[11] Capt. Joist Hite came to Virginia from Pennsylvania in 1732 with his family, settled on the Opequon creek about five miles south of the town of Winchester. The year before he had bought from John and Isaac Van Meter a warrant for nearly 40,000 acres of land in the Shenandoah valley which they had obtained from Governor Gooch of Virginia in 1730. Capt. Hite brought with him from Pennsylvania sixteen families, all of whom settled in the same vicinity on fine arable ground. They were all judges of good lands and devoted to agriculture. The descendants of Hite are quite numerous throughout the southern and south-western states, and many farms in the valley are still held under titles derived from him. Kercheval says, Joist Hite built a stone house on the Opequon shortly after his coming to the valley. It is still standing and has a very ancient appearance though there are no discoverable marks to fix the date. On the wall plate of a frame barn, however, built by Hite, the figures "1747" are plainly marked and can still be read.

[12] "Frederick Town," properly Winchester, is the capital of Frederick county, Va. The latter was formed out of Orange county by Act of Assembly of Virginia in 1738, at the same time that Augusta county was formed. The choice of this site for the capital of the county was determined by the simple fact that a few hardy, adventurous Indian traders, as early as 1732 or even before that date, had built themselves cabins at this point known as the "Big Shawane Springs." These settlers gradually attracted others until a village was developed. This spring or one near it, an example of the great springs which are to be found in most limestone regions, furnishes the town of Winchester, to the present time, with an abundant supply of pure potable water. The site of the town was, all things considered, well chosen, in a fertile region and on the line of travel, whether across the valley to the Alleghany mountains and the waters of the Ohio river beyond, or along the great valley of the Shenandoah. James Wood was the projector of the town of Winchester, which was incorporated in 1752 by the Assembly of Virginia. However, twenty-six lots had been laid out and sold by James Wood prior to this. Lord Fairfax shortly after this date made an addition to the town, and donated the ground for an Episcopal church. Frederick county early took measures to give protection to its settlers by building forts, making roads and establishing ferries. Its productive soil at the same time bountifully rewarded the husbandman for his labor. As the Frederick county courts were held at Winchester, the people adopted the southern habit of calling the place where the courts met by the name of the county, thus it was frequently spoken of as Frederick Town and is so designated in several of the early maps. Fort Loudoun was erected here by direction of the Assembly of Virginia in 1756, under the immediate supervision of Major Washington.

[13] Cate's marsh and Long marsh—these are names of small streams which flow from the foot hill of North mountain to the Shenandoah river and have along their course considerable meadow or marshy land. Long marsh is of sufficient importance to be named upon the maps of Virginia.

[14] For comments on fleas and other vermin see note 4. Washington's "Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour," p. 14, Washington's association with frontiersmen in their primitive cabins, which the position of a surveyor in the then almost unbroken forest necessitated, was to him a new and peculiar experience. His observations and reflections of the first few days are recorded with a naivete which is truly charming.

[15] This probably has reference to some pernicious weeds unfavorable to tillage and injurious to grazing animals, as St. John's wort. Farmers believe that this, and certain other noxious weeds which occasionally invade pasture fields, cause sore mouths and legs in horses and horned cattle and affect the milk of cows grazing where it grows.

[16] This facetious term "game," referring to his misfortune the first night he lodged in the valley, has a touch of humor in it; and while it is true that Washington was not given to punning or indulging in witticisms, he was not deficient in imagination or unappreciative of the exercise of this talent on suitable occasions by others. He knew that good humor minimized most of the petty annoyances of life.

[17] The office and art of the surveyor were held in high esteem by the early settlers. It is, therefore, not surprising that the people for whom surveys were executed, made special efforts to give the surveying parties good dinners, even going so far as to set before them "wine and rum punch." I may add here that there is neither tradition nor record that Washington was ever known to have been indiscreet from youth to age in the use of wine or strong drinks.

[18] Feather beds, a great luxury in former times, have nearly gone out of use among well-to-do people. By the wealthy, as well as by the laborers, they were once a greatly prized comfort and often devised by will as valuable inheritances. Hair, cotton and spring mattresses have displaced them from popular favor, but "clean sheets" belong to the category of comforts in even early times and must be a delight and joy forever.

[19] Cohongoruton—the Indian name by which the Potomac river was known to the Six Nations and other tribes of Indians. From its head-waters, to Point Lookout in the Chesapeake bay, this stream is the dividing line between Maryland and Virginia.

[20] The "Warm Springs," now known as "Bath" or "Berkeley Springs," were already famed, as Washington notes, in 1747. They were deservedly popular for many years, but their remoteness and the difficulty of access to them, with the competition of other resorts more easily reached, prevented their receiving the attention which the value of their waters merited. A settlement sprang up about the springs at an early date, which finally became a prosperous village under the name of Bath, and was made the county seat when, in 1820, the county of Morgan was formed. Washington bought lots here, built a cottage and stables, and passed summers here with his family. His half-brother, Lawrence, spent nearly a year at the springs for the benefit of his health before going to England and later to Barbadoes. The property-right in the springs is in the state of Virginia, and is held for the benefit of the public.

[21] Cresap, Col. Thomas, the founder of the family in America, was born in Skipton, Yorkshire, England, and at the age of about fifteen came to America. Some five years later he resided at Havre-de-Grace, Md., where he married a Miss Johnson. Removing thence to Wright's Ferry, opposite the town of Columbia, where he obtained a Maryland title to a 500 acre tract of land called "Peach Bottom," and built himself a small stone house. The land, however, was on disputed territory, and claimants under the laws of Pennsylvania finally dispossessed him. His next move was to a locality in what is now Washington county, Md., where he located and settled upon a tract of 1,400 acres on the Antietam creek, called "Long Meadows," and began trading with the Indians. After collecting a large lot of furs and skins he shipped them to England but was financially ruined through the capture of the vessel by the French. Unable to repay money he had borrowed from Mr. Dulany, of Maryland, he gave up to him his land, and moved farther west, built a cabin a few miles above the junction of the north and south branches of the Potomac, on the Maryland side, at a place which became known as "Old Town," but which he called Skipton, the name of his Yorkshire birthplace. This frontier spot became his permanent residence, where he eventually owned a large body of land on both sides of the Potomac. From his familiarity with the Indians and their habits and character, he was enabled to carry on with great advantage his trade with them and in time became the most important frontiersman of his day in Maryland. He took part with the Washingtons, Lee, Mason and others in the formation and early operations of "The Ohio Company," and in all matters of dealing with the Indians and prospecting for wild lands was the Company's chief dependence. With the aid of Namacolin, a noted Indian hunter, he laid out the first road over the Alleghany mountains to the head-waters of the Ohio. Gen. Braddock's expedition, and later the National road, followed nearly the same route. The attention attracted to the Ohio region through this Company's explorations, made it increasingly important to both England and France to possess and control the lands beyond the Ohio. This vigilance precipitated the war that drove out the French and secured to England and America the vast dominion known as the Northwest.

Col. Cresap's literary acquirements were small, but he had a vigorous mind, strong common sense, and was not deficient in practical self-education. He was one of the surveyors of Prince George's county which, at that period, embraced all the western part of Maryland. January 1, 1745, he surveyed for Gov. Thomas Bladen "Walnut Bottom" just below the mouth of Wills creek. He frequently represented his county in the Legislature and being noted for his clear understanding, sound judgment, firmness and courage, was esteemed one of the best legislators his county ever had. He was of medium stature, firmly set, of sound constitution, and lived to the uncommon age of 105 or 106. He was twice married, the second time at the age of 80; by his first wife he had five children; three sons, Daniel, Thomas and Michael, and two daughters, Sarah and Elizabeth. Captain Michael Cresap was the person upon whom Thomas Jefferson fixed the stigma of the murder of the relatives of Logan. Jefferson having transmitted the pathetic speech of the Indian chief to the Abbe Raynal as an evidence of the original power of oratory of the aboriginal American, it is claimed more in a spirit of literary conceit than of conviction; however he failed during his life to correct the injustice done Cresap, although he was repeatedly furnished with the evidence exculpating Cresap and fixing the barbarous act on one Great-house. At his home, Col. Cresap dispensed, for his time and means, a generous hospitality to all callers, in a region where, as yet, no public houses were to be found. He kept a big kettle ready suspended to place a fire under, near a spring for the use of the Indians who often passed his place, and for this reason they designated him the "Big Spoon." Lord Baltimore employed him to run a survey of the western line of Maryland, and to ascertain which of the two branches of the Potomac was the largest. His autograph map of this survey is still preserved in the archives of the state of Maryland.

[22] The South Branch of the Potomac, of which the Indian name was Wappotomaka, rises in Pendleton county, West Virginia, among the spurs of the Alleghany and North mountains, and meets the North Branch about 20 miles below Cumberland, Md. The latter branch has been accepted as the dividing line between Maryland and Virginia, although now known to be neither as long nor as large as the South Branch. A line drawn due north from the extreme head-waters of the South Branch would run ten miles to the west of a parallel line from the head springs of the North Branch, thus proving the loss by Maryland of this strip of territory, as well as the region between the two branches, had the South Branch been taken instead of the North Branch as the main river referred to in the Royal Charter, and made the line separating the contiguous colonies. The valley through which the South Branch flows is broad and its lands very fertile, causing them to be much sought after for farms by the hardy pioneers in the early days before the Revolution. It was then familiarly known as the "upper tract" of Virginia.

[23] Scalp—a term applied to the tissues covering the human head, and embracing all the hairy integuments and flattened muscles from the back of the skull to the brow above the eyes. Taking the scalp of an enemy, living or dead, has been held from remote times as a special sign of victory and token of triumph. The North American Indians, particularly during the early colonial wars, took the scalps of their enemies, preserving and exhibiting them with savage pride and occasionally wearing them as decorations and trophies. The assembly of Virginia, in 1755, established a reward of £10 for every scalp of a male Indian above the age of twelve (Hening's Statutes, vol. VI, p. 551). In 1757 this sum was raised to £15, and £30 more for every scalp taken within the next two years (Hening, VII, p. 122). Maryland and Pennsylvania also offered rewards for Indian scalps.

[24] The war dance of the Indians probably had a significance to their minds not understood by civilized man, and was not to them the meaningless custom it seems to us. It has frequently been described and painted by eye-witnesses. In 1857 Virtue, Emmins & Co. copyrighted a very effective engraving of a war dance in the forest, arranged from Washington's description of it in this journal.

[25] Paterson Creek rises in Hampshire county, West Virginia, and empties into the Potomac about twelve miles below Cumberland, Md. On the old maps of Evans, Hutchins and Lewis, the name is given as Pattison. There are large tracts of good, arable land along the valley and bottoms adjacent to this stream. They began to attract settlements a little before the time Fort Cumberland was built. Fort Ashby was also erected to protect settlers along this stream.

[26] Knife and fork at table.—Polished nations have usages which, at first view, appear natural or common to all mankind. This, however, is not the fact. That there was a period in the history of our race when the knife and fork were unknown to the furnishings of the table, cannot well be doubted; and there was even a time when the table itself was not deemed an essential. At the present day the idea of eating a meal at table without the accompaniment of a knife and fork would excite disgust; their absence, however, in a remote Virginia mountain cabin in 1747-8 as here recorded, simply shows that they had not been provided nor deemed essential to the life of a hunter, not an ignorance of their use, as the two-pronged, iron, table fork was in common use at that period throughout the settlements in all the American colonies. It is nevertheless true that the knife and fork now deemed so necessary at table, are a much more modern convenience than is generally supposed. The king of Hungary, Coevinus, toward the close of the fifteenth century, as related by Galeotus Martius, ate his meat with his fingers as did all the guests at table. In Italy, the fork was, to a limited extent, in use at this time among the nobility. In France, at the end of the sixteenth century, forks were comparatively new at court. The use of the table fork is referred to in "Washington's Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour," and in Hawkins' Youths' Companion, the source of these rules printed about 1650. The knife is perhaps one of the most ancient of instruments, it was made of different metals and in a great variety of forms. The table knife was, however, contemporary with the fork. According to Chamberlin it was first made in England, in 1563. The use of the fork at table spread to Europe from Venice, in Italy. In 1608 it was brought to England by Thomas Coryate who, while traveling, observed its use in Italy and continued it himself on his return to England. (See his work entitled "Crudities.") It is rather disappointing that neither the Greeks nor Romans have even a name for the table fork. The flesh fork, called creagra, with a long handle, for cooks to take meat out of a boiling pot, was known and used by the Hebrews and the Greeks. But had the table fork been used by the latter or by the Romans, some specimens would have been found among those extensive ruins which have been so carefully explored by modern investigators. It is known that some articles have been found, the use of which conjecture assigns to the table, but they are not forks and the surmise is not generally credited. The Chinese, who claim to have led the rest of the world in most of the economic inventions, seem to have overlooked the table fork and do not even now use it in cutting or conveying food to the mouth but employ in its stead the "chop sticks" which, it must be said in their praise, they use with skill and dexterity. It should be stated that large bronze forks were used by the Egyptians in presenting offerings to the gods. It is unpleasant to represent the tables of our ancestors of a few centuries back as without forks, yet this certainly was the fact. The silver table fork, which also had its evolution from two to four prongs, was first manufactured in 1662 by Heylin.

The small knife, formerly worn by gentlemen at their girdles, was used by them, not only as a weapon of defense, but also as an article of convenience in cutting their meat. However, the ancient custom of serving food at table was to have a servant cut meats and other food into small morsels before distributing it to guests. The wealthy employed a person whose special duty it was to carve the meats into proper and convenient pieces and his was the only knife in the dining hall. When the fork was first introduced into England, its employment was ridiculed as an effeminate practice, as may be seen in the plays of Beaumont and Fletcher, and others where the persons using it are referred to as "your fork-carving-traveler."

[27] Henry Van Metre or Meter.—There was a numerous family of the Van Meters in Virginia and they were among the earliest settlers in the valley of the Shenandoah, on the South Branch and along the upper Potomac. Kercheval, in his History of the Valley of Virginia, says this family came from New York and New Jersey. It is evident that they were people of energy and thrift, judges of good land. At a period antedating the settlements in the valley, it is stated by this historian that a John Van Meter, a sort of wandering Indian trader, of New York, accompanied the Delaware Indians in a war party against the Catawbas; but the Catawbas anticipating the attack, surprised and defeated the Delawares in a battle fought near where the present court-house of Pendleton stands. John Van Meter escaped and returned to New York, but he was so impressed with the beauty and fertility of the lands on the South Branch bottom in Hardy county, that he advised his sons to secure lands and locate there. Of these sons, Isaac became a man of note and frequently represented Hardy county in the House of Delegates of Virginia. He was a member of the Virginia Convention of 1788 which ratified the Federal Constitution. In 1730, it is a matter of history that John and Isaac Van Metre, brothers, obtained from Gov. Gooch, of Virginia, a warrant for 40,000 acres of land to be located west of the mountains. This warrant, or a part of it, they sold to Joist Hite. A number of tracts on the original warrant were surveyed in the vicinity of Shepherdstown. The name of Van Meter is still frequently met with throughout West Virginia and has its monument in a stream forming the north-western boundary line of Jefferson county and emptying into the Potomac, and named on the maps of Virginia Van Meter's Marsh. A controversy as to the validity of the Van Metre patent was raised in 1738 by Lord Fairfax and taken into the courts for adjudication. Lord Fairfax contending that his grants covered the whole of the western end of the northern neck, while the holders claimed that the governor, under authority from the crown, had disposing power. This conflict as to title was a source of much litigation, and was not finally settled until after the Revolution, when all the parties to the original suits were dead.

[28] Lots.—This term, as used by surveyors, indicates portions, tracts, divisions and subdivisions of land. Each survey, lot or division when plotted is usually indicated by some name or device, as a number, a letter, or a symbol. So that each can then be described and referred to in a deed or an advertisement, and its location and boundaries be accurately and systematically defined and described in a book of land records.

[29] James Rutledge.—Kercheval, in his History of the Valley of Virginia, says that prominent among the earliest settlers on the South Branch, before the arrival of the Van Meters, were the Howards, Coburns, Walkers and Rutledges.

[30] The wild turkey.—This is the largest and finest of our game birds and, although native to North America, it bears a foreign name from the following circumstances. Specimens of the living bird, as well as its eggs, were sent by the early Jesuit missionaries to the old world on Spanish and Portuguese ships, entering Europe through Portugal. It was as yet unnamed, and was at first referred to by writers of that period merely as the "Jesuit bird." As it became known, the demand for the stranger was supplied chiefly from Turkey where, for some reason, it thrived exceedingly well, and in time it came to be familiarly spoken of as "the turkey." Gradually becoming tame, and proving to be quite prolific, it was recognized as a great addition to the luxuries of the table. Speedily becoming a favorite in every country to which it was taken, the great forests and game preserves throughout Europe were gradually stocked with it and it was also raised as a domestic fowl. To-day the American turkey, derived as stated, is found wild in all the great forests of the old world, while the domesticated bird is abundantly raised everywhere in Europe for the markets. In ancient times, we are told, the choicest game fowls brought to a feast were pheasants and peacocks. Emigrants to America brought over with them the domesticated bird to its native land, but under a borrowed name. Washington, in his journal, April 7, 1748, records the fact that one of his men that day had killed a wild turkey weighing 20 pounds. The domesticated bird, when permitted to attain the age of two or three years, and being well fed during the winter months, often reaches the weight of 30 pounds or more. As marking in a degree the devastation of the late war and the enforced abandonment of plantations in the section of Virginia adjacent to the city of Washington, it is a fact worthy of record, that in 1876 the newspapers chronicled the news that the thickets and pine forests which were grown up since the armies left were tenanted by wild deer and turkeys; foxes, etc. And to this day, December 25, 1890, wild turkeys are brought to the Washington market killed in Fairfax county, Va., within ten miles of Washington city.—Gentlemen's Magazine.

[31] Manor line.—In colonial times there were a number of manors, or great landed estates, granted under the then existing laws of England, to persons of note and quality in Virginia and in some of the other provinces. Holders of such estates enjoyed special rights and privileges. Manors were formerly called baronies and entitled the rightful possessor to lordships, and such lord or baron was empowered to hold domestic courts for redressing misdemeanors, nuisances and settling disputes among tenants. Among the manors of limited privileges in Virginia may be enumerated the "manor of Greenway Court," with a domain of 10,000 acres. The great "manor of Leeds," which has figured so extensively in the courts of Virginia, contained 150,000 acres within the counties of Culpeper, Fauquier and Frederick. The "South Branch manor," in Hardy county, embraced 55,000 acres; "Paterson Creek manor," in Hampshire county, 9,000 acres; and "Goony Run manor," adjoining that of Leeds and lying chiefly in Shenandoah county, 13,000 acres. "Beverley's manor," for the most part in Augusta county, consisted of 118,411 acres, and "Fairfax manor," in Hampshire, of 10,000 acres. There were still other manors in different parts of the state. In New York under the Dutch government the baron or proprietor of the manor lands was called the patroon.

[32] Clay lick.—Names of places or streams with the word lick either prefixed or affixed to them, such as "Salt lick," "Blue lick," "Grass lick," "Licking creek," etc., were usually given in consequence of the presence of some saline matter in the springs, streams or soil which attracted the wild animals and caused them to lick for the salt. Hunters in new settlements often built what they called blinds near these licks in which to conceal themselves, and waited there for the game to come, as they were pretty sure to do, almost daily, and at times in considerable numbers, when they could be readily killed.

[33] "Wappacomo," also spelled "Wappatomaka," was the Indian name for the South Branch of the Potomac. This stream courses through a fine valley from its head-springs in Pendleton county, and has many considerable branches rising among the spurs of the Alleghany mountains on the one side and the North or Cacapehon (Capon) mountain on the other, the latter separating it from the valley of Virginia on the east. The great or most noted fork of the South Branch is at Morefield in Hardy county. Washington surveyed much of the land in that section. The young farmers seeking good lands had come in taken up considerable tracts and built improvements before surveys were made or any effort to prove rights from either Lord Fairfax or the governor of Virginia.