_Fredericksburg Incorporated by Law--Col. Byrd Walks About
Town--Church Erected--Patrick Henry Rector--Augustine Washington a
Trustee--Fairs Inaugurated--Limits of the Town Extended, &c._
Although the site upon which Fredericksburg now stands was settled by
white men, possibly in 1622, in the location of plantations by the London
Company referred to by Capt. John Smith, and certainly in 1681 by the
construction of Major Lawrence Smith's fort, yet the town was not
incorporated for many years thereafter. That it was a trading station and
a place of importance before its incorporation is admitted in the act of
incorporation itself, besides earlier writers refer to it as such. If the
inquiry should be made as to why the town was not incorporated earlier if
it was a place of importance, it might be answered with the fact that
prior to that time the authorities did not seem to think it was necessary,
as neither Richmond, Petersburg, Norfolk nor Alexandria was incorporated
for several years after Fredericksburg had a legal existence.
Fredericksburg was founded by law in 1727 and named for Frederick, Prince
of Wales, son of George the Second, by which act the people of the town
showed their attachment to the royal family of England. But this was not
all; they emphasized that attachment by calling nearly every street in the
original survey of the town after some member of the royal family or of
some country to which English royalty was closely allied. Sophia street
was named for the sister of George II; Caroline for his wife; Princess
Anne for one of his daughters, and Prince Edward for his grandson. The
cross streets were named, Princess Elizabeth for a daughter of George II;
Frederick for his oldest son; William for his second son, and Amelia for a
daughter. George was named for the King himself; Charlotte for the wife of
George III; Hanover for the House of Hanover, and Prussia for the country
of Prussia. This includes every street in the original survey except
Charles and Wolfe. We do not know for whom these two streets were named,
and we think the evidence is very clear that they were not laid out as
streets at the time of the original survey.
The act of the House of Burgesses, establishing Fredericksburg, in which
are preserved as near as possible the form, orthography, punctuation and
capitalization, is as follows:
I. Whereas great Numbers of People have of late seated themselves and
their Families upon and near the River _Rappahannock_, and the
Branches thereof above the Falls, and great Quantities of Tobacco and
other Commodities are every Year brought down to the upper Landings
upon the said River to be shipped off and transported to other Parts
of the Country and it is necessary that the poorer Part of the said
Inhabitants should be supplied from thence with Goods and Merchandise
in return for their Commodities, but for Want of some convenient
Place, where Traders may cohabit and bring their Goods to, such
Supplies are not to be had without great Disadvantages, and good
Houses are greatly wanted on some navigable Part of said River, near
the Falls for the Reception of safe keeping of such Commodities as are
brought thither and for the Entertainment and Sustenance of those who
repair thither from remote Places with Carriages drawn by Horses and
Oxen; and forasmuch as the Inhabitants of the County of _Spotsylvania_
have made humble Supplication to the General Assembly that a Town may
be laid out in some convenient Place near the Falls of said River, for
the cohabitation of such as are minded to reside there for the
purposes aforesaid, whereby the peopling of that remote Part of the
county will be encouraged, and Trade and Navigation may be increased:
II. BE _it enacted, by the Lieutenant Governor, Council, and
Burgesses, of this present General Assembly, and it is hereby enacted,
by the Authority of the same_, that within six Months after the
passing of this Act fifty Acres of Land, Parcel of a Tract of Land
belonging to _John Royston_ and _Robert Buckner_, of the County of
_Gloucester_, situate, lying and being upon the South Side of the
River Rappahannock aforesaid in the County of _Spotsylvania_ commonly
called or known by the Name of the _Lease Land_, shall be surveyed
and laid out, taking the whole Breadth of the Tract of Land upon the
River, by the Surveyor of the said County of _Spotsylvania_; and the
said fifty Acres of Land, so to be surveyed and laid out, shall be and
is hereby vested in _John Robinson_, Esq; _Henry Willis_, _Augustin
Smith_, _John Taliaferro_, _Harry Beverley_, _John Waller_, and
_Jeremiah Clowder_, of the County of _Spotsylvania_, Gentlemen, and
their Successors, in Trust, for the several purposes hereafter
mentioned; and the said _John Robinson_, _Henry Willis_, _Augustin
Smith_, _John Taliaferro_, _Harry Beverley_, _John Waller_ and
_Jeremiah Clowder_, are hereby constituted and appointed Directors and
Trustees for designing, building, carrying on, and maintaining, a Town
upon the said Land: And the said Directors and Trustees, or any four
of them, shall have power to meet as often as they shall think
necessary, and shall lay out the said fifty Acres in Lots and Streets,
not exceeding Half an Acre of Ground in each Lot, and also to set
apart such Portions of said Land for a Church and Church-Yard, a
Market Place, and publick Key, and to appoint such Places upon the
River for publick Landings, as they shall think most convenient, and,
if the same shall be necessary, shall direct the making and erecting
of Wharfs and Cranes at such publick Landings, for the publick Use.
And when the said Town shall be so laid out the said Directors and
Trustees shall have full Power and Authority to sell all the said Lots
by publick Sale or Auction, from Time to Time, to the highest Bidder,
so as no Person shall have more than Two Lots; and when such Lots
shall be sold, any two of the said Trustees shall and may, upon
Payment of the Purchase Money, by some sufficient Conveyance or
Conveyances, Convey the Fee Simple, Estate of such Lot or Lots to the
Purchaser or Purchasers: And he or they, or his or their Heirs and
Assigns, respectively, shall and may for ever thereafter peaceably and
quietly have, hold, possess, and enjoy, the same, freed and discharged
of and from all Right, Title, Estate, Claim, Interest, and Demand
whatsoever of the said _John Royster_ and _Robert Buckner_ and the
Heirs and Assigns of them respectively, and of all Persons whatsoever
claiming by, from, or under them or either of them.
III. PROVIDED _nevertheless_, that the said Directors and Trustees
shall pay, or cause to be paid, unto the said _John Royston_ and
_Robert Buckner_, out of the Money to be raised by the Sale of the
said Lots, as soon as the same shall be by them received, after the
Rate of forty Shillings for every Acre of the said fifty Acres of
Land, according to the Right which the said _John Royston_ and _Robert
Buckner_ now respectively have to the same; and the said _John
Royston_ and _Robert Buckner_ shall also have each of them two Lots,
which shall be assigned to them by the said Directors and Trustees,
and they shall respectively remain seized of such Lots of the same
Estate whereof they were respectively seized in the said Land before
the making of this Act.
IV. AND _be it further enacted, by the Authority aforesaid_, that
after the said Lots shall be so laid out and disposed of, as
aforesaid, the said Directors, or any four of them, shall have full
Power and Authority to apply all the overplus Money which shall be
raised by the Sale of the said Lots to such publick Use; for the
common Benefit of the Inhabitants of the said Town, as to them shall
seem best.
V. AND _be it further enacted, by the Authority aforesaid_, that the
Grantee or Grantees of every such Lot or Lots, so to be conveyed and
sold in the said Town, shall, within two Years next after the Date of
the Conveyance for the same, erect, build, and finish, on each Lot so
conveyed, one House, of Brick, Stone or Wood well framed, of the
Dimensions of Twenty Feet square, and nine Feet Pitch at the least, or
apportionably thereto, if such Grantee shall have two Lots contiguous;
and the said Directors shall have full Power and Authority to
establish such Rules and Orders, for the more regular placing the said
Houses, as to them shall seem fit, from Time to Time. And if the Owner
of any Lots shall fail to pursue and comply with the Directions herein
prescribed, for the building and finishing one or more House or Houses
thereon, then such Lots upon which such Houses shall not be so built
and finished shall be revested in the said Trustees, and shall and may
be sold and conveyed to any other Person or Persons whatsoever, in the
Manner before directed, and shall revest, and be again sold, as often
as the Owner or Owners shall fail to perform, obey, and fulfil, the
Directions aforesaid; and if the Inhabitants of the said Town shall
fail to obey and pursue the Rules and Orders of the said Directors, in
repairing and amending the Streets, Landings, and publick Wharfs, they
shall be liable to the same Penalties as are inflicted for not
repairing the Highways of this Colony.
VI. AND for the continuing the Succession of the said Trustees and
Directors, until the Governour of this Colony shall incorporate some
other Persons by Letters Patents, under the Seal of this Colony, to be
one Body Politick and Corporate, to whom the Government of the said
Town shall be committed, _Be it further enacted_, that in Case of the
Death of the said Directors, or of their Refusal to act, the surviving
or other Directors, or the major Part of them, shall assemble, and are
hereby Empowered, from Time to Time, by Instrument in Writing, under
their respective Hands and Seals, to nominate some other Person or
Persons, being an Inhabitant or Freeholder of the said Town, in the
Place of him so dying or refusing; which new Director or Directors, so
nominated and appointed, shall from thenceforth have the like Power
and Authority, in all Things relating to the Matters herein contained,
as if he or they had been expressly named and appointed in and by this
Act, and every such Instrument and Nomination shall from Time to Time
be recorded in the Books of the said Directors.
VII. AND whereas _William Livingston_ is possessed of a Lease under
the said _John Royston_, for certain Years to come, of Part of the
said fifty Acres of Land, and hath erected buildings and made several
Improvements thereon, which will be taken away when the said Town
shall be laid out: For making Satisfaction for which,
VIII. BE it further enacted, that the two Lots to be assigned to the
said _John Royston_, pursuant to this Act, shall include the
Dwelling-House and Kitchen of the said _William Livingston_, and shall
be held and enjoyed by him for the Residue of the said Term, and at
the Expiration thereof shall revert unto, and be vested in, the said
_John Royston_, as aforesaid; and, moreover, the said Trustees are
hereby enjoined and required to pay unto the said _William Livingston_
the Sum of twenty Pounds current Money out of the Monies arising by
Sale of Lots, as a Consideration and Compensation for the said Lease.
IX. AND _be it further enacted_, that the Town aforesaid shall be
called by the Name of _Fredericksburg_.
This act of incorporation which elevated the Lease Land into the town
of Fredericksburg, was signed by William Gooch, Esq., Governor, and
John Holliday, Speaker.
By the authority conferred upon the trustees of the town by the sixth
section of the above act, the following paper was issued by the board of
trustees, appointing Augustine Washington, the father of General George
Washington, one of the trustees of the town. The original was presented to
the town some years ago by one of the descendants of Augustine Washington,
and is now preserved in the clerk's office:
"Whereas, at a meeting of the Trustees of the town of Fredericksburg,
April 6th 1742, according to directions of act of Assembly, Intitled
an Act for erecting a Town in both of the counties of Spotsylvania and
King George, To Supply the number of Trustees in the Room of those
Gentlemen deceased, we have Unanimously made Choise of, and Elected,
Augustine Washington, Gent., to be one of the Trustees or Feoffees for
the town of Fredericksburg, in Spotsylvania county to fill up and
compleat our full number and for confirming of the same We have
according to Directions of the Sd Act, set our hands and seals, this
20th day of April, 1742.
John Taliaferro,
John Waller,
Ira Thornton,
John Allen,
Rob Jackson."
In the year 1732 the seat of justice, which had been located at Germanna,
where Governor Spotswood had settled, and where he started and operated
the first iron works in this country, heretofore mentioned, was removed to
Fredericksburg as a more convenient place. That change did not continue
long, for, in 1749, the law was again changed and the court was moved back
to Germanna, where it was held for several years, and until it was located
at Holidays, thence to the old Courthouse and finally to Spotsylvania
Courthouse, where it was held until abolished by the new Constitution.
[Illustration: Princess Anne Street looking East.]
In 1732, five years after the town was established by law, Col. Byrd, then
living on the James river, where Richmond now stands, made a visit to
Fredericksburg. This visit was made at the time he made his trip to
Germanna to see his old friend Governor Spotswood. While here Col. Byrd
wrote a description of the new town to a friend as he saw it, as follows:
"Colonel Willis walked me about his new town of Fredericksburg. It is
pleasantly situated on the south shore of the Rappahannock river,
about a mile below the falls. Sloops may come and lie close to the
wharf, within thirty yards of the public warehouse which is built in
the figure of a cross. Just by the wharf is a quarry of white stone
that is very soft in the ground, and hardens in the air, appearing to
be as fair and fine grained as that of Portland. Besides that, there
are several other quarries in the river bank, within the limits of the
town, sufficient to build a large city. The only edifice of stone yet
built is the prison, the walls of which are strong enough to hold Jack
Sheppard, if he had been transported thither. Though this be a
commodious and beautiful situation for a town, with the advantages of
a navigable river, and wholesome air, yet the inhabitants are very
few. Besides Colonel Willis, who is the top man of the place, there
are only one merchant, a tailor, a smith, an ordinary-keeper, and a
lady, Mrs. Livingston, who acts here in the double capacity of a
doctress and a coffee-woman. It is said the courthouse and the church
are going to be built here, and then both religion and justice will
help to enlarge the place."
The church spoken of was built soon after Col. Byrd's visit. It was
located on the lot where St. George's church building now stands. It was a
wooden structure, about thirty by forty feet, to which two additions were
made as the town increased in population. The first addition was made to
the side of the church, which gave the building the shape of a capital T,
and the second one was made a few years afterwards on the opposite side,
giving the building the form of a cross.
The first rector of the new church was Rev. Patrick Henry, uncle of the
great Virginia orator, Patrick Henry. Mr. Henry remained rector for a
short time, and was followed, in 1734, by Rev. James Marye, of Goochland
county, who was the great great grandfather of our late honored fellow
citizen, Gov. John L. Marye. Mr. Marye had charge of two churches within
the parish, one located on the Po river and the other at Fredericksburg.
His salary for the first year for the entire parish was discharged with
sixteen thousand pounds of "farm tobacco." St. George's church is noticed
more at length under the head of churches.
CATTLE AND MERCHANDISE FAIRS.
In the year 1738 a law was passed by the House of Burgesses authorizing
and directing that "fairs should be held in Fredericksburg twice a year
for the sale of cattle, provisions, goods, wares, and all kinds of
merchandise whatever." The act provided that all persons at such fairs,
going to or from them, were privileged from arrest and execution during
the fairs, and for two days before and two days after them, except for
capital offences, breaches of the peace, or for any controversies, suits
and quarrels that might arise during the time. These fairs were continued
from time to time, by various acts and amendments, until 1769, when the
right of holding them was made perpetual, they having proved a benefit to
both town and county. We have no record as to when they ceased to be held
and no citizen now living remembers to have attended one. They may have
been changed into agricultural fairs, which are mentioned elsewhere.
ANOTHER SURVEY OF THE TOWN.
In March, 1739, the trustees of the town found it necessary to have
another survey and plat of Fredericksburg made. This work was done by
William Waller, Surveyor of Spotsylvania county. By this new survey it
appears that the lots and buildings of the town had not only occupied the
original fifty acres, but had also encroached upon the lands of Henry
Willis and John Lewis; and, as this gave rise to controversies and
threatened law suits, the Lieutenant-Governor, Council and Burgesses of
the General Assembly passed an act in May, 1742, which was declared to be
"for removing all doubts and controversies," and which declared that these
lands, belonging to the estate of Henry Willis and John Lewis, should be
held and taken to be part of Fredericksburg and vested in the trustees,
and purchasers claiming under them; provided, that the trustees should pay
to the executors of Henry Willis five pounds, and to John Lewis fifteen
pounds. The area of the town, as ascertained by this survey, was not quite
fifty-three acres.
The irregularity of the buildings having necessitated an enlargement of
the original fifty acres, the style of buildings must have caused serious
apprehensions of danger from fire, as we find that, in 1742, it was
represented to the General Assembly that the people were often in great
and imminent danger of having their houses and effects burned by reason of
the many wooden chimneys in the town, and, therefore, it was made unlawful
to build any wooden chimneys in the town thereafter, and unlawful, after
the expiration of three years, to use any wooden chimney already built;
and, in case the owners did not, within three years, pull down and destroy
these wooden chimneys, the sheriff was authorized to do so, at the expense
of the owners thereof.