Page 123 - History of Rockingham Co
P. 123
A HISTORY OF
September 27, 1784.
Gawin Hamilton and Ralph Loftus, having been appointed
by a former court to examine Mr. John Lincoln in regard to
his abilities as deputy surveyor of the county, reported that
they had found nothing to hinder his being admitted to the
office.
After the successful close of the Revolution in 1783, Vir-
ginia bestowed a northwestern empire upon the new nation
in 1784. In 1787 the famous ordinance for the government of
the northwest and the new constitution for the nation were
both drawn up. Two years later Washington was inaugurated
first President, and the "tall young Adam of the West"
began to stand erect. In 1793 Whitney invented the cotton
gin; in 1798 Virginia and Kentucky passed their fateful reso-
lutions in protest against the Alien and Sedition Acts; in 1803
Jefferson purchased Louisiana; and in 1807 came a trilogy of
great events: The passage of the Embargo, the proof of
Fulton's steamboat, and the birth of Robert E. Lee. During
all this time progress was rapid in Rockingham, notwith-
standing the fact that she surrendered a large part of her
territory in 1787 in the formation of Pendleton County. The
people were subduing the earth and replenishing it; they
were clearing forests, building houses, laying out roads, and
establishing schools, churches, and towns: they were marry-
ing and giving in marriage. If any one doubts the last, he
may abundantly satisfy himself by referring to the list of
marriages in the Appendix. At the end of the century Rev.
John Walsh, of the Methodist Church, seems to have been
best man to Hymen. For the year ending in April, 1798,
he reported 30 marriages to the county clerk, and for the
next year, ending May 13, 1799, he reported 45.
In 1781 there were about 1500 tithables in the county.
Accordingly, the total population was probably about 5000.
In 1790 there were about 2100 tithables, and a total popu-
lation of nearly 7500. By 1810 the figures were about 3000
—106—
September 27, 1784.
Gawin Hamilton and Ralph Loftus, having been appointed
by a former court to examine Mr. John Lincoln in regard to
his abilities as deputy surveyor of the county, reported that
they had found nothing to hinder his being admitted to the
office.
After the successful close of the Revolution in 1783, Vir-
ginia bestowed a northwestern empire upon the new nation
in 1784. In 1787 the famous ordinance for the government of
the northwest and the new constitution for the nation were
both drawn up. Two years later Washington was inaugurated
first President, and the "tall young Adam of the West"
began to stand erect. In 1793 Whitney invented the cotton
gin; in 1798 Virginia and Kentucky passed their fateful reso-
lutions in protest against the Alien and Sedition Acts; in 1803
Jefferson purchased Louisiana; and in 1807 came a trilogy of
great events: The passage of the Embargo, the proof of
Fulton's steamboat, and the birth of Robert E. Lee. During
all this time progress was rapid in Rockingham, notwith-
standing the fact that she surrendered a large part of her
territory in 1787 in the formation of Pendleton County. The
people were subduing the earth and replenishing it; they
were clearing forests, building houses, laying out roads, and
establishing schools, churches, and towns: they were marry-
ing and giving in marriage. If any one doubts the last, he
may abundantly satisfy himself by referring to the list of
marriages in the Appendix. At the end of the century Rev.
John Walsh, of the Methodist Church, seems to have been
best man to Hymen. For the year ending in April, 1798,
he reported 30 marriages to the county clerk, and for the
next year, ending May 13, 1799, he reported 45.
In 1781 there were about 1500 tithables in the county.
Accordingly, the total population was probably about 5000.
In 1790 there were about 2100 tithables, and a total popu-
lation of nearly 7500. By 1810 the figures were about 3000
—106—
