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The Valley of Virginia
It was in 1716 that Governor Spotwood and his "Knights of the Golden Horseshoe" made their memorable journey to the top of the Blue Ridge and white men looked upon the beautiful Shenandoah Valley for the first time. When Washington [George] was furnishing his best chamber at Mt. Vernon with carved mahogany and yellow damask "The Valley" was still in the pioneer stage, the dwellers in its cabins contending with difficulties like those with which the early settlers at Jamestown were familiar, including fear of Indians. After the beginning of the French and Indian War they, too, had palisaded forts to which the people could flee for refuge; but it was more difficult to haul furniture through wood and stream and over mountains than to bring it across seas in sailing vessels, and no wonder the log cabins of The Valley were even more scantily supplied with conveniences of living than had been those at Jamestown. The Shenandoah Valley is that part of the great valley between the Allegheny and the Blue Ridge Mountains extending from the Potomac River at Harpers Ferry south to the watershed of the James River a few miles southwest of Lexington. There are 3 parts of the Shenandoah Valley: the lower, extending from the Potomac forty miles south, settled chiefly by English immigrants from tidewater Virginia; the middle, from near Strasburg to the vicinity of Harrisonburg, settled almost wholly by Germans; and the upper, from Harrisonburg to the waters of the James. This upper part of the valley was settled by the Scotch-Irish. The Germans, settling in the middle part of the valley from near Strasburg to the vicinity of Harrisonburg, were led by Joist Hite in 1732. Also in the same year John Lewis led the Scotch-Irish into the upper part of the valley, from Harrisonburg to the waters of the James (this part of the valley was originally more wooded than the middle and lower parts). Most of the Scotch-Irish settlers came down from Pennsylvania. The lower valley became the seat of slavery and tobacco, and adhered to the Church of England, while the middle valley, Lutheran in Religion, marked by large barns and rolling meadows, was settled by quiet home-loving "Valley Dutch" people. The upper valley, Presbyterian in its life, Scotch-Irish in its politics, was known for its fierce democracy, its exploring hunger for land, and its Indian wars. The upper valley, including the famous Augusta County, extended to "the Great South Sea, including California" and held its county court at times near Fort Duquesne, the present Pittsburgh. The lower valley was linked closely with tidewater Virginia geographically and socially. Augusta County Virginia was named in honor of Princes Augusta, wife of the Prince of Whales, and was erected on 1 Nov 1738, from that portion of Orange County lying beyond the Blue Ridge. The newly created county was to remain part of the parent county until the number of inhabitants warranted the establishment of a separate government, which was not until 30 Oct 1745. Territorially it included the present states of Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, and nearly all of West Virginia and a part of western Pennsylvania. Here the Virginians came into conflict with Pennsylvania's claims, for both colonies had settlers in those parts of Pennsylvania west of the Alleghenies. Becoming alarmed at the influx of Virginia settlers, Pennsylvania had erected, on Feb 26 1773, Westmoreland County, which included all of the present counties of Westmoreland, Fayette, Greene, Washington and parts of Allegheny, Beaver, Indiana and Armstrong. In 1774-75 Virginia created the District of West Augusta, which claimed the land of the newly created Westmoreland County. In 1776 Virginia attempted to strengthen title to these lands by dividing West Augusta into three new counties: Ohio, Yohogania and Monogalia. These conflicting jurisdictional claims produced the Pennsylvania-Virginia Boundary dispute which was not settled until 1780. The immense territory of Augusta County was thus cut down, first by the creation of Botetourt County in 1769, Fincastle in 1772, and three counties in the West Augusta and later encroachments until it reached its present-day status. Holston Valley Settlements: James Patton of Augusta County Virginia claimed the honor of discovering in 1743 an unnamed river south of the New River. Stephen Holston about 1746 built his cabin at the headspring of the river. In 1748 Holston explored its lower reaches and in a canoe passed down the Tennessee, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers as far as Nathcez. This adventure led to Holston's name being given to the river and valley. Progress of settlement down the Holston Valley was slow because of opposition of the Cherokees to encroachments south of New River. Not until 1768 were there settlers as far down as the North Carolina line; but the treaty of that year at Fort Stanwix caused an inrush and permanent settlements on the Holston and its tributaries below Virginia's southern boundary line. Waddell, the well-known historian of Augusta County, tells us that the homes were for the first fifteen years or more, hardly better furnished than the wigwams of the Indians, and that while most of their owners had horses, cattle, and Bibles, their minute inventories mention no furniture. Kercheval in his "History of the Valley," draws a similar picture. Instead of "feather-beds and furniture," these sturdey folk had pillows, bolsters, and bed-ticks filled with straw or chaff, laid on the floor or on rude home-made bedsteads, and it seems that these and such tables, stools, and benches as necessity must have compelled them to knock up were not deemed worth appraisement. They had linen brought by the Scotch-Irish emigrants from their own country, but not until 1749 does the first table found in the records by Mr. Waddell appear. It was custom in The Valley, as in Eastern Virginia, to keep pewter on hand for the molding of table-ware, and many spoon molds are mentioned. In 1751 David Flourney left a dozen pewter plates. In 1762 Delft ware appears in The Valley inventories. In 1764 a corner cupboard. In 1769 Thomas Beard bequeathed his wife an elbow chair, and by this token of leisure we know that the prosperity for which nature destined The Valley had set in, the log-cabin age was soon followed by the stone-house age and barness to give place to comfort. Even in The Valley finery was not unknown. In 1747 Robert Bratton and James Kirk testified at Augusta County Court that they had been robbed of an "orange colored sitting gown, a pale China gown, a stripped blue and white cotton gown, a petticoat, a light colored broadcloth coat, two beaver hats, a black velvet cap, a blue jacket of home-made cloth, a hat of Bermuda plat with red ribbon band." Every planter, in proportion to his means, made a garden, set out an orchard, and raised poultry, and hogs, and the well-to-do raised also beeves and sheep. The settlers in The Valley had their patches of corn, cabbage, beans, and potatoes, and carried peach and apple trees on pack horses across the mountains. At the Augusta County Court, in 1762, several persons swore that they saw John Boyers, Gentleman, "gaming at an unlawful game called hazard, or seven and eleven, at the house of Francis Tyler, ordinary keeper in Staunton". Taverns and inns---or "ordinaires" as they were most commonly called--where there were billard tables and bowling alleys, were favorite places for indulging the gambling rage. Tavern keeping was a brisk business, but the charges were fixed by law. Taverns at the county seats were throughout the period centers of social and political life, especially upon court days, which beaming hosts turned into feast days for the guests that boisterously overflowed them. A form of gambling extremely popular and generally countenanced in VA was the lottery for disposing of property of various kinds and raising money for sundry purposes. In 1768 William Byrd, third, advertised in the Gazette a lottery for "raising the sum of 900 lbs. to make a road over the mountains to Warm and Hot Springs in Augusta County." The healing properties of the mineral springs with which the Virginia mountains abound brought going to the springs into fashion in the 1740s, and thenceforward many of the low country planters journeyed by coach-and-six, over hill, over dale, to give their families the benefit of the change to bracing mountain air and let them drink of and bathe in the health-giving waters. One of the first, of two, public buildings erected in Augusta County was a school-house, where the Presbyterian clergyman taught a sound and liberal education. In the year 1749 the Augusta Academy was established, near the present town of Lexington (in 1782 Augusta Academy became "Liberty Hall", and today it is Washington and Lee University.) About 1750 Robert Alexander, a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, settled in Rockbridge County and taught the first classical school west of the Blue Ridge, and the Augusta Records show that there were a good number of little schools across the mountains. [Classical Education as opposed to a Practical Education - an education to learn a trade such as ship master or carpentry by an apprentice]. Peter Hog, of Augusta County, in The Valley, directed in his will, made in 1773, that his sons be sent to Edinburgh to be educated. [Edinburgh Scotland?]. In the Valley of Virginia the log house of pioneer days was succeeded by small stone houses, many of which still remain, and besides them some substantial mansions, also of stone, built later in the 18 century. Among these are "Springdale," the old Hite homestead; "Abraham's Delight," the quaintly named house of the Hollingsworths; and "Mt. Zion," the interesting home of the Thurstons. Those of poorer class who had no servants, and those of the mountain settlements, did their [women] own cooking, washing, and housework, cared for their children, and not only made with their own needles all of the clothing of the family, but wove the homespun cloth of which it was made. Kercheval tells us that in The Valley there was a loom in every house and almost every woman was a weaver. Kercheval tells us that even in The Valley, which was settled chiefly by Scotch-Irish and Germans who are supposed to have stricter ideas in regard to worldly pleasures, dancing three and four-handed reels and jigs was the principal amusement of the young people. They also had a dance called "the Irish trot" from which it seems that the word trot as the name for a dance is not so modern after all. The Augusta Records bear witness that in 1763 there were at least two dancing masters in that mountain county -- Ephraim Hubbard and James Robinson, by name. In The Valley were no tobacco was grown the skins of animals became the currency. Wolves were troublesome there as in other frontier districts of the colony, and the Government offered rewards for their destruction. In 1734 Samuel Woods bought eleven and a quarter yards of "Masquerade" and seven and a half yards of "Sagathee," a heavy woolen stuff, at Samuel Smith's store, in Augusta County, and in payment gave the merchant an order for the bounty on two wolves' heads. In 1738 Michael Woods bought a dozen Catechisms at the same store for six foxes, seven raccoons and one beaver. The Augusta Records also show that in 1770 one "Captain Sawyers" had a "peddling store" in Bedford. In The Valley, where the ceremony [marriage] was often performed at the minister's house, the quaint Irish custom of running for the bottle was in vogue. On the return of the bridal party the young men, when a few miles from the house, would spur their horses to a full gallop and race the rest of the way. The winner received a bottle of liquor decorated with white ribbon, and galloped back with it to meet the rest of the party. Opening the bottle, he presented it first to the bride then to the groom, and when they had each tasted its contents it was passed around to all the company.
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