1775.
Dunmore at Portsmouth--Convention--Committee of Safety--
Carrington, Read, Cabell--Henry, Colonel and Commander-in-chief
--George Mason--Miscellaneous Affairs--Death of Peyton Randolph
--The Randolphs of Virginia.
DUNMORE'S domestics now abandoned the palace and removed to Porto Bello,
his country-seat, about six miles below Williamsburg. The fugitive
governor took up his station at Portsmouth.
On Monday, July the 17th, 1775, the convention met at Richmond. Measures
were taken for raising two regiments of regular troops for one year, and
two companies for the protection of the western frontier, and to divide
the colony into sixteen districts, and to exercise the militia as
minute-men, so as to be ready for service at a moment's warning. At the
instance of Richard Bland an inquiry was made into certain charges
reflecting on his patriotism; and his innocence was triumphantly
vindicated. Although he had resisted extreme measures, yet when the
crisis came, and the rupture took place, he was behind none in patriotic
ardor and devotion to the common cause. A minister was implicated in
propagating the charges against him.
A committee of safety was organized to take charge of the executive
duties of the colony; it consisted of eleven gentlemen: Edmund
Pendleton, George Mason, John Page, Richard Bland, Thomas Ludwell Lee,
Paul Carrington, Dudley Digges, William Cabell, Carter Braxton, James
Mercer, and John Tabb.
Paul Carrington, the ancestor of those bearing that name in Virginia,
and his wife, of the Heningham family, emigrated from Ireland to
Barbadoes. He died early in the eighteenth century, and left a widow and
numerous children. The youngest, George, about the year 1727, came to
Virginia with the family of Joseph Mayo, a Barbadoes merchant, who
settled at Powhatan, the former seat of the chief of that name, and
young Carrington lived with him in the capacity of storekeeper. About
1732 he married Anne, daughter of William Mayo, of Goochland, brother of
Joseph, and went to reside on Willis's Creek, in what is now Cumberland
County. Paul Carrington, eldest child of this marriage, married, in
1755, Margaret, daughter of Colonel Clement Read, of Bushy Forest, clerk
of the court of Lunenburg, now Charlotte. Young Carrington, having
attained a practical knowledge of the law in the clerk's office, soon
acquired an extensive practice. He was a burgess from Charlotte in 1765,
and appears to have voted against Henry's resolutions. He continued to
be a member of the house down to the time of the Revolution; was a
member of the association of 1670, and in 1774 of the first convention;
and also of those of 1775 and 1776. In the latter he voted for the
resolution instructing the delegates in congress to propose
independence, and was a member of the committee which reported the bill
of rights and the constitution. He was subsequently a judge of the
general court and of the court of appeals, and a member of the
convention of 1788. Three of his sons served in the army of Revolution:
George, lieutenant in Lee's legion; Paul, who was at the battles of
Guilford and Greenspring; and Clement, who was wounded in the battle of
Eutaw Springs. Paul Carrington, member of the committee of safety, was
upwards of six feet in stature, his features prominent, with bright blue
eyes, and sandy hair. His seat was Mulberry Hill, on the banks of the
Staunton.[625:A] He died at the age of eighty-five, having survived all
the early Virginia patriots of the revolutionary era.
Edward Carrington, his younger brother, was a valued officer during the
revolutionary war, and quartermaster-general for the Southern army under
Greene.
Colonel Clement Read, father of Mrs. Paul Carrington, was born in
Virginia, (1707,) his ancestors having, as is supposed, come over
shortly after the Restoration, being probably of the Cromwellian party.
Early bereft of his father, he was educated at William and Mary under
the guardianship of John Robinson, of Spotsylvania, president of the
council. In 1730 Mr. Read was married to Mary, only daughter of William
Hill, an officer in the British navy, second son of the Marquis of
Lansdowne. This William Hill had married the only daughter of Governor
Jennings, and resided in what was then Isle of Wight County, now
Brunswick.
Colonel Isaac Read, eldest son of Clement Read, was a member of the
conventions of 1774 and 1775, co-operating with Henry and Jefferson. He
received in June, 1776, a commission as lieutenant-colonel of the Fourth
Virginia Regiment, but died not long after at Philadelphia, owing to
exposure in the public service. Thomas Read, younger brother of Isaac,
was a supporter of the views of Henry and Jefferson, and a member of the
convention of 1776.[626:A] An accomplished gentleman, he retained the
costume and manners of a former day.
Dr. William Cabell, head of the family of that name in Virginia,
emigrated from Wiltshire, England, about 1720, and settled in what is
now Nelson County. He had been a surgeon in the English navy; was a man
of letters and science; in his profession well-skilled and successful;
sagacious in business; of a humorous fancy; and fond of wild sports. He
died in 1774 at an advanced age, leaving one daughter and four sons; of
these, Joseph Cabell was a burgess in 1769 and 1770, and member of the
convention in 1775. John Cabell was a member of the same, and of the
convention of 1776. Nicholas Cabell served under La Fayette, and was
also in political life. William Cabell, the eldest brother, was wise in
council, energetic and fearless in action, and widely influential in his
own region. He was fond of rural sports, and an expert horseman. His
face was of the Roman cast. Tall, of a fine person, and commanding
presence, he exhibited the dignified simplicity of the Virginia
gentleman of the old school. He was a tobacco-planter, and his extensive
and well-ordered plantations, besides the labors of agriculture,
presented a scene of industry, where the various handicrafts were
carried on by his own blacksmiths, carpenters, weavers, and shoemakers.
Colonel Cabell was systematic in business, and of generous hospitality.
He was a member of the assembly in 1769, and a signer of the
association. He voted, in 1775, against Henry's resolutions, preferring
the scheme of a regular army presented by Colonel Nicholas.[627:A]
Colonel Samuel J. Cabell, who was at the commencement of the Revolution
a student of college, left it, and joined the first armed corps raised
in Virginia, and soon attained the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the
continental army. He was made a prisoner at the surrender of Charleston
in 1780, and so remained till the close of the war. He was afterwards a
member of congress, and died at his seat in Nelson County, in 1818, aged
61.
Patrick Henry was elected, in August, colonel of the first regiment and
commander of all the forces raised and to be raised for the defence of
the colony. William Woodford, of Caroline County, who had served
meritoriously in the French and Indian war, was appointed to the command
of the second regiment. A strong effort was made to elect Colonel Hugh
Mercer, of Fredericksburg, to the command of the first regiment, and on
the first ballot he received a plurality of one vote; but the question
being narrowed down between him and Mr. Henry, the latter was elected.
The expense of the late Indian war was estimated at L150,000; Virginia's
quota of the charge of the continental army L150,000; the charge of the
two new regiments, and the minute-men, and other items of public
expenditure, made a sum of upwards of L500,000. George Wythe was elected
member of congress in the place of Washington, appointed
commander-in-chief. When the delegates were chosen for the ensuing
congress, Mr. Mason would have been elected but that he declared that he
could not possibly attend. Upon the resignation of the aged Colonel
Richard Bland, a day or two thereafter, a party headed by Colonel Henry,
Mr. Jefferson, and Colonel Paul Carrington, appeared determined to elect
Colonel Mason at all events. In consequence of this, just before the
ballot was taken, he found himself constrained to make known the grounds
of his refusal; "in doing which," he says, "I felt myself more
distressed than ever I was in my life, especially when I saw tears run
down the president's (Randolph's) cheeks." The cause of Mr. Mason's
declining to serve was the recent death of his wife, leaving a large
family of children. Mr. Mason nominated Colonel Francis Lightfoot Lee,
who was elected. Mr. Mason was, nevertheless, as has been seen, made a
member of the committee of safety, which service was even more
inconvenient to him than that of delegate to congress. But upon his
begging permission to resign, he was answered by a unanimous "no." The
staff officers of the First Regiment, under Colonel Henry, were
Lieutenant-Colonel Christian and Major Eppes; and in the Second
Regiment, under Colonel Woodford, Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Scott and
Major Alexander Spotswood. The convention passed ordinances for raising
money and imposing taxes, for furnishing arms and the procuring of
saltpetre, lead, and sulphur, and for encouraging the manufacture of
gunpowder; for regulating the elections of delegates; and for
establishing a general test of fidelity to the country. The Maryland
Convention not concurring in the resolution prohibiting the export of
provisions, it was rescinded, and the ports were consequently kept open
till the tenth of September. The merchants, natives of Great Britain,
mostly Scotch, resident in Virginia, petitioned the convention to
prescribe some rule of conduct in their business during the present
crisis of affairs, and were allowed to remain neutral. The committee of
safety met for the first time toward the end of August. At the beginning
of the session of the convention, resolutions were passed by way of
recommendations for the people; but afterwards ordinances were enacted
on all matters of importance with the formalities of a bill, passing
through three readings.
In September Colonel Henry selected an encampment in the rear of the
College of William and Mary. The recruits, regular and minute-men,
poured rapidly into Williamsburg. In October Matthew Phripp, a
Virginian, in whom important trusts had been confided, proving a
traitor, went on board of one of Dunmore's vessels. Phripp's son
likewise deserted. Virginia contrived to import some powder at this
juncture. The people became dissatisfied at the scarcity of salt, the
importation of which was prohibited by the articles of association; but
it would hardly have been possible to import it then, even if allowed by
law, Virginia not having one armed vessel to protect her trade. Some
persons began to manufacture it by evaporating sea-water in pans. The
non-importation afforded a new incentive to industry and invention,
threw the people upon their own resources, and taught them self-denial,
and how to live within themselves. They made less tobacco, and applied
themselves more to domestic manufactures.
On the 22d of this month, 1775, died suddenly of an apoplexy, at
Philadelphia, the able and virtuous Peyton Randolph, president of
congress, aged fifty-two years, descended from a family long noted in
Virginia for its wealth, talents, and influence; he was the second son
of Sir John Randolph, and Susan Beverley, his wife. Peyton Randolph,
being bred to the law, was, in 1748, appointed king's attorney for the
colony, being then but twenty-four years of age. He succeeded Speaker
Robinson in the chair of the house of burgesses in 1766, and continued
to preside over that body until it was superseded by the conventions. He
was made, in 1773, a member of the committee of correspondence, and was
at its head. In March, 1774, he was unanimously chosen president of the
first convention of Virginia. In August he was appointed by the
convention one of the delegates to the congress which assembled at
Philadelphia in September, and was unanimously elected president of it.
In person he was tall and stately; in manner grave and of senatorial
dignity; at home generous and hospitable. As a lawyer sound and
accurate; in public life of excellent judgment, large experience, and
incorruptible integrity.[629:A] He lies buried in the chapel of William
and Mary.
The progenitor of the Randolphs was William of Warwickshire, or as some
say, of Yorkshire, England, who came over to Virginia probably between
1665 and 1675, poor, it is said. He accumulated a large estate, and
became a member of the house of burgesses and of the council. He appears
to have been intimate with the first Colonel William Byrd, and well
acquainted with Lady Berkley. He settled at Turkey Island on the James
River. He married Mary Isham, of Bermuda Hundred, who was descended from
an ancient family in Northamptonshire. Several of their sons were men of
distinction: William was member of the council, and treasurer; Isham a
member of the house of burgesses from Goochland, (1740,) and
adjutant-general; Richard was burgess for Henrico, and succeeded his
brother as treasurer. Sir John, sixth son of the first William, was
clerk, speaker, treasurer, and attorney-general. He died in March, 1737,
aged forty-four, and lies buried in the chapel of William and
Mary.[630:A] Peter, son of the second William Randolph, was clerk, and
attorney-general. Peyton, son of Sir John, was attorney-general, speaker
of the house of burgesses, and president of the first congress. John,
brother of Peyton, was attorney-general, a votary of pleasure; of
brilliant talents; he sided with Dunmore, withdrew from Virginia with
him, and died in London, in January, 1784, aged fifty-six. He lies
buried in the chapel of William and Mary. Thomas Mann Randolph, great
grandson of the first William, was member of the Virginia convention of
1775, from Goochland. Beverley Randolph was member of assembly from
Cumberland during the Revolution, and Governor of the State of Virginia.
Edmund Randolph, (son of John, the attorney-general,) said to have been
disinherited by his father for refusing to adhere to the royal cause,
was aid-de-camp to General Washington, member of the convention of 1776,
judge of the admiralty court, member of the congress of the
confederation, and of the general convention that framed the
constitution of the United States, and of the Virginia convention that
ratified it, Governor of Virginia, Attorney-General of the United
States, and Secretary of State. Robert Randolph, son of Peter, Richard
Randolph, grandson of Peter, and David Meade Randolph, sons of the
second Richard, were cavalry officers in the war of the Revolution.
David Meade Randolph was United States Marshal for Virginia. John
Randolph, of Roanoke, the orator, was grandson of the first Richard.
Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr., was member of the legislature of Virginia,
and of congress, and Governor of Virginia. Richard Bland, of the old
congress, Thomas Jefferson, Theodorick Bland, Jr., Richard Henry Lee,
Arthur Lee, and Francis Lightfoot Lee, William Stith, the historian,
and Thomas Marshall, father of the chief justice, were all descended
from William Randolph, of Turkey Island.
Jane Bolling, great granddaughter of Pocahontas, married Richard
Randolph, of Curles. John Randolph, Sr., the seventh child of that
marriage, married Frances Bland, and John Randolph, of Roanoke, the
orator, was one of the children of this union.
The members of the numerous family of the Randolphs in several instances
adopted the names of their seats for the purpose of distinction, as
Thomas of Tuckahoe, Isham of Dungeness, Richard of Curles, John of
Roanoke. The following were seats of the Randolphs on the James River:
Tuckahoe, Chatsworth, Wilton, Varina, Curles, Bremo, and Turkey Island.
FOOTNOTES:
[625:A] Foote's Sketches of Va., second series, 575; Grigsby's
Convention of '76.
[626:A] Foote's Sketches, second series, 573; Grigsby's Convention of
'76.
[627:A] Va. Hist. Reg., iii. 44 and 107; Grigsby's Convention of '76.
[629:A] Grigsby's Convention of Va. of '76.
[630:A] A small work on gardening, printed at Petersburg, in 1807, is
attributed to him.