SETTLEMENT TO INDEPENDENCE

Gloucester County, Virginia

... A TIMELINE OF HISTORY THROUGH THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR

1607	Less than a year after landing at Jamestown, Captain John Smith arrives in Werowocomoco ("meeting place of chiefs"), in what will become Gloucester County. He is a prisoner of Chief Powatan, a powerful leader of Indians throughout eastern Virginia. Smith later asserts that he was saved from execution by the intercessions of Powatan's young daughter, Pocahontas. The location of Werowocomoco is variously ascribed to the present Wicomico region around Shelly or possibly at Purtan Bay (previously "Poetan", which may have derived from "Powatan"). According to legend, the ancient "Powatan's Chimney" in Wicomico is the remains of a house known to have been built by Dutchmen at the direction of Captain Smith as a peace offering to the Indian chief, but archeaological evidence does not support that.
1608	Robert Tindall (Tyndall), part of the first Virginia exploration, maps the Charles River, called the Pamunkey River by the native Indians and later to become the York River. He gives his own name to Tyndall's Point (which will later be named Gloucester Towne and then Gloucester Point) on the north side of a narrowing in the river. [BOW1, MCC1]
1609	An expedition of 30, led by John Ratcliffe, ventures north of the river in an attempt to trade for corn with Powatan. All but two are murdered. [MCC1]
1612	Powatan's village is attacked and burned by Sir Thomas Dale.
1617	Pocahontas (also known by her Indian name Matoaka) dies in March of small pox in Gravesend, England. She had been captured and held prisoner at Jamestown for several months in 1612; while there she met the widower John Rolfe and they were married in 1613. About three years after their marriage they went to live in London, where she was presented at court as the Lady Rebecca. Her husband and son Thomas later return to Virginia.
1618	Powatan dies around age 70 in 1618 or 1619.
1633	The colonial government chooses Tyndall's Point as the location for a tobacco warehouse, but it may or may not have been built.
1634	The colonial government divides the area into counties, including Charles River County which included the area north of Elizabeth City County and south of the Piankatank River -- spanning both sides of the Charles River. The county had a population of 510.
1635	The area is still thought to be too dangerous for settlement, though colonists are indeed settling. Hugh Gwin (Gwynn) applies for a land grant north of the Charles River; it is not granted then but the December 19 court order is referred to in the 1000 acre grant he receives in 1642. [BOW1, GLO2, SIN1]
1637	Robert Throckmorton is believed to have received the first land grant north of the Charles River (variously 1635 [SIN1] or 1637 [BOW1, GLO2]). However, no grants before 1642 can be substantiated with documentation.
1639	George Menefie (Minifee) receives a land grant for 3000 acres on the Charles River between Aberdeen and Timberneck Creeks. This land later became the property of John Mann, then Mary Page. [BOW1, GLO2, MCC1, SIN1]
1640	Argoll Yeardley receives a land grant for 4000 acres at Tyndall's Point. This land would later be subdivided to become the settlement of Gloucester Towne. [GLO2, MCC1]
1642	Hugh Gwin's grant for 1000 acres and Augustine Warner's grant for 600 acres are among the first substantiated land grants in the county. Colonel Warner's grant was on the Severn River at what is now Warner Hall, earlier named Austin's Desire, perhaps the first home built for a Gloucester settler. Warner was the great-great-grandfather of George Washington and his other descendants include Robert E. Lee and Queen Elizabeth II. Other grants include those made to John Bayly, Thomas Curtis, John Jones, Richard Lee, William Leigh, John Robins, and Richard Wyatt, and in the next few years to James Whiting (1643), Thomas Seawell (1646), Lewis Burwell, George Read (1648), Stephen Gill, Richard Kemp, Francis Willis (1649), Peter Richardson, James Roe (1651), John Page and Thomas Todd (1653). [MCC1, SIN1]
1643	Charles River County and the Charles River take the name "York".
1644	Richard Lee and Lewis Burwell are among those colonists settled on the north side of the York River. An Indian massacre on April 18 forces the survivors of the few settlers who had ventured north of the York River back south to Jamestown. Chief Opechancanough, brother of Powatan, leads the Indians but is later captured and killed near West Point. Within two years the Indian threat is wiped out. [GLO3]
1646	A treaty between the colonial government and Opechancanough's successor, Necotowance, permits the Indians to inhabit and hunt on the north side of the York River.
1648	On October 10, the General Assembly determines to open up the north side of the York River for settlement effective September 1 of the next year.
1649	As of September 1, the north side of the York River is proclaimed safe and "no longer unlawful" to settle. It is only at this time that settlement of the area begins in earnest.
1651	Gloucester County is formed from York County and includes the present county area and what is now Mathews County. It is named for the English Duke of Gloucester, and is first referenced in a May 21 document transferring 1500 acres near Rosewell Creek to James Roe et al.
1652	Hugh Gwin and Francis Willis are Gloucester's first representatives to the colony's Assembly. [GRA1, MCC1] Four parishes of the established Anglican Church were formed about this time (or possibly 1655-1656): Abingdon, Petsworth, Ware, and Kingston (later to become Mathews County). The first Abingdon Church was built around 1655 at a location on the water. The first Petsworth Church was built between 1657 and 1660, near Old Purton. The first Ware Church was built before 1660 on the land of Richard Wyatt, Glen Roy plantation, on the Ware River, and served by first rector Alexander Moray. These churches were frame buildings that lasted between 20 and 50 years. [JON1, MCC1]
1663	The "Servant's Plot" is thwarted, in which a group of indentured servants in Gloucester and nearby counties plotted to demand their freedom. The first target was to be Francis Willis, from whom arms would be taken. A servant of John Smith, of Purton, apparently had second thoughts the night before the uprising was to occur. The servant, one Birkenhead, was rewarded with freedom and 200 pounds Sterling, but four of the conspirators were hung after being caught at their gathering place near Poplar Spring. Most of the conspirators discovered the ambush and escaped. [BOW1, MCC1]
1667	A fort is begun at Tyndall's Point in response to the war between Britain and Holland. This same location would be used for battleworks in the Revolutionary War and the War Between the States.
1675	Henry Peasley writes his will in which he leaves approximately 600 acres of land, originally patented in 1650, plus livestock, to Abingdon Church for the establishment and endowment of a free school for the children of Abingdon and Ware parishes. Peasley's free school continues until 1756, when the Abingdon and Ware vestries petition for permission to build separate free schools in more convenient locations. [MCC1]
1676	The rebel Nathaniel Bacon arrives in Gloucester after a campaign aimed against Governor Berkeley. Bacon had raised an army to deal with Indian attacks on the western frontier after Berkeley and the colonial government had not provided any assistance, and was branded a rebel for his troubles and pursued by the Governor. In Gloucester, Bacon's forces occupied the home of Augustine Warner, who along with many of the larger landholders were unsympathetic to Bacon, perhaps because Bacon was spending more time appropriating supplies from the colonists than he was fighting Indians. Bacon found support, however, in Petsworth Parish. The parish warden, Major Thomas Pate, gave sanctuary when Bacon became ill, and when Bacon died Pate arranged a secret burial. To this day, no one knows the location of Nathaniel Bacon's grave. Captain Thomas Hansford of Clay Bank, another Bacon supporter, was hanged after he was captured and convicted of treason. Legend has it that he was the first native-born Virginian to be hanged, but that is unsupported. [GRA1, MCC1] Bacon spoke at Gloucester's first court house, the site for which is thought to be along the North River, perhaps near the Elmington gates. [SIN1]
1677	A second wood frame church is built in Petsworth Parish, this at Poplar Springs. The original church near Old Purton is still maintained. The earliest known parish record book, The Vestry Book of Petsworth Parish, starts in 1677, as did the register of Abingdon Church. [MCC1]
1679	The Kingston Parish church requires repair. Its original construction date is unknown.
1680	Edmund Gwyn deeds six acres for Gloucester Court House, on February 25, in exchange for a monopoly for his ordinary, or tavern, in the area. Construction on the court house was completed by 1684. Drawings of the building exist on a 1754 survey by John Throckmorton and on the Gloucester Token of 1714. [MCC1, SIN1] Bartholomew Austin is hanged in front of Gloucester Court House. He had participated in the destruction of tobacco plants in an effort to drive up prices during a time when tobacco prices were falling. As in many areas of Virginia, tobacco was the primary money crop in Gloucester County.
1681	George Washingon's great-grandfather, Augustine Warner II, bequeaths communion silver to Petsworth Church. There is a story that this silver was that originally given to Chiskiack Church of York-Hampton Parish by Nathaniel Bacon's father, and was "liberated" from that church by Bacon's followers and taken to Warner Hall, home of Augustine Warner. In any case, Warner willed the 1675 silver to Petsworth probably because Abingdon Church already owned a set of communion silver. The silver eventually passed to Ware Church, but only after the flagon was lost when the rector of Petsworth attempted to use it to draw water from the well at Poplar Spring.
1682	John Buckner, the Gloucester Clerk of Court residing at Marlfield in upper Gloucester County, has what was probably the first printing press in Virginia. His indentured servant, William Nuthead, prints the acts of the General Assembly, but without the permission of the government -- getting them both in trouble.
1692	Fairfield, on Carter's Creek, is constructed by Lewis Burwell II between 1692 and 1694, replacing an earlier family home on the site. Point Lookout (John Robins, first home before 1644), Warner Hall (Augustine Warner, before 1674), and Free School House (Peasley, before 1675) in Robin's Neck, White Hall (Francis Willis), Church Hill (Mordecai Cooke), Wareham (John Cooke), Lowland Cottage (Bristow, 1666-1676), Belle Ville (Curtis), Toddsbury (Todd, ca. 1650), Highgate* (John Washington), Paradise* (Richard Lee, before 1672), Mount Prodigal (Hubard) in Adner, Old Purton* (Barnard, ca. 1650), Woodbury* (Thomas Cooke), Timberneck (Mann), and the Abingdon Glebe (1674) are among the contemporary Gloucester homes of the seventeenth century. The original 20'x40' section of Lowland Cottage on the Ware River is one of the earliest frame homes still in use in the Virginia. (* - no longer standing) [SIN1, GLO3] Construction is completed on the second Kingston Parish church (additional work is performed in 1704-1705).
1694	The first Petsworth Parish church is abandoned in 1694 or 1695.
1699	In this year there are one third more tithables in Gloucester than in the next most populous count (a tithable person is any man over 15 or a woman engaged in tobacco production). Gloucester is thought to be one of the richest counties in Virginia. [MCC1]
1714	A brass shilling token, dubbed the Gloucester Token, is struck, probably by Christopher Righault and/or Samuel Dawson. It is perhaps the first coin made in the colonies. On one side it has a representation of the court house built circa 1684 and the words "Gloucester Court House, Virginia", on the other a five-pointed star. [MCC1]
1720	Mann Page I begins construction of Rosewell, perhaps the largest and grandest colonial mansion. He does not live to see its completion, circa 1730. Thomas Jefferson was a frequent visitor; he would cross the York River with his friend John Page when they were students together at the College of William and Mary. Destroyed by fire in 1916, the remnants of the massive brick walls are still impressive. John Clayton (b. 1685) is appointed the county clerk. He continues to serve for 53 years until his death in 1773. Besides being a highly regarded clerk, Clayton is a botanist of worldwide repute.
1723	The third Petsworth Parish church, the second at Poplar Springs, is completed. The present Ware Church is completed sometime between 1690 and around 1723. The vestry had petitioned for a new church at a new site in 1681. The third rector, the Reverend James Clack, is buried just outside the church indicating that this church was at least nearing completion at his death in 1723.
1737	Seawell's Ordinary is a stop midway along the road from Gloucester Towne to Botetourt Towne. Washington, Jefferson, and Lafayette would be among its patrons. Later it will serve as a meeting place for the American and French generals at the end of the Revolutionary War. [SIN1]
1750	Lewis Burwell of Fairfield (Carter's Creek) serves as acting Governor of Virginia until 1752. [BOW1]
1755	The third and present Abingdon Church is completed between 1753 and 1755. It has the form of a Latin Cross, Flemish bond brick walls over two feet thick, and is the largest colonial church in Virginia. The foundation of the second church can be found within the churchyard wall, south of the present church. [GLO2]
1757	Botetourt Lodge No. 7 is issued a warrant for organization, one of the oldest Masonic Lodges in America. An English charter was granted in 1773, a Virginia charter in 1787. It was active from 1757-1820, then reinstated in 1857. The lodge building is outside the court house circle wall. [GLO2]
1766	The third county Court House is built. It remains within an oval brick wall and still sees occasional use each year.
1769	Botetourt Town, later to become Gloucester Courthouse, is named for the Baron de Botetourt, Norborne Berkeley, the Governor of Virginia. This village will soon take over from Gloucester Towne as the county seat.
1770	A new ordinary, or tavern, is built next to the new Gloucester Court House. It would later become the Botetourt Hotel and then county administrative offices and a museum.
1774	On July 14, two half-chests of tea are dumped overboard from the Virginia into the York River, with the approval of local officials in Gloucester and York Counties.
1776	The last of the royal governors, Lord Dunmore, is chased from Virginia after a battle at Gwynn's Island (now in Mathews County). (Dunmore had suceeded the popular Lord Botetourt after the latter's death in 1770, and it was Dunmore who had dissolved the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1773 which resulted in the call for the first Continental Congress by Burgesses Washington, Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and others displaced to Williamsburg's Raleigh Tavern.) The Gloucester County militia laid siege to Dunmore's position from Fort Cricket Hill. Patrick Henry is first Governor of an independent Virginia, and Gloucester's John Page (1743-1808) serves as Virginia's first Lt. Governor. Page would later serve in the Virginia House of Delegates, Congress, and several terms as Governor of Virginia.
1781	Benedict Arnold sends a British raiding party through Gloucester. Later, a British contingent establishes earthen fortifications at Gloucester Town while General Cornwallis occupied Yorktown. The British raid throughout Gloucester until beseiged by American and French forces encamped at Dixon's Mill, near Seawell's Ordinary, and at Ware Church. The last engagement of the Revolutionary War takes place on October 3 just north of Gloucester Point, at "The Hook", when British cavalry commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton fights with French forces and Virginia Militia. The Hungarian Duke de Lauzun's cavalry led the attack against Tarleton on October 3 which forced the British retreat to Gloucester Point. A storm and French blockade of the river prevented Tarleton and General Cornwallis, besieged in Yorktown, from joining forces. On October 19, Cornwallis surrendered to American and French troops in Yorktown, and one hour later across the York River in Gloucester Point Tarleton surrendered to French Brigadier General M. de Choisy, commander of the French and Americans north of the river. That moment ended British rule in what would be the United States of America.
1791	Kingston, the largest of the four parishes, is split from Gloucester to form Mathews County.
1793	Petsworth parish disolves.
later	Gloucester County would become the birthplace of Civil War General William Booth Taliaferro, Dr. Walter Reed (b. 1851), conqueror of Yellow Fever, Thomas Calhoun Walker (1862-1953), a leading black attorney of his day, and General Augustine Warner Robins (b. 1882), for whom Warner Robins AFB in Georgia is named; and the retirement home of Robert Russa Moton, who presided at Hampton Institute and the Tuskegee Institute. The county would see action in the War of 1812 and the War Between the States, and send servicemen to wars around the world.
references	This information comes from a variety of second-hand sources, most named below. Because of the loss of most early county documents, there is often conflict about the details of certain events; I have attempted to place events at the times most often quoted and with some added weight given to the more recent works, but without personal examination of the original sources. The reader is directed to my sources, most of which have excellent bibliographies, for more details.
[BOW1]	Bowman, Clementine Rhodes. Gloucester County, Virginia -- A History. McClure Printing Co., 1982.
[GLO1]	Gloucester County Historical Committee. Gloucester Point's Heritage. pamphlet, 1992.
[GLO2]	Gloucester County Historical Committee. Landmarks. Prestige Press, 1983.
[GLO3]	Gloucester County Historical Committee. ...past is prologue. 1973.
[GLO4]	Gloucester County Historical Committee. Six Periods in the History of Gloucester County. DeHardit Press, 1970.
[GRA1]	Gray, Mary Wiatt. Gloucester County (Virginia). Cottrell & Cooke, 1936.
[JON1]	Jones, Spotswood Hunnicutt. The World of Ware Parish. Dietz Press, 1991.
[MCC1]	McCartney, Martha W. With Reverance for the Past: Gloucester County, Virginia Dietz Press, 2001.
[SIN1]	Sinclair, Caroline Baytop. Gloucester's Past In Pictures The Donning Co., 1991.