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touches the Roanoke, and a small section is drained by that stream; but the body of the county is comprised in the valleys of Meherrin and Nottoway Rivers and declines to the east. Large quantities of tobacco and corn are raised, together with some cotton. Pop. 1830, 15,770; 1840, whites 4,978, slaves 8,805, free colored 563; total, 14,346.

Lawrenceville, the county-seat, is 73 miles w. of s. from Richmond. It is a neat village, pleasantly situated on a branch of Meherrin River, and contains 2 churches and about 25 dwellings. Lewisville contains about 15 dwellings.

In the upper end of the county, in the vicinity of Avant's and Taylor's creeks, have been found many Indian relics, and this portion of the county yet shows traces of having been inhabited by Indians. It is supposed that when the country was first settled, there was a frontier fort, or trading establishment, a few miles below Pennington's Bridge, on the Meherrin: an iron cannon now lies on a hill near the spot, and in the neighborhood runs a road, called to this day "the fort road." There are also excavations in the earth constructed for wolf-pits, by the early settlers. Tradition says they were formed in the following manner: A hole was dug ten or twelve feet deep, small at the top, and growing wider on all sides as it descended, sloping inwards so much that no beast could climb up. Two sticks were fastened together in the middle at right angles; the longer one confined to the ground, and the shorter-to the inner end of which was attached the bait-swinging across the middle of the pit, so that when the wolf attempted to seize it, he was precipitated to the bottom.

BUCKINGHAM.

BUCKINGHAM was formed in 1761, from Albemarle. It is 34 miles long, with a mean breadth of 24. The James River runs on its N. and w. and the Appomattox on its s. boundary. Willis' and Slate Rivers rise in the south part. On the margin of the streams the land is fertile, but the intervening ridges are frequently sterile and desolate, and in many sections uninhabited. The surface is generally level, and the only mountain of note is Willis', from which is an almost uninterrupted prospect over a vast extent of level country. The Buckingham White Sulphur Spring is 12 miles SE. of the court-house, and there are also one or two other mineral springs in the county, none of which have as yet attained any celebrity. Buckingham is rich in minerals; some dozen gold mines have been in operation, only three or four of which have proved profitable. Limestone found in the county is beginning to be used in agriculture, and iron ore abounds. Upon Hunt's Creek, within 2 miles of James River Canal, is an inexhaustible slate quarry of superior quality. The principal literary institutions of

the county are a Collegiate Institute for females, under the patronage of the Methodist church, and the Slate River Academy, which has two professors, and is liberally supported. Tobacco, corn, wheat, and oats, are the principal products. Pop. 1830, 18,351; 1840, whites 7,323, slaves 10,014, free colored 449; total, 18,786. Maysville, the county-seat, 79 miles west of Richmond, near the centre of the county, on Slate River, 26 miles from its junction with the James, is a neat village, containing 1 church, 4 stores, and about 200 inhabitants. New Canton contains about 40 dwellings. Curdsville, a flourishing village, has 1 Episcopal church, 6 stores, and about 250 inhabitants.

PETER FRANCISCO, a soldier of the Revolution, and celebrated for his personal strength, lived and raised his family in Buckingham, where he died a few years since. His origin was obscure. He supposed that he was a Portuguese by birth, and that he was kidnapped when an infant, and carried to Ireland. He had no recollection of his parents, and the first knowledge he preserved of himself was in that country when a small boy. Hearing much of America, and being of an adventurous turn, he indented himself to a sea-captain for seven years, in payment for his passage. On his arrival he was sold to Anthony Winston, Esq., of this county, on whose estate he labored faithfully until the breaking out of the revolution. He was then at the age of 16, and partaking of the patriotic enthusiasm of the times, he asked and obtained permission of his owner to enlist in the continental army. At the storming of Stony-Point, he was the first soldier, after Major Gibbon, who 'entered the fortress, on which occasion he received a bayonet wound in the thigh. He was at Brandywine, Monmouth, and other battles at the north, and was transferred to the south under Greene, where he was engaged in the actions of the Cowpens, Camden, Guilford Court-House, &c. He was a very brave man, and possessed such confidence in his prowess as to be almost fearless. He used a sword having a blade five feet in length, which he could wield as a feather, and every swordsman who came in contact with him, paid the forfeit of his life. His services were so distinguished, that he would have been promoted to an office had he been enabled to write. His stature was 6 feet and an inch, and his weight 260 pounds. His complexion was dark and swarthy, features bold and manly, and his hands and feet uncommonly large. Such was his personal strength, that he could easily shoulder a cannon weighing 1100 pounds; and our informant, a highly respectable gentleman now residing in this county, in a communication before us, says: "he could take me in his right hand and pass over the room with me, and play my head against the ceiling, as though I had been a doll-baby. My weight was 195 pounds!" The following anecdote, illustrative of Francisco's valor, has often been published::

"While the British army were spreading havoc and desolation all around them, by their plunderings and burnings in Virginia, in 1781, Francisco had been reconnoitring, and while stopping at the house of a Mr. V., then in Amelia, now Nottoway county, nine of Tarleton's cavalry came up, with three negroes, and told him he was their prisoner. Seeing he was overpowered by numbers, he made no resistance. Believing him to be very peaceable, they all went into the house, leaving him and the paymaster together. Give up instantly all that you possess of value,' said the latter, or prepare to die.' 'I have nothing to give up,' said Francisco, 'so use your pleasure.' 'Deliver instantly,' rejoined the soldier, 'those massy silver buckles which you wear in your shoes.' "They were a present from a valued friend,' replied Francisco, and it would grieve me to part with them. Give them into your hands I never will. You have the power; take them, if you think fit.' The soldier put his sabre under his arm, and bent down to take them. Francisco, finding so favorable an opportunity to recover his liberty, stepped one pace in his rear, drew the sword with force from under his arm, and instantly gave him a blow across the scull. My enemy,' observed Francisco, was brave, and though severely wounded, drew a pistol, and, in the same moment that he pulled the trigger, I cut his hand nearly off. The bullet grazed my side. Ben V (the man of the house) very ungenerously brought out a musket, and gave it to one of the British soldiers, and told him to make use of that. He mounted the only horse they could get, and presented it at my breast. It missed fire. I rushed on the muzzle of the gun. A short struggle ensued. I disarmed and wounded him. Tarleton's troop

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of four hundred men were in sight. All was hurry and confusion, which I increased by repeatedly hallooing, as loud as I could, Come on, my brave boys; now's your time; we will soon dispatch these few, and then attack the main body! The wounded man

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Francisco's Encounter with Nine British Dragoons.

[This representation of Peter Francisco's gallant action with nine of Tarleton's cavalry, in sight of a troop of 400 men, which took place in Amelia county, Virginia, 1781, is respectfully inscribed to him, by James Webster and James Warrell.-Published Dec. 1st, 1814, by James Webster of Pennsylvania.] flew to the troop; the others were panic struck, and fled. I seized V., and would have dispatched him, but the poor wretch begged for his life; he was not only an object of my contempt, but pity. The eight horses that were left behind, I gave him to conceal for me. Discovering Tarleton had dispatched ten more in pursuit of me, I made off. I evaded their vigilance. They stopped to refresh themselves. I, like an old fox, doubled, and fell on their rear. I went the next day to V... for my horses; he demanded two, for his trouble and generous intentions. Finding my situation dangerous, and surrounded by enemies where I ought to have found friends, I went off with my six horses. I intended to have avenged myself of V at a future day, but Prov. idence ordained I should not be his executioner, for he broke his neck by a fall from one of the very horses.'"

Several other anecdotes are related of the strength and bravery of Francisco. At Gates' defeat at Camden, after running some distance along a road, he took to the woods and sat down to rest; a British trooper came up and ordered him to surrender. With feigned humility, he replied he would, and added, as his musket was empty, he had no further use for it. He then carelessly presented it sideways, and thus throwing the soldier off his guard, he suddenly levelled the piece, and driving the bayonet through his abdomen, hurled him off his horse, mounted it, and continued his retreat. Soon he overtook his colonel, William Mayo, of Powhatan, who was on foot. Francisco generously dismounted and gave up the animal to his retreating officer, for which act of kindness the colonel subsequently presented him with a thousand acres of land in Kentucky.

Francisco possessed strong natural sense, and an amiable disposition. He was, withal,. a companionable man, and ever a welcome visitor in the first families in this region of the state. He was industrious and temperate, and always advocated the part of the weak

and unprotected. On occasions of outbreaks at public gatherings, he was better in rushing in and preserving public peace, than all the conservative authorities on the ground. Late in life, partly through the influence of his friend, Chas. Yancey, Esq., he was appointed sergeant-at-arms to the House of Delegates, in which service he died, in 1836, and was interred with military honors in the public burying-ground at Richmond.

CABELL.

CABELL was created in 1809, from Kanawha, and named from Wm. H. Cabell, Gov. of Va., from 1805 to 1808. It is 35 miles long, with a mean breadth of 20 miles. A considerable portion of the county is wild and uncultivated, and somewhat broken. The river bottoms are fertile, and settled upon. Pop. 1830, 5,884; 1840, whites 7,574, slaves 567, free colored 22; total, 8,163. Barboursville, the county-seat, lies on the Guyandotte river, 7 1-2 miles from its mouth, and 352 miles wNw. of Richmond. The turnpike, leading from the eastern part of the state, by the great watering-place, to the Kentucky line, passes through this village, which contains about 30 dwellings. Guyandotte lies on the Ohio, at the mouth of the Guyandotte River. It is much the most important point of steamboat embarkation, as well as debarkation, in western Virginia, with the exception of Wheeling. It is a flourishing village, containing 1 church, 6 or 8 stores, a steam saw-mill, and a population of about 800.

Cabell county was settled at a comparatively late period. Thomas Hannon was one of the earliest settlers, having removed, in 1796, from Botetourt county to Green Bottom, about 18 miles above Guyandotte, when the first permanent settlement was made. Soon after Guyandotte was settled, at which place Thomas Buffington was one of the earliest settlers.

A portion of the beautiful flatland of what is called Green Bottom, lying partly in this and Mason county, a few years since, before the plough of civilization had disturbed the soil, presented one of those vestiges of a city which are met with in central America, and occasionally in the southern and western forests of the United States. The traces of a regular, compact, and populous city with streets running parallel with the Ohio River, and crossing and intersecting each other at right angles, covering a space of nearly half a mile, as well as the superficial dimensions of many of the houses, are apparent, and well defined. Axes and saws of an unique form the former of iron, the latter of copper-as well as other implements of the mechanic arts, have been found. These remains betoken a state of comparative civilization, attained by no race of the aborigines of this country now known to have existed. Who they were, or whence they sprung, tradition has lost in the long lapse of ages. It is a singular fact, that these remains are rarely, if ever, found elsewhere than upon the river bottoms, or flat level lands.

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CAMPBELL.

CAMPBELL was formed from Bedford in 1784, and named in honor of Gen. William Campbell, a distinguished officer of the American revolution. In form, it approximates to a square of about 25 miles on a side; its surface is broken, and its soil productive." Staunton River runs on its s., and the James on its NW. boundary; both of these streams are navigable for boats far above the county limits, thus opening a communication with Chesapeake Bay and Albemarle Sound. Pop. 1830, 20,330; 1840, whites 10,213, slaves 10,045, free colored 772; total, 21,030.

Besides the large and flourishing town of Lynchburg, there are in the county several small villages, viz.: Campbell C. H., 12 miles s. of Lynchburg, Brookneal, Leesville, and New London.

Lynchburg, the fifth town in population in Virginia, is situated on a steep declivity on the south bank of James River, in the midst of bold and beautiful scenery, within view of the Blue Ridge and the Peaks of Otter, and 116 miles westerly from Richmond. This town was established in October, 1786, when it was enacted "that 45 acres of land, the property of John Lynch, and lying contiguous to Lynch's Ferry, are hereby vested in John Clarke, Adam Clement, Charles Lynch, John Callaway, Achilles Douglass, William Martin, Jesse Burton, Joseph Stratton, Micajah Moorman, and Charles Brooks, gentlemen, trustees, to be by them, or any six of them, laid off into lots of half an acre each, with convenient streets, and established a town by the name of Lynchburg." The father of the above-mentioned John Lynch was an Irish emigrant, and took up land here previous to the revolution. His place, then called Chesnut Hill, afterwards the seat of Judge Edmund Winston, was two miles below here. At his death the present site of Lynchburg fell to his son John, by whose exertions the town was established. The original founder of Lynchburg was a member of the denomination of Friends, and a plain man, of strict integrity and great benevolence of character. He died about 20 years since, at a very advanced age. At the time of the formation of the town, there was but a single house, the ferry-house, which stood where the toll-house to the bridge now is. A tobacco warehouse and 2 or 3 stores were thereupon built under the hill, and it was some time before any buildings were erected upon the main street. The growth of the place has been gradual. In 1804, a Methodist Episcopal church was erected upon the site of the present one, and shortly after a market was established. The first Sabbath-school in the state was formed in the church above mentioned, in the spring of 1817, by George Walker, James McGehee, and John Thurman. The next churches built were the First Presbyterian, the Baptist, the Protestant Episcopal, the Protestant Methodist, the Second Presbyterian, and a Friends' meeting-house in the outskirts of the town. The Catholic and Universalist churches were erected in 1843.

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