Subject:
Re: Magdelene Woods who M. John McDowell
Date:
Sat, 20 Dec 1997 14:03:48 EST
From:
Holm Hogs <HolmHogs@aol.com>
Organization:
AOL (http://www.aol.com)
To:
Bob@justcallinc.com




Hope you can read it now.

Deanna




ROCKBRIDGE COUNTY, VIRGINIA
NOTEBOOK

COMPILED FROM ARTICLES BY DR. GEORGE W. DIEHL AS PUBLISHED
IN THE NEWS-GAZETTE, LEXINGTON, VIRGINIA.
ADDITIONAL CHARTS AND NOTES HAVE BEEN
ADDED AS WELL AS SURNAME INDEX.

COMPILED BY
A. MAXIM COPPAGE, III

PREFACE

For a number of years, the late Dr. George W. Diehl contributed historical and genea-
logical articles to The News Gazette, Lexington, Virginia, published by M.W. Paxton, Jr.
The clippings from the paper were sent to us by Mrs. William C. Trenary of Front Royal,
Virginia for our “Virginia Collection”.

As time went by, it became expedient to have the clippings in some practical order and
we found by splicing and putting them in a three ringed binder, making charts of the
families and indexing the collection by surnames, that we had a valuable tool for doing
research in the Rockbridge-Augusta Counties of Virginia.

At the time we had only plans for ourselves, but realizing the importance of this series of
articles, we wrote to Mr. Paxton, the editor of the News-Gazette, who graciously gave
his permission for us to publish the collection in book form. As a result, this book is
the result.

In many instances information may be found showing where families originated in Scot-
land or Ireland, the places they lived before settling in the Rockbridge County,
Virginia area and relationships between the various clans or as Dr. Diehl so aptly
named this phase of pioneering, “A ROCKBRIDGE SEED-BOX”

Lastly, we feel this book will memorialize all those people who once lived, now live or
have had ties to this historic area of Virginia.

We are most sincerely, A. Maxim Coppage, III 1987

ROCKBRIDGE NOTEBOOK
BY: George West Diehl

“Capt. John Lyle of Rockbridge” Chapter III

In the first battalion was a militia company under the command of Capt. John Lyle. William McCutchan was the lieutenant and Joseph Long, the ensign. Both had served at Point Pleasant with Lyle. The complete roster of the company has never been
found, but it is known that among the men in the ranks were William Miller, Joseph Bell, and William Willson. Miller and Wilson were volunteers, but Bell was drafted. The company assembled at Isaac Campbell’s well known home on the “Great Road.”   Campbell had received the property from his father, Gilbert Campbell, by will sixteen years before. The place became the site of the new town of Lexington in 1778. “The Cherokee Expedition,” as the movement became known, has been treated
in detail by some historians, merely cited by others, and completely ignored by some. The difficulties of equipping the militia with powder and lead, when it was finally assembled, delayed the advance and it was not until the first of October that Christian’s army reached the Long Island, on the upper Holston River. Advancing from this point deep into the Indian territory, the army was involved with raiding the Cherokee towns, plundering their fields, and having an occasional skirmish. Chota, where Nancy Ward, the beloved woman of the tribe and a friend of the white man, had her home, was the only Cherokee town not given to the torch. The punitive work was done by Christian with the loss of one soldier, a man named Duncan who was killed in a skirmish, but the loss to the Cherokee was heavy. Upon his return to Long Island, Christian reorganized his little army for further action. Then following instructions, Christian placed Col. Evan Shelby and Major   Anthony Bledsoe in command of a detail of six hundred militiamen to remain at Long Island as a vanguard. In a parley with some of the Chiefs, who had come to plead for   peace, he informed them that their petition would be granted the following May, but, in the meantime, all hostilities would cease. This closed the expedition and the militia was ordered to return home. The  long trek back up the “Great Road,” or “Warrior’s Path” was made and, in late December, Lyle’s company was back home. With the passing of the winter of 1778-79, Captain Lyle was turning his eyes and heart toward new lands. It was time when there was a restlessness among the people and, for some reason, a longing for seeking new homes, Would it be North Carolina, perhaps in the beautiful valley’s of the Holston, or the Tennessee, or the French Broad? Or, would it be the bluegrass lands of Kentucky? Apparently, it was difficult for Lyle to decide. James McDowell, a neighbor-boy, son of Judge Samuel McDowell and his wife the former Mary McClung, had enlisted in the Continental Line as a private when only sixteen years old; he remained in the service through Yorktown, coming out an ensign. In 1779, after the strain of Valley Forge, he was home on furlough. He and Mary Paxton Lyle, the only daughter of Capt. John Lyle by his first wife, had been childhood sweethearts. Learning that Mary’s father was talking of removing to North Carolina, he pressed his courtship--Mary consented to become his wife. The year 1780 was momentous in the Lyle household. The 431 acres of the farm which Captain Lyle had received from his father was divided into two portions. One, the larger portion of 351 acres, was sold to Alexander Campbell and the lesser, being 100 acres, was deeded to James Defrees. Then, on Sept. 21, Mary Paxton Lyle became the bride of James McDowell. Captain Lyle, having decided to migrate to Kentucky, led his family down the “Great Road,” then over the “Wilderness Road,”  through Cumberland Gap into the blue grass country of Kentucky.

“CAPT. JOHN LYLE OF ROCKBRIDGE”
CHAPTER IV
His son, John Lyle, III, was a boy soldier in the American Revolution and was given a land claim in Kentucky for his service. So, he married about 1793, Nancy, a daughter of John Tompkins, in Barren County, Ky., and they became the parents of fourteen children, of whom only three---John T, Hester, and Lucy A., married. In 1784, Ensign James McDowell, who had married Mary Paxton Lyle, moved to Kentucky and settled on the Georgetown Road, about three miles from Lexington. While devoting his time to farming and stockraising, he did not neglect the military and served against the Indians, achieving the rank of major from Governor Shelby in 1792. Although he was advanced in years, he took command of a company of cavalry, raised at Lexington, which developed into a battalion, for service in the War of 1812. In the battle with the Miami Indians on the banks of the Mississinewa River. Dec. 17, 1812, McDowell won distinction by his bravery and when the war closed, he held the rank of colonel. Moving to Mason County, Ky., he made his home on an extensive estate and here he died at an advanced age. He and his wife were the parents of seven children, all of whom did well and maintained the McDowell-Lyle heritage. Esther Lyle, daughter of Capt. John Lyle, married, Oct. 26, 1787, Joseph Paxton, the Rev. Samuel Carrick officiating. He was the son of Major William  Paxton and his wife Eleanor Hays, whose home was known far and wide on the frontier as an “ordinary,” or tavern, a place of warm hospitality fashion and congeniality. From this Lyle-Paxton fireside, lines of most commendable contribution have been woven through Rockbridge County and well beyond. The eldest of the three children was named in honor of his grandfather, John Lyle Paxton. He was born in 1788 and died in 1842. About 1822, he married Esther Cummins, daughter of John Cummins and his wife Esther Reid. They were the parents of one child, Hester  (or Esther,) who married Benjamin S. Higginbotham in 1845. In passing, it should be noted that one family genealogist does not mention him as a son of Joseph Paxton and Esther Lyle, but replaces him there with his daughter Hester. But Hester Paxton was born in 1825 and her father in 1788. On August 1, 1791, twin daughters were born to the Paxtons---Sarah and Mary Isabella. On Dec. 29, 1809, Sarah, called “Sallie” by the family, became the wife of Samuel Cummings; they were the parents of eight children, two of whom were twins, Samuel A. and Henry R. The other twin, Mary Isabella Paxton, married, Dec. 20, 1814. Robert  Smith Campbell, born March 16, 1790, son of Alexander Campbell and his wife Janet Smith. While living at Donaldsburg, near Timber Ridge, he was an elder in the church there and, when he moved to Lexington about 1843, he became an  elder in the Lexington Presbyterian Church. His Lexington home was the house William Alexander built in 1797; it was removed from its site and replaced by the president’s house” --- such is the term used by Gen. Robert E. Lee in referring to the house erected for his use by Washington College. It was built in 1869 and was the home of General Lee for only sixteen months and a half. Of Mary Isabella Lyle Paxton, it was said she was “a famous woman of her day, of great force of character, and possessing a most lovable disposition. “She died, April 19, 1852 and her husband followed her in death, Dec. 12, 1861. Both are buried in the Jackson Memorial Cemetery, in Lexington. It should be mentioned that Paxton was the first steward of the Virginia Military Institute, 1839-1842, and was the Commissioner of Revenue for the county, 1848-1861. To the Robert Smith Campbells eight children were born, all of whom rendered outstanding service to the community and bequeathed a rich heritage to the future. The first-born was Alexander Paxton Campbell, born Oct. 15, 1816, was graduated from Washington College in 1839 and became a teacher  in Amherst County. In August, 1840, he married Frances Roberts, daughter  of John Roberts and his wife Virginia J.C. Horsley. Back again in Rockbridge County, he became a merchant and did considerable service as a land surveyor. The family moved to Roanoke where he died Jan. 31, 1886. There were  four children.

“CAPT. JOHN LYLE OF ROCKBRIDGE”
CHAPTER V
The second child of the Robert Smith Campbell's was named John Lyle Campbell's was named John Lyle Campbell, born Dec. 7, 1813. After being graduated from Washington College in 1843, he entered upon a teaching career and, in 1851, took a place on the faculty of his Alma Mater as professor of Chemistry and Geology. In 1870, with the organization of the State public school system, he was the superintendent of schools for Rockbridge County, serving as such for 12 years in connection with his teaching in the college. On July 8, 1846, he married Harriet Peters Bailey, daughter of the Rev. Rufus W. Bailey, a Presbyterian minister, who was teaching in Staunton, Va., and who later became president of Austin College, in Texas. There were ten children born to the Campbell's, among them being John Lyle Campbell, Jr., clerk of the faculty and treasurer of Washington College, 1877-1913, Harry Donald Campbell, professor of Geology and Biology in Washington College, 1888-1934, Robert Fishburne Campbell, a beloved Presbyterian minister, and Lucy Bailey Campbell,  who became the wife of the Rev. William Anderson Dabney, one-time pastor of Old Oxford Presbyterian Church. As has been noted, Capt. John Lyle and his second wife, Frances Stuart, were the parents of two children. The first was given the name Alexander Stuart Lyle; he was born in 1781. The second was a daughter who was named Isabella; she was born in 1779, according to one source of information. She married a merchant by the name of John McDowell. To this union was born one child, a son to whom as given the name William L. McDowell. He grew to manhood and  married Anne Dabney Stuart, daughter of Alexander Stuart, Jr., and his first wife, Anne Dabney. After his death, the widow married Judge James Ewell Brown. It may be added, in passing, that Anne Dabney Stuart’s brother, Archibald Stuart, married Elizabeth Letcher Pannill and they lived at “Laurel Hill,” in Patrick County. The youngest of their eight children was born on Feb. 6, 1833--he became the noted Confederate leader of the cavalry, Gen. J.E.B. Stuart. As has been noted, Mary Paxton Lyle, daughter of Capt. John Lyle and his wife Isabelle Paxton, had married James McDowell and the young couple moved to Kentucky--the removal to the bluegrass country was made in 1783.  The area in which they settled was already peopled with many former Rockbridge families whom they had known--it was not a land of total strangers.Capt. George Elliott was a member of the community. When he died in October, 1814, he had made his will only a few weeks before and centered it upon his wife. His first wife, Florence Henderson Bell, had died in 1809 and Captain Elliott had married Ann (Nancy) Marshall, widow of a dear friend and associate, Capt. James Marshall, on Dec. 5, 1811. So, in his will, Captain Elliott left to his wife all that she “fetched with her” when he married her and his plantation with the “Black man Essick” to assist in the work.  However, the old sea captain provided that “if she moves and takes the hands with her, she is to be cut off of all that is left her and the black man is to be sold.” The widow, for some reason, decided to leave the Elliott plantation and consequently it was thrown into a chancery case to settle the estate. On May 18, 1815, the commissioners met at the “house of George Elliott, dec’d., and performed their duty.” James McDowell was one the group--the others were William Allen, John Bell, and Matthew Elder, all of well-known Valley  of Virginia families. The decision was approved by the Court and the case closed. Seven children of James McDowell and his wife Mary Paxton Lyle reached maturity. The oldest, Samuel, born in Rockbridge County, Va., about 1781. He grew to manhood on the Kentucky frontier and married about 1828, Mary Chrisman. He saw service in the War of 1812, serving in the Kentucky company under a Captain Trotter. He and his wife were parents of eleven children. Isabella McDowell, daughter of James, became the wife of the Rev. John Poage Campbell, M.D., son of Robert Campbell and his wife Rebecca Wallace.  Campbell was graduated from Hampden-Sydney College in 1790 and took up the study of medicine and theology. After serving with the Rev. William Graham in the “Collegiate Churches” around Lexington, as co-pastor, and being elected a trustee of Washington College, he moved to Kentucky in 1795. About 1810,  he and Isabella McDowell were married and to them were born six children-- Mary Uwin, Jane J, and Edward . . . all died unmarried. The other three were James, John C., and Margaret M., John C. Campbell, quite a prominent man in the public affairs of early Nebraska, married (1) Elizabeth Henderson and (2) Martha U. Rogers. There were five children by the second marriage. Margaret M. Campbell, born in 1806, married a tobacco planter by the name of Thomas J. Pickett and became the mother of two children. In conclusion, it may be of interest to know that the Rev. Dr. John Poage Campbell developed an atomic philosophy fifty years ahead of Charles Darwin and his theories. Says a biographical sketch, Campbell “had already pointed his mental finger back to the ancient theorists and forward to the living scientists.” Too, he was among the very first clergymen to proclaim the doctrine of constitutional and legal emancipation of the Negro slaves and he set the example for others  by setting his own slaves, largely inherited, at liberty.

ROCKBRIDGE NOTEBOOK
BY: GEORGE WEST DIEHL
“THE EARLY MCCLURES”
CHAPTER I
Some years ago the late Rev. James Alexander McClure, author of
“The McClure Family” (1941), was approached at a church meeting by one who
had a special interest in that family. Upon being asked if he were the author of the
book, the Rev. Mr. McClure replied, “Yes, I am he that endeavored to organize
the story of the clan, but what a task I had with early Augusta and Rockbridge lines!”
Anyone who had been interested in the McClure family lines in the colonial
and Revolutionary War period, here in Rockbridge and Augusta Counties, recognizes
the problem that faced any family genealogist. It is one of the most intriguing family
lines of those times, and the farther the line is pressed backward into Scotch-Irish and
the Scotch areas, it becomes more so. The mists of time and to fogs of history, with
the lack of detailed records, make it very difficult to follow the threads of this family
history.
It was about 1608 that three McClure brothers migrated from Galloway
District in southwest Scotland, an area that comprised the counties of Kircudbright
and Wigton, westward across the North Channel to Ireland. Then, at the time of
the oppression of the last of the Stuart dynasty, from 1661 to 1688, there was an
exodus of Scots to Ireland, fleeing to escape the “Killing times” of the Covenanter
troubles. Among those finding a haven in northern Ireland were many by the name
of McClure.
As the Scotch-Irish began their migrations to America, the McClure name
adorns the early lists. For instance, prior to 1722, David McClure was one of the
first settlers at Donegal, Lancaster County, Pa. Among his companions were the
Galbraiths, the Hutchinsons, the Mitchell's, the Streets, the Kerrs, the Fultons, and
the Buchannans--to mention a few whose family names appeared on the records
of Augusta and Rockbridge County within the next couple of decades. Too, there
was a James McCleur (the name is spelled in various ways--McCleur, McClure,
McClewer) who had settled in the “Manor of Maske,” a part of the “Marsh Creek
Settlement,” of which the present town of Gettysburg is the center. McCleur is
listed as having settled there prior to Sept. 26, 1740.
As early as 1731 a large number of Scotch-Irish had accepted the invita-
tion of the Penns, the Proprietaries, to settle in this area upon “common terms” and
James McCleur, perhaps newly arrived from Ireland, was in the group. Five years
passed by and the settlers were greatly pleased with their new homes--the land at
the foot of South Mountain resembled the countryside of North Ireland. But, in
1736, the Proprietaries decided they would survey a manor in this section --- the
present occupants could retire to new lands farther west. The idea of the Penns
was strongly opposed, but, in 1741, the order was issued to Benjamin A. East-
burn, the Surveyor-General and signed by Thomas Penn. “The Manor of Maske”
would be created, regardless of the current ownership.
The opening of Beverley’s Manor on the headwaters of the Shenandoah
River--the patent had been issued by Gov. William Gooch, Sept. 6, 1736--and
the information that Benjamin Borden had received a patent to a tract of land in
Frederick County, on the Shenandoah, Oct. 3, 1734, which was to be known as
“Borden’s Manor,” gave calls for settlers. to Borden had been promised 100,000
acres on the waters of the James, west of the Blue Ridge, when he had located a
hundred settlers on it. This added to the drawing power for settlers.
The treatment the Penns had dealt out to the Scotch-Irish on the Pennsyl-
vania frontier and the refusal of the Quakers to condone any means of self-defense
against the Indians made the settlers ready to answer the call to the Valley of
Virginia. Quite often a member of the family came up the valley, located a tract,
engaged it, and returned to Pennsylvania for the other members. Then, they,
with others who were impressed with the report, would form a caravan for the
Virginia frontier.
It could be that the James McClure, of “Manor of Maske” came to the
‘back parts of Virginia’ at this time. His name is missing from a list of the Marsh
Creek settlers who opposed the planned survey in 1743. In Orange County Deed
Book 3, page 247, there is the record of a deed, made June 5, 1739, for a tract
of 408 acres (more or less) which was surveyed for some one on “8br ye 18, 1738”
(Oct. 18, 1738) and it bears the name of James McClure. Furthermore, on July
24, 1740, James McClure proved the importation of his wife Agnes and their
children, John, Andrew, Elinor, Jean, and James, Jr. (Orange Order Book,
1739-41, p. 218) He paid twelve pounds, four shillings, ten pence for the tract.
(To be continued)

“THE ROYAL HOUSE OF STUART”
CHAPTER VII
Col. George Moffett, of Augusta, with Capt. Thomas Tate’s company,
Capt. Gwin’s men, and those of Capt. Thomas Smith, took charge of his regiment
at Steele’s Tavern late in February. The Rev. James Waddell, pastor of the Tink-
ling Spring Presbyterian Church, of which many of the men were members, gave
them a sermon and a prayer. Meanwhile, in the frontier community of Lexington,
the Rockbridge men were assembling. Col. Samuel McDowell commanded the
two or more companies. Major Alexander Stuart was the second in command.
The captain of one company was Alexander Tedford, whose only daughter mar-
ried Elisha Barclay and became the mother of Alexander T. and Hugh Barclay.
Captain Tedford fell in the severe fighting in the underbrush at Guilford Courthouse.
Mrs. Tedford went in search of her husband’s body to bring it back to Rockbridge
for burial. The hardships she had to undergo was too much for her frail body and
she became demented; she died shortly afterward.
The captain of the other company was John Paxton, brother of Elizabeth
Paxton who married Major Samuel Houston and became the mother of Gen. Sam
Houston, of Texas fame. Captain Paxton married Phoebe Alexander, the youngest
child of Archibald Alexander and his wife Margaret Parks. At Guilford Courthouse
he was wounded in the foot by a musket ball and died from the wound. Oct. 3, 1787.
Archibald, son of Major Stuart, was a member of one of the Rockbridge
companies; he had dropped his studies at William and Mary College to join the
expedition. Being vice president of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, he was in posses-
sion of the fraternity’s official seal. This he carried with him in his haversack on the
campaign and, upon his return home, he concealed in a secret drawer of his escritoire
where it was found years later. When the fraternity was reactivated in 1849, the seal
was returned to its custody.
On the Guilford Courthouse expedition, young Stuart had as his mess-mate
and intimate comrade a divinity student, who had laid aside his theological study to
participate in the effort to contain Cornwallis; his name was Samuel Houston, a
cousin of the famed Texan.
On Monday morning, February 28, 1781, the militia marched away from
Lexington and Bivouacked that night at “Fruit Hill,” the home of “Soldier John”
Grigsby, in the neighborhood of Faling Spring Presbyterian Church; the Grigsby
family had come to Rockbridge County only a little over a year before. The next
day the column reached Pattonsburg, on the James River, and encamped in the
meadow along Purgatory Creek. Pattonsburg is now the town of Buchanan,
that portion north of the river.
On Saturday, March 10, as the day was deepening into twilight, Colonel
McDowell led his regiment into the camp of General Greene’s army and reported
to his commander. The two battalions of Rockbridge and Augusta militia were
assigned to the Brigade commanded by General Edward Stevens.
As Colonel McDowell was disabled by illness, Major Stuart took over
the command of the Augusta Rockbridge battalion and took place in the second
line of battle, just about three hundred yards in the rear of the first. Some five
hundred yards behind the Virginia militia of the second line Greene formed the
third line---it consisted of the Virginia and Maryland Continentals. Gen. Isaac
Huger commanding the former and Col. Otho Williams the latter.
(To be continued)

“ROCKBRIDGE AND BEN HUR”
CHAPTER II
In 1722 the township of Donegal was established and by 1721 the
Donegal Presbyterian Church was organized. In August of the latter year
Andrew Galbraith, one of the newly chosen elders, rode to New Castle and
requested Presbytery to send them a minister. Gillespie and Cross were sent.
They went shortly to other churches and in 1722 Rowland Chambers, another
elder, made the journey with the same request. Hutcheson and McGill were sent.
So here on the frontier, the Woods and Wallace families found a well
established community in which to make their home. But it was only for a few
years. However, during this pause in Pennsylvania, there were several marriages
of the cousins. About 1730 William Wallace took Hannah Woods as his bridge.
About two years later, Susannah Wallace married William Woods. Andrew
Wallace married Margaret Woods about 1733 and about 1744 Peter Wallace
married Martha Woods.
In 1734, owing to the attitude of the Quakers and the insistence that the
proprietary government pass restrictive measures against the Scotch-Irish,
Michael Woods decided to move to a new location. He had had enough of
oppression and constrictions. The Virginia frontier seemed attractive and Gov.
William Gooch, of that colony, was favorable to dissenters, other than Episco-
palians, as defenders of the English of Eastern Virginia. Too, he was a Scotch-
man and knew the sturdy and reliable character of these Scotch-Irish.
The Woods caravan that set out to establish a new home in the wilder-
ness consisted of Michael Woods and his wife Mary and their three sons---
William and his wife Susannah Wallace, Michael and his wife Annie Lambert
and John and his wife Susannah Anderson. Too, William Wallace and his wife
Hannah Woods and Andrew Wallace, and his wife Margaret Woods. The two
Wallace men were sons-in-law of the leader.
A few years later Magdalena, the oldest daughter of Michael and Mary
Campbell Woods, who had married John McDowell, would be in the McDowell
party that came to Borden’s Grant, settling in what is now Rockbridge County.
When Peter Wallace joined her and her husband in 1739, he brought his aged
mother with him. He married Martha, sister of Magdalena, five years later they
made their home on his Rockbridge farm.
In coming up the Shenandoah Valley the Woods caravan followed the
ancient track blazed out by the hoofs of the buffalo and padded down by the
pressure of Indian moccasins through the years. However, instead of following
it to the headwaters, the party turned to the East, following a trail across the
Blue Ridge to the uplands of what is now Albemarle County. It must have
taken several weeks to make the trip of about 225 miles, encumbered as they
were by heavily-laden pack animals and cattle and a personnel of men, women
and children.
(To be continued)

“ROCKBRIDGE AND BEN HUR”
CHAPTER III
In a letter, written from Winchester, Nov. 20, 1780, Major Anbury,
a British army officer in Burgoyne’s army, now a prisoner of war, told of
crossing the Blue Ridge, which he names “Pignut Ridge,” a place even then
known as “Wood’s Gap.” He said, “When you reach to top you are suddenly
surprised with an unbounded prospect that strikes you with amazement.” Such
may have been the feelings of the Woods party as they looked out over the
landscape to the East.
On a stream known as Mechum’s River, Michael Woods entered more
than 1300 acres of land in 1737 and, on the same day, he purchased the 2,000
acres which had been patented to Charles Hudson two years previously; the
latter boundary was on the headwaters of Iva Creek. Beyond all question, the
members of the Woods party were the first settlers in western Albemarle
County. Here they were later joined by kith and kin from Pennsylvania and
late arrivals from overseas.
Andrew Wallace, born in 1712, who married Margaret Woods in
Pennsylvania about 1733, as has been pointed out, accompanied his father-
in-law on the long trek to Virginia. This family settled at what is now known
as Ivy Depot; it was on the land Michael Woods had purchased from Charles
Hudson. Here Wallace lived until his death in 1785. As his wife is not named
in her father’s will, made in 1761, it is presumed that she was dead by the date.
To Andrew and Margaret Woods Wallace, eight children were born;
Michael, Samuel, Elizabeth, Mary, Hannah, Susan, Margaret, who married
William Ramsey, was the only one to remain in Albemarle. The others migrat-
ed, scattering into the region to the west. However, it seems that Michael,
accompanied by his brother Samuel, the two older children, returned to Penn-
sylvania.
It has been surmised that Andrew Wallace, who was about 44 years
old when his wife Margaret died, may have remarried. This introduction of a
stepmother into the home may have been resented by the children for some
reason, creating a domestic situation which the children, especially those who
were mature, eased by leaving.
In Carlisle, Pa. there was a Wallace family in 1773. It seems that the
Andrew Wallace, head of this family, was the son of Michael Wallace, formerly
of Virginia. One family genealogist claimed he was the son of Samuel who came
back from Virginia with his brother. Anyway, this Andrew Wallace of Carlisle,
born 1778, went to Virginia on a visit to his kinfold and met a charming young
woman by the name of Eleanor Jones. They were married in 1798.
(To be continued)


“THE LIGHT OF A SACRED FLAME”
CHAPTER II
Came March 20, 1775. Although the Lexington-Concord raid was just a
month in the future, here was the spark that ignited the light of a sacred flame, the
glow of a destiny-making power. The 116 duly appointed delegates, each man a
tried and true patriot, representing sixty-two political divisions of the colony, gather-
ed within the portals of St. John’s Episcopal Church. It was the pious patriotism of
the Vestry, echoing that of the men of the convention, that made the use of a sanc-
tuary for this purpose. Too, it was probably the most adequate building in the town.
The venerable Peyton Randolph, who had just presided at the meeting of
the Continental Congress, was chosen to preside over the assembly and the Rev.
Miles Selden, rector of the church, was requested to serve as the Chaplain. The
actions of the recent Continental Congress were reviewed and given a hearty
endorsement. Then, as was fitting, the Virginia delegates were given an expres-
sion of deep appreciation for their services.
The third day of the convention was memorable. On it, the petition and
memorial of the Assembly of Jamaica, addressed to King George III, was pre-
sented to the delegates. While strongly flavored with Toryism, it ably defended
American rights. However, it most positively affirmed that the colonists would
ever make forcible resistance to Great Britain, because of their weakness. Upon
hearing this document, a member of the Virginia Convention arose and offered
a resolution of thanks to Jamaica for its pronouncement, closing his resolution
with the statement “That the Assembly (of Jamaica) be assured that it is the most
ardent wish of this Colony---and we are pursuaded of the whole Colonists of
North America---to see a speedy return to those Haleyon days when we lived a
free and happy people.”
Patrick Henry was immediately on his feet---he was a delegate from
Hanover. He offered a substitute resolution, prefacing it with suitable preamble.
The resolution was “Resolved, That this Colony be immediately put into a state of
defense, and that----------be a committee to prepare a plan for embodying, arming,
and disciplining such a number of men as may be sufficient for that purpose.”
Arguing that such a resolution was premature, Richard Bland, Benjamin
Harrison, of Berkley, and Edmund Pendleton. Henry’s associates in the Continental
Congress, and Robert Carter Nicholas, treasurer of the Colony, opposed it and
found support among the other delegates. They argued that no such action should
be made until the replies to the adresses of the Congress had been received, re-
viewed, and action taken.
Again Patrick Henry was on his feet, his eyes blazing with an inner light, his
lips trembling with words that were uttered. “Mr. President, it is natural to man to
indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth
and listen to the song of that siren, till she transforms us into beasts.” On went the
speaker, the audience held in a magic spell. “There is no retreat but in submission
and slavery! Our chains are forged. Their clanking may be heard on the plains of
Boston! The war is inevitable--and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come!” The
tension mounted with the impassioned words. “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet
as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God.
I know not what course others may take; but as for me” ---with both arms reach-
ing above his head, his brows knit, every muscle of his face tense with emotion, his
breath coming between clinched teeth---”Give me liberty, or give me death!”
Henry sank down in his seat exhausted. The audience was immobile,
spell-bound. Then, Richard Henry Lee, of Westmoreland gave the orator’s
motion a hearty and eloquent second. The motion was adopted and thus it was
that the colony of Virginia threw down the gauntlet to England while efforts at
reconciliation were being made. Patrick Henry, Richard Bland, Thomas Jefferson,
Robert Carter Nicholas, and Edmund Pendleton were designated members of the
committee called for in Henry’s resolution. This being accomplished, the convention
devoted hours to the implementation of their action---Virginia was put in a state of
defense. An army must be provided and munitions and war material must be
produced to maintain that army. Rockbridge was there in the persons of
John Bowyer and Col. Samuel McDowell.
(To be continued)

“THE LIGHT OF A SACRED FLAME”
CHAPTER III
Although the Virginia delegates to the Continental Congress were in atten-
dance upon the convention in Richmond, Thomas Lewis and Col. Samuel
McDowell prepared a letter for them immediately after the Augusta meeting of
freeholders on February 22nd. In it was the prayer. “May that sacred flame, that
has illuminated your minds and influenced your conduct in projecting and concuring
in so many salutary determinations for the preservation of American liberty, ever
continue to direct your conduct to the latest period of your lives!” There came the
answer, the thought expressed in the same patriotic tone.
It was in June, Philip Vickers Fithian, a young itinerating Presbyterian
minister, was on the frontier. He described the conditions as he found them, observ-
ing “Mars, the great God of Battle, is honored in every part of the spacious colony,
but here every Presence is warlike, every sound is martial! Drums beating, Fifes
and Bag-pipes playing and only sonorous and heroic tones.” He saw the men of
the Valley at their musters “hardy, resolute and invincible Natives of the Woods of
America,” who were garbed in hunting shirts of buckskin, cockades, and “Buck
Tails,” ready to come to grips with the foe.
Col. Samuel McDowell was now a man of about forty-one years of age.
As a lad of about two or three years, he came to the Virginia frontier with his
parents, Capt. John McDowell and his wife, the former Magdalen Woods. The
little family settled in the present Timber Ridge community. Christmas Day, 1742,
came and, on that day, he was made fatherless by the Indian fight on the banks
of North River, under the shadow of the Blue Ridge. Reared by his widowed
mother---she was soon to wed Benjamin Borden, Jr.---he proved a son worthy
of her training.
In 1753, he was a soldier of Virginia and their war against the Indians
and their French allies, participating in the arduous campaigns and forest warfare.
For this service, he received a large tract of land in Fayette County, Kentucky.
This service was in his background for his further military service in 1774, when,
as Captain of the Augusta County company, he served in the battle of Point
Pleasant. At this time he distinguished himself ‘under fire’. After Col. Charles
Lewis had fallen and Col. William Fleming had been desperately wounded, the
Virginia line began to waiver and fall back. Then, McDowell and Col. John
Field, with his Culpeper men, stiffened their resistance and advanced, driving
back the whooping Indians in the effort.
This military career was in McDowell’s background when he was
selected by the freeholders to represent them in the Virginia Convention, meet-
ing in Richmond. When the second convention was held in Williamsburg in
1776, he was again the Augusta delegate. It was this convention that instructed
the Continental Congress to “declare the United Colonies free and independant
states, absolved from all allegiance to or dependence on the crown or parlia-
ment of Great Britain.” Too, it was this convention that set up the colony as a
State and made Patrick Henry the first governor; it adopted the bill of rights
and plan of government drawn up by George Mason; it elected the officers to
command the first nine regiments organized in Virginia. Rockbridge was there.
During the American Revolution, he was colonel of a regiment of
Augusta militia and guarded the passes through the western mountains. This
patrol work did much for the security of the Virginia frontier in those days.
However, there were two breaks in the service. The first was in early Spring
of 1781 when McDowell and his men were hurried off to the North Carolina
front to confront the advancing Cornwallis.
(To be continued)

“THE LIGHT OF A SACRED FLAME”
CHAPTER IV
Taking position with the second American line astride of Salisbury road
with the other Virginia militia, McDowell was set for a share in the challenge to
the British. When the North Carolina militia broke and fell back, the red-coated
line advanced against the second American position. The Virginians stood their
ground and their rifle fire did terrible execution among the enemy. However, the
persistent pressure of Bose’s Hessians, with their stubborn charges, caused the
American line to fall into disorder. After the battle, when the militia were dismiss-
ed to return home, McDowell continued with Greene and aided in forcing Corn-
wallis back to his base at Wilmington.
The second break came the following June. Cornwallis was in Virginia
and, on June 4th, the legislature had to flee from Charlottesville to the valley of
Virginia. Here, in Staunton, where the lawmakers convened after their flight,
Col. Samuel McDowell became a member of the Governor’s Council, qualify-
ing at the same time.
After the Revolution, in 1783, Col. McDowell moved to Kentucky
with his family, with the exception of two married daughters who remained in
Virginia. Besides being one of the three judges of the first Kentucky Court,
he was the presiding officer at nine conventions, between Dec. 27, 1784 and
July 26, 1790, and performed the same office when the first constitution of
Kentucky was framed in 1792.
On Jan. 17, 1754, when he was barely nineteen years of age, he
married Mary McClung, said to have been a daughter of William McClung,
Irish-born, who died shortly after the close of the Revolution. The Mc-
Dowell’s had a family of eleven children:---John, James, William, Samuel,
Joseph, Ephraim (the noted surgeon), Caleb Wallace, (Sarah and Magdalen)
twins, Martha and Mary (Polly). The first four sons were veterans of the
Revolution, even though they were quite young for military service. Martha
married Col Abraham Buford, whose men suffered greatly in the affair at
Waxhaw, and Polly became the wife of Alexander Keith Marshall, a nephew
of the Chief Justice John Marshall. All of the children formed marriage ties
with the leading families of the frontier.
Col. Samuel McDowell never forgot the inspiration of that memor-
able address by Patrick Henry in old St. John’s Church. Unquestionably,
his great contribution to the advancement of the people was motivated by
his high integrity, a sense of the practical, and an adhesive courage to do
the thing he held to be right. In 1817, he died near Danville, Kentucky, at
the age of eighty-two.
John Bowyer, the other representative of Rockbridge, was living
then in Botetourt County, the County line being the North River and his
residence being south of that stream. It may have been that he came to
this section from Augusta to take the place of one Matthew Campbell, a
one-armed schoolmaster, whose service was in a structure known as
“Campbell’s Schoolhouse.” But the ravages of small-pox on the frontier
had made the way open for a change in Bowyer’s plans. He presided in
the schoolhouse a very short time, probably a year.
Benjamin Borden, Jr., the heir of his father and inheritor of the
vast span of Borden’s Grant, married the widow McDowell, whose
husband had fallen in the Indian fight just north of Balcony Falls about
two years previously. The marriage took place in 1744, but nine years
later, in 1753, Borden died and his widow was considered the wealth-
iest woman west of the Blue Ridge. She was the mother of four living
children.
From what is recorded of Bowyer, one receives the impression
that he was a very aggressive man, positive in his convictions dynamic in
his techniques. Consequently, when Mrs. Magdalena Woods McDowell
Borden would receive his attentions, it was a fore-gone conclusion that
the schoolroom would lose a master and the deplorable business matters
of the Borden estate would receive one.
The marriage took place --- the marriage license was dated
Feb. 4, 1754; the nuptial rites were performed shortly after that date,
it may be assumed. As one writer has stated, the marriage “was
probably not invested with a great deal of sentiment on either side, and
may not have had much to recommend it.” But Bowyer moved into
the “Red House” with the family, making it his home for some years.
(To be Continued)

“AN UNSOLVED TRAGEDY”
CHAPTER I
It is true that life on the Virginia frontier in colonial times was a “life
in the raw.” The virgin wilderness of the Valley of Virginia was interlaced
with Indian trails, some of major importance but many of lesser, and along
these avenues of progress came the cavalcades of the pioneers. Pack
animals, laden with cumbersome loads, and horses, carrying riders and
their personal belongings, followed the well-marked trace while hardy men
and women trudged along with burdens on their backs. Rivers were
forded, rugged terrain endured, and bivouacing under the skies, with
neither protection nor comfort to make their night’s rest, was the order
of the night.
Yet they came in an endless stream--the rich and poor, old and
young, educated and unlettered---to find a new home “in the back parts
of Virginia. Some were newly arrived from Ireland --- some were of the
second, even third, generation in America. And, because of their Irish
origin overseas, they were to give this area the label of “The Irish Tract.”
One of the cavalcades, about 1737 or 1738, probably consisted
of the Mathews and kindred families. Although they were early arrivals,
it was not the attractiveness of Beverley’s Manor that drew them for
they seem to have gone directly into the territory granted to Benjamin
Borden. It is possible that the proprietor had recruited them while on
a trip to Pennsylvania--he was to receive a thousand acres for every
family he seated in his assigned section, not exceeding one hundred.
On June 7, 1742, Borden deeded 297 acres, 2 rods, and
10 poles of land to John Mathews, yoeman, but it was not until the 26th
day of the following August that it was recorded in the Orange County
Court --- Augusta County was organized from Orange three years later.
This tract was in the general locality of that which is now known as
Timber Ridge. In March, 1746, Borden sold a tract of 451 acres to
Matthew Lyle, and the John Mathews’ line is mentioned in the deed.
Again, the line is given mention in the deed for 175 acres which Borden
sold to Samuel Gray -- the wording is “corner to John Mathews of
the Timber ridge.”
Here John Mathews erected his cabin and made a home for his
family. His wife was Ann, a daughter of Sampson Archer, and there was
the growing family. In the community he was considered as a man of the
highest integrity and was given responsibilities. For instance, he was a
close friend of Capt. John McDowell --- he and McDowell were
appointed to serve as captains under Col. James Patton in 1742.
After the death of McDowell in the skirmish the following December
on the banks of North River, Mathews and his friends, Joseph
Lapsley and John Christian, made an inventory of McDowell’s estate,
placing it at 216 pounds, 4 shillings and 3 1/2 pence. The document
was presented to the Orange Court, June 23, 1743, by Magdalene
McDowell, the widow, who served as administratrix.
The Indians, involved in the frontier fracas that December day,
had been guilty of raiding from the settlers, stealing food and killing
stock. They visited the home of John Mathews and did so much
damage that he filed a claim with the colonial government. As all the
militia south of the North River had been placed under Capt. John
McDowell, the name of John Mathews appears on the roster, but
it is not of record that he had a part in the Indian battle.
On April 20, 1757, John Mathews made his will and he died
between that date and Nov. 16, 1757, when it was proved in Court,
his friends Matthew Campbell and John Poage, performing that service.
Three of the younger children are listed as ‘infants’--- they were under
legal age; they were Elizabeth, William, and Archer. His daughters,
Jane, Anne, and Rachel were each to receive one shilling, the same
amount given to his sons, Richard and George. Sampson was to
receive 350 acres on Borden’s Run which his father had patented in
1742 and which was known as “Kelley’s Entry.” Another tract which
he had patented in the “Fork of James” became the home of John, Jr.,
it was now bequeathed to him as his inheritance. His son Joshua had
married and was living upon one of his father’s tracts---by the will,
he was to have it as long as he lived and then to go to his daughters,
Anna and Elizabeth, but in case they died before reaching legal age,
it would go to his sons, George, Archer and William.
(To be Continued)

“FORK OF JAMES FAMILY TIES”
CHAPTER V
When William Paxton, son of Thomas Paxton and his wife
Elizabeth McClung, married Jane Grigsby, daughter of “Soldier John
Grigsby, June 21, 1787, he founded a most interesting family line. In
his will, probated, Feb. 4, 1839, he named his nine children and mention-
ed several grandchildren. It is said that there were sixteen children in the
family, but the interweaving of family lines is limited to a few.
Mary Paxton, known as “Polly,” was born, Jan. 21, 1791. and, on
March 12, 1812, she became the wife of James Greenlee, grandson of
Ephraim McDowell. Their oldest child, Hannah McClanahan Greenlee,
married Col. James D. Davidson, a son of the Rev. A.B. Davidson, pastor
of Oxford Presbyterian Church, and his wife, the former Miss Susan
Dorman. The fourth child was Martha Paxton, known as “Patsy,” born
Feb. 18, 1792. On Dec. 18, 1817, she became the wife of Joseph
Steele, the Rev. G.A. Baxter, officiating. She had been reared by a
widowed relative, Mrs. Martha Grigsby Trimble.
Alexander Trimble, son of James Trimble, Sr., the surveyor-
immigrant, married Martha Grigsby, daughter of “Soldier John”
Grigsby. Although Morton lists Alexander Trimble as being the father
of five children, these were by his first marriage; his second marriage had
no issue. One of the children by the first marriage was Agnes, who on
May 21, 1789, with the Rev. William Graham as the officiating minister,
married David Steele. To them a son was born and his name was Joseph.
Martha Grigsby Trimble adopted Joseph Steele, her nephew, and
reared him as her son, even though he retained his family name. Patsy Paxton
was taken into the Trimble home when a child and tenderly reared by her
mother’s sister. So it was that the two, Joseph Steele and Patsy Paxton,
grew up under the same old-tree. Joseph became a very able lawyer of the
Rockbridge bar and was recognized as a man of highest character and piety.
Then, on Dec. 18, 1817, he and Patsy were married, the Rev. G.A. Baxter
being the officiating minister. They were the parents of eight children.
One of the Steele children, Elizabeth born August 18, 1823, became
the second wife of her ocusin John McNutt, son of William McNutt and his
wife Elizabeth Grigsby. They migrated to Missouri. They were the parents of
four children and both of their sons became physicians.
Another of the Steele children, David W. Steele, born Feb. 25, 1826,
married Sarah Virginia Johnston in 1853. She was the daughter of Capt.
Samuel Johnston and his wife Mildred McCorkle. Steele was killed in the
battles around Fredericksburg in 1863. Mildred McCorkle, born March 6,
1815, was the daughter of Alexander McCorkle and his wife Mildred Welch,
of “Fancy Hill.” Her grandparents were Thomas Welch and Sarah Grigsby,
a daughter of “Soldier John” Grigsby.
Joseph Grigsby Steele, another of the family born Sept. 10, 1827, was
the County Clerk of Rockbridge during the Civil War. A graduate of Washing-
ton College, he became a lawyer, a profession he followed to his death in 1886.
He married Isabella Paxton Sterrett, daughter of William Sterrett and his wife
Lucinda Paxton; she was a distant cousin of her husband. They were the parents
of eight children.
Another girl of the Joseph Steele family was Mary Ashley Steele, born
Nov. 23, 1831. She became the wife of Major Adolph Elhart, of the Paymaster
Department of the famous Stonewall Brigade, C.S.A. They made their home
at “Bellview,” in the Oxford Presbyterian Church community, which was adja-
cent to the home of her sister, Sarah Josephine who had married Robert
Granville Campbell. The Elharts and the Campbell’s are buried in the cemetery
of Oxford Church, in the “Fork of James.”
The interweaving of family ties among the early families of the “Fork of
James” would form a volume, were they all to be compiled in one book. These
marriages gave a solidarity to the communities of the section and sent forth to the
opening lands of the West and South men and women who contributed greatly in
the development of those areas. While there is the puzzle of the repetition of
family names and the intricate intermarriages, especially to those doing family
research in distant sections of the land, there is an entrancing charm in making
the quest for family connections. This brief account is not intended to be com-
prehensive, but merely to set forth the lure of this line of investigation.
(To be Continued)

“A STUDY IN REAL ESTATE”
CHAPTER II
Borden was supposed to sell his land at the price of three-pence (ten cents
in present currency) for each acre. The word ‘supposed’ should be stressed for a
survey of the records show that varied from less to far more than the set rate. Further-
more, the deed, which was always supposed to be given on the date of the sale, was
often delayed in reaching the grantee’s hands. Too, because of inadequate de-
scription of the boundary purchased or because the sale was not properly record-
ed, there would be contention over the ownership of the tract. The court records
of Augusta and Rockbridge attest to this fact.
That Borden’s Grant, as made when it was given, did not call for a set
boundary, such as was given when the patent was issued on November 6, 1739.
The acreage set in the document is 92,100. So exclusive of the McDowell hold-
ings, the number of actual settlements made by the grantor was ninety-one. Too,
these plots of land were not adjacent to each other, making the grant all an exclu-
sive grant. This is a fact which was most embarrassing to the Bordens.
Young John McDowell is considered as the one surveyor that was in the
employ of Borden until he was killed by the Indians on the banks of the North
Branch of the James, December 18, 1742. While he did some laying off of the
tracts of land, a certain Beaty was the first man to do extensive surveying on the
grant. John Hart, who removed to Augusta, may have been so employed for a
time. From all indications in the records, Capt. John McDowell held the position
of superintendent of the entire project and did survey upon special call.
The usual procedure was for the settler, first of all, to select a site and
this called for the service of a guide who could direct him to places that were
available. Then, by building a cabin, the settler could claim one hundred acres---
it was his “cabin right”---and he was given the privilege to buy other adjacent
land at a set price. For every such “cabin right,” the proprietor could claim
1,000 acres, choice land he had already reserved for the purpose. Then came
the services of the surveyor to set the metes and bounds for the deed. Then
Borden was free to dispose of his 1,000 acres by sale, or in any manner he
desired. This situation involved the proprietor in two different kinds of trans-
actions--one, acting as the agent in securing and seating a family, and another,
acting for himself alone.
In 1742, Benjamin Borden died at his home “on Spought Run on
Opeckon.” He had made his will on April 3, 1742: it was proved in the Fred-
erick County Court on Dec. 9, 1743. In it, Borden claims that he is “Ben-
jamin Borden of Orange County in Virginia, yoeman.” The document is most
unique and became the foundation for family suits in the courts in after years.
He designated his wife Zeruiah, executrix, and his son Benjamin and his son-
in-law William Fernley, executors.
It was his will that, together with all his lands and Estate and “all my
Enterrys everywhere and all Lands on the Waters of the James River should
be Sold excepting five Thousand Acres of Land that is good I give to five of
my daughters that is Abigail Worthington and Rebecca Branson and to
Debourah Borden & Liddy Borden & to Elizabeth Borden that is one Thou-
sand Acres of good Land appease to every one of the five Daughters above
mentioned to them & their heirs & their assigns forever.”
In 1745 the widow Borden had returned to New Jersey, her old
home and she gave her son Benjamin, Jr., the power of attorney so he
could have a free hand to dealing with the problems of the grant. The next
year he seems to have the absolute authority. By now, the young man was
settled in the “Red House,” the guest of the Widow McDowell and her
family. At first, there was a coldness between him and the family which
lessened as they grew to know and understand each other. So it came
to pass that about 1748. Magdalen Woods McDowell became the bride
of Benjamin Borden, Jr.
After seven years of married life, in 1753, he fell a victim to small-
pox, the scourge of the frontier. By his wife, he was the father of two
daughters--Martha, who grew to womanhood and married Benjamin
Hawkins, and Hannah, who died in early childhood. After Borden’s
death, his younger brother Joseph came into the grant; in later years, he
instituted the noted chancery suit against John Bowyer which grew into
other suits in the Augusta Courts, lasting about a century. The widow
Borden married the third time---her husband was Col. John Bowyer,
of “Thorn Hill.”
(To be Continued)

“A STUDY IN REAL ESTATE”
CHAPTER III
The first deed for land in the Borden Grant was issued Nov. 22, 1746.
It was made to Thomas McSpeadon for 106 acres for three pounds, three
shillings, three pence; it is described as cornering to the land of Alexander
McCleary. But the same day, young Borden gave another deed. His father
had promised to sell 626 acres on Catawba Creek to James Davis for
eighteen pounds, fifteen shillings, seven pence but the transaction had never
taken place. Now young Borden carried out the sale. Time and again, in
the old records, there is the statement of Benjamin Borden, Sr., agreement
to a sale “in his lifetime,” sales that were not of record until years later.
June 18, 1746, was a busy day for the Bordens. Zeruiah Borden
and her son, Benjamin, Jr., deeded 328 acres in the Grant, “the Barrens
on the South side of the creek,” to Francis McCune. Too, they deeded
318 acres, two rods, 38 poles of land, which “Testator in his lifetime had
agreed to sell to John Hayes,” located at the confluence of Hays and
Moffatt’s Creeks. For this tract, John Hays paid five shillings. Also on
this day, they deeded 145 acres on Moffatt’s Creek--which Borden had
agreed in his life time to sell to William Berry for the price of “five shillings
current money of Virginia”: this farm cornered to the property of Elizabeth
Hunter. The Bordens, on this June day, deeded 400 acres on a “James
River Branch called the Marv (now South River) on the south-west side.
It had been promised to Ezekiel Clements for five shillings; now the
promise made had been kept.
In his lifetime, Benjamin Borden, Jr., sold 318 acres to James
Greenlee. The property cornered on the lands of John Davidson, a
certain Cahoon, and a McClure. It was not until March 17, 1757, that
Archibald Alexander and Magdalen McDowell Bowyer, acting as
executors of the Borden estate, gave the deed. The tract was sold to James
Davis, who disposed of it to Abraham Rhodes. In 1805 Rhodes sold it to
Dickey Beard. The Borden heirs had a suit over the tract with Greenlee,
but Greenlee’s title was confirmed. Noe Beard entered suit for a deed
from Rhodes who had moved to Highland County, Ohio and won his case.
Another real estate tangle resulted from the sale of 230 acres by
the executors of Borden to Robert McElrath. Moses Edmonson had
made a settlement on the tract and was the first; this was a few years
after the death of Benjamin Borden, Jr. Edmonson sold the place to a
Matthew Moorehead who disposed of it to McElrath. A suit was en-
tered to get the deed corrected and established. A witness in the case
was John Stuart, who was now a man of sixty-five. His father, John
Stuart, had bought 313 acres from Borden, Jr. The deposition was
taken at Brownsburg in July, 1805.
When Borden, Jr., died in 1753, his widow was without doubt
the wealthiest woman on the frontier, a woman known for her decided
force of character. If she died in 1810, as one chronicler states, she
was born in 1706, as she died at the remarkable age of 104 years. So,
at the death of her second husband, she was 47 years old.
The next year, 1754, a young man came from the Staunton
area to the Fork of James section to teach school. The only property
in the world that he owned was his horse, saddle, and “the usual clothes
which young men in his station had.” Col. Thomas B. Green, in his
“Historic Families of Kentucky” (page 15), states that this young man
was twenty years younger than Mrs. Borden --- the school teacher’s
name was John Bowyer. The date of the wedding of the widow Borden
and John Bowyer is not given in the records, but it is evident that the
marriage “was probably not invested with a great deal of sentiment on
either side, and may not have had much to recommend it.”
When the subscription list for the salary of the Rev. John Brown
was taken for the Timber Ridge Presbyterian Church, in 1754, the name
of “Mr. Bowyer” appears --- he gave two pounds, which was more than
any other on the list. If he is the former schoolmaster, he must have
tapped a reservoir of finance to make such a contribution. He repeated
his pledge in 1755. Perhaps he had achieved access to the treasury of
the Borden estate.
(To be Continued)

“A STUDY IN REAL ESTATE”
CHAPTER IV
(Conclusion)
Colonel Green gives a family tradition of interest. Bowyer and Mrs.
Borden had made a marital agreement by which the latter had secured her
vast properties to herself and her children---it had been written down and
duly signed by both parties. Bowyer secured the paper by some means
and destroyed it. Then, as husband, he claimed all the property of his wife.
It is of record that, on May 3, 1755, Ephraim McDowell sold 300
acres of land to James McDowell for five pounds and John Bowyer,
Magdalen McDowell Bowyer, and Samuel McDowell were the witnesses.
Then, a fortnight later, James McDowell, farmer, sold the same tract to
John Bowyer for 175 pounds, (Augusta D, B. 7, pps. 97,100) giving the
grantor a profit of great size. The poor school teacher had become a man
of finance and his wife’s name was not mentioned in the second transaction.
Too, it will be noted that the names of John Bowyer and Magdalen
appear together as grantors of land, never as the purchasers of a tract. On
Sept. 20, 1763, they sold a parcel of land to James McDowell for two
hundred pounds and, on July 13, 1774, they join with Moses and Mary
Bennett in the sale of land to Robert Lusk.
Magdalen Woods McDowell Borden Bowyer’s children grew into
manhood and womanhood and they began a series of court actions against
Bowyer for the claims they felt just. These legal matters cover many pages
of the records. Unpleasant as these court affairs were, they are today a
veritable mine of genealogical information. For instance, the case of Robert
Harvey and Martha his wife et als., vs. John Bowyer--O.S. 140; N.S. 48.
In the suit of Joseph Burden, plaintiff, vs. Alex. Culton et als., defendants,
Mrs. James Greenlee, sister-in-law of Mrs. Magdalene Bowyer, made
a deposition that has furnished a source for much early Rockbridge history.
The deposition was made on Nov. 10, 1806.
But all the real estate actions within the present Rockbridge County
were not confined to the Bordens and their heirs. The acres of Borden’s
Grant were about a third, perhaps more, of the entire county. The southern
border of it was across the highway--old Route 11--just north of Turpin’s
Store. The western border was not far from Rockbridge Baths and the
eastern border was approximately in the valley of South River.
Borden had a number of tracts below his grant and John McDowell
had two grants, both made on June 1, 1741--one 400 acres on Big Spring
Branch of the North Branch of the James, below Borden’s Grant, and one
for the same size on Mary’s (South) River. Robert Poage, George Robin-
son, and John Matthews were on Poage’s Run, branch of Mill Creek, in
the Fancy Hill community by 1739. By 1746, John Collier was seated on
the North Branch of Buffalo Creek, the stream that was later to take his
name--the Middle Fork of Buffalo was then to become the North Fork
as it remains to this day.
When Augusta County was formed, James Trimble was appointed
deputy county surveyor and he and his fellow surveyors, Thomas Lewis
and John Poage, were kept busy. Trimble recorded his first surveys in
1747, when, on January 10th, he recorded ten tracts, nine of which being
in what is now Rockbridge County. These were all patented to James
Patton in 1750, and consisted of the choice spots in the area.
Morton lists 185 patents to land on the upper James and between
the Blue Ridge and North Mountain as granted between the years 1739
and 1769---all within the present county. Twenty-three of these were
to James Patton, Borden had five of them, one being his grant of 92,110
acres. One is not to take every Borden transaction in real estate within
the county as being land included in the big grant.
Finally, mention should be made of the tremendous “turn over”
of the real estate. Some of the patents were granted individuals who
placed the desired plots of land for sale to the migrating people, moving
southwestward over the “Pennsylvania Road,” or the “Indian Road” as
it was more often called. Often lands were vacated by the settlers and
these lands became the property of others. When a family grew up in a
frontier home, the eldest son, or a favored son, received the home-farm
and the others had to seek out new places, often buying some desirable
land in the general area, but more often moving on down the “Pennsyl-
vania Road” to the “Wilderness Road,” which took them into Kentucky,
or continuing on, they reached Tennessee.
There are but few farms or estates int he county that remain
in the hands of descendants of those to whom the patents or sale were
made. With the trend toward industries and the incoming population
to operate them, there is the breaking up of many of the farms for sites
for new dwellings. The real estate picture of Rockbridge of today is
vastly different from that of the 1800’s and the change into the future
promises to be more marked.
THE END