large proportion of his estate to others. He developed an elaborate
system of tenancy reminiscent in its principal features of the modern
lien system and "share cropping." Lands were leased for varying
periods under specific agreements as to the uses to be made of them,
the provision of tools and other supplies by the landlord, and the
proportion of the crops to be paid as rent. Other tracts were leased
for a fixed money rental.
To Carter's interests as a planter and a landlord he added those of a
manufacturer. When conditions made it economical or necessary to
furnish his own supplies, he operated textile factories, salt works,
grain mills, and bakeries to fill his own and his neighbors' needs. In
his smiths's shops the simple farm implements of the time were forged
and repaired, and work was also done for near-by planters. Through his
wife's relations he received a one-fifth share in the Baltimore Iron
Works. As part owner of this firm he produced bar and pig iron in
large quantities on a commercial basis, and incidentally supplied raw
materials needed on his plantations. He also carried on extensive
operations as a merchant and factor. From his stores at "Nomini Hall,"
European manufactures and merchandise of every sort were dispensed. He
owned a number of vessels which regularly carried supplies to the
landings of other planters on the Virginia rivers and the Chesapeake
and took their produce off their hands. Sometimes he provided these
men with banking and credit facilities.
The scope of Carter's activities is indicated by the fact that at one
time his slaves numbered over 500. In addition, he employed numerous
white stewards, overseers, clerks, skilled craftsmen, and artisans. In
a labor force so numerous and diversified the most careful adjustments
in human relationships were necessary. In a very real sense Carter
acted as a protector, father, physician, and court of last resort for
all his people. No complaint was too insignificant to receive the
master's consideration.
As part of the obligations of his station, the master of "Nomini Hall"
served as a vestryman and a warden of his church in Cople Parish and
performed other public duties. At the age of twenty-eight he was made
a member of the governor's Council. His large estate made him eligible
and his wife's uncle, Thomas Bladen, supplied the influence in England
necessary to secure his appointment to this highest governing body in
the colony. By virtue of belonging to the Council he also served as a
colonel in the militia. As was customary, he was henceforth known as
Colonel or Councillor Carter. In the latter capacity, he went twice a
year to Williamsburg to advise the royal governor and to sit as a
member of the General Court. For a decade after 1762 he found it
pleasant and convenient to live at the Capital the greater part of the
time. He acquired a residence in the town and established his wife and
children there. With the outbreak of the disturbances which led to the
Revolution, however, he returned with his family to "Nomini Hall"
where he lived during the remainder of his active years, devoting his
time to the development of his estate and the promotion of his
commercial interests, the rearing of his family, and the quiet
enjoyment of his scholarly and cultivated tastes. Despite his many
duties, he spent much time in reading and in scientific investigation.
An accomplished musician, he practiced daily on some of the numerous
instruments at his home.
The social life of the family at "Nomini Hall" was of the most
agreeable sort. Situated on a hill overlooking the Potomac and Nomini
rivers, the mansion was admirably suited to the hospitable tradition
of the region. A large rectangular structure of brick, covered with
stucco, the great house was surrounded by more than thirty dependent
structures or offices and presented an attractive and imposing
appearance. The four principal offices were set off at a distance of
one hundred yards from the corners of the house, and within the
rectangle formed by these buildings was a long bowling green.
Extensive and well-tended gardens provided agreeable promenades for
members of the family and guests. One approached the mansion from the
public highway through a wide avenue of poplars which terminated in a
circle about the house. Viewed through this avenue from a distance,
Fithian asserted, "Nomini Hall" appeared "most romantic, at the same
time it does truly elegant."
The lower floor of the great house contained the master's library, a
dining room, used also as a sitting room, a dining hall for the
children, a ballroom thirty feet long, and a hallway with a fine
stairway of black walnut. The upper rooms were used as sleeping
quarters for members of the family and for guests. The older boys and
their tutor slept above-stairs in one of the large offices that was
also used as a schoolhouse. During the time Fithian was there Carter
arranged to convert one of the lower rooms of this office into a
concert or music room. Here he proposed to place the harpsichord,
harmonica, forte-piano, guitar, violin, and German flutes which were
in the great house, and to bring up for that purpose from his
Williamburg residence, the organ which had been built for him in
London according to his own specifications.
Seven of the nine surviving Carter children[24] and the Councillor's
nephew, Harry Willis, were placed under Fithian's care. Benjamin, the
eldest son, was a quiet, studious boy of eighteen. Robert Bladen, two
years younger, loved the out-of-doors and cared little for learning.
John Tasker, only four, was too young for instruction. Priscilla, the
eldest daughter, was an attractive girl of fifteen. Anne Tasker,
called Nancy, and Frances or Fanny, whom Fithian thought the "Flower
of the Family," were thirteen and eleven respectively. Betty Landon
was ten, and Harriot Lucy, a "bold, fearless, merry girl," was seven.
Sarah Fairfax, the baby, was only a few months old at the time Fithian
arrived.
[24] Four of the seventeen Carter children were born after Fithian had
left the family.
Apart from the members of the family, the tutor, and the numerous
domestics, various other persons maintained a more or less permanent
connection with the household. Among these were Miss Sally Stanhope,
the housekeeper, Mr. Randolph, who served as clerk and steward for
Carter, Mr. Christian, a peripatetic dancing master who visited most
of the great manor houses of the Northern Neck, Mr. Stadley, music
master to the children, and Mrs. Oakley, who had nursed several of
them at Williamsburg.
In no section of the colony were the great planters more numerous than
in the Northern Neck; in none did they dominate society more
completely. The families on the manor plantations associated on terms
of intimacy. Gay assemblies, dances, balls, and banquets brought them
together frequently. Dancing masters held their classes in rotation at
the great plantation houses. At these homes their pupils assembled in
turn, frequently accompanied by parents and friends. After the master
had instructed the young men and women on these occasions, an informal
dance was generally held. These families customarily congregated about
the parish church before and after services to enjoy social exchanges.
Attendance at county court provided another regular opportunity for
commingling. Boat races, barbecues, "Fish-feasts," and horse races
brought friends together at intervals. Sometimes elaborate private
entertainments were given at which music, feasting, and dancing
continued for several days. Rarely a day passed but found some guest
at the Councillor's table. Members of the Carter household constantly
exchanged visits with the plantation families of their neighborhood
and with relatives and friends in adjoining counties. They dined
frequently with the Turbervilles at "Hickory Hill," the Washingtons at
"Bushfield," the Lees at "Chantilly" and "Stratford," and with the
more distant Tayloes at "Mount Airy."
With all these persons the young Princeton tutor was familiar. He
accompanied the Carters frequently when they dined at their friends'
tables, he attended banquets and balls with them, conversed with the
people of the vicinity at the parish churches, met them at races, and
observed their conduct as guests at "Nomini Hall." The sprightly
interest with which Fithian comments upon these men and women and
their way of life makes them seem as real today as then.
For more than a century the manuscript of Fithian's journal and the
letters he wrote home remained unpublished. During that time, some
years apparently after Philip's death, his brother, Enoch, assembled
the letters and papers and the various sections of the journal kept
over a period of years and copied them in several bound volumes from
the loose and various-sized sheets upon which they were written. It is
from this transcript that the journal is known today, and the
irregularities in punctuation, spelling, and capitalization in the
form in which it has been preserved are doubtless due largely to this
fact.
The journal kept at "Nomini Hall" and a group of letters written by
Fithian during his residence there were finally published in 1900 by
the Princeton University Library, into whose custody had come seven
manuscript volumes of Fithian's papers in Enoch Fithian's hand. This
publication was edited by John Rogers Williams, a member of the
Princeton Historical Association.[25] A small part of the journal and
certain letters which the editor regarded as "of too intimate and
personal or too trivial a character" were omitted, his object being
"in general to present such as have some bearing on historic places
and personages, together with representative ones showing" Fithian's
"character and circumstances."[26] The editor, moreover, was
interested in Fithian's manuscripts primarily from the standpoint of
the tutor's association with Princeton.
[25] Some extracts from the Journal were published in the _American
Historical Review_ of January, 1900.
[26] Cf. Philip Fithian's _Journal_, edited by John Rogers Williams,
p. xiv.
In the present edition the manuscripts have been treated with special
reference to the light they throw on life in the Old Dominion. The
journal kept at "Nomini Hall" and all the letters written by Fithian
from Virginia are given in their entirety. Several letters written
after his departure from "Nomini Hall," but which relate to matters
and persons in Virginia, are now printed for the first time.
The journal and letters of Philip Fithian are so revealing of his
personality that one inevitably becomes attached to the young tutor,
and the reader today may well be curious to know his subsequent
career. Having prepared himself for the Presbyterian ministry, Fithian
left the Carter household late in 1774 despite the strong ties of
friendship and gratitude which now bound him to the family. His
decision to return to New Jersey was influenced both by a sense of
duty and his growing attachment for Elizabeth Beatty, the "fair Laura"
of his journal. In December, 1774, he was licensed to preach by the
Presbytery of Philadelphia. That winter he filled vacancies in West
Jersey and the following summer served as a Presbyterian missionary in
the Valley of Virginia and Pennsylvania. He married Elizabeth Beatty
in October, 1775. Early in 1776 he enlisted as a chaplain in the
Revolutionary forces. Shortly after the battle of White Plains he died
as the result of an attack of dysentery and exposure in camp. Though
his promise to visit the family at "Nomini Hall" again was never
fulfilled, the letters he wrote to members of the Carter household
after his departure reveal the tender regard in which all were held.
_JOURNAL & LETTERS_
OF
Philip Vickers Fithian
[ANDREW HUNTER,[27] JR., TO PHILIP VICKERS FITHIAN]
Nassau-Hall June 26th 1773.
SIR.
I expected notwithstanding your small offence you would have let me
know before this time whether you had made any determination different
from what you designed when I left you. If you design teaching before
you get into business, there are now several considerable offers made
to young men who are willing to go to Virginia by some of the first
gentlemen in the colony; one particularly who will give as good as
60£, the best accomodations, a room to study in and the advantage of a
library, a horse kept and a servant to wait upon you.
[27] Philip Vickers Fithian had left his home at Cohansie, New Jersey,
in 1770, at the age of twenty-three, to enter the College of New
Jersey at Princeton. Nassau Hall was the principal structure of the
college, and the institution was often familiarly referred to by that
name. Fithian was graduated there in September 1772. His parents had
both died suddenly during the previous February. Andrew Hunter, Jr.,
of Cohansie, who wrote this letter, was the nephew of the Reverend
Andrew Hunter, Sr., of Greenwich, New Jersey, under whom Philip was at
this time studying Hebrew in connection with his preparation for the
ministry.
Dr Witherspoon[28] is very fond of getting a person to send him. I
make no kind of doubt but if you were to write to the doctor but he
would engage it to you, the terms are exactly as I write you as I have
informed myself that I might let you know--
[28] Dr. John Witherspoon (1723-1794), a Scottish Presbyterian
clergyman, served as president of the College of New Jersey at
Princeton intermittently from 1768 until his death in 1794. A staunch
Calvinist, Witherspoon exerted a strong influence on American
educational, religious, and political development. Owing largely to
the labors of his former students, a number of whom went as clergymen
and tutors to the Southern colonies, his influence was very extensive
in that region.
There are a number of our friends and class-mates getting into
business as fast as possible, whether they are called or not I cannot
pretend to judge, this much I would say that I think it is not any
ones duty to run too fast. No less than four Debow, Reese, McCorkle,
Allen, under trials by a presbytery, and Bryan[29] trying to get
license to plead law in some of the best courts on the continent, if
infamy were law or lies were Gospel he might get license either to
plead or preach.
[29] John Debow, Oliver Reese, Samuel McCorkle and Moses Allen, and
Andrew Bryan. With the exception of Andrew Bryan of Baltimore who was
admitted to the bar, all of these young men were licensed as
Presbyterian ministers.
We have had the pleasure of Laura's[30] company here for some weeks
past, I hope you will not envy us considering that continual pleasure
is too much for such mortals as we to bear.
[30] Elizabeth Beatty, Fithian's "Laura," frequently visited in the
home of her brother, Dr. John Beatty, who lived at Princeton. Fithian
had known Elizabeth earlier in the home of her sister, the wife of the
Reverend Enoch Green, a Presbyterian minister of Deerfield, New
Jersey, under whom he had prepared for college. Cf. Williams, John,
ed., _The Journals and Letters of Philip Vickers Fithian, 1767-1774_,
p. 55, fn. 3.
I beg that you may no longer refrain from writing, as I should be very
glad to hear many things from you and other of my friends in Cohansie
which you can relate with little trouble. If you have been trying with
me who could keep from writing longest, I own fairly beat. The number
of our students are considerably increased, and our school consists of
thirty-nine--I have heard there are some disagreeable stories going
through your country I wish you would let me know something about
them. Doctr Ward spent part of yesterday with me in his return.
My love to Mr and Mrs Green.
I am, Sir,
Your very friend,
ANDW HUNTER.
[JOURNAL]
_July 1. [1773]_
Rose at five. Read in the greek Testament, the third Chapter of the
Acts. Breakfasted at seven. Busy the greater part of this Day in
coppying off some loose miscellanous Pieces. P. M. Read the Spectator
in my Course. Received in the Evening, by the Stage, a Letter from Mr
and: Hunter jur In which he invites me to remove, & accept a School,
of very considerable Consequence, in Virginia. He also informs me that
four of our Class-Mates, are on Trial, under a Presbytery, for
Preachers; & one has applied for Licence to plead Law in Maryland;
Poor Boys! hard they push to be in the midst of Tumult, & Labour.
[PHILIP V. FITHIAN TO ANDREW HUNTER, JR.]
Deerfield July 3. 1773.
SIR
I am sorry you impute neglect of writing in me to so wrong a cause, as
an old trivial offense, I confess that I am to blame, and am willing
to stand reproved by you, for having been so long silent. If I should
offer any thing in excuse it would be great hurry arising from the
duty of my station, on which account I have wrote only two or three
letters since you left us. The school in town, which I had in view, as
I make no doubt you know, is now occupied by Mr _Lynn_. And the terms
of the school at _Blandensburg_ are I think too low, to divert me from
the course of my business. I would not however forego a good offer in
a school abroad, for some short time. What you write concerning the
offer of a Gentleman in Virginia, is, I think of considerable
consequence, provided the conditions of teaching are not over
burdensome; I should speedily agree to go and apply for the place,
were I made satisfied as to this.
I shall however, beg the assistance of your friendship, to enquire in
what county the school is; what number and degrees of scholars there
are; and if you think the place suitable, and if the Docter shall
think proper to appoint me to it, I am not unwilling to remove and
accept it. Please to mention this to the Docter; and if he has not
engaged a teacher, and is pleased to accept me, I hope you will
acquaint me as speedily as may be, with what you can learn as to the
time of beginning, the custom of the school, &c. You mentioned four in
your last, who have applied to Presbytery, and are on tryal, I can
tell you another, Mr Heith; he applied to the Philadelphia Presbytery;
but came to town, I understood so late, that before he made
application the Presbytery was dissolved, some of the Members however,
being still in town, at his request, gave him sundry pieces of
exercise, which it is expected the Presbytery will acknowledge, so
that he is the fifth out of our class who is designing soon to appear
in public!
I am Sir yours, &c.
PHILIP. V. FITHIAN
[JOURNAL]
_Fryday july 30._
Rose pretty early. Breakfasted with Mrs _Buck_. Wrote a Note, after
Breakfast to Holinshead. Soon after which, I set out for Home, & by
the favour of a young man who lodges at Mr Bucks I rode to the Ferry,
& was home by eleven.
Received several Letters by the Stage to Day; One especially from Mr
Hunter, in which I am pressed to accept the proposal by the Gentleman
in Virginia. The Offer is very proffitable; Colonel _Carter_ has four
Sons. To a private Tutor for which he proposes to give sixty-five
Pounds pr Year; find him all Accomodations; Allow him a Room for his
own Study; And the Use of an eligant Library of Books; A Horse to
ride; & a Servant to Wait. I am inclined to go, but dont meet with
much Encouragement from those who have the Direction of my Studies.
We had Company in the Afternoon; & expected Miss _Grimes_, & Miss
Ewing, til Evening, but they never came.
_Saturday july 31._
Rose early. After Breakfast rode to Deerfield, & consulted with Mr
Green[31] but he gives only his usual Indifference; Dined at Mr
_Nathan Leeks_, the Day excessive hot; Drank Tea at Mrs _Pecks_.[32] &
returned in the Evening to Greenwich.
[31] The Reverend Enoch Green.
[32] Mrs. Peck was the mother of Fithian's friend, John Peck of
Deerfield. The two boys had studied together under the Reverend Enoch
Green, and had later been classmates at Princeton. John Peck succeeded
Fithian as tutor of the Carter children at Nomini Hall in 1774, and
later married Anne Tasker or "Nancy" Carter, and settled in Richmond
County, Virginia.
_Sunday. August 1:_
Rose pretty early. Attended the Funeral of Mr _Hugh Stethern_. who
died yesterday morning. Many are now ill of what is called the _Fall
Fever_.
Mr _Hunter_[33] preached both Parts of the Day.
[33] The Reverend Andrew Hunter.
_Monday August 2._
Concluded, this Day, with the Concurrence of Mr _Hunter_, to set of
for Princeton, & know of Dr Witherspoon something more particular
concerning the Proposal for my going to _Virginia_. Busy all the
Afternoon in preparing to go.--Evening very hot. Went on foot to the
Stage.--Drank a Bowl of Punch with Mr _Richard_ Howel, & to bed by
ten.
_Monday August 9_
Waited on Dr Witherspoon, about nine o Clock, to hear his Proposal for
my going to _Virginia_--He read me a Letter which he receivd from Col:
Carter, & proposed the following Terms--To teach his Children, five
Daughters, & three Sons, who are from five to seventeen years Old--The
young Ladies are to be taught the English Language. And the Boys are
to study the English Language carefully; & to be instructed in the
Latin, & Greek--And he proposes to give thirty five Pounds Sterling,
which is about Sixty Pounds currency; Provide all Accommodations;
Allow him the undisturbed Use of a Room; And the Use of his own
Library; find Provender for a Horse; & a Servant to Wait--
[Illustration: Man in nightcap?]
--By the Advice of the Dr & his Recommendation of the Gentleman, & the
Place, I accepted the Offer, & agreed to go in the Fall into
_Virginia_--
I took this morning, from Dr Wiggins, a Balsam that has removed the
Pain wholly from my Breast; he called it the Balsam of _Cappewee_.
Probably I spell it Wrong.
_Teusday August 17._
Rose at seven--Very much fatigued with yesterdays Ride--Found the
Students well; & the Seniors in particular In high Spirits on their
Expectation of speedy Liberty--I begin to grow sick of my Virginia
Voyage; But sick or sorry I must away--I waited on the Dr, But he has
yet received no Intelligence.
After Evening-Prayrs, by particular Requests, I attended in the
respectful Whigg-Society[34]--The Members are Orderly--Their
Exercises are well chosen--And generally well-conducted; & as to
speaking, & Composition well-performed--
[34] The American Whig Society and the Cliosophic Society were rival
literary organizations at the College of New Jersey at Princeton.
They conferrd Degrees formally on Six who are to be graduated in the
College the ensuing Commencement. The Moderator for the Time being
confers the Degree; The Formula is short & eligant, & pronounced in
latin--They give also Diploma's, in Latin likewise, which are plain &
full.
Expence of this Day.
For the Hire of our Carriage 10s.
For a Bowl of Punch 1s/6d
For a Glass of Bitters 4d Sum 11s 10d.
[LETTER OF PHILIP V. FITHIAN TO ELIZABETH BEATTY]
Prince-ton. August 17th: 1773.
TO LAURA.
If I could only tell you the Incidents of Yesterday, you would laugh
as loud & as cordially as ever--Smith did all the Oddities of Miss
Cateness.
I was, & for my Life, could not avoid, being dumpish & melancholy, in
the midst of Humour & Pleasantry--Smith[35] was in great Distress on
Account of his approaching Examination; He is in the Senior-Class, &
that Class is to be examined for their Degree tomorrow, so that he too
was sour all Day.--Directly opposite to both was your Brother; he was
noisy, & troublesome; We dined at Mr Irwin's. Your Brother kindly rode
with us to the Ferry, where we parted; he for Mr McConkey's; We for
Princeton. I am to day happy as Amusements & good-Company, in this
lovely Habitation of the Muses, can render me.
[35] William R. Smith, who was one of Fithian's classmates, was
afterwards ordained as a Presbyterian minister. Cf. Williams, ed.,
_Fithian_, p. 34, fn. 2.
There is yet, among my Acquaintances, a young Lady; & She is also, I
firmly believe, one of your most agreeable Intimates, whose Friendship
I think so valuable, & whose Manner every Way, is so peculiarly
engaging, that if you should soon see her, whom you have sometimes
heard me call Laura, give my Duty, my Love to her, & acquaint her with
what I have often told you of her, that She is, in my undisguised
Oppinion, "A Pattern for Female Excellence."
Tell her also, that a singular, & very important Occurrence, which
has lately presented itself to me, seems to make it necessary, if it
be any how agreeable to her, She should in some Way, chosen by
Herself, signify to you that I may thereby know, whether She favours
or dislikes what I have told her.