Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1910-10-13

and the balance was distributed in small
er quantities among several other individ-
uaIs. Upon the opening of Orange coun-
ty among the first whose grants were re-
corded there were Morgan Morgan at
Bunker Hill. 1000 acres, and Robert
Worthington 5000 acres.
Frederick county was set OIL from
Orange in 1888, but was not organized
into separate jurisdiction until l743;
and during that interval additional land
was granted and in the same period,
among those grants, made TO the new
comers were: three sons of JoSt Hite and
two of his sonS-in-law the Lemons,
Vance, and to many more. BY l74S
grants in Frederick had been made TO the
AshIeys, Buckles, Carriers, CrawiordS,
Darkes, Hedges, Hendricks, Harpers,
KeaneyS, Lucas's, Jones's, JohnStonS,
Millers, RutherfordS, StephenSoDs,
Swearingens, SebaStians, Washingtons,
Woods, Wrights and TO others whose
family names are so familiar TO you.
Ii is notable fact that it was here, in
this county of Frederick, and largely in
and about this neighborhood, that George
Washington first began his career, as a
surveyor, in the employ OF Baron Fairfax.
For two years. with rod, chain and
transit glass, he fixed the courses OF this
great domain, and laid out the metes and
bounds OF the plantations ofmany of your
ancestors. II was here that he first be-
came Injured to the hardShips OF the will
derness, and acquainted with its hidden
dangers, and IN this experience gained
that training that was to fit him, in years
to come, for the high call OF his country.
The land which Thomas Shepherd Sc
lected, and that which particularly inter
estS us on this occasion, is described in a
grant made to him by the Council OF Va,
on the 18th day OF June, l734, TO wit: >
lone certain tract or parcel OF land con-
tanning 222 acres lying and being on the
west side of Sherando river and designed
10 be included in new county to be
called the county OF Orange, being part OF
10000 acres purchased by Jost Hite from
Iohn and Isaac VanMeter, who had OBJ
tanned orders from our said Lieut.. Gov
ernor in Council, TO take up the said land
upon certain conditions therein expressed
which were made the 18th day OF June,
l730, and bounded as followeth, 10 wit :
beginning al a white oak marked Il. s.
on a hill on the south side OF Cohongo-
luta [Potomackl river and on the east
side OF a branch called the Falling
Spring below a fall in said run and run
ming thence south S0o westerly6 perches;
south 2Oo west, 44percheS; thence south
west y perch to hickory sapling; thence
south 30' west, 40 perches TO a white oak
by a meadow; thence north 70o west
crossing the said meadow lS0 perches to
double red-oak on hillside; thence
south 730 east, 2l2 perches to the first
station; etc. etc. Confirmed and paten-
ted Sd October, l734, in the Sth year OF
our Sovereign Lord, King George II.
Csigned) VIM. Gooch."
That instrument shows the descent Of
this property from the original order
given the VanMeters, TO the date OF
Thomas Shepherds ownership.
John VanMeter lived in this vicinity
until l745, in that year he died. BY his
will his daughter Elizabeth, the wife OF
Thomas Shepherd, inherited much OF
his property hereabout, and also plan
tation in Maryland on the Antietam bot
toms, what is now Washington county.
Doubtless, Thomas Shepherd, who mar
ried Elizabeth VanMeter year or so be-
fore he had received his patent for this
homestead, belonged TO the Shepherd
family, who, for decades, were living in
Prince Georges Co., Md, now in part
Washington Co.. TO which section they
had emigrated from one OF the bay coun-
ties OF that province. II this be the TACT,
it may be safely assumed, think, that
Shepherd was already familiar with the
Virginia side Of the Potomac and had It
in mind when contemplating marriage, to
set up his Lares and Penates there when
the opportunity came for settlement
On the beautifully wooded bluff over
looking the sinuous windings OF the river
and the fair and fertile slopes of the Mary
land landscapes, and in full view OF the
old ford which was to be the sole high
way in many miles fof the advancing
colonist, Thomas Shepherd raised his
cabin, presumably the first in The little
colony on the banks Of the Potomac, west
Of the Blue Ridge. Scarcely mile below
lay Packhorse ford to mark the oid-lndian
trail, which. for generations, they had
trodden deep into the soil as they passed
along in intercourse with distant tribes.
Shepherd was shrewd enough to realize
the strageticaI importance OF this site for
trading place, as well as for home;
how he profited by his wisdom your
presence here amply indicates. A swift
run, which came tumbling down from
the plateau above, bordered his posses
sions and fell away in crystal cascades,
over rocky ledges in the rayine. to the
river below. With enterprising foresight
and energy and Characteristic thnftiness,
the rushing stream was harnessed to his
viii, and ere long the wilderness, yield
ing TO the pioneers. gave tribute to the
industries which Thomas Shepherd WISE
Iy established along the waters of the
"FaIling Spring"
A grist mill was erected beside the
branch, probably the first in the Valley,
or, atIeast, above the falls Of the Potomac.
When the settlers had grown so nnmer-
GUS as TO demand proper public convent