Legends of the Skyline Drive and the Great Valley of Virginia Part 15

After his death on July 4, 1826, someone found a paper on which he had written these words:

"Here was buried Thomas Jefferson Author of the Declaration of American Independence of the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom and Father of the University of Virginia."

And today, one finds his tomb halfway up the hill to Monticello and the words above are cut upon the simple shaft which marks his grave.

Monticello is open to the public and may be reached by a hard surface road leading out of Charlottesville. Through careful research and diligence the Monticello Memorial a.s.sociation has brought back to the home much of the fine furnis.h.i.+ngs which Jefferson himself had collected.

At the present time the second and third floors of the mansion are being faithfully restored.

JACK JOUETT'S RIDE

"Here goes to thee, Jack Jouett!

Lord keep thy memr'y green; You made the greatest ride, sir, That ever yet was seen."

So reads the last stanza of an inscription on a tablet erected in his memory. But who was Jack Jouett and what of his "greatest ride?"

During the stirring days of the American Revolution Thomas Jefferson was Governor of Virginia. Hearing that the British were expected to reach Richmond he recommended that the capital of the colony be moved to Charlottesville until after danger from the enemy should pa.s.s. This was done and Jefferson stayed at his home, Monticello.

At Cuckoo Tavern in Louisa County, fifty miles from Charlottesville, young Jouett was sitting around one night getting the latest news of the rebellion, when Tarleton, who commanded a British force, came into the place. Jouett hid from sight and overheard Tarleton talking with several other English officers. They said they were impatient to be on their way to Monticello to capture Jefferson, Patrick Henry and other Virginia leaders. Jack stayed to hear the route they would take to Charlottesville and then slipped away on his horse.

The famous ride occurred on back roads in order to beat the British to their destination. He crossed to the main road long enough to tell a family of Walkers that the British were coming for the Governor. Later Tarleton drew in at the same home and demanded breakfast from Mrs.

Walker. Knowing that time meant a great deal to the rider going ahead with the news, she delayed the meal as long as possible.

As Jouett climbed the last hill to Monticello he heard the horses of Tarleton's party in the distance, so he spurred his animal on and in a last-minute sprint he reached the home. The plans were revealed and Jefferson hurriedly a.s.sembled his family. As their carriage left by a back road the English came up another and searched in vain for the Governor.

Jouett went from there to Charlottesville to warn the members of the legislature of the impending danger and they fled to Staunton--all but seven of the legislators who were overtaken and captured. The story is told of how he saved General Stevens, a member of the a.s.sembly. As they rode along, some British soldiers saw them and set their horses at a great pace. Jack had on a plumed hat which might appear important to the soldiers; he told the general to ride slowly across an open field as if he were the owner out on an inspection tour of his lands. He himself would dash off in the hope of getting the troopers to follow him. The plan worked. Jouett finally left the pursuers far behind and later on he returned to his home in Charlottesville.

Much later the Virginia legislature pa.s.sed a resolution commending the valor of Jack Jouett and presented him with a pair of pistols and a sword as a mark of appreciation of his service to the State. Swan Tavern, left him by his father, occupied his time after the war. He died in Kentucky where he had moved as an old man.

LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION

Thomas Jefferson knew the two young men whom he wanted to explore the great Northwest, for they had been born almost at the foot of Monticello. They were Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Each of them, almost as boys, had been a soldier and each loved adventure.

Meriwether Lewis had inherited a fortune from his father and he could have settled down to a life of ease. But after eighteen he would not go to school any longer. He had fought in the Whiskey Rebellion in Pennsylvania and then entered the army. He was commissioned captain in 1800 and served for three years. Then Thomas Jefferson asked him to be his secretary and it was in this office that Jefferson found his admirable qualities.

William Clark was four years older than his friend Lewis. He was born in 1770 and was a brother of George Rogers Clark. When he was fourteen years old he went with his family to the Ohio River where his brother George had built a fort. There he learned the ways of the Indians and often he was in the thick of their raids. He, too, joined the regular army and received his commission when he was only eighteen years old.

He went to St. Louis and was commissioned as second lieutenant of the artillery and ordered to join the great expedition.

Captain Lewis was first in command and he selected his men carefully.

There were fourteen soldiers in the little party and two Canadian boatmen, an interpreter, a hunter and a Negro servant.

Thomas Jefferson did not give them a lot of orders. The following instructions show his wisdom:

"Treat them (Indians) in the most friendly and concilliating manner which their own conduct will admit; allay all jealousies as to the object of your journey; satisfy them of its innocence; make them acquainted with the position, extent, character, peaceable, and commercial intercourse with them; confer with them on the points most convenient as mutual emporiums and the articles of most desirable interchange for them and us. If a few of their influential chiefs, within practicable distance wish to visit us, arrange such a visit with them, and furnish them with authority to call on our officers on their entering the United States, to have them conveyed to this place at the public expense. If any of them should wish to have some of their people brought up with us and use such arts as may be useful to them, we will receive, instruct, and take care of them."

The fact that so little trouble was had by the party is due to the skill which Clark used in handling the Indians. We will not go into the details of the expedition, for everyone knows what a wonderful, rich territory was gained for the United States by that expedition.

Fredericksburg

Fredericksburg, fifty-five miles south of Was.h.i.+ngton and about the same distance north of Richmond, Virginia, on Route 1, rightly claims to be one of the most historic cities in the United States. Visitors who make a tour of the Valley of Virginia and the Skyline Drive may want to begin their trip here, for it serves as a hub for long or short visits to neighboring places of interest. From Fredericksburg one may drive to Culpeper, Sperryville and Panorama and enter the Skyline Drive at that point, or he may wish to go from Fredericksburg to Warrenton and thence to the Skyline Drive. Another excellent route is by way of Orange and Stanardsville and on to Swift Run Gap, the Southern entrance to the Drive at the present time.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "KENMORE", THE HOME OF FIELDING LEWIS AND BETTY WAs.h.i.+NGTON LEWIS, FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA]

A splendid trip from this old city is to "Wakefield," the birthplace of George Was.h.i.+ngton, in Westmoreland County, and from there to "Stratford Hall," the ancestral home of the Lee family and the birthplace of General Lee, both in Westmoreland County. About two miles from Fredericksburg on this route is "Ferry Farm" where George Was.h.i.+ngton spent a part of his boyhood.

In the city itself there are shrines to famous folks of an earlier period. The home of Mary Was.h.i.+ngton, mother of the first President, is open to the public. "Kenmore," former home of Betty Was.h.i.+ngton Lewis and Colonel Fielding Lewis is well cared for by an a.s.sociation. Both these homes have good examples of eighteenth century furnis.h.i.+ngs. The Rising Sun Tavern was the scene years ago of the Victory Ball after the surrender at Yorktown; it was host to most of the famous men of Virginia and neighboring States for years. In the Masonic Lodge are a number of relics of Was.h.i.+ngton's time and an original Gilbert Stuart portrait of the General. General Hugh Mercer, a noted physician of the Revolution had his apothecary shop in Fredericksburg and the visitor may see it upon request. Mary Was.h.i.+ngton's will is on record at the courthouse here.

On Charles Street in Fredericksburg, Virginia, stands a shrine to the memory of James Monroe, who served his country in more public offices than any other American in the history of the United States. This quaint story-and-a-half brick building, which he occupied from 1786 to 1788, was the only private law office in which Monroe practiced his profession. It was built in 1758 and stands in its original state, even to the woodwork and mantles of the interior. Only the old brick floor and plastering had to be restored. This was accomplished in 1928, when the building was opened to the public as the first shrine to the memory of the fifth President. At that time there was placed in it the largest number of Monroe possessions in existence, handed down for five generations in straight line to his descendants, who made the shrine possible.

[Ill.u.s.tration: JAMES MONROE'S LAW OFFICE]

James Monroe brought his bride, the former Elizabeth Kortright of New York, to Fredericksburg, and in the little shrine are hallowed intimate possessions of hers as well as those of her distinguished husband; a wedding slipper, a dainty French fan; two handsome court gowns, one of silver brocaded on white satin, the other of cream colored taffeta, richly embroidered with dahlias in natural colors; her bonnet and veil in which she welcomed Lafayette on his return to the States in 1824; her lorgnette, which must have added to the reputation she had for dignity; her Astor piano and her silver service marked "J. M."

Of Monroe's personal possessions there are many. Here too is his court dress with its rare old lace, cut-steel b.u.t.tons and knee breeches, worn at Napoleon's court; the quaint huge umbrella presented him by the City of Boston on the occasion of Lafayette's return, with its original covering, whale-bone ribs and ivory handle, all contributing to its weight of seven and one-half pounds; his mahogany bra.s.s-bound dispatch box in which his Louisiana Purchase papers were carried; his silver-mounted duelling pistols, recalling that Monroe came near fighting a duel with Alexander Hamilton; and other articles too numerous to mention, including interesting historical letters by and to James Monroe from the outstanding men of his day.

Perhaps the outstanding exhibit in the Law Office shrine, however, is the desk on which Monroe signed the message to Congress which formed the basis for the famous Monroe Doctrine. Mahogany, high, bra.s.s-bound, this handsome desk forms a part of the furniture bought by the Monroes in France, brought by them to this country in 1798, and now finally shown in the little museum dedicated to their memory. The Monroes, being the first to move into the rebuilt White House after the original one had been burned by the British in the War of 1812, and being confronted with empty rooms, took with them this lovely furniture. Still later, on leaving the White House, the beloved possessions again went with them, and it is to this fact that the happy privilege of the public to see these things today can be attributed.

More than a hundred years later, a successor of Mrs. Monroe was to express her patriotism and interest in historical accuracy through cataloguing and making inventories of the furnis.h.i.+ngs of the White House. This lady, Mrs. Herbert Hoover, in searching the records, learned of the Monroe furniture and of its ultimate resting place in the Monroe shrine, and asked permission to copy it at Government expense, the copies to be placed in the White House. Permission was gladly given and today there is a "Monroe Room" in the White House, furnished with the reproductions of this historic furniture. The originals, however, remain in the little museum in Fredericksburg, relics of active, public years spent by a great statesman on two continents.

The Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park was established in 1927. Quoting from a booklet which may be secured from the park headquarters we find:

"This park was established ... to commemorate six major battles fought during the great sectional conflict between 1861 and 1865--the two Battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Salem Church, Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Court House--and to preserve for historical purposes the remains of earthworks, roads, and other sites of importance on these battlefields...."

At the Battle of Chancellorsville General Stonewall Jackson, famous Confederate commander, was mortally wounded. A simple shaft marks the place and a wild flower preserve is located near it.

"While the fundamental purpose of the park is historical education, its program is by no means confined to this limitation. It offers important recreational and educational features aside from critical military history. The Jackson Memorial Wild Flower Preserve ... affords excellent instruction in botany.... The deep woodlands of the area threaded with foot trails leading along the old trenches are a delight to lovers of the outdoors...."

Kenmore--1752

Kenmore, the home of Fielding Lewis and Betty Was.h.i.+ngton Lewis (George Was.h.i.+ngton's only sister), is an outstanding example of the architecture of Colonial Virginia. It is also intimately connected with the stirring history of Colonial times and with the life of George Was.h.i.+ngton.

Augustine Was.h.i.+ngton, about 1739, moved from Hunting Creek to Ferry Farm, across the river from Fredericksburg, with his second wife, Mary Ball, and their five children--George, Betty, Samuel, John Augustine, and Charles--for the sake of community life and the religious and educational advantages it offered. Here the children grew up and received their education--Betty at a "Dame School," George under the tutelage of Parson Marye. Betty and George were especially intimate companions because of their nearness of age and their similarity in personality and character.

When Betty was sixteen, and a "mannerly young maid," her cousin Fielding Lewis came seeking her hand in marriage. Lewis had come up from Gloucester three years previously with his wife and son. Mrs. Lewis died in 1749. Shortly thereafter, Fielding started courting young Betty. They were married in 1750, the bride being given away by her brother George, and for a time they lived on a plantation adjoining Ferry Farm. In 1752 Lewis bought 861 acres of land, adjacent to Fredericksburg, the survey being made by George Was.h.i.+ngton, who had been appointed government surveyor in 1748. On this land, with its fine view of the countryside, Lewis built Kenmore (called Millbrook at the time) in accordance with a promise he had made to his bride.

As time went on, Fielding Lewis became closely a.s.sociated with the political life of Virginia. He was a member of the House of Burgesses for many years. He also served in the French and Indian War and was Colonel of the Spotsylvania County Militia. It is said that the resolution endorsing Patrick Henry in his resistance to the tyranny of Governor Dunmore, pa.s.sed by the Committee of 600 in the Rising Sun Tavern in Fredericksburg, was written by him in the Great Room of his home, Kenmore, a paper which for all intents and purposes was a declaration of independence.

Colonel Lewis was best known for the part he played in the War of Independence. In 1776 he became Chairman of the Virginia Committee of Safety. Previously, in 1775, the Virginia a.s.sembly had pa.s.sed an ordinance providing for a "Manufactory of Small Arms in Fredericksburg, Virginia." Five commissioners were appointed to undertake this project, but Colonel Lewis and Charles d.i.c.k were the only two who took an active part in the work. They were allotted 2,500 with which to secure land, buildings and equipment. Soon thereafter they were at work manufacturing arms. The first 2,500 were quickly spent, and Lewis and d.i.c.k were obliged to draw from their own funds to carry on. Lewis advanced an additional 7,000 and borrowed 30,000 to 40,000 more.

Lewis also built a s.h.i.+p for the Virginia Navy, _The Dragon_, and equipped three regiments. Kenmore was heavily mortgaged to meet the costs of all these patriotic enterprises. When Lewis died in 1781, little of the estate was left.