HISTORY OF ISLE OF
(From
http://www.rootsweb.com/~vaisleof/history.htm on
“A
Brief History of
by
Compiled
for Distribution at the
In the early spring of 1608, Captain
John Smith, driven by the necessity of obtaining food for the famishing
colonists at
This tribe of Indians occupied a
village near what is now known as Fergusson's Wharf, in this county, and their
hunting grounds extended along the
Captain Smith records that the king of
this tribe furnished him with two guides, with whom he sent a valiant soldier,
named Sicklemore, to explore the country around
Roanoke Island for traces of the "lost colony" of Sir Walter Raleigh,
with no successful result; and that he, the king of this tribe, warned him
against the treachery of Powhatan; and yet this same savage, in a very few
years, tried, and nearly succeeded, in killing every colonist on the south side
of James River.
In the western part of the county, now
The first English settlement in Isle of
Wight county was made by Captain Christopher Lawne
and Sir Richard Worsley, knight baronet, and their
associates, viz.: Nathaniel Basse, gentleman; John
Hobson, gentleman; Anthony Olevan, Richard Wiseman, Robert
Newland, Robert Gyner, and William Willis.
On
Captain Lawne
and Ensign Washer represented the settlement known as Lawne's
Plantations in the first House of Burgesses, which met at
It seems to be a fact that all new
settlements are unhealthy, and this proved to be remarkably so; for within
about a year Captain Lawne died, and the London
Company, November 30, 1620, ordered that: "In regard of the late mortality
of the persons transported heretofore by the late Captain Lawne,
his associates be granted till midsummer, 1625, to make up the number of
persons they were disposed to bring." It also declared that the plantation
was to be henceforth called Isle of Wight Plantation, for which change of name
we are very thankful, on account of the difficulty of spelling and pronouncing
its former name , which it took from the tribe of Warrosquoyacke
Indians. We find this name spelled in every conceivable way, some of them being
Warrosquyoke, Warrosqueak, Warrasquoyke; nevertheless, it was
several years before the new name of
Many of the early settlers were of
cavalier origin, and came from the city of
On
On the day the patent last mentioned
was granted, Arthur Swaine, Captain Nathaniel Basse and others, undertook to establish another plantation
in the same neighborhood. Captain Basse came over in
person and his plantation was known as "Basse's
Choice," and was situated on Warrosquoyacke (now
Pagan) River.
The houses of Captain Basse's
After the death of Powhatan, his
brother, Opecancanough, who always hated the whites,
joined all the tribes in Eastern Virginia into an oath-bound conspiracy to kill
the whites, and we are astonished with what concert of action and secrecy this
great plot was arranged when we reflect that the savages were not living
together as on nation, but were dispersed in little hamlets, containing from
thirty to two hundred in a company. "Yet they all had warning given them,
one from another, in all their habitations, though far asunder, to meet at this
day and hour for the destruction of the English."
So well was the dread secret kept that
the English boats were borrowed to transport the Indians over the river to
consult on the "devilish murder that ensued"; and even on the day
itself, as well as on the evening before, they came as usual, unarmed, into
their settlements, with their turkeys and other provisions to sell; and in some
places sat down with the English on the very morning to breakfast.
They spared no age, sex or condition;
and were so sudden in their indiscriminate slaughter that few could discern the
blow or the weapon that killed them.
Those who had treated them with
especial kindness and conferred many benefits upon them fared no better than
the rest. The ties of love and gratitude the sacred rights of hospitality and
reciprocal friendship, oath, pledges and promises were broken or forgotten in
obedience to the commands of their chief for the execution of a great, but
diabolical, stroke of State policy.
With one, and only one, of all who had
been cherished by the whites did gratitude for their kindness and fidelity to
his new religion prevail over his allegiance to his king and affection for his
people. A converted Indian, who resided with a Mr. Pace, and who was treated by
him as a son, revealed the plot to him in the night of the 21st. Mr. Pace
immediately secured his house and rowed himself up to Jamestown, where he
disclosed the inhuman plot to the Governor, by which means that place and all the
neighboring plantations, to which intelligence could be conveyed, were saved
from destruction; for the cowardly Indians, wherever they saw the whites upon
their guard, immediately retreated. Some other places were also preserved by
the undaunted courage of the occupants, who never failed to beat off their
assailants, if they were not slain before their suspicions were excited. By
these means the larger portion of the colony was saved from total annihilation
in a single hour by this well conceived, well concealed and well executed plot
of those inhuman, but weak and simple, adversaries.
Some miraculous escapes are reported in
the Worrosquoyacke settlement. The Indians came to
one
Ralph Hamor, who also live nearby.
The Indians sent a message to Captain Hamor that
their king was hunting in the neighborhood, and had invited him to join them.
The captain, not coming as they expected him to do, they set fire to a tobacco
warehouse and murdered the whites as they rushed out of Harrison's house to
quench the fire. Many were killed, but Thomas Hamor
was saved by a chance delay. He remained to finish a letter which he was
engaged in writing. When he went out he saw the commotion, and although he
received an arrow in his back, with twenty-two others he fought his way back to
the house, which, being set on fire by the Indians, he left to burn, and fled
to
But it was not the nature of the
Anglo-Saxon man to be for long intimidated by fear of these weak, cowardly
wretches, who had inflicted upon them such a dastardly outrage; for, in July of
the same year, they commenced to move against them, and in the early fall Sir
George Yeardley commanded an expedition against the
savages down the river. He drove out the Worrosquoyackes
and Nansemonds, burned their houses and took their
corn. On
In the summer of 1623 Captain William
Tucker, of Kecaughton (Hampton), commanded an
expedition against the Worrosquoyackes. He killed
many, cut down their corn, and burnt their houses. And this state of fierce
warfare continued to rage, with uninterrupted fury, until a peace was concluded
in 1632, under the administration of Governor Harvey.
In the course of this warfare the
Indians were not treated with the same tenderness which they had generally been
before the massacre; but their habitations, cleared lands, pleasant sites, when
once taken possession of, were generally retained by the victors, and the
vanquished forced to take refuge in the woods or marshes. Truly, the founding
of our nation was no mere holiday amusement.
The proprietors of the abandoned
settlements took heart, and were allowed to return.
The census of 1623-24 (February) showed
as then living at "Worwicke-Squeak" and
"Basse's Choice" fifty-three persons,
"twenty-six having died since April last."
Among those who had died was Mr. Robert
Bennett, the brother of Edward Bennett, the rich
At the census taken 1624-25, it is
recorded that three hundred and forty-seven out of a population of twelve
hundred and forty were murdered by the Indians in the massacre of 1622.
From the beginning of 1626 the colony
entered upon a more prosperous era, and from then on a
continuous stream of emigrants were granted patents.
During the first hundred years a grant
of fifty acres was given for the importation of every emigrant. The names of
the "Head-rights" were given in the patents. From the records in the
Land Office, the following are subscribed: "Land Grants: Martha Key, wife
of Thomas Key, planter (as his personal dividend, being an ancient planter),
one hundred and fifty acres lying on the easterly side of Worrosquoyacke
River, opposite the land of Captain Nathaniel Basse";
“…John Moon, planter, two hundred acres in Worrosquoyacke,
on the Worrosquoyacke Creek for the transportation of
four persons, viz.: himself, George Martin, Julian Hollier,
Clement Thrush, who came in the Catherine, of London, 1623. Granted March, 1623..."
A portion of this patent in "Red
Point" still bears the name of "Moonfield,"
and one of the descendants of this John Moon, himself named John Moon, became a
very rich man, owning a large portion of the land in "Red Point." The
name is now extinct in this county, and it is astonishing how few of the names
of the very first settlers have come down to us in their descendants.
It would be remarkably interesting to
continue to enumerate these old land grants, but time and space will not allow
it. Only three others will be mentioned, because the original patentees and
their descendants have been prominent in the political and military history of
our county and State, and the
Benjamin Harrison was granted "two
hundred and fifty acres in Worrosquoyacke, on the
main creek which runneth from the
John Upton was granted sixteen hundred
and fifty acres in this county about three miles up Pagan Creek, due for the
importation of thirty-three person. Granted
Captain John Upton represented this
county in the House of Burgessess for many years.
George Hardy, three hundred acres on Lawnes Creek, "bordering on Alice Bennett's
land."
He was probably the first to erect a
grist-mill, which became quite famous, locally; and is still in operation and
known as "Wrenn's Old Mill."
From this family of Hardy was descended
the Honorable Samuel Hardy, the first representative in the Continental
Congress from this District. He was one of the most able men in the earliest
sessions of National Congress. He died in
On hearing of Hardy's
death, Judge Tyler wrote the following beautiful tribute to his memory:
"Ah, why, my soul, indulge this
pensive mood?
Hardy is dead, the brave, the just, the
good.
Careless of censure, on his youthful
bier
The muse shall drop a tributary tear.
His patriot bosom glowed with warmth
divine,
And Oh, humanity! his
heart was thine.
No party interest led his heart astray;
He chose a nobler, though a beaten way.
Nor shall his virtues there remain
unsung-
Pride of the Senate,
and their guide and tongue.
That tongue, no more, can make even
truth to please-
Polite with art, and
elegant with ease.
Fain would the muse augment the
plaintive strain,
Tho'
the most flattering panegyric vain,
When the brief sentence, youthful Hardy's dead,
Speaks more than poet
ever thought or said!"
His remains were laid to rest in
Mr. Hardy was considered, by his
associates in Congress, and other able men who had the pleasure of his
acquaintance, as being one of the most brilliant men of his age. He, on
occasions, displayed great poetic inclinations.
His memory has been preserved in this
county by a most fitting and gracious act - the naming of one of the
magisterial districts for him - Hardy District.
In the year 1634 the colony was divided
into eight shires or counties, one of which was named Worrosquoyacke,
afterwards
The government of these shires or
counties was modeled upon that in
The original boundaries of the county
of Worrosquoyacke, or Isle of Wight, were: Northerly,
by Lawnes Creek; Easterly, by James River as far as
the plantation of Richard Hayes, formerly John Howard's; the southern boundary
by certain creeks to the head of Colonel Pitt's Creek (this proved somewhat
uncertain); and westerly into the woods indefinitely. In 1656, upon the
petition of the inhabitants of
A long dispute arose between the
counties of Isle of Wight and Nansemond, continuing
until 1674, when, by an Act of the General Assembly (then called the House of
Burgesses), the boundaries were established as they now are, viz.: "That a
southwest by south line be designed, runned and
plainly marked from the river side of the plantation of Hayes, extending to the
creek at or near the plantation called Nevill Oyster
Bank; thence a line or lines up Col. Pitt's creek to the head of his lands;
thence in a southwest half a point westerly line."
The county is thirty-seven miles in
length and an average breadth of eleven miles, with an area of about three
hundred and fifty square miles. It extends from 36° 38' to 37° 07' north
latitude and from 0° 2' to 0° 36' longitude east from
In 1732 a considerable portion of the
northwestern part of the county was added to
In 1635 the population of this county
was five hundred and twenty-two. In 1658 the population was about two thousand
and nineteen.
County Courts were established in 1751
by the appointment of eight Justices of the Peace, and four of whom could act
and compose a court, the oldest in commission presiding. They were required to
meet monthly, and the day originally appointed for this county was the first
Thursday in each month, but this was subsequently changed to the first Monday
and continued to meet on this day till the County Courts were abolished by the
Constitution of 1902, when all matters adjusted in the County Courts were
transferred to the Circuit Court, which meets on the first Mondays of March,
June, October and December. The County Courts have long been a distinctive
feature of Virginia, and the meeting of the people on court days was, in a
measure, an education for them, for, in the early days, with no newspapers and
few post offices, dissemination of news was meager and slow other than by
intercourse with those better informed. Notwithstanding the fact that the Court
only meets in this County four times a year, the citizens of the county still
gather on the first Mondays, at which time the Board of Supervisors hold their
monthly meetings, and the court green presents about the same appearance as it
did in the days of the County Courts.
Judges were appointed for the County
Courts in 1870. There have been only two incumbents in that position in this
county, the Honorable George R. Atkinson for thirty years, and the Honorable C.
B. Crumpler for four years, the term of the latter
beginning in 1880 and ending in 1884, Judge Atkinson again taking the bench.
Judge Atkinson bears the distinction of being reversed but three times by
higher Courts and was the oldest presiding judge in the State at the time the
County Courts were abolished in 1904.
The county early provided itself with a
Glebe Farm in accordance with a very early law. This farm was situated about
two miles west of
The first courthouse was on the Glebe
Farm, but its date of erection is unknown, although its site is well marked by
heaps of brick-bats in the woods north of the farm.
In 1654 it was ordered, by the General
Assembly, "That on account of the inconvenience occasioned by the
partition of
Ferries were established over the
branches of
About 1750 the courthouse was moved to
the town of
The records of the county have passed
through many vicissitudes. During the Revolution Tarleton's
British troopers made a raid on Smithfield with the intent to destroy the
records, but they had been removed by the wife of the Deputy Clerk, Mr. Francis
Young, who was an officer in the army and was with his regiment, to a farm near
Smithfield, and there buried in a box and a "hair trunk," which trunk
is still in possession of the Young family. To this lady's foresight and
patriotism
During the Civil War (May, 1862) they
were removed, first to Greensville County, then to Brunswick, and after the war
brought back to the courthouse, all being preserved; which is very astonishing.
Randall Booth, one of the negroes of Mr. N. P. Young, the clerk at that time,
told, with much pride, of how he had remained in the woods and on the road for
days at the time, with them. Any one who has visited the courthouse prior to
three years ago will remember Randall. He was one of the "old-timers"
and remained faithful to his "White Marster"
till old age and failing health struck him down. From that time till his death
his "White Marster" people remained with
him, ministering to his wants and necessities. This type of the "Old Virginny Darkey" is almost a
thing of the past.
The jail, built in 1804, was torn down
in 1902 and a modern fire-proof structure was reared in its stead, of the most
improved type. The courthouse was remodeled in 1903. The clerk's office has
recently undergone many necessary repairs on the inside and an addition of a
fire-proof vault, though the general exterior remains the same, from the front,
as it was after being rebuilt in 1822. The old tavern, the residence of Major
Francis Boykin, built, so far as can be ascertained, in 1762, stood in almost
its original condition until 1904, in which year it received extensive repairs
by its present owner, Mr. O. L. Batten. The exterior, however, is about the
same as formerly.
All of these buildings stand in a grove
on an eminence of about ten or twelve feet above the road, faced by a beautiful
monument erected to the Confederate dead in 1905, a beautiful piece of architecture,
reflecting great credit on the men and women by whose efforts it was erected as
a memorial of their devotion to a cause lost yet loved.
The court green has been the scene of
many a stirring occurrence, political wrangles and the like, and the old
tavern's walls have housed many a convivial assembly, and has
been long famous for the many parties and balls which have been attended by throngs
of "ye gentlemen and ladies."
The clerks of the county have been as
follows:
Thomas Wombwell,
1645 to 1656.
John Jennings, 1656 to 1662.
John Broomfield, 1677 to 1679.
John Pitt, 1679 to 1692.
Hugh Davis, 1692. (Died
in one month after entering office.)
Charles Chapman, 1692 to 1710.
Henry Lightfoot, 1710 to 1729.
James Ingles, 1729 to 1732.
James Baker, 1732 to 1754.
Richard Baker, 1754 to 1770.
William Drew, 1770 to 1772.
Nathaniel Burwell, 1772 to 1787.
Francis Young (I), 1787 to 1794.
Nathaniel Young, 1801 to 1841.
Nathaniel Peyton Young, 1841 to 1869.
Charles H. Hart, 1869 to 1870. (Appointed when
Nathaniel Peyton Young, 1870 to 1896. (Second term.)
Nathaniel F. Young, 1896 to 1905.
Albert S. Johnson, appointed in 1905 at
the death of Mr. Nathaniel F. Young, was elected in same year and is the present
clerk.
It may thus be seen that the clerkship
remained in the Young family for a period of one hundred and eighteen years.
The county fronts northeasterly on
The streams which make into the land
from the river are often bold and navigable streams. On the northeast Lawnes Creek forms the boundary, for about seven miles,
between this county and the
The soil is a composition of the
various sands, marls and clays of the Laurenthean
formation, and being in the last Ocean Bench a good portion of it is alluvial
and of remarkable fertility, where its natural fertility has not been destroyed
by too frequent and unwise cultivation.
There may be found every variety of
soil, from stiff clays to light sandy; the former along
The sands are most excellent in
character for building purposes and can be found any and everywhere, and when
contiguous to railroads, have, in considerable quantities, been shipped to the
cities for the making of concrete blocks, a most excellent building material.
The clays can be found in very many
places, of the very best kind for the manufacture of tile and brick, as shown
by the stability of many old brick houses over a hundred years old in all parts
of the county now standing whose bricks were made of clay found in their
immediate vicinities, and that not manufactured in the best manner.
The marls can be found everywhere
throughout the county along its many swamps and ravines in inexhaustible
quantities. The deposits of this valuable mineral are of two kinds, red and
blue, the former mixed with clay and often so rich in lime as to be nearly
white, found in hundreds of places along the rivers, creeks and swamps, often
forming great high hills of unlimited quantities and easy to obtain.
The blue marl can be found everywhere
beyond tidewater in immense quantities. Although harder to obtain than the red
variety, it has a greater fertilizing quality for land on account of the
greater admixture of vegetable matter. It is, in fact, a semi-peat. A successful application of either of these marlswork
a wonderful change in the productiveness of the land.
The American Cement Company has
recognized the value of the marls of the county and has purchased hundreds of
acres of land upon which are deposits, and some day, not far distant, gangs of
men, with steam shovels and other appliances, will be tearing down these hills and
conveying them away to be calcined into hydraulic
cement.
The colonists of this
county early commenced boat-building, to encourage which art the General
Assembly enacted laws giving "rewards" of money to those persons who
should build vessels of twenty tons burden and over.
The object of the General Assembly was
to render the people quickly and thoroughly independent of the mother country,
whose navigation laws required at first everything to be shipped in British
bottoms or vessels owned by the shippers. That the colonists must have gone to
work early at this business is evidenced by the following extracts from old
records:
"In 1663 the General Assembly
rewarded John Pitt, of
After 1611, when Lord
After the great massacre,
For one hundred years the principal
crop was tobacco, which, at first, brought immense prices and was easily
converted into money and other commodities in
For the regulation of the tobacco trade
warehouses were erected at prominent points in the county, notable at
Fergusson's Wharf, the Rocks, Fulghams (just across
the river from Smithfield), Pate's Field (now Battery Park). All the tobacco
was required to be brought to these various warehouses for inspection and
weight and export duty, the regulation of which occupied much of the time of
the General Assembly of those early days.
Long before the advent of steamboats
there had developed a large export trade, either with England direct or with
its colonies in the West Indies, as well as a coast-wise trade from Maine to
Florida, as is attested by the foundation logs of a continuous line of old
wharves occupying the entire water front of the town of Smithfield, many of
whose houses were built over large, deep brick cellars for the storage of
bacon, lard, etc. Thus was developed, early, that trade in bacon which has
continued till the present, resulting in the acknowledged excellency of the "Isle of Wight Bacon" and
the "Smithfield Hams."
Before the building of the Norfolk
& Western Railroad and other railroads through the county, this trade
reached out for thirty or forty miles into the surrounding counties, and in
addition thousands of hogs were driven, on foot, from Kentucky, Tennessee and
North Carolina to supply the demands of this immense trade, principally with
the West Indies, in exchange for their sugar, coffee and rum. Pipe Staves for
their sugar hogsheads, hoop poles and peas were also exported, and not always
in English or Dutch bottoms, for we read in the old records of several men of
this county who owned their own vessels, being rewarded by the General Assembly
for their building, which has already been related.
In 1667 four Dutch men-of-war came up
the river and destroyed twenty vessels that were trading with Isle of Wight and
other Southside counties, which even shows the extent of the export trade at
that early period.
No indigenous product more suitable for
the wants of the colonists was ever furnished by any country than "Indian
Corn," and had not the early settlers of this country been so busily
engaged in the raising of tobacco to the exclusion of it there would have been
no suffering and starvation such as there was in the early times. But trusting
in the idea of being able to buy or barter from the Indians sufficient for
their wants, and not knowing how improvident these poor savages were, there was
frequently such scarcity of this mainstay of their subsistence that the early
laws required every owner of a plantation to cultivate, under sever penalty, at
least two acres for every laboring person, and the constables were required to
rigidly enforce this law; but it seemed a difficult matter to break them up
from their habit of the cultivation of their best lands in tobacco. The General
Assembly never interfered with the price at which corn was sold, and every man
was allowed to sell at the best rate he could; nor did they interfere, but a few
times, with its exportation, and then only in anticipation of a scarcity, the
prohibition being immediately withdrawn.
In 1630, five bushels, "Winchester
Measure," was, by law, made to be the contents of a barrel of corn, and
has so remained up to this time without the least change.
The raising of cotton was early
introduced and much of the land of this county is well adapted to its
cultivation, but not very extensive crops were raised in early times, only
enough for home consumption, until many years later when the cotton gin was
invented; and then this county, especially the western portion, was largely
engaged in its cultivation, and even now there is a considerable quantity
raised in that part.
This county is the center of the peanut
belt and the soil is admirably adapted to the cultivation of this crop,
producing large white nuts which command the highest price on the markets. The
peanut was introduced into this county at quite an early date, but the exact
time and by whom will never be known, but the indications are that they were
brought to Virginia from Africa during the time of the importation of slaves,
as there are some records extant stating that they were used for food for the
slaves while being brought over. Prior to the Civil War, 1861-1865, they were
little known except in a few of the Southern States and were called
"goober peas" or "ground peas." Since 1866 their production
has increased most wonderfully. The method of cultivating them has also been
much improved, and by the aid of especially prepared implements their
production has been much cheapened. The production, per acre, varies at from
twenty-five to one hundred bushels, and in a great measure, this is the money
crop of the county, especially for those farmers whose distance from
transportation lines forbid their cultivation of truck, which have to be
handled hastily owing to their perishable nature. There are several varieties
of peanuts, but the Virginia and the Spanish are the most distinctive types,
the latter of which but very few are raised in this county, being small in size
and of little demand except for confectionery purposes. A modern estimate would
place the value of the crop of peanuts at not less than three million dollars
in cash money for the nuts alone, and to this should be added the indirect
profit to be obtained from the vines as a forage crop, on which horses and
cattle eagerly feed when properly cured, and for their fertilizing qualities,
and on the nuts which are left on or in
the
ground when digging on which the hogs quickly fatten.
The other farm products are oats,
potatoes (Irish and sweet), of which large quantities are raised in the eastern
portion of the county, and by easy and cheap means of transportation shipped to
the northern cities. All fruits, large and small; all kinds of melons and
vegetables find here a soil and climate admirably adapted to their growth and
perfection.
In addition to the agricultural
industries many saw-mills are annually sending millions of feet of timber for
sale in the busy marts of the country, of which the Camp Manufacturing Company
is the largest. This plant turns out about fifty million feet rough lumber, and
about thirty million feet of dressed lumber each year.
Large quantities of eggs and poultry
are annually shipped to the nearby cities whose money value, when reduced to
dollars, would be astonishing.
The telephone service throughout the
county is most excellent, nearly all of the post offices having connection with
local and long distance telephones, and a great many of the residences, thus
enabling the farmers to keep in constant touch with the markets.
The mail facilities are very good,
there being post offices within easy reach of all the people, permitting the
most isolated communities to enjoy the daily papers.
The financial condition of the county is
very good, and the last ten years have been marked with great improvement.
The population, in 1900, was 13,102, an
increase of over 1,780 over that of 1890. There are 3,200 males over the age of
twenty-one years.
In
For four months of the year, commencing
with early spring, those engaged in shad fishing are busy with their nets,
catching this excellent fish in considerable quantities for shipment to the
Northern markets. This industry yields about ten thousand dollars annually.
The climate is mild, salubrious and not
subject to rapid variation of temperature. The health conditions are remarkably
good, water abundant from never-failings springs of free-stone, fresh and
pure.
Market advantages are exceptionally
good both by water and by rail. The former is furnished by the Old Dominion
Steamship Company, plying twice daily between
As evidence of the stability and
prosperity of the county we invite the attention of the reader to the following
table of taxable values of the property in the county for the year 1906, and
which, it is well to say, is not, by not-fourth, the full valuation of the
property, probably:
WHITE
Hardy District
................................. $ 225,217.00 $ 588,877.00
Newport District
................................ 158,699.00 538,129.00
Windsor District
................................ 165,255.00 426,129.00
Town of
Town of
Totals
.............................................$1,010,915.00 $2,060,289.00
COLORED.
Hardy District
................................. $ 31,941.00 $ 67,386.00
Newport District
................................ 30,134.00 87,472.00
Windsor District .................................
15,447.00 34,707.00
Town of
Town of
Totals
..................................
$ 825,272.00 $
206,440.00
Total white and colored
................$1,093,487.00
$2,266,729.00
Total value of properties of all kinds
....................................$3,360,216.00
Towns, Villages and
Post-Offices of the County.
Although
The Act of Incorporation recites:
"Representation having been made to the General Assembly that Arthur
Smith, of Isle of Wight County, having laid out a portion of his land on Pagan
Creek into streets and lots," and, further, "that the location being
healthy and open to trade and navigation," it was, therefore, ordered,
"that the said parcel of land lately belonging to the said Arthur Smith
be, and is, hereby established a town to be called by the name of Smithfield.
"And whereas, it is expedient that
trustees be appointed to lay off and regulate the
streets and settle the bounds of the town, be it enacted, therefore, that from
and after the passing of this Act, that Robert Burwell, Arthur Smith, Wm. Hodsden, James Baker, James Dunlop, James Arthur and Joseph
Bridger be appointed trustees for the said town."
"Be it further enacted that it
shall not be lawful for any person whatever to build or cause to be erected any
wooden chimney, and if such wooden chimney be built it shall be the duty of the
sheriff to tear down the same and demolish it."
The original survey and plat were made
by Jordan Thomas, then county surveyor, and the corporate limits extended
westward as
The town of Smithfield is eighty miles
southeast by east from Richmond and two hundred and four miles from Washington,
D. C.; on the south side of Pagan Creek, a bold and navigable stream, and at
its intersection with Cypress Creek, forming Pagan River; five miles from James
River; fifteen miles, about, from Hampton Roads; on an elevation of about
twenty-five feet above the waters of Pagan Creek, and commands a beautiful view
of land and water.
In early times the main stage from
In 1748 the two ferries before
mentioned from
Before the building of railroads and
the advent of steamboats, Smithfield, being the principal port of this county,
had a large export and coastwise trade, as has already been recited,
principally with the English colonies in the West Indies, the principal
articles of export being staves, peas, hoop poles and bacon. The trade in bacon
early gave rise to much attention in the feeding, slaughtering and curing of
the bacon in this county, and especially as to the ham. One of the packing
houses in Smithfield, being the oldest of the kind in this country, the house
of E. M. Todd & Co., has been in the business for a period of at least one
hundred and twenty seven years as shown by an old invoice dated April 30th,
1779, for hams furnished Ellerston and John Perrot in the Island of St. Eustatius,
West Indies, by Mallory Todd, Smithfield, Virginia. Mentioned, among other
articles taken in exchange for hams, is one two-pound cannon, £13 6s and one
hat £0 5s 4d. The trading vessel was named Parnelia,
Francis Herbert, captain. The invoice is now in the possession of Mr. E. M.
Todd, grandson of Mallory Todd, and the proprietor of the present
establishment.
The shipment of cured hams, annually,
from
About 1750 the county courthouse was
moved to Smithfield and three brick buildings erected on the corner of Main and
Pierce streets, which were, for fifty years used respectively for courthouse,
clerk's office and jail. This is now the property of Mr. J. O. Thomas, who has
for his residence the old courthouse. Across
The Masonic Hall has been used by the
fraternity for one hundred and eighteen years and is next to the oldest
building for that purpose in Virginia, the one in Richmond ante-dating it by
three years.
In 1840 there were ten stores (of all
sorts), one Episcopal, one Methodist and one Baptist church, and less than one
thousand inhabitants. In 1906 there were twenty general stores, six grocery and
fresh-meat stores, one cabinet maker, three undertakers, two druggists, three
barbershops, one hotel, six boarding houses, five liquor stores, five eating
houses, one saddlery shop, two dentists, three
blacksmiths, five attorneys, eight ham curing establishments, of which the
reputation of E. M. Todd & Co. is world-wide, three shoemakers, six oyster
dealers, four hay and grain dealers, two banks, one ice factory, one Chinese laundry,
four lumber dealers, one planing mill, twenty vessels
in the fishing and oystering business, one private
school, one colored free school, one white public high school which gives a
full course of instruction, including music, and affords to its patrons all the
advantages given in any city high school in the State, and in which the
prospective citizens will find ample and increasing school facilities for their
children, three white churches-Episcopal, Methodist and Baptist, and two
colored churches-Methodist and Baptist.
The town has well paved brick sidewalks
and a smooth and solid roadbed, made of granite spall,
for its streets. Nearly all of the stores and a great many of the residences
are lighted by gas of an excellent quality, as well as the town, the gas being
furnished by a plant recently installed. Its streets are beautifully ornamented
by many old majestic trees, and numerable porches of the dwellings near to the
street give it an air of cozy hospitality that is inviting. There are a number
of large and attractive residences, both of colonial and modern style and
architecture, which, being interspersed, render each other mutually attractive.
The Smithfield Water Company furnishes an excellent supply of water for
domestic purposes, which is inexhaustible and at a very high pressure, to the
numerous public hydrants and fire plugs. This plant has been severely tested on
several occasions and each time has met with the needs. The pressure is
sufficient and the plugs sufficiently close together as to enable the town
authorities to handle fires without the use of fire engines.
This water company has been in
operation about six years, being, in the beginning, constructed on the very
best lines and of the finest material, under the supervision of the general
manager of the company, Mr. B. P. Gay, to whose undaunted energy and public
spirit the town of Smithfield owes a debt of gratitude which would be difficult
to pay, and a competent engineer.
There are four firms of contracting
architects and builders employing about twenty carpenters; these and four brick
masons are kept busy the year round with the building going on in the town and
at times requisition has to be made on workmen outside of the town, so many new
buildings being under construction as to render the local force incompetent to
handle the business.
The town government consists of a mayor
and six councilmen, elected every two years, a town sergeant, two policemen, a
treasurer and a commissioner of the revenue. The following named persons have
served as mayors of
Archibald Atkinson, from 1852 to 1855
Charles B. Hayden, from 1855 to 1860
S. Junius
Wilson, from 1860 to 1863
John R. Purdie,
from 1862 to 1866
W. D. Folk, from 1866-1871
Warren Van Deventer,
from 1871 to 1874
C. F. Day, from 1874 to 1882
J. H. Nelms,
from 1882 to 1884
W. D. Folk, from 1884 to 1893
J. D. Jordan, from 1893 to 1899
C. F. Day from 1899 to 1905
V. W. Joyner, from
1905. (Present mayor)
The Gwaltney-Bunkley
Peanut Company, a joint stock company, of which P. D. Gwaltney,
Sr., is the president, founder and manager, is the oldest and largest
establishment of its kind in the world. Its founder was one of the earliest
pioneers in the business of cleaning and hand-picking the dirty nuts brought in
from the farms; and, bringing to its management a natural aptitude to
understand and develop the efficiency of machinery, joined to great executive
and administrative ability, has, from very small beginnings, built up this
business to its present enormous proportions. It ships its cleaned goods and
shelled nuts all over the
These two establishments have made the
town of
That some idea may be obtained as to
the prosperity of
COMMERCE IN AND OUT OF
ENDING
Horses and mules, 500,
value........................................ $ 62,500.00
Potatoes, barrels, 40,000,
value..................................... 80,000.00
Lumber, feet, 6,000,000,
value....................................... 90,000.00
Watermelons, 300,000,
value......................................... 15,000.00
Bricks, 40,000, value...................................................... 3,200.00
Gasoline, barrels, 250,
value.......................................... 3,000.00
Small truck, packages, 10,000,
value..............................
10,000.00
Coal, tons, 250, value..................................................... 10,000.00
Fertilizers, tons, 4,000,
value......................................... 50,000.00
Oysters, tons, 1,758,
value.............................................. 16,000.00
Peanuts, tons, 71,360,
value............................................ 2,364,832.00
Miscellaneous, tons, 85,387,
value.................................
4,164,040.00
The Home Telephone Company, developed
within five years from one phone, namely; that of the Gwaltney-Bunkley
Peanut Company, is now a joint stock company with two hundred and seventy-five
stations, including forty post offices, running into the adjoining counties of
Southampton, Nansemond and Surry; with cable
connections with Newport News and Norfolk; with long distance connections with
any city of the United States; connected with the Western Union and Postal
Telegraph Companies, it offers, at cheap rates, exceptionally good service.
The mail facilities are most excellent
and consist of three daily mails, except on Sunday, when there is only one;
three star routes, touching at twelve country offices, and,
in every respect, the service is all that could be desired.
Transportation, by water, is
exceptionally good, furnished by the Old Dominion Steamship Company by two fine
river steamers, connecting with
The town of
It has long been the most important
depot for the dissemination of mails, and from it several Star Routes emanate.
It has a large, flourishing trade, many thousand bushels of peanuts and other
farm products being annually shipped, and its people are well known for their
hospitality.
It was incorporated a town
Its population is over four hundred and
the value of its real and personal property is $800,000.00 and the aggregate
amount of its annual business $250,000.00.
The village of Carrsville
is located on the Seaboard Air Line Railroad thirty-one miles from Portsmouth,
in a thickly settled community. There are four general stores, each doing a
good business; four daily mail and passenger trains; telegraph and telephone
communication; express and money order facilities; rural free mail delivery, a
graded public school; population one hundred.
The surrounding land is in a high state
of cultivation, producing from twenty-five to seventy-five bushels of corn and
from forty to one hundred bushels of peanuts per acre, annual shipment of
peanuts 40,000 bags. The land hereabouts is also adapted to the cultivation of
cotton and yields from $20 to $100 worth per acre.
The village is noted for its moral and
religious tone; its magnificent shade trees and its beautiful, hospitable
homes.
The thriving
The land was originally a part of the
farm of William Hines, from whose heirs, in 1882, William T. Carter purchased a
tract of land, laying it off into lots and selling them. Since then the
population has rapidly increased, its fine harbor making it an excellent
location for those wishing to engage in oystering and
fishing.
It has three general stores, two white
and one colored school, one Methodist church (River View), founded with a
membership of one hundred. The Heptasophs have a
commodious hall, with a membership of fifty or sixty.
Jones Creek penetrates about five miles
beyond the village into the surrounding country, out of which a packet boat
makes regular trips to
An Act of the General Assembly in 1692,
appointed certain places as ports of entry for collection of custom, and at
which public warehouses for the storing of tobacco were ordered to be erected.
Two shillings per hogshead was the duty, so the act reads.
"For
This settlement has become the thriving
hamlet of Battery Park, with a population of about two hundred, three-fourths
of whom are engaged in the oyster business. The steamers plying from
It has three general stores, three
marine railways, two blacksmith shops, one oyster packing house, one Baptist
church, one school house, post office, several builders of small boats, who
have recently turned out some very speedy craft, and its inhabitants are the
owners of some six hundred acres of oyster planting grounds, and it also has two
daily mails.
The village Zuni lies on the Norfolk
& Western Railroad, seven miles west of
There are twenty-two other post offices
in the county other than the towns and villages heretofore named, each having
one, and some two, daily mails. These offices are generally located at some
general store and conveniently situated.
-------------------------
Military History.
BACON'S REBELLION: In this, the first
fight in this country for constitutional liberty,
Joseph Bridger, of this county, the
President of the King's Commissioners, had to fly to Accomack, where Governor
Berkeley was, to protect his life from his enraged countrymen; and on the
return of this "resolute old gentleman," after the death of Bacon and
the dispersion of his followers, he became very active in punishing and
bringing back to their allegiance those who had been his opponents. John
Jennings, the clerk of his court, was one who espoused the cause of Bacon and
was sentenced to be banished from the colony; but being very old and broken
down in health and fortune and the time of executing the sentence of banishment
having been, by appeal, extended several times, he died before it could be
carried into effect. John Marshall, another prominent adherent of Bacon, was
made to beg pardon in court on bended knees for "scandalous words uttered
before the commissioners"; and the following recantation was subscribed by
Ambrose Bennett, John Marshall, Richard Jordan, Richard Sharpe, Anthony Fulgham, James Bagnall, Edward
Miller, John Davis and Richard Penny: "We, the subscribed, having drawn up
a paper in behalf of the inhabitants of Isle of Wight county as to the
grievances of the said county, recant all the false and scandalous reflection
upon Governor, Sir William Berkeley, contained in a paper presented to the
commissioners and promise never to be guilty again of the like mutinous and rebellious
practices." We further find that Colonel James Powell, while serving in
the army of
Revolution: Another century rolls
around and the colonists are again involved in a war for preservation of their
rights as British subjects, and in the long and tedious, but glorious war that
followed the Declaration of Independence, its citizens bore their full share.
Before a gun was fired in actual warfare, when the
A complete list of the quota of
soldiers sent to the Continental Army will never be known on account of the
destruction of records in Richmond by Arnold and in this county by Tarleton; and only a very incomplete list can be offered;
but it is known that the following were in the army with Washington: Colonel
Josiah Parker, Major Francis Boykin, Captain James Johnson, General John S.
Wills, Jesse Matthews, James Casey, Edward Ward, Robin Turner, Samuel McCoy,
John Forrest, Henry Hill, Ben (Whalebone) Jones and Moses Atkins. We find that
Sarah Atkins, the wife of this last named soldier, was allowed three pounds
annually during his absence.
The militia companies were kept with a
full complement of officers, for, in almost every court, we find orders
supplying the vacancies caused by death or resignation; and although there was
not much actual fighting in this county, and only three actual invasions by the
British, but many threatened invasions, they must have been, on account of the
large water front, kept quite busy.
Colonel Tarleton,
at the head of a considerable body of British Cavalry, passed through the
county twice, visited Smithfield (then the county seat) with the intention of
destroying the records, but was foiled in that purpose as has been narrated
already. They then visited "Macclesfield," the home of Colonel Josiah Parker, in
the hope of capturing the Colonel, but were also foiled in this purpose;
however, they destroyed many valuable papers they found there; and everywhere
along their line of march they committed the most
wanton destruction, carrying off the slaves, cattle, horses and other property.
In one of these raids they were attacked by a body of
That the militia of the county saw
considerable service is apparent by an order made at the term of court held in
March, 1782, which reads as follows: "To His Excellency, Benjamin
Harrison, &c. The court, on behalf of the inhabitants of
the
"We further represent that during
the last invasion, we had one-half of our militia on duty for the first three
months and afterwards one-third part till about the 20th of November, and that
in case of another invasion, to which we are liable, we shall need the
assistance of others; and in view of all these facts, we have discharged
ourselves from the operation of an act entitled An Act for the filling up of
our quota of troops in the continental service."
War of 1812: In this second war with
In this war the enemy attempted very
few incursions into this county and never far from their ships. The
Twenty-ninth was called upon to show its mettle but once. The British attempted
to land at the "Rocks" on
The British man-of-war,
"Plantagenet," for several months lay off the "Rocks," and
although her very presence and her occasional changing of position kept
detachments of the Twenty-ninth busy watching her movements, after the
reception given her men on their first attempt to land, they never, during the
entire war, repeated the experiment.
Mexican War: In this war the scene of
action was so far removed from this section and volunteers poured in such
overwhelming numbers, that the
The War Between the States (1861-1865):
At this time in the history of our county there was no political doctrine more
universally accepted by the Southern people than that of "State
Sovereignty." Without entering into a discussion of the questions involved
it is considered pertinent to say that when the election was held to ascertain
whether the people of this county stood for or against secession, there were
eight hundred and sixty-one registered voters in the county and the same number
were cast in the said election and every vote was for secession. This, too, in
the face of the fact that this county was practically an anti-slavery county, for
we read in the records an exceptionally large number of deeds of manumission
and in the wills a great many clauses of the same character.
The first troops stationed in this
county during this war was the brigade of General John C. Pemberton, composed of
Ramseur's Artillery of North Carolina, and the Third North Carolina Infantry,
commanded by Colonel W. D. Pender. They remained about one year, being
withdrawn in April, 1862.
The first Federal troops that invaded
the county were a
In January, 1864, a Federal steamer in
the
In 1864 the Fifteenth Massachusetts
Infantry landed at Burwells Bay and proceeded a short
distanced towards Smithfield and were me by a small Confederate force, and
after considerable firing from long range retired to their vessel without any
casualties on either side, so far as is known.
These constitute all the encounters of
hostile troops in this county, but the Federal cavalry raided through the
county and armed boats came to Smithfield frequently; but two things, happily,
prevented them from remaining long in the county and in Smithfield, namely; The
presence of a considerable body of signal corps men and scouts, whose
whereabouts were uncertain, and the burning of the two bridges at Smithfield,
making of it a "cul de sac" which they dare
not enter to remain long.
Spanish-American War: There was no organized
force from this county which participated in this struggle of short duration,
and which was over before many citizens could enlist; and there was moreover,
in the beginning of the trouble, much diversity of opinion as to the justice or
the feasibility of making up a war upon the issues involved. However, a few of
the individuals in the county joined various commands. Among those who did
service in this "late unpleasantness with
Religious History and
Churches.
That many of the early settlers of
The Episcopal Church commenced with the
settlement at
Having in mind these facts, can we
wonder at the progress this country has made and the many blessings that have
been showered upon us, when our very foundation was laid on the Word and
teachings of the Almighty?
Of all these old churches, many built
originally of logs or lumber, and a few built of brick, with a few exceptions
here and there, all have gone.
Of those early colonial churches none
have remained in a better state of preservation, and presents to the beholder a
grander or more antique appearance than the "
Its site is just where wisdom and
common sense would have placed it; five miles from the river settlements, five
miles from a church in Nansemond; five miles from two
wide and deep streams, which would have cut it off from a church in the Upper Parish;
on the main road leading from the settlement of Lawns Creek to those in Upper
Norfolk.
The building of this church was begun
in 1632 by Joseph Bridger, father of Colonel Joseph Bridger, one of the King's
Council for the Colony of Virginia, who died in 1682, was buried on his farm,
"White Marsh," about three miles from the church and his grave marked
by a marble slab which has been removed and deposited in the church.
This old structure is in a remarkably
good site of preservation and has stood well against the "corroding tooth
of time," on account of the excellency of
materials and the fidelity with which it was built, and the good fortunes of
having had, at all times, some sort of a roof covering it, it being re-shingled
about 1737, and again about 1838, with good cypress shingles both times.
Built of bricks, made of clay of the
very best quality, found in its immediate vicinity, and put together with a
mortar made from well burnt oyster shell lime and building sand, both of which
can be found near by in great quantities, the sand being taken from the base of
the hill on which it rests, the mortar becoming almost as hard as flint,
preventing the displacement of a brick without tearing away a part of those to
which it is attached, baffling the incursions of the would-be despoiler, has
assisted greatly in its preservation.
So far as our knowledge extends this is
the oldest house of worship now standing on American soil encased by its
original walls. The cathedral at
Tarleton's
British troopers rested beneath the shade of the venerable oaks which surround
it; the
The church was used but little from the
outbreak of the Revolution to some time in 1830's when it was almost completely
abandoned a prey to the elements. In spite of this fact the grand old walls
stood a monument to the purpose for which it was built and to the builders. In
June, 1887, the Reverend David Barr, rector of the church in Smithfield,
passing the old church from his attendance upon a convocation in "Old St.
John's" in Nansemond, another of the structures
of the colonial period, discovered that, by a recent storm, what remained of the
old roof had been shaken from its holdings and had fallen in or was tottering.
He immediately undertook its restoration, and though fraught with difficulties
of the most serious character,, chiefly the lack of funds, he begun the work,
with great energy. Before he had completed his work, however, he moved to
D. C., and the duty of its completion
devolved upon his successor, the Rev. F. G. Scott, and the vestry of the church
in
The funds used in the restoration were
subscribed to by all sorts and conditions of people. In some cases the workmen
gave their labor, and by subscriptions from the people of nineteen States, of which
a record is kept in the Vestry Book of Christ church in
It stands to-day beautiful within and
without, and filled with memorials to those connected with its own history and
that of the colony. Its stained glass chancel window, eighteen feet by twelve,
made in
It is pertinent to say here that this
church is accessible from
There is one other church of more than
ordinary interest in this country, it being the mother of the churches of the
Baptist denomination in this section, "
It is a well established fact that the
Baptists established a place of worship known as Burleigh church somewhere in
the vicinity of Mill Swamp, perhaps on the very site on which is located the
present church, sixty years before it had an existence, for, at the
solicitation of Baptist brethren in Isle of Wight, made to their brethren in
London, the Rev. Robt. Wooden, in 1714, did reach
this county and establish the old church above referred to.
In January, 1727, Caspar
Mints and Richard Jones came over from
There were two other colonial churches
in this county, of the Episcopal faith, being the Bay church, about five miles
from Smithfield on Burwell's Bay, (originally Worrosquoyacke
Bay), on the farm now owned by Dr. W. D. Turner. It was erected in 1750 and
after the Revolution, like many of the old churches, it was abandoned. About
1810 the estate upon which it was located came into the hands of those who had
no reverence for it as a church, and it was pulled down and a kitchen built of
the bricks, and the backs of the pews were used to make partitions in a barn.
The latter was struck by lightning and destroyed, the negroes
always declared, by act of God. The bell was exchanged in
The other church, called
The Quakers had a strong following in
The leading men of the county were not
disposed to be harsh in carrying out the laws of non-conformity against the
Quakers, and although a few of them were fined, they generally met when and
where they wished, and in 1699, their meeting houses were regularly licensed
and the only complaint they had was that they were taxed to support the
Established Church.
There is no Quaker church in this
county at the present time, but there is one not many miles from the line in
the
There are other churches in the county
with an interesting history, but space will not admit of discussion as to them
here. All of the churches in this county are hereunder named.
Episcopal: "
Baptist:
Methodist: Benn's
Christian:
There are several colored churches of
the Baptist, Methodist and Christian denomination scattered throughout the
county.
Schools.
In early colonial times some little
effort was made, by donations of pious individuals, to maintain a few free
schools, separate and apart from the parochial schools which the ministers of
the Established Church were required to teach or have taught in the parishes.
At a meeting of Thomas Bennett's men,
had
"Rocks."
He afterwards moved to
In 1635 Captain John Moon, in his will,
left to the overseer of the poor money and cattle for the clothing and
schooling of poor children.
In 1668 Henry King's will reads:
"I give one hundred acres of land lying and being next adjacent to Mr.
There is a small creek in the vicinity
of "Ballace Marsh" called King's Creek and
not far from it a farm called King's. Probably this Henry King lived in this
section.
In 1719 Rev. Thomas Bailey in a letter
to the Bishop of London says: "There are four hundred families in my
parish and four small free schools, taught by a Mr. Hunt, a Mr. Irons, a Mr.
Gills and a Mr. Reynolds." Where these schools were located no one will
ever know.
In 1753 Mrs. Elizabeth Smith, the wife
of Arthur Smith, who had recently had incorporated the town of Smithfield,
purchased a lot and had built thereon a house twenty-eight feet by sixteen
feet, in which should be taught six poor orphan children; the boys for three
years and the girls for two years. The master was to receive twenty shillings
and had the privilege of taking as many additional pupils as he might deem
necessary.
This good lady died in 1774 and by her
will gave "one hundred and twenty pounds to the school for the teaching of
six more indigent children." Colonel Byrd says she was a lady who had
"copied Solomon's complete housewife exactly."
This was the nucleus of a free school
and remained as such for about twenty years when it became a private school at
which many men of an elder generation of
This building was conveyed to the
Masonic fraternity in 1788 and had been in continual use as a Masonic Lodge for
one hundred and eighteen years, the next oldest building for that purpose in
Virginia, the Lodge in
These feeble efforts at public or free
schools seem paltry, but there were good private schools in those days. Nor
were the people indifferent to the education of their children, for in almost
all the old wills the testators made some provision or left some directions for
their education.
The usual plan adopted was for some
rich or well-to-do man to build a school house, employ a teacher for the
education of is own children and to invite his neighbors to send their children
and to help defray the expenses.
These early teachers, male and female,
were generally from the Northern States, as the Southern youth, after the
completion of their college education invariably rushed into the professions of
law, medicine or politics; but these educators, from a section that we
afterwards, for a time, learned to hate, were almost universally well trained,
well prepared, conscientious and efficient teachers, and every man of them took
the Southern view of the political situation of 1861 and remained with us
during the war -- a war fated with many direful results to this Southland, but
none more disastrous than the complete annihilation of every school.
Immediately after the war, although its
horrid devastation required every effort of the people to obtain a bare
subsistence, efforts were made in many places to maintain private schools, the
teachers being often partly paid in products of the farm; when, happily, for
the moral good of the community and the salvation of the rising generation from
almost complete ignorance, in 1870 the Public School System was adopted; which,
at first, met with considerable opposition, largely on account of the necessity
of providing schools for the negroes; but thanks to the inherent goodness of
the people, a broader philanthropy prevailed and that feeling has happily
perished.
From the date of its adoption to the
present there have been but three
In May, 1871, the people of the county
showed their approval of the new public school system by voting to levy a
special capitation tax of fifty cents for the maintenance of their free
schools.
The intellectual status of its corps of
teachers has gradually improved until it stands equal to that of any county of
the State, which felicitous result has been gained by free scholarship in
colleges and the training at normal schools.
The county is divided into three school
districts, which correspond to and bear the same name as the three Magisterial
Districts, viz.: Newport, Hardy and Windsor; with the town of Smithfield as a
separate district.
The school population, white and
colored, is four thousand three hundred and ninety-six; number schools,
seventy. The amount expended annually for teachers' wages is fourteen thousand
dollars. The length of the school term varies. In
[This
"book" was transcribed by Mark A. Jordan, great great
great grand-nephew of Col. E. M. Morrison, author].