Start your family tree. We'll start searching. It's FREE. - Enter a few simple facts about recent generations of your family. We'll use what you enter to try and find more about your family in the world's largest online collection of historical records and family trees.

SEARCH Other States

AL	AZ	AR	CA	CO	CT
DE	FL	GA	ID	IL	IN
IA	KS	KY	LA	MA	MD
ME	MI	MN	MO	MS	MT
NE	NV	NH	NJ	NM	NY
NC	ND	OH	OK	OR	PA
RI	SC	SD	TN	TX	UT
VA	VT	WA	WV	WI	WY

Pittsylvania County History and Information

Pittsylvania County was named in honor of William Pitt, earl of Chatham, a great English statesman. It was formed from Halifax County in 1766. Its area is 1,012 square miles, and the county seat is Chatham. The population is 61,745 according to the 2000 census.

The County is bordered by Campbell County (northeast), Halifax County (east), Caswell County, North Carolina (southeast), Rockingham County, North Carolina (southwest), Henry County (west/southwest), Franklin County (northwest) and Bedford County (north/northwest). See Extended History for More information.

The Official County Website is located at http://www.pittgov.org/ . Cities, Towns and Communities include Chatham, Gretna and Hurt. Although Danville is within the boundaries of Pittsylvania County, it is not a part of the county. Since it is incorporated as a city, it is an independent city under Virginia law.

Microfilm available for Pittsylvania County at The Library of Virginia
Pittsylvania County, Virginia History Books at Amazon.com
Family History Library - The largest collection of free family history, family tree and genealogy records in the world.

Click Here to Search Virginia Court, Land, Wills & Financial Records!
Researchers often overlook the importance of court records, probate records, and land records as a source of family history information.

Pittsylvania County Court Records

Pittsylvania County Vital Records

Pittsylvania County Maps & Atlases

Virginia Antique Maps & Atlases has images of old American atlases during the years 1795, 1814, 1822, 1823, 1836, 1838, 1845, 1856, 1866, 1879 and 1897 for Virginia and other states.

You can view rotating animated maps for Virginia showing all the county boundaries for each census year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries. You can view a list of maps for other states at Census Maps

You can view rotating animated maps for Virginia showing all the county boundary changes for each year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries . You can view a list of maps for other states and State Department of Transportation Maps at County Maps.

Below is a list of online resources for Pittsylvania County Maps. Email us with websites containing Pittsylvania County Maps by clicking the link below:

Click Here to Search Virginia Military Records!
Military and civil service records provide unique facts and insights into the lives of men and women who have served their country at home and abroad.

Pittsylvania County Military Records

Pittsylvania County Tax Records

Pittsylvania County Genealogical Addresses

Pittsylvania County Church & Cemeteries

Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Pittsylvania County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information . Email us with websites containing Pittsylvania County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:

Search 60 Years Of Everton Data : For the first time ever you can get access to more than 150,000 pedigree files and family group sheets from Evertons. Learn More
Search the Family Tree DNA Project- Use DNA testing to break through your genealogical barriers!
Sites on USGenweb: [ Pittsylvania County ] [ Virginia ] [ Main Page ] [ USGenWeb: Pittsylvania County Archives]
[GenForum Message Boards] [Rootsweb Message Boards]
Genealogy Encyclopedia: General Abbreviations, Early Illnesses, Nickname Meanings, Worldwide Epidemics, Early Occupations, Common Terms, Censuses Explained, Free Genealogical Forms
Nichols and Related Families of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virgina.
Virginia Family & Local History Records - The Family & Local Histories Collection lets you read journals, memoirs, and other first-hand historical narratives right on your computer. Gathered from some of the world's finest libraries, these materials may provide hard-to-find town, county, and state information; tax records and wills; military, church, and court records; as well as photographs, stories, and maps.
Genealogical Document Search and Retrieval Service
Pittsylvania County, Virginia Family Books at Amazon.com
Pittsylvania County Family Links

Extended History

At the end of the first hundred years following the landing of the colonists at Jamestown, the settlement of Virginia had not extended westward beyond the head of the Tidewater. However the back country had been explored and was known to the traders. Many maps and outlines of the western wilderness had been drawn up; and when Alexander Spottswood became governor of Virginia in 1710, he made a collection of these crude drawings and studied them. (You will recall the story of Governor Spottswood's trip to the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the golden horseshoe souvenirs which he presented to the gentlemen who accompanied him.)

At this time Virginia became alarmed at the activity of the French in the Mississippi Valley. Their settlements at Kaskaskia and Vincennes in the Illinois country were considered a real threat to the security of Virginia's western frontiers.

In order to encourage her own western settlement, in 1720, two new Virginia counties were established, Spottsylvania in the north, and Brunswick in the south, both extending westward to the mountains. Settlers at once found their way up the Rappahannock Valley, and made their homes in Spottsylvania. But the settlement of Brunswick was slow, for the reason that the streams which water this great area flow south into North Carolina and settlement in Virginia had always led up her water courses which formed convenient highways for travel. The making of roads through the forests, felling giant trees, by hand, was a slow and heavy task. To encourage the settlement of the new counties one thousand pounds of public moneys was set aside for arms and ammunition for the defense of the frontiers, taxes were remitted for a space of ten years. But in spite of these measures so few people moved into Brunswick that twelve years passed before there was a sufficient to organize the county and appoint the customary officers. This was done in 1732.

The slow development of the frontiers caused the government to change its land policy. In the new counties land grants had been limited to 1000 acres per person. Now immense areas were granted to men of influence, with the understanding that they were to bring about their speedy settlement. These lands were sold to the incoming settlers at a neat profit, and comfortable fortunes were amassed.

In 1736, 110,000 acres were granted to Colonel Beverley and others in the Valley of Virginia (now Augusta County) and they too turned to Pennsylvania for settler's, bringing in the Germans and Scotch-Irish. They continued to come year after year, in great waves of migration, pouring in one section awhile, then moving on farther into Southwest Virginia, Tennessee, North and South Carolina.

In 1735, Colonel Byrd, who had twice visited this section, was granted 105,000 acres between Birches Creek and Smith River, in what is now Southern Pittsylvania County, for the purpose of making a settlement of Swiss and other foreign Protestants. Colonel Byrd made every effort to bring in the settlers, writing a book in German called "New Found Eden," telling of Virginia's fine climate and soil. These he distributed through Europe, at the same time sending letters to Pennsylvania, inviting settlement.

The first body of Swiss Emigrants met with disaster; their ship being wrecked in a storm after reaching Virginia waters. The following year Colonel Byrd petitioned for further time for settling his Roanoke lands, saying another body of emigrants was now at sea. In after-years the pages of the deed books are taken up with the sale of these lands.

With attention thus drawn to the frontier, the men of eastern Virginia now began to speculate in Brunswick's western lands. In 1738, Colonel William Randolph secured a grant of 38,000 acres under the Blue Ridge, and Colonel Peter Jefferson secured 15,000 acres touching Randolph's lines. Colonel Archibald Cary and others were granted 35,000 acres on Smith River, and James and Joseph Terry were granted 20,000 acres on Turkey Cock Creek. To various persons were issued grants from one to ten thousand acres, besides the customary 400 acres allotted to each settler. It is the metes and bounds of this great number of land grants, marked out by the surveyors through boundless forests, which constitute the earliest record of the county. These records as found in the Surveyor's Book of Land Grants. (You can go to the Clerk's Office and see this book, which you will find full of interest.)

The colonial government, again taking note of the slow development of Brunswick's western lands, in November, 1783, enacted that "any person who within ten years shall settle upon the Roanoke River, on the south branch (Dan) above the fork; and on the north branch above the mouth of Little Roanoke and all lands lying between shall be exempt from all levies (taxes) for ten years … and that letters of naturalization be granted to any alien settling there, upon taking the oath of parliament."

The Aliens to whom the government was offering inducement to come were the Germans, Quakers and Scotch-Irish of Pennsylvania. Under the leadership of William Penn, Pennsylvania had become a place of refuge for the oppressed peoples of the old world. Thither had fled the Quakers from England, the Germans from the upper Rhine countries; and the Scotch who had settled in north Ireland and were therefore known as Scotch who had settled in north Ireland and were therefore known as the Scotch-Irish. To these wanderers Virginia offered homes and relief from taxes; and they came in great numbers, many crossing the Blue Ridge through the water gaps and making their homes east of the mountains in their Piedmont country.

Who were the hardy souls who dared to go into the wilderness of western Brunswick, and brave the hardships of frontier life, to make their homes? The trees of the forest must be felled to build the homes and clear the farm lands of these first comers. The surveyors' records have preserved their names, and while many have moved on to their sections, it is interesting to note there the names of many families still active in the life of the county.

It is not surprising to find the first settlers of our county to be Quakers from Pennsylvania. In the year of 1738, Isaac, Isaac Junior, and Joseph Cloud, of Chester county, Pennsylvania, made several entries for land along Banister River, where they first made their homes. They later moved westward to what is now Patrick County, then to North Carolina and Tennessee. In 1740, Daniel and Gideon Smith patented lands along with the Clouds, and it was probably from these two hardy hunters that Smith Mountain and Smith River took their names.

John Stewart, another settler of 1783, was probably Scotch-Irish; for in the settlement of his estate in 1776, there were listed nine Bibles and a Confession of Faith. Stewart's Creek of Sandy River indicated the location of his settlement. Peter Wilson made his home on Dan River; this plantation is now known as Dan's Hill. David Logan patented a thousand acres on Elkhorn Creek where his old settlement still stands. Robert Pusey, of a distinguished Quaker family of Chester County, established his home on Otter Creek of Smith River. He was captured by the Indians and held a prisoner for many years. Three members of the Bennett family appear in the western area at this time. So large a number of Pennsylvania Emigrants settled on Mayo River near the foot of the Blue Ridge (Patrick County) that a very early road was ordered to be cleared for their outlet to Lunenburg Court House.

Thomas and Tasker Tosh were two German settlers whose names are preserved in the small village of Toshes.

However, not all the first settlers were from Pennsylvania; there were many from eastern Virginia who, having heard the favorable reports of Brunswick's western lands, left their already settled homes and travelled the rough miles to this upland section. In 1738, Joseph Martin, of Henrico County, patented 800 acres along Staunton River. This is the first mention we have of the upper reaches of the Roanoke River being names the Staunton. Martin made his settlement on Sandy River, and in his will of 1749, divided it among his three sons John, Joseph and Jehu. In 1739, Joseph Echols, of Amelia, had a hunting camp here, and later Richard Echols was patenting lands.

In 1741, John Pigg, of Amelia County, entered for "400 acres on the south fork of Staunton River, beginning opposite the mouth of Snow Creek." The south fork of the Staunton river had not been named at this time and took its name from this early settler, becoming Pigg River. In the same year Benjamin Clement, of Amelia, made an entry on Staunton River where his old settlement "Chesnut Hill" still stands. In 1743, Thomas Calloway, of Caroline, had already made his home here.

In 1744, appear two settlers from Somerset County of the Eastern shore of Maryland, Hugh Henry and John Donelson. The latter made his home on Banister River and for thirty-five years was a leader in the life of the section. He was a county surveyor, first of Halifax and then of Pennsylvania; he was a justice of the peace, presiding over the monthly courts; a member of the Vestry of the Church of England; commanding officer of the military forces of the county; and a member of the House of Burgesses in those critical years leading up to the Revolutionary War. He performed many important commissions for the colonial government and completed the survey of the dividing line between Virginia and North Carolina, taking up where Colonel Byrd left off.

Colonel Donelson's daughter Rachel was the beloved wife of one of our nation's greatest presidents, General Andrew Jackson. His granddaughter, Emily Donelson (daughter of his son Captain John Donelson), presided as mistress of the White House during President Jackson's two administrations, assuming the heavy responsibility at twenty-one years of age.

Between 1745 and 1750, the names of many well-known families appear in the surveyor's records. There we find Major John Coles, whose son Isaac later lived here (the name of his home is preserved in Greenfield Baptist Church); Samuel Harris, of Hanover, who made his home on Strawberry Creek of Sandy River and became a Baptist preacher; James Hunt, whose son David settled here. Daniel Coleman, of Cumberland County, patented lands if these years, to which his family later came. Colonel Peter Jefferson acquired the Pocket plantation on Staunton River. This he sold in 1754, to Mr. John Smith, who made his home there.

Many families of Maryland appear in the early records. Richard Tydings and Dutton Lane, of Baltimore County; Robert and Edward Sweeting; the widow and seven sons of John Stone, of Port Tobacco, Charles County (a brother of Thomas Stone, a Signer of the Declaration of Independence); the John Briscoes; the Purcells of Snow Hill, Worcester County.

From the French Huguenots came the families of Chastain, Witt, Dupuy, Fontaine, Remi, and Lanier.

While eastern Pittsylvania was settled largely by families from eastern Virginia, we may safely say that the first settlers of western Pittsylvania, Henry and Patrick Counties were the Quakers, Germans and Scotch-Irish of Pennsylvania, who continued to come until the end of the century. Herman Cook purchased large tracts of land on Pigg River and Tomahawk Creek and brought in families in the latter part of the century. Young Abram Rohrer, a Swiss, accompanied Cook south; and marrying his daughter, established the Rorer family of the county.

Among the later Pennsylvania emigrants were John Schelhauser, a German, whose name has been Americanized to Shelhorse; and Jacob Berger, whose headstone records that he was born in Germany in 1745.

The emigrants usually left Pennsylvania in the fall of the year after harvest was over, reaching Virginia before hard winter set in. "All were farmers but were artisans as well, making about everything they needed. The Germans were industrious and economical; the Scotch-Irish were alert, ambitious, grasping" (J. de R. Hamilton). They came bringing all that they owned. The prosperous drove big wagons in which were packed all their household goods and farming tools, and in which the women and children rode. The men walked or rode on horseback, driving before them such cattle as they owned. "Some had no wagons, and travelled on horseback, or walked with a pack-horse carrying bedding, a few simple farm implements, cooking utensils, a bag of corn and the Bible. Some lacking even a pack-horse walked all the way, carrying their entire property" (J. de R. Hamilton).

The early settlers attacked the forests in grim earnest, hewing down the trees for clearing, making real homes with gardens and orchards such as they had known in those parts of the colonies where civilization was well established. In 1753, Thomas Calloway and others were ordered to view the improvements made by Ralph Elkins at his house on Leatherwood Creek (Henry County), and there they found twenty-six acres under cultivation, twenty head of cattle, fences, orchards, buildings and other improvements. In 1754, Obadiah Woodson had 304 fruit trees set out on his farm on Snow Creek.

Pioneer life was simple and often crude. The first homes were usually cabins, which were later followed by the story-and-a-half weather-boarded house, often called "mansion house" in the wills of the builders.

Thomas Bouldin was an Irishman from Pennsylvania who, with his wife, made a trip to Virginia in 1745. But he chose a new route; he came by boat down the Chesapeake Bay, and then across country in a wagon to Brunswick's new lands. At first their home was a cabin, but as soon as possible a mansion house was built, and to the housewarming the countryside was invited. An Invitation was posted at the crossroads saying: "All are welcome who choose to come." The dancing and frolicking lasted a day and night, and an oxen roasted whole was one item of the feast. Colonel Bouldin was very soon elected Sheriff of the County.

It is probable that Colonel Byrd's words of praise brought about the early settlement of Dan River Valley. The first road in the county was ordered to be laid out from William Bean's plantation on the river (near Wenonda) to the Court House of Lunenburg. Bean had settled here in 1743, but his was a restless spirit and he was soon looking for far places. In 1768 he sold his lands to Colonel John Payne, of Goochland, Nicholas Perkins and others and moved out to Tennessee. The historian Phelan said of him: "Captain William Bean, of Pittsylvania County, Virginia, advanced farther into the wilderness than anyone who had preceded him, and his son Russell Bean was the first white child born With the erection of his cabin on the Watauga began the history of Tennessee."

Byrd had foretold that happy would be the people who made their homes in Dan Valley. And so it proved to be. In the story of his which the Reverend Bactin Stone (son of John Stone of Port Tobacco) wrote for his family, he said of his youth in Dan Valley: "Contentment appeared to be the lot of all, and happiness dwelt in every breast amidst the abundance of home stores, acquired by honest industry. Benevolence and kindness in supplying the wants of the newcomers, as later immigrants were called, were universal.…Friendship and good feeling universally reigned."

We gather from Stone's recollections that the fertile soil of the valley (which Colonel Byrd noted) had yielded bountiful crops for the early settler who were living surrounded by an abundance of good things. The valley people were warm-hearted and generous, welcoming others who came into their midst. In later years substantial homes were built through the valley, and there are few sections of Virginia today in which can be found so many handsome ante-bellum homes, splendidly preserved.

Two leading patriots of the Revolutionary War had their homes in the valley, Colonel John Wilson, who commanded the military forces of the county, and Colonel Peter Perkins, who commanded a regiment of the Virginia Militia. Colonel Perkins' home, "Berry Hill," was used as a hospital following the battle of Guilford Court House.

With the coming of the settlers, stores were opened here and there across the country, for there were thrifty ones among them who did not miss an opportunity to get on. John Hickey was operating a store in what if now western Henry County when the great road from the Mayo Settlement was opened in 1749; and though the road was probably one hundred and fifty miles in length, it was given the name of Hickey. Peter Copeland, a merchant of Caroline County, operated an early store in this section, as did John Rowland. We know that John Wilson had an early store on Dan River, and John Smith had one on Staunton River, and very probably there were others in each long stretch of valley.

When Peytonsburg became a county seat in 1752, stores were opened there; for in the Revolutionary War the town was also known as Terry's and Wimbish's Stores. When the county seat was moved farther west in 1767, very soon a large and well-stocked store was opened there by Major Samuel Calland. These stores were popular meeting places for the men, where they discussed the political questions of the times, as well as the neighborhood news.

While the building of the roads was a subject of great interest in the new section, the roads remained rough, deep in winter's mud or summer's dust. Little travel was done by the women except to church and to visit in the neighborhood, for theirs was a busy life. Almost everything needful for the household was produced in the home, either by their own hands, or by the slaves working under their careful direction. Looms and spinning wheels were a part of a home's furnishings, and both woolen and cotton goods were woven. The making of dyes was understood, and indigo (blue) was a common garden plant. The home woven cloth was home-dyed, and then made into clothing for the household members.

The candles that were used to light the homes were made by hand from beef tallow. The hides of beef were tanned and made into shoes by a neighborhood shoemaker. Local cabinetmakers also built the plain furniture of the early settlers. It was later, when more settlers from eastern Virginia had come in bringing with them their slaves and household belongings, that life here in the county began to follow the pattern of plantation life in Tidewater Virginia.

The Church of England was the established religion of the colony before the Revolutionary War. With the settlement of Brunswick's western lands, early churches were built and Sunday worship was arranged for the widely scattered new comers. There were churches on Peter's Creek and Spoon Creek of Patrick; on Leatherwood of Henry; on Pigg and Snow Creek of Franklin; and others within the limits of our county. There were also two early Baptist Churches, Dan River and County Line. The Scotch-Irish as a rule were of the Presbyterian faith, but there is no record of their building early churches.

Many of the settlers were within reach of a place of worship, and you can picture the pleasurable excitement of Sunday morning in these early homes. The family must be dressed in their best clothes; chairs would be placed in the stout wagon in which the women and children would ride, while the men folks riding horseback accompanied their families.

Before and after the service there was an opportunity to visit with friends and neighbors, who were all too seldom seen, and exchange bits of family and neighborhood news.

The customs of a rural Virginia church have not greatly changed through the years, and the social gathering before and after church, when neighbor greets neighbor, forms a pleasant part of Sunday worship today.

Early Development

The Colonists who settled Virginia were Englishmen, and remained English at heart though their homes were three thousand miles overseas in the wilderness of the New World. With an inborn love of land and freedom they did not settle in towns, but made their homes in the countryside, along banks of rivers and on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay.

These first Virginians clung to the habits, customs, and moral standards of the country to which they always referred as "home", and named their Virginia plantations after familiar English scenes and English family estates. Some of these plantations, after more than three hundred years, bear their original names, such as Westover, Brandon, Flower De[w] Hundred and Bermuda Hundred.

In spite of a malarial climate and the attacks of the Indians, settlements were soon made from the falls of the James River, down either bank of the river to the Chesapeake Bay, across the Bay on the Eastern Shore and along the York River.

The young colony was granted the right of self government in 1619, and a General Assembly, with the House of Burgesses duly elected by the people, strove to meet the needs of the inhabitants in the laws that they enacted. In the "Statues of the General Assembly of Virginia", published by Henning and so called Henning's Statues, you can read all these early laws. There we find that in 1634 it was ordered that "the country be divided into eight shires (counties) which are to be governed as in England: Henrico, Charles City, James City, Elizabeth city, Warwick, Accomac, Charles River, and Warrosquoyrach. "A Lieutenant to be appointed the same as in England; Sheriffs shall be elected to have the same power as there."

Henrico, James City, and Charles City extended along the banks of James River, but Warrosquoyrach (whose strange Indian name was soon to be changed to Isle of Wight) lay entirely south of the river.

From the beginning Virginia life rested upon the plantation system, with its extensive culture of tobacco and corn. As the number of inhabitants increased, more frontier land was patented and new settlements made. In time the distance from the back settlements to the county court house would become so great as to prove troublesome; then the inhabitants would petition the General Assembly that the county be divided and a new county formed.

In the Act for establishing Brunswick County (1720) the boundaries were not named except to say that they included the Southern Pass, which probably meant the water gap of the Roanoke River where it breaks through the Blue Ridge; they were left to the governor to name at some later time. The Act gives a fair picture of the founding of this great frontier county lying along the North Carolina line. It reads: "To each Christian tithable as shall hereafter go to seat the said county (Brunswick) shall be distributed one firelock, musket, one socket of bayonet fitted thereto, one cartouch box, eight pounds bullets, two pounds powder. These arms are appropriate to the defense of the county, and are to be stamped with the name of the county. If found outside the county to be collected by the militia.…

"…Five hundred pounds to be laid out for a church, courthouse, prison, pillory and stocks, where it shall be fit in the county of Brunswick.…The whole of Brunswick shall be made one parish by the name of Andrew.…The Fourth Thursday shall be the Court Day of Brunswick."

The presence of Indian tribes in Southern Virginia may also have contributed to the slowness of Brunswick's settlement. The Nottoways and the Meherrins were living on the rivers of those names, while the Tuscaroras across in North Carolina hunted in Virginia, and all three tribes were members of the Iroquois race. Our own friendly Saponees were at Fort Christiana.

Before a sufficient number of inhabitants could be assembled to establish a county, a goodly portion of Isle of Wight (original shire 1634) and of Surry (cut from James City 1652) had to be added to Brunswick. As we have seen this was done in 1732, and was followed by a period of great land speculation in the western part, rather than settlement.

William Wynne, one of the justices of Brunswick, patented land along Dan River where the City of Danville now stands, and the falls of the river there took their name from him, being know as Wynn's Falls. He later settled on Dan River.

Fourteen years passed, and in 1746 the back inhabitants petitioned the General Assembly that "whereas divers inconveniences attended the upper inhabitants of Brunswick by reason of their great distance from the Court House" that the county be divided and a new county formed by the name of Lunenburg. The point of the dividing line from Brunswick was to be where the Roanoke River crosses the State Line, extending westward to the mountains. The new county included the present counties of Patrick, Henry, Franklin, Bedford, Campbell, Pittsylvania, Halifax, Mecklenburg, Charlotte, and Prince Edward.

It was now that settlers from Pennsylvania began to arrive in great numbers, making the long trip down the Valley of Virginia, crossing over the mountains and finding homes in western Lunenburg. Now there were court orders for roads to be laid off and cleared from the western settlements to the court house; stores were opened up; and church buildings (of the Church of England) were opened for worship. In 1749 John Boyd was given permission to operate a ferry across Dan River; and Benjamin Clement to build a mill on Sycamore Creek, and James Blevin one on Leatherwood Creek.

In the interest of law and order, Isaac Cloud was appointed Constable for the upper parts of Banister River, and Elisha Walden for Smith River and Wart (Bull) Mountain. (Henry and Patrick).

In the county levy in December 1746, we find the following familiar names in the list of those who were paid for a wolf's head: Gideon Smith, Joseph Echols, Joseph Cloud, Hugh Henry and William Callaway for William Harvey.

So rapidly did the number of inhabitants increase that after six years there was a petition that the county of Lunenburg be divided. But it was not the back inhabitants who complained of the great distance to court; perhaps after their long trip down from Pennsylvania distances did not seem so great. The complaint was made by the inhabitants living in the Fork of Dan and Staunton Rivers (Eastern Halifax) and their difficulty probably lay in crossing the rivers.

The petition was granted and in 1752 Halifax became a county, extending westward to the mountains, with Staunton River and Blackwater Creek forming the northern boundary. The county seat, or place for holding court, was located in what is now eastern Pittsylvania.

The county courts were presided over by justices of the peace, who were appointed by the Governor from among "the most able, honest and judicious citizens of the county", according to an Act of 1661. The justices were drawn from the body of the most capable and respected men of the community, and the office was considered so honorable that as in England it carried no salary.

Another duty of the justices was to take the "lists of tithables", or tax lists, each in his own district. A tax of twenty-one pounds of tobacco was laid upon each tithe, that is on each white male of eighteen years and over, and upon each slave of sixteen years and over. The number of tithables in Halifax the first year was 634, and the tobacco tax of twenty-one pounds amounted to 13,314 pounds, out of which was paid the expense of the county government. Early Halifax justices who lived in that part which later became Pittsylvania were Thomas Calloway, Samuel Harris, Benjamin Clement, Robert Pusey, and Thomas Dillard — all but Dillard being among the first settlers.

The clerk of the county was ordered to buy one dozen volumes of Webb's Virginia Justice that the Magistrates might be instructed in their duties.

As generally happens the place of holding court drew settlers and tradesmen, and in 1759, 100 acres adjoining the court house were laid off into lots and streets for a town and named Peytonsburg. From deeds recording the sale of lots we find the streets were named Spring, Mountain, Forest, and Randolph. There were stores of course, one was operated by John Wimbish and another by the Terrys; and a man named John Martin had a hat where he made men's hats. No doubt there was a tailor's shop too for the colonial gentlemen were particular in their dress.

With a court house and a town in this (Pittsylvania) section, the inhabitants ceased to be isolated and remote from the world of affairs. The monthly court drew lawyers and men of property from other counties, bringing a touch of the outside world; while the traders were to be found in every gathering of people. The county militia was organized, with its monthly musters (drills) to the music of fife and the roll of drum. All of this added interest and color to the life of the section.

Upon this peaceful scene of settlement and development burst the fury of the French and Indian War in 1754. The barbarous cruelties of Indian warfare caused the frontier settlers to forsake their homes and flee, seeking safety elsewhere. This put an end to further western expansion for several years.

But with the return of peace in 1762 the migration of peoples again got under way, and now many of the new settlers came from eastern Virginia. For there was a spirit of restlessness and adventure in the air, causing men to leave their settled homes and to travel the rough roads that led to the new untried lands of the West. When Pittsylvania was their destination we can imagine their satisfaction upon beholding the gently rolling hills, the crystal clear streams, and the rich bottom lands.

With the influx of new settlers, again the General Assembly was petitioned for the division of the county, stating that "whereas many inconveniences attend the inhabitants of the county of Halifax by means of the extent thereof." So it was enacted that Halifax be divided by a line to run from the mouth of Straightstone Creek on Staunton River to the Country Line near the mouth of Country Line Creek on Dan River, and that all that part that lies to the upper of the said line to be one distinct county, to be known by the name of Pittsylvania.

On June 1st, 1767, Pittsylvania became a Virginia county and was named in honor of the great English statesman, William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, who had shown himself to be the friend of the American Colonies. He was opposed to England's Stamp Act, and held that America contributed to England's resources by the monopoly of her trade, for it was to England alone that the colonies could sell.

When the Stamp Act was passed Pitt was sick at home; upon his return to Parliament he denounced the measure, saying: "In my opinion this kingdom has no right to lay tax on the colonies. America is obstinate. I rejoice that America has resisted; three million people so dead to all feeling of liberty, as to voluntarily submit to be slaves, would have been fit instruments to make slaves of the rest."

In February 1766, Pitt succeeded in having the stamp act repealed, in spite of the opposition of the King and his friends. It was in grateful recognition of this service that the new county in Virginia was named Pitt's Woods.

When the dividing line was run between Halifax and Pittsylvania it was found that Peytonsburg lay in Pittsylvania, so here at Halifax Old Court House was held on June 29th the first court of Pittsylvania County. A commission had been received from Governor Fauquier, appointing justices, or judges, to preside over the courts which read as follows: "George the Third, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defendant of the Faith … To Thomas Dillard, Sr., James Roberts, Jr., Hugh Innes, John Donelson, Theophilus Lacy, Thomas Dillard, Jr., Peter Copeland, John Smith, Archibald Gordon, John Dix, George Jefferson, Peter Perkins, John Vanbibber, Harmon Critz, John Wimbish, Robert Chandler, and Benjamin Lankford, Greetings. Know ye that we constituted and assigned you our justices of the peace for our county of Pittsylvania."

Pittsylvania, like the preceding counties, extended westward to the mountains, and at this time embraced within its borders the present counties of Patrick, Henry, and the southern part of Franklin. The justices were drawn from all these sections. Benjamin Lankford was chosen Sheriff, John Donelson, Surveyor, and William Tunstall Clerk of the county.

The lists of the tithables were straightway taken by the justices and numbered 938 whites and 316 slaves, giving a total of 1254 inhabitants not counting the women.

The surveyor was ordered to run a line due west 27 miles from the center of the dividing line between this county and Halifax and the court house to be established at the most convenient place to the end of the line. The plantation of James Roberts was selected, where there are bold springs, the head waters of Sandy River. (A plot of this survey can be seen in the State Library.)

James Roberts agreed to build a court house the same dimensions as Halifax Old Court House; also stocks, pillory, and a prison.

The military force of the county was organized at once. Archibald Gordon, a Scotch Highlander, produced a commission from the Governor appointing him head of this force, County Lieutenant. John Donelson was made Colonel, Thomas Dillard, Lieutenant Colonel, and Theophilus Lacy Major of the County Militia; while more than a dozen men served as Captains of Militia Companies, among whom were George Jefferson, John Wilson, John Pigg, Crispen and Abram Shelton, Elisha Walden, Robert Hairston, Peter Perkins.

At this time there were a number of lawyers living in the county practicing their profession, ready to carry on the legal business of the new county. They were Colonel Haynes Morgan, Captain Hugh Innes, Gideon Marr, William Todd, and Robert Williams. They were men of education and ability, and were leaders in the life of the county.

The interest that always attends the holding of court drew settlers, and two years later (1769) the General Assembly established a town at the county seat. The Act reads: "Whereas James Roberts has laid off fifty acres of land where the Court House of the county now stands, into lots and streets for a town which would be of great advantage to the inhabitants for the reception of traders, be it therefore enacted that the said fifty acres be established a town to be known by the name of Chatham."

Thus the county seat was also named in the honor of William Pitt, who was Earl of Chatham.

The justices of the peace were sensible of the dignity of their positions and resented any light behavior to them. Fines were imposed for such offenses. At August Court 1767, it was ordered: "William Astin having insulted Mr. Justice Innes in the execution of his office, he is fined ten pounds." At a court of November 1774, William Young is ordered to lie in the stocks for one hour for having behaved contemptuously to the court.

The justices represented the power to enforce law, order and good morals, and they did not neglect their duty. Offenders were brought before court for swearing one, two, and three oaths; for getting drunk, selling liquors contrary to law, and for allowing one's slaves to work on the Sabbath Day.

Soon after the establishment of the Court House on Sandy River a young Scotchman, Samuel Calland, opened a store there. He proved to be a man of parts, and his name so overshadowed that chosen for the town that in time it was forgotten that Callands ever bore the name of Chatham.

In 1776 he married a young lady of the county, Miss Elizabeth Smith, of the Pocket Plantation, and made him a home a mile or so distant from the village, near the end of Turkey Cock Mountain. The old residence, still standing, is one of the oldest buildings in the county.

Some of the early account books of Calland's Store have been preserved (at the library of the University of Virginia) and give a fair picture of the life of that day.

At these frontier stores one could purchase finest printed linens, silks, laces, knee and shoe buckles, and fine china, as well as hoes, sugar, and molasses.

On March 25, 1785, the old pioneer and hunter, Captain Elisha Walden, of Holston River, made a call at Calland's Store. He had now moved out to the Tennessee country to live, and it was probably some business matters which brought him back to his old home. There is no doubt but that he was warmly welcomed by old friends, and plied with many questions about life in the wilderness. How were friends faring who had also moved to the Tennessee country? Were lands good? Were they cheap? And so on. The purchases made by Captain Walden that day, "a fine apron, a fine handkerchief", and some black silk were probably gifts for the women of his family.

The matter of roads, the upkeep of old ones and the building of new ones, was the subject of prime importance in the county. Early road orders contain many items of interest. "William Collins is appointed surveyor of the road from Dillard's muster field to Hickey's Road."

This order locates one of the earliest drill grounds in the county, where the militia met once a month to drill and be trained for soldiers. Captain Thomas Dillard lived on Straightstone Creek and Staunton River. This field may be located on the Dividing Line Map where there is a square block in.

In 1774 Thomas Black, James Dillard, and Peyton Smith are to "view a road from Standefer's Track, joining the road that leads from Blackwater to the road from Ross's Quarter (on the Frying Pan) to the Court House." This order locates an early race track in the county. These first citizens of Pittsylvania, whether Virginians from Tidewater or Scotchmen from overseas, brought with them a love of breeding and raising fine horses. The Koulikhan, one of the thirty-nine English (most noted) horses imported into Virginia before the Revolutionary War, at this time was owned by Colonel William Tunstall, clerk of the county, and was standing in a Pittsylvania stable. He was bred to the mares of this section, and furnished some of the fine strain which can be noted in Pittsylvania farm stock today.

One would judge that horse racing was a customary sport from the casual reference made in a letter from Harry Innes to Ralph Smith, of the Pocket in 1782: "Sir, I have sent ye bearer over to know if you will take ye stagg, which I offered you as I was returning from Pittsylvania court. — You may have one, two, or three, for three I will take fifteen dollars, the money I shall be glad to receive at ye race next Friday. Your mo.ob. Harry Innes." Harry Innes was a young lawyer who later went to Kentucky and was active in the public affairs of the new section.

In 1774 it was ordered that a road "be viewed from Colonel Donelson's Iron Works to the mouth of Chestnut Creek." These iron mines, called the Bloomery, were located on Pigg River, and were the earliest iron works in this part of Virginia. When Colonel Donelson moved out to Tennessee in 1779 he sold them for four thousand pounds, and the mines were renamed the Washington.

At the first court held in Franklin County, February 1786, a new road was ordered to be viewed from the home of Colonel Peter Saunders to the Washington Iron Works, showing that the mines were located in Franklin County.

After the storm clouds of the American Revolution had broken upon this peaceful scene of Pittsylvania life, petitions were made to divide the county on account of its great size, setting forth that "the people were so often called together to court house on account of our unhappy disputes with Great Britain." Therefore it was enacted (Henning Statutes, Volume 9, 279) "that the county of Pittsylvania be divided into two counties, by a line beginning at the mouth of Blackwater on Staunton River, running parallel with the line of Halifax County till it strikes the County Line, and all that part of the county which lies to the westward of the said line shall be known by the name of Henry, and that all the other part which lies to the eastward of the said line shall be one other distinct county and retain the name of Pittsylvania."

On January 1, 1777, Pittsylvania assumed its present size. A new commission of peace was received from the governor naming the following men as justices of the peace: John Donelson, James Roberts, Crispen Shelton, Thomas Dillard, Peter Perkins, John Wimbish, Benjamin Lankford, William Witcher, John Owen, Abram Shelton, William Todd, Stephen Coleman, William Short, Reuben Payne, Charles Kennon, George Carter, Daniel Hankins, Joseph Morton, Charles Lynch Adams, John Dix. We miss from this list many familiar names of those who had been foremost in the settlement of the section and the enforcement of the laws. They were no longer inhabitants of Pittsylvania, for their homes lay in the new county of Henry.

The Surveyor, John Donelson, was ordered to run a line from the mouth of Straightstone Creek to the point where the dividing between Henry and Pittsylvania crosses the County Line, and that the center of that line be the place of holding court. The place agreed upon was the land of Jeremiah Worsham on Hickey's Road, "near the Cherrystone Meeting House Spring." In the absence of a court building, the meeting house was repaired and given over to the use of the court, where its sessions were held until the close of the war. This spring and meeting house were situated in a ravine to the north of the present Southern Railroad Station.

All male inhabitants of sixteen years and over were required to take the Oath of Allegiance to the Commonwealth of Virginia. At the July court 1777, the justices of the peace were ordered to take the list of the names of all persons taking the oath before the, and return same to the clerk. These early lists have been preserved.

In the year 1806 a very curious dispute arose regarding the location of the Court buildings. At the close of the Revolutionary War a brick court house had been built, with tall white columns, and to the rear a separate two room brick house for a clerk's office. These buildings were not placed near the springs at the bottom of the hill, but had been built on the top of the hill. Twenty-five years later the question was raised as to the legality of the buildings on the top of the hill. Feeling ran very high and the matter was carried before the General Assembly which decided the question by authorizing, on January 8, 1807, the present site of the court buildings to be the legal place of holding court. At the same time a town was established at Pittsylvania Court House to which the name Competition was given, in view of the dispute. The Act reads: "Be it enacted that eight acres of land, the property of Richard Johnson, adjoining the south end of the court house, shall be laid off into lots of one acre each, with streets and alleys as may be convenient, and be established a town by the name of Competition." The county seat of Pittsylvania bore this name until 1874 when it was officially changed to the more appropriate name of Chatham, which had been first given to that earlier seat on Sandy River. St. George Tucker was clerk of the Assembly at the time, and he wrote upon his blotter "Immortal Pitt How great thy fame When Competition yields to Chatham's name."

In 1791 General George Washington as president of the nation made a tour of the Southern States. He kept a diary of the trip and records that he spent a night in Pittsylvania at Peytonsburg. He wrote: "June 4th Left Mr. Gatewood's at half after six o'clock and between his house and the Ferry (Dix's Ferry on the Dan) passed the line which divided the State of Virginia from North Carolina, and dining at one Wilson's sixteen miles from the Ferry, lodged at Halifax Old Town." Halifax Old Town was Peytonsburg, which was often called simply Old Town, and here the Father of his Country once passed the night in a public tavern.

Richard Venable, a young lawyer then living in the village, records in his diary the bare fact of Washington's arrival without any comment. "Saturday, June 4th, 1791. General Washington came in the Evening. Stayed at Tavern, set out next morning before Sunrise."

It must have been that General Washington's coming was unknown, else the citizens of the county would have made some effort to do honor to the president of their nation when he came among them. General Washington's diary continues: "Sunday June 5, Left the Old Town about four o'clock, breakfasted at one Prid's (after crossing Banister River One and a half miles) about eleven miles from it came to Staunton River about 12 o'clock, where meeting Colonel Isaac Coles (formerly a member of Congress from this district), who pressing me to it, I went to his home about a mile off to dine and halt a day for the refreshment of myself and horses, leaving my servants and them at one of the usually indifferent taverns at the Ferry that they might be no trouble to a private family."

Several years later Colonel Isaac Coles moved to Pittsylvania where he had purchased a large body of land in the Meadows. He represented this district in Congress from 1789 to 1797. Matthew Clay, whose home lay near Chestnut Level succeeded Colonel Coles in Congress, representing the district from 1797 to 1813.

Matthew Clay married in 1788 Miss Mary Williams, a niece of Colonel Robert Williams, for whom Colonel Williams acted as guardian. His annual reports to the court as Mary's guardian reveal a happy Pittsylvania girlhood in these early years : "1783 To Jeduthon Carter for Board and Schooling, To one large sealskin Trunk, To one hunting saddle, To one pair of Silk Shoes, To Gold Locket, Paid Benjamin Walker for entrance to Dancing School, 11 yards Lutestring (a heavy silk of Samuel Calland, one pair of ear ring of Jasper, For cash at Sweet Springs, Expenses at Sweet Springs and returning."

Henry St. George Tucker was one of the ablest and most distinguished lawyers of his day, and was also a large land owner in Pittsylvania. Though he was then practicing law in Richmond, he decided to make his home in Pittsylvania, and settled about seven miles from the Court House. He had married Elizabeth Carter, great niece of General George Washington, and granddaughter of his sister, Mrs. Betty Washington Lewis of Fredericksburg.

Mr. Tucker moved his wife's family with them to Pittsylvania, settling Mr. and Mrs. Carter on the Deerwood Plantation, along Staunton River. It is said that Mrs. Betty Washington Lewis visited both her daughter and her granddaughter in their Pittsylvania homes.

While living here Mr. Tucker represented this district in Congress from 1815 to 1819. Mr. Carter died at Deerwood and there on his flat marble tomb one reads this touching epitaph: "Charles Carter, who departed this life on May 9th 1827. He was loved by those who knew him best. Best loved by those who knew him best." In more recent years to Pittsylvanians have had distinguished political careers, Lady Nancy Astor, and the Hon. Claude A. Swanson.

Lady Astor was born in Danville, the daughter of Colonel Chiswell Dabney Langhorne and his wife Nancy Keen. She was the first woman to sit in Great Britain's House of Parliament (her adopted home), which position she held for many years.

Claude A. Swanson was born in Pittsylvania in 1862, the son of Mr. John Swanson and his wife Catherine Rebecca Pritchett. He represented this district in Congress from 1893 to 1906; served as governor of Virginia from 1906 to 1910, when he sponsored the movement for better schools. He represented Virginia in the U. S. Senate from 1911 to 1933; was U. S. Secretary of Navy from 1933 to 1939, the time of his death.

Transportation and Routes

Early Roads When the early settlers moved into Lunenburg's great western area, roads had to be laid out at once so that these "back inhabitants" could attend court more than a hundred miles to the east.

Dan River Road

Lunenburg's first court was held in 1746, and the following year the first road to be laid out in what is now Pittsylvania was order to be cut from William Bean's plantation on Dan River to the courthouse. A numerous settlement had been made in the Dan Valley at this early date. Peter Wilson was ordered to cut the road from Bean's to Sandy River (near Danville); William Hogan from Sandy River to Double Creek; William Wynn from Banister River to North River at Cargill's. This road led in the same direction of the road that leads today from the Oak Hill Plantation to Danville, where turning northeast it continued across Halifax.

Morgan Bryan Road

In 1748 an historic roadway was cut across Lunenburg's western lands from north to south, but was not done by court order. Morgan Bryan, a Pennsylvania Quaker, had led a body of settlers down into Virginia, along the Shenandoah. In 1748 Bryan decided to move his family to the Yadkin River in North Carolina. He made the journey down the Valley of Virginia, crossing the Blue Ridge Mountains through Maggoty Gap (near Boone's Mill), and continued across what is now Franklin and Henry Counties into North Carolina. With the aid of his sons, three months were required to cut and clear a way for the passage of his wagon. In 1753 the Moravian brethren travelled Bryan's road when they came from Pennsylvania to make their settlement in North Carolina, (now Winston-Salem). They kept a diary of the trip, and noted that after crossing Smith River they came to John Hickey's store. The roadway became known as Morgan Bryan's Road, and was travelled by thousands who made their homes in the Carolinas.

There were three very early roads which led across Pittsylvania from east to west, known as Hickey's Road, the Pigg River Road and the Irish Road. Along these three highways travelled the early settlers, some moving westward from the more thickly settled sections of eastern Virginia; others having travelled down the valley, crossed the mountains and moved eastward.

Hickey's Road

Hickey's Road was ordered to be laid out at a court held for Lunenburg in June 1749, and led from a point on Staunton River to the Mayo Settlements in what is now western Patrick County, a distance of more than a hundred miles. As we have seen the Mayo Settlements were made by Pennsylvania emigrants and became a place of importance in the early life of the section. The road order reads: "It is ordered that a road be laid off and cleared the best and most convenient way from Staunton River to the Mayo Settlement at the Wart (Bull) mountain, and it is ordered that Joseph Mayes and all the male laboring tithables convenient to said road forthwith mark of and lay the most convenient way from Staunton River to Allen's Creek, and keep the same in repair according to law."

Richard Parsons was appointed surveyor from Allen's Creek to Banister River; Joseph Cloud from Smith River to the settlements. This road led from a point on Staunton River in northern Halifax by Mt. Airy, Chalk Level, and Chatham, crossing Banister river near the old Poor Farm, and turning west led across Henry and Patrick Counties. It took its name from John Hickey, whose store and settlement were near its western limits.

Irish Road

The Irish Road led in the same general direction of Hickey's Road, east and west. From early land plats we find it leaving a ford on Banister River near old Pigg's Mill, running thence to Whitmell and on into Henry County, crossing Grassy Creek to the west. It probably took its name from the early Irish settlers.

Pigg River Road

The Pigg River Road led from Elkhorn Creek by Whittles, Green Bay Church, and Red Eye in a northwesterly direction across Pigg River, and serves as a main thoroughfare today. It was later continued across Franklin County to Little River of Floyd County.

Other Roads

When this section became a part of Halifax County in 1752, new roads had to be laid out leading to the new courthouse at Peytonsburg.

In July 1753 another road was ordered to be surveyed from Bean's house on Dan River to the Courthouse, and Peter Wilson was ordered to be surveyor from Russell's Mill to Fall Creek: Samuel Harris from Fall Creek to Sweeting Fork; Ben Terry from the latter to the courthouse.

When Pittsylvania was organized a county in 1767, a road was ordered which remains an important highway today:

"Thomas Watson, Thomas Hardy, and Henry McDaniel are ordered to mark a road from Hickey's Road at Great Cherrystone (Chatham) to the Pigg River Road across Elkhorn."

This would be the road from Chatham to Peytonsburg. In 1776 Henry France was appointed surveyor of the road "from where Morgan Bryan's Road crosses the South Fork of Mayo to the Carolina line."

Turnpikes

As we move into the next century, we find that Pittsylvania had become one of the richest agricultural sections of the state, ranking first in the cultivation of tobacco, growing 6,439,000 pounds; and second in the cultivation of corn (census 1840). The necessity for improved highways over which to move farm products to market was a matter of deep concern.

Franklin Turnpike

In 1837 Pittsylvania, Franklin, and Botetourt Counties petitioned the General Assembly for a dirt turnpike to be built from Danville by Rocky Mount, Big Lick (Roanoke City) to Fincastle, asking that the road from Danville to Rocky Mount be built at $300 per mile. The petition stated that the road would be of great benefit to travellers from south seeking the mineral springs of Virginia, as well as furnishing an outlet for the farm products of Southwest Virginia.

The petition was granted, and the road was built at once, being surveyed by the celebrated French engineer, Crozet. It was known as the Franklin Turnpike and proved to be a great artery of trade. Along its dusty way travelled droves of horses and hogs, herds of cattle and sheep, flocks of turkeys, wagon loads of chickens, apples and farm produce, seeking market.

Stage Road

In 1842 a turnpike from Danville to Lynchburg was chartered, which led by Chatham and Chalk Level, crossing Staunton River at Ward's Bridge. A stage coach plied daily between the two towns and the turnpike was known as the Stage Road.

Rivers

The waterways of Virginia have provided a convenient means for travel from the beginning of its history. The fact that the rivers which drain this section — the Dan, Banister, Staunton, and Roanoke — flow into North Carolina brought about very close trade relations between the two sections. The clearing and opening of the waterways was a matter of so great concern that it was brought before the General Assembly, and in 1796 a committee was appointed from Virginia to confer with the Governor of North Carolina regarding improvement of the navigation of the Roanoke. Men caught a vision of a great waterway of trade, with boats and batteaux [laden] with produced swiftly covering the miles to market. The project offered relief from the weary miles through mud to the markets of Richmond and Petersburg.

The men of Pittsylvania at once set about clearing and opening their rivers. In December 1796 a bill offered in Legislature to improve the navigation of Staunton River from Booker's Ferry to the mouth of Pigg River.

The Roanoke Navigation Company

The Roanoke Navigation Company was formed in 1804 for the improvement of the navigation of the Roanoke River and its tributaries. In order to raise $100,000 to carry out the project, shares in the company were offered for sale. The company flourished for many years, adding greatly to the prosperity of this section. Navigation was opened from Weldon, North Carolina up Staunton River to the mouth of Pigg River; and up the Dan River to Meade, North Carolina. Batteaux carrying from 7,000 to 10,000 pounds plied regularly up Dan and Staunton Rivers propelled by long poles the blowing of the batteau horn gave notice of its approach at the landing places, where hogsheads of tobacco, cargoes of wheat flour, and other produce were awaiting shipment.

The river batteaux were long narrow boats, narrow in proportion to their lengths, and it is said the ideas was suggested by the Indians' custom of lashing their light canoes together with poles when a heavy load was to be carried. Later the long flat scow was used.

The building of a canal through the dismal swamp gave to this section the further advantage of the Norfolk markets, and access to the ocean.

A rock canal with locks was built around the falls at Danville, - and so enduring was the work that the canal is in use today by the cotton mills.

In 1835 the General Assembly passed a bill for improving the navigation of Banister River from Meadeville in Halifax County to Clark's Bridge, six miles east of Chatham. Meadeville and Riceville were river villages which grew up during this period when the waterways were the chief means of transportation. They flourished for a period, with their flour mills and tobacco factories, but when the railroads brought a change of trade centers, they gradually faded away.

Mails

There was no postal system in the American colonies until 1692, when Great Britain appointed Thomas Neale postmaster general of all the American Colonies. The following the House of Burgesses, eager to co-operate with the mother country, enacted that since Mr. Neale was to establish within the colonies "offices for the receiving and dispatching away of letters and packets", he should receive three pence for a letter of one sheet to go no further than eighty miles.

Little more of the system is known until 1730 when Alexander Spottswood of Virginia was made postmaster general of the American colonies. Being a man of action he at once arranged regular mail routes, a postrider being required to cover thirty miles a day. Mail from Philadelphia now reached Williamsburg in one week's time. He appointed Benjamin Franklin, an obscure printer, postmaster of Philadelphia.

In the early years of the Revolutionary War the main mail route from north to south led through the center of the state. Due to the muddiness of the roads, it was moved westward to the hills and led by Peytonsburg and through the Meadows. This route continued in use until well into the last century.

The new congress of the United States in 1792 authorized the president to make contracts for new mail routes and regulate the rate of Postage. This was now fixed at six cents for a single letter to go not farther than thirty miles, and twenty-five cents when the distance exceeded four hundred and fifty miles.

The men of Pittsylvania kept fully informed regarding the work and laws of their new government, and at once petitioned the General Assembly for a postrider in each county, with cross post roads leading out from the great mail road established by the General government. (As we have seen the great mail road led through this county.) The petition set forth the need of the press (newspapers) "how it contributes to the security of the constitution by teaching the people to know and value their rights".

When regular stage routes came into use the stage carried the mails. Porter Flagg had the mail contract from Danville to Lynchburg for many years.

United States stamps were first issued in 1847. During the War between the States in the scarcity of stamps, the postmaster at Pittsylvania Court House, Mr. James P. Johnson, had a county stamp printed, reading "Pittsylvania Court House, James P. Johnson, postmaster," in color red and white. These stamps are now scarce and very valuable, an undamaged stamp selling for more than a thousand dollars.

Transportation

There was no means of public conveyance in Virginia prior to the Revolutionary period. Stage lines had been established between northern cities as early as 1745. A stage was running twice a week between New York and Philadelphia by 1756. In the south travel was accomplished by private means — the wealthy using a coach or chaise, and the man of lesser means his own stout wagon.

But travel was a real hardship, with the roads rough, and inns uncomfortable and "indifferent", as Washington recorded. Most of the travel was done on horseback, by both men and women. In Baltimore there were not more than half a dozen four wheeled carriages in use before 1880; riding on horseback was common even in full dress to entertainments. The divided coattail of men's evening dress has come to us from this practice in Old England.

From early tax lists we find there were a few chaises in Pittsylvania even during the Revolutionary period. Owners of chaises between 1770-1780 were John Smith of the Pocket, John Dix of Dan River, Captain Hugh Innes, William Ware, John Briscoe (Maryland), William Tunstall, the clerk, John Lewis of Byrd.

Stage

It is not known when the stage route between Danville and Lynchburg was established. Mr. Charles Calloway was proprietor of the Bell Tavern at the Courthouse when he placed a notice in a Danville newspaper (The Recorder) of 1836, stating: "All persons wishing to take a stage north or south are informed that the stage office is kept at the Bell Tavern, where every attention will be given to passengers." Four horses driven at a long gallop were used to the stage, and relay stables were placed at Chatham and Chalk Level where the horses were changed. The approach of the stage was heralded by blowing a horn, and its passing each day was an event of interest.

Modern Railroads

There has been no change or improvement in man's means of transportation from the dawn of history down to the year 1800. He still travelled over water in a boat propelled by oars or sails catching wind currents. On land he rode in a wheeled vehicle drawn by a beast of burden — the horse, oxen, etc. But with the turn of 1800 the power of steam was used to propel a boat, to drive an engine. The idea was rapidly expanded into a railroad, an engine running on a laid track. By 1825 a number of short railways had been built; and then in 1827 was organized in Baltimore the great Baltimore and Ohio Railway System. The railroad has proven its worth.

The use of the new fuel, coal, was of utmost value in driving the new steam engine, and the two together formed the foundation of our industrial development.

The men of Pittsylvania were aware of the advantages of a railroad as a means of transportation for their farm products. Whitmell P. Tunstall, of the Bellegrove plantation, was the leader in a determined movement for a railroad from Richmond to Danville. A railroad convention met in Danville in October 1835. Tunstall, a young lawyer, represented the county in Legislature at this time, and in 1835 introduced a bill to charter the Richmond and Danville Railroad, pointing out that through this railway Richmond markets would receive the trade of all southwest Virginia to the Tennessee line. However, the charter was not won until 1847, and the first train arrived in Danville on June 19, 1856.

At the close of the War Between the States the railroad was in a deplorable condition, tracks torn up and bridges burned. Another son of Pittsylvania now became president, Algernon Sidney Buford, who also proved to be a great leader. During the impoverished years following the War, Colonel Buford extended the trackage to three thousand miles and laid the foundation of the great Southern Railway System.

In 1876 the railroad from Lynchburg to Danville was opened with depots at convenient intervals. So great was the enthusiasm of the people for the railroad as a means for developing this section that by popular subscription branch lines were built to nearby towns, and leased to the Southern. Such a road was built from Rocky Mount to Gretna; another from Stuart and Martinsville to Danville, known as the Danville and Western.

The Atlantic and Danville Railroad, connecting Danville with Portsmouth and Norfolk, was built largely with British capital. It serves today as an important carrier for southern Virginia.

Mails — Newspapers

In the early settlement of Virginia, John Pory was secretary of the Virginia Colony. He was one of the three important writers at that time in English journalism. He sent news-letters from "James City" as early as 1619 to his "Good and gracious lord" in London. The history of newspapers in the United States dates from the news-letter of John Pory of Jamestown. (British Encyclopedia)

The first English newspaper, Weekly news, appeared in 1622. Virginia's first regular newspaper, the Virginia Gazette, was founded by William Parks of Williamsburg in 1736. Files of these Gazettes can be read in the State Library. Danville had many early newspapers, beginning in 1820, lasting for different periods of time. A copy of the Danville Register of August 1851 states that it is Volume 4, making the date of its founding in 1847. In that issue there is a letter from subscribers of the county to the editor, Townley: "Having been subscribers to the Register for many years … we congratulate you upon your success in making the Register such a paper that we consider our file incomplete without it." Butter, coffee and lard were listed at 12 1/2 cents a pound. There was a list of the daily arrivals for the past week at Danville's two hotels, the Exchange and the American.

The Pittsylvania Tribune, the oldest of Chatham's two newspapers, was founded in 1869. The Pittsylvania Star was founded in 1943.

Today mail carriers are the steamship, railway, airplane, and automobile. Rural free delivery brings to your door the daily mail with the daily paper. Through the telegraph, transatlantic telephone and wireless the latest news of the world is brought to you in your paper. Wherever in Virginia your home happens to be, your government has made it possible for you to keep informed upon world-current events through the daily delivery of your mail.

Agriculture, Trade, and Industry

Tobacco in the Colonial Era 1750-1775

The story of agriculture in Pittsylvania is largely the story of tobacco in southern Piedmont, for Pittsylvania has borne a distinguished part in tobacco history. In colonial Virginia tobacco was used for money, therefore it was grown of necessity. The early settler cleared the forests and planted tobacco without delay.
The Plant

Tobacco is a sensitive plant, quickly responding to its surroundings. When grown in the rich loams of Tidewater's low grounds the texture was coarse and the flavor strong. When settlement reached southern Piedmont much of the soil was found to be of a light grey sandy quality. The tobacco grown on this upland soil took on different characteristics, having a more delicate leaf, a sweeter flavor and a brighter color. At this period all tobacco was air-cured, and there were tow standard varieties in cultivation, the Sweet Scented and the Orinoco.
Transportation

The greatest problem facing the tobacco grower of Pittsylvania was the transportation of his crop to James River, some 150 miles distant over rough roads. As you know, it was to England alone that the American colonists could sell their products, and to ensure the best quality of leaf, the London Board of Trade enacted very strict laws regarding the sale of tobacco. Places of inspection and warehouses for storage were located along the Tidewater rivers, to which the planter must carry his tobacco to be weighed, inspected and stored while awaiting shipment. To these warehouses came the British vessels, filling their holds with hogsheads of fragrant leaf. It has been truly said that Virginia's tobacco was a greater treasure to the Mother Country than all the mines of Peru, for she resold the bulk of the crop to European countries with rich returns for herself.
Roads and Rivers

There were three ways by which the Pittsylvania planter conveyed his tobacco to market. First, it was hauled in stout wagons, two hogsheads being considered a load. The London Board fixed the weight of a hogshead, which varied from 1,000 to 1,200 pounds. The wagoning of goods between the James River wharves and southern Piedmont Virginia became a well established business which continued until the coming of the railroads. The hauling charge was so much per pound weight. The charge for carrying one hogshead to Richmond was approximately fifteen and one half dollars.

Secondly, the tobacco was rolled in its own hogshead. This was done by fastening shafts to the heads of the hogsheads, to which one or two horses were hitched, one in front of the other. The shafts extended beyond the rear of the hogshead and were tied together with white oak thongs, to hold them in place. There were contract tobacco rollers, who with their own horses or mules, made a business of delivering tobacco to market.

Thirdly, tobacco was carried down the James River in flat boats called batteaux. In order to send by boat it was first necessary to get the tobacco to Lynch's Ferry where Lynchburg now stands. Much of Pittsylvania's tobacco reached market by this river route.

The contract tobacco carriers, the rivermen, wagoners, and rollers were a hardy lot, living in the open. Some of their songs are still remembered, such as:

"I'm goin' down to Richmond town

I'm goin' down to Richmond town

To carry my tobacco down."

One of the last of the Wagoners was a man named Fletcher who lived between Chatham and Davis' Old Mill. He owned and kept two teams on the road. On John Donelson's map of the Pittsylvania dividing line with Halifax, drawn in 1767, there is marked "the roaling road," leading north to Ward's Ferry over Staunton River, and Ward's Road on the Lynch's Ferry (Clement's History of Pittsylvania, page 98).
Amount Grown

Turning to the business papers of Mr. John Smith, who lived on the Pocket plantation in northern Pittsylvania, we gain some idea of the amount of tobacco grown in the county in the colonial era. In December 1767, the Scotch merchant, Alexander Stewart of James River, with whom Mr. Smith dealt, wrote to him:

"Only two hogsheads of your tobacco received, the other was left forty miles above on account of the roads being so hard frozen the casks were like to give way, wagons will have to come down to bring them in. This worthless taylor of ours has never got your clothes done. Wishing you a merry Christmas."

In 1774 John Smith paid Joseph Cabell $150.00 for the carriage of 27 hogsheads of tobacco from Lynch's Ferry to Westham (Richmond). At another time he wrote Chenault, a river man, "I have sent five hogsheads to the river, will send five more next Tuesday, six more will go next week, and six the week following. Shall keep rolling as fast as I can till I get all my tobacco there whilst the weather permits."
Tobacco From 1800 to 1860

The farmers of Piedmont Virginia began experimenting as early as 1800 with the curing of tobacco by fire instead of air, in order to dry the plant more rapidly. Charcoal fires were used in an effort to do away with the smoke which gave to the leaf a bitter taste. A crude type of flue was tried out by planters in different counties. In 1828 Dr. David Tuck of Halifax County invented a very successful method. He built rock flues such as are used today, opening into sheet iron pipes which extended around both halves of the barn, and emptied into a chimney. It was found that flue curing improved the flavor and brightened the color of the leaf.

In 1829, Mr. Nat Robinson, whose plantation was on White Oak Mountain, sold bright yellow tobacco in Danville, having developed his own system of curing. From this time on White Oak tobacco stood in a class to itself. In 1903 the Tobacconist Record stated, “White Oak tobacco is still far famed.” The gentle rise which is called White Oak Mountain extends diagonally across southern Pittsylvania. It has a light grey soil peculiarly suited to tobacco culture.

In 1839, a man named Slade in Caswell County, North Carolina, accidentally cured a barn of yellow tobacco by suddenly applying charcoal heat. This was greatly advertised. But the art of curing tobacco by heat to a bright yellow color and sweet flavor was developed through years of experiment in Virginia.

It is claimed that the production of a bright yellow tobacco was one of the most stupendous developments in agriculture that the world has ever known (United States census). And from the meager record, it would seen that it was first produced in Pittsylvania. The delicate texture of the leaf, its golden color, fragrance, and sweet flavor won instant approval and created a heavy demand both at home and abroad. Danville became the market for the leaf, and soon assumed a leading place in the tobacco world. This bright sweet tobacco became known as Virginia Leaf, whether it was grown in Pittsylvania or in far off China.

In 1840, Pittsylvania ranked first among Virginia counties in the production of tobacco, growing 6,439,000 pounds.

The Old Belt

The area in which the bright tobacco was grown extended 150 miles along the Virginia and North Carolina state line, including about five counties on either side. On the Virginia side the area included the counties of Pittsylvania, Halifax, Patrick, Henry, and Franklin. The title of the Old Belt was given to this section in which bright tobacco was first grown successfully, which “represents and achievement controlled by soil and curing.”

The Tobacco Factory

The rise of the plantation tobacco factory was another antebellum accomplishment of southern Piedmont Virginia. Before the War Between the States there were a great many plantation factories through out the country side of the Old Belt section. It was before the era of the cigarette, and the manufactured product was chewing and smoking tobacco.

Joseph Martin of Patrick County wrote in 1835: “Nearly ever planter who raises tobacco to any extent is a manufacturer; but there are some who make a business of it, and purchase leaf from their neighbors, at a very liberal price.” The country factory became a part of the plantation system. The country factory became a part of the plantation system. The area drained by the Dan and Staunton Rivers was the largest area for the plantation factory. In 1840 there were 20 factories in the southern part of Pittsylvania County, using 400 slaves (census). In 1850 there were 25 factories in the county. The most famous of these antebellum factories was that of the Graveleys at Leatherwood, Henry County, where today you can see the old brick buildings, vacant and idle, but once the scene of a busy life. The Leatherwood brands of chewing tobacco were world famous for their fine flavor, for the Graveleys used honey for the sweetening.

Tobacco the Last One Hundred Years: 1860-1950

The sale of loose leaf tobacco by auction on a warehouse floor originated in Danville just prior to the Civil War. The practice proved to be very popular and was quickly adopted everywhere, being known as the “Danville System.” Colonel Chiswell Langhorne, the father of Lady Nancy Astor, lived in Danville after the close of the war, and it is said that he set the pattern of the tobacco auctioneer's chant, which was also quickly adopted and followed everywhere. The auction market together with the production of the popular bright tobacco brought recovery to Pittsylvania and Danville from the devastation of war more quickly than was possible in some sections of the state. The census report of 1880 said hat flue cured tobacco in Pittsylvania averaged from $21 to $30 per hundred weight.

The large tobacco firms from the north and west now sent their own buyers to the Danville market in order to secure the golden tobacco, and built their re-drying and storage plants there to take care of their purchases. The demand for Virginia Leaf increased in foreign countries, and great export companies were organized to meet the demand.

Two of these great export companies were founded by Pittsylvania boys from Pittsylvania farms, John E. Hughes, and William T. Clark. There was little ready money in those first decades following Appomattox, and these two young men were penniless when they left home to enter the tobacco world though their fathers had been large slave and land owners. John E. Hughes (1871-1922) died at the early age of 51 years, and amassed an estate of over $3,000,000. By the terms of his will he established the Hughes Memorial Home and School at Design, and made large bequests to the Danville Memorial Hospital.

William T. Clark walked all the way to Lynchburg to find his first job in a tobacco factory. He founded the Clark Export Company of North Carolina.

With the growth and development of the great tobacco companies such as Liggett and Myers of St. Louis, R. J. Reynolds of Winston-Salem, P. Lorillard of New York, and the Dukes of Durham, the whole structure of the tobacco industry changed. The small country factory passed away. The census of 1881 listed 12 factories in Pittsylvania, 3 in Chatham, 4 in the Whitmell neighborhood namely: F. A. Swanson, S. A. Moorman, J. M. McGhee, and H. F. More; five in Bachelor's Hall community namely: B. Barksdale, J. W. Burton, G. W. Martin, the Millner Brother, and J. H. Trotter. The Times Dispatch of 1906 wrote of the country factories “They have passed out of existence, and some of their famous old tobacco makers have moved to the towns and cities. The Spencers and Browns have gone to Martinsville, the Graveleys to Martinsville and Danville, and the Peens to Danville. The closing of the B. B. Graveley factory at Leatherwood closed the history of off-railroad factories.” These plantation firms established wide reputations for their brands of chewing tobacco bearing their names, such as Graveley's Honey Dew among the costly items.

Cigarette Industry

The introduction of the modern cigarette by R. J. Reynolds in 1913, which he named the Camel, has further revolutionized the tobacco industry. The Virginia Leaf with its fine texture and flavor was also in demand by the cigarette manufacturers.

The Pittsylvania planters continue to find a steady demand for their tobacco at home on the Danville market. And Pittsylvania boys have been able to win a place for themselves in the great tobacco companies of today. Lloyd Belt, son of Dr. Singleton Belt of Whitmell, became president of P. Lorillard and Harley Jefferson a vice president. Garnett Cousins, son of Mr. William Cousins of Callands, is today vice president of the British-American Tobacco Company of China.

First Tobacco Test Farm

In 1906 there was established near Chatham the first experiment station where tobacco diseases and fertilizers were studied. The State of Virginia and the Federal Government each gave $5000.00 towards establishing the station, and E. H. Matheson was the first superintendent. The station has proved of untold value in the advice and assistance given to the tobacco growers of this section.

In 1930 there were grown in the United States 750,000,000 pounds of bright yellow tobacco, and of this amount 429,000,000 pounds were exported to foreign countries. Hampton Roads, Virginia has become the chief point in the United States for the export of tobacco. Danville remains the center of bright tobacco. Dibrell Brothers of Danville is one of the oldest and strongest of the export firms.

When government control of tobacco production went into effect in 1929, again tobacco culture changed to meet new conditions.

In 1950 Pittsylvania ranked 9th in tobacco harvested on farms. The following figures are taken from a preliminary census of agriculture for 1950, by United States Department of Commerce.

In 4,690 farms in pittsylvania, 23,014 acres were planted in tobacco, yielding a crop of 33,864,622 pounds. This gave an average yield of 1457 pounds per acre, and an average crop value of $785.00 per acre.

General Agriculture

The county is listed as having 202,000 acres of crop land for agricultural use, planted as follows:

* Tobacco: 23,000 acres
* Corn: 37,000 acres
* Hay: 70,000 acres
* Wheat, oats, etc.: 20,000 acres

The value of the milk, cream, and butter produced in the county is $580,853.

The value of the chickens and eggs produced is $150,000.

The total value of farm production in Pittsylvania County is over $15,000,000; and yet a very small percent of her farm lands are being utilized.

Cattle and Dairy

With the limiting of tobacco acreage the farmers have turned to other activities, and the cattle business and dairying have proven successful. Fine strains of stock have been introduced and the yield of milk greatly increased. The raising of cattle calls for the growing of grasses and other forage crops, and in 1950 some forty thousand acres were sown in grass.

Canneries

Many of the high schools have installed canneries where the meats, fruits, and vegetables of summer are processed for winter's use. These canneries are subsidized by funds obtained from the Local School Board and from the State Department of Education. The canneries are supervised by the teachers of Vocational Agriculture and Vocational Home Economics in the various high school centers. Citizens are able to conserve their meats and vegetables for a very nominal fee.
Trade

Danville Warehouses

We have seen the transportation difficulties of the tobacco growers of Pittsylvania in the earlier years. In an effort to improve conditions twelve leading planters of the county in 1793 petitioned the Legislature for a place of tobacco inspection to be located on Dan River at Wynn's Falls. A charter for a town was granted at the same time which was named Danville. The Dan River Warehouse was built and in operation in 1795, with John Sutherlin and John Dix as inspectors. The first year 200 hogsheads of tobacco were handled.
Inspectors

The duty of the inspectors was to break open the prized hogshead and examine the tobacco. If the leaf proved to be “sound, merchantable, well conditioned and clean of trash,” it was so marked, with its weight, and passed. It was probably due to the opening of the Roanoke River for navigation, providing a new route to market, that brought a demand for more warehouses. In 1818 Pannill's warehouse opened, with a set of inspectors; and in 1819 Claiborne's warehouse went into operation. The Pittsylvania Court of September 1819 allowed Leonard Claiborne and Daniel Sullivan $241.94 for the weights and scales for Claiborne's Warehouse.

Home Manufacture

The Roanoke River route proved to be both expensive and troublesome, for after reaching Weldon, there was the overland haul to Petersburg and Richmond, the chief market towns. In their dilemma the planters turned to home manufacture, for it was easier to transport the small oaken boxes of manufactured plug than the bulky hogshead. The needed loose leaf was purchased from neighbors, and there was small need for the warehouses and inspectors. They were used so little that after 1837 warehouses and inspection were abolished in Danville. If a farmer wished to dispose of a load he drove into town and it was sold on the streets to the manufacturers.

Auction Sales

One day three Danville citizens stood and watched a load of North Carolina tobacco pass through Danville and disappear over the hill on the way Lynchburg to market. For when Danville abolished her market Lynchburg came to the fore. These men decided something must be done, and Neal's Warehouse was opened. A new system of auction sales was inaugurated. The loose tobacco was placed in piles on the warehouse floor, and the buyer could examine the whole pile, and not be limited to a sample leaf from a prized hogshead. The system soon became popular.

With the ending of the War Between the States the tobacco trade again got under way, and warehouses multiplied rapidly. Holland's opened in 1867, Graves in 1868, Planter's in 1869, the Star in 1873, and Cabell's and Public in 1877. With the European demand for our home grown tobacco, (the “Virginia Leaf”) the Danville market turned more and more to the export business. Danville was the earliest and long remained the largest bright loose leaf market in the world. The great tobacco firms bought their choicest stocks there.

Cotton Mills

The great Schoolfield Cotton Mills were located in the county prior to July 1, 1951. The village of Schoolfield has grown up around the mills for the accommodation of the workers. The Schoolfield Mills consolidated with the Riverside Mills in Danville, and today are known as the Dan River Mills. In 1947 the sales of the two mills amounted to $92,000,000 with 12,500 employees. Two textile schools are maintained for the training of mill workers. In 1949 1,479 employees were enrolled in 122 courses of study. Since the annexation decree went into effect on July 1, 1951 these mills are wholly within the city limits of Danville. It is estimated, however, that one third of their employees are residents of Pittsylvania County.

Lumber

The lumber business is an active industry in the county today. There are four large planer mills located in the vicinity of Chatham, the Saunders Company, the Steed and Daniels Company, the Burrus Land and Lumber Company, and the Gibson Company. These four mills have around 55 supporting saw mills, a yearly payroll of nearly a million dollars, and shipped about 32,000,0000 feet of lumber from Chatham in 1950. In addition to the above listed mills there are 75 more saw mills operating in the county. Poplar lumber does not pass through the planer mills, but is carried directly to the furniture factories of Martinsville and Basset. Oak lumber is used for flooring and is shipped out to hardwood firms. A box factory has been established by the Saunders Company at Whittles, employing 50 men.

Flour Mills

Every neighborhood has its local mill for grinding flour and corn. But there are two large milling plants in the county, the Galveston Mills at Gretna and the Jones Milling Company of Dry Fork. Each maintains a number of vans which serve a large trade in neighboring counties and also North Carolina.

Mining

This is one of the oldest industries in the county. The Bloomery Iron mines on Pigg River were successfully operated by Colonel John Donelson before the Revolutionary War. In 1779 the mines were purchased by James Calloway, renamed the Washington Iron Works, and in active operation in early 1800. Iron, barytes, and manganese deposits are found in the northwestern part of the county, especially in the Pittsville community. From time to time the ores have been mined. Mr. Ralph D. Mitchell of Cleveland, Ohio has recently acquired mineral rights in the county, and expects to begin mining operations in the near future.

Pittsylvania's newest industry is the large rayon finishing plant recently erected by the Burlington Mills of North Carolina, situated in the northern part of the county along the Staunton River.

Education

Colonial: 1755-1775

The education of his children was a problem which faced the early settler of Pittsylvania. There was no great system of public schools such as you enjoy today; but education, like food and clothing, was the responsibility of each man for his own family. And wherever his home happened to be in this great new country the early American set about providing some schooling for his children.

The early settlers moved in groups as they migrated from place to place, and no doubt the question of who would teach the children was often discussed. The school house on a Virginia plantation became a familiar sight, and one school and teacher to a neighborhood was the rule. It was customary to build this school in a cleared field, and thus grew up the name of "old field school" in which the majority of early Virginians received their education.

There is mention of several early school houses in the surveyor's records, showing that the schooling of the children was provided for from the first settlement. A school houses is named on Fox Run of Blackwater River (Franklin County) in 1756; one on Captain James Terry's plantation in eastern Pittsylvania in 1760; another on the south branch of the Mayo River in 1766 (Patrick County); one on Potter's Creek of Pigg River, near Toshes, in 1767; others were named on the Nix plantation of Straightstone Creek and at Peytonsburg. Of course there were a great many more near which no surveyor's lines were run, and of which there is no record.

Early Teachers

Mr. William Williams was an early school master at Peytonsburg mentioned in a 1775 tax list. A schoolmaster was included in Mr. Henry France's tax list of 1774 (Patrick County). Early school teachers at the Pocket plantation in northern Pittsylvania were young men from the neighborhood, William Dabney, Robert Townshend, and Justinian Wills. The children from nearby plantations walked or rode to school, while those from a distance were boarded in the same house with the teacher. A letter of Justinian Wills, dated 1773, stated that while he was teaching at the Pocket he taught the children of Colonel Calloway of Bedford, and others. (Note: The business papers of the John Smith family of the Pocket date from 1748 and give a fair picture of early life in Pittsylvania).

Sum Books

Two school books of this early period are in existence today and they are both practice books in Arithmetic called Sum Books. They were made by the private teachers and on is from the Donelson schoolroom on Banister and the other from the Pocket schoolroom on Staunton River. Both are yellowed and torn, with scribblings along the edges, but they are factual reminders of the first school days in Pittsylvania.
Indentures

In colonial Virginia it was customary to use persons under "indentures" for teachers. England was shipping to Virginia persons convicted of political offenses, and for debts. By paying their ship fare the services of these persons could be secured for seven years, after which time they became free men. Mr. Henry Williams of Peytonsburg had a convict school teacher in 1775. When he ran away Mr. Williams advertised for his return in the Virginia Gazette, saying that since he understood the Prussian Manual of Arms he would probably try to pass as a deserter from His Majesty's troops. Being a trained soldier he was no doubt a political offender.

Academies

The system of private teachers and private schools continued in use in Virginia after the Revolutionary War. The academy, private established and operated, was the type of school very popular in Virginia, and there were several hundred in the state prior to 1860. In their need of higher education for their children the citizens of the county in 1801 petitioned the General Assembly for the right to establish two academies. One was located near the town of Danville and was known as Danville Academy. The other stood on Banister River, six miles east of the Courthouse and was known as the Banister Academy. (Note: The trustees of the Banister Academy were Thomas H. Wooding, Edmond Tunstall, Edmond Fitzgerald, William Tunstall, Allen Womack, William Wimbish, Thomas B. Jones, John Adams Jr., Armistead Shelton, John White, Edmond Robertson, Samuel Calland, Joseph Carter, John Smith, James M. Williams, Rawley White.)

Mr. William Turner, Presbyterian minister, was chosen as the first principal. Abner W. Clopton, who became a temperance leader was a student at Banister in 1806. The William Clark family lived nearby at the Pineville plantation. When they took charge of school it was renamed the Pineville Academy and was operating in 1845.

There were academies at Whitmell, Callands, and Museville; and the Clifton Academy in the northwest section of the county took its name from the Berger plantation, which is called Clifton.

A Latin grammar school was opened at Cascade in 1803 under the direction of Mr. James Caldwell. A notice in the Virginia Gazette reads: "He will teach the Latin and Greek languages to perfection; also English he will teach in the various branches. The terms of tuition are sixteen dollars for Latin scholars, and half price for English. Any gentleman wishing to have his sons taught by Mr. Caldwell may have them boarded at the houses of Parmenas Williams or David Rice, subscribers. The price of boarding will be forty dollars per annum."

There were always private schools at the Courthouse for both boys and girls. A building that once stood in the wide field south of the Chatham cemetery was a boy's school. Here the celebrated teacher, Mr. Pike Powers once taught; and here Mr. Sidney Buford taught just before the Civil War. Miss Julia Binners, a cultured English lady, taught a small school for girls from 1845 to 1859, when she died.

Colleges

The glory of virginia was in her university and her colleges. The Southern Literary Messenger boasted in 1840 that only four states surpassed Virginia in colleges, having seven with over a thousand students. Of these seven William and Mary was founded in 1693, Washing College in 1786, (now Washington and Lee), Hampden-Sydney in 1776, Randolph-Macon in 1832, Emory Henry in 1838, Virginia Military Institute in 1839, Richmond College in 1840 (now University of Richmond), and Roanoke College in 1842.

Pittsylvania boys were educated in all these colleges. Young Henry Patrick Shields graduated from Hampden- Sydney in 1786 to become a distinguished judge in the new state of Indiana.

The medical college of the University of Pennsylvania was the nearest point at which Virginia men could get medical training and a great number studied there. In 1833 there were more graduates from Virginia than from any other state. Henry G. Calloway was a student there from 1799 to 1803, and settled at Callands to practice medicine. George Clement studied there 1807-1809. A medical school was established at Hampden-Sydney in 1838, and when removed later to Richmond became the Richmond Medical College.

Girls' Schools

Just before the Civil War there were four excellent private schools for girls in Danville: the Southside Female Institute, of which Mrs. E. E. Nottingham was principal; the Danville Female Academy, of which Dr. George W. Dame, the episcopal minister was principal; the Danville Female College, founded by the Methodist Church; and the Baptist Female Seminary, with Mr. J. J. Averett and Mr. Nathan Penick as associate principals. In recognition of the service of the Averett family, the institution today bears their name, being Averett College. At this time a Mr. McGilvray was conducting a girl's school at the Courthouse.

Public Schools

The early colonist brought with them to Virginia their English ideas and customs regarding education. For the well-to-do there were the private tutor and the private neighborhood school. Poor children were cared for in two ways: bequest of funds were made for the education of the poor generally under the care of the church. There were many of these bequests in Tidewater Virginia. Secondly, there was a system of apprenticeship whereby children were bound out for a certain number of years to a person who would teach them both a trade and the three R's, reading, writing, and arithmetic. Apprenticeship was largely practiced in Virginia.

Democracy

With the establishment of American democracy many of man's ideas had to be re-organized, among them his concept of education. It was realized that the safety of the nation depended upon the ability of the people to think clearly in order to vote wisely. This called for a system of schools in which all children would be educated. Thomas Jefferson proposed a bill in 1779 for the General Diffusion of Knowledge, the first step toward a state school system. The bill was received with enthusiasm but due to the turmoil of the Revolutionary War no action was taken. Had it been, Virginia's system of public schools would have had a brave and early beginning.

A bill for education was not passed by the General Assembly until 1796, and then it had been so changed and altered as to have little force, authority being left to the county courts. In a thinly settled agricultural section like Virginia a strong central authority was needed to make a state system of schools work successfully. This is what Virginia hesitated to install. Jefferson hoped that the people would operate their schools themselves, but they were too far distant from one another for such co-operation.

Virginia was not unlike the other original states in her slowness to make over her institutions along democratic lines. The idea of a state system of public schools open to all children was worked out through years of effort and study.

Obstacles

There were three factors which hindered Virginia in developing her system of schools, which had to be overcome.

First, Virginia was an agricultural state, thinly populated in comparison to an industrial state, her people living at a distance from one another.

Secondly, Virginia was never a unit, owing to geographic divisions. There was Tidewater in the east, divided again by great tidal rivers; there was two mountain ranges, the Blue Ridge and the Alleghany, completely dividing the state; the long valley of Virginia between the mountain ranges; and the great western mountainous region, now West Virginia. All sections lived separated from one another, with different outlooks and different economic interests.

Thirdly, Virginia was the largest slave-owning state in the Union, and these were held chiefly in Tidewater.

In spite of these obstacles there were Virginians who worked tirelessly for a state system of elementary schools. One of them was Charles Mercer of Loudon County.

Literary Fund

In 1810 the General Assembly ordered all lands belonging to the Church of England, such as the glebes (minister's home) to be sold, and the money arising, together with other escheats, to be known as the Literary Fund, and used for the education of the poor. The fund was put in charge of the Second Auditor of the Treasury (then James Brown of Mechlenburg County), and in 1811 amounted to $12,000. Then in 1815 Charles Mercer offered a bill in Legislature that the loans which Virginia has made to the Federal Government to carry on the War of 1812, when repaid, should be applied to the Literary Fund. The bill passed in 1816, and almost overnight the Fund was increased to $450,000; and in a few years had grown to $1,000,000.

Now began a contest of minds as to how to build a state system of education. Thomas Jefferson had conceived of a great university to cap the system, to be located in Albemarle County, near his home. Mercer and others contended for the primary and middle schools, as benefiting the greatest number. The poor, for whom the fund was established, were forgotten. Mr. Jefferson, with his great influence, won the contest of 1817-1818. The sum of $45,000 was set aside for scholarships for the poor; and in the following eight years the total (or sum) of a million dollars was spent founding the university.

The act of 1818 made primary education a gift to paupers. It required a man to publicly declare that he was unable to provide books and schooling for his children. Before he would do this he often let them grow up in ignorance.

School Commissioners

In each county fifteen school commissioners were appointed to handle the county's share in the Literary Fund. At a court held for Pittsylvania County in June 1818, the commissioners were selected according to military districts. From the area of the 42nd Regiment were chosen Stephen Coleman, William H. Shelton, James M. Williams, James Soyars, John Hutchings, Nathaniel Wilson and Joel Estes. From the 101st Regiment: William Clark, Thomas H. Wooding, Charles Clement, William Tunstall, Thomas Shelton, James Hart, Ralph Smith and John Ward.

In 1823 the commissioners were ordered to make annual reports to the auditor, and the first report from Pittsylvania's commissioners reads: "Within the year ending December 31, 1823, there have been in operation in said county schools of all sorts of which fifteen were partly attended by poor children. That from the best information that can be obtained there are in the said county 254 poor children entitled to the benefit of the Fund, on hundred and twelve of whom have been educated for different periods. For the year 1822-1823 have expended $1,014, leaving in the hands of the Treasurer for future use on application $2,827."

The report for the year 1825 gave twenty-two schools which have been attended by poor children, of whom there were three hundred and eighty-one in the county, one hundred and sixty having received schooling.

State Superintendent

By an Act of 1829 the Second Auditor was named Superintendent, with a salary of $800.00 per year. Thus Virginia was given her first Superintendent of Schools. Also by this act a system of district schools was planned, but never worked successfully.

The people were now thoroughly dissatisfied with the state's school policy. There was an ornamental top in the University, a poor primary foundation, and the complete neglect of the middle and higher elementary schools. So Virginians continued to follow their old customs of the private family tutor, private neighborhood school, and the academy.

The new superintendent tried to improve the condition of Virginia schools, and in 1830 began a crusade for better teachers and teaching methods. He wrote many questionnaires to his county commissioners, and in 1834 his Pittsylvanian commissioners replied: "We are gratified to state that the results of some of our labors have terminated in turning out from the primary schools young gentleman who have taken charge of schools and other important departments in science, morals, and religion."

School Books

The Superintendent asked for reports on the text books used in the schools, and in his report of 1845 named the following as being used: Arithmetic: Pike's, Smith's; Grammar: Lindley Murray's, Smith's; Speller: Webster's, Eclectic; Geography: Onley's, Parley's; Readers" The Bible, The New England Reader, The English Reader, Parley's.

The Superintendent was aided in his effort to improve the schools by such able educators as Dr. Jonathan Cushing, president of Hampden-Sydney; Dr. John Holt Rice, editor; Dr. Benjamin Smith of Danville, Mr. Alex. Campbell of Washington County, and others. Dr. Smith made a study of the European school system, and on the invitation of the governor made a report to the Legislature in 1839, on the Prussian Primary School System.

In spite of obstacles Virginia moved forward from 1840-50 toward a state system of schools. There was no protest against public education, only how to administer it.

The census of 1840 gave to Virginia four hundred academies and grammar schools, and 1500 primary schools in a white population of 740,000; who lived largely in the country. The superintendent's report for 1844 gave 3,579 schools both primary and secondary receiving aid from the Literary Fund. Many of these schools were now running nine months of the year.

County Superintendents

The General Assembly in 1846 authorized a school superintendent for each county. Virginia now had the frame work for her future school system, with a state superintendent, a county superintendent, a county board of school commissioners, and a large school fund.

In 1860, on the eve of the War, Virginia had 3,896 public school teachers, 3,776 public school buildings, with 154,000 children in public and private schools. The Literary Fund, together with the $1 capitation tax, amounted to near 2 million dollars.

Modern Public Education

Public education in Virginia was brought to a complete standstill by the Civil War. The Literary Fund was turned to war purposes.

In 1867, a new state constitution was offered to Virginia by the Federal government, known as the Underwood constitution. It required the General Assembly to provide a system of public free schools as early as possible and not later than 1876. There could no longer be lengthy discussion of methods now action was required.

Act of 1870

In July, 1870, the General Assembly passed the bill for establishing public free schools in Virginia. No new system of schools was created, but the old plan was completed by adding three features:

1. a strong central authority under the superintendent;
2. the doing away with all class distinctions;
3. the imposing of an annual tax upon property for the benefit of public schools.

The school system that was worked out provided for:

1. a State Superintendent of Public Instruction, appointed by the General Assembly;
2. a State Board of Education, composed of the governor, attorney-general and state superintendent, who with the Senate named the county superintendents;
3. county superintendents paid chiefly from the Literary Fund;
4. division of counties into school districts, corresponding to magisterial districts;
5. a board of three trustees for each school district;
6. teachers employed by district trustees, certified by superintendent.

State Superintendent

Dr. William H. Ruffner was appointed first State Superintendent, and it is said that he was suggested by General Robert E. Lee. Dr. Ruffner's father, Dr. Henry Ruffner, was a former president of Washington College, and had long been interested in state free schools. Dr. William Ruffner was familiar with the history of public education in Virginia, and saw that he must make the people realize that the proposed school system was their own work, developed through the years, and not that of "carpetbaggers." The circulars and reports which he sent out to the people furnish a history of education in Virginia.

By January 1, 1871, Virginia's system of free public schools was in full operation with 3,000 public schools and 130,000 children in attendance.

Pittsylvania's county superintendent under the new system was Dr. George W. Dame, the Episcopal minister at Danville. At a county court held in August, 1872, the salary of the superintendent was fixed at $350. Dr. Dame reported to Dr. Ruffner, Superintendent, in 1872: "Public sentiment has been rapidly growing in favor of public schools. Two things only are required to make the free schools a decided success, neat, commodious and well furnished school houses."

For the higher education and training of teachers, a state normal school for women was established at Farmville in 1884; men teachers were trained at William and Mary College. For the training of colored people Hampton Institute had been established at the close of the War by both private and public funds. In 1882 the state established the Normal and Industrial Institute at Petersburg for the training of the colored teachers.

Virginians turned with a will to building their new system of schools. But it was not until the turn of the century, with greater economic recovery from the Civil War, that the new era of schools came to the state. With the turn of 1900 came the real beginnings of the high schools and the consolidation of the elementary school.

In 1950 Pittsylvania had ten accredited whit high schools: Brosville, Callands, Chatham, Climax, Dan River, Gretna, Schoolfield, Spring Garden, Renan and Whitmell. The high school enrollment was 2,348; and the elementary enrollment 7,900. There are approximately 322 white teachers.
Colored Schools

There are two colored high schools in this county, the Northside School in Gretna and the Southside High School near Danville. There are 951 colored high school pupils and 4,829 elementary school pupils. There are 142 colored teachers employed at the present time.

Chatham, Gretna, and Danville

Chatham
County Seat, 1777

When Pittsylvania County assumed its present size in 1777, the county seat was located on Hickey's Road, which later developed into the Town of Chatham. Since the change in the location of the court house was made during the Revolutionary War, no court buildings were erected until after the close of the War. In 1782 a white pillared red-brick court house was built facing the present building at the cost of 4,000 pounds of tobacco.

The Town in 1840

Pittsylvania Courthouse was situated in a rich agricultural section, surrounded by large tobacco plantations. The Virginia census of 1840 listed the county as first in the production of tobacco, second in the production of corn, and second in the number of inhabitants, having a population of 26,398.

Young professional men considered it a proper place to seek their fortunes, and doctors and lawyers now settled here. Many were from a distance, such as George and John Gilmer of Albemarle County, James Whittle of Mecklenburg County, Isaac Carrington of Halifax, Dr. Edmund Withers of Campbell and Dr. Benjamin Rives of Buckingham County.

There were three taverns in the town in 1840 for the benefit of the traveling public; the large brick hotel was not built until 1850.

Homes

The homes of the county seat were set back from the highway in large groves of forest oaks and chestnuts, and several built at this early period are still standing. The home of Mr. James Poindexter, a merchant and architect, is now the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Hunt Whitehead; the home built by Dr. Robert Coles in 1832 is now the residence of Mr. R. H. Harris. The county seat and the surrounding plantations formed one large pleasant rural community, in which a simple dignified hospitality was practiced.

After the close of the Revolutionary War, the area of fine horsebreeding in Virginia lay along the upper reaches of the Roanoke River, of which Pittsylvania formed a part. In ante-bellum days there were two race courses laid out near Chatham, one to the north on the present Lynchburg road, and the other on the Bellegrove plantation, called the Tunstall paths. Here races and tournaments were frequently held.

Virginia had played so large a part in the founding of our county that the Nation's (July 4) and Washington's birthdays (February 22) were celebrated with many festivities. Washington's birthday coming in the winter, was observed by holding great balls. For these elegant occasions the cakes and wines were ordered down from Baltimore. The Fourth of July, coming in the summer, was the occasion of great gatherings of the citizens from all over the county. There would be patriotic speeches, bountiful dinners with barbecued meats, horse racing and tournaments, followed by a ball in the evening.
Tobacco Industry

Before the formation of the great tobacco trusts Chatham was a tobacco market. There were three warehouses and three factories located here. In the census of 1861 the three tobacco factories were operated by J. H. Hargrave and Son, J. J. Payne, and A. G. Price; and all manufactured chewing tobacco. In 1889 Hargrave's produced 251,520 pounds of chewing plugs.

Chatham's industries today consist of two flour mills, a tag factory, and several large lumber.
Gretna
Founded 1876

The history of Gretna began with the building of the Virginia Midland Railroad, which was completed in 1876. A railway commission came out from Lynchburg for the purpose of locating depots at the most convenient points. The citizens of the county had been notified, and wherever a group had formed the train came to a stop, the commission got off and heard the citizens put forth their claim for a depot. Upon their return to Lynchburg one member of the party wrote a letter which was published in the Pittsylvania Tribune, expressing their pleasure in the trip, and their amazement at the immense amount of farm produce grown in the northern part of the county. They were also pleased to see so active a lumbering business. Northern Pittsylvania has continued through the years produce an abundance of farm products, for which Gretna is the chief marketing center.
Franklin Junction

The citizens of the county believed so heartily in the railroad as a great aid to their economic life, that by popular subscription they built a branch line to Rocky Mount, Franklin County, which they leased to the Midland Railroad. For this reason the new town took the name of Franklin Junction. After the building of hard surfaced roads the Franklin branch was abolished, and the town then took the name of Gretna.
Sulphur Springs Plantation

The town of Gretna is located on the old Sulphur Springs plantation, once owned by a wealthy old bachelor named John Ward. By the terms of his will, of 1826, he bequeathed his lands, some 10,000 acres, to his two nephews, Dr. Lynch Dillard, and John Ward, Jr. of Edgehill, in the northern part of the county on Staunton River. His seventy slaves he liberated in these brief words: "It is my will that all my slaves now living be free." They were carried to Lawrence County Ohio and settled there.

A large milling plant the Galveston Mills is located here and the population is ________.
Danville

Danville was founded in 1793 as a point of tobacco inspection. It was a good location, situated on Dan River where the great mail route leading north and south forded the river. Very soon, a long wooden toll bridge was built across the river which was opened to the public in 1801.

Young professional men thought well of the town, and James D. Patton of Rockbridge County was settled there to practice medicine; and Halcott Townes and William Clark opened law offices there.

With a few families established in the village, and many large plantations nearby in Dan River Valley, a pleasant social life began. A yellowed invitation has been preserved to a Washington Birthnight Ball, given by a young man of the town in 1804. The invitation was issued to Miss Ann Calland and Dr. Henry Calloway of Callands, in the name of the managers, Dr. James Patton and William Clark.

The opening of the Roanoke and Dan Rivers for navigation, and the building of canals around the falls of the rivers, were matters of deep interest to the young town. A basin was provided for the safe moorings of the river batteaux. The town grew, and in 1822 a bank was chartered, and in 1828 a cotton mill was established.

Transportation remained a subject of deep concern, and the men of Danville and the county were vitally interested in building good roads. When the Richmond and Danville Railroad was completed in 1856 it was felt that transportation difficulties had been solved.
War Between the States

On the outbreak of the War Between the States all peaceful development came to an end. Danville became a military post of many activities. Hospitals, arsenals, and commissary departments were established, and many tobacco factories were used to house several thousand Federal prisoners. Redoubts and rifle pits were built on the surrounding hills for the defense of the town.

In the closing days of the Confederacy, when Richmond was evacuated, President Jefferson Davis and his cabinet retired to Danville. Mr. Davis was entertained by Major William T. Sutherlin in his handsome new residence, which now houses the Danville Memorial Library.
Tobacco Industry

After the close of the war the tobacco industry was revived, and the town rapidly developed into a great tobacco market. The demand for the fragrant yellow Virginia Leaf brought in buyers, and in 1885 there were 122 leaf dealers on the Danville market. Strong local firms of leaf dealers were organized, like Dibrell Brothers, Pemberton and Penn, J. M. Edmunds and Co., and many others. Danville was recognized as the largest bright loose leaf market in the world, and in 1899 sold 54,107,580 pounds.

In 1880 two new cotton mills were established, the Riverside and the Morotock. Later these mills and the Schoolfield mill all consolidated under the name of the Dan River Mills.

The Danville Knitting Mill was established in 1900 and is still thriving and successful.

Danville has three hospitals and is the medical center for a large area of…. [Editor's note: in the discovered copy of the manuscript, the text ends here. It is thought that the original contained considerably more information at this point.]

SEARCH Other States

Pittsylvania County History and Information

Pittsylvania County Court Records

See Also Virginia Land Records, Marriage Records, Court & Probate Records

Pittsylvania County Vital Records

See Also Vital Records in Virginia

See Also Research In Census Records & Statewide Records that exist for Virginia

Pittsylvania County Maps & Atlases

Pittsylvania County Military Records

See Also Military Records in Virginia

Pittsylvania County Tax Records

See Also Research In Tax Records

Pittsylvania County Genealogical Addresses

See Also Other Virginia Genealogical Addresses

Pittsylvania County Church & Cemeteries

See Also Church & Cemetery Records in Virginia

Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

Extended History