History of the Colony and Ancient Dominion of Virginia Part 21

[254:B] Beverley, B. i. 43; Chalmers' Revolt, i. 101.

[255:A] Ibid., 44.

[255:B] Hening, ii. 69.

[256:A] Hening, ii. 138.

[257:A] Hening, ii. 158.

[258:A] MS. (Virginia) in State Paper office, (London,) cited in Anderson's Hist. of Colonial Church, ii. 548-9.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

1663.

Report of Edmund Scarburgh, Surveyor-General, of his Proceedings in establishing the Boundary Line between Virginia and Maryland on the Eastern Sh.o.r.e--The Bear and the Cub-- Extracts from Records of Accomac.

A CONTROVERSY existed between Virginia and Lord Baltimore relative to the boundary line on the Eastern Sh.o.r.e of the Chesapeake Bay. The dispute turned on the true site of Watkins' Point, which was admitted to be the southern limit of Maryland on that sh.o.r.e. The Virginia a.s.sembly, in 1663, declared the true site of Watkins' Point to be on the north side of Wicocomoco River, at its mouth, and ordered publication thereof to be made by Colonel Edmund Scarburgh, his majesty's surveyor-general, commanding, in his majesty's name, all the inhabitants south of that Point, "to render obedience to his majesty's government of Virginia." A conference with Lord Baltimore's commissioners was proposed in case he should be dissatisfied, and Colonel Scarburgh, Mr. John Catlett, and Mr.

Richard Lawrence were appointed commissioners on the part of Virginia.

Lawrence will reappear in Bacon's Rebellion. The surveyor-general was further directed "to improve his best abilities in all other his majesty's concerns of land relating to Virginia, especially that to the northward of forty degrees of lat.i.tude, being the utmost bounds of the said Lord Baltimore's grant, and to give an account of his proceedings therein to the right honorable governor and council of Virginia."[259:A]

Colonel Scarburgh's report of his proceedings on this occasion is preserved.[259:B] He set out with "some of the commission, and about forty hors.e.m.e.n," an escort which he deemed necessary "to repel the contempt" which, as he was informed, "some Quakers and a fool in office has threatened to obtrude." The party reached Anamessecks on Sunday night, the eleventh of October. On the next day, at the house of an officer of the Lord Baltimore, the surveyor-general began to publish the a.s.sembly's commands by repeatedly reading the act to the officer, who labored under the disadvantage of being unable to read. He declared that he would not be false to the trust put in him by the Lord-Lieutenant of Maryland. To this Colonel Scarburgh replied, "that there could be no trust where there was no intrust," (interest.) The officer declining to subscribe his obedience, lest he might be hanged by the Governor of Maryland, was arrested and held to security (given by some of Scarburgh's party) to appear before the governor and council of Virginia, and "the broad arrow" was set on his door. This matter being so satisfactorily adjusted, the colonel and his company proceeded to the house of a Quaker, where the act was published "with a becoming reverence;" but the Quakers scoffing and deriding it, and refusing their obedience, were arrested, to answer "their contempt and rebellion," and it being found impracticable to obtain any security, "the broad arrow was set on the door." At Manokin the housekeepers and freemen, except two of Lord Baltimore's officers, subscribed. "One Hollinsworth, merchant, of a northern vessel," at this juncture, "came and presented his request for liberty of trade;" which, Scarburgh suspecting to be "some plan of the Quakers," to defeat their design, "presumed, in their infant plantation, to give freedom of trade without impositions."

Scarburgh gives a descriptive list of those who stood out against submitting to the jurisdiction of Virginia: one was "the ignorant yet insolent officer, a cooper by profession, who lived long in the lower parts of Accomac; once elected a burgess by the common crowd, and thrown out of the a.s.sembly for a factious and tumultuous person." George Johnson was "the Proteus of heresy," notorious for "shifting schismatical pranks." "He stands arrested," and "bids defiance."

"Thomas Price, a creeping Quaker, by trade a leather-dresser," and "saith nothing else but that he would not obey government, for which he also stands arrested." "Ambrose Dixon, a caulker by profession," "often in question for his Quaking profession," "a prater of nonsense," "stands arrested, and the broad arrow at his door, but bids defiance." "Henry Boston, an unmannerly fellow, that stands condemned on the records for fighting and contemning the laws of the country; a rebel to government, and disobedient to authority, for which he received a late reward with a rattan, and hath not subscribed; hides himself, so scapes arrest."

"These are all, except two or three loose fellows that follow the Quakers for sc.r.a.ps, whom a good whip is fittest to reform."

On the 10th day of November, 1663, the county court of Accomac authorized Captain William Thorn and others to summon the good subjects of Manokin and other parts of the county, so far as Pocomoke River, to come together and arm themselves for defence against any that might invade them, in consequence "of the rumors that the Quakers and factious fools have spread, to the disturbance of the peace and terror of the less knowing."

The following extracts, from the records of the county court of Accomac, exemplify the simplicity of the times, and the quaint orthography, and the verbosity of the records of courts; while the final decision of the case is not less equitable than those of Sancho Panza, sometime Governor of the Island of Barataria, or those celebrated in Knickerbocker's History of New York.

"At a Court held in Accomack County, y{e} 16{th} of November, by his ma{ties} Justices of y{e} Peace for y{e} s{d} County, in y{e} Seaventeenth yeare of y{e} Reigne of o{r} Sovraigne Lord Charles y{e} Second, By y{e} Grace of G.o.d, of Great Britaine, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of y{e} Faith, &c.: And in y{e} Yeare of o{r} Lord G.o.d 1665.

"Whereas, Cornelius Watkinson, Philip Howard, and William Darby, were this Day accused by Mr. Jno. Fawsett, his ma{ties} Attory for Accomack County, for acting a play by them called y{e} Bare & y{e} Cubb, on y{e} 27{th} of August last past; upon examination of the same, The Court have thought fitt to suspend the Cause till y{e} next Court, & doe order y{t} the said Cornelius Watkinson, Phillip Howard, & W{m.} Darby, appeare y{e} next Court, in those habilemts that they then acted in, and give a draught of such verses, or other speeches and pa.s.sages, which were then acted by them; & that y{e} Sherr detaine Cornelius Watkinson & Philip Howard in His Custody untill they put in Security to performe this order. It is ordered y{t} the Sherr. arrest y{e} Body of William Darby, for his appearance y{e} next Court, to answere at his ma{ties} suit, for being actour of a play commonly called y{e} Beare and y{e} Cubb.

"At a Court held in Accomack County, y{e} 18{th} of December, by his ma{ties} Justices of y{e} Peace for y{e} s{d} County, in y{e} Seaventeenth yeare of y{e} Raigne of o{r} Sovraigne Lord Charles y{e} Second, By y{e} Grace of G.o.d, of Great Britain, France, & Ireland, King, Defendr of y{e} Faith, &c.: And in y{e} yeare of o{r} Lord G.o.d 1665.

"Its ordered y{t} y{e} Sherr sumons Edward Martin to y{e} next Court, to show cause why hee should not pay y{e} charges w{ch} accrued upon y{e} Information given by him against Cornelius Watkinson, Philip Howard, & William Darby.

"At a Court held in Accomack County, y{e} 17{th} of January, by his ma{ties} Justices of y{e} Peace for y{e} s{d} County, in the Seaventeenth year of y{e} Reigne of o{r} Sovraigne Lord Charles y{e} Second, By y{e} Grace of G.o.d, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c.: And in the year of o{r} Lord G.o.d 1665.

"Whereas, Edward Martin was this day examined concerning his information given to Mr. Fawset, his ma{ties} Attory for Accomack County, about a play called the bare & y{e} Cubb, whereby severall persons were brought to Court & charges thereon arise, but the Court finding the said p'sons not guilty of fault, suspended y{e} payment of Court charges; & forasmuch as it appeareth upon y{e} Oath of y{e} said Mr.

Fawsett, that upon y{e} s{d} Edward Martin's information, the Charge & trouble of that suit did accrew, It's therefore ordered that y{e} said Edward Martin pay all y{e} Charges in y{e} suit Els. Exon."[262:A]

FOOTNOTES:

[259:A] Hening, ii. 183.

[259:B] This doc.u.ment, ent.i.tled "The Account of Proceedings in his Majt's Affairs at Anamessecks and Manokin, on the Eastern Sh.o.r.e of Virginia," is preserved in the records of Accomac County Court, and a copy, furnished by Thomas R. Joynes, Esq., the clerk, (himself a descendant of Colonel Edmund Scarburgh,) was published in 1833, by order of the legislature of Maryland. I am indebted to William T. Joynes, Esq., of Petersburg, for the use of this report, and for some other interesting particulars relating to the Eastern Sh.o.r.e.

[262:A] "The foregoing are true transcripts from the Records of the Court of the County of Accomack, in the State of Virginia."--Test: _J.

W. Gillett, C. A. C._

CHAPTER XXIX.

1666-1675.

Plot discovered--Miscellaneous Matters--England at war with the Dutch--The Plague in London--Tobacco--Forts--Cessation of planting Tobacco for one year--Drummond's Pet.i.tion rejected-- Baptism of Slaves--Tributary Indians--Batt's Expedition--The Algonquin Tribes--The Powhatan Confederacy--Convicts sent to Virginia--Legislative Acts.

THE Northern colonies appear at this time to have been styled the "Dutch Plantations."[263:A] The persecution of the dissenters, the restrictions imposed upon commerce by the navigation act, the low price of tobacco, and high price of imported goods, so inflamed the discontents of the poor people as to give rise to a plot, which was well-nigh resulting in tragical effects in 1663. The conspiracy was attributed to certain Cromwellian soldiers, who had been sent out to Virginia as servants; but the real grounds and true character of it can now hardly be ascertained.

The plot was discovered only the night before that appointed for its execution, (the a.s.sembly being then in session,) by one of the conspirators named Birkenhead, a servant to Mr. Smith, of Purton, in Gloucester County. Poplar Spring, near that place, was the appointed rendezvous. As soon as the information reached Sir William Berkley, who was then at his residence, Green Spring, he issued secret orders to a party of militia, to meet at Poplar Spring, and antic.i.p.ate the outbreak.

Only a few were taken, of whom four were hanged. Birkenhead was rewarded[263:B] with his freedom and five thousand pounds of tobacco; Beverley[263:C] makes the reward two hundred pounds sterling. The thirteenth of September, the day fixed for the execution of the plot, was set apart by the a.s.sembly as an anniversary thanksgiving. The news of this affair being transmitted to the king, he sent orders for the building of a fort at Jamestown; but the Virginians thinking that the danger had blown over, only erected a battery of some small pieces of cannon.

The Indian chief of Potomac, and other northern werowances and mangais, were required to give hostages of their children and others, who were to be kindly treated and instructed in English, as far as practicable.

Measures were taken to bring Indian murderers to justice, especially the hostile Doeggs. The chief of Potomac was inhibited from holding any matchacomico, or council, with any strange tribe, before the delivery of hostages.

John Bland, a London merchant, and brother of Theodoric Bland, a leading man in Virginia, received the thanks of the a.s.sembly for goods advanced for the use of the colony. In this year, 1663, a conference was held, by royal command, at Mr. Aleston's, at Wicocomico, in Virginia, in May, by commissioners appointed by Governor Berkley, and Charles Calvert, Governor of Maryland, for the purpose of devising means of improving the staple of tobacco. The Virginia commissioners were Thomas Ludwell, secretary, Richard Lee, John Carter, Robert Smith, and Henry Corbin. The Maryland commissioners were Philip Calvert, Henry Sewall, secretary, Edward Koydes, and Henry Coursey. They recommended that in the year 1664 no tobacco should be planted after the twentieth day of June.

In 1665 further acts were pa.s.sed to prevent the depredations of Indians.

If a white should be murdered, the nearest Indian town was held responsible; the Indian werowances to be in future appointed by the governor; colonists to go armed to church, court, and other public meetings; Indians south of the James River, not to cross a line extending from the head of Blackwater River to the Appomattox Indian town, (probably where Petersburg now stands,) and thence across to the Mannakin town.

In the year 1665 Charles the Second, instigated by France, engaged in an unprovoked war with Holland, the object being mainly to strike a blow at the Protestant interest.[264:A] During the same year the plague raged in London, the victims for some time perishing at the rate of ten thousand weekly. In this fatal year Secretary Bennet, a plausible man, of good address, but mediocre capacity, was made Lord Arlington. The English monopolizing laws now reduced the condition of the planters of Virginia so low, that they proposed to discontinue the planting of tobacco for one year, so as to enhance the price of it; and an act was pa.s.sed preparatory to a "stint or cessation." To render this remedy effectual, it appeared necessary to obtain the co-operation of the colonies of Maryland and North Carolina. For some years it was found impracticable to effect this object, and in the mean time, in order to prevent Virginia from receiving any supplies, save those sent from England, and also for defence against the Dutch, the king sent directions that forts should be built on the rivers, and that ships should lie under them, and that those places alone should be ports of trade. These instructions were obeyed for a year; breast-works were erected at places appointed by the a.s.sembly, and the shipping lay at them for a time; but the great fire and plague occurring in London at this juncture, rendered their supplies very uncertain, and the fear of the plague being brought over with the goods imported, prevented the people from living at those ports, and thus all were again at liberty.[265:A]

The Virginia planters supposed that by lessening the quant.i.ty of tobacco, called a "stint," they would improve the quality and enhance the price of it. The merchants, to whom the planters were indebted, were favorable to a stint; but although they would certainly be benefited by its operation, yet they were apparently not willing to abate any part of their claims against their debtors. The nett proceeds derived from the sale of the staple were barely enough to furnish the planters with clothing. As some remedy for this state of things, the legislature ordered looms and work-houses to be set in operation at the charge of each county. Bounties were again offered for encouragement of the raising of silk, and measures were adopted to foster the culture of flax and hemp.

In the year 1666, while London was desolated by fire and depopulated by the plague, war added her horrors. A government imbecile and corrupt, a court frivolous and debauched, darkened the shadows of the gloomy picture. The English colonies shared in the miseries of the mother country. It is remarkable that a book published in England many years before contained a prediction that the year 1666 would be the very climax of public disaster.[266:A] It was not unreasonable to conclude, that the wickedness of men had been directly avenged by a visitation of Heaven. Evelyn[266:B] says: "These judgments we highly deserved for our prodigious ingrat.i.tude, burning l.u.s.ts, dissolute court, profane and abominable lives."

The a.s.sembly met in September, 1664, by prorogation from the preceding September--a compendious mode of dispensing with the popular election.

However, in act vi., the a.s.sembly, declaring that the princ.i.p.al end of their coming together was to provide for the people's safety, and to redress their grievances, ordered that in future due notice of the convening of the burgesses should be given to the people by publication in the parish churches, so that they may then make known their grievances. The act for a "cessation" pa.s.sed in June, 1666, commanded that no tobacco should be planted between the 1st of February, 1667, and the 1st of February, 1668.[266:C] The governor of Carolina at this time, and the first governor of that province, was William Drummond, a native of Scotland.

Similar acts were pa.s.sed by Maryland and Carolina, but the latter province, owing to trouble with the Indians, not having given formal notice by the day agreed upon, Maryland availed herself of the informality to decline enforcing the cessation. Thus, as has been before mentioned, action was long delayed. Virginia, nevertheless, adhering to the scheme, again, at the session of October of the same year, confirmed her former act, and by dint of negotiation it was finally consummated.

The County of Stafford is mentioned in this year for the first time, and it was now represented by a burgess, Colonel Henry Mees.

The pet.i.tion of William Drum, probably a misprint for Drummond, concerning a grant of land in what was commonly called "the governor's land," in the main reserve, was rejected, the house being of opinion that such grants appertained only to the governor and council. The a.s.sembly a.s.serted their right to a.s.sess the levy without the interposition of the governor and council; and Sir William Berkley a.s.sented to this decision; the sincerity of the terms in which he expressed his willing acquiescence may well be doubted.

The Dutch about this time appear to have surprised several vessels, laden with tobacco, in the James River; and it was determined to erect several forts: one on James River, one on Nansemond River, one on York River at Tindall's Point, (now Gloucester Point,) one on the Rappahannock at Corotoman, and one on the Potomac at Yeohocomico.

It was declared that baptism did not exempt slaves from bondage. As the reducing of negroes to slavery was justified on the ground that they were heathens, so the opinion prevailed among some that when they ceased to be heathens they were, by the very fact, released from slavery.

In 1668, peace being restored, vessels were relieved from the necessity of anchoring under the forts. The war with the Dutch, unjustly commenced by the English, ended very disgracefully to them. A day of humiliation was appointed, and all persons were required to attend the parish churches, "with fasting and prayers, to implore G.o.d's mercy, and deprecate the evils justly impending over us."