xt7sn00zq229 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7sn00zq229/data/mets.xml Walker, Thomas 1888  books b02-0000000005 English Boston, Little, Brown, and company, 1888. : New York : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Noland, Stephen, 1818- Journal of an exploration in the spring of the year 1750. By Dr. Thomas Walker ... With a preface by William Cabell Rives ... text Journal of an exploration in the spring of the year 1750. By Dr. Thomas Walker ... With a preface by William Cabell Rives ... 1888 2002 true xt7sn00zq229 section xt7sn00zq229 




   JOURNAL

     OF

AN EXPLORATION



DR. THOMAS WALKER


      1888

 
































         Copyrzkht, 1888,

BY LITrLE, Bxuwi , AND COMPAN Y.





























       UNIvERsIrY PRESS:

JOHN WILSON  ND SON, CALMERIGE.



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This page in the original text is blank.

 
























inmgeniun new   sine coroe   =ercebat;



opfineus



guisque /care gfuam dicere, sua ab aliis bene fada lau-

dan, quam  ise aliorum narrare malZtat. S-uausr.



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C O N T E NTS.



PREFACE .



NOTE .



PAGE



aa  a    .   U a a a  a                   .



ag a                  0 0  0   35



JOURNAL.



a a a    0   0 a a  a a S a  a. 39



.-

 
This page in the original text is blank.

 


I L



P R E F A C E.



IT has long
   Cfranc Infav-



been known



to many



in the early history of



our country, that a manuscript Journal of
Dr. Thomas Walker, of Virginia, is in exist-



which



gives



some account of his



plorations in the western part of his



 ex-
own



S tate,



and in



a region which is



now within



the limits of the



States of Tennessee



Kentucky.
  Their natural



curiosity



as



to this journal



has been enhanced by



a current statement



as to the early period at which



it was



ten, - antedating, as the time does, by near-
ly twenty years, the explorations of Daniel



Boone and of his contemporary



pioneers.



per.



ence,



and



writ-



I



v



L



L



I.



ZU LI.'Z  I il LC:i C."3 ILCU



,imc+,=A

 
Preface.



8



It is believed that if Dr. 'Walker and his



companions



were not the first white men



who ever visited



the region



which



they ex-



plored, they



exploration



there



is any



It was



were certainly the first of



in this then unknown



authentit



whose



wilde mess



record.



probably during this or the



exploration of I748, to which Dr.



refers



in the Journal



name became enduringly



Walker



now published, that his



connected with a



stream and a



range



of mountains in south.



western



Virginia,



and that he



gave



to the



Cumberland Gap and the Cumberland



the names which were at



suggested to



River



this time naturally



his then loyalist mind by the



decisive



victory



of the Duke of Cumber-



land, - won at Culloden on the i6th of April,



I 746,



over the forces



The Journal begins



of the Pretender.



on the i6th day of



March,



I 750,



and ends on the



next succeed-



i3th day of July,



rn uch-to-be-regretted



gap



covenng,- with



of nine. days,



period ,of



nearly



four months.



Meagre



.1 such a record,



kept under



circumstances of



earlier



ing



one



a



as



I



.

 


Preface.



9



continuously great exposure and fatigues rnult
of necessity be, it nevertheless discloses f_
of much interest to the histonan, the natu-



ralist, and the



geologist.
0



It establishes the



fact that the buffalo, now almost extinct



even in the vast country beyond the



'If .



sissippi, and the elk, comparatively rare and



fast becoming



rarer in the



same distant



gion, were .in i750 very numerous in Vir-
ginia and Kentucky.  It shows also that



Dr. Walker at this early date noticed and



recorded the outcropping of coal



in



sev-



eral of the places which he visited in his
expedition.
  It is a curious circumstance that a toma-
hawk bearing the initials " T. W.," mentioned



in this Journal as



swept away by a flood one



hundred and thirty-eight



years ago)



should



have been found about a century afterwards,
identified by its mark, and should now be



treasured



as an interesting



relic of the past



in Louisville, Kentucky.
  The scrupulous observance of "' the Sab-
bath " by rest, repeatedly mentioned in the



re-



I



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L



I...

 
PrPface.



Journal,



is noteworthy as a manifestation



of the spirit of religious reverence which has
ever been characteristic of the Anglo-Saxon



in every



region of-the earth, and which



once a token and



a source



of his robust



manhood.



In printing the Journal,



taken



care has been



to follow the author's occasionally



archaic spelling and.use of capital letters,



belonging,



as these peculiarities do, to the



time when it was written.



While the matters commented on



terest



of themselves to Dr. Walker's Journal,



there are some facts



concerning the writer



himself which largely add to the value.of the
record.
  It is well known that the life of Thomas



was one c



but its details, as
his numerous desc
satisfactory.  It;
family papers in
descendants, who



)f great and varied activity ;
; yet gathered together by-



cendants,



are scant and un-



is to be hoped that from



the possession



of these



are now to be found not



only in Virginia and Kentucky, but in Bos-



at



is



gwe



ln-



Walker



-



I



IO



of

 
Preface.



I I



ton, New York, f1'hiladelphia,



and



more



Washington,



distant parts of the wide



can domain, the



A meri-



scattered materials may be



brought together which shall clearly show



the place he



is



entitled to occupy in



Colonial History of Virginia and



the



of the



country.
  As the Romans, in



contrast



to the Athe-



nians, were,



according to Sallust, more bent



on action



than narration,



so,



in their



nng lives, the leading Southern men of the



Colonial period



were less mindful than the



Northern of their rightful place in history,
and have consequently been more overlooked
by posterity.
  An attempt will be made, in the conclud-



in  pages



of this



Preface,



with suc h



mentary but authentic materials as it has
been possible to collect, to do in a brief



and imperfect



way



for the



memory



of the



journalist something



of an Agassiz



in



analogous



restoring



to the work



an antediluvian



Megatherium  by a careful examination of
its fossil remains.



stir-



frag.



- -  



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I.,



























L

 
Preface.



Thomas Walker



Queen Co



was born in King and



runty, Virginia, on the I 5 th day



of January, I 7 I 5.



He was married in I74i, at the



twenty-six years,



to



a young widow, -SIx



years younger than himself,  Mrs. Nicholas



Meriwether, whose maiden name



cousin of



dred Thornton.



George



Washington,



She was



whose elder brother,



Samuel, had married one of her near rela-



ti ves;



and in this way Thomas Walker be-



came closely and doubly connected with the



Washington family.



Through this



he came into- possession of fifteen thousand



acres of land in a beautiful, well-wooded, and



well-watered region of Piedmont Virginia,



lying on the eastern slope of a range of



mountains, known from their course



Southwest Mountains, nearer to the



sea by



about twenty miles than the Blue Ridge,



and rising



in their highest elevation to an



altitude of a little over eighteen hundred



feet above tide.



Here, not far from the



base of Peter's Mountain, which President



I 2



Of



age



the



.



marnage



as th e



Am _



was Mil-

 



Preface.



Madison,



who lived in full- view



of this



monarch of the -range, used playfully to call

the "; Chimborazo -of our Andes," Thomas



Walker, soon after his marriage, established

the home which he was to occupy for more



I                I
  a'



than fifty years.



The ownership of these broad'



the effect of stimulating instead of



ing the varied



activities



acres



rep



of his life.



had

cress-

The



many wants prompted by an isolated and

primitive mode of country life led him into a



multiplicity of pursuits,- offering the



  II
  I
  .I
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p
  I



reat-



est possible contrast to the subdivision of

labor that -marks the consfitfiion of modern

society.

  Like Washington, with whom he owned



land in common, he became a



surveyqr



I
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  i
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i



at an



early age, and many still existing plats bear

witness to his skill in the measurement and



computation of large areas.



To his occupation



as a surveyor



planter, he added the business of



-chant, and



was for -many



years



larg



and ,



a mer-    ;

'ely en-



gaged in importing directly from the mother



.- . 11r
r 1



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9
am



i



P63-3



I 1
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I



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I



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II
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i



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  i
p I
  i
  I
  I
  i I



9

 
Preface.



14



coun try the



in numerable



--. u.-I--



needful,



both for himself and others. Li.



the cultiva-



tion of colonial plantations and the comfort



of colonial homes.



Strong



in body,



courageous,



enterprising,



intelligent, his curiosity and



resless



energy



impelled him, to leave his wife and young



children for



a season;



and, if not to for-



them,



yet,



like the hunter in Horace,



to pass his nights under the cold canopy of
the skies in the unknown region beyond the
mountains.
  It is uncertain how early these excursions
into the wilderness began; but it is positively



known,



as we have said, that he made



of them - and



one



a distant one - in the year



I 748, when he .was thirty-three years of



age.



The love of exploration and adventure



experience



and with expanding



knowledge and capacity, and, becoming



a



leader of men into the wilderness, Thomas
Walker won the confidence of the adven-
turous spirits among whom he lived, and
attracted the attention -especially when



get



grew



with



-



A



L



.v.

 
Preface.



fron tier



service



involving hardship and dan-



.ger was needed --of many of the successive
oovernors of colonial Virginia.
  He continued his work of surveying, plant-



importing, exploring, -with



some other



occupations which will be noticed hereafter,



.- until the year I 75 5, when he



a long



entered



on



though interrupted and checkered



career in the



service



of his



native



State.



The year I 755 'proved an



in his life, and



even tful



one



some scattered notes found



among



his



papers



enable



us to trace with



certainty



his



occupations



and



movements



that time.



In the



becrnning



 and near Winchester,



of the



year,



he



in the valley



was at
of Vir-



ginia,



lending



tions which



vigorous



aid to the



were then making



prepara-
to break



through the line of fortifications which the



French



were drawing from



Canada obliquely



across the continent, in order to check the



western



march of British domination.



  The notes referred to show that with the
rank of -Major he had accepted the appoint-



I '



ing,



at



-



7

































L



I



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L

 
I



Preface.



ment of commissary to the Virginia. troops



which



were to accompany General Edward



Braddock's expedition to capture Fort Du-
quesne, and that he shrank from no fatigue
or exposure in the fulfilment of his duties.
We find memoranda made in i755 of such



experiences



on his part



as



the following:



"' Finding ye creek up, and missing my



way,



was obliged to lie without fire, liquor, or



bedding." Sul
with occasional
the day after



ch hardship, however, meets



reliefL



He sets out very early



this unpleasant



experience,



travels for three hours over a mountain and
several bad hills, and follows a new road for



ten miles, when he



reaches



a human habita-



tion. Here a widow provides him with much-



needed food, and starting



at Nicholas Johnson's just



Soon



again he arrives
as it is dark.



after, he halts at Colonel Cresap's,



and then he



gets to the camp, where Sir



John H. Clare orders him to make



a pre-



liminary trip to Pennsylvania. Dung his
further 4ourney he falls in with a Jew, who
proves to be- no disagreeable companion.



a
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II

 
Prqface.



Through a violent rainstorm, and



almost impassable road, he reaches



over an



Will's



Creek; where he



sees one of the



wagons



upset in the stream and another unable to



cross.



He pushes on to the appointed place



of meeting in Pennsylvania, where he accom-



plishes the



business



for which he had been



sent, and dines with his countryman of sub-



sequently world-wide fame, whom he men-



tions as " the ingenious Doctor Benjamin



Franklin-



For several



months following, a veil is



drawn over the details of his movements;



but at last it appears that, with Washincrton



and the Virginia



forces,



and with Braddock



and his regulars, he has been involved in



great



disaster which took place on the



gth of July, I755.



A correspondent of Dr.



at Fredericksburg,



Walker, living



Virginia, in a tattered



but still preserved letter, joyfully



expresses



himself as follows, under date of the 28th



of the



same month, --a few



weeks



after the



catastrophe :



.I7



the



is

 


Preface.



" Ye melancholy news of ye defeat was received.



We .then had but little



acquaintance



hope



that



one of



was safe. But about      we



our
were



advisec
others



I



that yourself, Coi. Washington,



had escaped in whole



skins, which



and many,



gave



us



inexpressible joy.
  " Can it be supposed, when this story



annals



is read in



of Virginia a century or two hence, that



any Englishman



or his



posterity



will believe



when it is told that about three hundred



French and Indians



vanquished



twelve



or thirteen



hundred regular troops, commanded



by brave and



experienced officers



For



r



thing was inserted in ye best



my own part,
: Hystory in



, if such a
ye world,



I would



burn



ye



Book.



" My dear Friend, we have suffered for your sup-



posed loss, and



I believe it would be to ye satisfac-



tion of every friend you have that you would resign
your present employment, and sure I am your ac-
quaintance at Castle Hill will rejoice with us."


  The same kindly and humorous correspond-



ent, in a shortly subsequent



letter,



makes



following reference



ing her



to Mrs. Walker, who, dur-



husband's absence, had given birth to



one of her



many



children,



and who



was - as



could hardly



be inferred from



the language



I v



ye



it,



naked



the



I



-



I



L



L



i



i 8

 
Preface.



used by the writer - but thirty-four



at the time of this



anxious



separation:



" Please to



tender



my complimenrts to



old lady, and tell her I am glad she



you back



again.



Well-vouched-for tradition affirms that Dr.



Walker escaped from the bloody, rout



on a



cream-colored stallion which he had seized,



and that he powerfully seconded the



efforts



of Washington in



restoring



order



and in



bringing off to



a place of



safety



the shat-



tered remnant of the British



and Virginia



forces.



Twenty-one



years



after the



memorable



disaster,



he revisited



the scene where



had taken place, and still found there many



marks of the deadly blow which had been



inflicted



on Braddock's



ill-fated



troops.



Human bones, bleached by time and



posure,



were scattered over



the ground,



Dr. Walker, moved by the



his companions in glowing



trasts



sight, recalled to



words



the



Con-



of the eventful day in which he had



been an



actor:



the glittering muskets,



I



age



'9



years



of



if



your



has



got



it



ex-



and



the



I

 
Priaece.



bright uniforms, the martial music and array
of the regulars as they hd moved onward



under their gallant but obstinate and reck-
less leader ;,tconfident expectation of the



speedy capture of Fort Duquesne,. and the



confusion and horror which suddenly



them as they were being -hopelessly shot



down, with -savage .yells,. by their protected



and hidden foe.-



It has been doubted whether Dr. Walker



was a member of the medical profession,



and, in the Index to Prof. N.



(A Kentucky," he is referred to



Thomas Walker.



S. Shaler's



as the Reverend



It is beyond question that



was a physician, and not a clergyman.



is probable that he profited by whatever scant



facilities



were offered in his youth at the old



College of William and Mary for the study



of medicine, but, however this may be, his



memoranda show that he compounded



tuanes,"-and what he describes



as " a meth-



redate -to make a medicine.for mad dogs,"



,terms more apt to



excite



a smile by their



1 See Hazard's " Register of Pennsylvania," vi. 104, 105.



he



1I



20



  0 .
seized



lit



CC elec-

 
Preface.



2r



alliterative quaintness than to -gratify



ity



cunos-



as to the ingredients of the remedy.



A



more conclusive proof of his being a phy-



sician



is the fact that in June, July, and Au-



gust, 1757, he made often-repeated



sional



visits



profes-



to Colonel Peter Jefferson, and



stood by his bedside when he died, on the
I7th of August of that year.
 He was, however, in his relations to the
Jefferson family, more than the medical ad-



viser of Peter Jefferson.



He became the



administrator of his estate and the g-uardian



of his children.



Letters from one - and



the most distinguished ---of these children,



Thomas,



expressing



"unlimited confidence



in his justice,"



bear



witness



to the faithful-



ness with which Dr. Walker fulfilled the
duties of his twofold trust. The author of



the Declaration of Independence, and third



President of the United



S tates,



ever grate-



fully remembered his early relations with Dr.



Walker, and on many



occasions



warmly



pressed the high estimation in which he held
his abilities, knowledge, and character.
        A   



ex-



I



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.0



.... .

 
Prgface.



In



a letter from Monticello, dated the



25th of September,



I 783,



Thomas Jefferson



applies to his old fHead and guardian for



some



notes of information in regard to the



animals of America, and especially to the
Indians, which he wishes to incorporate with
answers to questions of Monsieur Barbe' Mar-



bois, the learned



Secretary of



the French



Legation, and which Jefferson subsequently



expanded into



his celebrated



" Notes on



In making these inquiries



Dr. Walker, Jefferson
"nobody else who ca



says



of



that he knows



n give me equal in-



formation on all points.



Dr. Walker's



early



and repeated expedi-



tions into the unknown country beyond the



mountains, his habits of



close observation,



his varied skill, and his frequent



: in tercourse



with the Indians, had caused him to be



gradually looked on in



Virginia as



an exx-



pert in all questions of boundary, and in



matters



affecting the relations of the white



inhabitants of the State with- their danger-
ous western neighbors.



Virginia."



L



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6.



2 2

 
Preface.



23



On the I7th of June,



I768,



he



was com-



missioned by .Jouiu Blair, President of His



Majesty's- touncil for Virginia, to attend,



with Andrew Lewis



as associate,



an impor.



- tant Congress



dians, which



with the



Six



was held at Fort



Nations of In-



Stanwix,



York, from the 24th of October to the 5th



of November in the



same year,



when the



treaty



was signed.' Dr. Walker discharged



the duty to which he 'was appointed, and



is mentioned in "'The



Virginia



Gazette



      s a
as arrivinc



with his party in New



York



on his return from Fort Stanwix.



On the ioth of October, I 774, took place



at Point Pleasant, in West Virginia, at the



junction of the Kanawha with



River, the memorable



the Ohio



battle. between



the



Indians under their chieftain Cornstalk, and



the Virginians under the command of An-



drew Lewis.



It



was



strongly suspected at



the time that the



Indians



were secretly



urged on by Lord Dunmore, the last of the



Royal Governors of Virginia, and that this



hard-fought



battle,. in which



the Indians



New



.

 
Preface.



were finally routed after



on both sides,



great



loss of life



was the realbeginning, rather



than the skirmishes of Lexington and Con-
cord of the following year, of the war for
American Independence.
  After the defeat of the Indians, Thomas
Walker and John Harvie were appointed by
the House of Burgesses to treat with them.
  On the outbreak into avowed war, in the
following year, of the long brewing dissen-



sions between the Colonies and England,



a



still more important duty- of the same na-



ture awaited Dr.



Walker.



A member of



the House of Burgesses of Virginia at the
time, he was appointed --next in the order
of nomination to George Washington, for
whom his country had other work to do-



one of the Commissioners for



arrano ino"
    Z ;:,



treaty with the Ohio Indians, whose tran-



quillity it



was of the first importance to in-



sure during the pending conflict with the



mother country.



Dr. Walker



was accord-



ingly present at Fort Pitt (the modern Pitts-



burg) and, as shown by a still



existing



manu-



a



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24

 
Prefa=e.



25



script record of the proceedings, signed by



himself, Andrew Lewis, James Wood, and



Adam Stephens, presided over the confer-



ences



which



were held with the Indians, by



both the Virginian and the Continental Com-



missioners,



the



from the I2th of September to



2ISt of October,



I775.



In addition to this



service,



for which Dr.



Walker



was peculiarly well qualified, he was



charged with the general duties of



a mem-



ber of the House



with the progress of



of . B urgesses,



even ts,



to which,



speedily



suc-



ceeded those of



tionary Convention.



a member bf the Revolu-



He was also a member



of the Committee of Public



Safety.



of Vir-



ginia, an



executive



responsibility and wiel



body incurring great
                l4 g
Iding great power in



these troublous times.



In I 777 he



was a member of the Council



of State. which was chosen by the ballot



of the two houses constituting the Legisla-



ture of Virginia.



Of this Council, a learned



historian



says:



" Under the



new Constitu-



tion, it consisted of eight members, who par---



-

 
Preface.



ticipated with the



Goveinor



in the



exercise



of all the



executive



powers



of the



govern-



ment, a;
perform
of the a



nd without
no official



whose



act



new government,



advice he could



OJn the earlier



times



none but such



as



were distinguished for patriotism, talents, and



influence



were chosen



-into the Council of



S tate."9



While Dr.



Walker



was strenuously



ertrng



his



own vaned



talents in the



cause



of his country in these official



positions,



was made happy by



learning



that his eldest



son, Colonel John Walker, had



been taken



into Washington's



military family



as an



aide-de-camp, and that the leader of



the American
opinion of the



arm



,ies had expressed



a high



   s  ',
sons abilities, honor, and



prudence.



Dr. Walker



was



appointed



the Governor of



Virginia



chief of the



Com-



missia ners



on the part of Virginia to



the Commissioners



from North



Carolina,



order



to run the



boundary line - between



two Commonwealths.



e .



ex-



he



extra



In



I 779



by



these



meet



in



I



r



I



L



26

 
Pre(ace.



27



At the



age of sixty-four he



duty with his associate Commissionr34, Daniel



Smith ; fixed



the starting-point



by  astro-



nomical observations at the end of Fry and



J efferson's



previous line,



andA marking



new line, long known as



Walker' ili e, -



pushed through the wild and rugged moun-



tainous



region



of southwestern Virginia and



western North Carolina,- to the



Tennessee



River;



crossed



the Cumberland River



twice,



descended it by water, and ascertained the



fact --not previously known to the



geog-



raphers of that day - that the parallel of
360 30' would strike the Mississippi, and not
the Ohio River.



This



service



September,



I 779,



was begun on the 6th of



and was completed in the



spring of the following year, in spite of
difficulties and dangers which would have



thwarted the efforts of



a less resolute spirit.



A guard had been voted by the General



Assembly,



to protect the



Commissioners



from the Indians; but, in



traversing



mountainous and barren



region,



an insuffi-



this



a



the



- - -



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-9



.b.



u II Lic- -ar"'.0  I .

 
Preface.



cient quantity of



cane was found to -sup-



port the pack-horses, and when the party
in midwinter finally reached the Cumber-



land River, and had built



their luggage and
" were frozen up m



river



never



canoes



to



carry



rest their horses, they



lore than forty



days



in



a



known to be frozen before."



On his return from the successful



accom-



plishment of this arduous task, Dr. Walker



was met with the orders of the



Governor



for the performance of other duties, and he



continued actively engaged in the



service



of the



State



during the



war,



of which, near



its close, he was to experience in person



one of the



excitina
      tD



vicissitudes.



On the 4th of .June,



I78I,



his home



seized



at daybreak by the bold and



vicror-



ous Colonel Tarleton, who



     s  a
was aiming, by



a swift and



secret



movement, to capture



Governor
Virgrnia,



Jefferson and the Legislature of
then assembled at Charlottesville.



Lossing



and other



writers



have



given-- an



account of this daring raid.
  With the story of the surprise of



28



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was



the



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Preface.



29



band of patriots who, unsuspicious of dan-
ger, had gathered under Dr. Walker's roof,
                 0
were intermingled reports of many incidents
long the favorite theme of local tradition.



But these incidents



soon



dwindled in im-



portance in the public mind amid the



eral rejoicing at the great



even t



which took



place in Virginia on the igth of October,



I78i, and brought to



a final and



success-



ful issue the long struggle for American
Independence.



Dr. Walker continued to be



a member of



the General Assembly of Vircrinia after the
close of the war, and is mentioned in the
Legislative Records of I782 as member of



a " committee to prepare



a full and detailed



vindication of the claims of Virginia to her



western



territory.



The mother of his children died in I778,



and he married,



some years afterwards,



cousin of his first wife, who



was also



a near



reladve of Washington.
  To this second wife Washington makes



reference in



a letter to Dr. Walker, bearing



gen-



a



--f



I



I



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I



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I



I



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i

 




date the ioth of April, 1784, in which



says:



"I hope it is unnecessary to



assurance



give you



of the pleasure I should feel in



seeing you and my cousin here at this re-
treat [Mount Vernon] from all my public



employments.".
--The shades of evening



were now draw-



ing about the active and well-spent life of



the aged



surveyor, planter, explorer, physi-



cian, legislator, and commissioner.



He



was



cheered in his declining years by the hap.



piness and prosperity of his many children,



and by



seeing



two of his



sons   in  distln-



guished public positions, - the eldest, who



had been



Senator,



on the sta  of Washington,



a



and the youngest a member of



the House of Representatives of the United



S tates.



At his much-loved home, Castle Hill, Al-



bemarle County,



Virginia, he had built



house in I765, which stands to-day in



a



ex-



cellent preservation.



It



is one of the few



buildings still remaining on the soil of Vir-



ginia which



are older than the beginning



30



I



ale



Preface.

 
Preface.



of the War of Independence. Its northwest
front, looking on the neighbonrng Southwest
Mountains, is represented, in the frontispiece
to the volume now published, by an engraving
due to Mr. Whymper, of London, the intrepid



climber of the Alps and of the



Andes.



This house is yet the home of



some



of



the descendants of its first owner, who do



honor to



their lineage.



For five



genera-



tions it has been



a seat of hospitality and



culture, and many time-honored associations
now cluster about the house itself and the



surrounding



grounds.



The slow- mrowing



box-trees,
evergreen



with archway cut through their
sides, which border the lawn, have



climbed to the height of



more



than thirty



feet, and tell the story, to the most casual



observer,



of the long years of their gradual



ascent.



The small panes of



glass



in the



venerable-looking windows, and



the large



brass door-locks of the house, were brought



from London, and



olden time



are suggestive



when Virginia



of "Sye



was a colony,



and looked for her supplies to the



-I



3I



great



L



I

 
Preface.



mother city beyond the



sea.



In the am-



ple square hall, the youthful, music-loving
Jefferson has played the violin while the
still younger Madison has danced. Here
Thomas Walker has gathered around him
the Indians who had learned to know and
respect him in the fastnesses of the primeval



forest, and has given



shelter to the Nelsons



and other patriots from "'the lower coun-
try" in the stormy times of the British in-



vasion.



Here the doors



have opened



welcome five men who



were either to be,



or were actually at the time of their



spective



Visits,



Presidents of -the



United



S tates,



and to many others who have made



their mark



as



statesmen,



judges, diploma-



tists, and soldiers; and here, with the flight



of years, the voices



of mirth



have been



often hushed by the coming of the foot-
steps of sorrow.
  In this home, the birthplace of his twelve
children, the old pioneer, near the end of



his eightieth



year, on the gth of November,



I794, closed his eyes on earthly scenes.



to



re-



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32

 


Preface.



He lies in the midst of



grove



a neighboring



to which the purple redbud and the



white dogwood lend in succession the beau-



vernal



bloom, and where the



secular oak, the tall tulip-tree, and the fra-



grant wild grape make



a bower for the



birds which in spnng and summer time
ceaselessly carol his requiem.



33