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DOROTHY PAYNE
_QUAKERESS_
[Illustration: Dorothy Payne Todd.
Courtesy of Miss Lucia B. Cutts.]
Dorothy Payne, Quakeress
_A Side-Light upon the Career
of "Dolly" Madison_
By ELLA KENT BARNARD
Philadelphia:
FERRIS & LEACH
29 SOUTH SEVENTH ST.
1909
Dedicated to
ANNIE MATTHEWS KENT
FOREWORD
There is little time in this busy world of ours for reading,--little,
indeed, for thinking;--and there are already many books; but perhaps
these few additional pages relating to Dolly Madison, who was loved and
honored during so many years by our people, may be not altogether amiss.
During eleven administrations she was the intimate friend of our
presidents and their families. What a rare privilege was hers--to be at
home in the families of Washington, of Jefferson, of Madison, of Monroe;
to know intimately Hamilton and Burr and Clay and Webster; to live so
close, during her long life, to the heart of our nation; to be swayed by
each pulsation of our national life;--to be indeed a part and parcel of
it all, loved, honored and revered!
It seems almost incredible that the simple country maiden, reared in
strict seclusion, by conscientious Quaker parents, should have been
transformed into the queen of social life, at whose shrine the wise men
of their day did homage, and at whose feet the warriors laid the flag of
victory.
She has left small record of her thoughts; none of her creed, excepting
in her life,--and that was pure and good. The outward symbols of her
faith were laid aside, but in her daily life we see the leading of the
"Inner Light."
We have searched amongst the driftwood of the century for traces of her
early life, and found many records, letters and references, published
and unpublished, and from them all our story has been woven.
The Friends' records of North Carolina, of Virginia and of Philadelphia
have given us very accurate and definite information relating to her
family, and the old letters, the cherished treasures of many homes, have
given a glimpse of Dolly herself in earlier and later days;--of her
Quaker girlhood in Philadelphia and of her marriage in the old Pine
street meeting-house. And then of days in Washington,--brilliant days,
in the full glare of sunshine; and finally a picture when the days were
far spent and the evening shadows falling.
For much of this material I am greatly indebted to many persons, and
especially to the following I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude for
assistance so kindly given: George J. Scattergood, Philadelphia; Edward
Stabler, Jr., Baltimore; Eliza Pleasants, Lincoln, Va.; Maud Wilder
Goodwin, New York City; Priscilla B. Hackney, North Carolina; Rosewell
Page, Richmond, Va.; Lavinia Taylor, Hanover County, Va.; Lucia B.
Cutts, Boston, Mass.; L. D. Winston, Winston, Va.; Christine M.
Washington, Charlestown, W. Va.; George S. Washington, Philadelphia;
Eugenia W. M. Brown, Washington, D. C.; Julia E. Daggett, Washington,
D. C.; Lucy T. Fitzhugh, Westminster, Md.; Margaret Crenshaw, Richmond,
Va.; Charles G. Thomas, Baltimore, Md.; Mrs. Moorfield Story, Boston,
Mass.; Julia S. White, North Carolina; Thomas Nelson Page, Washington,
D. C.; Richard L. Bentley, Baltimore; Thomas F. Taylor, Hanover, Va.;
Mary W. Slaughter, Winston, Va.; Liza Madison Sheppard, Virginia; Samuel
M. Brosius, Washington, D. C.; Elizabeth McKean, Washington, D. C.; Mrs.
William DuPont, Montpelier, Va., and Norman Penney, London, England.
ELLA KENT BARNARD.
_Baltimore, November 15, 1909._
CONTENTS
I. EARLY YEARS AND SCENES 17
II. MARRIAGE AND WIDOWHOOD 59
III. WASHINGTON AND THE WHITE HOUSE 88
IV. LATER YEARS 110
INDEX 126
ILLUSTRATIONS
DOROTHY PAYNE TODD, at 21 _Frontispiece_
From a Miniature on ivory, now in possession of
Mrs. Richard D. Cutts.
Heading--Drawn by Ella K. Barnard 17
FRIENDS' MEETING HOUSE, New Garden,
North Carolina 18
From an old drawing.
PATRICK HENRY 20
From a painting by Sully in the State Library,
Richmond, Va.
COLONEL WILLIAM BYRD 30
From a painting at Brandon.
SCOTCH TOWN, Hanover County, Virginia 34
From a photograph.
NEGROFOOT HOUSE 36
From a photograph.
THE DANDRIDGE HOME 50
From a photograph.
HANOVER COURT HOUSE 52
From a photograph.
Heading--Drawn by Ella K. Barnard 59
PINE STREET MEETING HOUSE 66
Drawn after a photograph
HAREWOOD, FROM THE GARDEN 80
From a photograph
THE PARLOR, HAREWOOD 82
Wherein James and Dolly Madison were married.
From a photograph.
JAMES MADISON AND DOLLY MADISON 86
From the portraits by Gilbert Stuart, owned by
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
Heading--Drawn by Ella K. Barnard 88
COLONEL SAMUEL WASHINGTON 89
From a painting at Harewood.
MONTPELLIER, the Madison estate in Orange
County, Va 101
From a photograph.
THE OCTAGON HOUSE, Washington, D. C. 108
From a photograph.
MANTEL IN THE OCTAGON HOUSE 109
From a photograph.
DETAIL OF MADISON CHINA FROM THE
WHITE HOUSE 109
After drawing by Harry Fenn.
Heading--Drawn by Ella K. Barnard 110
DOLLY MADISON IN LATER YEARS 113
From a Water-Color by Mary Estelle Cutts, now
in possession of Miss Lucia B. Cutts.
MADISON HOUSE, Washington, D. C, North
View 114
From a photograph.
MADISON HOUSE, Washington, D. C., West
View 115
From a photograph.
ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, Washington, D. C. 123
From a photograph.
Tailpiece--Franklin Stove 125
Drawn by Ella K. Barnard.
Tailpiece--James Madison's Cloak-Clasp 128
Drawn by Ella K. Barnard
[Decoration]
_Dorothy Payne, Quakeress_
CHAPTER I.
EARLY YEARS AND SCENES.
The girlhood of Dorothy Payne was spent on a plantation in Hanover
county, Virginia. Very quiet and uneventful were the years whose "days
were full of happiness," the quiet happiness of country life. For
fifteen years
"She dwelt beside the untrodden ways"
where the distant echoes of the busy world, or even the great
Revolutionary struggles that encompassed them round about, scarce caused
a ripple on the calm surface of their daily life.
She was born, however, in North Carolina, that happy region where "every
one does what seems best in his own eyes," or, better still, enjoys, as
did Colonel Byrd, "the Carolina felicity of having nothing to do!" A
rough people many of them still were, without doubt, when the little
Dolly was born in their midst, on a plantation in Guilford county, to
take charge of which her father had come a few years before from his
Virginia home to where a thrifty, God-fearing colony of Quaker emigrants
from New Garden, Pennsylvania, had peopled the wilderness, and in memory
of the Pennsylvania home had erected a new "New Garden Meeting House" in
a forest clearing. Very commodious it looked in comparison with the log
cabins from which its congregation gathered to "mid-week" and "First-day
Meeting," coming usually in the covered emigrant wagon that was ofttimes
their only means of conveyance, but which well suited the size of the
emigrant family.
[Illustration: Friends' Meeting House, New Garden, North Carolina.
From an old Drawing.]
Turning over their earliest book of records, still distinct but yellowed
by age, the curious visitor may find a page on which is inscribed the
following:
John Payne was born y^e 9 of y^e 12 m^o 1740.
Mary, his wife, was born y^e 14 of y^e 10 m^o 1743.
Walter, their son, was born y^e 15 of y^e 11 m^o 1762.
Wm. Temple, their son, was born y^e 17 of y^e 6 m^o 1766.
Dolley, their daughter, was born y^e 20 of y^e 5 m^o 1768.
"Dolley," their little daughter, was named for her mother's friend,
Dorothea Spotswood Dandridge, the granddaughter of Governor Spotswood,
the daughter of Nathaniel West Dandridge, a near relative of Lord
Delaware. Nathaniel West Dandridge, son-in-law of Governor Spotswood,
had been one of his followers on a far-famed journey of exploration, led
by the Governor, beyond the Appalachian mountains, and for this exploit
had been dubbed a "Knight of the Golden Horseshoe," and presented with
the symbol of the order, a golden horseshoe with its glittering jewels,
and the inscribed motto, "_Sic juvat transcendere montes_," made in
memory of their trip.
A few years earlier a cousin of Dolly Dandridge, from her own home, the
White House on the Pamunky, had been married to Colonel Washington, a
gallant young officer lately elected to the House of Burgesses. A few
years later Dolly Dandridge herself became the second wife of Patrick
Henry, the cousin of Mary Payne, a young lawyer of Hanover county,
whose eloquence had electrified the House of Burgesses, and who was now
its acknowledged leader in the fight against English taxation.
[Illustration: Patrick Henry.]
Very slight seems the connection between these events and people and the
little Quaker maiden, but it was through these, her mother's friends,
that she was drawn in and became one of that choice circle of Virginia's
honored children in the early days of the Republic.
Though born in North Carolina she was but one year old when her parents
returned to their former home in Hanover county, Virginia, and in later
years Dolly always preferred to call herself a Virginian, for it was
around the old Scotch Town homestead that all her loving memories
clustered. It was in Virginia, too, that she imbibed the early training
that fitted her to become a graceful, tactful leader in the nation's
social life. Generations of worthy ancestors had transmitted to her the
instincts of a lady, a warm and loving heart, and an appreciation of
true worth, traits that were to serve her well in after years.
The grandfather, Josias Payne[1], gentleman, was the son of George
Payne, justice and high-sheriff of Goochland, who was descended from one
of "Virginia's Adventurers," a younger brother of Sir Robert Payne, M.P.
from Huntingdonshire, England. Josias Payne had become the owner of
thousands of acres of Virginia's richest land along the James river. He
was a man of affairs, a vestryman, and a member of the House of
Burgesses.
The English traveler Smythe has given a pleasing picture of the Virginia
gentleman. "These in general have had a liberal education, possess
enlightened understanding and a thorough knowledge of the world, that
furnishes them with an ease and freedom of manners and conversation
highly to their advantage in exterior, which no vicissitudes of fortune
or place can divest them of, they being actually, according to my ideas,
the most agreeable and best companions, friends and neighbors that need
be desired. The greater number of them keep their carriages and have
handsome services of plate; but they all, without exception, have studs,
as well as sets of elegant and beautiful horses."[2]
The picture, too, had ofttimes another side, for not all the gentlemen
could afford to send their children to England to be educated, and men
of "mean understandings" were sent to the House of Burgesses, and so
trying were they to the nerves of Governor Spotswood that he cuttingly
observes that "the grand ruling party in your House has not furnished
chairmen of two of your standing committees who can spell English or
write common-sense, as the grievances under their own handwriting will
manifest."
Anne Fleming,[3] the wife of Josias Payne, was the granddaughter of Sir
Thomas Fleming of New Kent county, the second son of the Earl of Wigdon.
From this worldly grandmother doubtless came the present of the jewelry
treasured so long by the little Dolly during her school days, and safely
hid in a tiny bag around her neck, until one sad day when it
disappeared, on her way to school, never to be found again.
This same Anne Fleming was also said to be the wife of John Payne (a
cousin of Josias). Surely his wife's name was also Anne, for an old
court record shows that "Hampton and Sambo," negroes belonging to "John
Payne, gentleman," were brought to trial in 1756 for "Prepairing and
administering Poysonous Medecines to Anne Payne," for which offence the
said Hampton was declared guilty and sentenced to "be hanged by the neck
till he be dead, and that he be afterwards cut in Quarters and his
Quarters hung up at the Cross Roads." And his master was awarded the sum
of L45, the "adjudged value of Hampton," according to law. The dark
shadow of slavery was already gathering over the land, although scarcely
perceived and yet unacknowledged by the great majority of the people.
In the vestry meetings the chief planters became the veritable rulers
of the adjacent neighborhood. "The care of the poor, the survey of
estates, the correction of disorders, the tithe rates, and the
maintenance of the church and minister" came within their province. As a
justice the planter was one of five to preside at all trials of the
negroes, they not being allowed a trial by jury, but on the agreement of
the five they were freed or condemned and sentenced. Such tasks as
these, with the oversight of his estate and his duties in the House of
Burgesses, made the Virginia gentleman a busy man. Still, he never
allowed his life to become a strenuous one, but found ample time for his
pleasures and for his social duties. Fond of good living, he was unlike
the Frenchman, who "feasts on radishes that he may wear a ribbon," for
the Virginian "took his ease in homespun that he might dine on turtle
and venison."
John Payne received the breeding of the Virginia gentleman of the old
school, and grew to manhood possessing the charms of courtly manners and
of fluent speech. The early Virginia records speak of him as "John
Payne, junior." In 1763 he inherited a plantation on Little Bird Creek,
of two hundred acres, "on which he was then living," from "John Payne,
elder." To this tract his father added a gift of another two hundred
acres, likewise on Little Bird Creek, and at his death (1785) willed him
four hundred additional acres of rich bottom land in "the forks of the
James," with the negroes "Peter, Ned and Bob."
To this early home he brought his girlish wife, beautiful Mary Coles.
Mary Coles was the daughter of William Coles of "Coles Hill," Hanover
county, a younger brother of John Coles,[4] of Richmond, Virginia, who
had there as a merchant amassed a fortune, and married Mary Winston.
William Coles came later to America from Enniscorthy, Ireland, and
married Lucy, the sister of his brother's wife, then the widow of
William Dabney, by whom she had one son, William. William and Lucy
Winston Coles had three children: Walter; Lucy, who married her cousin
Isaac Winston, and Mary, the wife of John Payne, and mother of Dolly
Madison.
Lucy Winston came of a Quaker family that has, perhaps, furnished more
men of note than any other in our country. Her father, Isaac Winston,[5]
emigrant, was an able man of an old Yorkshire family that had settled in
Wales. He, with several brothers, came to Virginia to escape the Quaker
persecution in England, settling first in Henrico and afterwards in
Hanover county, where he died in 1760, at an advanced age. He had
acquired a large estate, and many negroes. What a gratification it would
have been to the old man had he lived a few years longer and heard his
wayward grandson, Patrick Henry, argue the "Parson's cause," or make
his first great speech in the House of Burgesses. As it was he died
thinking the young orator unworthy even of mention in his will, but for
his sisters he carefully provided. To his granddaughters Lucy and Mary
Coles he willed L45, to be paid to them when they came of age or
married.
ISAAC WINSTON
|
|
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | |
| | |
Mary=John Coles Wm. Dabney=Lucy=Wm. Coles John Syme=Sarah=John Henry
| | | |
| | | |
------------- Wm. Dabney | -------------
| | | | | | |
John | |
| | Patrick Henry
| |
------------- |
| | |
| | |
| Edward=Miss Roberts |
| |--------------------
| | | |
| | | |
Sally[A]=A. Stevenson Walter Lucy Mary = John Payne
b. 1743 | b. 1746
|
------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
Walter Wm. Temple Dolley Isaac Lucy Anna Mary John Philadelphia
b. 1762 b. 1766 b. 1768
Isaac Winston's son William had wild blood in his veins, and was a great
hunter and beloved by the Indians in their western wilds, where he had a
hunting lodge. The elder Wirt pronounced him an orator scarcely inferior
to his nephew, Patrick Henry, who was said to have inherited his rare
gift of eloquence from his Quaker ancestors. An old letter[6] from
Albemarle county claims that it was to him more than to Washington that
the credit of saving the day at the time of Braddock's defeat was due.
The troops had refused to move farther, and Washington's remonstrances
availed not, until William Winston sprang to the front and addressed
them with such stirring eloquence that each one threw up his hand and
demanded to be led forward. Judge Edmund Winston, son of William
Winston, read and practiced law with his cousin Patrick Henry, and the
firm of Henry and Winston carried all before it. Patrick Henry died in
1799, and Judge Winston married his widow, "Dolly Dandridge," and died
in 1813 in the "fifth score year of his age."
"Dolly Dandridge" died in 1831. "Cousin Dolly" she always was to her
namesake, Dolly Madison.
[Illustration: Colonel William Byrd.]
Colonel William Byrd of Westover, a polished gentleman and wit (but,
alas! also a "spendthrift and gambler"), in his "Progress to the Mines"
called on Sarah Syme,[7] then a widow, formerly "Sarah Winston, of a
good old family." "This lady, suspecting I was some lover, put on a
gravity which becomes a weed, but as soon as she learned who I was
brightened up into an unusual cheerfulness and serenity. She was a
portly, handsome dame, of a lively, cheerful conversation, with much
less reserve than most of her countrywomen. It became her very well, and
set off her other agreeable qualities to advantage." "The courteous
widow invited me to rest myself there that good day, and go to church
with her, but I excused myself by telling her she would certainly spoil
my devotions. Then she civilly entreated me to make her house my home
whenever I visited my plantations, which made me bow low and thank her
very kindly. She possessed a mild and benevolent disposition,
undeviating probity, correct understanding and easy elocution." For his
supper Colonel Byrd writes that he was served with a "broiled chicken"
and a "bottle of honest port," and no doubt he came again!
Sarah Winston afterward married John Henry,[8] a man of Scotch ancestry
and sterling worth, who for some time represented his county of Hanover
in the House of Burgesses, where later the three brothers, John Syme,
and William and Patrick Henry, sat year after year.
The name of one more member of this family will occur in later
pages:--William Campbell Preston, M.C. from South Carolina, the opponent
of John C. Calhoun in "nullification days" (1832).
Other branches of the family furnished men of great ability,
congressmen, senators, governors, warriors. To-day the United States
Senate mourns the vacant seat of that "grand old man" Edmund Winston
Pettus,[9] who died recently in his eighty-seventh year, the oldest man
in public life in the United States, and Alabama loved him as a father.
The daughters of the family, too, inherited the ready flow of language,
the quick wit and pleasing address characteristic of the family, and
which, added to good looks, made them much sought in marriage. In after
years these same qualities made them worthy helpmates in smoothing out
the social tangles of official life.
In an old letter found amongst some Quaker manuscripts from Virginia,
bearing date of 1757, was found the statement that "Thomas Cole and
William Cole have both made open confessions of truth." This William
Cole, or Coles, was probably the husband of Lucy Winston, of whom a
sweet picture in Quaker dress is preserved.
Soon after their marriage John and Mary Payne made application for
membership with the Quakers of Cedar Creek, in which neighborhood they
were then living, as shown by the minutes of Cedar Creek Monthly
Meeting, dated 5th month 30th, 1764. In 11th month 30th, 1765, they were
already settled in North Carolina. In 4th month, 1769, they with their
three children were again living in Hanover county, Virginia. During
these and the few following years three children who were probably
theirs were buried at South River, "Mary, William and Ruth Paine."
In 1775 Patrick Henry, the newly-appointed Governor of Virginia, sold
his farm called "Scotch Town" to John Payne. It was considered a
valuable tract of land, and a bargain when it came into the hands of
Henry in 1771 for L600. It had been literally "Scotch Town" in earlier
colonial days, the center of a Scotch settlement of which it was the
"great house." Here John Payne brought his rapidly-increasing little
family, but in its nineteen rooms there was room and to spare for them
all, and for the guests who so often sought its hospitable shelter.
[Illustration: Scotch Town, Hanover County, Virginia.
Photographed by Samuel M. Brosius.]
This house, with its quaint hipped roof, is standing to-day, and it
needs only a thatched covering, and the peaked dormer windows that were
perhaps there in earlier days, to make it a typical old English cottage.
The two great chimneys have been much changed. In olden times each
served for the four rooms clustered about it, and from which it took
generous corners. Above the great open fire-places were mantels of black
marble, one of which was supported by white figures. These mantels and
the three granite porticos, with their carved steps, were brought
from Scotland by Mr. Forsythe, the builder, as was also the brick for
the lower half-story. The house, too, boasts a dungeon that may have
been used for protection or for the punishment of offenders two hundred
years ago, about which time its building dates. A broad hall ran through
the house, and above either wide doorway the portico roof was supported
by iron brackets. The back door opens on the old garden, where the box
trees still flourish, but the ancient trees around the lawn are veterans
hoary and maimed by the storms of many years.
Here Patrick Henry, already famous, lived, and Dolly Payne, a blue-eyed,
merry little lassie, sat beside her mother in the family room, "the blue
room," with its walnut wainscoting trimmed with pine, and solid walnut
doors, and learned to sew and read. Scotch Town stands on high ground,
and for miles around you can see an unbroken stretch of country. In
colonial days about it were clustered numerous outbuildings, fine
stables and the negro quarters, of which there is now no trace.
Happy days were spent here by the little Dolly. Surely they had few
cares for the little daughter so carefully guarded by "Mother Amy," her
much-loved colored nurse; and there were other slaves to do her bidding.
It was through them, doubtless, that she first heard the horrible story
of the crime of "Negrofoot," now the name of the post-office on an
adjoining plantation. The stranger naturally queries, Why Negrofoot? and
is told the old story of an African slave, a cannibal, owned by a Mr.
Jarman:--how, when the master and mistress were at church one day, he
took the little two-year-old child from its nurse, killed it, and partly
devoured it before its parents returned. The retribution was swift and
terrible. A wild horse was brought, the slave tied to it, and the horse
started on a mad run. Before it had ended, the slave, too, was dead. His
body was then dismembered, and portions nailed up in different parts of
the country. The foot put up here gave the name to Negrofoot-house, and
to the post-office; and doubtless weird stories were told by the
superstitious negroes, who shunned the scenes of the double crime.
[Illustration: Negrofoot House.
Photographed by Samuel M. Brosius.]
Coles Hill was but nine miles off, one of those low story-and-a-half
Virginia houses, built of frame, whose timbers were probably cut by the
family servants. Two rooms, one on either side the wide hall, sufficed,
with the broad porch, for summer living, and the quaint bedrooms peered
out through dormer windows from the roof above. There were outbuildings,
too, on the north and east sides, and a few cabins for the negroes. (The
residence has long ago disappeared, and the land is owned by George
Doswell).
It was but a pleasant drive from Scotch Town on a "First-day after
meeting" for John and Mary Payne, and the children loved to gather
around the dark-eyed young grandmother, whose Quaker cap would not quite
conceal the stray curls that refused to be confined by its sheer
crispness. To her Irish grandsire Dolly owed much. From him she had
inherited a fine clear complexion, whose worth was appreciated by her
mother, and guarded by the linen face-mask carefully sewed in place, and
the long gloves always to be drawn on ere she dared venture into the
sunshine, a preparation that must have been trying indeed to the
impatient little girl. Her Irish blood, too, had added warmth to her
loving heart, and given her the quick wit and smooth tongue that caused
her to be accused, in later days, of a "knowledge of the groves of
Blarney."
On their return to Virginia John and Mary Payne both became zealous
workers in the Society of Friends, or Quakers. John Payne was for many
years clerk of Cedar Creek Monthly Meeting, while Mary Payne was from
time to time clerk of the women's meeting. They were also "elders," and
it is likely that John Payne became a "minister," for as early as 1773
we find he is reported as "desiring to visit friends in Amelia, and also
at Pine Creek." In 1777 and 1779 "John Payne requests a certificate to
attend North Carolina Yearly Meeting," then held at Old Neck, Perquimans
county. For years, too, there is scarcely a committee appointed of which
he is not a member, and the carefully-written pages of the record books,
as clear and distinct as when first recorded, show that both he and his
wife were beautiful penmen. In Dolly's early signatures her last name
is almost a facsimile of her mother's writing, but her spelling never
equalled that of her parents for correctness. Papers like the following,
signed by both John and Mary Payne, were of frequent occurrence.
"_Whereas_ Milley Hutchings, Daughter of Strangeman Hutchings, of
Goochland County, was Educated in the profession of us the people
Call'd Quakers, but for want of living agreeable to the principles
of Truth hath suffered herself to be Joined in marriage to a man of
a different persuasion from us in matters of Faith, by an Hireling
priest, contrary to the known rules of our discipline, therefore we
think it our duty, for the clearing of our profession of such
libertine persons, publickly to disown the said Milley from being a
Member of our Society, untill she give satisfaction for her
outgoing, which we desire she may be enabled to do. Signed in and
on behalf of our Monthly Meeting held at Cedar Creek in Hanover
County the
[Illustration: Signature - 13th of 3^d m 1779 by
John Payne Clerk Mary Payne Clerk[10]]
Was it well that they could not see far into the future?
The great problem of the Friends during these years, the one in which
John Payne was most vitally interested, was the freeing of their negroes
or "black people," as (when assembled in Yearly Meeting) they had
gravely decided to call them. Years before, the Quakers had crossed the
seas in search of civil and religious liberty, and while they believed
in each man's "inalienable right" to "life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness," they could not seek them by a resort to arms. In the
Revolution they could take no part, but there was sufficient work for
them at home. Before slavery, even in their own midst, could be
abolished, the members of the legislature must be convinced, and new
state laws framed. Of this work in the South, Thomas Nelson Page says:
"The movement was largely owing in its inception to the efforts of the
Quakers, who have devoted to peace those energies which others had given
to war, and who have ever been moved by the Spirit to take the
initiative in all action which tends to the amelioration of the human
race." In his own state he considered the "problem stupendous, but it
was not despaired of. Many masters manumitted their slaves, the example
being set by numbers of the same benevolent sect [Quakers] to which
reference has been made."
Already in 1769 the members of Cedar Creek Monthly Meeting had been
"unanimously agreed that something be done." The laws of Virginia threw
many obstacles in their way, and it was not until the law passed in 1782
that the right of emancipation was given to the owners of slaves. For
this tardy permission they could not wait, and Robert Pleasants[11] in
a letter dated "Curles,[12] 3d month 28th, 1777," wrote to the
Governor, Patrick Henry, Jr., " ... It is in respect to slavery, of
which thou art not altogether a stranger to mine, as well as some others
of our Friends' sentiments; and perhaps, too, thou may have been
informed that some of us, from a full conviction of the injustice, and
apprehension of duty, have been induced to embrace the present favorable
juncture when the Representatives of the people have nobly declared _all
men free_, without any desire to offend, or thereby injure any person,
to invest more of them with the same inestimable privilege. This I
conceive was necessary to inform the governor...."
The Friends were tolerably sure of Patrick Henry's support, as in a
letter to Edward Stabler in 1773 he said: "It would rejoice my very soul
that every one of my fellow-beings was emancipated. We ought to lament
and deplore the necessity of holding our fellow-men in bondage. Believe
me, I shall honor the Quakers for their notable efforts to abolish
slavery."
[Illustration: Signature of P. Henry]
In 1778 "The Meeting directs that the sum of 30/ be raised for the
payment of a book purchased for the purpose of _Recording manumissions_.
John Payne is appointed to record them, and when accomplished to deliver
the originals into the care of Micajah Crew according to the direction
of the Meeting."
The following manumission paper is one of twenty-one issued about this
time by Thomas Pleasants, the intimate friend of John and Mary Payne,
and is signed by them as witnesses.
MANUMISSION PAPER.[13]
I Thomas Pleasants of Goochland County in Virginia from mature
deliberate consideration and the convictions of my own mind being
fully persuaded that freedom is the natural birthright of all
mankind and that no Law moral or divine has given me a right to or
property in the persons of any of my fellow creatures, and being
desirous to fulfil the injunction of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ by doing to others as I would be done by. Do therefore
declare that having under my care one negro woman named Betty aged
about forty, I do for myself my Heirs Executors and administrators
hereby release unto her the said Betty all my right Interest and
claim or pretensions of claim whatsoever as to her person or to any
Estate she may hereafter acquire without any interruption from me or
any person claiming for by from or under me In WITNESS whereof I
have hereunto set my hand and seal this 25^th day of the 1^st Month,
one thousand and seven hundred and Eighty
Sealed and delivered
in presence of
[Illustration: Signature of Tho Pleasants (Seal)
John Payne Mary Payne]
John Payne likewise manumitted all his slaves before his removal to
Philadelphia.
After the passage of the law of 1782 the Friends no longer hesitated,
and their slaves, as far as permitted by law, were generally freed. At
the same time their owners, who had thus made themselves obnoxious to
their slave-owning neighbors, prepared to remove to a free state, the
great majority to the west. John Payne had for some years been looking
forward to a removal to Philadelphia, where his son Walter was already
established in business.
Their movements about this time are definitely ascertained by a
reference to the Quaker records:
Cedar Creek, 8 mo. 11, 1779--"By a report from Cedar Creek
Preparative Meeting, it appears that Walter Payne has removed to
Philadelphia. Micajah Terrel, James Hunnicutt, Moses Harris and
Micajah Davis are appointed to prepare a certificate for him, and
assign the same in behalf of the Monthly Meeting if nothing
obstructs."
"On the 13th of 1st month, 1781, Mary Payne informed this meeting
that she proposed in some short time a journey to Philadelphia, and
requests a few lines certifying her right of membership with us."
Which certificate is directed to be drawn up and signed.
Elizabeth Drinker, wife of Henry Drinker, of Philadelphia, records in
her diary:
1781, March 5--"Molly Payne spent y^e day, and lodged with us. She
and son Walter breakfasted y^e 6th."
And finally the meeting records:
"On the 21st of Second Month, 1783, John Payne requests a
certificate for himself and family to join themselves to Friends in
Philadelphia. Micajah Crew and Moses Harris are appointed to make
the necessary enquiry, and if nothing appears to hinder, produce
one accordingly at next meeting."
This committee seems to have thought that John Payne could not properly
discharge his duties as executor from the distant town of Philadelphia.
Accordingly, at the next meeting, held the following month:
"James Crew is appointed to receive the estate of Elizabeth Elmore,
deceased, from John Payne, executor, and give us account thereof at
next meeting. Micajah Crew, James Jarvis and James Hunnicutt are
appointed to assist him in devising the said Elizabeth Elmore's
cloths and to give their advice and assistance in settling all
other matters that may come before them, respecting the estate."
"And as John Payne is about to remove without the verge of this
Meeting, James Hunnicutt is therefore appointed clerk thereof in
his stead."
It will be seen that this little community looked carefully after the
various interests of its members. Their "temporal" as well as
"spiritual" affairs were within its province, to advise and admonish as
seemed best to them.
The investigation having been entirely satisfactory otherwise, the
following month a certificate of removal is granted from "Caeder Creek
Monthly Meeting, held in Hanover county, Virginia, bearing date of 12th
of 4th mo., 1783, for John and Mary Payn and their children: William
Temple, Dolly, Isaac, Lucy, Anne, Mary and John," directed to the
"Northern District Mo. Mtg. of Philadelphia."
The form of this certificate was probably like the following one drawn
up by John Payne as clerk:
"To the Monthly Meeting held at Southriver. Dear Friends:
"Our writing to you at this time is on account of David Terrill,
who now resides within the verge of your Meeting, and requests our
Certificate for himself and children. These may certify, that after
the needful enquiry, we have cause to believe his affairs are
settled to satisfaction. His life and conversation being in a good
degree orderly whilst among us, we therefore recommend him,
together with his children [namely: ....] to your Christian care,
and with desires for their growth in the truth, we remain your
friends and brethren.
"Signed on behalf of our Monthly Meeting held at Cedar Creek, 8 mo.
24th, 1781.
"John Payne, Clerk."
And Elizabeth Drinker records again:
"1783, July 9.--John Payne's family came to reside in
Philadelphia."
A year later when the young people had become friends she writes:
"1784, July 10.--Sally Drinker and Walter Payne, Billy Sansom and
Polly Wells, Jacob Downing and Dolly Payne went to our place at
Frankford," and
"1784, July 18.--Walter Payne went to Virginia."
"1785, Dec 26.--First day. This evening Walter Payne took leave of
us, intending to set off early to-morrow morning for Virginia, and
in a few weeks to embark there for Great Britain."
Of the family life at Scotch Town, Dolly has left us no record, but only
the assurance that "the days were full of happiness."
The Marquis de Chastellux, a major-general under Rochambeau, in the
Revolutionary Army, who wrote an account of his travels in Virginia in
1780-2, has, however, given us a picture of a country family of this
time, and of one not far distant from Scotch Town. He visited the family
of General Nelson at Offley, an "unpretentious country place in Hanover
county," and says:
"In the absence of the General, who had gone to Williamsburg, his
mother and wife received us with all the politeness, ease and
cordiality natural to his family. [It being bad weather] the
company assembled either in the parlor or saloon, especially the
men, from the hour of breakfast to that of bed-time, but the
conversation was always agreeable and well supported. If you were
desirous of diversifying the scene, there were some good French and
English authors at hand.
"An excellent breakfast at nine o'clock, a sumptuous dinner at two,
tea and punch in the afternoon, and an elegant little supper,
divided the day most happily for those whose stomachs were never
unprepared."
The Pleasants and Winstons were their neighbors also, but the large
estates, in a measure, isolated each family, which thus became a little
community in itself, raising all necessary food, manufacturing all
clothing and materials for clothing, and even, on the tidewater estates,
exporting from their own wharves the great staple, tobacco, for which in
return their few luxuries were brought to their very door.
With all his broad acres the Virginia gentleman had no great wealth at
his command. It has been estimated that Colonel Byrd, who was perhaps
their largest land-owner, was worth but $150,000. Patrick Henry wrote
to General Stevens (Stephens) that his father-in-law "owned one hundred
and fifty slaves and four or five thousand acres of land, not counting
some three thousand in Kentucky," but that from him his son, Captain
Alexander Spotswood Dandridge, "could have no great expectations."
The families were large, and the land often had little real value, two
dollars an acre being considered a good price. The best land in the near
neighborhood of cities brought only from twenty to forty dollars per
acre. There is a quaint record preserved in Goochland showing that
William Randolph sold to Peter Jefferson (father of Thomas) two hundred
acres for the consideration of "Henry Wetherburn's biggest bowl of
arrack punch." Henry Wetherburn was the host of the famed Raleigh Tavern
at Williamsburg.
[Illustration: The Dandridge Home.]
Of the Revolution the family at Scotch Town saw but little, but its
effects they felt; it could not be otherwise with Cornwall's great army
stationed so near them. When General Wayne's troops marched through
Hanover in June, 1781, Captain John Davis notes in his diary that
they "saw few houses, which were mostly situated far back from the
roads, and very few people." On the 17th he wrote: "Marched at 3 o'clock
through the best country I had seen in this state, twenty miles to Mr.
Dandridge's."
De Chastellux says that Mr. Tilghman, the landlord of the Hanover Inn,
lamented having had to board and lodge Cornwallis and his retinue
without any return. "We set out the next morning at nine," he continued,
"after having breakfasted much better than our horses, which had nothing
but oats; the country being so destitute of forage that it was
impossible to find a truss of hay, or a few leaves of Indian corn,
though we sought it for two miles around. Three miles from Hanover we
crossed the South Anna on a wooden bridge. On the left side of the
river, the ground rises, and you mount a pretty high hill; the country
is barren, and we travelled almost always in the woods," arriving at
Offley at 1 o'clock.
His description of the country between Williamsburg and Hanover is more
pleasing. "The country through which we pass is one of the finest in
lower Virginia. There are many well-cultivated estates and handsome
houses." "We arrived before sunset and alighted at a tolerable handsome
inn; a very large saloon and a covered portico are destined to receive
the company who assemble every three months at the Courthouse[14] either
on private or public affairs. This asylum is all the more necessary, as
there are no other houses in the neighborhood. Travellers make use of
these establishments, which are indispensable in a country so thinly
inhabited that houses are often at the distance of two of three miles
from each other."
[Illustration: Hanover Court House.
Photographed by Samuel M. Brosius.]
Susan Nelson, a loved friend of Dolly's, lived on New Found River, seven
miles off; and he who would know the later history of this neighborhood
has but to turn to the writings of her grandson, Thomas Nelson Page,
and at once, by the magic of his pen, he will be in "the old country,"
and its charm will tempt him to linger there and love its people.
Dolly's earliest school-days were spent in an "old field" log
school-house near by, but she cared little for books, either then or
later, but was a merry, loving little maiden, who was "pleasure-loving,
saucy, bewitching." As she grew older, with her brothers Walter, Temple
and Isaac, and perhaps the little Lucy, she attended the Quaker school
at Cedar Creek meeting-house, near Brackett Post-office, but three miles
distant. The meeting-house stood in a forest of pine and cedar that grew
to its very doors, while close by ran the "clear, sweet water" of Cedar
Creek. The house was an old colonial building, most of the materials for
which were brought from England; and it stood on part of that tract of
land granted by good King George. It consisted of eight hundred acres
lying on both sides of Cedar Creek in St. Paul's parish, and was granted
to Thomas Stanley, James Stanley and Thomas Stanley, Jr., for "divers
good causes and considerations, but more especially for and in
consideration of the importation of sixteen persons to dwell within this
our Colony of Virginia." "Witness our trusty and well-beloved Alexander
Spottswood, Governor, at Williamsburg, under his seal of our Colony,
this 16th day of December, 1714."
A few years ago the old meeting-house was destroyed in a forest fire.
"The blue hills rise in stately strength,
Streams ripple soft below,
As on those long-gone Sabbath days,
One hundred years ago,
"When in these crumbling, roofless walls,
Where birds flit to and fro,
The Quaker fathers worshipped God
One hundred years ago.
"And word of truth, or praise, or prayer,
In measured tone and slow,
Was spoken as the Spirit moved
One hundred years ago."
The earlier records of the school have disappeared, but later ones tell
that in 1791 Benjamin Bates, Jr.,[15] was teaching reading, writing and
English grammar for 30s per annum. But for mathematics a charge of L3
was made. Holidays were not thought so necessary for the welfare of
teachers and pupils then, but they were allowed "two days of relaxation"
each month, one of which was a "Seventh day" of the week; the other the
"monthly meeting day." The long year had but three holidays. Two weeks
were given at "Yearly Meeting time," and a half week was allowed for
each "Quarterly meeting."
The school, however, was deservedly famous; its teacher was an able man,
and scholars came to it from a distance. At this time there were few
schools in Virginia.[16] In the long list of patrons are the names of
John and Mary Payne, although they had been many years in Philadelphia,
(their share was marked as made over to "C. Moorman to pay"); Thomas
Pleasants, of Beaver Dam; Robert Pleasants, of Curles; John Lynch, from
Lynchburg; Judge Hugh Nelson, and others, all of whom were men of note
in their own neighborhoods.
John Lynch and his brother Charles were the founders of Lynchburg. The
name of Charles Lynch,[17] has become famous as the originator of
"Lynch law," yet it little represents the character of Lynch, who was a
"brave pioneer, a righteous judge, a soldier and a statesman." His
memory is "by no means deserving of oblivion, still less obloquy." "He
was but a simple Quaker gentleman, yet his name has come to stand for
organized savagery."
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: Colonel John Payne was member of House of Burgesses for
Goochland 1752-58, 1760-6, 65-66, 1768. Josias Payne was Burgess for
Goochland 1761 and 1765. Josias Payne, Jr., was Burgess for Goochland
1769. John Payne was member of the House of Delegates for Goochland
1780.
Payne Arms--"Gu on a fesse betw two lions pass. ar."
Crest--"A lion's gamb couped ar., grasping a broken tilting lance, the
spear end pendant gu."
Motto--"Malo mori quam foedari."]
[Footnote 2: 1688, average value of horses was L5 sterling.--Clayton.
Ten or twelve pounds was the value of a very good horse in 1782.--De
Chastellux.]
[Footnote 3: It is also a matter of tradition that Anne Fleming was the
wife of John Payne. Colonel John Payne's first wife died about the time
the following trial took place. The punishment inflicted could scarcely
be for a less crime than murder.
Bedford Co., Va., May 24th, 1756.--Court assembled "to hear and
determine all Treasons, Petit Treasons, Murders, and other Offences,
committed or done by Hampton and Sambo belonging to John Payne of
Goochland Gent."
"The said Hampton and Sambo were set to the Bar under Custody of Charles
Talbot [then sheriff], to whose Custody they were before committed on
Suspicion of their being Guilty of the felonious Prepairing and
Administering Poysonous Medicines to Ann Payne and being Arraigned of
the Premises pleaded Not Guilty and for their Trial put themselves upon
the Court. Whereupon divers Witnesses were charged and they heared in
their Defence. On Consideration thereof it is the Opinion of the Court
that the said Hampton is guilty in the Manner and Form as in the
Indictment. Therefore it is considered that the said Hampton be hanged
by the neck till he be dead, and that he be afterward cut in Quarters,
and his Quarters hung up at the Cross Roads. And it is the Opinion of
the Court that the said Sambo is guilty of a Misdemeanor, Therefore it
is considered that the said Sambo be burnt in the Hand, and that he also
receive thirty-one Lashes on his bare Back at the Whipping-Post.
"Memo: That the said Hampton is adjudged at forty-five Pounds, which is
ordered to be Certified to the Assembly [that his owner may be
remunerated according to law]."
Thomas Walker Page, "Atlantic Monthly," Dec, 1901.
* * * * *
Slaves were not tried by jury, but before five justices, and cannot be
condemned unless all the justices agree.
On examination, instead of an oath being administered, the black is
charged in the following words:
"You are brought hither as witnesses, and by the direction of the law I
am to tell you, before you give your evidence, that you must tell the
truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth; and if it be found
hereafter that you tell a lie, and give false testimony in this matter,
you must for so doing have both your ears nailed to the pillory and cut
off, and receive thirty-nine lashes on your bare back, well laid on at
the common whipping-post."
This punishment is administered by nailing one ear to the pillory, where
the culprit stands for one hour, when that ear is cut off, and the other
nailed, which is in like manner cut off at the expiration of another
hour, and after this he receives thirty-nine lashes.--"Historical
Register," 1814, page 65.]
[Footnote 4: From John Coles and Mary Winston are descended the Coles
family of Philadelphia. His grandson Edward, secretary to President
Madison, married Sally Logan Roberts, of Philadelphia, and settled
there. Major John Coles was engaged in merchandizing in Richmond; his
residence, a frame house recently demolished (1871), was situated on
Twenty-second Street, between Broad and Marshall. When torn down, many
of the timbers, though more than a century old, were found to be in a
perfect state of preservation.
When the floor of old St. John's Church was removed, in 1867, to replace
the joists, a metallic plate was found marking the place of burial and
bearing the name of Major John Coles, but it was so corroded, it soon
fell to pieces.--Vestry Book of Henrico Parish.
John Coles, who lived on Church Hill, owned much land in what is to-day
the city of Richmond. He once gave a whole square of the infant city for
a fine horse. He also owned large estates in several of the
counties.--"Virginia Magazine."]
[Footnote 5: See pedigree on following page.]
[Footnote A: Sally Coles Stevenson's letters from England have been
recently published in the "Century Magazine." She was the sister of
Edward Coles, Secretary of President Madison and second Governor of
Illinois.]
[Footnote 6: "Virginia Magazine," Vol. VIII, p. 299.]
[Footnote 7: Studley, the home of Mrs. Syme, where Patrick Henry was
born, is no longer standing. Its site is marked by a hedge of box and an
avenue of aged trees. It was three miles from Hanover and sixteen from
Richmond. The family removed to "Retreat" (formerly Mt. Briliant), on
South Anna River, near Rocky Mills, twenty-two miles from Richmond. Here
most of Patrick Henry's childhood was passed. His mother, riding in a
double gig, took him to church with her, and coming home had him repeat
the text and recapitulate the sermon. These early exercises served him
well in after life. A few miles from "Studley," are the "Slashes of
Hanover," the birthplace of Henry Clay.]
[Footnote 8: Governor Dinwiddie introduced Colonel John Henry to his
friend John Syme. He was soon at home in his family, and married his
widow.]
[Footnote 9: He was lieutenant in the Mexican War, rode horseback to
California with the "forty-niners," and was brigadier-general in the
Confederate army. He was serving his second term in the United States
Senate, and had been re-elected for another term of six years beginning
in 1909. At the time of his last election the Alabama Legislature
unanimously repealed a law as old as the State to save him the exposure
of a long journey in the dead of winter.]
[Footnote 10: Probably both these signatures were written by Mary
Payne.]
[Footnote 11: Robert Pleasants was the son of John Pleasants, of
Henrico, the clerk of the Upper Quarterly Meeting, who had died in 1771
and freed all his slaves by will, providing for the maintenance of those
over forty-five years of age. The laws of Virginia, however, did not
permit his heirs to carry out his wishes, and the slaves remained in
their possession until 1798, when they finally succeeded in having the
freedom of not only the several hundred originally freed, but of their
issue, confirmed by a decree of the High Court of Chancery of
Virginia.--From Friends' records, Monument Street, Baltimore.
"Robert Pleasants possessed a vigorous intellect, and was a man of
indomitable energy." He was engaged in mercantile pursuits and planting,
and was remarkably successful. He owned and resided on Curles
Plantation.--From Vestry Book of St. John's Church, Richmond.
His book of correspondence with Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Benezet,
Pemberton, Henry and many noted men is preserved in Friends' safe,
Monument St., Baltimore.
In 1790 Abolition Society founded in Virginia, Robert Pleasants,
President. At death freed eighty slaves, in addition to several hundred
belonging to father freed during his life time.]
[Footnote 12: On the James River, near Richmond.]
[Footnote 13: Original at Monument Street, Baltimore.]
[Footnote 14: Hanover Court House, 20 miles from Richmond, 102 miles
from Washington, is situated several miles from the river.
It has two very large and commodious jails (!!), one tavern, one store,
one boot and shoe shop, one blacksmith-shop. It has a population of
about 50. One attorney lives there.--"Martin's Gazetteer", 1835.
It has a population of 58 to-day.
Hanover Court House where Patrick Henry figured in early life. Here many
of his speeches were delivered. Here he won his first case, "The
Parson's Cause."]
[Footnote 15: The same Benjamin Bates who in 1816 as clerk of the
Virginia Yearly Meeting drew up and presented to the Burgesses of
Virginia a protest against the existing militia laws of the State and
accompanied it by an able letter, of which the editor of "Niles'
Register," November 30th, says that it perhaps "forms a body of the
ablest arguments that have ever appeared in defense of certain
principles held by this people."--"Friends' Miscellany," Vol. VII, p.
221; "Niles' Register," VII, p. 90, supplement. William Wirt also
pronounced its arguments "unanswerable."]
[Footnote 16: "(1634)" There are no schools or printing to make poor
people "dissatisfied." But later there was one free school endowed by a
large-hearted man. Virginia up to this time had few schools. In some
neighborhoods the planters clubbed together and log school houses were
built, but there were more often none at all, the boys being sent North
or abroad for their education, while that of the girls was often
entirely lacking. An old gazetteer of 1835 makes report for Henrico
County, including Richmond, which had been incorporated as a city in
1782, "few or no schools worthy of notice," "that a few good schools
have existed," but not a single academical institution. "That in 1803 a
charter had been obtained for one to be built by lottery and private
subscription, but only the basement was built and the project
abandoned."]
[Footnote 17: John and Charles Lynch, sons of Charles and Sarah Clark
Lynch, were the founders of Lynchburg, Va. The Clark family were
Friends, and, after the father's death, the children, with her became
members of Cedar Creek Monthly Meeting. Their father left them the
owners of large tracts of land. John, the elder brother, kept the home
place, where Lynchburg now stands. In 11th January, 1755, Charles Lynch
and Anne Terrill are reported "clear" of other engagements by the
meeting at Cedar Creek, and the following day are married and start for
what was then a far western home--the undeveloped lands in Bedford
County, where the buffalo still roamed and Indians were plentiful.
As soon as his new home at Green Level was finished, he helped to build
and organize a Quaker meeting. This was the first public place of
worship in that part of Virginia; and when the meeting was broken up by
the Indians (it was during the French and Indian War), he removed the
congregation to his own house, where his armed negroes could ward off
their attacks.
It has been said that it is difficult to overestimate the influence of
these Quaker pioneers (of whom Charles Lynch was chief) in establishing
better relations with the Indians and fostering a spirit of peace and
justice amongst the neighbors. Lynch soon became a leading man, and
already in 1763 had great wealth in the form of tobacco, cattle and
slaves.
He was asked in 1764 to become a member of the Assembly, but refused as
inconsistent with his Quaker principles. But in the excitement of Stamp
Act days, when it was difficult to get a proper representative from the
West, he saw differently, and in 1764, at the age of 35, was elected to
the House of Burgesses, and held his seat until the colony became an
independent State.
It was then necessary that he take the oath and--
December, 1767, "Charles Lynch is disowned" for taking "Solemn Oaths"
from the little meeting he had fostered and cared for and where his
words of "admonition" had been heard. In heart he was not greatly
changed, and he raised his children Friends.
When the Revolutionary struggle began he helped raise and enlist troops
for home protection. His Quaker principles prevented him from going into
the army for a time, but finally "the Court of Bedford" in 1778 "doth
recommend to his Excellency the Gov., Chas. Lynch, as a suitable person
to exercise the office of Col. of Militia," he saw the need and
accepted. At this time in his history occurred the event that has made
his name famous--a conspiracy in his home neighborhood that he promptly
put down with the help of his troops, and caused to be sentenced and
imprisoned its leaders, thereby exceeding his legal powers.
In Richmond, Jefferson, then governor, had fled from the capital, where
all was in confusion, and there was much excuse for his action.
With "his Rough Riders of the West" and his son, a lad of 16, he marched
against Benedict Arnold and then to North Carolina in time to be present
at the battle of Guilford Court House, when he won the commendation of
that other Quaker General Nathaniel Greene, who kept him with him until
after the surrender of Cornwallis. His services are described by Robert
E. Lee in his history of his father's regiment.
At the end of the war he again took his seat in the Assembly, before
which he brought up the unlawful action he had taken during the war,
and--
The following act was passed by the Virginia Legislature after the
Revolution:
"Whereas, divers evil-disposed persons in the year 1780 formed a
conspiracy and did actually attempt to levy war against the
commonwealth, and it is represented to the present General Assembly that
Charles Lynch and other faithful citizens, aided by detachments of
volunteers from different parts of the State, did in timely and
effectual measures suppress such conspiracy, and whereas the measures
taken for that purpose may not be strictly warranted by law, although
justifiable from the imminence of the danger, Be it therefore enacted
that the said Charles Lynch and all other persons whatsoever concerned
in suppressing the said conspiracy or in advising, issuing or exacting
any orders or measures taken for that purpose, stand indemnified and
exonerated of and from all pains, penalties, prosecutions, actions,
suits and damages on account thereof.
"And that if any indictment, prosecution, action or suit shall be laid
or brought against them or any of them for any act or thing done
therein, the defendant or defendants may plead in bar and give this act
in evidence."--"Atlantic Monthly" (December, 1901), Thomas Walker Page,
and "Friends' Records of Cedar Creek Monthly Meeting."]
[Decoration]