pads so as to give them the graceful carriage necessary to the wearing
of all this weight of stiff and elaborate costume, which was all of a
piece with the character of the assemblies and other evening
entertainments, the games of cards--basset, loo, piquet, and
whist--with the dancing, the ceremonious public life of nearly every
class of society, with even the elaborate funeral ceremonies, and the
sedulousness with which "persons of quality" thought it incumbent upon
themselves to maintain the distinctions of rank as symbolized in
costume.
The tie-wig, bob-wig, bag-wig, night-cap-wig, and riding-wig were
worn by the gentleman of quality as occasion required. At times he
wore, also, a small three-cornered cocked hat, felt or beaver,
elaborately laced with gold or silver galloon. If he walked, as to
church or court, he carried, in addition to his sword, a gold or
ivory-headed cane, at least five feet long, and wore square-toed,
"low-quartered" shoes with paste or silver buckles. His stockings, no
matter what the material, were tightly stretched over his calves and
carefully gartered at the knee. If he rode, he wore boots instead of
shoes and carried a stout riding whip. About his neck was a white
cravat of great amplitude, with abundant hanging ends of lace. His
waist-coat was made with great flaps extending nearly down to the knee
and bound with gold or silver lace. His coat, of cloth or velvet,
might be of any color, but was sure to be elaborately made, with
flap-pockets, and great hanging cuffs, from beneath which appeared the
gentleman's indispensable lace ruffles. His knee-breeches were of
black satin, red plush, or blue cloth, according to his fancy. They
were plainly made and fitted tightly, buckling at the knee. At home, a
black velvet skull-cap sometimes usurped the place of the wig and a
damask dressing-gown lined with silk supplanted the coat, the feet
being made easy in fancy morocco slippers. Judges on the bench often
wore robes of scarlet faced with black velvet in winter, and black
silk gowns in summer.
The substantial planter and burgher dressed well but were not so
particular about their wigs, of which they probably owned no more than
one, kept for visiting and for Sabbath use. They usually yielded to
the custom of shaving their heads, however, and wore white linen caps
under their hats. During the Revolutionary War wigs were scare and
costly, linen was almost unobtainable and the practice of shaving
heads accordingly fell rapidly into desuetude. Sometimes the burgher's
hat was of wool or felt, with a low crown and broad brim, turned up
and cocked. About his neck he wore a white linen stock, fastening with
a buckle at the back. His coat was of cloth, broad-backed, with
flap-pockets, and his waist-coat, of the same stuff, extended to his
knees. He wore short breeches with brass or silver knee-buckles, red
or blue garters, and rather stout, coarse leather shoes, strapped over
the quarter. He wore no sword, but often carried a staff, and knew how
to use it to advantage.
Mechanics, laborers and servants wore leather-breeches and aprons,
sagathy coats, osnaburg shirts and hair-shag jackets, coarse shoes,
and worsted or jean stockings, knit at home.
The dress of the women of these classes was shabbier still, their
costumes, for the most part, comprising stamped cotton and white
dimity gowns, coarse shift (osnaburg), country cloth, and black
quilted petticoats. In the backwoods and the primitive German
settlements the women all wore the short gowns and petticoats, also
tight-fitting calico caps. In summer, when employed in the fields,
they wore only a linen shift and a petticoat of home-made linsey. All
their clothing, in fact, was home-made.
The ladies of quality, however, as has been intimated, dressed
extravagantly, frizzed, rouged, wore trains, and acted as fashionable
women have done from the immemorial beginning of things.
The pioneers dressed universally in the hunting shirt or blouse,
sometimes fringed and decorated, and perhaps the most convenient frock
ever conceived. It fit loosely, was open in front, reached almost to
the knees, and had large sleeves, and a cape for the protection of the
shoulders in bad weather. In the ample bosom of this shirt the hunter
carried his bread and meat, the tow with which to wipe out the barrel
of his rifle, and other small requisites. To his belt, tied or buckled
behind, he suspended his mittens, bullet-pouch, tomahawk, and knife
and sheath. His hunting-shirt was made of dressed deer-skin--very
uncomfortable in wet weather--or of linsey, when it was to be had. The
pioneer dressed his lower body in drawers and leathern cloth leggins,
and his feet in moccasins; a coon-skin cap completing the attire.
His wife wore a linsey petticoat, home-spun and home-made, and a short
gown of linsey or "callimanco," when that material could be obtained.
She wore no covering for the feet in ordinary weather, and moccasins,
coarse, "country-made" shoes, or "shoe-packs" during more rigorous
seasons. To complete the picture Kercheval, the historian of the
Shenandoah Valley, is here quoted: "The coats and bed-gowns of the
women, as well as the hunting-shirts of the men, were hung in full
display on wooden pegs around the walls of their cabins, so that while
they answered in some degree the purpose of paper-hangings or
tapestry, they announced to the stranger as well as the neighbor the
wealth or poverty of the family in the articles of clothing."
* * * * *
It is to be hoped that the desultory sketch furnished above will not
be found uninteresting despite its imperfections. Many details have
been omitted or neglected, but enough has been written to illustrate
in a general way the qualities for which our ancestors were most
distinguished, for which their characters have excited most comment
and perhaps deserved most praise.
As a whole, they were a generous, large-hearted, liberal-minded
people, and their faults were far fewer than their virtues. The
yeomanry, in their own rude, rough-and-ready manner, reflected the
same sort of personal independence of character and proud sense of
individuality as the social aristocracy.
FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.
Little can be learned of Loudoun's participation in the last great
French and Indian War (1754-1763). It had its beginning three years
prior to her admission into the sisterhood of Virginia counties, and
the services she must have rendered during that period are, of course,
accredited to Fairfax, of which county she was then a part. The few
existing or available records of the remaining six years of warfare,
as of the entire period, are imperfect and unlocalized and would
baffle the most experienced and persevering compiler.
The only deductions that have seemed at all noteworthy are here
presented:
The General Assembly of Virginia, on April 14, 1757, passed an act
providing for the appointment of a committee to direct the pay of the
officers and soldiers then in the pay of the Colony, of "the rangers
formerly employed, and for the expense of building a fort in the
Cherokee country," for the pay of the militia that had "been drawn out
into actual service, and also for provisions for the said soldiers,
rangers, and militia...."
In the following schedule are given the names of Loudoun payees and
the amount received by each:
£ s. d.
To Captain Nicholas Minor 1 00 00
Æneas Campbell, lieutenant 7 6
Francis Wilks 1 17
James Willock 1 15
John Owsley and William Stephens, 15s. each 1 10
Robert Thomas 10
John Moss, Jr. 4
John Thomas, for provisions 5
John Moss, for provisions 2 8
William Ross, for provisions 2
__ __ __
7 13 2
By a later act of the same body commissioners were empowered "to
examine, state, and settle the accounts of such pay, provisions, arms,
etc.," of the six counties from which they were appointed, "and all
arrears whatsoever relating to the militia."
The following list of Loudoun beneficiaries, with the amounts
opposite, is reproduced in the identical form in which it was then
submitted:
£ s. d.
"1757. To Robert Adams, assignee of Stephen Thatcher, for
his pay, 5 12 6
Do. do of Thomas Bond, for do., 4 10
Thomas Gore, for a rifle gun impressed, 4 10
Stephen Emorie, for dressing guns for militia, 13
James Clemons, for a gun impressed, 4 10
1763. Captain Moss, for 60 days' pay at 6s., 18
Lieutenant Gore, for do. at 3s., 6d., 10 10"
REPRESENTATION.
_Colonial Assemblies._--General Assembly of 1758-'61, Francis
Lightfoot Lee and James Hamilton; General Assembly of 1761-'65,
Francis Lightfoot Lee and James Hamilton; General Assembly of October,
1765, Francis Lightfoot Lee and James Hamilton; General Assembly of
1766-'68, Francis Lightfoot Lee and James Hamilton; General Assembly
of May, 1769, Francis Peyton and James Hamilton; General Assembly of
1769-'71, Francis Peyton and James Hamilton (the latter vacated his
seat during the session of May 21, 1770, to accept the office of
coroner. He was succeeded by Josiah Clapham); General Assembly of
1772-'74, Thomas Mason and Francis Peyton; General Assembly of
1775-'76, Josiah Clapham and Francis Peyton.
_State Conventions._
Below will be found a compendium of Virginia conventions, with the
names of the delegates returned by Loudoun County. Few, if any,
counties of Virginia have had an abler or more influential
representation in the various State conventions. From the meeting of
the first to the adjournment of the last Loudoun has been represented
by fifteen of her wisest and most prominent citizens.
_Convention of 1774._--Met August 1, 1774. Adjourned August 6, 1774.
Loudoun delegates: Francis Peyton and Thomas Mason.
_Convention of March 20, 1775._--Met at Richmond, Monday, March 20,
1775. Adjourned March 27, 1775. Loudoun delegates: Francis Peyton and
Josiah Clapham.
_Convention of July 17, 1775._--Met at Richmond, July 17, 1775.
Adjourned August 26, 1775. Loudoun delegates: Francis Peyton and
Josiah Clapham.
_Convention of December 1, 1775._--Met at Richmond, December 1, 1775.
Adjourned January 20, 1776. Loudoun delegates: Francis Peyton and
Josiah Clapham.
_Convention of 1776._--This convention met in the city of
Williamsburg, on Monday, May 6, 1776, and "framed the first written
constitution of a free State in the annals of the world." Adjourned
July 5, 1776. Loudoun delegates: Francis Peyton and Josiah Clapham.
Previous conventions did not frame constitutions, but they directed
the affairs of the colony, and, in a measure, controlled the destinies
of her people. Like the convention of 1776, they were instead
revolutionary bodies.
_Convention of 1788._--This convention met in the State House in the
city of Richmond, June 2, 1788, to ratify or reject the Constitution
which had been recommended to the States by the Federal Convention on
the 17th of September, 1787, at Philadelphia. Adjourned _sine die_
June 27, 1788. Loudoun delegates: Stephen T. Mason and Levin Powell.
_Convention of 1829-'30._--Assembled in Richmond on the 5th day of
October, 1829. Tenth District (Loudoun and Fairfax) delegates: James
Monroe, Charles Fenton Mercer, William H. Fitzhugh, and Richard H.
Henderson.
_Convention of 1850-51._--Met at the Capitol in the city of Richmond,
on Monday, October 14, 1850. Adjourned _sine die_, August 1, 1851.
District of Loudoun delegates: John Janney, John A. Carter, and Robert
J.T. White.
_Convention of 1861._--Met February 13, 1861. Adjourned _sine die_,
December 6, 1861. Loudoun delegates: John Janney and John A. Carter.
The former was elected President of the Convention. Both voted against
the ordinance of secession, April 17, 1861. Mr. Janney's resignation
as President of the Convention was tendered on November 14, 1861.
_Convention of 1864._--(Restored Government of Virginia.) Met February
13, 1864. Adjourned _sine die_, April 11, 1864. Loudoun delegates:
John J. Henshaw, James M. Downey, and E.R. Gover.
_Convention of 1867-'68._--Met at Richmond, Tuesday, December 3, 1867.
Adjourned April 17, 1868. Loudoun delegates: Norborne Berkeley and
George E. Plaster.
_Convention of 1901-'02._--Met June 12, 1901. Adjourned _sine die_,
June 26, 1902. Loudoun and Fauquier district delegates: Henry Fairfax
and Albert Fletcher.
THE REVOLUTION.
_Loudoun's Loyalty._
The story of the Revolution and the causes which led to that great
event are properly treated in a more general history than this
purports to be. If, in the few succeeding pages, it can be shown that
Loudoun County was most forward in resisting the arbitrary aggressions
of the British government and that the valor and patriotism she
evinced during the Revolution was equal to that of her sister
counties, who had suffered with her under the yoke of British
oppression, then the primary object of this sketch will be
accomplished. Her blood and treasure were freely dedicated to the
cause of liberty, and, having once entered the Revolution, she
determined to persevere in the struggle until every resource was
exhausted.
Armed with flint-lock muskets of small bore and with long-barreled
rifles which they loaded from the muzzle by the use of the ramrod;
equipped with powder horn, charges made of cane for loading, bullet
molds and wadding, but bravely arrayed in home-spun of blue, and belted
with cutlass and broadsword by the side, cockade on the hat and
courage in the heart, her revolutionary soldiers marched to the music
of fife and drum into battle for freedom against the power and might
of the mother country.
_Resolutions of Loudoun County._
In 1877, the following article appeared in a Leesburg newspaper under
the caption "Loudoun County a Hundred Years Ago:"
"Major B. P. Nolan, grandson of Burr Powell, has just put us
in possession of a verified copy of the proceedings of a
public meeting held at Leesburg, Loudoun County, on the
14th of June, 1774, nearly one hundred and five years ago.
It is interesting, not merely for its antiquity, but as
showing the spirit of independence that animated the breasts
of our liberty-loving countrymen two years before the
Declaration of American Independence in 1776. The original
document was found among the papers of Col. Leven Powell, at
one time member of Congress from this district, who died in
1810. His son, Burr Powell, forwarded a copy to R. H. Lee,
Esq., who in 1826 was about to publish a second edition of
his 'Memoirs of the Life of R. H. Lee,' of Revolutionary
fame."
* * * * *
The proceedings or resolutions follow:
"PUBLIC MEETING IN LOUDOUN IN 1774."
"At a meeting of the Freeholders and other inhabitants of
the County of Loudoun, in the Colony of Virginia, held at
the Court-House in Leesburg the 14th of June, 1774, F.
Peyton, Esq., in the Chair, to consider the most effectual
method to preserve the rights and liberties of North
America, and relieve our brethren of Boston, suffering under
the most oppressive and tyrannical Act of the British
Parliament, made in the 14th year of his present Majesty's
reign, whereby their Harbor is blocked up, their commerce
totally obstructed, their property rendered useless--
"_Resolved_, That we will always cheerfully submit to such
prerogatives as his Majesty has a right, by law, to
exercise, as Sovereign of the British Dominions, and to no
others.
"_Resolved_, That it is beneath the dignity of freemen to
submit to any tax not imposed on them in the usual manner,
by representatives of their own choosing.
"_Resolved_, That the Act of the British Parliament, above
mentioned, is utterly repugnant to the fundamental laws of
justice, in punishing persons without even the form of a
trial; but a despotic exertion of unconstitutional power
designedly calculated to enslave a free and loyal people.
"_Resolved_, That the enforcing the execution of the said
Act of Parliament by a military power, must have a necessary
tendency to raise a civil war, and that we will, with our
lives and fortunes, assist and support our suffering
brethren, of Boston, and every part of North America that
may fall under the immediate hand of oppression, until a
redress of all our grievances shall be procured, and our
common liberties established on a permanent foundation.
"_Resolved_, That the East India Company, by exporting their
tea from England to America, whilst subject to a tax imposed
thereon by the British Parliament, have evidently designed
to fix on the Americans those chains forged for them by a
venal ministry, and have thereby rendered themselves odious
and detestable throughout all America. It is, therefore, the
unanimous opinion of this meeting not to purchase any tea or
other East India commodity whatever, imported after the
first of this Month.
"_Resolved_, That we will have no commercial intercourse
with Great Britain until the above mentioned act of
Parliament shall be totally repealed, and the right of
regulating the internal policy of North America by a British
Parliament shall be absolutely and positively given up.
"Resolved, That Thompson Mason and Francis Peyton, Esqs.,
be appointed to represent the County at a general meeting to
be held at Williamsburg on the 1st day of August next, to
take the sense of this Colony at large on the subject of the
preceding resolves, and that they, together with Leven
Powell, William Ellzey, John Thornton, George Johnston, and
Samuel Levi, or any three of them, be a committee to
correspond with the several committees appointed for this
purpose.
"Signed by--
"John Morton,
Thomas Ray,
Thomas Drake,
William Booram,
Benj. Isaac Humphrey,
Samuel Mills,
Joshua Singleton,
Jonathan Drake,
Matthew Rust,
Barney Sims,
John Sims,
Samuel Butler,
Thomas Chinn,
Appollos Cooper,
Lina Hanconk,
John McVicker,
Simon Triplett,
John Wildey,
Joseph Bayley,
Isaac Sanders,
Thos. Williams,
John Williams,
William Finnekin,
Richard Hanson,
John Dunker,
Thomas Williams,
James Nolan,
Samuel Peugh,
William Nornail,
Thomas Luttrell,
James Brair,
Poins Awsley,
John Kendrick,
Edward O'Neal,
Francis Triplett,
Joseph Combs,
John Peyton Harrison,
Robert Combs,
Stephen Combs,
Samuel Henderson,
Benjamin Overfield,
Adam Sangster,
Bazzell Roads,
James Graydey,
Thomas Awsley,
John Reardon,
Henry Awsley,
Edward Miller,
Richard Hirst,
James Davis,
Jasper Grant."
_Revolutionary Committees._
The County Committee of Loudoun for 1774-'75 was composed of the
following members:
Francis Peyton,
Josias Clapham,
Thomas Lewis,
Anthony Russell,
John Thomas,
George Johnston,
Thomas Shore,
Jacob Reed,
Leven Powell,
William Smith,
Robert Jamison,
Hardage Lane,
John Lewis,
James Lane,
George Johnston,
Clerk.
The appended findings of this as well as a later committee exemplify
the work of these Revolutionary bodies.
"At a meeting of the Committee of Loudoun County, held at
Leesburg on Friday, May 26, 1775....
"The Committee, taking into consideration the conduct of the
Governour relative to the powder which was, by his express
orders, taken secretly out of the publick Magazine belonging
to this Colony, in the night of the twentieth ult., and
carried on board the Magdaline schooner.
"_Resolved, nemine contra dicente_, That his Lordship, by
this and other parts of his conduct which have lately
transpired, has not only forfeited the confidence of the
good people of this Colony, but that he may be justly
esteemed an enemy to America; and that as well his excuse
published in his Proclamation of the fourth instant, as his
verbal answer to the address presented him on that occasion
by the city of Williamsburgh, are unsatisfactory and
evasive, and reflect, in our opinion, great dishonour on the
General Assembly and inhabitants of this Colony, as from the
latter a suspicion may be easily deduced, that the
Representatives of the people are not competent judges of
the place wherein arms and ammunition, intended for the
defense of the Colony, may be safely lodged, and that the
inhabitants (unlike other subjects) can not, in prudence, be
trusted with the means necessary for their protection from
insurrection, or even evasion; so in the former a very heavy
charge is exhibited against the best men among us, of
seducing their fellow-subjects from their duty and
allegiance; a charge, we are confident, not founded in
reality, and which, we believe, is construed out of the
discharge of that duty which every good man is under, to
point out to his weaker countrymen, in the day of publick
trial, the part they should act, and explain, on
constitutional principles, the nature of their allegiance,
the ground of which we fervently pray may never be removed,
whose force we desire may never with reason be relaxed, but
yet may be subservient to considerations of superior regard.
"The Committee being informed by some of the officers who
commanded the Troops of this County that marched on the
above occasion, that the reason of their marching no farther
than Fredericksburgh was, their having received repeated
requests from the Honourable Peyton Randolph, Esq., to
return home, assuring them that the peaceable citizens of
Williamsburgh were under no apprehensions of danger, either
in their persons or properties; that the publick treasury
and records were perfectly safe, and that there was no
necessity for their proceeding any further; three of the
other Delegates appointed to the Continental Congress, the
only civil power we know of in this great struggle for
liberty, being of the same opinion.
"_Resolved, nemine contra dicente_, That under such
circumstances we approve the conduct of the said Officers
and Troops.
"_Resolved, nemine contra dicente_, That we cordially
approve the conduct of our countrymen, Captain Patrick
Henry, and the other volunteers of Hanover County, who
marched under him, in making reprisals on the King's
property for the trespass committed as aforesaid, and that
we are determined to hazard all the blessings of this life
rather than suffer the smallest injury offered to their
persons or estates, on this account, to pass unrewarded with
its equal punishment.
"_Resolved, nemine contra dicente_, That it be recommended
to the Representatives of this County, as the opinion of
this Committee, that they by no means agree to the
reprisals, taken as aforesaid, being returned.
"_Ordered_, That the clerk transmit immediately a copy of
the preceding resolves to the Printers of the Virginia and
Pennsylvania gazettes, to be published.
"By order of the Committee.
"GEORGE JOHNSTON, _Clerk._"
In session in Loudoun, May 14, 1776:
"Richard Morlan being summoned to appear before this
Committee, for speaking words inimical to the liberties of
America, and tending to discourage a Minute-man from
returning to his duty; and also publickly declaring he would
not muster, and if fined would oppose the collection of the
fine with his gun: The charge being proved against him, and
he heard in his defense, the Committee think proper to hold
the said Morlan up to the publick as an enemy to their
rights and liberties; and have ordered that this resolution
be published in the Virginia _Gazette_.
"CHRISTOPHER GREENUP, _Clerk._"
_Soldiery._
Loudoun, at the time of the Revolution, was one of the most densely
populated counties in the State. Her militia, according to the returns
of 1780 and 1781, numbered 1,746, which number was far in excess of
that reported by any other Virginia county.
It is probable that a few Loudoun patriots served in Captain Daniel
Morgan's celebrated "Company of Virgina Riflemen," thus described by a
line officer of the Continental Army: "They are remarkably stout and
hardy men; many of them exceeding six feet in height. They are dressed
in white frocks, or rifle shirts, and round hats. These men are
remarkable for the accuracy of their aim; striking a mark with great
certainty at two hundred yards distance. At a review, a company of
them, while on a quick advance, fired their balls into objects of
seven inches diameter at the distance of two hundred and fifty yards.
They are now stationed on our lines, and their shot have frequently
proved fatal to British officers and soldiers, who expose themselves
to view even at more than double the distance of common musket shot."
The Germans of Loudoun were intensely loyal to the cause of freedom,
many serving in Armand's Legion, recruited by authority of Congress
during the summer of 1777, and composed of men who could not speak
English.
_Quaker Non-Participation._