The highest office in the county was that of county lieutenant. In early records he was called "Commander of Plantations." In England this office was usually held by a knight, and in Virginia it was always conferred on the class of "gentlemen," and they were chosen usually from the large landholders. He was appointed directly by the governor.
The county lieutenant commanded the militia, with the rank of colonel, and was entitled to a seat in the Council, and as such was a judge of the General Court. His powers were great in the civil and military control of the county. He presided over the county courts at the head of the justices.
The executive officer of the county court was the sheriff. The judges in this court were called justices of the peace. They were important men and had almost entire control of the affairs of the county. They were chosen from the gentlemen class of the community and received their commissions from the governor with theadvice of the Council. They received no compensation for their services, the office being considered one of honor, not of profit. In this way a high standard of men were obtained for this important office.
In 1640 a patent was granted to Epraphrodibus Lawson, in Tarrascoe Neck Chuckeytuck Parish, Nansemond County. Lawson must have migrated to the Northern Neck. His will was recorded there, in Lancaster County, in 1652. It is believed to be the oldest recorded will in the United States. The will follows:
"In the name of God, Amen, I Epraphrodibus Lawson, of Rappahannock, being sick of body, but of perfect memory, Glory be to God, do make this my last will and testament. I make and ordain, ye child of my wife ... my heir ... my wife ... third ... March 31st, 1652."Epraphrodibus Lawson."Witness:"Elos Lors,"Joan Lee,"Wm. Harper,"Recorded June, 1652."G. John Phillips."
"In the name of God, Amen, I Epraphrodibus Lawson, of Rappahannock, being sick of body, but of perfect memory, Glory be to God, do make this my last will and testament. I make and ordain, ye child of my wife ... my heir ... my wife ... third ... March 31st, 1652.
"Epraphrodibus Lawson."Witness:"Elos Lors,"Joan Lee,"Wm. Harper,"Recorded June, 1652."G. John Phillips."
"Epraphrodibus Lawson.
"Witness:"Elos Lors,"Joan Lee,"Wm. Harper,"Recorded June, 1652."G. John Phillips."
Young Richard Denham almost broke up the Lancaster County court when he burst into the room bearing a message that challenged Mr. Daniel Fox to a duel.
The court was being held in the home of one of the justices as no court-house had yet been built for the new county. Lancaster had been formed from Northumberland in 1651. The date of the present court was about 1653.
Richard bore the challenge from his father-in-law, Captain Thomas Hackett. It ran as follows:
"Mr. Fox, I wonder ye should so much degenerate from a gentlemanas to cast such an aspersion on me in open Court, making nothinge appear but I knowe it to be out of malice and an evil disposition which remains in your hearte, therefore, I desire ye if ye have anything of a gentleman or of manhood in ye to meet me on Tuesday morninge at ye marked tree in ye valey which partes yr lande and mine, about eight of ye clocke, where I shall expect ye comeinge to give me satisfaction. My weapon is rapier, ye length I send ye by bearer; not yours present, but yours at ye time appointed. THOMAS HACKETT. Ye seconde bringe along with ye if ye please. I shall finde me of ye like."
This message could not have been delivered at a worse time or place, for Mr. Fox, a justice, was at the time sitting on the bench with his fellow justices. That dignified group, dressed in their velvets and gold lace, were shocked by the lad's audacity.
One of the justices, John Carter, sharply scolded Richard—"saying that he knew not how his father would acquit himself on an action of that nature which he said he would not be ye owner of for a world."
Richard answered in a slighting way "that his father would answer it well enough!"
When sternly questioned by the court, Richard admitted that he knew that the message he bore was a challenge. He then boldly demanded of Fox what answer he proposed to send back to Captain Hackett.
The court then made a quick and emphatic decision that Richard was "a partye with his father-in-law in ye crime," and that for bringing the challenge, whose character he well knew, and for delivering it while the justices were sitting, as well as for his contemptuous manner and bold words he was "adjudged"—"to receive six stripes on his bare shoulders with a whip," at the hands of the sheriff.
The sheriff was then directed to arrest Captain Hackett and have him "detained in safe custody without baile" until he should "answer for his crimes" at the next session of the General Court at Jamestown.
Thus a duel was averted, and Mr. Fox did not meet Captain Hackett "in ye valey." The valley was probably chosen by Captain Hackett so that the duel could take place without observation or interruption, and it was the dividing line between their estates.
Hackett was scrupulous to inform Fox of the length of the rapier he intended to use, but had he followed regulations exactly, he would have left the selection of the weapon to his opponent.
In the early days the Northern Neck carried on trade with various places besides England. Lancaster County seems to have been especially active in this trade. From the following record it appears that tobacco and grain were not the only articles used in trading with the Barbadoes: "In 1686 the sloop Happy transported from Lancaster County to that island, 2 firkins of butter, 2 barrels of pork, and 22 sides of tanned leather, in addition to 144 bushels of Indian corn." Trade to the West Indies was conducted in small Virginia-built sloops.
The Dutch brought to the Neck to exchange for tobacco such things as linen, coarse cloth, beer, brandy and "other distilled spirits." In 1653 Henry Mountford of Rotterdam appointed an agent in Lancaster. About the same time, Jacobis Vis had "important transactions in exchange of merchandise for tobacco in the counties of the Northern Neck." It was said by the Dutch that Virginians could beat them in a deal.
A letter from Captain James Barton of New England to a citizen of Lancaster indicates that there was commerce between these places. Barton stated in the letter that he wished to secure a cargo of tobacco, hides and pork for market in the Barbadoes. His ketch, with a cargo of rum, salt, sugar, cloth and salted cod and mackerel, would sail from Salem and exchange cargoes in Virginia and then continue to the West Indies. Boats from the West Indies sailed to Virginia and then on to New England.
A sailor was always a source of interest to the public in colonial days, whether he wore his tarry working clothes or his shore outfit. There was the aura of foreign lands about him—he brought stories of far places to the news-hungry colonists of the New World.
On shore the sailor was a glamorous figure in his flapping trousers, scarlet sash and cutlasses, or dressed "in a strange habitt with a four-cornered Capp instead of a hatt and his Breeches hung with Ribbons from Wast downward a great depth, one over the other like Shingles of a house." He wore his pigtail shoved into an eelskin, which was supposed to make his hair grow longer.
One day in the year 1654 the frontier home of Thomas Meade on the Rappahannock, in Lancaster County, was the focal point toward which the men of the Northern Neck were converging. Some came galloping on horseback between the big forest trees and others probably came by sloop.
The Assembly at Jamestown had recently ordered that an armed force be raised in the Northern Neck: "100 men from Lancaster, 40 from Northumberland and 30 from Westmoreland." After meeting at Meade's house the force under John Carter was to proceed to the Rappahannock Indian town and demand satisfaction for injuries done the white settlers in that region, but they were to commit no acts of hostility unless attacked.
Swords and firearms were glinting that day, and no doubt the flagon was passed many times. Among the men assembled, there was Captain Henry Fleet, the old Indian trader. He and David Wheatliff were to act as interpreters.
There seems to be no record of the outcome of this expedition. With the assistance of Captain Fleet, who was well known as "a powerful man in Indian affairs," it probably turned out well.
After this affair John Carter was known as "Colonel Carter of Lancaster County."
Colonel Carter had but recently settled in the Northern Neck. He had sailed one day from the Chesapeake into the Rappahannock and there before him lay virgin territory—tobacco soil and a ready-made highway where ships could sail to his dooryard and carry his tobacco straight to foreign markets.
He patented land and built his home on a neck cut out from the land by a creek and a river. He gave his home the Indian name of the river, Corotoman. The creek was called Carter's.
John Carter left England in 1649 when Cromwell seized the government. Little is known of his family in England. When he came to Virginia he settled first in Upper Norfolk and lived there five years. He probably came to Lancaster County because he saw more opportunity there.
John Carter prospered in the wilderness of the Northern Neck. He acquired many acres, considerable wealth and all the offices and honors that went with his position as a substantial landowner. Hewas even appointed to his Majesty's Council in Jamestown, which was a high honor.
His dwelling at Corotoman was no doubt a good house for that time. Inventories show that it had glass windows, and the basement was floored with paving stones which he had imported from England. The floors of the dependencies were probably of the same.
He wanted his children to have religious training. He built a church on his property so that his family could have a place to worship God.
Although women were scarce in this frontier country, Colonel Carter managed to find five wives within twenty years.
In 1669, Colonel Carter died at Corotoman and was laid to rest in the yard of his church.
Colonel John Carter of Lancaster County was the founder of the Carter family in Virginia. His son, Robert, was left to carry on the family traditions. He did so in a spectacular way.
When a sailing vessel left the Potomac and headed south toward Jamestown it traveled about six miles down the Chesapeake and then it came to the entrance of the Great Wicomico River.
On the north side of the mouth of the Great Wicomico there was a point. This point was called Fleet's Point because the plantation of Captain Henry Fleet, the Indian trader, was located there.
Between the year 1650 and 1655 Captain Fleet had patented large tracts of land in Northumberland and Lancaster. He apparently lived in Lancaster for awhile because he was a burgess from that county in 1652.
But Captain Fleet finally settled in Northumberland at Fleet's Point. In that region there had been an Indian village named Cinquack. It was thus marked on an early map. By the time Captain Fleet settled on the point the Indians may have moved inland, or to an island in the Chesapeake. Or Fleet may have bought the land from the Indians.
Weary voyagers on the Chesapeake, if evening was near, must have looked for the lights of Captain Fleet's dwelling on the point. Probably because of its location Fleet's Point became a stopping place for "persons passing from Maryland to Virginia."
Captain Fleet no doubt welcomed these guests, but he would standfor no misconduct at Fleet's Point, as is shown by a deposition that has been preserved:
"One Henry Carline, of Kent County, Maryland, in 1655, stopped at his house with a woman, and that he provided lodgings also for another woman, and a man. Fleet becoming indignant at Carline's loose behavior, turned him, and the woman who came with him, out of his house, and had them arraigned before the Rappahannock Court. Carline was fined for keeping the servant woman from her employer, and disowning his wife, and the woman was ordered to receive 30 lashes."
All records concerning Captain Fleet seem to end here. Did he ever return to England? Or was he killed by the Indians?
Perhaps he spent the rest of his life at Fleet's Point and was buried there.
George Mason was another early settler in the upper wilderness of the Northern Neck.
The first George Mason came to Virginia during the Cavalier emigration. He "went up the Potomac River and settled at Accohick, near Pasbytanzy."
Apparently the first mention of this founder of the Mason family in Virginia occurs in the patent of land obtained by him in March, 1655: "Said land being due the said George Mason by and for the transportation of eighteen persons in to the colony." Mason was married but it is not known if his wife or family were among these persons transported as "head-rights."
The next mention of George Mason in the records is in 1658 when he sold five hundred acres of land to Mr. John Lease for "five cows with calves and two thousand five hundred pounds of tobacco." Westmoreland County at this time included land on the Virginia side of the Potomac from the northern boundary of Northumberland to the present site of Georgetown in the District of Columbia. With the land sold to Mr. Lease, Mason included "all privileges of hawking, fishing and fowling."
By this time George Mason was fairly well established in his wilderness home among the Indians, some of whom were friendly and some were not.
George Mason, Giles Brent and Gerrard Fowke were the "menof the border" at this time. From time to time they were involved in troubles with the Indians.
Colonel Mason's death occurred probably in 1686. He was buried in the "Burying Place, at Accokeek." He was the great-grandfather of George Mason, the Revolutionary patriot and author of the Bill of Rights.
"Ye said Mrs. Calvert shall personally receive thirty stripes upon her bare shoulders for her offence." Thus the court of Northumberland decided in the case of Mary Calvert in the year of our Lord 1655.
This court was probably held at Coan Hall, the home of Colonel John Mottrom, as it is doubtful that a court-house had yet been built.
Court Day was a great event to the men of Virginia in colonial times. It created an opportunity for the discussion of politics, for trading livestock, bargaining for the sale of tobacco, catching up with the news, and last but not least, a free enjoyment of rough horse-play, accompanied by the passing of the jug.
Let us imagine this Court Day at Coan Hall. If the weather was warm enough the session may have been held out of doors under the trees. In the rear the virgin forest must have furnished an impressive background. In front flowed the river where the small sailing vessels, barges and log canoes belonging to the men who had come to court were tied or anchored. A few horses may have been tied in the barn-lot or tethered out to graze, but there were not many horses in the Neck at that time, probably not more than fifteen or twenty in the county.
In cold weather court was doubtless held inside before the blazing fire in the great hall. Colonel Mottrom, if he was presiding, was no doubt dressed in his best, as befitted the occasion and his position as justice. Ursula was probably in the kitchen supervising preparations for a feast for those among the gathering who would be their guests.
If the crowd overflowed outside there was perhaps an outdoor fire near the stables for warmth. And the passing flagon of ale no doubt helped to warm and cheer the crowd. Contests of strength and skill, such as wrestling, cudgeling, running, riding and shootingmay have been going on there while the court was in progress inside the house.
Mary Calvert must have been embarrassed to have been the only woman in such a crowd of men, for as a rule women stayed out of sight on Court Days. The records reveal only enough information about Mary Calvert to arouse the curiosity. What sort of woman was she?
She was perhaps fairly young, as women of that day usually married early and died early. There is no clue as to her appearance but it is safe to assume that her clothes were bright because colonials wore gay colors, and that she wore a hood of some sort over her head, and if it was cold a mantle that covered her other garments.
What heinous crime had this woman committed that she deserved to be lashed thirty times across her bare shoulders?
Mary Calvert had been so bold as to speak in public against Oliver Cromwell and the Parliament of England. She had called them "rogues and rebells."
Now, Mrs. Calvert confessed in court that she had made this statement, but in her own defense she stated that she was in danger of being murdered by her husband and "spake those words" to bring about her arrest and thus be "secured from her husband."
Was Mary telling the truth? The true answer will never be known. But the ancient county records do reveal the fact that her husband either loved her and could not stand by and see her lashed, or that he wanted to save his own self-respect.
Whatever his reason may have been he did come forward and beg to pay a fine in order that Mary's sentence be revoked—
"Upon Mr. Calvert's petition in behalfe of his wife," the court ordered him to pay a thousand pounds of tobacco for commuting "of ye corporall punishment to be inflicted upon his said wife, with charges of court."
Colonel John Mottrom may not have presided at the county court of 1655 for he died about that time. He was but forty-five years old and he had not yet built his brew-house or seen his vision of the town at Coan come true.
The funeral was no doubt a big affair for Colonel Mottrom was a prominent man, and all funerals then were important occasions.These early funerals were carried on in a reverent manner but there was a cheerful side too. Funerals could even be called festive. The reason for this was that a funeral brought about one of the few chances friends and neighbors had for a reunion, and for feasting and drinking together.
The guests had to travel a long way by boat or on horseback to attend a funeral and these funeral guests were regarded as even more "sacred" than ordinary guests. The unwritten laws of hospitality would have been broken if these guests had been allowed to return home without more than ample food and drink.
Thus the bereaved Mottrom household probably had to put their sorrows aside while they made preparations for the funeral.
Sometimes the minister and pall-bearers, who were usually the leading citizens of the county, were directed to wear certain special items, such as gloves, ribbons and a "love scarf." Mourning-rings and gloves were often gifts to chief mourners from the family of the deceased. Often the will of the deceased directed the family to make such gifts.
Colonel Mottrom may have desired to be "buryed ... in the garden plote." It was the usual custom to be buried not too far away from the dwelling.
It could be truly written of this first settler of the Northern Neck, as it had been said of another early Virginian—"he lived bravely, kept a good house and was a true lover of Virginia."
After the body was laid to rest the memory of the deceased was usually honored by a furious fusillade. This may have been done more for the entertainment of those who came to bury the deceased than to honor the dead. Sometimes as much as ten pounds of powder were used. Many accidents occurred at funerals because of the wild firing of guns by persons who had been drinking.
The extravagant use of powder was nothing when compared to the amount of liquor, of all kinds, consumed at a funeral. At one funeral sixty gallons of cider, four gallons of rum, two gallons of brandy, five gallons of wine, and thirty pounds of sugar to sweeten the drinks were used.
Food for the occasion may have included geese, turkeys and other poultry, a pig, several bushels of flour and twenty pounds of butter. Sometimes a whole steer and several sheep were prepared for the crowd. A big funeral cost many pounds of tobacco.
Colonel Mottrom's inventory was valued at 33,896 pounds of tobacco, which was as large as any estate in the colony at that time.His inventory was recorded in Northumberland County in 1657, and shows that he was a man of "wealth and literary pretensions."
He left his children "well-fixed" as to land. In Northumberland alone he had patented 3700 acres. Tradition says that he left the daughter of his associate, Nicholas Morris, "a riding mare." His will was referred to the governor "because of some ambiguities in the procurings of it." No copy of it can now be found.
Due to distances and lack of fast transportation the widow's hand was sometimes spoken for at the funeral of her husband by one of the guests who was afraid that he might lose out if he waited to make another visit. This was probably not true in Ursula's case, but she did remarry soon enough for her new husband to act as one of the executors of Colonel Mottrom's will.
Major George Colclough, Ursula's third husband, was a burgess in 1658. After his death Ursula Bish Thompson-Mottrom-Colclough married Colonel Isaac Allerton. Even after she had married this fourth time she continued to have trouble in settling Colonel Mottrom's estate, because of the "ambiguities" of his will.
Colonel and Mrs. Allerton lived at his home, The Narrows, which was located in the new county of Westmoreland, formed from Northumberland in 1653.
Colonel Allerton was the son of Isaac Allerton, who came to Plymouth on theMayflowerin 1620, and of Fear Brewster, only daughter of Governor William Brewster, of Plymouth. He was born in 1630 and was one of the early graduates of Harvard College. He came to Virginia and settled in the Northern Neck at The Narrows.
From Ursula and Isaac Allerton was descended President Zachary Taylor.
The belief in witchcraft was prevalent amongst the early settlers of the Northern Neck. The Neck at this time was beset with wolves and Indians and was a true type of a frontier colony.
To the witch was ascribed the power of inflicting strange and incurable diseases, of changing men into horses when they were asleep at night, and after bridling and saddling them, riding them at a gallop over the countryside to the places where the witches had their frolics. Horses too were thought to be ridden at night, unbridled and barebacked. In the morning these horses would befagged-out and caked with sweat and mud and their manes plaited into "witches' stirrups."
That witches were taken seriously by settlers of the Neck in the seventeenth century is proven by the following abstract from the Northumberland County records:
"20 Nov., 1656."Whereas, Articles were Exhibited against Wm. H—— by Mr. David Lindsaye (Minister) upon suspicion of witchcraft, sorcery, etc. And an able jury of Twenty-four men were empanelled to try the matter by verdict of which jury they found part of the Articles proved by several depositions. The Court doth therefore order yet ye said Wm. H—— shall forthwith receave ten stripes upon his bare back and forever to be Banished this County and yet hee depart within the space of two moneths. And also to pay all the charges of Court."
"20 Nov., 1656.
"Whereas, Articles were Exhibited against Wm. H—— by Mr. David Lindsaye (Minister) upon suspicion of witchcraft, sorcery, etc. And an able jury of Twenty-four men were empanelled to try the matter by verdict of which jury they found part of the Articles proved by several depositions. The Court doth therefore order yet ye said Wm. H—— shall forthwith receave ten stripes upon his bare back and forever to be Banished this County and yet hee depart within the space of two moneths. And also to pay all the charges of Court."
On a cold day in the late winter of 1657 some men were busily working in the Potomac near the mouth of Mattox Creek. They were trying to lift a foundered ketch, theSeahorseof London. Among the men was young John Washington, son of an English clergyman.
John had sailed for Virginia in the winter of 1656, as mate and voyage partner in theSeahorse. After arriving in the Potomac the ketch was loaded with a cargo of tobacco. On her way out of the river she ran aground. Before she could be floated a storm hit and sank her. The entire cargo of tobacco was ruined.
During the delay John made friends with a wealthy planter named Nathaniel Pope, who lived in the neighborhood.
TheSeahorsewas finally raised but by that time John did not wish to return to England. Perhaps Nathaniel's daughter, Anne, was the attraction in Virginia.
John prevailed on Edward Prescott, the master and part owner of theSeahorse, to release him from further service in order that he might remain in the Northern Neck of Virginia. He also demanded payment of his wages. Prescott countered that Washington owed him money and was partly responsible for the damage done to the vessel. He threatened to have John arrested and imprisoned.
John's new friend, Pope, offered to go his bond in beaver skins. If there was a suit the outcome is unknown. Prescott finally sailed away in theSeahorseand Washington remained in Virginia, but they parted on bad terms and this was not the last of their quarrel—but that is another story.
John soon married Anne Pope. As a wedding gift Nathaniel gave them a seven-hundred-acre tract of land near Mattox Creek, in Westmoreland County. In 1664 John and Anne moved to a new home four miles eastward on Bridges Creek.
John Washington was the first of that name to settle in the Northern Neck. In Westmoreland he led an active life as a planter and as a leader in county affairs. He had received "decent schooling" before he left England. John and Anne were the great-grandparents of that most famous Washington—George.
In the fall or early spring of 1656-57 the Virginians were planting trees.
Since the pioneers of the Northern Neck were living on the edges of a virgin forest and had been trying desperately to clear away enough of it to make fields for tobacco and corn, it seems strange that they would now be engaged in planting more trees.
But these trees were different—they had been imported from China. The Assembly at Jamestown had recently declared that "whereas by experience silke will be the most profitable commoditie for the country ... that everie one hundred acres of land plant tenn mulberry trees."
When the colonists came to Virginia they noticed the abundance of mulberry trees. These native trees, such favorites of the Indians, had reddish-blue berries. The early colonists thought that "the climate and soil of middle America were ... adapted to the culture of silke."
So, the first Assembly, in 1619, in the church at Jamestown, had adopted measures on the planting of mulberry trees:
"About the plantation of mulberry trees, be it enacted that every man as he is seatted upon his division, doe for seven years together, every yeare plante and maintaine in growte six Mulberry trees at the least, and as many more as he shall think conveniente."
But the silkworms would not cooperate—they refused to eat theleaves of the red mulberry tree. In 1621, the white mulberry was imported from China. But still the silk industry languished, this time it was said, for want of cheap labor.
In the beginning the care of the silkworms was held to be specially suitable work for children. The mulberry trees were kept like a low hedge so that children could pick the leaves to feed the worms. This is probably where the singing-game originated:
"Here we go 'round the mulberry bush, mulberry bush—."
Tradition said that two boys, "if their hands be not sleeping in their pockets, could care for six ounces of seed from hatching till within fourteen days of spinning." After that three or four helpers, "women and children being as proper as men," were needed to assist in feeding the worms, airing, drying, cleansing and "perfuming" them.
Now, under the Commonwealth, the silk industry was again being stimulated. But all was in vain—the colonists had their minds set on raising tobacco and they could not be diverted.
As a rule the settlers of the Northern Neck built their homes on the banks of rivers and creeks. Since travel was by boat there was little need at first for roads through the forest.
The Indians traveled through the woods over narrow footpaths not much over twenty inches wide. These had been made originally by animals. Now they were traveled by both Indians and wild beasts. These paths usually ran along high ground or where there was little undergrowth and few streams to cross.
When it was necessary for settlers to penetrate the interior they used these Indian and animal paths, or cut new paths and blazed the trees so that the blazes stood out clear and white in the forest.
Northumberland County records mention a horse path "wch leadeth from Wicocomoco to Chickacoon buttin upon the north west side of an Indian field knowne by the name of Fairefield." There was a cart path near the Corotoman river "knowne by the name of Morratico & Wiccomcomico Path." Early land patents mention other paths, horse paths and Indian paths.
Rolling-roads were narrow roads cut through the woods over which hogsheads of tobacco fitted with axles could be rolled or drawn. In this way inland plantations could send their tobacco towharves and warehouses on the waterfront for shipment overseas.
The parish church, court-houses, ferries and ordinaries became the focal points that led from crude interplantation lanes. In 1658 the General Assembly appointed surveyors whose responsibility it was to clear general ways from county to county. These roads were to be forty feet wide and the surveyors were to see that the citizens kept them up. This last order was hard to enforce because for a long time the planters had little interest in highways on land.
The custom of Market Day, which was a form of the English fair, was brought to Virginia by the colonists. In 1649 it was decided to hold markets every week in Jamestown, on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
The Assembly decided in 1655 to establish one or more market-places in each county. These were to be located on a river or creek, and all the trade of the surrounding country was to be concentrated at these places. Imported articles were to be brought from certain ports to each market place. Here were to be built the court-house, prison, offices of the clerk and sheriff, ordinaries and churches. Nothing seems to have come of this attempt.
Again, about 1679, certain places were designated as public marts, to which all the Indians who were at peace with the white settlers were invited to come, one day in the spring and one day in autumn. A government clerk was to keep records of all the trading which took place at each mart.
One of these marts was situated in Lancaster County, and another in Stafford. In Northumberland, the Wicocomico Indians were to be permitted to trade with the English under special regulations adopted by the authorities in that county.
The purpose of these market places was to encourage the building of towns, but the attempts were all unsuccessful. The settlers preferred their independent way of life on the plantations.
In May, 1660, Charles II returned to England by invitation of a new Parliament. Cromwell was dead and his son and successor, "Tumbledown Dick," had abdicated.
Charles rode into London, where the streets were dressed with green boughs and the windows hung with tapestry in his honor. Since everyone was so glad to see him he wondered why he had stayed away so long.
When the Virginians heard the news they went wild with joy!
Sir William Berkeley already had control of the Virginia government again. The Assembly at Jamestown had foreseen the restoration of the king and they had called Sir William back from his self-imposed exile at his plantation, Green Spring, in March, 1660—two months before Charles was actually crowned King of England.
It took four months for the news of the restoration to reach Virginia. In September, Sir William issued a command that the news be proclaimed in every county in Virginia.
This was what the Virginians had been waiting for and they celebrated in their typical way—by drinking healths and by making every kind of noise that they could contrive to make.
Hundreds of pounds of tobacco were exchanged for barrels of gunpowder and kegs of cider. In some places "ye trumpeters" were paid as much as eight hundred pounds of tobacco for their music, and at least one minister was paid five hundred pounds of tobacco for a service of thanksgiving.
In recognition of Virginia's loyalty to him, Charles II caused her to be proclaimed an independent member of his Empire. He had it engraved on coins that the English Kingdom should henceforth consist of "England, Scotland, Ireland and Virginia." Virginia's coat-of-arms was added to those of the other three countries comprised in his dominions. Traditions say that Charles wore a robe of Virginia silk at his coronation.
It was in this way that Virginia acquired the title of "The Old Dominion."
The settlers of the Northern Neck had hardly ended their celebrations in honor of England's new king when they received a great shock.
One of the first things that Charles II did, at the insistence of those courtiers who had shared his exile, was to have the Northern Neck patent, which he had issued while he was in France, recorded and put on the market to be leased for the benefit of those courtiers to whom he had given it. Thus in 1661, the Northern Neck became a proprietary—that is, it was owned now by the seven courtiers.
In 1662, several English merchants took a lease of the proprietary from the original courtiers who owned it. The merchants hoped to settle new "adventures" in the land between the Potomac and the Rappahannock. King Charles then wrote a letter to Governor Berkeley instructing him to assist these men who had leased the patent.
Even Sir William who had always been fanatical in his loyalty to the Crown was shocked. The royal order aroused the opposition of both the governor and the council to the proprietorship and to the lease of it. It was a threat to the colonial government and they were afraid that they would lose their power to defend themselves. They felt that the rights of the colonists should be protected.
Before 1661, a total of 576 grants of "headright" lands in the Northern Neck had been made in the King's name by the Colonial Governor. The meaning of "headright" was that any person who paid his own way to Virginia would receive 50 acres of land. He would also be assigned 50 acres for each person he transported "at his own cost."
Now titles to these lands previously taken would be clouded. Or the lands might be completely lost.
Instead of assisting the lessees of the patent the colonial government at Jamestown prepared an address to the Crown and sent one of their ablest citizens to England to act as an agent for Virginia.
The King ignored this protest, rebuked the colonial government and sent their representative back to Virginia with a renewed petition of the proprietors and orders to "protect his agents and encourage them."
Nevertheless, no more was heard of the English merchants. The colonials had scored their first victory in the war over the Northern Neck patent, but many troublesome years were still to follow.
While life flowed on at Chicacone, what had become of little Frances Mottrom?
Frances had been growing up. She was now, in 1662, seventeen years old and about to become the bride of one of the most important men in Virginia.
Since her step-mother's marriage Frances had probably been living with her sister, Anne, who had been married for five or six years to Richard Wright, formerly a merchant of London. The Wrights lived part of the time at Coan Hall and part of the time at Cabin Point, in Westmoreland County. The latter estate had been left to Anne by her father, Colonel John Mottrom.
And how did Frances find a suitable bridegroom in the wilderness of the Northern Neck? Probably through her brother-in-law, Richard Wright. Her future husband, the Honorable Nicholas Spencer, Esq., had also been a London merchant who had taken up lands in the Neck. He was now a neighbor of the Wrights, in Westmoreland County.
And where was the wedding to take place? There are no records to tell us, but a deed made a few years after Frances' marriage refers to her as being "late of Chickacone." It is doubtful if a church had been built as yet, although the Parish of Chicacoan had been established in 1653, and the Reverend David Lindsaye, of the Established Church of England, had arrived in the Northern Neck as early as 1656.
Let us assume that Frances and Nicholas were married at Coan Hall by the new minister, who would have been dressed for the occasion in a white surplice with bands and a "close" cap of black velvet.
The ceremony would probably have taken place on a Wednesday morning between eight and noonday.
The bride was doubtless radiant in a low-cut gown of the latest London fashion. It may have been pink, yellow or some other pastel shade but we can be sure that it was not white. The gown, no doubt fell in soft folds to the ground, as hoops had not yet come into vogue. Her hair was probably arranged just as she wore it as a child, with a veil in place of the cap.
Coan Hall was no doubt "passing sweet trimmed up with divers flowers" or evergreens. All the kettles were doubtless a-bubble inthe kitchen, and the silver, pewter, brass and copper gleamed in the firelight.
There seem to be no surviving records of the festivities accompanying a seventeenth century wedding in Virginia, but we may be sure that there was "an open cellar, a full house and a sweating cook," three things dearly loved by these transplanted English people.
They also loved noise—the sound of guns and firecrackers, bells and music. They liked to sing the old ballads brought from "home," as they still called England.
The wedding guests may have brought small spiced buns to the wedding and piled them high in the center of the table. If the bride and groom succeeded in kissing each other over the mound, lifelong prosperity was assured.
Dancing and games were very likely to have followed the feasting. The wedding guests may have lingered on a week or more at Coan. It is possible that the wedding party followed the bride and groom to the groom's house in Westmoreland and continued the festivities for awhile there.
And how did Frances reach her new home? Most likely by sailing vessel, up the Potomac. If she traveled by land it was doubtless on horseback as there were few if any carriages then, nor any roads. She may have been seated on a pillion behind her new husband, holding on tight to his waist. If the wedding party traveled by land they must have made quite a clatter—riding at the reckless "planter's pace" between the big trees, shouting and singing and making the forest ring with happy sound.
Two wedding gifts that Frances may have brought to her new home were a "garnish of pewter," that is a full set of pewter platters, plates and dishes, and a bread "peel," which was significant of domestic utility, plenty, and was a symbol of good luck. These were favorite wedding gifts then. Glass and earthenware were scarce at that time because of breakage on the trip across the Atlantic. An inventory later on shows that Frances had only twelve glasses and not more than eighty-eight pieces of earthenware. Silver plate was abundant in the homes of the wealthy.
At the time of their marriage Frances' husband was a member of the House of Burgesses. Later (1679-89) he was Secretary of the Colony which made him, next to the Governor, probably the most powerful man in Virginia at that time. People started calling his home on Nomini River, Secretary's Point, by which name it was ever after known.
Colonel Spencer's neighbors named their parish "Cople" in honorof his ancestral parish in Bedfordshire, England.
About 1675 Colonel Spencer and John Washington procured a patent for five thousand acres of land on Little Hunting Creek, which later became famous as the Mount Vernon estate. This land descended to the heirs of Spencer and Washington.
Colonel Spencer became President of the Council, which was a position of great honor and dignity. As President of the Council in the absence of the Governor, his cousin Lord Culpeper, he became acting governor from 1683-84.
"Madam Spencer," as Frances was now respectfully addressed, had seen many changes since she had left her wilderness playground in the Northern Neck, to become for awhile the "First Lady of Jamestown." She had borne six children. One son went to England and remained there to claim the large estates which his father had inherited.
After Governor Spencer's death Frances married Reverend John Bolton.
"Clear titles" to their lands were extremely important to the landholders of the Northern Neck, probably because for many years due to the proprietary their land was not wholly their own.
To the natives of the Neck, land was an almost sacred possession. To acquire more and more of it was an obsession with some of them. Land was their wealth—without it tobacco could not be grown. The virgin soil lasted only about three years under tobacco cultivation. It was easier and cheaper to look for new lands than to enrich old acreage so the planter was always looking for new lands, in the fertile river margins or in the vast forests. It was a wasteful system.
Land made a man's social position then. For social rating purposes the amount of land he owned did not matter so much, but if he was to be "somebody" he must own some land. Common expressions in those days were—"he is a big landowner" or "he owns land." This manner of social rating persisted for many years in the Neck.
Land was a man's security—even if he could no longer make money on it "the land was still there." If he did not have wealth he still had land and a social position.
The landowner rarely sold his land. The bulk of it was left tothe oldest son; other sons received smaller portions and the daughters received still smaller portions. The girls were supposed to marry into landed stock.
The importance of land to natives of the Northern Neck in bygone days can hardly be exaggerated.
A morning in spring between Easter and Whitsuntide found all Virginians out-of-doors. This special day came once each year—it was the day of the "processioning."
On this day, required by law, the planters would ride and walk over their lands and inspect their property lines. We can visualize the scene—the planter and his older sons leading the way, servants following with axes and other implements, chattering women and girls, servant women bringing up the rear with lunch baskets, and children riding pillion, or in front of some older person, or when the procession halted, darting about chasing a butterfly or rabbit.
"Processioning" day was an important time, for in those days land surveys were not always true and the boundaries of each man's plantation were uncertain. At this time the various landmarks were impressed upon the minds of the older sons—"yonder is a corner pine," "the four red and the one white oak," "there is the grove of tulip poplars," "the dogwood corner," "the hickory corner," "the two gums and the white oak"—there was so much to remember!
Sometimes the lands were divided by ditches, for ditches would last a hundred years or more it was said. Landmarks were renewed at this time. Blazes were recut on trees and in the places where trees had fallen during the winter new ones were planted. Tradition says that pear trees were often planted as they were long-lived trees.
Here and there processions from neighboring plantations would meet at the boundaries where the lands joined. A sociable time then followed, and if it was at lunch time, perhaps a picnic. Disputed boundaries were decided upon at these times and announced to all persons present so that at the next "processioning" those who were still living would be able to testify as to the correct line.
Among the planters whose lands adjoined near Machodoc Creek, in Westmoreland County, were John Lee, Henry Corbin, Thomas Gerrard and Isaac Allerton.
John Lee was the oldest son of Richard, the immigrant, of Cobbs Hall in Northumberland. John was the first of the Lees to establish a seat on land acquired by his father on the Potomac. This first Lee home in Westmoreland was called Matholic. John had been educated at Oxford and had graduated at Queen's College, 1658, and then studied medicine. He had probably returned to Virginia with his father in 1664. Two years later he was seated at Matholic, and he immediately took his place among the leading planters in the county. Besides the usual offices that went with his station, he was on a committee appointed by the governor for the defense of the Northern Neck against Indians. Later he served on a commission with Colonel John Washington and others to "arrange the boundary line between Lancaster and Northumberland Counties." But what Jack really liked to do was to ride, shoot and fish. He liked the militia training and the celebrations that went with it. He was young, gay and a bachelor.
Henry Corbin had been born in Warwickshire, England, about 1629. His family was of high standing among the English gentry. Henry came to Virginia during the Cavalier emigration and took up an estate on the Potomac near Matholic. His home was named Pecatone for an Indian chief of the region, according to tradition. Pecatone was one of the great manors of Westmoreland. It was built of brick with a terrace and stone steps in front. The large rooms were wainscoted. The house was set in a grove of trees and the lawn sloped to the Potomac. The house had the massive look of a fort and it was plain to severity. Life at Pecatone was carried on in the grand manner.
Doctor Thomas Gerrard lived not far from Isaac Allerton on a plantation called Wilton. Gerrard had once owned lands and had been a prominent figure in the Province of Maryland, but because of religious persecution he had crossed the Potomac and found sanctuary in the Northern Neck. Wilton had originally been patented by Major William Hockaday in 1651. At that time the Indians were still living on the land and Hockaday had to wait to seat theplace "until the Indians could be removed." Doctor Gerrard purchased Wilton from Hockaday in 1662.
Isaac Allerton was the grandson of that celebrated Puritan, Governor William Brewster of Plymouth. After Isaac graduated from Harvard College, in 1650, he left New England and settled in Westmoreland County, near the plantations of John Lee and Henry Corbin. Isaac called his home The Narrows. He became a leading planter of the county and was one of the men of Westmoreland "upon whom Governor Berkeley relied." In 1675 Allerton was second in command under Colonel John Washington to fight Indians. Allerton married Ursula, the widow of John Mottrom. From the union of Ursula and Isaac was descended President Zachary Taylor, as has been stated before.
These then were the four neighbors with such diverse backgrounds, whose plantations adjoined and who all came together each year at "processioning" time.
In March of 1670 these men decided to build a "banquetting house for the continuance of good Neighborhood."
The plan was that each neighbor, or his heirs, would take turns in preparing the banquet and entertainment "yearly, according to his due, to make an Honorable treatment fit to entertain the undertakers thereof, their wives, misters & friends yearly and every year, & to begin upon the 29th of May."
Thus the agreement was written, witnessed, and signed by Henry Corbin, John Lee, Thomas Gerrard and Isaac Allerton, on the 30th of March 1670. Jack Lee was assigned the responsibility of the building of the "banquetting house." There is documented proof that the house was built in "Pickatown field," and that the yearly celebrations were held.
At these celebrations Jack Lee, arriving on his spirited mount dressed in his "gray suit with silver buttons" and "gloves with silver tops," must have been a dashing figure.
We can imagine Ursula at "Pickatown field," escorted by her fourth husband, Colonel Allerton; Henry Corbin with his wife Alice and daughter, Laetitia; and the Gerrards—Thomas and Rose.
Since friends were to be invited, Colonel Nicholas Spencer of Secretary's Point may have been there with his wife, Frances Mottrom Spencer. The host would probably have been afraid to omit from the guest list Dick Cole of Salisbury Park, and his wife Anna.
Perhaps a little eight-year-old girl from Tucker Hill was dancing gaily at "Pickatown field" in the year 1671. In three more years"little Sarah Tucker" was to put away childish things to become the bride of Colonel William Fitzhugh, one of the wealthiest planters in the Neck. And in two more years the laughter of young Jack Lee would be stilled forever.
But in the springtime of 1671 there was probably no small cloud over "Pickatown field," and the "banquetting house" was filled with happy sound.
Here end all known records concerning the "banquetting house in Pickatown field"—America's first country club, circa 1671.
Now, in the year 1670, something new had been added to the Northern Neck—a land agent.
The grapevine must have been buzzing in those days—what is a land agent?—a man who represents the proprietary—what is a proprietary, anyway?—the people who have taken our land away from us—who is this land agent?—Thomas Kirton, from England—what will he do?—make us pay rent—rent our own land?—something like taxes—I won't do it—how can he make us?—what right have they—
The Northern Neckers had probably not fully realized that they no longer owned their own land until they came face to face with a land agent.
Thomas Kirton came to Virginia in 1670 and opened a land office in Northumberland County. He was to be assisted by Edward Dale, a prominent citizen of Lancaster.
Kirton came armed with credentials, a copy of the patent and power of attorney for himself and Dale. He presented these documents to the General Court at Jamestown, April 5, 1671. He was recognized and action was prompt "... the said letters, patent being read in court ...," "obedience" and "submission" was given and recorded.
This complete acceptance of Kirton, and what he stood for, by the Colonial Government was another shock to the settlers of the Northern Neck. There had never been "anything to so move the grief and passion of the people as uncertainty whether they were to make a country for the King or for the Proprietors."
It had become a very real fact to the settlers now that they had landlords over them. They had been accustomed to the utmostfreedom and independence and this was an almost unbearable blow.
A strange thing about the story of the proprietary is that the people who lived within it had very little understanding as to what it was all about. Most of them lived all of their lives without understanding the terms of the proprietary. This was partly due to the fact that everything was done in secret. Even the Colonial Government was kept in the dark as to the various changes and renewals, while the proprietors increased their authority over the domain of the Northern Neck.
Kirton's main duty was to collect quit-rents. The quit-rent was handed down from the feudal system of medieval times. In simple terms—it was the "bond between the lord and the land." The quit-rent was a monetary payment to relieve the tenant of obligations, such as laboring for the lord of a manor on a certain number of days a week, or paying him with a portion of the produce.
Under the system of the quit-rent the tenant still had complete control of his land although he did not own it. He was free to bequeath the land to his heirs.
Kirton had little success in collecting quit-rents although they were small, only two shillings per one hundred acres. The settlers had no intention of paying anything to the proprietors unless they were compelled to do so. As the years went on they acquiesced to a certain degree, but the quit-rents were never willingly paid.
However the settlers did not object to patenting new lands. These could be paid for in English coins, Spanish pieces of eight, or in tobacco, if metallic money was not to be had.
Kirton was ousted from his office, in 1673, because for some time he had failed to remit the quit-rents. Before this Kirton and Dale had quarreled and Dale had ceased to act as an agent.
Thomas Kirton probably had few friends in the Northern Neck. The fact that he married Anna, the widow of Dick Cole, tells quite a lot about him. She was despised and feared by her neighbors because of her slanderous tongue.
Kirton's home was in Westmoreland County, near the Northumberland boundary. He probably remained in the Northern Neck, for in 1686 he informed the Westmoreland court that its records were "somewhat delayed and the transfers through time and carelessness were scarcely legible." The court directed him to transcribe all the records in one book. For this he was paid 2,000 pounds of tobacco and cask, if he finished the work by 1688.
In early days the horseshoe was believed to have a magic potency. When butter was slow in coming, a heated horseshoe was thrown into the churn. A horseshoe was also believed to keep off witches. Doubtless most of the early settlers of the Northern Neck had one nailed over the threshold.
An instance of the belief in the power of the horseshoe is found in the seventeenth century records of Northumberland County. From three sworn statements filed in that county, "April ye 11, 1671," let us reconstruct the strange happenings that were reported.
The story starts on board a vessel at sea, bound home to the Northern Neck from a trip to the Barbadoes. ("I Edw: Le Breton deposeth that being aboard of our ship & Mr. Edward Cole talking then and there of severall psons (persons) & among all ye rest of Mrs. Neall, Hanna Rodham, daughter of Matthew Rodham, and wife of Christopher Neall.")
We can imagine Le Breton and Cole in their ship's cabin relaxing a bit as they neared home—two mariners dressed in loose breeches and jerkins of canvas or frieze, with their warm Monmouth caps and outer garments swaying on the pegs where they hung and the swinging lanthorn casting crazy shadows over all. Perhaps a bottle of the West Indies rum had loosened the tongue of Edward Cole as he told of "a certyne time some yeares past" when "there grew difference" between himself and the family of Hanna Neall. "She then," continued Cole, "made a kind of prayer that he nor none of his family never prosper and shortly after his people fell sick & much of his cattle dyed."
When Edward Cole arrived home from the Barbadoes he found his wife ill and the "suspition of Doctor S——, & others was that his wife was under an ill tongue, & if it was soe he concluded yt (yet) it was Mrs. Neall by reason of imprecations made by her & yt indeed he thought soe," and "he did accuse Mrs. Neall of it alsoe."
Edward Cole was greatly troubled. If Hanna Neall could do this much, she could do worse things. He was almost "beside himself" with fear and worry when he remembered the horseshoe nailed over his threshold. It was there to keep off witches. If he could induce Hanna Neall to cross over the horseshoe he could find out once and for all if she was a woman or a witch.
And so it came about that Edward Cole at "a certyne time sent for Mrs. Neall to come to see his wife."
Witches are usually thought of as being old hags, but from portions of these statements it seems that Hanna was not an ordinary witch. She was at least a fairly young woman, and quite possibly an attractive one. Records of early land patents show that she and her father were landowners, which gave her certain social distinctions, and only a small number of persons of the best condition had the designation of Mr. and Mrs. prefixed to their names in the seventeenth century. The Northumberland records prove that she was fearless, for she answered Edward Cole's invitation by coming at once.
Did she live near enough to walk? Since individual landholdings were large then we do not think that she lived close enough to walk. Did she come riding on a pillion? Or did she come across the water in a barge rowed by her servants? These are questions for speculation.
We can assume that she was dressed in the usual outdoor costume of women of that time and place. In April the air is still sharp in the Northern Neck of Virginia so she probably wore a linsey-woolsey gown of blue with undersleeves of white kenting, a dark mantle of wool, a hood with a bright lining turned back around her face, and a white muslin apron. Perhaps she carried a basket with some delicacy for the sick woman—a pair of quail shot by her husband and roasted by herself on the spit in her fireplace.
What feelings of dread must Edward Cole have had as he watched the approach of Hanna Neall! We can see him slowly opening the door and standing far aside for her to enter.
We can picture Hanna, looking into the dark room where the candle in the tin lanthorn threw shadows across the strained faces, and a pomander ball gave off the sickening odors that were supposed to ward off infection. And there in the dimness of the bed with its heavy hangings lay the sick woman.
Was Hanna frightened when she looked into the face of her accuser? Was she angry? Or did she pity him? In any case, when she trod on the threshold, brushed the horseshoe with her skirts, and entered the room—nothing happened.
Hanna crossed to the sick woman, knelt beside the bed and "shee prayed so heartily for her" that Edward Cole believed in her sincerity.
It was in this way that Hanna Neall was saved from being banished from the county, or from lashes at the whipping post, orfrom the ducking "stoole" at Northumberland County court-house, down in Hull's Neck. Saved by a horseshoe and a prayer!
And Edward Cole straightened matters out with the following statement:
"I, Edward Cole, doe acknowledge yt ye words which I did speake concerning Mrs. Neall as tending to defame her with the aspersion of being a witch, were passionately spoken."Edward Cole"April ye 11, 1671
"I, Edward Cole, doe acknowledge yt ye words which I did speake concerning Mrs. Neall as tending to defame her with the aspersion of being a witch, were passionately spoken.
"Edward Cole"April ye 11, 1671
"Edward Cole"April ye 11, 1671
In the early days of the colony there was a unit of militia in each county. The governor, who was in command, appointed for each unit a colonel, lieutenant-colonel, and major, who had lesser officers under them. Every freeman between the ages of sixteen and sixty was subject to this military duty. Single troops and companies were mustered four times a year, and once a year there was a general muster.
Everyone looked forward to the general muster—on that day all roads led to the county seat. Some of the people came as far as they could by boat and then walked the rest of the way. Others came in carts and on horseback, with the women and girls riding pillion behind their husbands, fathers or brothers. Small children were probably perched up in front of the riders. All were dressed in their bravest clothes.
At the county seat there was excitement in the air—the British flags were all flying, swords were glinting, and there was the sound of the "brass Trumpetts w'th silver mouth pieces" and the roll of drums. There were "Troopes of horse & Companies of Foot ... provided w'th Armes & Ammunition" and with their "coullours" flying. The officers wore handsome belts and "Bootes." The men carried "firelock musketts" and had "Pistolls & Houlsters."
After the parades and drills were over the people mingled and enjoyed being together. It was probably the second day before the crowd broke up and the people started homeward. Liquor was no doubt flowing freely among the men.
The citizens of Northumberland petitioned the House of Burgesses in 1696, "praying" that no musters should be allowed to take place on Saturday, "as it led to the profamation of Sunday."
The store was one of the principal institutions in the colony in early days. Every important planter kept a store somewhere on his plantation. Sometimes it was in a room in the manor but usually it was in a detached building. Storehouses were small, often not more than sixteen by eighteen feet.
The contents of these stores included nearly every article used by Virginians. A plantation store of 1667, with contents valued at six hundred fourteen pounds sterling, carried merchandise such as: materials of all kinds, carpenters' tools, bellows, sickles, locks, nails, staples, cooking utensils, flesh forks, shovels and tongs, medicines, wool cards, compasses, needles, stirrups, looking-glasses, candlesticks, candles, raisins, brandy, wine, and many other items.
Most of the manufactured articles came from England. To be very salable merchandise had to bear an English label.
For a century after the first settlers came to the Northern Neck the forest was still alive with wolves. In the evenings they could be heard hunting and they sounded "like a pack of beagles."
These wolves were small, not much larger than a fox, but so ravenous that if a traveler was forced to spend the night in the woods he could hardly keep his horse from being devoured even though tied close to him and to the light of the fire.
The scattered sheepfolds and grazing pastures had to be guarded. Wolves were such a nuisance to the planters that authorities sought ways to destroy them. Rewards were offered for any person killing a wolf "provided the said wolf shall not be so young that it is not of age to do mischief."
The planters caught the wolves in various ways—in wolf-pits, log-pens and log-traps. Several mackerel hooks were fastened together and then dipped in melted tallow which hardened and concealed them. These were fastened to a chain so that after the wolf had swallowed the hooks he could not wander away in the forest and his head be lost for bounty.
In 1674, John Mottrom, II of Coan was rewarded with fourteenhundred pounds of tobacco for "killing seven wolves in a pitt." The settlers often paid their public dues in the skins of wolves.
As late as 1691 the county court of Northumberland made public arrangements for an annual wolf-drive. The wolves were hunted on horseback with dogs, very much in the manner of fox-hunting. Early writers state that it was possible while going at full speed to run down a wolf.
The wolf-drive was somewhat like the old English "drift of the forest," where a ring of men and boys with guns surrounded a large tract of woods. The wolves scenting them would retreat to the center of the circle, where the hunters would close in on them. Many were killed in this way. "Wolf-driving" was considered great sport.
Wolf-Trap Light, in Chesapeake Bay, is said to have been named because ashore near there was a famous place for catching the last of the wolves.