CHAPTER XVII.

From 1848 to 1861.

In preceding chapters there have been no headline dates, because a system of grouping facts has been followed, not a narration of them in regular sequence.

The War of 1812, for instance, and the Mexican War, have not even been mentioned, for the reason that the County records disclose nothing of interest about either. Indeed neither the County nor any of its citizens, with a few exceptions, bore any conspicuous part in either of these wars, and the meagre facts that can be collected about the War of 1812 (for there seem to be none about the War with Mexico) will be narrated in an appendix.

In 1848 the War with Mexico has just been ended in triumph, and one of its chief heroes, Gen. Zachary Taylor, a son of the County, elected President of the United States.

Everything appears to be serene and matter-of-fact at this period. The industrial and public improvement age has begun. In 1850 a vote of the freeholders is ordered on the question of a subscription of $10,000, to the projected Fredericksburg and Valley Plank Road, which was carried by a handsome majority. It was a great road while it lasted, and Gen. William