Volume 14 , Issue 33

Pendleton County, (West) Virginia - Early Laws & Customs of Virginia Colony

This week in our journey through the History of Pendleton County, West Virginia we learn a bit about the early laws, customs and usages of when the settlement actually began and reaching in 1818 and through a full natural term of of seventy years with the Middle years around 1865.

The first capital of Virginia was a matter of convenience located in the earlier settled section and it remained at Williamsburg until April 30, 1780 when it was moved to Richmond to keep it nearer the center of population. Before the Revolution there was a legislative assembly as there was in 1910 and with much the same powers. At the head of the state was a governor appointed by the sovereign of England. He was the proxy of the British king and his representative and spokesman. He lived in great style, so as to befit the aristocratic ideas of that time, but his salary was paid by the colony. He was looked up to, yet so far as being the king's proxy he was an ornamental figure head and expected to know his own place. Virginia kept her purse strings in her own hands, and if he sought to govern after the royal ideas of Europe he was liable to find himself in hot water.

From the distance of time the American is inclined to suppose that in cutting loose from England his country threw off one suit of clothes and stepped at once into a brand new suit cut to an entirely different style. There was nothing of that sort. The same suit was dusted, some of the wrinkles pressed out, and it was put on again. The General Assembly was nothing more than the House of Burgesses under a new name.

The Virginia Constitution of 1776 was only a restatement of the source of Virginia law, so that it might conform to the fact of separation from England. The king's name was of course left out where it had been used in proclamations and official forms. Otherwise Virginia went on living under very much the same laws and institutions. The new governors lived in style and were looked up to. They were elected by the Assembly and not by the people. There was a Governor's Council of eight members, according to the former custom. The native governor appointed justices and signed land patents, just as the king had been doing through his proxy, the royal governor. The coming in of the new order of things was a good illustration of the fact that men were willing to progress by steps but were very slow to progress by jumps.

From 1776 to 1829 each county chose by popular vote two delegates to the lower house of the state legislature. A senator was likewise chosen at the same time, Augusta, Rockingham, and Shenandoah forming in 1778 one senatorial district. Beginning with 1788, the voters also elected a representative to the Federal Congress. The exercise of the right to vote went very little farther. The government of Virginia was very centralized.

The citizens of a county had no direct say in the choice of their local officials. When a new county was organized, the governor commissioned a number of men to act as "worshipful justices." These men were not only justices of the peace, but they were also a board of county commissioners. They held office for life, except that the governor might remove a justice for cause. Vacancies were filled or the court enlarged by new men recommended to the governor by the court. The county court was therefore self-perpetuating. It was a close corporation, and this feature remained in vogue until 1852. From its own body the court recommended a senior justice to act as sheriff, and he was commissioned by the governor, becoming a justice once more when his term was out. The clerk of the court, the jailer, and the constables were appointed by the court.

The Virginia Bill of Rights of 1776 laid down the doctrine that "magistrates are the trustees and servants of the people." But in practice the structure of society remained as aristocratic as it was before. The justices were supposed to be chosen from that small number of well-to-do and influential citizens who alone were styled "gentlemen." The office often descended from father to son. It will thus be seen that the favored families might greatly influence the county to their own ends whenever they chose to be ambitious or domineering.

There was a time when a man to be a voter had to own a plot of 25 acres, including a house 12 feet by 12, or its equivalent; or 50 acres of unimproved land; or a lot and similar house in a designated town. Voters were exempt from arrest while going to or returning from the polls, one day being allowed for each 20 miles. The voter might be required to take oath.

Under the crown the governor and his council formed a General Court or judiciary. There were also quarterly courts of four or more justices. Under independence the state had a court of appeals of five judges, any three constituting a court of appeals of five judges, any three constituting a court for appellate cases. A general court of ten judges met twice a year at Richmond, whence they were sent out by twos to hold district courts.

Augusta, Pendleton, Rockingham and Rockbridge formed one of these circuits, the judges having full jurisdiction in civil and criminal causes, and original jurisdiction in all causes involving a consideration of more than 100 pounds. After 1819 each of the fifteen judges held one circuit court a year in each county of his district. After 1818 there was a superior court of chancery in each of the nine districts.

Until 1776, a county court was opened by the reading of the royal commission to the justices: "Be it remembered his majesty's commission directed to to hear and determine all treasons, petit treasons, or misprisions thereof, felonies, murders, and all other offenses or crimes, was openly read."

A single justice and jurisdiction in matters not exceeding the value of one pound. Each county was then a parish, and as such it had its vestry authorized to levy and assess tithes, provide a glebe and support for a minister of the established church, see to the poor, bind out apprentices and any bastard liable to become a public charge. All persons had to pay taxes imposed by the vestry, and also attend services at least once in two months or pay a fine. Until 1776, therefore, the annals of Augusta contain frequent mention of the church wardens, as the members of the vestry were called.

The doing away of the English custom of supporting a particular church at public expense also did away with the other English custom of local government through that church. By an Act of 1788, the county court was "for the trial of all presentments and criminal prosecutions, suits at common law and in chancery, where the sum exceeds five pounds, or 500 pounds of tobacco, depending therein and continue for the space of six days unless the business be sooner determined."

It had general police and probate jurisdiction, control of levies, of roads, actions at law, and suits in chancery. The justices served without pay, and their number was not limited by law. The greatest number in Pendleton present at any one term appeared to have been nineteen. A quorum consisted of four, and some justices were seldom present at all. For the levy term the sheriff was directed to summon the attendance of all acting members.

The grand jury of 24 members, sworn for an "inquest on the body of this county," was selected by the sheriff from the freeholders. Constables, surveyors of roads, keepers of ordinaries, and owners or occupiers of mills were exempt from jury service. Under the crown the term of the sheriff was two years. Afterward and until 1852, the length of term was rather less, depending on the time of the year when the commission was issued. Some sheriffs did not act as such themselves, but farmed out the office to a deputy. The salary of the office in Pendleton was at first only $20. The clerk of the court held his office during life or good behavior, and his salary as the princely sum of $30. The jailer received $25.

The language of the law clung very tenaciously to time-honored models. The changes since the colonial era were more in the direction of leaving out certain features than of modifying what was retained. The word "hath" for instance remained in legal use long after it had disappeared from everyday speech. Imprisonment for debt was an absurdity not put aside until within the recollection of people still living. In the early court records we often found the form, "Thereupon came A. B. and undertook for the said defendant in case he be cast in this suit, he shall pay and satisfy the condemnation of the court, or render his body to prison in execution for the same, or that he, the said A. B., will do it for him."

The leading purpose of a jail appeared to be that of a boarding house for the delinquent debtor. The poor prosecutor could select his court, have free attorney and free writs, and costs were not exacted in the event of failure to win his case. The person giving a bond was until the Revolution "indebted to the Sovereign Lord the King." He was then "indebted to his excellency the governor of Virginia." But this monarchical adherence to venerable usage is another of the things that has had its day.

The man selling a parcel of ground followed until 1776 the English practice of giving first a deed of lease and directly afterward a deed of release. The first was valid "from the day before the sale for one whole year to be completed and ended, yielding and paying therefor the rent of one peppercorn on Lady-day next, if the same shall be lawfully demanded, to the intent and purpose that by virtue of these present and of the statute for transferring uses into possession, the said (A.B.) may be in actual possession of these premises and be thereby enabled to accept and take a grant and release of the possession and inheritances thereof." A consideration of five shillings was paid by the purchaser. The deed of release, which was the real and effective instrument, was usually dated one day later than the deed of lease.

In the book there was considerable fun that had been poked at the New England people for their stringent laws on personal conduct. But all America was Puritan wherever the Calvinistic faith prevailed, as among the Scotch-Irish, and the laws on the observance of Sunday were strict. Even in Cavalier Virginia a Sunday law of 1658 declared that "no journeys be made except in case of urgent necessity, no goods be laden in boats, no shooting in guns."

In 1791 a merchant of Franklin was indicted for "retailing goods and selling liquor by the small" on sunday. About the same time two men were indicted for digging ginseng, another for carrying a gun, and still another for driving a wagon and hauling dirt. The offenses most numerously before the courts were assault, slander, bastardy, neglect of road supervision, the illegal selling of liquor, drinking, and swearing. This list enabled those to form some estimate of the nature of the times.

In 1798 a woman of Pendleton was presented for "beating and keeping the sheriff off from collecting revenue." This was not a solitary instance, for three years later both a man and his wife were brought up for beating the sheriff and rescuing property taken by him, and in still the same year a deputy sheriff had a like experience. As late as 1837 a certain laborer was sentenced to receive 33 lashes on the bare back for stealing a hog worth $5. At an earlier day the same law was made to apply to the other sex as well. In the Augusta records we find that a sheriff was ordered to punish a female thief with 39 lashes "well laid on," and to attend to the matter at once.

For stealing a pipe worth one shilling a Pendleton woman in 1790 was required to give a bond of 40 pounds with two sureties. About 1774, one Cash, a poor prisoner, was ordered from Staunton to the state capital for further trial on a felonious crime. He protested that the expense would totally ruin him, and said he would humbly submit to such punishment as the court would choose to inflict, and asserted the hope that "by his future conduct he would convince the court and the world of his thorough reformation." To remind him of his pledge, the court let him off with a sentence of 39 lashes. In bastardy the female offender did not escape punishment. A redemption's in Augusta was ordered to serve her master an additional year in consequence of her having an illegitimate child. For maiming, a not infrequent felony, the law of 1796 permitted damages of $1000, three-fourths of this sum to go to the injured party.

There was a further penalty of imprisonment from two to ten years. counterfeiting, another frequent offense, and easier to accomplish than at present, carried at one time the penalty of death without benefit of clergy. Later the penalty was made a fine of $1000, and a term in prison of from four to fourteen years. In 1797 there was a suspicion that counterfeit coin was in circulation in this county. For swearing or getting drunk the penalty was a fine of five shillings for each offense, or the choice of ten lashes. This law was impartially carried out against the first clerk of court, who for "swearing two round oaths in open court" had to pay ten shillings. The colonial laws permitted the branding of a criminal in open court, the jailer making with a hot iron a letter "R" in the palm of the left hand. The culprit was meanwhile to proclaim, "God save the commonwealth."

Possibly the scorching enabled him to say the required words with considerable emphasis. Road overseers in this county were often indicted for failing to keep their roads in proper condition, and for failing to put up "indexes." In 1801 there must have been a flagrant offense in one of these particulars, for the grand jury used this sarcastic wording: "We do present surveyor of road, if any there be."

The penalty for Sunday work was twice as large as the fine for drinking or swearing. For hog stealing the law of 1793 was savagely severe. For the first offense the thief, if a free an, was to receive 35 lashes on the bare back, to be fined $30, and to pay the owner $8 for each hog stolen. for the second offense he was to stand two hours in the pillory on a public day with his ears nailed fast. At the end of two hours the ears were to be cut loose. For the third offense the punishment was death. If the hog thief were a slave the punishment was even more severe. Even the man buying a hog without ears was adjudged a thief unless he could prove property. For forgery, stealing a land warrant, or stealing a cask of tobacco lying on the highway the punishment was death.

In the colonial period each courthouse inclosure was supposed to be equipped with pillory, stocks, whipping post, and perhaps also a ducking stool. The whipping post needs no explanation. The essential feature of the pillory was a pair of short planks coming together at the edge, and with an oval segment cut into each, so that a person's neck might be fitted into the opening. The stocks differed from the pillory in confining the ankles in place of the neck, and in not compelling the culprit to stand. Neither position was particularly agreeable, especially if the flies were bloodthirsty and the spectator inclined to use their skill in flinging sticks, pebbles and eggs of uncertain quality. But it was not probable that this British amusement was much practiced in Virginia. The ducking stool was a long plank, pivoted in the center and furnished at one end with a chair to which the prisoner was confined. The purpose of the apparatus was to plunge the culprit into a mill-pond or river. It was a favorite punishment for a scolding woman.

In Pendleton county the order was twice given for a whipping post, but it was not certain that it was ever carried out. it may have been thought as at harrisonburg that a well rooted tree of good size was amply sufficient. But there was a pari of stocks and perhaps also a pillory, for we read in 1790 of one Peter Little being ordered into the stocks for ten minutes for misdemeanor in court. There was no mention of a ducking stool, and in spite of the nearness of the river it was not probable that nay was furnished. An Augusta court issued an order for one, but it became apparent that there was not enough water within a half mile to give a proper degree of wetness to a gimlet-tongued offender.

There were many offenses punishable by death, with the nailing of ears to the pillory, with imprisonment for debt, and with whippings, it might look as though there was sufficient terror in the law to keep people in the path of rectitude. yet the law was violated more often than not. The spirit of the times was harsh and coarse, as is reflected in the severity of the laws and the frequency with which even these laws were broken. the familiar spectacle of public punishment dulled the sensibilities of the people and did not reform the lawbreaker. Yet a feeling of humanity existed then. It was related of a sheriff of Rockingham that in carrying out an order to flog a certain prisoner, he went into the delinquent's cell at the jail and administered the lashing to the bed, telling the culprit to howl every time he did so. It was rob e supposed that the howls were forthcoming.

As to Wills . . . a will beginning "in the name of God, amen," often continued in a piously worded preamble, which in general may have reflected a religious spirit in the will-maker. personal property was parceled out among the heirs with a great deal of preciseness. The widow was often to have a half bushel of flax seed sowed yearly for her necessities, and various domestic arrangements were to be observed so long as the parties could agree. A distiller of the South Branch under the date of 1805 stipulated that his widow was to have early "five gallons whiskey or apple brandy for her youse."

The thrift of the Pendletonian is often apparent in the willing of lands situated in another county or even in another state. Once in a while an heir was cut off with one English shilling, or with a bequest of "one dollar to be enjoyed by him and his heirs forever." Zachariah Rexroad, Sr., who died in 1799, wills that his son Leonard "shall maintain his mother with food and drink, wood and light, and a warm stove."

Taxes were seemingly low, yet no easier to meet than they were back in 1910. This was particularly true of the poll-tax, the size of which varied considerably from year to year. Before the Revolution Augusta offered a bounty on hemp, and many certificates were issued therefor. These certificates, seldom for more than 2000 pound fiber, were receivable for taxes. Of Pendletonians who became entitled to these we find the names of Matthew Patton, Postle Hoover, James Patterson, Michael Propst, and George Coplinger. Taxes were sometimes paid in produce. In 1792 a tax of 32 cents was paid at Franklin in flax, and another of $3 in rabbit and deer skins and butter.

Under the broad powers exercised by the county courts of the pioneer epoch, the records became voluminous. This was very true of Augusta, her Scotch-Irish people causing lawsuits that were almost beyond count. The old record-books contain very many more words to the page than those of our time, even with the use of the book typewriter. The lines are near together, and in general the writing is neatly and carefully done, and the entries put down in systematic shape. The small letters are nearly of uniform height, and when a coarse-pointed quill was used there were no hairlines and the writing may be read with ease. But when a fine-pointed quill was employed, the writing becomes almost microscopic and is tedious to make out. Instead of covering his pages with a hurried unreadable scrawl, the copyist took time to write the name of the presiding judge in large, round, handsomely formed letters, and to begin a long entry with a highly ornamented initial.

Indexing was done on the flyleaves and with extreme economy of space, eight lines being sometimes brought within the compass of a single inch. The ink was often very durable, and the writing was in better preservation than if steel pens had been in use. The acid of the ink acting on a metallic pen had a tendency to corrode the paper in the course of time. Immigration was usually in the spring and settlers came in bodies. The wagon being all but unknown and the roads were trails, the newcomer brought his belongings on a pack-saddle made by nailing or typing two pieces of board to a pair of crotched sticks cut from a young tree. The cow was made a pack animal as well as the horse. The first season was likely to be one of poor and unsuitable living until there was time for the first crop to come to the rescue. Certain men of influence and means were active in bringing in new people. James Patton, first sheriff of Augusta and also county lieutenant, is said to have crossed the ocean 25 times for this purpose. he was the cause of many redemption's being brought to the Augusta settlements.

A wedding was one of the great events of the year. it was an occasion of feasting and of rude, boisterous mirth. The company proceeded in double file from the home of the groom and when within a mile of the home of the bride, two young men gave an Indian warwhoop and rode forward at full speed, the one arriving first being given a bottle that had been made ready beforehand. On their return it was passed around and then came back to the victor. All were expected to tip the bottle, women as well as men.

A big dinner at the bride's home followed the wedding ceremony, and this in turn was followed by the in fare at the groom's house. pewter spoons battered around the edges were used at these feasts, and hunting knives were unsheathed if the supply of table knives run short. The dancing which followed lasted till morning. Slighted or envious neighbors trimmed the manes and tails of the riding horses or tied grapevines across the path in front of the wedding party. As a further annoyance guns would be fired off.

In the Revolutionary days the marriage certificate was presented to the justice of the peace to whom it was directed. he then gave authority to the minister of the parish, or parish reader, who after publishing the banns, performed the ceremony, kept a record and gave a certificate, the latter not being deposited with the county clerk. But a dispensation from the governor could enable a minister who was not an Episcopalian to perform a marriage ceremony.

In the same year the settlement of Pendleton began "an act to discourage matrimony" was placed on the statute-book of Virginia. It fixed the governor's fee at $3.33, the clerk's fee at 83 cents, the minister's fee at $3.333, if the marriage were by license, and at 83 cents if by banns. The publishing of the banns cost 25 cents. By an act of 1775 the minister's fee was made double the former amount, but the old figures were restored the following year. These excessive charges had doubtless much to do with the prevalence of marriage by consent. At a later time any person authorized to perform the marriage ceremony could demand a fee of one dollar.

The recording of marriages began in 1784. As a preliminary the groom was required to put up a bond of 50 pounds. If either groom or bride were under the age of 21, and this was very often the case, the consent of the parent or parents had to accompany the bond, the clerk then issuing a license. The bond was commonly written on a half-sheet for quarter-sheet of unruled bluish paper. The consent of the parent was written on a narrow scrap, not always unsoiled was folded into small compass, making it look like a paper of epsom salts as put up by a doctor before tablets and capsules and come into use.

The law of 1769 increased the penalty on bastardy with a view of lessening the burden to the counties of illegitimate children supported at public charge. By an earlier law the female offender might be whipped and fined.

Where there were children there were games, and the nature of their games was determined by the nature of their activities in after life. A prominent frontier game was that of throwing the tomahawk. By practice the player could make the blade hit the mark with the handle upward or downward as desired. Boys learned to imitate the sounds of animals. When 12 years of age or upward, the boy was given a gun and he began to practice shooting at a mark. The long-barreled flintlock was usually fired from a rest, and one was easily made by turning a gimlet into a tree.

In any American frontier community it had been noticed that the force of its public opinion had been more effective in the maintenance of order than is the legal government of an older district. This is largely due to the sparse population, and to the fact that everybody was known to everybody else. The thief was given the choice of a jailing or a flogging and then had to clear out. A breach of contract killed credit. The tattling woman was listened to, but her story was not believed. The shirk at a "frolic" was called a "lawrence." The man who avoided military duty was "hated out" as a coward, and for a soldier to be short in his equipment was deemed disgraceful A tongue-lashing once under way might be kept up for years.

What the frontier itself could not supply made necessary the caravanning trip eastward. first to the commercial points east of the Blue Ridge. and later to Staunton or Winchester. The journey would therefore consume several days and a supply of provisions was taken along. At nightfall the horses were turned loose after opening their bells and babbling their feet. Other horses were sometimes left at various points to be used on the return. Supplies were carried by packsaddle, two bushels of salt (268 pounds) being considered a load. This amount of alum salt was worth two cows and their calves.

A great share of the pioneers had no schooling and could sign their names only with a mark. Paper was costly and little was made to go a great way. Writing was done altogether with a goose or turkey quill. Ink was not sold in bottles but in the form of powder to be dissolved as wanted. A very fair ink was made from maple bark or pokeberries with the addition of alum and vinegar. Books were few and seen only in occasional homes. many of them, including hymnals, were of a religious nature. Books in the German tongue were as frequent as those in the English. At the George Coplinger sale in 1773, the books were a bible, selling at $1.50, a "Key of paradise," a psalm book, and a few of little value not specified. At the William Davis sale in the same year there were mentioned "one old bible," "Explanation of the shorter catechism," "The fourfold state," "Baxter on the covenant," "Closet devotions," one small history, and two small paper books. In several of the Pendleton homes may yet be seen a German bible fully as large as an unabridged dictionary, with clear print, commentaries, and illustrations, and bearing date from 1763 to 1788.

In the costume of the real frontiersman the most prominent feature was the hunting shirt. it was of blue woolen cloth, was open in front, lapping a foot or more when belted, and fell half way down the thighs. The cape was large enough to come over the head. The sleeves were ample. The edges of the garment were fringed with a raveling of another color. The bosom was a receptacle for provisions or tow. The belt tied behind held the mittens. The tomahawk was carried to the right, the scalping knife to the left. Breeches and leggings supplanted the hunting shirt. On the man's head was a fur cap with a tail or tassel drooping behind.

On his feet, provided it were winter time, were moccasins with a gathering seam up the heel and on the top of the foot. The moccasin was stuffed with deer hair or leaves. It came well up to the ankles and was tied with "wants." The hunting shirt was retained until well toward the period of the civil war, as was also the fur cap. Until near the same period, also, the wardrobe was quite exclusively made from the fabrics of wool and linen that were woven on the looms in the farmhouses and dyed with various barks helped out with copper as and other mordants. The linen garments would shrink after a washing but would lengthen again. Unless a new linen shirt were well rubbed before putting on, it felt as though full of the spines of a chestnut burr. The apparel worn by both sexes was plain and durable and subject to little variation in style, except for the change imposed by the season of the year. The dresses, hoods and sunbonnets of the women were made without any help from the fashion plates in the "Delineator." Going barefoot throughout the warm weather was usual with all persons.

Cooking was done before or over the fire, or in the bake oven since stoves were unknown. kettles were suspended from a hook in the fireplace. The skillet to hold over the fire was long-handled, and it was an art to toss up a flapjack and catch it on its other side. The stone bake oven with a smooth slab or an iron plate for its floor was made hot with a fire of dry wood. When the flames had died away the ashes were swabbed out and the loaves set in with a long paddle, and the door of charred boards tightly closed.

Fires were kept alive as much as possible. If the coals went out and it was too far to fetch live ones from a neighbor's fireplace, resort was had to flint and steel, or to the priming from a flintlock rifle, tow, punk, and fat pine being the materials of starting a fire.

The dietary was simpler than at present, the staff of life being pone, johnny cake, or much, more often than the white loaf. Until gristmills were built, hard corn was pounded with a pestle in a hominy block, and softer corn was rubbed on a grater. Game meat was much in use so long as it remained plenty. Vegetables were fewer in variety and not so early as with us. During the cold season there was no fruit except stored apples and the various kinds of dried fruit, the process of airtight canning being unknown. The potpie was a feature of the big dinner at the frolic. Coffee and tea had to come from the seaport by means of wagon or pack-saddle, and being therefore expensive various substitutes were used.

China was seen in the homes of the more prosperous settlers, but pewter dishes were more common, as were likewise bowls and other utensils of wood. Cedar ware was made with alternate red and white staves.

The log house was welling universal, and at first the logs were generally unhewn. Nails being made by hand from expensive iron, pegs generally took their places. The floor was commonly of puncheons made very smooth with a broadax. The roof was of clapboards and weight poles. The stairway was a ladder. Windows were small and few, wooden shutters often taking the place of the small panes of glass. Greased paper was sometimes a substitute for glass. The chimney was a massive stone structure occupying a considerable part of the house, and the fireplace was so broad as to render it possible to sit within it at one end while a fire was burring at the other. At the first the only way to make boards was for two men to saw them out with a whipsaw. A good day's work was 50 feet of lumber to each man. For a very long while the few sawmills were quipped only with the up and down blade, and the sawing was slow and uneven. In some of the poorer cabins and earlier schoolhouses, there was no floor at all, except the earth floor provided by nature.

None of the very earliest houses remain. A few are yet occupied that were built within the time of Indian peril, as is evident from the loopholes now hidden by the weatherboarding. A specimen of the older type was the one standing near Cave postoffice, until about 1870, on the farm of Henry Simmons. It was two storied and built of oak and hickory, the round logs being notched and the ends projecting. One end was built sloping with a chinking of mod and straw held in place by laths. This was for an additional protection against bullets. The fireplace was nine feet broad and high enough for a person to pass into without stooping. The poplar joists were eight inches square. The planks were of pit-sawed poplar. some of the windows had only a single light.

In 1779 Virginia opened a land office and inaugurated a homestead policy. Any person could get title to unoccupied land at the rate of $2 per hundred acres, the land office to issue a warrant authorizing the survey. The warrant was lodged with the chief surveyor of the county, an official who held his place during good behavior. The surveyor was to mark trees, leave no open lines, and when practicable to make the breadth at least one third of the length. Within 12 months after the survey the claimant was to return to the general land office the plat and certificate of survey. Within 6 to 9 months thereafter, the register of the land office issued a deed executed on parchment. This was signed by the governor and stamped with the seal of the state. A caveat might be entered against an issuance of title. No land could be entered if settled on for 30 years. a squatter holding possession that length of time could gain title. A foreigner could take land with the proviso of becoming a citizen within two years after returning his plat to the land office. He could also transfer his right to a citizen. An inclusive survey and new grant might be authorized by the county court if it were desired to put two or more tracts into one, or if errors were discovered in the boundaries. The cost of the land patent, if for less than 100 acres, was $1.78. The cost of the warrant of survey was 75 cents.

There were still other modes of acquiring unoccupied public lands. Building a cabin and growing a crop of grain, even if a small crop, entitled a man to 400 acres, and a preemption right to 1000 acres adjoining. The certificate therefor was granted by a board of three commissioners appointed by the governor. After lying with the board six months, and no caveat being filed, a patent was issued.

The tomahawk right consisted of deadening a few trees, especially around the head of a spring, and cutting the man's initials on a few trees along the boundary. This sort of slam had no actual standing in law, yet in some cases was bought and sold. Sometimes the title was quieted by the application of a hickory rod.

The corn right gave a claim to 100 acres by enclosing and cultivating a single acre. The cabin right gave a claim to 40 acres by building a log hut on a certain tract. These more liberal regulations were of no extensive advantage to this county, the best of the land having already passed into private ownership.

For the better care of the public highways, the county was divided into road precincts, one for every militia district. All white males above the age of 16, except ferrymen and the owner of two or more slaves, were required to work the roads, and so were all slaves of similar age. For repair work, the overseer was empowered to impress help. A public road was supposed to be 30 feet wide and to be kept in repairer, but the provision as to width was seldom carried out. An "index board" was required at every fork. For this purpose the overseer might take timber from the adjoining lands, although it had to be paid for.

Bridges were supposed to be 12 feet wide. There was a fine of $50 for felling a tree across a public road, or into a stream above a bridge, and not removing the same within 24 hours. The law was also very strict on the bribery of viewers. While a piece of road making was going on, it was a felony to accept presents or even "meat or drink." Until 1820, the viewer seems to have served without pay. he was then allied 75 cents a day, although in 1830, the per diem allowance was mentioned at 50 cents.

As to militia organization, Virginia was early covered. Aside from the persons specially exempt or physically disqualified, all free white males and all apprentices between the ages of 16 and 50 were enlisted in companies of from 32 to 68 men. They were required to assemble one day in every two weeks, excepting the three winter months, at the hour of ten in the morning, and give two hours to regimental muster. Millers and ferrymen were exempt from militia duty but not from actual service. Each private had to provide rifle, or tomahawk, firelock and bayonet, cartouch box, three charges of powder and ball, and keep on hand one pound of powder and four of lead in reserve.

Under American statehood the militia of Virginia was grouped into five divisions and 18 brigades,hardy, Hampshire and Pendleton constituting one brigade territory. To each division were attached one regiment of cavalry and one of artillery. The regiment, consisting of at least 400 men and commanded by the lieutenant colonel and one by the major. Each battalion had a stand of colors. in each company were one captain, two first lieutenants, two second lieutenants, vie sergeants, and six corporals. The ensign, a commissioned officer having charge of the colors and ranking below the first lieutenant, was dispensed with after the war of 1812. On the staff of the colonel were one quartermaster, one paymaster, one surgeon, one surgeon's mate, one adjutant with the rank of captain, one sergeant major, one quartermaster sergeant, two principal musicians, and drum and fife majors. Toe ash company was one drum and also a fife or bugle. Officers received their commissions through recommendation to the governor from the county court. It would seem that the cations and lieutenants were primarily chosen by the privates. A rigid anti-dueling oath was enacted of the officers. The best men to be found were appointed to office under the militia system. A position therein was considered very honorable and as a stepping stone to something higher.

Company musters took place in April and October, battalion musters in October or November, and regimental musters in April or May. Non-attendance at muster led to a fine usually of 75 cents, and this was turned over to the sheriff for collection. Fines were numerous, whether or not they were generally collected. Excuses for cause were granted by a court martial, the clerk of the same having in 1794 a yearly salary of $6.67. In the same year we find one man excused for an impediment in his speech, and another for "deficiency in intellect." Others were excused until "in a better state of health."

During the later years of the militia system, musters were less frequent, the men went through the evolutions without arms, and the practical value of the drill was not very great. The officers did not pay much attention to costume, the regimental and some of the company officers wearing the coats of the pattern of 1812; a dark-blue garment with long, swallow-tail, epaulettes, and brass buttons.

As a colony, and for some years as a state, Virginia adhered to the british coinage of pounds, shillings, and pence. For some cause not well understood, the value of these coins fell off nearly one-third from the British standard. As early as 1714 it took 26 Virginia shillings to equal one guinea of English money. During the period of the Revolution and later, the value of the Virginia pound was $3.33. American familiarity with the dollar standard came through acquaintance with the Spanish milled dollars, which were circulating freely throughout the colonies during the years of the Revolution. Our decimal currency, so much more convenient than the cumbersome English system, was mainly the work of Thomas Jefferson.

It was not until the upheaval of 1861 that the last vestiges of the old system were driven out of use. By 1830 the word pound had fallen into disuse, but smaller sums were still reckoned in terms of shillings and pence. There were no nickels, dimes and quarters of Federal coinage, but there were Spanish coins in general circulation.

Until 1794 tobacco was legal currency in Virginia, 100 pounds of the weed being reckoned equal to one pound in coin. In the colonial records of Augusta, and even in the earliest records of Pendleton we find county levies and witness fees computed not in pounds, shillings, and pence, but in pounds of tobacco.

The practice of agriculture was rude and the tools were primitive. An undue share of labor was done by hand, but this was partly because of the losses which would result from the forays of the Indians. Oxen were preferred as work animals. The harrow was a thorn bush. The wooden plow did little more than scratch the ground. The scythe had a straight handle. A forked sapling, peered and dried, made a grain fork.

The gristmill was as primitive as the style of farming. The earliest form was the tub mill with its five foot waterwheel lying in a horizontal position. Since the burrs could rotate no faster than the wheel, a strong current was secured if possible. The handbill with a pari of burrs about as large as a common grindstone was much used, and by dint of back aching work a bushel of meal could be made in a day.

Tobacco was formerly the great staple of Virginia, and was grown for export even in the mountains. Two crops were usually taken in succession from a new field. After 1794 wheat was crowding out tobacco, and though it brought from $1.00 to $2.0 a bushel on navigable waters, Pendleton lay 100 remote to profit thereby. Its farmers had to do as they were still doing/ grow their home supplies of corn, grain, and minor products, and send their surplus to market in the form of cattle, sheep, and wool. But the little fields of flax and hemp, once so common and so important, have all but disappeared.

Produce as wagoned to Fredericksburg, at a head of deep water navigation, or to Scottsville, where it could be transferred to a canal boat. As these points are distant from Franklin 105 and 74 miles by airline, it was a matter of some days to make the roundtrip. As late as 1845 store goods sold high because of the small amount disposed of. In 1770 sugar cost 17 cents a pound at Staunton, gunpowder was 67 cents, and a single nutmeg cost 10 1-2 cents.

The practice of medicine was like a dark age to the well read physician of our own time. Perhaps it was as well that physicians were few in those days, and that recourse was often had to the trained instinct and good judgment of the "old woman doctor." At all events her herb teas were far less expensive than the well-labeled bottles we now buy of the druggist.

Whatever the form of the medicine then in use, there was nothing small in the size of the dose. Worms were thought to be the chief ailment of children, and there was accordingly a dosing with salt or green copperas. A poultice of meal or scraped potatoes was used for burns, and one of slippery elm, flaxseed, or turns for wounds. Group was treated with the juice of roasted onions; itch with sulphur and lard. Snakeroot was used to produce a perspiration in fever, yet the fever patient was denied cold water and rest wire, and if he left his bed it was perhaps with an enfeebled circulation. A high birthrate was partially offset by a high mortality. The infectious nature of some diseases was to understood, and an ignorance of what we now consider the elementary principles of hygiene and antiseptic precaution led to a loss of life that was usually preventable today. For these reasons, croup, wounds, and childbirth were not infrequently fatal. Among the herbs in common use were boneset, lovage, horehound, chamomile, wild cherry, prickly ash, and "old Man's beard."

Vaccination was unknown at the oust of the period and pock-marked faces were common. In 1777 we find the physicians in Rockingham authorized to inoculate persons living within three miles of a point where small-pox had broken out By this abandoned method, the disease was communicated in a mild from, although the patient became as dangerous to the exposed person as though having small-pox and broken out. By this now abandoned method, the disease was communicated in a mild form, although the patient became as dangerous to the exposed person as though having small-pox in full vigor. The doctor at the courthouse was the only substitute for the professional dentist, yet he did little else than clamp an ailing tooth between the jaws of an instrument of torture and jerk it forth in blissful ignorance of anesthetics. The unsound tooth was comparatively infrequent,thanks to the thorough chewing required by the hard crusted corn bread, the less common use of sweets, and the absence of the modern soft foods that favor the stomach at the expense of the teeth.   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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