Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-12-17
BOOK TELLSSTORY
| OF VIRGINIA SHORE
Paul WiIstach Describes
Kingdom of AccomaCk" in
TideWater Area.

Washington already is rather familiar
with "the Eastern Shore" of Maryland,
that section whence come so many good
shings and agreeable people, but its
knowledge of ''the Eastern Shore" of
Virginia is generally far less extensive,
interesting and appealing though that
narrow peninsula be.
( The region in question has found an
enthusiastic advocate in Paul Wilstach,
authoritative deScriber of the delights
OF the lower Potomac and adjacent ter
fitory. In his most recent book, Tide
water Virginia." Mr.. Wilstach devotes
an entire chapter to the two Virginia
counties of Accomac and Northampton,
which, geographically, belong to the
Eastern Shore of Maryland, yet politi-
cally and by reason of settlement today
are a portion of the Old Dominion.
THE Ancient Kingdom of Accomack"
Is the title that he prefers and that he
uses for the entire chapter devoted
thereto.
Remote to Early Settlers.
This peninsula, some 70 miles in
length and quite narrow, he points out,
seemed to the early settlers a place
apart remote from the rest of the coll
ony. So definitely was this idea estab-
lished, both here and In England, that
for many years the occupants of the
throne addressed their DEGREES as fol-
lows: ITO our faithful subjects in We
Colonie of Virginia and We Kingdome
Algonquin tongue, meant the other
side land" and appears today most
apt phrase.
"Virginia's Eastern Shore" says the
author, was explored in the second
year of the English on and about the
bay and was settled Immediately there
after, yet it is one of the least visited
and least known of any of Virginia's
territory about Tidewater. The records
OF Northampton County, dating back
20 1882, are the oldest in America. while
all the combing of records from Boston
down to Charleston discloses no such
early instance of a drama having been
enacted on this side of the Atlantic as
Is found in the county records of Ac-
comac.
"At the head of the list of the great
men of the Eastern Shore" continues
Mr.. WilStach, must surely be placed
that rollicking Indian king, who made
himself immortal merely with his
laugh" The savages encountered by
John Smith and his companions APP
pear generally to have been as savage
in disposition as they were in enlight-
rnent, but there is frequent ancient
:. testimony as to the merry disposition
Of this particular dusky ruler of the
peninsula; he seems to have been gpAnd
company, and, possibly, to his credit
may go portion of the calm agreeable
ness of the descendants Of the hardy
settlers who knew and were cheered
by him.
Blackboard Born There?
The story is current, this chapter dis
ell hat tA FnV IN
famous, pirate, Blackboard, was born
on this shore, and doubters are offered
rather slender evidence that there are
families named Teach In that territory
today. Certainly there is an eXtraor-
binary survival of old English names in
that region. "Of the names in the list
of inhabitants who were there in 1924, :"
declares Mr.. Wilstach, there are %
which are continued today.
THE people of the section have
found life easy. The climate is tenn
pered not only by the sweep of the
salty Atlantic, but the Gulf Stream
passes near enough to give an added
mildness to the air at all seasons. The
ground is low, so that this section OF
Tidewater has become one OF the richer
trucking areas on the Atlantic Coast.
Yet, in spite Of the solid Solvency from
the first of nearly all the inhabitants,
have been built on the peninsula. Brick
houses and large houses alike are
scarce Ship carpenters we're the first
builders and they followed tradition
Of compactness and of line which has
had an influence ever since.
Name Is Magic.
Underwater Virginia is more than a
phrase; it is an entity" explains the
author in the initial chapter of the
book. ''It is one of those magic names
like the Chateaux Of France, the Cas-
ties on the Rhine, the Lakes of Kill
larney or the Spanish Main. Tide
water Virginia is a blend of romance
and of fact. But its romance Is SC
actual, and all the facts of it are sc
romantic, that one is completely merged
in the other; any effort to divide them
is as difficult as the problem of un-
scrambling an egg. In Underwater as
sembled the first truly legislative body
on the continent. 1t was here that the
white man first exercised the right Of
suffrage, the first free school was OPP
Grated and trial by jury given. OF tht
first 10 Presidents of the United States
Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Mon
roe. Harrison and Tyler were born In
Virginia and, with the exception Of JET
ferson, all Of these were born in Tide
water.
On Four ajOr Rivers.
Tidewater Virginia, as discussed ir
this book, Is. as perhaps the reader
would guess, those lands which lie along
the shores OF four major rivers-tht
James, the York, the RappahannocA
and the Potomac-in three of which
the termination of the tidal reach i,
defined abruptly by falls. In effect, it l.
q triangle, the general western bound.
ary of which is line drawn between
Richmond and Washington anc
through the City of Fredericksburg i
is a region of which District people
hear much, but visit little. possibly fol
the reason that it is still today a coNn.
try mainly of plantations and of feV
towns. Yet the triangle of territory
dealt with by Mr.. Wilstach is, he as.
serts, beyond compare more interest
ing to and American than any othel
equal area between the two oceans.
The author has dedicated his latest ef
fort TO a native and former resident o
Washington, David Laurance Cham
bers.
Princess Gives to Poor.