The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-06-23

next best evidence. and would be I'M
! hesitatingly received In any court or
! record. and would be held convincing by
| any Jury OF which Professor Tyler was
| not n member. AS he viii not yield 10
any evidence. except direct evidence,
which is dead, the case would he hope
| less with him. But do not believe the
general public viii be so incredulous.
TIE sIcoSD PROPOSITION.
And now for the second proposition:
No man, woman, or child. tnat 1 ever
| heard Of. except Professor Tyler, ever
said that the nrst Joseph BildgeS was
a man OF such prominence that he ought
| 10 be mentioned in the public records OF
isle OF Wight. OF Norfolk county, In the
! land grants in the Salisbury Mss, ana
the Robinson notes. on the contrary,
! the descendants Of this Joseph Biluets'
who ought to know more OF MN thdh amy
| body eisc. have always said that he was
| a mere private citizen, who superintenaed
! the construction OF the old brick chuich;
II he had been pubic CHARACTER il nc
had been a member OF the House OF
Bursesses, II he had been one OF the
| Council: II he had been a justice OF the
/ p.acc the lieutenant OF a county, or
[ commander of the military forces OF sew
/ eral counties. then you might expect 10
find him in the lists OF the members OF
| the House. Of the Council, Of the justices
OF the peace. etc. FOR the respective years
/ for which he served. But If he was a
mere private citizen, no matter how wor-
thy. you would not find hin. There are
TODAY hundreds of thousands of men
/ in every county. In every city, in every
! senatorial congressional. judicial, ana
! military district who are just as sensl-
bic, Just as worthy, just as intellgch''
| iust as prominent, as the member OF the
| House. OF the Senate, OF Congress, OF
! the courts. and OF the military COM
/ mands. yet their names never appear ana
| they DO not go down in history. De
cause a man does not hold public ONCE
/ and because his name does not appear IN
the public records. II Will not do TO say ne
never appearcd-he never lived. If this
were SO. Virginia would be a very small
| State. indeed. and Delaware would wear
| 1t in its vest pocket.
The only political association that Isle
of WIGHT ever had with Norfolk county,
as mentioned by Professor 1yler-t he
means that as such-was the Association
| Of which General Bennett vas Tor a
| long time commander. As llchard
| Bennett did not become General Bennett
| until 1865, we cannot reasonably expect
to find the first Joseph Bridges enrolled
I'm his command. 1t might not be UNI
reasonable TO expect to md some men
ton Of his son at later date, ana 50
we do find that, in lt'o, he Is Coun-
sellor of state, and commandments
Of all the forces in Isle OF Wight surry'
Nansemond. and Lower Norfolk.
No reasonable man could expect 10
find the first Joseph Bridgcs-a mere
private citizen-in the land records OF
| Isle of Wight, because these land records
| rrior 10 1860 are lost to us.
| No reasonable man could expect 10
! find him IN the land records Of Norfolk
county, whether II adJoins in military,
I'm a political sense, or not because ne
was private citizen, resident OF the
mother county. lie would be found
| there. If at all and he cannot be found
there at all, because the records DO not
exist
lie cannot be found in the land records
! and grants at Richmond because the
| earliest records there begin in 1873. and
! there is no record there Of Isle Of Wight
| earlier than 1851. There IS one single
solitary entry there in 1886. but II IS in
the general heading Of 1871 The record
| there Of Charles CITY begins in 1892, Eliza
beth City. in 1921 Of Henrico in 1884. and
/ Of York in 1912. What are we going TO
! DO about it, when Professor Tyler denies
the existence Of any man there prior to
| those dates, and will not be convinced
unless you bring him direct evidence?
We are all in a bad fix, but somehow or
other we Will survive IT.
No MENTION or BRIDGES
there is no earthly reason known 70 me
/ why the first Joseph Bridges should APP
pear I'm the SALISBURY papers. They are
nine volumes OF manuscripts, without an
J index. Hunting for name in them Is
| ike hunting for "a niger I'm the wood"
or "a needle in a hay-stack.' yet /
have hunted them. and l did the best
could / did not expect ia find any
mention OF the first Joseph Brdges-a
mere private citizep-but did think J
might find some mention of his son, Gen
/ eral Joseph Bridges. Member of the
| Council. but i did not find a word rela-
! tive 10 him. These manuscripts are. I'm
! the main. mere abstracts OF pubic docu-
ments in the Colonial Office in England.
They ought TO be published. by all man
| ner of means. The original documents
ouglI 10 be obtained, at any cost; print
! ed. indeXed. and made accessible to the
| reading public. II is piece of mean.
miserable. detestable parslmony, and OF
| intellectual cruelty, TO keep these manu-
scripts i'm the State Library and in Lon
don, and place every citizen of Virginia
al terrible disadvantage in every con-
troVtrsy with a nonresident Of his state.
| Professor Tyler never did a better SER
vice in his life than when he put forth
| heroic efforts to have the Colonial rec
[ ords Of the various counties copied.
! Would to God that | could Join him in a
| renewal Of that effort, rather than be DIS
| cussing with him a question raised for
mere historic accuracy.
The Robinson notes consist, chiefly, OF
the entries and orders OF the General
Court: instructions TO Governors, petitions
to the Council grants to Culpeper and
Baltimore substance Of deeds, some mill
tary orders etc.
No reasonable man could. I'm my opinion,
expect TO find any mention OF the first
/ Joseph Bridges i'm them. They do, in the
end. on page 25i. i'm 1866, contain an allu-
sion 10 the second Joseph Bridges. as
chairman OF a committee. and a commits
sioner to confer with the commissioners
of Maryland. lie has become public
character. and so we find an alluson TO
him i'm copies of the public records; but
his father was a private citizen, and
they are silent as 10 him.
can hardly be grave and serious. when
Professor Tyler ignoring al evidence
| but direct evidence and the letter OF
Governor Harvey, proceeds out OF his
own imagination 10 construct n theory
about General Joseph Bridges. and makes
him soldier in the civil wars and
participator in the battle OF Worcester.
The position OF an iconociast ana a
dreamer is Inconsistent. The "over-
crcdulous Thomas" rejected all evidence
that he did not believe would be received
in a court OF record. ana the ~dOubting
! Tyler" in a spirit Of modern. intelligent
inquiry" proceeds TO construct a theory
that has never been conceived by any