The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1942-01-08

4 IL 1LI1<14floLo o3tS oAa~
M its recent restoration has
! v been one of the most
popular historic spots in the Old
Dominion state. The restora-
ton is dedicated to the hope
and purpose "that the future
may learn from the past" It is
designed to preserve and re-
create the symbols and memo
rials of a creative and colorful
period of American history. The
compelling reasons for its res
toration lie in the historic back
ground of the city, and in the
intrinsic simplicity and allur-
ing beauty of its architectural
form.
Colonial Williamsburg grew from
the seeds of thought and purpose
which were planted by the devotees
of liberty. 1t is necessary, if you
would understand the significance of
the restoration, that you should
pause upon the portals of the city
restored, and appraise the educa-
tional and social values inherent in
its historical background.
A map of the territory given to the
Virginia company by King James I
under the royal charter of 1906
would show that it first embraced a
strip of land, from rs to 100 miles
wide, extending along the Atlantic
seaboard from what now is South
Carolina to the present Canadian
border.
Within these bounds, or just be-
yond, it then was confidently be-
ieved, would be found the shores of
the great western sea which would
thence afford near route to India
and to other eastern lands.
"Virginia" Had Vast Area Then.
Neither gold nor the shores Of
the Pacific ocean having been dis
covered within this area, the char
ter of 1909 extended the bounds Of
the colony to the shores Of the west
ern sea, wherever those shores
might be. This territory in both
documents was named Virginia.
From time to time this area was
curtailed by subsequent royal char
ters, or by ceded territory, so that
in 1853 the Virginia territorial
claims embraced the area now in
cluded in the western part of Penn
sylvania, and the states of Virginia,
West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Indi-
ana, and Illinois.
The area now included within the
states of Michigan and Wisconsin
was added and the Virginia claims
were confirmed by the conquest, in
1779, of the Northwest Territory
by George Rogers Clark.
''It has been held" says the au-
thor of IA Brief and True Report
Concerning Williamsburg and
Virginia." "that the History of the
chief City of a Country is, In great
Measure, the History of that Coun-
try itself. And If there be any
Truth in this Philosophy, it will be
left to the Reader to Judge how
much greater would be that Truth
if the chief City should also be the
only City of Consequence in such a
Country: For, through those Years
of the Eighteenth Century in which
it was the Metropolis of the Vir-
ginia Colony, Williamsburg was not
only the Seat Of Virginia's Govern
ment, but also the Principal Seat of
its Religion, Education, Society,
Commerce, and Fashion"
Now in a National Park.
jamestown, Williamsburg, and
Yorktown, located within radius OF
90 miles upon the Virginia peninsu-
la, which lies between the James
river and the York, are inseparably
united. Williamsburg was the sue
cessor to Jamestown, while the
fame of Yorktown grew out of the
high resolves initiated by the House
of Burgesses in Williamsburg and
similar action taken in Massachu-
sets and the other colonies.
These three places have recently
been embraced within the bounds
of the Colonial National Historical
park. Williamsburg, however, is not
owned or controlled by the National
ONLY two grades of huttar are