Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1866-09-18
For the Spectator
Staunton in Old Times.
CONTINUED, J

l have omitted heretofore to say anything
about the origin of the name Staunton, as ap-
piled to the chief town of Augusta county, and
may as well say what [ have to say now A
story used to be told, that after the town was
projected some persons wished to build it else
where, but an influential settler decided the
controversy by announcing with authority,
stand town! p and thus gave name to the
place. The truth is, however, that the town
was, called after the 81 Ton family in Eng
land, as a compliment t0S{Ae wife of Governor
Gooch, who was Lady Staunton before her mar
riage
When the war of the Revolution broke out
the people Of this region of country were, to all
appearance, unanimously in favor Of the rebel
lion, so-called--very much as they were when
the last rebellion arose. If the war of '76 had
ended differently, and the rebels had been put
down, there is no telling how many loyal
men would have been developed But, unfor-
tunately for such people, they did not have a
fair chance to display their love for the old
Government, and SO when peace was declared
in 1888, they threw up their cooked hats and
huzzaed for Washington with the rest. AS it
sided with the British. They were William
Ward and Louis Baker, and the County Court,
in 1871, found them guilty of treason in levy
ing war against the Commonwealth, and sent
them on for trial The Court on that occasion
was composed, [ have been told, Of Elijah Nc
Clanahan, Alexander St. Clair, Alexander Nc
Clanahan, Thomas Adams and James Trimble
From the beginning of the trouble the Court
went on almost as if nothing was out of the
way. The most they did was to enter upon their
records, ''by authority of the Commonwealth
of Virginia, " instead of his Majesty the King
Of Great Britain, as previously. They did not
fhn hoh, 81 fho lo1uc q
wholesome severity. One circumstance OF the
sort made deeper impression upon me than
almost any incident of that time, which is not
strange, as it happened here amongst US and L
was then at the most susceptible age. Sampson
Sawyer's negro woman Violet was hung on the
4th of March, 1880, for burning her master S
dwelling house, and after she was cut down,
her head, by order of the Court, was cut of
and stuck upon pole at a cross roads near
town. If any body doubts the truth Of this,
let him look at the proceedings of the Court on
| the 18th Of February, 1880.
While the strife between England and the
Colonies was brewing, in IVA, the port of Bos-
ton was shut up by the British, and the whole
population, thrown out of employment, were
reduced to the point Of starvation They were
| rescued by contributions from all parts of the
country, and Augusta county furnished her
| quota The very Fall her sons fought the In
dams at Point Pleasant, she delivered at Fred
| erck, Maryland, one hundred and thirty-seven
barrels of flour as her remittance to the poor Of
Boston. There's something to think about In
these days! What task it then was to trans
port -four that distance may be inferred from
the fact, that fifty years afterwards Booklet S
stages took three days to make the trip from
Staunton to Winchester,
wish [ could tell about all the Augusta men
| who took mart in the war Some old soldiers
who settled here after the war was over and died
not not many % wears ago, are no doubt remembered by
the people generally. [, therefore, need not
speak of General Porterfeld and others. My
old friend, Smith Thompson, must not be
passed over, however. He was native o1
Glasgow, in Scotland, and claimed to be ac-
ouainted with one Baillie Nichol Jarvie, who is
spoken of in book called Rob Roy. Towards
the close of his life, the old gentleman walked
very slowly, and required one-half the day to
come down street, and the other half to go back
But on the 4th of July he always rode in a car
riage, at the head of the procession. And ther
there was Tom Evans, the patriotic colored sol
dier Tor servant) in the Revolution. He new
er failed to be on hand on the 4th, dressed in
his cooked hat blue military coat, red short
breeches, and long white stockings. Old Ga
briel too another colored Revolutionary hero
siege of Yorktown, often shouldered his crutct
on the 4th ito show how fields were won. y
Alas for Gabriel! he could not compete with
Tonne was slow of speech, and, worse still
had no old-time costume to wear. So the crowd
little and big, neglected Gabriel and ran after
Tom. But [ have wandered off to recent days
and must go back.
Staunton was far removed from the din O
war during the Revolution. Only once, as