It is parts of the world teach us the folly of placing one group of people over another group, or, of placing one's party above the state. the welfare of all the people, and not of a few which should interest us most.- We should be able to see that the progress of Madison county has not been achieved by Republicans nor by Democrats, but by the combined efforts of both. The achievements of the county have been due to its citizens, not to its political parties. Political parties are essential and beneficial in their place, but destructive and blighting out of their place. We hear so much today about aristocracy; what is aristocracy? There are only two classes of aristocrats recognized by history as deserving the name of "aristocracy". They are the aristocrats of achievement, and the aristocrats of character. David, St. Paul, Washington, Lincoln, Lee, and men of that type, were aristocrats of character. Pericles, Newton, Jefferson, Galileo, and such men, were aristocrats of achievement. You will notice that these men were not aristocrats because of what their forefathers did, but because of what they themselves did. So far as history is concerned, our aristocracy is determined by the individual. We Madisonians should not feel that we have any claim to aristocracy because of what our forefathers did. Their deeds belong to them; if we would be true aristocrats, we must show ourselves worthy of the title. We may, and we should, be proud of what our forefathers did; but to us is left the task of doing something worth while ourselves. No one can make a study of history and not see that beyond man there is some great power; a hand that guides the destiny of mankind. Events do not occur by chance, neither does man seek higher things without a cause. Man does not understand himself nor many things in this world, but he does understand that his power is limited and that there are things beyond his power. Mankind has been nursed from the infancy of barbarism to the present state of civilization, as a child is nursed from infancy to mature age. Who nursed mankind? Has it not been God? One may open the pages of history anywhere and find many great men who are famous for their deeds. Do we not find that their good deeds have lived while their evil deeds have perished? This proves that there is a God who rules. We find many achievements of citizens of Madison which are far from the power of man; therefore, they must have been wrought by God. History teaches us that selfishness does not pay. The question for us to answer is: What would the world be like if all the people were like us? Are we doing our part for the advancement of the world? Are we leaving behind us great deeds? "Lives of great men all remind us 17 The purpose of this introduction is to mention briefly a few of the laws of history and start the reader to thinking of the meaning of events. It is to be hoped that he will see the connection between past, present and future. The keynote of the future is: "Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul, As the swift seasons roll! Leave thy low-vaulted past! Let each new temple, nobler than the last, Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast, Till thou at length art free, Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea!" A History of Madison County, Virginia CHAPTER I THE GENEALOGY OF MADISON COUNTY Events occur, not alone, but as links in a chain of events which have transpired in the past, happenings which make it possible for others to follow them in the future. Of this the formation of Madison county is an example. It was possible for Madison to be established as a county in the way in which it was, only after certain other events had occurred. It was necessary that Madison should be formed after the formation of other counties. This produced a family tree, so to speak, a genealogy of Madison county. To some it may seem that to trace the genealogy, or to seek the genesis of Madison county is of relative unimportance, for as history it appears to be insignificant. Taken separately it may be insignificant, but in its similarity to a greater event, namely, the development of the United States, it is of the greatest significance. It is important because it is a very complete miniature example of the formation of the states of the United States. The history of America may be divided into four distinct, yet overlapping epochs. The first is the epoch of discovery. In the latter part of the thirteenth century, Europe began to emerge from its slumber of the Dark Ages. Then it was that literature, art and science began to be revived; then it was that ships began to venture out into the seas, which before this time had been believed to be inhabited by demons. Many adventurers became bold, casting aside their old beliefs and traditions which had so long filled their hearts with terror and hindered the expansion of civilized nations. Of these there was one adventurer who forged ahead of his time, one who had a vision of a new land beyond the seas. This man was Christopher Columbus, a native of sunny Italy. On October 13, 1492, three small ships of Portugal, sailing under the command of Columbus, sighted land in the west. Little did the men on board realize that this event would revolutionize the world. It did not change the world at once, for no event does that; but as we look back over the vista of years and see the links in the chain of happenings following the discovery of America, we realize that it was one of the most important events in history. The change took place slowly, and although America was discovered in 1492, the first permanent settlement was not made until one hundred and fifteen years later. The second epoch in American history was that of colonization. For various reasons, Europe entered into an era of colonization in the seventeenth century. This era of colonization followed as a natural sequence the era of discovery, which had taken place in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. We are very prone to think that America as a nation began with colonization, but this is untrue. The American nation, as we use the term, did not begin until much later; not until the environment of a new land had transformed European people into a new nation. The first colonies established in America were only frontier settlements of European countries. The early colonists were not Americans as we think of them today. They were European in thought and action, and were at first dependent upon the mother countries. This condition remained for many years; in fact, as long as the colonies were confined to settlements along the eastern coast, and a change did not take place until the colonial frontiers began to expand westward. However, as this expansion began to take place, it marked the end of the second age of American history, or more broadly speaking, the end of direct European influence. The third epoch in American history may be called the age of Americanization, for it was during this age that America became independent of European influence. The age of Americanization began with the expansion of the seacoast colonies, and ended with the disappearance of the frontier in 1890. During this period the frontier life developed American traits, the effect of environment began to be seen, the colonists removed from the direct influence of European life began to develop a new mode of thought adapted to their surroundings. This change marked the real beginning of America, the birth of American institutions and the development of a new nationality of people known as Americans. The fourth epoch marks the development which has occurred since 1890, after the disappearance of the western frontier. The fourth age is one of Industrialism, one of internal development, one of expansion within. The genealogy of Madison county is interesting because it is an example of the change that took place during the second and third epochs of American history. It shows the westward expansion of the seaboard colonies and the change that this expansion produced. In order to show the westward expansion of the seaboard colonies we will begin the genealogy of Madison county with the first settlement of Virginia. The first permanent settlement made in Virginia was made on the island of Jamestown in 1607. The settlement consisted of one hundred and five colonists and was the first permanent settlement made by the English in North America. |