1677.
Arrival of an English Regiment--The Royal Commissioners--
Punishment of Rebels--Execution of Giles Bland--Commissioners
investigate the Causes of the Rebellion--Seize the Assembly's
Journals--Number of Persons executed--Cruel Treatment of
Prisoners--Bacon's Laws repealed--Act of Pardon--Exceptions--
Singular Penalties--Evaded by the Courts--Many of Bacon's Laws
re-enacted--Berkley recalled--Succeeded by Jeffreys--Sir
William Berkley's Death--Notice of his Life and Writings--His
Widow.
ON the 29th day of January, 1677, a fleet arrived within the capes, from
England, under command of Admiral Sir John Berry, or Barry, with a
regiment of soldiers commanded by Colonel Herbert Jeffreys and Colonel
Morrison. Sir William Berkley held an interview with them at Kiquotan,
on board of the Bristol; and these three were associated in a commission
to investigate the causes of the late commotions and to restore order.
They were instructed to offer a reward of three hundred pounds to any
one who should arrest Bacon, who was to be taken by "all ways of force,
or design." And the other colonies were commanded by the king not to aid
or conceal him; and it was ordered, in case of his capture, that he
should be brought to trial here; or, if his popularity should render it
expedient, be sent to England for trial and punishment. They were
authorized to pardon all who would duly take the oath of obedience, and
give security for their good behavior. Freedom was to be offered to
servants and slaves who would aid in suppressing the revolt.[319:A]
The same measure had been before adopted by the Long Parliament, and
was resorted to a century afterwards by Governor Dunmore. It is
the phenomenon of historical pre-existence. The general court and
the assembly having now met, several more of Bacon's adherents
were convicted by a civil tribunal held at Greenspring, and put to
death--most of them men of competent fortune and respectable character.
Among them was Giles Bland, whose friends in England, it was reported,
had procured his pardon to be sent over with the fleet; but if so, it
availed him nothing. It was indeed whispered that he was executed under
private orders brought from England, the Duke of York having declared,
with an oath, that "Bacon and Bland shall die." Bland was convicted
March eighth, and executed on the fifteenth, at Bacon's Trench, near
Jamestown, with another prisoner, Robert Jones. Three others were put to
death on another day at the same place. Anthony Arnold was hung on the
fifteenth of March, in chains, at West Point. Two others suffered
capitally on the same day, but at what place does not appear, probably
in their own counties.[320:A]
In the month of April, Secretary Ludwell wrote to Coventry, the English
secretary of state, "that the grounds of this rebellion have not
proceeded from any real fault in the government, but rather from the
lewd disposition of desperate fortunes lately sprung up among them,
which easily seduced the willing minds of the people from their
allegiance, in the vain hopes of taking the country wholly out of his
majesty's hands into their own. Bacon never intended more by the
prosecution of the Indian war than as a covert to his villanies."
The commissioners, who assisted in the trial of these prisoners, now
proceeded to inquire into the causes of the late distractions; they sat
at Swan's Point. The insurgents, who comprised the great body of the
people of Virginia, had found powerful friends among the people of
England, and in parliament; and the commissioners discountenanced the
excesses of Sir William Berkley, and the loyalists, and invited the
planters in every quarter to bring in their grievances without fear.
Jeffreys, one of the commissioners, was about to succeed Governor
Berkley. In their zeal for investigation the commissioners seized the
journals of the assembly; and the burgesses in October, 1677, demanded
satisfaction for this indignity, declaring that such a seizure could not
have been authorized even by an order under the great seal, because
"they found that such a power had never been exercised by the king of
England"--an explicit declaration of the legislative independence of the
colony. Their language was stigmatized by Charles the Second as
seditious.[321:A]
The number of persons executed was twenty-three,[321:B] of whom twelve
were condemned by court-martial. The jails were crowded with prisoners,
and in the general consternation many of the inhabitants were preparing
to leave the country. During eight months Virginia had suffered civil
war, devastation, executions, and the loss of one hundred thousand
pounds,--so violent was the effort of nature to throw off the malady of
despotism and misrule. Charles the Second, in October, issued two
proclamations, authorizing Berkley to pardon all except Nathaniel Bacon,
Jr.; and afterwards another, declaring Sir William's of February, 1677,
not conformable to his instructions, in excepting others besides Bacon
from pardon, and abrogating it. Yet the king's commissioners assisted in
the condemnation of several of the prisoners. An act of pardon, under
the great seal, brought over by Lord Culpepper, was afterwards
unanimously passed by the assembly in June, 1680, and several persons
are excepted in it who were included in Sir William's "bloody bill" in
February, 1677.[321:C]
The people complained to the commissioners of the illegal seizing of
their estates by the governor and his royalist supporters; and of their
being imprisoned after submitting themselves upon the governor's
proclamation of pardon and indemnity; and of being compelled to pay
heavy fines and compositions by threats of being brought to trial, which
was in every instance tantamount to conviction. Berkley and some of the
royalists that sat on the trial of the prisoners, were forward in
impeaching, accusing, and reviling them--accusing and condemning, both
at once. Sir William Berkley caused Drummond's small plantation to be
seized upon and given to himself by his council, removing and embezzling
the personal property, and thus compelling his widow, with her children,
to fly from her home, and wander in the wilderness and woods until they
were well-nigh reduced to starvation, when relieved by the arrival of
the commissioners. At length the assembly, in an address to the
governor, deprecated any further sanguinary punishments, and he was
prevailed upon, reluctantly, to desist. All the acts of the assembly of
June, 1676, called "Bacon's Laws," were repealed, as well by the order
and proclamation of King Charles, as also by act of the assembly held at
Greenspring, in February, 1677.[322:A]
The assembly granted indemnity and pardon for all acts committed since
the 1st of April, 1676, excepting Nathaniel Bacon, Jr., and about fifty
others, including certain persons deceased, executed, escaped, and
banished. The principal persons excepted were Cheesman, Hunt, Hansford,
Wilford, Carver, Drummond, Crewes, Farloe, Hall, William and Henry West,
Lawrence, Bland, Whaley, Arnold, Ingram, Wakelet, Scarburgh, and Sarah,
wife of Thomas Grindon. Twenty were attainted of high treason, and their
estates confiscated. The provisoes of the act virtually left the whole
power of punishment still in the hands of the governor and council.
Minor punishments were inflicted on others; some were compelled to sue
for pardon on their knees, with a rope about the neck; others fined,
disfranchised, or banished. These penalties did not meet with the
approbation of the people, and were in several instances evaded by the
connivance of the courts. John Bagwell and Thomas Gordon, adjudged to
appear at Rappahannock Court with halters about their necks, were
allowed to appear with "small tape;" in the same county William Potts
wore "a Manchester binding," instead of a halter.
The assembly, in accordance with one of Bacon's laws, declared Indian
prisoners slaves, and their property lawful prize. An order was made for
building a new state-house at Tindall's (Gloucester) Point, on the north
side of York River, but it was never carried into effect. Many of the
acts of this session are almost exact copies of "Bacon's Laws," the
titles only being altered--a conclusive proof of the abuses and
usurpations of those in power, and of the merits of acts passed by those
stigmatized and punished as rebels and traitors. Such likewise was the
conduct of the British Parliament in relation to the legislation of the
Commonwealth of England. The fourth of May was appointed a fast-day, and
August the twenty-second a day of thanksgiving.
Sir William Berkley, worn down with agitations which his age was unequal
to, and in feeble health, being recalled by the king, ceased to be
governor on the 27th of April, 1677, and returned in the fleet to
London, leaving Colonel Herbert Jeffreys in his place, who was sworn
into office on the same day. His commission was dated November the 11th,
1676--the twenty-eighth year of Charles the Second. In July, 1675, Lord
Culpepper had been appointed governor-in-chief of Virginia, but he did
not arrive till the beginning of 1680; had he come over when first
appointed, it might have prevented Bacon's Rebellion.
Sir William Berkley died on the thirteenth of July, 1677, of a broken
heart, as some relate,[323:A] without ever seeing the king, having been
confined to his chamber from the day of his arrival. According to
others, King Charles expressed his approbation of his conduct, and the
kindest regard for him, and made frequent inquiry respecting his
health.[323:B] Others again, on the contrary, report that the king said
of him: "That old fool has hanged more men in that naked country than I
have done for the murder of my father."[323:C] Sir William Berkley was a
native of London, and educated at Merton College, Oxford, of which he
was afterwards a fellow, and in 1629 was made Master of Arts. He made
the tour of Europe in the year 1630. He held the place of governor of
Virginia from 1639 to 1651, and from 1659 to 1677--a period of thirty
years, a term equalled by no other governor of the colony. He published
a tragi-comedy, "The Lost Lady," in 1639, the year in which he came
first to Virginia. Pepys, in his Diary, mentions seeing it acted. Sir
William published also, in 1663, "A Discourse and View of Virginia." He
was buried at Twickenham, since illustrated by the genius of Pope. Sir
William Berkley left no children. By a will, dated May the 2d, 1676, he
bequeathed his estate to his widow. He declares himself to have been
under no obligation whatever to any of his kindred except his sister,
Mrs. Jane Davies, (of whom he appears to have been fond,) and his
brother, Lord Berkley. Sir William married the widow of Samuel Stephens,
of Warwick County, Virginia. She, after Sir William's death, was sued by
William Drummond's widow for trespass, in taking from her land a
quantity of corn, and in spite of a strenuous defence, a verdict was
found against the defendant. In 1680 she intermarried with Colonel
Philip Ludwell, of Rich Neck, but still retained the title of "Dame (or
Lady) Frances Berkley."
Samuel Stephens was the son of Dame Elizabeth Harvey (widow of Sir John
Harvey) by a former marriage.[324:A]
It does not appear when Colonel William Clayborne, first of the name in
Virginia, died, or where he was buried, but probably in the County of
New Kent. There is a novel entitled "Clayborne the Rebel."[324:B]
Colonel William Clayborne, Jr., eldest son of the above mentioned, was
probably the one appointed (1676) to command a fort at Indiantown
Landing, in New Kent, together with Major Lyddal,[324:C] as the father
was probably then too old for that post. Some suppose also that it was
the son that sat on the trial of the rebels. A certificate of the valor
of William Clayborne, Jr., is recorded in King William County
Court-house, signed by Sir William Berkley, dated in March, 1677,
attested by Nathaniel Bacon, Sir Philip Ludwell, Ralph Wormley, and
Richard Lee.
Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Clayborne, only brother of William Clayborne,
Jr., lies buried not far from West Point, in King William County. He was
killed by an Indian arrow which wounded him in the foot. It appears that
each of the sons of Secretary Clayborne had a son named Thomas. Colonel
Thomas Clayborne, son of Captain Thomas Clayborne, is said to have
married three times, and to have been father of twenty-seven children.
One of his daughters married a General Phillips of the British army, and
is said to have been the mother of Colonel Ralph Phillips, of the
British army, who fell at Waterloo, and of the distinguished Irish
orator who died recently. Another son, William Clayborne, married a Miss
Leigh, of Virginia, and was father of William Charles Cole Clayborne,
Governor of Louisiana, and of General Ferdinand Leigh Clayborne, late of
Mississippi. He assisted General Jackson in planning the battle of New
Orleans. The widow of this Governor Clayborne married John R. Grymes,
Esq., the eminent New Orleans lawyer. And a daughter of the governor
married John H. B. Latrobe, Esq., of Baltimore.
Colonel Augustine Clayborne, son of Colonel Thomas Clayborne, was
appointed clerk of Sussex County Court in the year 1754, by William
Adair, secretary of the colony. His son, Buller Clayborne, was
aid-de-camp to General Lincoln, and is said to have received a wound
while interposing himself between the general and a party of British
soldiers. Mary Herbert, a sister of Buller Clayborne, married an uncle
of General William Henry Harrison. Herbert Clayborne, eldest son of
Colonel Augustine Clayborne, married Mary, daughter of Buller Herbert,
of Puddledock, near Petersburg. Puddledock is the name of a street in
London. Herbert Augustine Clayborne was second son of Herbert Clayborne,
of Elson Green, King William County, and Mary Burnet, eldest daughter of
William Burnet Browne, of Elson Green, and before of Salem,
Massachusetts.
The Honorable William Browne, of Massachusetts, married Mary Burnet,
daughter of William Burnet, (Governor of New York and of Massachusetts,)
and Mary, daughter of Dean Stanhope, of Canterbury. William Burnet was
eldest son of Gilbert Burnet, Bishop of Salisbury, and Mrs. Mary Scott,
his second wife. Thus it appears that Herbert Clayborne married a
descendant of Bishop Burnet.
FOOTNOTES:
[319:A] Chalmers' Annals, 336.
[320:A] Burk, ii. 255.
[321:A] Chalmers' Revolt, i. 163, and Annals, 337.
[321:B] Hening, ii. 370.
[321:C] Hening, ii. 366, 428, 458.
[322:A] Hening, ii. 365.
[323:A] Chalmers' Introduction, i. 164.
[323:B] Beverley, B. i. 79.
[323:C] T. M.'s Account.
[324:A] Mass. Gen. and Antiq. Register for 1847, p. 348.
[324:B] By William H. Carpenter, Esq., of Maryland. Published in 1846.
[324:C] Hening, ii. 526.