Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1884-07-08
THROUGH THE STATE.
LOWER BorgToURr.
ne Wheat Crop elrRinsins aeapcrs-Ap
Historical Inquiry.


Historical Inquiry.
tocrrc~posdence Of lhe Richmond Wspa,ch.l
Lower BorErouRr, July Q, 1894.
Our wheat harvest has lust closed. after
good many Interruptions from rain. which
have been unusually frequent and abundant,
mud some 81 the whest win no doubt DC M
jured In The shock. Bat, II Che weather Ia
favorable from this time forward. there will
be q good yield OF fine quality. Other
crops are promising In this section, and We
hear fayorabiy from other sections.
Owing TO the difficulty Of procuring har-
vest iaborcrs large number Of seif-binding
and other rcapers have been introduced
into this county the present year, which
have proved an immense saving 10 the
farmers both OF time and labor. The reaper
hy itself Is a wonderful improvement on
the old method OF saving wheat, hut the
seif-bindcr seems 20 be Just the perfection
al hnmau sk,ll in this direction. II Sancho
Panza could say in his time and day,
/" blessed is the man that first Invented
sheep" how much higher praise Is he en-
titled 10 that first invented the self.b,nding
rcapsr. 20 say nothing OF the mower, the
hay.rake. and the wheat-drill which In
their way are worthy Of all praise as useful
inventions.
I have been reading OF late, and with
more interest than ever before, Jeficrson's
"Notes on Virginia" edition OF 17S4.
On page 1871 there Is list OF the counties
In Virginia as they then existed, seventy
Eve IN number. and the first on the list is
Lincoln county. in immediate connection
with Jefferson, Fsyette, Ohio, nongalia,
Washington, Montgomery, aud Green
brier, as hmg "westward Of the Ale
80 an
pears In "Howc's Historical Collections" or
any other list that have examined, and
an somewhat curious 10 know when this
county Of Lincoln was formed, and also
when 10 was dropped or became extinct.
Can you or Mr.. Brock, or some other anti
quarian In the early history Of Virginia, give
me this inforTnatiOns We know that the
names Of some OF the carller-formcd counties
have been changed. For instance, Dunmore
was the first name for Shenandoah, or She
nendo rs II was first called. Howe, IN his
Historical Sketches" states that Shenan-
doah was established in 1872 from Frede.
rick, under the name Of Dunmore, but in
October, 1T77, after Lord Dunmore had
taken a decided stand against the colonies.
one OF the delegates from the county stated
that his constituents no longer wished 10
live in or be TO represent a county bearing
the name OF such a tory, he therefore
moved 10 call IL Shenandoah, after the
beautiful stream that passes through
it,: and this was accordingly done.
For a somewhat similar reason the county
of Fincastle. which was formed in 11T2
from the southwestern portion Of Botetourt,
was dropped in 1916, tie "Duke OF Fin
castlev being the title OF the Older son OF
Lord Dunmore. But no such reasons as
these could have existed for changing or
dropping the name OF Lincoln, rs 1t was no
doubt named for the distinguished General
BENJAMIN Lincoln, OF the Revolution
airy army, on whom Washington con-
ferred the honor Of receiving the sub
mission OF the British troops on the
surrender o, CORVALLIS at Yorktown.
Can il he that Mr.. Jefferson was mistaken,
and thai no such name was given 10 one OF
the counties In Virginia? This seems i'm
probable TO the last degree. as ii would
cast doubt upon the general accuracy OF
MIR. jefferson in other matters OF equal
notorieiy. and his character for strict accu-
racy has never been questioned that ] know
Of Surprising that he was not mistaken,
and that n county named Lincoln existed
in and previous to 1854, when did IL be-
come extinct by that name, and what was
its exact locality? We can account for
the fact that this name was given 10 one
Of the counties Of West Virginia, since ii
was Abraham Llncoln's proclamation Of
April, 1861, that brought abont the disrup-
ton which ended in the birth OF what
Henry A. Wise called "the bastard or
spring Of political rapc"; and the coun-
ty OF Lincoln II now embraced within the
Eighth judicial circuit Of West Virginia,
composed OF the counties Of CabeIl, Lin
coin, Logan, and Wayne. +. j.