Hallowed Heritage: The Life of Virginia

by Dorothy Margaret Torpey

Sir William Gooch was acting chief executive of Virginia for twenty-two years, 1727-1749. His greatest project during this period was the development of settlements in the Shenandoah Valley. At the beginning of the Eighteenth Century, some Scotch-Irish, Germans and French Huguenots settled in Virginia. The Scotch-Irish had migrated first to Pennsylvania and to New Jersey. Upon hearing about the beautiful valley seen by Governor Spotswood, they decided to settle there. Their main settlement was located in the area now included in the Winchester and Staunton areas and in the counties of Augusta and Rockbridge. It became so densely populated with people originally from Northern Ireland that it was called the "Irish Tract." Later, additional Scots direct from Scotland migrated here in large numbers. Germans had already migrated in large numbers to Germanna, the mining town. The French Huguenot immigrants settled mainly along both sides of the James River at Manakintown. Thus, the Shenandoah Valley and the area beyond the Blue Ridge and the Allegheny Mountains were colonized primarily by the Scotch-Irish, German, and French Huguenots.

Two years later, the Quakers organized a church at Hopewell which is the oldest church in northern Virginia. Six years later, the oldest Lutheran church in the South was built in Madison County by some of the Germans from Germanna. Its financial support originally came from friends in Germany, and it was called Hebron Church.

In 1749, Augusta Academy was founded by the Presbyterians in Augusta County, and it was the first classical school located west of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Its name was later changed in 1775 to the patriotic title of Liberty Hall. This academy was the forerunner of the Washington and Lee University.

Colonel Thomas Lee was acting Governor from 1749 to 1751. He encouraged westward expansion in the Virginia Colony and believed that the French should be expelled from America. He was the father of the most famous family in Virginia history: the Lee family. He built the now-famous family homestead, Stratford, in Westmoreland County in 1725-1730. During his governorship, some wealthy Virginians formed the Ohio Company whose purpose was to settle a colony west of the Allegheny Mountains on a tract of land 500,000 acres in size. Four years later, the company constructed a fort at the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers where the present city of Pittsburgh is now located. One hundred and twenty miles north of this fort, the French proceeded to construct Fort LeBoeuf on the Allegheny River. Since many Virginians and other Englishmen from other colonies had been settling in the Ohio Valley, they became much alarmed at the construction and occupation of this French fort. Consequently, the British-Americans began to observe carefully the activities of the French in this region. Colonel Lee had the unusual distinction of being the only Virginian to have a Crown Commission of Governor awarded to him even though he died before the commission reached him.

From 1721 to 1750, nineteen new counties were created: Hanover (formed from New Kent and named for the Duke of Hanover who later became King George of England), Spotsylvania (formed from Essex, King William and King and Queen Counties and named for Lieutenant Governor Spotswood), King George (formed from Richmond and later a part of Westmoreland County and named for George I, King of England), Goochland (formed from Henrico County and named for William Gooch, the Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia at the time), Caroline (formed from Essex, King and Queen and King William Counties and named for Queen Caroline, George II's wife), Prince William (formed from Stafford and King George Counties and named for William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland), Brunswick (formed from Prince George and parts of Surry and Isle of Wight Counties and named for the Duchy of Brunswick in Germany), Orange (formed from Spotsylvania and named for William, Prince of Orange, an English king), Amelia (formed from Prince George and Brunswick Counties and named for Princess Amelia, King George II's youngest daughter), Fairfax (formed from Prince William County and named for Lord Fairfax), Frederick (formed from Orange County and named for Frederick, Prince of Wales, George II's son and George III's father), Louisa (formed from Hanover County and named for King George II's daughter, Princess Louisa, who was also the wife of King Frederick V of Denmark), Albemarle (formed from Goochland County and named for William Anne Keppel, the second Earl of Albemarle, Governor-General of the Colony who remained in England during the entire time), Augusta (formed from Orange and named for Princess Augusta, wife of Frederick, Prince of Wales, George III's father), Lunenburg (formed from Brunswick and named for one of George I's titles: Duke of Brunswick-Lunenburg), Chesterfield (formed from Henrico and named for the famous Lord Chesterfield, Philip Dormer Stanhope), Culpeper (formed from Orange County and named for Lord Thomas Culpeper, Governor of Virginia, 1680-1683), Southampton (formed from Isle of Wight County and named for Henry Wriothesley, the third Earl of Southampton and a leading member of the Virginia Company) and Cumberland (formed from Goochland County and part of Buckingham County and named in honor of William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland).

By 1750, the Virginia colony was enjoying prosperity. Numerous large plantations had come into existence. As more and more soil became impoverished due to a lack of crop rotation, non-use of fertilizer and the intensive planting of the tobacco crop which requires a rich soil, additional land was purchased and added to the existing homestead. Consequently, plantations of 100,000 to 300,000 acres became common, especially around the Tidewater area. The larger the tobacco plantation, the greater the need for cheap labor became apparent. Consequently, the number of Negro slaves increased in Virginia until by 1750, there were approximately 115,000 Negroes and approximately 170,000 free whites. The increase in huge plantations caused the middle class tobacco farmer to migrate westward as he could not successfully compete with the larger tobacco planters. The Virginia plantation owners had become accustomed at this time to allowing the London tobacco merchants to act as their bankers: they would order their necessities, supplies and luxuries (glass, silver, china) via their tobacco credits. Such a system furnished an immediate advantage for the plantation owners but also created a situation whereby the Virginia planters became heavily indebted financially to the London merchants. The plantation owners also became the influential individuals within the colony—politically, economically and socially. Thus, Virginia at this time was practically ruled by an aristocracy. Although the governing power of the assembly had increased gradually, the political power of the commoner or average citizen had not increased accordingly. Membership in the Virginia Council was considered a position of the greatest prestige and was almost an hereditary position. The two required qualifications were wealth and social position. The era of aristocratic living which predominated in the Virginia Colony between 1700-1750 is often referred to as the "Golden Age" of Virginia's colonial history.

The Pre-Revolutionary War Era

While Robert Dinwiddie was the acting Governor of Virginia, the English and French rivalry in colonial settlements was becoming bitter in America. In 1753, Governor Dinwiddie selected George Washington to visit General St. Pierre, the commander in charge of the French fort at Presque Isle on the shore of Lake Erie, and to inform him that the Ohio country belonged to the English and that he should withdraw his troops from there at once. Dinwiddie sincerely believed that the land upon which the French fort had been built was English territory. Washington and four comrades rode on horseback from Williamsburg to Fredericksburg where he hired Jacob Vanbraam as an interpreter since Washington could not speak French. They rode to Alexandria where Washington purchased food and essential equipment because there were no towns between Alexandria and Winchester. Two weeks later he reached Winchester, after having made the dangerous crossing of the unbridged Shenandoah River. At Winchester, Washington hired a well-known guide, Christopher Gist, to assist him on his journey to Fort LeBoeuf where the French General had arrived to supervise its fortifications. Two Indian traders also accompanied him. They traveled to Maryland and to Pennsylvania until they reached the French fort, Fort LeBoeuf. The destination was approximately five hundred miles from Williamsburg. Although St. Pierre was polite and friendly, Washington was informed that the French had been ordered to eject every Englishman from the Ohio Valley and that the French had the rightful claim to such territory. Before he departed, Washington noticed a large fleet of birch-bark canoes and boats of pine and was convinced that a war between the English and French would be necessary to settle the dispute over the control of the Northwest.

Washington returned to Williamsburg in January 1754, and reported to Governor Dinwiddie a detailed account of his journey. Washington then prepared a written report which persuaded the members of the General Assembly to realize the seriousness of this matter. Colonel Joshua Fry, with Washington second in command, marched with a troop of one hundred and fifty men against the French in the Ohio Valley. On March 28, near Great Meadows, Washington's group killed the French commander, Coulon de Jumonville, and killed or captured all his soldiers except one. On March 31, 1754, Washington was granted a commission as Lieutenant Colonel of the Virginia Regiment, which he later received at Gadsby's Tavern in Alexandria. In the meantime, Colonel Fry had died suddenly from an accidental fall, and Washington had succeeded to the command.

Fort Necessity, near Farmington, Pennsylvania, a crude structure of defense, was in the process of being constructed by the Virginians at the forks of the Ohio River when seven hundred French soldiers appeared, outnumbering the Virginian troops by at least four hundred men. Washington and his troops were forced to surrender, were allowed to leave with the honors of war and finally trudged back to Winchester. The Battle of Great Meadows and the Battle of Fort Necessity were of historical importance because they marked the beginning of the French and Indian War in America, they were actually the first fighting attacks in the Seven Years War in Europe between the English and the French, and they provided the first real combat fighting experience for George Washington who was only twenty-two years old at the time. The French proceeded to occupy Fort Necessity and after improving it considerably, they changed its name to Fort Duquesne, in honor of Canada's governor.