our Constitutional Rights and Liberty.

"2.dly As we know it to be the Birthright Privilege of every
British Subject (and of the People of Virginia as being such)
founded on Reason, Law and Compact, That he cannot be legally
tryed but by his Peers, and that he cannot be taxed but by
Consent of a Parliament in which he is represented by Persons
chosen by the People and who themselves pay a part of the Tax
they impose on others--If therefore any Person or Persons shall
attempt by any Action or Proceeding to deprive this Colony of
those fundamental Rights we will immediately regard him or them
as the most dangerous Enemy of the Community and we will go to
any Extremity not only to prevent the Success of such Attempts
but to Stigmatize and punish the Offender.

"3.dly As the Stamp Act does absolutely direct the Property of
the People to be taken from them without their Consent
express'd by their Representatives, and as in many cases it
deprives the British American Subject of his Right to Trial by
Jury; we do determine at every hazard and paying no Regard to
Danger or to Death; we will exert every Faculty to prevent the
Execution of the said Stamp Act in any instance whatsoever
within this Colony--And every abandoned Wretch who shall be so
lost to Virtue and publick Good, as wickedly to contribute to
the introduction or fixture of the Stamp Act in this Colony, by
using Stampt Paper, or by any other Means; we will with the
utmost Expedition convince all such Profligates, that immediate
danger and disgrace shall attend their prostitute Purpose.

"4.thly That the last Article may most surely and effectually
be execut'd, we engage to each other, that whenever it shall be
known to any of this Association that any Person is so
conducting himself as to favor the Introduction of the Stamp
Act, that immediate Notice shall be given to as many of the
Association as possible, and that every Individual so inform'd
shall with expedition repair to a place of meeting to be
appointed as near the Scene of Action as may be.

"5.thly Each Associator shall do his true endeavor to obtain as
many Signers to this Association as he possibly can.

"6.thly If any attempt shall be made upon the Liberty or
Property of any Associator for any Action or Thing to be done
in Consequence of this Agreement, we do most solemnly bind
ourselves by the sacred Engagements above enter'd into, at the
utmost risk of our Lives and Fortunes to restore such Associate
to his Liberty, and to protect him in the enjoyment of his
Property.

"In Testimony of the good Faith with which we resolve to
execute this Association, we have this 27 day of February 1766
in Virginia put our hands & Seals hereto

Richard Henry Lee
Will Robinson
Lewis Willis
Thomas Lud. Lee
Samuel Washington
Charles Washington
Moore Fauntleroy
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Thomas Jones
Rodham Kenner
Spencer Mottsom Ball
Richard Mitchell
Joseph Murdock
Rich'd Parker
Spence Monroe
John Watts
Robert Lovell
John Blagge
Charles Weeks
William Booth
Geo: Tuberville
Alvin Moxley
Wm. Flood
John Ballantine Jun.
William Lee
Thomas Chilton
Richard Buckner
Will Chilton
Joseph Peirce
John Williams
Jn. Blackwell
Winder S. Kenner
Wm. Bronaugh
Will Peirce
John Berryman
Jn. Dickson
John Browne
Edward Sanford
Charles Chilton
Lau. Washington
W. Roane Jr.
William Sydnor
John Monroe
William Cocke
William Grayson
Wm. Brockenbrough
Sam Selden
Daniel McCarty
Jer Rush
Edwd. Ransdell
Townshend Dade
Laur. Washington
John Ashton
W. Brent
Francis Foushee
John Smith Jr.
Will Balle
Thomas Barnes
Jos. Blackwell
Reuben Meriwether
Edw. Mountjoy
Thomas Mountjoy
William Mountjoy
John Mountjoy
Gilbt. Campbell
Jos. Lane
Richard Lee
Daniel Tebbs
Fran. Thornton Jun.
Peter Rust Jun.
John Lee Jun.
Fran Waring
John Upshaw
Merriwether Smith
Thomas Roane
James Edmondson
James Webb
John Edmondson
James Banks
Smith Young
Thomas Logan
Jo. Milliken
Rich Hodges
James Upshaw
James Booker
A. Montague
Richard Jeffries
John Suggett
Jn. L. Woodcock
Robert Wormeley Carter
John Beale Jun.
John Newton
Will B--le Jun.
Chs. Mortimer
John Edmondson
Charles Beale
Peter Grant
Thomson Mason
Jon. Beckwith
James Samford
John Belfield
W. Smith
John Aug. Washington
Thomas Belfield
Edgecomb Suggett
Henry Francks
John Bland Jun.
Jas. Emerson
John Richards
Thos. Jett
Thomas Douglas
Max. Robinson
John Orr
Ebenezer Fisher
Hancock Eustace."

Text and names have been copied from a photostatic copy of the
original manuscript by Florienette Matter Knight, Organizing
Regent, Leedstown Resolutions Chapter, N.S.D.A.R. The original
manuscript, handwritten by Richard Henry Lee, is in the
archives of the Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, Va.

_FITHIAN_

On an October day in the year 1773 a man on horseback rode down through Westmoreland County until he came to the entrance of a plantation known as Nomini Hall. The avenue leading to the great house was bordered with poplar trees, through which the white stuccoed house appeared "romantic" and "truly elegant."

Philip Vickers Fithian, lately graduated from Princeton, had been seven days on the road since he had left New Jersey. He had ridden two hundred and sixty miles and crossed a number of ferries.

Fithian was not sure that he was doing the right thing in coming to Virginia. His friends had tried to persuade him not to go to that "wicked colony" where he would be sure to fall in with evil companions and become a drunkard or a gambler. If his parents had lived Fithian would probably have stayed in the North, but they had recently passed away, and the salary as a plantation tutor was good. With a last prayer to the Lord that he would be strong enough to stick to his upright way of life, Fithian set off on his journey to the Northern Neck of Virginia.

Nomini Hall was the seat of one of King Carter's grandsons, Robert Carter, III. His holdings, amounting to seventy thousand acres, were scattered over a number of counties. He owned more than five hundred slaves and employed numerous white overseers, clerks, stewards, craftsmen and artisans. Tobacco was still the main crop of the plantation, but its profits were now waning and Councillor Carter sought other money crops to supplement this chief product. Carter also manufactured supplies for the use of his plantations and for his neighbors' needs. He operated grain mills, textile factories, salt works and bakeries.

Nomini Hall was laid off in the usual formal English style, with four dependencies--one equally distant from each corner of the manor. These were the large dependencies--there were many others, probably as many as thirty. In the square thus formed by the four buildings there was a bowling green, and gardens interspersed with oyster-shell walks.

In one of the large dependencies, Fithian was established. Here he and the Carter boys slept upstairs over the schoolroom. The five Carter girls who were to be his pupils--"all dressed in white"--slept in the great house. Fithian liked his room in the schoolhouse--"a neat chamber, a large Fire, Books, & Candle & my Liberty to stay in this room or to sit at the great house." In the household he held a delicate position--equi-distant between the master and his eldest son.

There was never a dull moment at Nomini Hall. There was the music teacher--and the traveling dancing teacher who followed a plan of rotation between the plantations. He spent about a week at each place, which ended with a small informal dance. The big balls were splendid affairs, lasting for days and nights. There was a continual procession of chariots, drawn by four or six horses, with coachman, and postillions, and attended by horseback riders, moving back and forth between Nomini Hall and its neighboring plantations. The Carters often dined and danced with the Lees at Stratford and Chantilly, the Washingtons at Bushfield, the Tubervilles at Hickory Hill, and with the Tayloes at Mount Airy, about twelve miles distant. Christenings, birthdays, house-warmings--anything served as an excuse for a celebration among these Northern Neckers! In no part of Virginia were there more great planters than in the Northern Neck.

Fithian observed everything and wrote it all down in his Journal. One of the first things that he noticed were the ladies with the white handkerchiefs: "Almost every Lady wears a red Cloak; and when they ride out they tye a white handkerchief over their Head and face, so that when I first came into Virginia, I was distress'd whenever I saw a Lady, for I thought she had the Tooth-Ache!"

Fithian walked often in the evenings in the garden with Mrs. Carter when she was giving a last look at the poultry or the growing things. He had a great admiration for the beauty and elegance of Mrs. Carter. With Councillor Carter he attended the county courts and the horse-races in Richmond County. Around the stables he watched the cock-fights. There was skating on the "Mill-pond," and when warm weather came, the "fish-feasts" and barbecues. The latter, he wrote, were just like the "fish-feasts" except that they had roast pig instead of fish.

Fithian did not approve of Sunday in Virginia--"A Sunday in Virginia don't seem to wear the same Dress as our Sundays to the Northward. By five o'clock on Saturday every face looks festive and cheerful.... It is a general custom on Sundays here, with Gentlemen to invite one another home to dine, after Church; and to consult about, determine their common business, either before or after Service.... It is not the custom for Gentlemen to go into Church til Service is beginning, when they enter in a Body, in the same manner as they came out; I have known the Clerk to come out and call them into prayers.... They stay also after the Service is over, usually as long, or longer, than the Parson, was preaching."

Nomini Church stood on the banks of the River Nomini about six miles from the manor. The Carter family attended this church, traveling by both land and water. Councillor Carter had a boat built for the purpose "of carrying the young Ladies and others of the Family to Nominy Church. It is a light neat Battoe elegantly painted & is rowed with four Oars." On the way to church by boat, Fithian saw the river alive with people, in boats and canoes, fishing.

Whenever it was possible Fithian excused himself from the social gatherings and stayed in his room, writing in his Journal and working on his sermons, for he was to become a Presbyterian minister. He was happiest there alone because he could not fit in with these strange Northern Neckers. He felt a little sorry for himself because he was a somber "meagre" figure in his dark clothes among these gay people. His greatest handicap was that he had never learned to dance and--"blow high, blow low, Virginians will dance or die!" He wrote to a friend in the North: "Here we either strain on Horseback, from home to Church, or from house to house if we go out at all--or we walk alone into a dark meadow, or tall wood. But I love solitude, and these lonely recesses suit exactly the feeling of my mind."

In spite of his disapproval Fithian grew fond of the Northern Neck and its people. When he returned from a visit home he wrote: "I am much more pleased with the Face of the Country since my return than I have ever been before--It is indeed delightsome! How natural, how agreeable, how majestic the place seems! Supp'd on Crabs & an elegant dish of Strawberries & Cream!"

On Christmas morning Fithian was awakened by the guns being fired around the house. Then the boy who made the fire came in with a "Christmas Box," for a tip, and the other servants followed with their "Boxes." Mrs. Carter sent him over some spermaceti candles--"large clear & very elegant." The holidays were a round of balls and parties, which Fithian excused himself from as much as possible. He was glad when they were over--"We had a large Pye cut to-day to signify the conclusion of the Holidays."

It was so cold in January that "a cart and three pair of oxen which every day bring in four loads of wood, Sundays excepted." In the manor and other houses there were twenty-eight "steady fires & most of them are very large." It grew so cold that the cart went for wood on Sunday also.

Mail was gotten infrequently from the post-office at Hobb's Hole, which was the name of present-day Tappahannock. Newspapers from the North and _The Virginia Gazette_ brought accounts of the Tea Party in Boston, and other rumblings in the colonies. These "Golden Days" in Virginia were not to last much longer--war was in the making.

Fithian left Nomini Hall late in 1774. He could no longer stay away from his Northern "dream-girl," the "fair Laura" of his Journal. He was married to her in October, 1775. He enlisted in the Revolutionary forces in 1776 as a chaplain, but his "meagre" body could not stand the life of the army. He died shortly after the battle of White Plains.

But Fithian had not lived in vain--his Journal was a legacy to posterity.

_THE SCHOOL IN THE WILDWOOD_

In colonial days a small school was conducted in the forest of Westmoreland County by a Scotch minister. His own sons were his pupils, and a few children who lived close enough to walk to school through the woodland lane which was cut for several straight miles through the woods and was known as the Parson's Road.

In 1755 the "Parson" had petitioned the Court of Westmoreland County to have a road from the "new Glebe opened to Round Hill Church." The petition was granted, for the Reverend Archibald Campbell was an influential man in the region.

Mr. Campbell came to Virginia from Scotland in October, 1741. The "new Glebe" was purchased, tradition says, from Thomas Marshall, "the surveyor," about 1753. The "Parson" moved to the "new Glebe" and lived there until his death in 1775. It was there that he conducted his school.

The "new Glebe" was situated on Mattox Creek, originally called Appamatox Creek after the Indians who had once lived there. This Glebe was located not far from the present village of Oak Grove.

The Reverend Archibald Campbell came from a distinguished and learned Scottish family--his nephew, Thomas Campbell, became one of Britain's greatest poets. The "Parson" himself was well equipped with "all the learning which the Scottish universities could give."

At the school in the forest it was all work and little play, for the "Parson" was a hard taskmaster. His pupils were said to have been "especially well grounded in mathematics and Latin ... and in their various subsequent careers they were noted for solidity of character." At least two of his pupils became historic figures.

_JAMES AND JOHN_

On winter mornings it was still dark when the Monroe family breakfasted, but the "large living room" was cozy with its glowing hearth where pots and kettles bubbled and steamed on their cranes and trivets.

Around the breakfast table were seated Spence and Elizabeth Monroe and their children who, according to age, were--Elizabeth, James, Spence, Andrew and Joseph Jones.

Breakfast at the Monroe home was not as formal as breakfast at the homes of their neighbors at Stratford and Nomini Hall. Spence Monroe was not a wealthy planter, although he was a gentleman and a small landowner. His home in Westmoreland County was situated between Monroe Bay and Mattox Creek, not far from present-day Colonial Beach. The Monroes had been living in the Northern Neck since about 1650.

The Monroes lived in a plain frame two-storied house "within a stone's throw of ... a virgin forest." The Potomac flowed not far away.

After breakfast James would start for school with his books under one arm and his gun slung over his shoulder. The Monroe table never lacked for game while James was around.

James was tall for his fifteen years, and built like an athlete. He well knew the forest and river.

Somewhere along the woodland road James was joined by another tall well-built youth, who was dressed in a pale-blue hunting-shirt and trousers, fringed with white, and a black hat decorated with a buck's tail. He also had a gun and books. There was the look of the mountains about this lad. John Marshall's home was in Fauquier County and he was only visiting in the Northern Neck. He had learned his classics from his father in their frontier cabin, but now Thomas Marshall had sent his son back to his people in Westmoreland for more schooling.

John was three years older than James. He was dark--skin, eyes and hair--with rosy cheeks and a round face. His eyes twinkled, for he was as merry and fun-loving as James was solemn and serious. The two tall boys must have made a fine-looking pair as they walked down the Parson's Road, with gun and books, on a bright winter's morning in the year 1773. As they come within sight of the Glebe we will leave them--in the firm hands of the Reverend Archibald Campbell.

Little did these boys dream of the adventures that lay ahead for them. For these two backwoods boys were destined to become makers of history: John Marshall, the great Chief Justice, who "found a Constitution on paper and made it power"; and James Monroe who became the fifth President of the United States and who formulated and declared the Monroe Doctrine.

_CAPTAIN DOBBY_

Captains of the ships constantly lying at anchor in the rivers were often guests at Nomini Hall and the other Northern Neck plantations. Captain Dobby was a general favorite. Fithian described him in his Journal as "a Man of much Spirit and Humour: A great Mimick."

In the summer of 1774 Captain Dobby invited the Carters of Nomini and Fithian, the tutor, "on Board his Ship next Tuesday to Dine with him & wish them a pleasant Passage as the Ship is to Sail the day following." Fithian must have especially liked the Captain for he commented in his Journal: "If the Weather is not too burning hot I shall go, provided the Others go likewise."

On the appointed day, in August, Fithian and Ben Carter set out for the River. They had intended to breakfast at Colonel Tayloe's, twelve miles distant, "but the Servant who went with us was so slow in preparing that we breakfasted before we set out. We arrived at Colonel Tayloe's however half after nine."

Colonel John Tayloe was one of the wealthiest men in the Northern Neck. His manor house, Mount Airy, in Richmond County, was situated on an elevation, and overlooked the Rappahannock River, several miles distant. An interesting feature of the plantation was the deer park, located in a grove of oaks and cedars.

Fithian described Mount Airy as "an elegant Seat!--The House is about the Size of Mr. Carter's, built with stone, & finished curiously, & ornamented with various paintings, & rich Pictures. This Gentleman owns Yorick, who won the prize of 500 pounds last November, from Dr. Flood's Horse, Gift--In the Dining-Room, besides many other fine Pieces, are twenty four of the most celebrated among the English Race-Horses, Drawn masterly, & set in elegant gilt Frames. He has near the great House, two fine two Story stone Houses, the one is used as a Kitchen, & the other, for a nursery, & Lodging Rooms--He has also a large well-formed, beautiful Garden, as fine in every Respect as any I have seen in Virginia. In it stand four large beautiful Marble Statues."

Mount Airy was built after the style of an Italian villa. The main entrance was guarded by bronze dogs.

When Fithian and Ben arrived at Mount Airy they found "the young Ladies in the Hall playing the Harpsichord."

Joined by the Tayloes the party set out for the River. The "Colonel and his Lady" and daughters traveled in "their Great Coach," while Fithian and Ben and the servants were on horseback.

The land from Mount Airy to the ferry, opposite Hobb's Hole (Tappahannock), was level and the road lay between fields of corn and flax. As they neared the River the fields changed to marshes "covered with thick high Reed."

The Rappahannock River was about two miles wide here and they could see ships lying at anchor on the other side near the town. They counted six ships "riding in the Harbour, and a number of Schooners & smaller Vessels."

The party waited for half an hour in the burning sun. At last they saw the long-boat coming, covered with an awning and rowed by four oarsmen. It was past noon when they reached the ship, where they were warmly welcomed by Captain Dobby.

The _Beaufort_ was a "Stately Ship." For the comfort of his guests the Captain had arranged an awning from the "Stern ... to the Mizen-Mast," which kept off the sun but was open on the sides.

By three o'clock the guests had arrived, forty-five ladies and sixty gentlemen, and besides them the ship's crew, waiters and servants. Dinner was served and "we were not throng'd at all, & dined all at twice."

The guests were then entertained by a boat race--"A Boat was anchored down the River at a Mile Distance--Captain Dobby and Captain Benson steer'd the Boats in the Race--Captain Benson had 5 Oarsmen; Captain Dobby had 6--It was Ebb-Tide--The Betts were small--& chiefly given to the Negroes who rowed--Captain Benson won the first Race--Captain Purchace offered to bett ten Dollars that with the same Boat & same Hands, only having Liberty to put a small Weight in the Stern, he would beat Captain Benson--He was taken, & came out best only half the Boat's Length--About Sunset we left the Ship, & went all to Hobb's Hole, where a Ball was agreed on."

After the ball was over the guests spent the remainder of the night at Hobb's Hole. At half-past eight the next morning they were called to breakfast--"we all look'd dull, pale & haggard!"

After breakfast the party was entertained by the young ladies on the harpsichord. At eleven o'clock they all went down to the River, where the long-boat was waiting to take them back home to the Northern Neck.

_PEDLARS_

Probably the first pedlars in the Northern Neck were the Indians of Cascarawaske, a merchant tribe that manufactured their products and sold them up and down the Potomac--Patowmeke--meaning "traveling traders," or pedlars.

During colonial days the itinerant pedlar traveled from plantation to plantation. He was welcome everywhere because he brought news and gossip as well as merchandise. Children were always watching out for the pedlar at certain seasons when he usually arrived.

He was not hard to identify for he bore on his back, by means of a harness of strong hempen webbing, two oblong trunks of thin metal, probably tin. He carried a stout staff to help him to walk with his burden and also for a weapon to ward off dogs and wild animals. He was usually called the "trunk pedlar."

His pack contained everything from dress materials and jewelry to "plumpers." The latter were thin, round, light balls used to put in the mouth and fill up hollow cheeks!

The "indigo-pedlars" had a specialized trade. Blue, in all shades, was the favorite color in colonial days, and indigo was used to dye this color. It was especially in demand for dyeing wool. Pedlars traveled all over the country selling indigo.

Pedlars continued to travel through the Northern Neck until the early part of the twentieth century.

_SEVEN SATIN PETTICOATS_

Settlers in the Northern Neck sometimes received boxes containing luxuries from relatives in England. These boxes were received even until a late date.

In one family there were seven sisters. In probably the last box they received from "home," as England was called for many years, there were seven satin petticoats, some pink and some blue. They were made of heavy satin and trimmed with lace.

Needless to say, these petticoats were treasured and passed on for several generations. When nothing was left of them except faded shreds, the tradition of the "seven satin petticoats" was then handed down from mother to daughter.

_PHI BETA KAPPA_

In Williamsburg, Virginia, on December 5, 1776, was founded the first scholastic Greek letter fraternity--Phi Beta Kappa. That a native of the Northern Neck had a part in this is shown by the minutes of that first meeting:

"On Thursday, the 5th of December in the year of our Lord God
one thousand seven hundred and seventy-six and the first of the
Commonwealth, a happy spirit and resolution of attaining the
important ends of Society entering the minds of John Heath,
Thomas Smith, Richard Booker, Armistead Smith, and John Jones,
and afterwards seconded by others, prevailed, and was
accordingly ratified."

".... Officers were elected--John Heath as President, Richard
Booker as Treasurer, and Thomas Smith as Clerk, the society
esteeming them as necessary persons for the functions of their
several duties accordingly selected them."

These young gentlemen were students of William and Mary College. The Apollo Room of the Raleigh Tavern is believed to be the birthplace of the distinguished Phi Beta Kappa Society.

John Heath was a native of Northumberland County. Heathsville, the county seat, was named for his family.

John Heath owned an estate called Black Point, on the outskirts of Heathsville. Black Point was later known as Springfield.

_LIGHT-HORSE HARRY_

He rode into battle fast--with his sabre drawn and his three hundred screaming troopers following close behind. Under him was his own horse which he had ridden north from Virginia, one of those "fleet steeds" for which his home country was noted. From his tall leather helmet the horse-hair plumes streamed out behind and his jacket was a blur of green.

His white lambskin breeches and knee-high boots were perfection. His troopers were brilliant and shining--that was because Henry Lee would have his Virginians no other way. His detachment of cavalry stood out like a torch amid the ragged forces of Washington's army.

Henry Lee, lately graduated from Princeton, had been nominated by Patrick Henry in 1776, to command a cavalry company raised in Virginia for service in the Continental Army, under the command of Colonel Bland. In 1777, Lee's Corps was placed under Washington's immediate control. It was the "flower of Washington's troop."

In Harry Lee's "flying detachment" there was one who was a neighbor of his back in Northern Virginia, John Marshall.

Light-Horse Harry Lee received his nickname because his outfit traveled light. He never had more than three hundred men and they were as lightly equipped as possible. Speed was necessary if they were to survive, for to them fell the hard and dangerous assignments.

It fell to them to spy on the enemy's movements, to harass them, to destroy them and capture their supplies. They hunted for food for Washington's hungry army. Their jobs were the lonesome ones, carried out in the still of the night, while Death stalked them--waiting for them to make just one sound, one slip, one mistake. But Light-Horse Harry and his men were like foxes, and Luck traveled with them.

General Washington was fond of Harry; he remembered him as a blond child who had come with his father and mother on neighborly visits to Mt. Vernon. He invited Harry to become one of his aides.

It was a tempting offer. Washington had been Harry's hero since childhood days and this was an opportunity to be near him. After a struggle with this great temptation, Harry won and sent his answer to General Washington: "I am wedded to my sword."

In 1779, Light-Horse Harry decided to do the impossible. He and his men would capture Paulus (Powles) Hook, a fort occupied by the British on a point of land on the west side of the Hudson, opposite the town of New York. The enemy had made the Hook an island by digging a deep ditch through which the river flowed. It was strongly guarded on all sides by British ships, troops or natural defenses.