Hallowed Heritage: The Life of Virginia

by Dorothy Margaret Torpey

In 1698, a Scotsman, Francis Makemie, a Presbyterian missionary, migrated from Pennsylvania to Accomack County, Virginia, where he held services in his home. He was soon arrested for not having a license to preach, but he was so sincere in his religious beliefs that he was later awarded a license. He is the founder of Presbyterianism in Virginia and, near Temperanceville, one may see a monument consisting of a stone figure of Francis Makemie attired in his usual clerical garb.

Shortly before the beginning of the eighteenth century, the General Assembly passed an act requiring an import tax of twenty shillings upon each Negro imported into the Virginia Colony. England, however, opposed such action and, as additional laws were passed by the Virginia General Assembly levying high import taxes on slaves, she consistently vetoed them. The number of Negroes in Virginia increased as the production and the value of tobacco increased until, by 1700, there were approximately 7,000 Negroes out of 72,000 inhabitants within the colony. The colonists expressed their desire to prohibit or at least restrict the importation of Negroes in 1713, but the mother country would not authorize the Virginia Colony to forbid slave importation.

Another law passed at this time provided that any settler could buy an unlimited area of land from the colony itself at the cost of five shillings per fifty acres. This action was referred to as a "Treasury Right." Therefore, the "Head-Right" system was no longer the most common method of acquiring land settlements in the Virginia Colony. The population of the Virginia Colony was predominantly English and all types of social classes were now represented here: from the aristocratic nobles to the uncouth convicts. With the influx of the Cavaliers and with the reputation of the prosperity of the Virginia Colony, the number of middle class and upper class residents increased considerably during the Eighteenth Century until such residents soon made up a majority of the inhabitants. By 1700, the population of Virginia was approximately 70,000 including about 5,500 Negroes.

By 1710, the practice had been established of allowing the Governor of a British Colony to remain in England and to appoint deputies to live in the colony and actually to rule the colony. At this time, Alexander Spotswood arrived in Virginia as a royal Governor, technically the Deputy to Lord George Hamilton, Earl of Orkney, the official Lieutenant and Governor-General of the Virginia Colony. He was the first royal Governor to live in the new Governor's Palace at Williamsburg. Governor Spotswood remained in this position for twelve years and was responsible for many improvements and much progress in the Virginia Colony. He encouraged and helped carry out the beautifying of Williamsburg, the new capital city. Ravines were filled, streets leveled, some college buildings, a public magazine (a storehouse for arms and ammunition) and a church were erected primarily due to his influence. Since he believed in developing the natural resources of Virginia, he had iron foundries established along the Rapidan River, near Fredericksburg. As a result, the first mining village in Virginia, Germanna, located near the Blue Ridge Mountains, came into existence. This village was named in honor of the German miners who came to Virginia to work the iron mines and in honor of the German ruler, Queen Anne.

In 1716, the Governor and some friends started out to explore the Northwest. They stopped at Germanna to shoe the horses as protection for them on the rocky, mountain roads. The Governor traveled by stagecoach from Williamsburg to Germanna. Here he changed to horseback and accompanied by two groups of rangers and four Indian guides, in addition to the original group, he traced the Rapidan River to its headwaters and then proceeded to climb the east side of the Blue Ridge Mountains. They reached the top near Swift Run Gap and, from this summit, viewed the great Shenandoah Valley and the Allegheny Mountains about twenty miles away. They spent the night there on the summit and then descended the west slope of the mountain, finally arriving at a river which they called Euphrates. This same river is known today as the Shenandoah River, an Indian name meaning "Daughter of the Stars." As had happened earlier on the Batts-Fallon expedition, a volley of gunfire was shot, and Governor Spotswood claimed possession of the land in the name of George I, then King of England. The highest mountain peak which they had climbed they called Mount George in his honor, and the next highest one was called Mount Alexander in honor of the Governor himself. The expedition had been such a pleasant one for the Governor that legend states that he sent to England for small individual golden horseshoe pins with diamonds symbolizing the nailheads and presented one to each of his companions on this memorable trip, bestowing upon them the title of "Knights of the Golden Horseshoe." Governor Spotswood also was a most able diplomat with the Indians, and he tried conscientiously to help them get better educated. For example, he sent white teachers to help them to develop their handicraft and the arts of civilization, and later, he encouraged many of the Indian boys to attend William and Mary College where they could specialize in their particular abilities. Spotswood was later appointed Postmaster General for the Colonies and was responsible for initiating a postal system extending from Charleston to Boston. Colonel Hugh Drysdale succeeded him as Governor for the next four years.

In 1716, the first theater in America was built by William Levingston at Williamsburg. It was constructed for the acting of "Comedies, Drolls and other kind of stage plays ... thought fitt to be acted there." Mary Stagg, the wife of Charles Stagg, who was the manager of the theater, is considered the first theatrical leading lady in America. Although many British actors and musicians were participants in this theater, it often suffered from financial stress. Thus, twenty-nine years later, this theater was donated to Williamsburg to be used as a town hall.

In 1722, Williamsburg, the capital of Colonial Virginia (1699-1780), became the first incorporated municipality in Virginia. It became the leading political, economic, educational and social center of the colony, especially during legislative sessions. Eight years after Williamsburg had been incorporated, William Parks arrived there as a public printer. He set up the first permanent printing press in Virginia and approximately six years later, Virginia's first colonial newspaper, the "Virginia Gazette," was printed.

Colonel Robert Carter, President of the Council, succeeded Governor Drysdale in July 1726. Carter was a very wealthy man whose land holdings—300,000 acres total—were second in Virginia only to the Fairfaxes. Because of his enormous wealth and arrogant manner, he was nicknamed "King" Carter.

In 1728, William Byrd II was the leader of a survey group which followed the Virginia-North Carolina borderline from the Atlantic Ocean two hundred and forty miles westward. This action provided Virginians with knowledge of the type of terrain and its potentiality along this important borderline.

It was in the period 1730-1760 that a majority of the beautiful brick and stone plantation mansions were constructed. The wealthy families preferred the country-side. Some of the mansions built at this time included Westover (William Byrd family), Stratford Hall (Thomas Lee family), Ampthill (Archibald Cary family), Carter's Grove (Robert Carter Burwell family) and Mount Airy (John Tayloe family).