Mary Ball at Yeocomico Church.
SANDY POINT
Both the Bonums and the Eskridges lived in lower Westmoreland County, just across the Yeocomico River from Cherry Point.
Colonel Eskridge's plantation, Sandy Point, was directly on the Potomac. Its name gave but a vague idea of the beauty of the beach and the sweep of river beyond. There was a feeling here of space. It was a place of restless sounds, made by the wind and waves. It was quite different here from the quieter waters and forest walls that Mary Ball had known.
Bonum's Creek Farm, the home of Mary's half-sister, Elizabeth, was east of Bonum's Creek. The "home-place" was situated on the bank of the Potomac, in sight of Pecatone, the manor home of the Corbin family.
Mary now had the choice of these two delightful places for her future home. She probably divided her time between the two. Perhaps Mary Hewes had this in mind when she left Mary a "good Pacing horse together with a good silk plush saddle," thus taking care of the problem of transportation.
Among the other things "bequeath unto" Mary by her mother were two gold rings, the "one being a large hoop and the other a stoned ring," a trunk and "all the rest of my wearing apparel." So when Mary went to her new homes she had a trunkful of clothes which would come in handy as she grew older, for it took a long time to receive an order from England, and ships were being taken by pirates during these years. It was lucky that fashions did not change much then, and that clothes were made to last.
Mary had a maid, who probably looked after her and her wardrobe. Mary had enough income for her needs, therefore she was more fortunate than most orphans of that time.
Sandy Point was doubtless the scene of many larks after Mary joined the Eskridge girls who lived there. In the evenings there was probably much talk around the fireplace—of pirates and witches and houses where mysterious lights flitted at night. And much giggling and chatter upstairs after the candles had been put out.
In 1726 Mary's life was again saddened, this time by the death of her brother-in-law, Samuel Bonum. In his will he left her "a young gray dapple horse."
While at Sandy Point Mary attended Yeocomico Church, where her guardian was a vestryman. She rode there on horseback, tradition says. In cold weather she probably wore a red cloak, and a hood or scarf to protect her head and face.
The simple church, cloistered in the virgin forest, invited worship, but the churchyard on Sundays was a festive place in those days. And it was a noisy place—there was the rattling of wheels, the cracking of whips, the neighing of horses and the chattering of the people, who were so glad to see each other. There were "rings of Beaux chatting" around the girls in their bright mantles.
It was cold inside the church in winter, sometimes too cold to have even the usual short sermon. The high-backed pews shielded their occupants from drafts, and some people had their servants bring in little stoves of perforated tin containing coals, or hot bricks to place under the feet.
After the service there was more "visiting together" in the churchyard, and the men had business transactions to make.
Near the church there was a spring, and a kiln where the bricks had been burned for the church when it was built in 1706.
Mary Ball lived among the gentle people of this region until she was married. There are no early portraits of Mary Ball, but tradition says that at the time of her marriage she was "a healthy orphan of moderate height, rounded figure and pleasant voice, aged 23."
AUGUSTINE
Augustine Washington was "connected by marriage" with Colonel Eskridge. He probably met Mary Ball on one of his visits to Sandy Point.
Sandy Point was an ideal place for romance but there is not even a traditional account of the courtship of Mary Ball. Even the scene of her marriage is not known, but it was probably at Sandy Point or at the Bonum home. Mary Ball and Augustine Washington were married by the Reverend Walter Jones, on March 6, 1731. Ministers at that time usually received "for marriage two shillings."
Mary's new husband was "blond, of fine proportion, great physical strength and stood six feet in his stockings, and had a kindly nature." He was called Gus by his friends.
Gus took his bride to his home on Popes Creek, in upper Westmoreland County. Mary was not the first mistress at Popes Creek, for Augustine had been married before, to Jane Butler, half-sister to Colonel Eskridge's second wife. Jane had been dead for about three years.
At Popes Creek now there were the servants and little Jane, who was about nine years old. Augustine's other two children were teen-age boys, Lawrence and Augustine, who were then at Appleby's School in England. Gus himself had been educated at that school.
Augustine Washington, while not a man of great wealth, owned land and buildings in at least three counties, and he was part owner of two iron furnaces. He was prominent in his community, having held at various times the positions of Justice of Westmoreland County court, Captain in the county militia, Sheriff of Westmoreland County, and he was a vestryman in the church. Although he was not one of the wealthiest planters in the Northern Neck, he was on an equal footing with them socially.
POPES CREEK
When Mary came to Popes Creek to live she had some housefurnishings of her own to bring with her. There was the feather bed, and her mother had left her a bedstead to go with it, a quilt and a pair of blankets. She had also left Mary two table-cloths "marked M. B. with inck," two pewter dishes, two basins, one large iron "pott," one frying pan, one "Rugg" and "one suit of good curtains and fallens" (valance). It must have been with great joy that Mary arranged these things in her own home.
The house at Popes Creek was not a magnificent residence such as Stratford Hall or King Carter's manor at Corotoman. It is believed to have been "a simple abode," but it was comfortable and it had a quality that was lacking in the splendid mansions—it was homely. It was the kind of place where a planter could sit with his family in the evening and feel close to them and close to his earth.
The house was situated on the west side of Popes Creek, about three-quarters of a mile from the point where the creek emptied into the Potomac. About a mile to the northwest was the last habitation of John Washington, the immigrant, and near it was the family burying ground.
Augustine had bought his tract of one hundred and fifty acres of land on Popes Creek from Joseph Abbington in 1718. David Jones, a local builder and undertaker, had contracted to build the home for five thousand pounds of tobacco with extra amounts in cash for incidentals. He was probably assisted by Augustine's slaves and indentured servants. The house was completed and occupied by Augustine and his first wife about 1726, so it was still rather new when Mary came to live there.
Mary probably found it not too difficult to assume her duties as mistress of the plantation for the farm activities at Popes Creek were about the same as those she had known before her marriage on the plantations in lower Westmoreland.
Many years later the Popes Creek plantation became known as Wakefield.
THE WAR PATH
The Shenandoah Valley was the historic war trail of the Six Nations of Indians of the north in their warfare with the southern Indian tribes. These wars had commenced before the settlement of Jamestown. There is no evidence to show that the Valley was inhabited to any extent by Indians immediately before the coming of the white man to the New World. Scattered burial mounds prove that Indians lived there at an early period but their history has been lost.
Governor Spotswood believed that this migration of Indian warriors from north to south would hold back the settlement of Virginia. He called a conference which was attended by the northern Indians and the governors of New York and Pennsylvania, and himself and other representatives from Virginia. At this conference the Indians were persuaded to limit their travel. In the Treaty of Albany, signed in 1722, the northern Indians promised to let the southern Indians live in peace, and agreed that their warriors would not cross Virginia without a passport. Disregard of this treaty was punishable with death or transportation to the West Indies and sale into slavery.
Governor Spotswood bound the bargain by dramatically handing the interpreter his "golden-horseshoe," which had been pinned at his breast, and bidding him to give it to the speaker and to tell him that "there was an inscription on it which signified that it would help him to pass over the mountains; and that when any of their people should come to Virginia with a pass, they should bring that with them."
After this treaty was signed the Northern Neck could be opened to settlers westward. And the planters could now patent immense tracts of land.
FALMOUTH
About this time there was considerable trade between the Northern Neck and both Ireland and Scotland. It has been said that Virginia tobacco helped Glasgow, Scotland, to prosperity. A street in that city was named for Virginia, and at one time Virginia merchants "thronged that street and were regarded with such respect that other men gave way that they might pass." Among these gentlemen were some of the planters from the Potomac. In 1720 George Mason III, was given the freedom of the city of Glasgow, in the form of a parchment "Burgess Ticket."
Falmouth, in Stafford County, was founded in 1727 by Scotch merchants. Boats from Scotland came directly to this trading village situated near the head of the Rappahannock River. Something of this once thriving trading center of the Neck is told in a letter written by a visitor by the name of Ellen Gray. The undated letter was written to her friend, Rose Douglas of Loch Lomond, Scotland. It says:
"Dear Rose:
"Falmouth is on a river that empties into Chesapeake Bay. The houses are perched on declivities and hills. There are mills. I love water wheels when they glisten.... We saw scenery much wilder than any in Scotland. It consisted of islands in the Rappahannock, lying above Falmouth. We gazed on them from a long plank bridge. What a pity the Virginians will span their streams with plank instead of stone! A stone bridge overgrown with moss is a bewitching sight. Several Scotch families have lived in Falmouth, tho the place is called Fal from a river in England. Among its most successful merchants was Basil Gordon. He arrived a poor boy in Falmouth. He died a millionaire after a life of patient industry."
Basil Gordon is believed to have been one of America's first millionaires.
BURNT HOUSE FIELD
It was a cold night in January, 1729. Thomas Lee was ready to go to bed. He had probably checked the doors and windows and all seemed well at Matholic.
His family were already asleep but perhaps Thomas lingered awhile, thinking about his new home, Stratford, which he was building on his own plantation twenty miles away. How good, he may have thought, it would be to have something of his own. For Matholic, this ancestral Lee estate in Westmoreland where he was now living, did not belong to Thomas. He was leasing it from his older brother, the third Richard Lee.
Thomas Lee was a younger son and therefore he had received little in the way of a heritage; even his education had been neglected. His older brothers had received the customary classical education, while Thomas learned only reading, spelling and ciphering, probably from an indentured servant. He had been ashamed of his lack of education. To pass in the elegant society to which his family were accustomed it was necessary to have a knowledge of Latin and Greek. After he was a mature man he studied long hours alone until he had mastered these subjects.
Thomas' father, the second Richard, had thrown at least one crumb in the direction of his younger son. When he was compelled by age to resign as naval officer of the Potomac, in 1710, the elder Lee persuaded Governor Alexander Spotswood to give this post to his son, Thomas. So, before he was twenty-one, Thomas was reporting on the maritime trade of his district, and collecting fees from the ships' captains.
Through his uncle, Edmund Jenings, Thomas had acquired the position of manager of the Northern Neck proprietary. His uncle, who was then in England, had a lease on the proprietary at that time. Thomas had opened a land office at Matholic. He also traveled on horseback all over the Northern Neck so that in this way he well knew the lands of that vast domain.
By the time Thomas was established, and thirty-two years old, his thoughts turned to marriage. He went "a-courting" down at Green Spring, near Jamestown, and won the hand of young Hannah Harrison Ludwell. When Hannah came as a bride to Matholic she added to the family fortune with her dowry of six hundred pounds sterling.
Things were going well with Thomas Lee. Now, on this winter's night, he probably went up to bed with a contented mind.
Sometime during the night Thomas awoke suddenly to find the house in flames around him. He shook Hannah and they grabbed up the children from their beds and started for the stairs only to find that it was too late to get down that way. The heat was hot on his back when he helped Hannah over the window sill and watched her fall to the ground—fifteen feet. He dropped his small children and then jumped himself. Just in time, too, for he was hardly on the ground before the roof caved in—too late to save the twelve-year-old white servant girl who was asleep in the house.
Shivering in their night clothes the family watched the barns and outbuildings burn to the ground, shocked into silence by the loss of the little servant.
Later the ashes of the house were searched for Hannah's silver. When not a trace of it was found the origin of the fire seemed evident—burglars had broken in, stolen the silver and other valuables, and then set fire to the house.
The villians who burned the house were never caught. There were at large a number of English convicts who had been transported to Westmoreland as indentured servants. They had joined together and formed a lawless gang—they frightened and robbed the citizens of the countryside. Thomas Lee in his line of duty as a local magistrate had no doubt at some time given them reason to want revenge. These convicts may have burned the house.
As naval officer of the Potomac, Thomas had to prevent smuggling. A year before Matholic was burned his life was threatened by the crew of the Elizabeth. No doubt some of his enemies made in the line of his duties were at the bottom of this outrage. At any rate the Lords of Trade in London thought so, for they sent him a bounty, three hundred pounds of which was from the privy purse of Queen Caroline. Tradition says that this bounty helped Thomas Lee to finish building his home, Stratford.
In the meantime he built another house on the Matholic estate at a spot removed from the original house. The new house was called Mt. Pleasant.
The site of the destroyed house was ever after known as Burnt House Field. It was used as a family burying ground.
STRATFORD HALL
Long before Matholic burned Thomas Lee had started building his own home.
As a land agent for the Northern Neck proprietary he was well acquainted with its desirable lands, but the portion which he selected for his own belonged to the Pope family, and had been patented by Colonel Nathaniel Pope about 1650, before the proprietary came into being.
"I want to buy the Clifts," said Thomas Lee. This land was situated in Westmoreland County and bordered on the Potomac. Here the banks rose sharply above the River. We can imagine Thomas Lee standing at the edge of those bold cliffs, looking across the River while he dreamed of the manor house which he would some day build.
One day in 1716 a representative of the Pope family closed the deal by ceremoniously presenting Thomas Lee with a handful of earth and a twig—an ancient symbolic confirmation of the transference of the 1,450 acres of land called "the Clifts Plantation."
Thomas Lee built his home nearly a mile inland from the "clifts," where it would not be so open to an enemy attack from the River. Pirates were still roving the surrounding waters.
It took a long time to build the kind of house that Thomas Lee had in mind—a house with walls of brick two feet thick, that would stand for centuries. The thousands of bricks required for this undertaking had to be made there on the place.
Thomas Lee made a trip to England at the beginning of his project, some traditions say, and while he was there he doubtless visited the estate at Strat-by-the-Ford, once owned by his grandfather, Richard Lee, the immigrant. There could scarcely be any other reason why he would name his own home, Stratford.
Thomas Lee planned his house, it is said, after viewing the manor houses of England, and the result was that Stratford turned out to be a sort of medieval fortress. It was shaped like the letter H with pointed roofs. The crossbar of the H was the Great Hall, about thirty feet square.
On the roof of each wing arose a cluster of four great chimneys, which were joined together by arches of masonry. These clustered chimneys gave the appearance of two belfries, or towers. The space inside each group of chimneys was made into a summer-house. A member of the Lee family later described them thus:
"Eight chimneys formed the summer-house pillars, From which were seen Potomac's sea-like billows...."
In medieval times the use of the summer-house was functional, and so were these at Stratford—the activities of the plantation and on the Potomac could be seen from them.
At first glance Stratford appeared to be a one-story building, but its main floor was raised to the level of a second story. Thomas Lee had an idea of his own about architecture which was remarkably modern, that was to bring the beauty of nature inside. He did this by having long flights of steps leading directly from the lawn to the front and rear entrances of the Great Hall. Doorways and windows framed the fields, forest and lawn.
The manor occupied the center of a large square marked at the corners by four dependencies. A ha-ha wall ran across the front of the square, the purpose of which was to keep the cattle away from the house without obscuring the view.
Stratford Hall was built between 1725-30.
GEORGE WASHINGTON
It was about ten o'clock of a February morning in the year 1732,[9] when a baby's cry was heard in the dwelling at Popes Creek. A son had just been born to Augustine and Mary Washington.
The baby was named George. It is believed that Mary's first born child was thus named in honor of her former guardian, Colonel George Eskridge.
Neighbors, godparents and the minister assembled, probably at Popes Creek, for the christening. A notation in Mary's Bible recorded the event: "... and was Baptised the 5th of April following." George's godmother was his aunt, Mrs. Mildred Washington Gregory.
George's first memories must have been happy ones—of woods, fields and water, and of animals, fowl and birds. His family loved him, and the dark faces were kindly.
George soon had a sister, Betty, to play with, and then Samuel. The first three and one-half years of George's life were spent at the Popes Creek plantation.
The infant, George Washington at Wakefield, his birthplace.
EPSEWASSON
In 1735, Augustine decided to move his family from Popes Creek to his farm about fifty miles up the Potomac.
This farm was part of the land acquired years before by John Washington, the immigrant, and Nicholas Spencer, husband of Frances Mottrom. Augustine had bought twenty-five hundred acres of it in 1726.
This property was located on Little Hunting Creek, which flowed into the Potomac. It was still called by the Indian name, Epsewasson.
Tradition says that the Washington family moved in March, as soon as "the ice cleared in the river." It was a new adventure for the children, but one of them was missing. Little thirteen-year-old Jane had passed away in January.
Epsewasson was still quite primitive; some of the land had never been under the plow. The Indians lived no longer in the forest, but the wild animals were still there.
At Epsewasson there was probably already a small dwelling, and Augustine had cabins built for the slaves and servants. And there had to be a mill—Augustine had one on Popes Creek and he built one here on Doeg Run.
Mary probably found life much harder at Epsewasson. The location was isolated, but she was never lonely for the children kept her company, and a fourth baby, John Augustine soon came to join his brothers and sister.
Thirty miles from Epsewasson was a place called Accokeek, where Augustine had interest in an iron-works. He seems to have been the only American actively interested in the iron enterprise, Principio Iron Furnaces. The rest of the company was owned by Englishmen.
Between Epsewasson and Accokeek there were several streams and marshes and Gus found that it was just as hard to get to as it had been from Popes Creek.
Little George may have gone to Accokeek with his father sometimes and watched the pig iron from the furnace being carried by cart to a landing six miles away on the Potomac. Augustine had men and oxen there for that purpose—"three hundred weight being a load for a cart drawn by 8 oxen."
Young Washington helping in the handling of "seine" on the Potomac.
1738 was an eventful year for the Washingtons. First, another baby, Charles, was born, and then, Lawrence returned from his school in England. He was a grown man now, with grace and polish. He immediately became George's hero, and remained so forever.
Augustine now made a decision—they must move out of the wilderness so that the children could have schooling and so that he could be closer to the iron works.
A place near Fredericksburg seemed to fill these qualifications. It was within easy riding distance of the iron-works, it was near a school, and it was situated between the land bequeathed Mary by her father and the land left her by her half-brother, John Johnson.
Augustine bought the property, which was known as the "Strothers estate," in 1738. They left Epsewasson, on Little Hunting Creek, which was later to become well-known as Mount Vernon.
Note: Epsewasson was sometimes spelled Eppsewasson, Ipsewason, etc.
FERRY FARM
The Washington family moved to their new home in December, 1738. The "Strothers estate," or Ferry Farm as it was called then or at some later date, was located in what was then King George County but later became Stafford County.
The house was of moderate size, with the necessary farm outbuildings nearby. There were open fields and some woodland. The property was on the Rappahannock and at this part of the River it had dwindled to a small stream. It was not much of a river here when compared with the Potomac which the Washingtons had just left. The ferry which was operated not very far from the house must have been of especial interest to the children.
Ferry Farm was by no means luxurious, but it was adequate for the needs of the Washingtons. Here they lived a simple farm life.
The meals were probably served in the hall, as the custom had been in the seventeenth century. The china and linen were ample but in keeping with farm-living. There were twenty-six silver spoons but no silver plate.
The family doubtless arose early, maybe at dawn. After grace was said a simple breakfast was served. The main meal was served in the middle of the day and it was called dinner. Game, fowl, fish or hot meat and greens, vegetables and hot breads were included in this meal. The hominy may have been made in the Indian fashion with a pestle and a hollowed-out tree stump. Supper was a light meal.
The objects which were probably of the most interest to George were his father's surveying instruments, rifle and axe.
Mary's chamber, it was said, was directly in the rear of the hall downstairs. There were two beds in it, the trunk, a chest of drawers, four rush-bottomed chairs, and a tea table before the fireplace. The two windows had hangings. It was probably in this room that another baby girl was born in June, 1739. She was the last child born to Mary and Augustine.
October, 1740, was a sad month for the Washingtons. The baby died that month, and Lawrence sailed from the Chesapeake to a far-off war in Cartagena.
FREDERICKSBURG
The town of Fredericksburg was just across the Rappahannock from Ferry Farm. To the Washington children, straight from the wilderness, it must have been a source of delight.
Sloops lay at the wharf there, close to the public warehouses which were built in the shape of a cross. Near the wharf there was a quarry of white stone, and there were several other quarries in the river bank. There was one building in the town that was built of the stone, and that was the prison. Most of the buildings were of wood with wooden chimneys. In a few years the wooden chimneys were to be outlawed by the Burgesses.
Fredericksburg was a new town, and it was "by far the most flourishing town in that part of Virginia." It was "pleasantly situated on the South Shore of Rappahannock River, about a Mile below the Falls." It had been established in 1727 on a fifty-acre tract of land known as the Lease-Land.
The preamble of the act which established the town stated its purpose: "... good houses are needed and greatly wanted upon some navigable part of said river, near the falls, for the reception and safe keeping of such commodities as are brought thither from remote places with carriages drawn by horses or oxen."
When Colonel William Byrd of Westover visited Fredericksburg in 1732, he stayed at the home of its "top man," Colonel Henry Willis, whose wife was George Washington's aunt, Mildred.
Colonel Byrd relates that after a breakfast of beefsteak, his host walked him about "his Town." He saw the stone prison, the shops of the tailor, the merchant, the smith, and an ordinary. There was also Mrs. Levistone—"Who acts here in the double capacity of a doctress and coffee woman. And were this a populous city, she is qualified to exercise two other callings."
"Mrs. Levistone," or Susanna Livingston, was for some years the only physician in Fredericksburg. The vestry of St. George's Church paid her for attending the poor who were sick in the parish: "To Mrs. Livingston, for salivating a poor woman, promising to cure her again if she should be sick again in twelve month, 1,000 pounds of tobacco." It was not unusual then for a woman to be a "doctress."
Probably the most interesting place in Fredericksburg to the Washington children was the shop of William Lynn who sold, along with other things, brown and white sugar candy.
The same year that the Washingtons came to live at Ferry Farm, a law was passed that "fairs should be held in Fredericksburg twice a year, for the sale of cattle, provisions, goods, wares, and all kinds of merchandise whatsoever," and "that all persons attending the Fair at Fredericksburg were immune from arrest and execution during the fairs and for two days before and after them."
SCHOOL DAYS
It was Easter, 1743. George Washington was visiting his relatives at Chotank, in King George County. His vacation was interrupted by a messenger from Ferry Farm who told him that he was to return home at once as his father was ill.
Augustine Washington died on April 12, 1743. He was buried in the old family burial ground, near the banks of Bridges Creek, not far from his old home on Popes Creek.
Both of George's older half-brothers were now home; Lawrence was back from Cartagena, and "Austin" had returned from his school in England in June, 1742.
Augustine left Lawrence, his eldest son, the largest part of his estate, including all the property on Little Hunting Creek. "Austin" inherited the Popes Creek Farm. George was left the Ferry Farm and three lots in Fredericksburg. He was to receive his inheritance when he was twenty-one.
There is no definite proof as to where George lived after his father's death, but it seems that he lived at various times, at Ferry Farm with his mother, at Popes Creek with "Austin," and on Little Hunting Creek with Lawrence.
Tradition says that George had a convict-teacher named Hobby who taught him to read, write and "cipher," that he attended a school in Fredericksburg run by Reverend James Marye, and that while he was at Popes Creek with his brother Augustine, he attended Henry Williams's school near Oak Grove. These traditions have not been as yet verified.
It is known that "ciphering" was George's "absorbing interest." Tradition says that when he was attending school in Fredericksburg he usually worked at his figures while the other boys were playing bandy during recess, but one day he was "romping with one of the largest girls; this was so unusual that it excited no little comment among the other lads."
THE INDIANS
At the time of the founding of Jamestown in 1607 Powhatan had more than thirty Indian tribes under his rule. Eight of these tribes lived in the land between the Rappahannock and the Potomac Rivers:
Moraughtacund, on the bank of the Rappahannock River in the territory that was later Richmond and Lancaster Counties. Their main village was at the junction of the Rappahannock and the Morattico Rivers. Population about 300.
Onawmanient (Nominies), in the section later known as Westmoreland County, near Nominy Bay. Population about 375.
Pissaseck, on the bank of the Rappahannock River in the area that was later King George, Westmoreland and Richmond Counties. Its chief village or "Kings howse" was located just above the present Leedstown. A large number of surface artifacts found in late years indicate that it was a large village.
Patawomeke (Potomac), the principal village site, was in latter-day Stafford County at the mouth of Potomac Creek. (It was here that Pocahontas was kidnapped by Captain Argall in 1613.) Population about 750.
Rappahannock (Toppahanock), on the bank of the Rappahannock River, in Richmond County, from a short distance below Totuskey Creek to a point some distance above Rappahannock Creek (later known as Cat Point Creek). This was an important tribe with a rather large village at the mouth of Little Carter Creek. Population about 380.
Secacawoni (Cekacawon), in Northumberland County, along the Coan River near its entrance into the Potomac River. Population about 110.
Wicocomoco (Wighcocomoco), in Northumberland County on the Potomac River, near its entrance into the Chesapeake Bay. Their principal village was on Wicocomico River. Population about 490.
Cuttatawomen, one town by this name was located at the junction of the Corotoman and the Rappahannock Rivers, in what was later known as Lancaster County. Population about 115. The other town was on the Rappahannock at the mouth of Lamb Creek, in what was later King George County. Population about 75.
It is believed that the Yeocomico Indians moved to what is now Westmoreland County in 1634, after they sold their lands in Maryland to Calvert.
At the time of the settlement of the New World it is evident that there were more than two thousand Indians living in the land between the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers. A century later the Indians were extinct along the Rappahannock. And in Northumberland in 1700, according to Beverley: "Wicomico has but few men living which yet keep up their kingdom and retain their fashion; yet live by themselves, separate from all Indians, and from the English."
By 1700, wars, white men's diseases, liquor and a general moral breakdown had caused the disappearance of most of the Indians east of the Blue Ridge. Some had moved westward or southwestward.
There was little left in the Northern Neck to mark the passing of the Indians except their ossuaries, an occasional tomahawk or arrowhead and the musical names of the waters.
THE POW-WOW
Friends and relatives had gathered at the Stratford Hall landing to watch the sloop Margaret start on a trip down the Potomac. It was a May morning, in 1744. The forest was "a-bloom" with dogwood and redbud and the "pyne" was sending its fragrance across the water, just as it had when Captain John Smith traveled this way so many years before.
On board the Margaret, "seven flaming fine gentlemen," headed by Thomas Lee, were about to take off on the first lap of a history-making mission. Indian war drums were sounding. Thomas Lee and William Beverley had been appointed commissioners from Virginia to meet the chiefs of the Six Nations of the Iroquois at Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Amid shouts and laughter and the booming of cannon the sloop headed down the Potomac, in the direction of the Chesapeake.
The Margaret sailed up the Bay toward Maryland and before noon the next day Annapolis had been reached. Here for five days and nights, the party was wined and dined. Philip Ludwell Lee, eighteen-year-old son of Thomas, danced until one in the morning with the pretty girls of Annapolis.
The remainder of the journey was by land. After four more days of travel the party was refreshed near Chester by a big bowl of lemon punch. In Philadelphia they were highly entertained for three weeks. While in that city Lee and Beverley marched in a procession to the market place to hear an official proclamation of a war between England and France. They were solemn now, for their mission was more important than ever. The colonists needed the Indians on their side.
This excursion was turning out to be an important diplomatic mission for the colony. It was to be Britain's first serious answer to French encroachments.
It was late in June when Lee's party finally reached Lancaster, a new and still raw town. The conference convened in the court-house, with Governor George Thomas, of Pennsylvania, presiding. On his right sat Lee and Beverley and on his left were the two commissioners from Maryland. The Indians occupied the space usually allotted to the audience, but the powerful chiefs, like Jonnhaty, Canasatego and Tocanuntie, met the white men as equals. A Pennsylvania Dutchman named Conrad Weiser, acted as interpreter. He was trusted by both sides.
The meeting was opened by the commissioners from Maryland, since they had issued the invitation to the meeting. This was in accordance with a rigid Iroquois custom.
The complaint of the Six Nations was that the white settlers were coming over the "Great Mountains" and moving into the Valley and trespassing on their ancestral lands. "You English have come settling on our lands like a flock of birds," said Canasatego.
The white men explained that when they entered the country west of the Blue Ridge it "was altogether deserted and free for any people to enter upon." To which the Indians replied: "We have the right of conquest, a right too dearly purchased and which cost us too much blood to give up without any reason, at all.... All the world knows we conquered the several nations living on Susquehanna, Cohongaranta and at the back of the Great Mountains."
Thomas Lee, when his turn came to speak, answered this charge by saying that the King of England held Virginia by right of conquest and that the bounds of the conquered land extended west as far as the Great Sea. However, he continued, the "Great King" was willing to pay them for certain lands. He was speaking, he told the Indians, for Assarogoa, Virginia's governor. Coming to the point, Thomas Lee laid down the customary string of wampum and said:
"We have a chest of new goods and the key is in our pockets. You are our brethren; the Great King is our common father, and we will live with you as children ought to do in peace and love. We will brighten the chain and strengthen the Union between us, so that we shall never be divided but remain friends and brethren as long as the sun gives us light."
The Indian spokesman replied: "We are glad to hear that you have brought with you a big chest of new goods, and that you have the key in your pockets. We do not doubt that we shall have a good understanding on all points and come to an agreement with you."
Each oration was ended with belts of wampum and "Jo-hahs." The great Iroquois chieftains no doubt understood what was happening, but the wampum and rum, the gifts of camlet coats and gold-braided hats, the festivities and ceremonial dances which accompanied the conference, must have caused them to shut their eyes to the truth. Or maybe they already saw the handwriting on the wall.
We can visualize the scene—the handsome and elegant Thomas Lee, in his crimson suit and flowing white wig, and the grave and eloquent Indian spokesman, in his equally gorgeous regalia. And the silent Indians, listening and smoking their pipes.
For 200 pounds in cash, and 200 pounds in knives, hatchets, kettles, jew's harps, and other "trucke," the Six Nations, said to have been the fiercest and most courageous of all the Indian tribes, finally put their marks on a piece of parchment which said that the white men could have all the country of their ancestors west of the "Great Mountains"—all the land between the Blue Ridge and the Ohio.
Thus it was that the red men surrendered their heritage to the white men in the town of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on July 2, 1744.
Young George Washington becomes a friend of Lord Fairfax, Proprietor of Northern Neck.
MOUNT VERNON
George Washington probably liked visiting his brother Austin at Popes Creek, for there he was close to the Potomac where he could sail and fish and go ducking, as wild fowl were plentiful there. He no doubt rode and hunted and enjoyed the countryside just like any other Northern Neck boy.
Popes Creek was more luxurious than Ferry Farm. Austin kept a racing stud that he probably raced at the Fredericksburg fairs. His wife owned enough millinery and kid gloves to have been a "rather dashing figure at the races." She had been Anne Aylett, of Westmoreland, a young woman of birth and station.
Although George was not destined to receive an English education, as his father and brothers had, he learned, when he visited his brother Lawrence at Hunting Creek, to move in the society of polished gentlemen.
The old house at Epsewasson, where George had lived as a child, had either burned or Lawrence had torn it down. Lawrence had built a new home and he called it Mount Vernon, in honor of Admiral Vernon, under whom he had served as captain of marines at Cartagena.
Lawrence had married Anne Fairfax, daughter of Colonel William Fairfax, who was a cousin and agent of Lord Fairfax, the proprietor of the Northern Neck. Belvoir, not far from Mount Vernon, was the home of the Fairfax family.
While he was at Mount Vernon, George visited Belvoir and became friends with William Fairfax, the son of the house, who was seven years his senior. At Belvoir, in 1748, he also met Lord Fairfax. They became friends and hunting companions. Lord Fairfax remained at Belvoir, amusing himself with reading, fishing and fox-hunting, until he moved to his own home, Greenway Court, in 1751.
In the spring of 1748 a party of gentlemen were about to start for the South Branch of the Potomac for the purpose of surveying lands for Lord Fairfax. George Washington, then sixteen, and a big lad for his age, was invited to accompany this party.
George was glad of this opportunity for the training it would afford him, and because he enjoyed being in the company of polished gentlemen. He did not go on this expedition as one of the surveyors.
George Washington was not a rich boy but he was accustomed to nice things. When he and his friend, "Mr. Fairfax" (George William) set out upon this new adventure into the wilderness, he was dressed not as a frontiersman but in "some of the clothes of fashion," and he carried a watch.
WASHINGTON WASHED HERE
When George Washington came back from his trip with the surveying party, in June, 1748, he went down into the Northern Neck and visited his cousins at Chotank. He probably visited all of the neighbors near there and told them of his experiences in the wilderness—of the Indians and the frontier families. He probably stayed in the Neck for awhile.
About this time, while he was at Ferry Farm, he decided one day to "wash" in the Rappahannock. At that time in the Neck, and for many years after, to "wash" meant to bathe.
George undressed on the Fredericksburg side of the River. He probably picked a secluded spot and believed that he was alone, for he undressed and went in the water to "wash."
When George came out of the water and started to dress he found that his clothes had been robbed!
George reported the theft to the Sheriff, or Constable. As a result two women servants of Fredericksburg were arrested and locked in jail—
"Ann Carroll and Mary McDaniel, of Friedericksburg, being committed to the gaol of this county by William Hunter, Gent, on suspicion of felony and charged with robbing the cloaths of Mr. George Washington when he was washing in the river some time last summer, the court having heard several evidences are of the opinion that the said Ann Carroll be discharged, and admitted on evidence for Lord the King against the said Mary McDaniel, and upon considering the whole evidence and the prisoners defense, the court are of the opinion that the said Mary Mc Daniel is guilty of petty larcency, whereupon the said Mary desired immediate punishment for the said crime and relied on the mercy of the court, therefore it is ordered that the sheriff carry her to the whipping post and inflict fifteen lashes on her bare back, and then she be discharged."
The case was heard, December 3, 1751, and Ann had turned King's witness and testified against Mary. George was ignorant of the outcome of the trial for he was far away at the time. He had sailed in September to the Barbadoes with his brother Lawrence, who had not been well since his return from the war at Cartagena.
Whether George ever recovered his stolen money or valuables is not known.
THE ORDINARY
At some time between 1750-55 George Fisher of London crossed the Northern Neck on his way from Williamsburg to Philadelphia by horseback. When he returned to England he wrote an account of his trip to America. The following excerpt from his narrative tells of the night he spent at Leedstown, Westmoreland County, a thriving tobacco port of the Rappahannock River. George Fisher writes as follows:
"So taking a feed of Corn with me into the Boat, which my Horse eat in his passage, I crossed the River Rappahannock. In going over the River about Two miles wide, I could see Leids Town on the other side, two or Three miles up the River, the Place I now intended to rest this night in.... I did not arrive till Seven o'clock.... I put up at one Mr. T——ts, esteemed the best Ordinary in Town, and indeed the House and Furniture has as elegant an appearance as any I have seen in the country, Mr. Finnays or Wetherburnes in Williamsburg not excepted. The chairs, Tables, &c. of the Room I was conducted into, was all of Mahogany, & so stuft with fine large glaized copper Plate Prints; That I almost fancied myself in Jeffriess' or some other elegant Print Shops. I had the happiness, at my first Coming in of my Landlord's Company, who understanding I came from the Metroplis (and the Assembly now sitting) gaped after news; he was troubled with gout, for he came limping in upon a stick; When I had answered all his interrogatories, and he had picked what intelligence of me he was able, and I calling at First for a half Pint of wine only, he vanished and I could see him no more; tho' I sent twice (at supper and afterwards) to request the favor of his Company, in hopes of receiving in my turn some useful directions, in the ensuing Day's Journey. His excuse was, first, indisposition, and afterwards he was gone to Bed; tho' the Boy who lighted me to mine assured me he was sitting with his House-keeper, and that not one Person had been in the House since my arrival. By what I could hear and preceive myself this Landlord who bears the name honest Mr. T——, like most of his Trade, proportions his regard to their extravagance, in which respect I was doubtless too contemptible for his notice. The Host—he could tell me nothing of the Rout I was to take, so that I was now quite destitute of intelligence.
"This House stands pleasantly upon the North side of the River, and a tolerable garden seemed to be in as decent order as most I have seen in America. The method of Single men having House-keepers is esteemed here very reputable and genteel. In the morning while my Breakfast and Horse was getting ready, I sought after some instruction for my journey, and as it happened, I found a Person up that kepped a store, who gave me a draught of the road to Hoes Ferry on Potomac River. I have since been informed of my true Route was from Southern on this Rappahannocke River to Lovels Ferry on Potomac River, it being not only a better Road, but I should have saved at least Ten or Twelve miles in the Riding of Thirty, the only objection being that at the Hoes the River is not more than five miles wide; but at Lovels to Cedar Point (in Md.) it is eight or ten, consequently in windy weather the passage is more difficult and unsafe; but at this time of the year no great danger was to be apprehended. The Gentleman's name who delineated the Road for me to Hoes Ferry is Thompson."
NELLY
It was for a special reason that Nelly wanted to go back home. It was not that she was unhappy in her new home for it was beautiful there at the head of the deeply wooded valley with the Blue Ridge towering in the distance. The frame house, which had been built by her husband's father, was modest but comfortable, and there were slaves to do the heavy work. Still, she wanted to go home and her husband humoured his nineteen-year-old wife, and prepared for the journey.
To Nelly home was the low country—the flat lands where the air was damp and the fogs rolled in from the River.
Nelly probably traveled home in a carriage of some sort for the trail led through the virgin forest. The nights were doubtless spent at farmhouses along the way. As they neared Fredericksburg they probably met up with other travelers on horseback, and teamsters with wagons loaded with wheat and tobacco for export.
Fredericksburg was all "a-bustle" at that time with foreign ships lying at the wharves and wagons rumbling along the streets. What a welcome sight the Rappahannock must have been to Nelly! And there was the ferry which would carry her across to her homeland! It was a rope-hauled ferry, pulled back and forth across the River by the ferryman.
Once the River was crossed it was only a ten or twelve mile ride down through King George County to her childhood home on the banks of the Rappahannock. This was the plantation of Nelly's stepfather, John Moore. She had known him as a father as long as she could remember, for her own father, Francis Conway, had died when she was only a year old. Her mother, Rebecca Catlett Conway, had soon married John Moore. Many of Nelly's relatives lived in this region of the Northern Neck. What a happy home-coming it must have been for Nelly.
The chill winds of winter were still blowing across the Rappahannock, but the crocuses were in bloom, when Nelly's baby arrived, on March 16, 1751.
The Northern Neck relatives assembled for the christening. Nelly's cousins, Judith and Elizabeth Catlett, acted as godmothers, and Mary Catlett's husband, Jonathan Gibson, was godfather. The infant was named for his father, James Madison.
The Catletts and Conways and Madisons must have rejoiced at the birth of Nelly's first baby, but they had no reason to think that the birth of little "Jemmy" Madison would some day be a matter of national importance. And little did Nelly dream when she made the long journey home that by so doing the Northern Neck would fall heir to another famous son.
"Little Jemmy" grew up to be one of the foremost figures in the creation of the American nation. He became the fourth President of the United States, and he is remembered as "the Father of the Constitution."
James Madison's birthsite in King George County later became known as Port Conway.
MISS BETSY
In the spring of 1752 George Washington was riding down to Naylor's Hole, in Richmond County. He had his mind set on a certain young lady who lived there, but up to this time she had been uncooperative. George had written to her father, Colonel William Fauntleroy:
"I purpose ... to wait on Miss Betsy, in hopes of a revocation of the former cruel sentence and see if I can meet with any alteration in my favor."
Betsy was just sixteen and she was probably having a good time at her home on the Rappahannock. It was lively there on the River, for the Rappahannock was the main highway for the tobacco trade and her father was interested in ships and trade, and he operated a ferry. When she tired of the River she could always go visiting in her father's imported riding chair, drawn by "two horses abreast." It was a smart "turn-out"; even the whip had her father's name on it.
As George rode through the blossoming forest, which Betsy's ancestor had bought from the Indians a century before, he must have had mingled emotions. There was the pleasure of the expectation of seeing Betsy again, mixed with the uncertainty of the outcome of his suit. Then too, he must have wondered if she would notice the scars on his face. While he had been in the Barbadoes, where he had accompanied his brother Lawrence in his fruitless search for health, George had contracted the smallpox which had left permanent scars on his face.
Tradition says that Betsy did notice the scars. Whatever the reason may have been—George's mission was unsuccessful.
For years historians have tried without success to settle the question—was Betsy Fauntleroy the "Lowland Beauty" to whom Washington made references in his correspondence, or did he have in mind another Northern Neck beauty named Lucy Grymes?
THE PROPRIETOR OF THE NORTHERN NECK
It was an autumn day in the year 1753. A group of men lounged in the sunshine before a rudely constructed log tavern in a Virginia wilderness clearing. Their rough attire of buckskin and homespun and their knives and rifles proclaimed them to be hunters, trappers and settlers.
Suddenly they were aroused by a noise in the forest. The drooping tree boughs came to life and the tall grasses were pushed aside as an amazing spectacle for this frontier setting emerged. With a great rattling of wheels, creaking of leather and clumping of hooves, four shiny horses came forth drawing behind them an English chariot that would very well have graced the streets of London.
The liveried driver drew up before the hitching rack and the footmen descended from behind and opened the door of the chariot. Out stepped a middle-aged man, so tall and so gigantic in frame, that he had difficulty in getting through the opening. He was richly clad in a coat of brown cloth decorated with embroidery and a waistcoat of yellow silk, ornamented with silver thread and flowers. His peruke was carefully powdered and his shirt ruffles were snow-white.
As he issued from the chariot he drew about him the folds of a red velvet cloak, and then bowing his head slightly to the admiring crowd, he entered the tavern.
This man was no stranger to these frontiersmen. Most of them had hunted with him, or eaten at his "broad board," or transacted business with him in his little stone office. But it was rarely that they saw him thus, in the trappings of an English gentleman. They had seen him stab his hunting-knife into a deer's throat, and hold up the brush of a fox at the end of the chase, but then his garments had been weather-beaten and on his head he had worn an otter-skin cap with a buck's tail stuck in it.
But this strange gentleman had no hunting trip in mind to-day. He soon came out of the tavern and the chariot was rumbling away down the forest road, for he was due to preside over a session of the justices' court at the frontier town of Winchester. And although the Shawnee Indians were still not too far distant, this gentleman evidently believed in carrying into the wilds of the New World something of the English idea of the propriety of full dress on occasions of ceremony.
And who was this man who could change so easily from back-woodsman to gentleman? None other than Thomas, sixth Lord Fairfax of Cameron, and sole proprietor of that vast tract of land known as the Northern Neck. This, his inheritance, embraced all lands lying between the headwaters of the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers to the Chesapeake Bay, comprising more than five million acres.
Thomas, sixth Lord Fairfax had inherited, in 1719, the Northern Neck of Virginia, through his mother, Catherine, daughter of Thomas, Lord Culpeper, and wife of Lord Fairfax. It was through this marriage that the grant became known as the Fairfax Proprietary.
In 1673, Thomas, Lord Culpeper had bought out the other grantees and had become the sole proprietor of the original grant. He had cunningly had the terms of the patent changed to the "first heads of springs" of the two rivers, instead of "within the heads" of the two rivers, as originally stated in 1649. The change in these few words changed the size of the tract from one million to more than five million acres. This change in description apparently was not noticed in the colony at the time.
It was in this way that Culpeper's grandson, Thomas, sixth Lord Fairfax, through inheritance became sole proprietor of the Northern Neck.
Lord Fairfax was born in Leeds Castle, England, in 1693. He was educated at Oxford University and developed such a fondness for literature that he wrote a number of papers for the Spectator. But he was unlucky in affairs of the heart—he was jilted at the altar.
After a time the embittered Fairfax decided to take a voyage to Virginia to examine his inheritance. So well pleased was he with his domain that he decided to make it his home. Perhaps the free way of life and new hunting grounds appealed to him. He returned to England, arranged his affairs and voyaged back to his wild new home, in 1748.
Fairfax built a home in the Shenandoah Valley, called Greenway Court, and went there to live in 1751. Tradition says that he planted a white post—one mile distant—as a guide to his dwelling, and thus the town of White Post was later so named.
Lord Fairfax cultivated a large farm at Greenway Court. He had probably one hundred and fifty negro slaves, who lived in huts scattered about in the woods. There was very little cultivated ground around his house because he preferred to leave the land as a natural park. The grounds were encircled by a rude fence, which served also as a hitching rack.
Locust trees shaded the mansion. It was a long stone building with a slender chimney on each end and two belfries between on top of the roof. These bells were probably used to call the servants or as an alarm when Indians were near. There were four dormer-windows and a portico across the front. This building was used by the steward, it was said, while Fairfax lived and died in a single clapboard story-and-a-half house.
Nearby the main house stood a small limestone structure, where quit-rents were given and titles drawn of his lordship's domains. He lived almost wholly from his rents. We can imagine him there, with a court of deer-hounds at his feet. On the table lies a rudely drawn map of the frontier, some folded letters, an inkstand and an eagle's quill pen. Here he delivered the title deeds of nearly all of that portion of Virginia over which he had dominion.
Perhaps, too, it was here that he conversed with his young friend, George Washington, who surveyed part of the immense tract among the valleys of the Alleghany mountains for him. These were divided into lots to enable Fairfax to claim quit-rents and give titles.
In spite of the difference in their ages, Fairfax and Washington had another interest in common—they were both passionately fond of hunting. Tradition says that sometimes they passed weeks together in the pleasures of the chase.
When fox-hunting Lord Fairfax made it a rule that "he who got the fox, cut off his tail, and held it up, should share in the jollification which was to follow, free of expense." An early historian says that "as soon as a fox was started, the young men of the company usually dashed after him with great impetuosity, while Fairfax leisurely waited behind with a favorite servant who was familiar with the water-courses, and of a quick ear, to discover the course of the fox. Following his directions, his lordship would start after the game, and, in most instances, secure the prize, and stick the tail of the fox in his hat in triumph."
It is probable that some of these "jollifications" that followed the hunt were held in a tavern in Winchester, for tradition says that he occasionally held "levees" there. (This building was later used as a stable.)
Sometimes Fairfax entertained in the great room at Greenway Court. This room, according to tradition, was a combination of crudity and refinement. Rough oak furniture, carven mahogany, silver plate, cheap crockery, leather-bound books, fishing nets, portraits, antlers and blunderbuses, all intermingled. But Fairfax was a generous host and the board groaned with ham, beef, fowl, game as well as mellow Jamaica rum. But Fairfax did not drink, and women were never invited to his parties.
When in the humor Fairfax sometimes gave away whole farms to his tenants, simply demanding for rent some trifle like a turkey for his Christmas dinner.
Fairfax lived the life of a bachelor and adopted the rough customs of his new land, but his life was not altogether happy in the New World. Quit-rents were not willingly paid and he was constantly occupied with lawsuits over boundaries. The Indian hostilities retarded the settlement of his domain and therefore lessened his revenue. He was considered eccentric and "a hoarder up of English gold."
In spite of his friendship with George Washington, Fairfax was a Tory to the end. When he heard that Cornwallis had surrendered he told his body servant, "Take me to bed, John, it is time for me to die." He died shortly after, on December 9, 1781.
He was buried at Winchester, under the old Episcopal church, which was on the public square. When this structure was later taken down the bones of Fairfax were removed to a tomb in the crypt of Christ Church in Winchester. At the time of his disinterment, it is said that a large mass of silver was found, which was the mounting of his coffin.
Around 1840 some excavating was done about the grounds at Greenway Court and a large quantity of joes and half-joes were found. These were what was termed cob-coin, of a square form, and dated about 1730. They were supposed to have been secreted there by Lord Fairfax.
Fairfax never married, therefore he left no child to inherit his vast estate. He devised a large portion of his property to a nephew in England. Later the estate passed through several hands and was finally sold.
A few years after the war of the Revolution an attempt was made by the colonists to confiscate the estate. At last a compromise took place between those who had bought it and the Virginia state government.
During and after the Revolution no quit-rents were paid, and in 1785 an act was passed by the Virginia Legislature which abolished the proprietary system in the Northern Neck. The people there were finally free of landlords, after one hundred and twenty-five years.
THE MARSHALLS
John Marshall "of the forest" owned two hundred acres of land in Westmoreland County. "Of the forest" was a term used in the Northern Neck in referring to those whose homes were some distance from the water.
John "of the forest" acquired this land by deed, for five shillings, from William Marshall of King and Queen County. It is probable that this William was the elder brother of John "of the forest" and that they were both sons of Thomas "the carpenter," of Westmoreland. The latter's will was probated in the same county in 1704. (In this will there was mentioned "a heifer ... called White-Belly.")
This land of John "of the forest" was located on Appomattox Creek. It was low marshy land of such inferior quality that the former owners had not bothered with it. Originally it had been a part of twelve hundred acres which had been granted to "Jno. Washington & Thos. Pope, gents.—& by them lost for want of seating."
John "of the forest" married Elizabeth Markham, daughter of the Sheriff of Westmoreland County. To John and Elizabeth were born ten children. They lived simply on their farm until John died in 1752.
Among the items left to Elizabeth by John was "one Gray mair named beauty and side saddle." He also left her the use of his land "during her widowhood and afterwards to fall to my son Thomas Marshall and his heirs forever."
Thomas was twenty-two years old at the time of his father's death. One year later his mother deeded half of the two hundred acres to him.
Thomas Marshall was fortunate in that he was powerful of stature and intelligent. He was of a serious but adventurous nature. He and his neighbor, George Washington, seem to have been friends from boyhood. For about three years Thomas had been Washington's companion when he helped him to survey the western part of the Fairfax domain.
Thomas Marshall left Westmoreland County not long after his father's death to seek his fortune in the frontier country toward the Blue Ridge.
In 1754 Thomas married a well born and well educated girl named Mary Randolph Keith. To this union were born fifteen children, the best known being John, who became the fourth Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.