Virginia in 1732: The Travel Journal of William Hugh Grove Author(s): William Hugh Grove, Gregory A.

Stiverson, Patrick H. Butler, III Reviewed work(s): Source: The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 85, No. 1 (Jan., 1977), pp. 18-44 Published by: Virginia Historical Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4248090 . Accessed: 19/12/2011 05:23
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VIRGINIA IN 1732 The Travel Journal of William Hugh Grove

edited by GREGORY STIVERSONand PATRICKH. BUTLER, A. III* WILLIAM HUGHGROVE England for a visit to Virginia in April 1732. left

in While this fact is not remarkable itself, the diaryhe kept providesone of the most informativedescriptions the colony written in the first half of of the eighteenthcentury. Grove was alreadya well-traveled man and he must have been fairly affluentto financehis trips, but we know little about him
except for what appears in his travel diary. Grove penned his name on the

the reference, cover;exceptfor that,a few dates,and a rarepersonal journal's revealslittle about the man.' diary unfortunately That Grove was an experiencedtravelerbefore he made his voyage to Virginiais clear from his diary.2Few sectionsof the journalare dated,but in orderhe hadmadenine if the tripswererecorded the diaryin chronological for journeys,most through differentpartsof England,before he embarked
* Dr. Stiverson is the assistant state archivist, Hall of Records, Annapolis, Maryland, and Mr. Butler is curator of historical collections and assistant professor of museum science, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas. They acknowledge with appreciation the assistance of Dr. Christian Feest, Smithsonian Institution; Mr. Prentiss Price, Richmond, Virginia; Miss Julia F. Davis, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation; and Mr. Howard Lauer, College of William and Mary. Support for preparing the manuscript was provided by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. 1 Grove may have been descended from William Grove, son of Hugh Grove, of Enford, Wiltshire, who was born about 1613, attended Oxford, became a cleric, and died in 1666 (Joseph Foster, editor, Alumni Oxonienses: The Members of the University of Oxford. 1500-1714 [Oxford, 1891], 11, 616). The relationship is entirely conjectural, however, and there is no evidence that William Hugh Grove attended either Oxford or Cambridge. One reference in Grove's journal, however, indicates that he may have lived in southwest England, the same section as the William Grove who was educated at Oxford. In an entry dated June 8 [9?] on the voyage to Virginia, Grove wrote: "Spoke with a Biddiford man and Sent a letter to Harry [by him]" (William Hugh Grove, MS Diary, 1698-1732,Alderman Library, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, p. 110). Bideford is a town in Devon, and the fact that Grove sent a letter there suggests that he may have resided in the same area. 2That Grove was a careful traveler is indicated by two lists appended to one section of his diary. The first concerns different subjects a traveler should investigate when visiting a new area. Included were: "Gover[n]ment of town, Forces, Fortts, Manufactures, Trade, Riches, Bridges, Rivers, Woods, Hills, towns, Villages, Seals, Soyl and the [?] Husbandry, Antiquitys, Monuments, Libraryes, Raritys nat[ural] or Artificiall, skilfull Artificers, Architecture, Paynting, Customs and fashions, Priviledges, Late Accidents, Plants, Fossils, [and] Animalls" (Grove, Diary, p. 139). The second is a list of "Things Necessary for a Traveller," which encompassed: "A Cane divided into Severall Measures; A line by Knotes also divided; A Watch, Prospective [i.e., perspective], marriners Compass, and Quad[ran]t; and Maps and Charts"(ibid.).

Virginia in 1732

19

America. Grove sailed for Virginia from King Road, a port on the Bristol Channel, on April 17, 1732. After a voyage of sixty-eight days, his ship arrived at Yorktown on June 23. From Yorktown, Grove traveled to the colonial capital of Williamsburg, where he dined at the Palace with Governor William Gooch. His stay in the capital was brief, because he departed Yorktown by boat on June 28. He sailed up the York River and after a week of visiting planters on the Mattaponi River settled at "Dr. Dixon's." The fact that Grove arrangedto live with a planter on the Mattaponi River was not accidental. Grove came to Virginia on the York, a 160-ton squarestern ship owned by Lyonel Lyde, a Bristol merchant engaged in the tobacco trade.3 Lyde's son, Cornelius Lyde, was a Virginia planter who owned a plantation in King William County on the Mattaponi River.4 John Dixon, with whom Grove finally settled, was a merchant with Bristol connections and his second wife was Anne Lyde.5 Whether Grove was connected to the Lydes by business or marriageis unknown, but he must have been acquainted with Lyonel Lyde and through him was directed to Lyde's relations on the Mattaponi River. Entries made after Grove arrived at Dixon's house are arranged topically rather than chronologically. It is therefore impossible to determine where Grove traveled or even when he left Virginia. Only one other date appearsin the journal in the section concerning the colony. In a paragraph discussing squirrels, Grove recorded that he ate squirrel at Major Johnson's house on August 9, 1733. Grove must have made an error in writing 1733 instead of 1732, for nothing in the journal indicates that he spent more than a few months in the colony. The York cleared for Bristol on March 29, 1733, and since he came over on that ship it is probable Grove returned on the vessel because he knew both the captain and its owner.6 Grove's account of Virginia is particularly revealing when compared to his discussion of the British Isles. In his travels through England he was primarily interested in man-made monuments, both ancient and modern. In contrast, Grove devotes little space to towns and buildings in Virginia. What impressed him most were the landscape, the flora and fauna, and the people of the
3 York River District, List of Ships Entered from June 24, 1731, to June 24, 1732, Shipping Returns, Public Record Office, C. 0. 5/1443, f. 80 (available on microfilm, Research Department, Colonial Williamsburg,and Virginia Historical Society). 4 See below, footnote 64. 5 See below, footnote 45. 6 York River District, List of Ships Cleared from June 24, 1732, to June 24, 1733, Shipping Returns, Public Record Office, C.O. 5/1443, f. 102ro (available on microfilm, Research Department,Colonial Williamsburg, and Virginia Historical Society).

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colony. The dramatic contrast between the Virginia portion of the diary and the European sections is indicative of the tremendous difference between the Old and New Worlds. Civilization, though present, had yet to dominate the colonial landscape; the wonders of Virginia were still in the realm of nature. Grove's observations on the Virginia landscape are especially valuable because he was well qualified to describe what he saw. Deeply interested in natural history, he had cultivated his knowledge of the subject through reading and traveling. Grove probably carried a copy of Gerard's Herball with him to Virginia, because he cited it on four occasions in the section of his diary pertaining to the colony. In addition, he had visited the leading physic gardens in England before coming to Virginia.7 Grove had examined the library of the Royal Society at Gresham College and had viewed their display of "thousands of Raretys fetcht from the farthest p[ar]t[s] of [the] World."8 At Oxford he had toured the Ashmolean Museum and seen its "Cymicall Elaboratory" and "repository of Naturall and Artificiall rarityes."9 The information Grove had acquired before his voyage to Virginia was an excellent preparation for describing the flora and fauna of the colony, and few other persons who discussed the natural history of Virginia had a wider range of experiences on which to draw. In addition to the quality of his remarks concerning Virginia's environment, Grove's observations about the colony are of value for several other reasons. First, his trip was made at a time for which there are few other accounts of the province, thus providing a valuable source for the historian. Second, his observations were made with an unusual degree of scientific objectivity, with little bias apparent in his comments. Third, Grove visited some urban centers in the province, but most of his time was spent in the countryside. He settled in King and Queen County, a sweet-scented tobacco region populated by many prosperous planters, and his account contributes valuable insights into the life of the country planter class. Fourth, Grove's discussion of different groups of people in Virginia society-the gentry, the blacks, and the Indians-was written at a time for which there is no other systematic comparison of these segments of the population. In addition, the fact that he had no apparent prejudices to exploit encourages a high degree
7 Grove had visited the Chelsea physic gardens on his tour of Middlesex County, noting that they were "full of rare exotick[s]." He had also seen the "Curious Collection of Botanicks"at the Oxford physic garden (Grove, Diary, pp. 35, 78).
8

9 Ibid.,

Ibid., p. 41.

p. 78.

Virginiain 1732

21

of confidence in the veracity of the statements he makes regarding the people in the colony. Finally, Grove visited the province at the beginning of the period called the Golden Age of Virginia culture. His comments on the customs, manners, and life style of the Virginia gentry provide a unique reference point to the state of Virginia society in the early 1730s. The original of the William Hugh Grove Diary is in the Alderman Library at the University of Virginia, which kindly permitted us to edit the Virginia section for publication. Although the diary has been available since 1954, it has generally been overlooked by scholars, with the exception of Robert and Katherine Brown, who cite it in the bibliography of their Virginia: Democracy or Aristocracy? (East Lansing, Mich., 1964), and Jane Carson, who excerpted the section concerning Williamsburg for her We Were There:

1699-1859 (Williamsburg,Va., 1965). Descriptionsof Williamsburg,

The editing of the Grove journal posed various problems. Only the first section was written in narrative. The other sections are in the form of notes which the author probably intended to revise later. We have added phrasing in brackets when it seemed necessary to make the diary more readable. For organizational clarity, we added section headings according to the practice followed by Grove throughout much of the journal. The pagination in brackets corresponds to that of the manuscript, although the margin of the original has been cropped removing most page numbers.

The TravelJournalof WilliamHugh Grove Voyage to Virginia

[p. 109] April 17, 1732. Sayled from Kingroadl about 6 afternoon.... [p. 110] June 22. 100 Leagues more and Still no Sounding, but [at] 8 a Clock [we] mett a Sloop from Philadelphia Who told us Cape Henry was 15 Leagues West 8 [degrees] by 5 [degrees] North. Found ground at 35 fathoms and [on] friday, June 23, Landed at York.

Yorktown
[p. 111] York." This City (as tis Called) is indeed a delicat Village. [It] Stands Elivated on a Sandy hill Like Black heath or Richmond Hill12 and Like that Overlooks a fine river Broader than the Thames at Those
10King Road is located on the Bristol Channel off the mouth of River Avon (Gazetteer of the British Isles [Edinburgh, 1966], p. 392). "York, or Yorktown, the county seat of York County, is on the York River. 12 Probably referring to Blackheath, an historic pleasure resort in the vicinity of London, and Richmond Hill, a town on the River Thames in Surry County (Gazetteer of the British Isles, pp. 72, 574).

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places and [it] has Likewise the prospect of a noble Bay. A Stranger [would] Conclude there were at Least 100 houses whereas there are really not 30for Their Kitchins, Warehouses, etc. are here and generally Elsewhere Seperate from their Dwelling houses and make them appear different habitations."1 There are about 10 good houses, not above 4 of Brick, the rest of Timber, viz. Pine Planks Covered with shingles of Cypress.14 They are not Contiguous but Seperated 40, 50, or 100 Yards from Each other, for the town is divided into Lotts, each of which contains about 100 yds. square, and the streets [are] about 50 feet Wide.15 Here is a neat Stone Church with a bell16 and they are Just finishing a Court house or Town hall of Brick with a Piazza before it [which is] very handsom and Convenient.17 They are all very neat in their houses [here] as Well as at Wmbergh [Williamsburg] and thro out Virginia, and the Negroes at the Better publick houses must not Wait on You unless in Clean shirts and Drawers and feet Washed. They tell You they Wash their Bed Curtains once a formight, But the truth is they seldom use any in Summer nor Testers or Head boards'[? ]
13 For a discussion of separate dependencies, see Marcus Whiffen, The Eighteenth-Century Houses of FWilliamsburg: Study of Architecture and Buildings in the Colonial Capital of A Virginia (Williamsburg, 1960), pp. 46-47, and Robert Beverley, The History and Present State of Virginia, edited by Louis B. Wright (Chapel Hill, 1947), p. 290. On his visit to Virginia in 1796, Benjamin Henry Latrobe noted the preference of Virginians for building separate dependencies around their dwellings, saying that they "seem to follow the dwelling house as a litter of pigs their mother" (The Journal of Latrobe [New York, 1905], p. 23). 14One English traveler, visiting Virginia in the 1740s, reported: "York-Town, Capital of the County of that Name, is situated on a rising Ground, gently descending every Way into a Valley, and tho' but stragglingly built, yet makes no inconsiderable Figure .... The most considerable Houses are of Brick; some handsome ones of Wood, all built in the modern Taste; and the lesser Sort, of Plaister" ("Observations in Several Voyages and Travels in America," William and Mary Quarterly, 1st ser., XV [1907], 222, hereafter cited WMQ). An effort was made in the 1730s to improve the cleanliness of Yorktown and to increase the safety of its buildings from fire. Wooden chimneys on houses were to be pulled down in 1736, and swine and goats were no longer permitted to run loose in the streets (William Waller Hening, The Statutes at Large: Being a Collection of all the Laws of Virginia [Richmond, Philadelphia,and New York, 1823], IV, 465). 15For plats of Yorktown and a discussion of its development, see John W. Reps, Tidewater Towns: City Planning in Colonial Virginia and Maryland (Williamsburg, 1972), pp.

Colonial Period," Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, LX (1952), 524, hereafter cited VMHB. 16The church was built about 1697 from marl cut from the cliffs. The bell is dated 1725 (James Scott Rawlings, Virginia's Colonial Churches: An Architectural Guide [Richmond, 1963], pp. 38-41). 17For a discussion of the courthouse, see Edward M. Riley, "The Colonial Courthouses of York County, Virginia," WMQ, 2nd ser., XXII (1942), 399-414. 18 Testers are the coverings and hangings of a bed; bedboards are removable boards at the head of a bed.

81-87, and Edward M. Riley, "Suburban Development

of Yorktown,

Virginia, During the

Virginia in 1732

23

because of the Chintzs or Buggs which are plenty.19 But they have few Muskettos and no Venemous Snakes here or at Williamsbergh and several old Inhabitants never saw a Rattle Snake Alive nor an Indian tho in the Back Woods there are plenty of the former and other Venemous ones. I could compare York to Clifton over Looking the River, and Kingroad,20but ours [are] on a Rock, this on Sand. [p. 112] In York, house rent is Extravagantly dear. The Swan paid L60 per annum, has 4 Rooms on a floor and only the ground floor and one floor above. Tis true it now is Empty and offered at Less and [with the addition of a?] Little Stable room.21 Other houses [are] in proportion dearer than London. A house with one fire room only [is] / 12 per annum. There is
19Chinches were a persistent problem in Virginia. Beverley remarked that a chinch "lurks in the Bedsteads and Bedding, and disturbs People's Rest a-nights" (History, p. 302). A visitor to Norfolk in the first years of the nineteenth century, Mrs. Anne Ritson, recorded her first encounter with the bugs in verse: I thought I on the wall espy'd Innumerableinsects move, And swiftly o'er the white-wash rove;
* * *

I must be wrong, for it's allow'd Of cleanlinessthey're very proud; Surpris'd,I for the mistresscall, Who own'd this live and moving wall; She at my questionslook'd around, And soon the marching army found. 'O! ma'am,they're chintzes,' she did say: 'Chintzes,'said I; 'pray what are they?' 'They're insects, ma'am,'she coolly said, 'Who trouble us sometimesin bed;' 'O! then they're bugs; dear madam,pray, 'Do they run always in this way?' 'Not quite,' said she, 'for spring and fall, 'We plaisterthem within the wall.' ([Anne Ritson], A Poetical Picture of America [London, 1809, reprinted, Norfolk, Va., 1810], p. 36. The editors would like to thank Howard Lauer for bringing this source to our attention). 20 Clifton, now a suburb of Bristol, is situated on the summit of lofty cliffs overhanging the Avon River at its mouth. King Road is the roadstead in the Bristol Channel off the mouth of the Avon. 21 The Swan Tavern was built between 1719 and 1723, although probably opened after March 19, 1721, the date on which Robert Wills, the first keeper of the tavern, received his license to operate an ordinary. Wills managed the Swan for ten years, receiving his last annual license on August 16, 1731. Wills apparently did not finish his last year in the Swan, however, because it was vacant when Grove visited Yorktown in June 1732. The next recorded keeper of the Swan was James Mitchell, who was granted an ordinary license for the tavern on February 15, 1741/2 (Edward M. Riley, "The Ordinaries of Colonial Yorktown," WMQ, 2nd ser., XXIII [1943], 20-21); Ivor Noel Hume, Here Lies Virginia: An Archaeologist's View of Colonial Life and History [New York, 1963], p. 153).

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no Brass Currency22[and] hardly any thing to be had under a bitt or 7-1/2d. A Breakfast on Tea [costs] 15d per head, a Dinner the same besides the Liquer. Ale [is] 15 [pence] per Bottle and English Cyder the same. Madera Wine [is] 2s 6d, French Wine 4 sh[illingsl, Canary 5 shil lings]. Milk [is] 3d per Quart, and Washing 2s 6d per dozen. And yet the Rates are Established by Law and hung up in the Public room of Every Ordinary.23 Besides, here no Excise [is] paid.24And yet a Settled Inhabitant may live as Cheap as any Where and Board at 12 and in the country at 10 per Annum. Horse hire is 2s 6d per diem. The roads are Extreamly good thro the whole Country which is levell without Hills or Stones. Williamsburg Williamsberg is 14 Miles from York. The Horses, which are all pretty for Ladyes, Pad it Easily in 2 hours. Wmbergh is the Metropolis.25It has about 100 houses, tho by the manner of building their offices seperately it shews to be 300. It is a full Mile Long and 1 Mile Broad.20The House of Assembly, Called the Capitol,27is an Elegant and Comodious building at the East end of the Town. The governor's [Palace], about the middle of the North side [of town]l, is also a Very Elegant Structure with a Cupula.28 The College founded by King William is an hansome Pyle of Brick in
[the] form of a n.29 [It] has a hansome garden30 before it, and in it a
22 Grove is not precisely correct in this statement, but the use of copper currency was restricted by law in payment of debts (Hening, Statutes, IV, 219). 23 The county court had the authority to set the maximum prices that could be charged in ordinaries. These rates were usually set at the March meeting of the court, and included liquors, diet, lodging, fodder, provender, and pasturage (Patricia Ann Gibbs, "Taverns in Tidewater Virginia, 1700-1744," M.A. thesis, College of William and Mary, 1968, pp. 21-22). 24 Contrary to Grove's assertion, liquor was taxed, although imports directly from England were exempt (Hening, St7trutes,IV, 143, 276). 25 For the city charter, see "The Building of Williamsburg," WMQ, 1st ser., X (1901), 84-91. 26 Reps, Tidewater Towns, pp. 141-193, describes the development of the town. 27 Marcus Whiffen, The Public Buildings of Williamsburg: Colonial Capital of Virginia (Williamsburg, 1958), pp. 34-50; see also, Hening, Statutes, III, 419-432; Hugh Jones, The

Present State of Virginia: from whence is inferred a short view of Maryland and North

Carolina, edited by Richard L. Morton (Chapel Hill, 1956), p. 69. 28 The contractor for the Palace, Henry Cary, Jr., began work about 1706 and had the house covered by 1709 (Whiffen, Public Buildings, pp. 55-66; see also, Hening, Statutes, III, 285; Jones, Present State, p. 70). 29 The College of William and Mary was begun in 1695 and was completed in 1700. This building burned in 1705, and the second building was begun in 1709. This building was completed about 1716 (Whiffen, Public Buildings, pp. 18-33, 96-103; see also, Henry Hartwell, James Blair, and Edward Chilton, The Present State of Virginia, and the College, edited by Hunter Dickinson Farish [Williamsburg, 1940], p. 71). 3. The garden pictured in the Bodleian plate (ca. 1740), which shows rows of small ever-

Virginia in 1732
Chappel31

25

and Hall, Lodgings for the Principall [who is employed] at J100 an[nual] Salary. [There is also] a reading master or professor of grammar, and usher or professor of Greek or Oriental tongues, of Philosophy, and of Mathematicks. The Writing Master only [p. 113] attends twice a Week. There is also a Master for the Indians32 on Mr. Boyles foundation, and a seperate building called Brotherton house, who Endowed it with J200 [per] where they Learn to read, write, year for Educating Indians in Christianity,33 and Gable their prayers twice a day, and [they] may be bound to trades, but most return to their old way of Life and Carry more Vices away with them than they [their?] fellows ever knew. They have sometimes 7 or 8 at a time, but They can now get very few to Live there. They have appartments seperate from the College, making a Sort of Wing to it, and over against it is a new appartment building for the President which will make
green shrubs lining the paths in front of the Wren Building, corresponds with the description given by the Reverend William Dawson, a faculty member at the college, in a letter to the Bishop of London, dated August 11, 1732. Dawson noted that in front of the Wren Building there was a garden "planted with evergreens kept in very good order." A large kitchen garden was located behind the college building ("Unpublished Letters at Fullham, In the Library of the Bishop of London," WMQ, 1st ser., IX [19011, 220; see also, Noel Hume, Here Lies Virginia,pp. 104-105). 31 The college chapel was built by Henry Cary, Jr. Begun in 1729, it had probably just been completed when Grove visited Williamsburg, because the formal opening was held on June 28, 1732 (Whiffen, Public Buildings, p. 120). 32 Grove did not provide a complete list of the faculty at the college. At a meeting on March 28, 1732, the faculty consisted of the following: James Blair, president; Bartholomew Yates, professor of divinity; William Dawson, professor of philosophy; Joshua Fry, professor of mathematics;William Stith, master of the Grammar School; and John Fox, master of the Indian School ("Journalof the Meetings of the President and Masters of William and Mary College," WMQ, 1st ser., I [1893], 130-136). Francis Fontaine was professor of Oriental languages in 1729 and probably still held that position in 1732, because there is no record that he had been dismissed and he was still in town in 1732 (ibid., p. 134; Journal of the House of Burgesses of Virginia, 1727-1734, 1736-1740, edited by H. R. Mcllwaine [Richmond, 1910], pp. 118, 158, 173). Assuming that Grove was referring to William Stith, the master of the Grammar School, when he mentions the writing master, the one person he omitted from his list of the faculty was Bartholomew Yates, the professor of divinity. Yates was a minister in Middlesex County, and may well have been out of town when Grove visited the college. 33 Robert Boyle, the inventor of the air pump, directed at his death in 1691 that a portion of his estate be used for charitable purposes. His executors purchased Brafferton Manor, the rent of which was used for propagating the gospel among the American Indians. Some of the money went to the College of William and Mary, where Brafferton Hall was built, probably about 1723, as an Indian school (Whiffen, Public Buildings, pp. 106-107; Jones, Present State, pp. 61-62, 114; see also, "The Statutes of the College of William and Mary in Virginia," WMQ, Ist ser., XVI [1908], 246, 249).

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another Wing.34 [written in margin] The Indian lodging Cost [ ]500. The presidents new house [ ]700. At Curr[ent] rate, the College [ ]3000. There is a Charter for a Market and 2 yearly fairs and a very Spatious square Laid out for a Market place, but neither take.35There are 3 Streets paralel the Whole Length of the town and 6 Cross Streets Laid out, and a Magazine and square Erected in the Center of the town,36 which is scituate on an Istmus between 2 Creeks a Mile from Each. The one Creek falls after a 3 mile Course in York river north, and the other into James river South,37 but [the town] has neither the Prospect or Little of the Convenience of Either [river], rather [it] decayes already than Increases whereas York flourishes.38There are about 20 good houses [in Williamsburg], the rest but Ordinary. The Church is pretty, build [built] like a Cross and [it] has 1 bell.39 [written in margin] [Williamsburg has] 2 dancing scholes. There was a Playhouse managed by Bowes, but having little to do is dropped.'0 From Yorktown to the Mattaponi From York, Wednesday, 28 June, I went by ship up the [York] river, which has pleasant Seats on the Bank which Shew Like little villages, for having Kitchins, Dayry houses, Barns, Stables, Store houses, and some of them 2 or 3 Negro Quarters all Seperate from Each other but near the mansion houses make a shew to the river of 7 or 8 distinct Tenements, tho all belong to one family. Col. Page on the North of York river is reputed [to have] the best house in Virginia.4'
34The foundation of the president's house was laid July 31, 1732 (Whiffen, Public Buildings, pp. 123-126). 35 The provision for markets and fairs in Williamsburg appears in the city charter (printed in Rutherfoord Goodwin, A Brief & True Report Concerning Williamsburg in Virginia [3rd edition, Williamsburg, 1959], p. 355). 36The principal axis of Williamsburg is formed by the Duke of Gloucester Street, paralleled by Francis Street and Nicholson Street. The town was laid out by Francis Nicholson (Reps, Tidewater Towns, pp. 141-170). 37 Queen's Creek flows north into the York River and College Creek flows into the James River south of Williamsburg. 38Hugh Jones disagreed, saying that Williamsburg was "most conveniently situated, in the middle of the lower part of Virginia, commanding two noble rivers, not above four miles from either, and is much more commodious and healthful, than if built upon a river" (Present State, p. 66). 39Bruton Parish Church was designed by Alexander Spotswood. The building was contracted by James Morris and was in use by 1715 (Whiffen, Public Buildings, pp. 77-80). 40In 1732 the theater was owned by Archibald Blair. Nothing is known about the Mr. Bowes mentioned by Groves, but Hugh F. Rankin suggests that he may have managed the theater for Blair (The Theater in Colonial America [Chapel Hill, 1965], p. 16; see also Noel Hume, Here Lies Virginia, pp. 162-163). 41 For a description of Colonel Mann Page's home, "Rosewell," see Ivor Noel Hume,

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West Poynt, so Called from the Proprietor Lord Delawar,'4 [lies] between [the] rivers Pomonky and [p. 114] Matopomy. I sailed up the last, which divide[s] King and Queen County from King William as [the] Pomonky does the Latter from New Kent. The North side of Matopomy is Thick seated with gentry on its Banks with in a Mile or at most 2 mile from Each other,43 [such] as the Widow Gregory," [blank], Dr. Dixon,4 Mr. Vernon,'4 Major Johnson,47 Capt. Hickman,48 Capt. Roots,49 Col.
"Excavations at Rosewell in Gloucester County, Virginia, 1957-1959,"Paper 18, Contributions From the Museum of History and Tecmnology, United States National Museum Bulletin, no. 225 (Washington, D. C., 1962), pp. 153-228. 42For an explanation of the naming of West Point, or Delaware Town, see Francis Louis Michel, "Report of the Journey of Francis Louis Michel from Berne, Switzerland, to Virginia, October 2, 1701-December 1, 1702," translated and edited by William J. Hinke, VMHB, XXIV (1916), 188, n. 11. Also see Reps, Tidewater Tomws, pp. 79-81. 43King and Queen County was well populated by relatively well-to-do planters by the time Grove visited the area. The population of the county was about 8,000 by 1726, and the most valuable variety of tobacco, sweet-scented, was the major crop produced by the planters (A True Relation of the History of King and Queen County in Virginia, 1607-1790 [Williamsburg, 1957], pp. 8, 15). The places of residence of several of the persons Grove mentions visiting in King and Queen County are shown in Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson, A Map of the most Inhabitedpart of Virginia (London, 1755), and John Henry, A New and Accurate Map of Virginia (London, 1770). 44The widow Gregory was the relict of Roger Gregory of Stratton Major Parish in King and Queen County, whose death was noted in that parish's vestry book on May 10, 1731. Mrs. Gregory had been Mildred Washington, the third child of Lawrence and Mildred Washington. Lawrence was the brother of Augustine Washington, the father of George Washington. Mrs. Gregory was the godmother of the future president and at one time had owned the land upon which Mount Vernon was built. Before marrying Gregory, by whom she had three daughters, she had been the wife of John Lewis of Gloucester County. By 1734 she had married Colonel Henry Willis of Fredericksburg, whom she survived. She had one son by Colonel Willis, and died about 1747 (Churchill Gibson Chamberlayne, editor, The Vestry Book of Stratton Major Parish, King and Queen County, Virginia, 17291783 [Richmond, 1931], p. 8; Merrow E. Sorley, Lewis of Warner Hall [Columbus, Mo., 1935], pp. 839-840; Maud Potter, The Willises of Virginia [Mars Hill, N. C., 1964], pp. 6768, 75-76,90). 45 John Dixon arrived in Virginia early in the eighteenth century. Although he was apparently a practicing physician when Grove visited in his home, and he is referred to as a doctor as late as 1737 (Virginia Gazette, January 14, 1737), he later became a prominent merchant. Dixon was a justice of the peace for King and Queen County in 1729 (Beverley Fleet, Virginia Colonial Abstracts [Richmond and Baltimore, 1944-1961], XIV, 17). After his first wife's death in 1731, Dixon married Anne Lyde (Lyon Gardiner Tyler, editor, Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography [New York, 1915], I, 224). Dixon left Virginia for Bristol in mid-1752 (Virginia Gazette, May 15, 1752). 46 The only known evidence regarding Mr. Vernon is a reference of October 10, 1734, in the vestry minutes of Stratton Major Parish, which notes: "To Mr. Richd Anderson for 3 Levies of Mr. Vernons not paid" (Chamberlayne,Stratton Major Parish,p. 17). 47Major Richard Johnson, the son of Colonel Richard Johnson, the builder of "Pleasant Hill," later to be the home of Speaker John Robinson, was a justice of King and Queen County and also served as a burgess in 1722 and 1723-1726.By his will, dated December 12, 1733, the house passed to his nephew, Richard Johnson, who sold it to Robinson (Tyler,

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Corbin,O[and] Major Robinson.51Most of These have pleasantGardens and the Prospectof the River render them very pleasant [and] equall to the Thamesfrom Londonto Richmond,supposingthe Towns omitted. The Mannerof Buildingis much alike.They have a broadStayrcase with a passagethro the housein the middlewhich is the Summerhall and Draws the air, and 2 Rooms on Each hand. Some indeed have only one room on a Side and the Windows oppositeeach other.52 landedat Capt.Roots's,lay I there a Week, [and] was Entertained very elegantlythere as Wel[l] as at Col. Corbin['s], and Col. Mores53in King William, and Maj. Johnsons,
Encyclopedia, I, 265; Malcolm H. Harris, "Pleasant Hill," Bulletin of the King and Queen Historical Society in Virginia,number 1 [July 1956], 3). 48Captain Henry Hickman was a vestryman of Stratton Major Parish. The last reference to him is at the meeting of October 10, 1732. On October 10, 1733, the funds of the parish which were in the hands of his estate were ordered to be turned over to Richard Webb to purchase corn and meal. Hickman also appears to have been a justice of King and Queen County according to the 1726 list of officeholders (Chamberlayne, Stratton Major Parish, pp. 12, 15, 19; Fleet, Abstracts,VI, 47). 49 Captain Philip Rootes had extensive landholdings in New Kent, Richmond Town, Fredericksburg, and Spotsylvania. He served on the vestry of Stratton Major Parish, beginning on April 11, 1732. In 1739 he was appointed a justice of King and Queen County. His plantation was known as "Rosewall," which passed on to his son, Colonel Philip Rootes, after Captain Rootes's death, which occurred between August 15, 1756, and October 10, 1756 (Chamberlayne,Stratton Major Parish, p. 12; Fleet, Abstracts, IV, 78; Tyler, Encyclopedia, I, 317). 5 Colonel Gawin Corbin, of "Laneville,"in King and Queen County, was active in the affairs of both that county and Middlesex, representing King and Queen in the House of Burgesses in 1715, and Middlesex at the sessions of 1698-1699,1700-1702,1703-1705,and 17181720. In 1726 he was a justice for King and Queen and also the county's coroner. He served on the vestry of Stratton Major Parish until his death in 1745, giving in 1730 a marble font to be used for baptismsat the upper church of that parish. Corbin owned property throughout the colony, including land in Williamsburg, Caroline, Westmoreland, Lancaster,King George, Prince William, and Essex, as well as King and Queen and Middlesex (Chamberlayne,Stratton Major Parish,pp. 7, 62; Fleet, Abstracts, VI, 47; Tyler, Encyclopedia, I, 217). 51 It is likely that the Major Robinson referred to by Grove was the future speaker of the House of Burgesses,John Robinson, who represented King and Queen in the Assembly from 1736 to 1765. Robinson's second wife, Lucy, was the daughter of Colonel Augustine Moore of "Chelsea"in King William County, situated just across the river (Chamberlayne,Stratton Major Parish,p. 11; Tyler, Encyclopedia, I, 315). 52 Grove is here describing two of the most common styles of building among the middle and upper classes in Virginia, the former being the double-pile type and the latter the more simple hall-passage-parlor type (Whiffen, Eighteenth-CenturyHouses, pp. 46-51). 53Colonel Augustine Moore, who came to Virginia in 1705 and died July 28, 1743, was related by marriageto a number of the other individualsmentioned by Grove, including John Robinson, whose second wife Lucy was Moore's daughter, and Cornelius Lyde, whose son married Elizabeth Moore, another of the colonel's daughters. Moore built "Chelsea,"which was visited by Spotswood and his men on their way to the west in 1715. Moore was a vestryman and a justice of the peace for King William County (The Journal of John Fontaine, edited by Edward Porter Alexander [Charlottesville, 1972], pp. 83, 152; VMHB, XXV [1917], 433).

Virginiain 1732

29

Last settled at Dr. Dixons at J10 per annum each for Dyet, Lodging, WashThe only Inconvenience ing, and keep for a horse, finding Corn at 5 barells.54 of these places are the Muskettos which come from the Marshes near them, for which some have Wire [and] some Gause blinds which keep out the flyes but admit the air.

Other TidewaterTowns
Glocester is directly over against York where the river is about a Mile over, and there is a Battery of guns, about 10 on Each side, but mainly stored with ammunition and defended not so much [by them] as by a Parupet.55 At Glocester [there] are not above [blank] houses. Mrs. [illegible] has a good ordinary. [p. 115] Hampton is the Port to James River, in all about [blank] houses. James City was formerly the Capitol of the Colony, now not above 2 houses left.56

The Whitesin Virginia

The Creolians,57 Natives of European parents, are few [of them] Coror polent, but [rather] tall and thin. In Summertime even the gentry goe Many in White Holland Wast Coat & drawers and a thin Cap on their heads and Thread stockings. The Ladyes Strait laced in thin Silk or Linnen. In Winter [they dress] mostly as in England and affected London Dress and wayes. The Gentry at Their Tables have commonly 5 dishes or plates, of which Pigg meat and greens is generally one, and Tame fowl another. Beef, Mutton, Veal and Lamb make another. Pudding, often in the mid[die], makes the 5th. Venison, Wild fowl, or fish a 4th. Smal[l] beer made of molasses, with Madera Wine [and] English Beer [is] their Liquor. [They have] Claret,
54 A barrel of corn was equal to five bushels. Apparently in addition to paying for his board, room, and washing, Grove had to supply 25 bushels of corn for his horse's maintenance. 55The battery in Gloucester was on Tindall's Point, now called Gloucester Point (Earl Gregg Swem, "Views of Yorktown and Gloucester Town, 1755," VMHB, LIV [1946], 101, n. 4, and plate opposite p. 102). 56 In his Present State of Virginia, published in 1724, Hugh Jones wrote that at that time Jamestown consisted of "nothing but abundance of brick rubbish, and three or four good inhabited houses" (p. 66). 57 "Creolian"was a term frequently applied to persons of European ancestry born in the colonies. Although it was most often used in connection with natives of the West Indies, at least one Virginian, William Byrd II, used it at about the same time as Grove. In a letter to Sir Charles Wager, dated February 17, 1740/41, Byrd wrote: "You will pardon me Sir for presuming to obtrude my Creolian Notions in Affairs so high above my humble Spher[e]" (William Byrd Letterbook, May 12, 1740-April 12, 1741, MSS. 5:2, B9966: 6, p. 24, Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, Virginia).

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Port and Canery very Seldome. They have good Cyder but will not keep it, but [instead] drink [it] by pailfulls never Workt [?].68 They are very Hospita[b]le, and in places where there are no Ordinarys you ride in where 2 brick Chimbles shew there is a spare bed and lodging and Welcome.59 Tho they have good horses, the Gentlewomen seldom ride but uses [sic] Chasse Chariots or Coaches. The first are very frequent with 2 or 4 horses.

The Indians
The Indian Inhabitantsare very few. The Nation of [blank] are not above I 50 families.60 saw 5 of them at Wmberg, one of them a Capt[ain], another was bred [?] at the College, which had old Coats and Shirts, and [a] sort of Boots [p. 116] half way their Legg bound about without heels, but [they had] no Breeches or Hatts, [and] there Hair [was] Cutt in different forms and tyed in knotts. One of them was Educated at the College, could read and write, and had been Christened [with] Alexander Spotswood, then Governor, Standing [as his] Godfather.61But [he] was returned to his old Way.
58Although deciphering this passage was difficult and leaves some room to question what Grove intended, he apparently was referring to the problem Virginians had preserving cider. Unless it was properly treated and bottled, cider turned to vinegar in a short time. Jones agreed that cider was rarely kept very long, but attributed the fact not to the poor keeping quality of the cider but to over imbibing, "the planters being good companions and guests whilst the cyder lasts" (Present State, p. 78). 59John Clayton, writing in 1684, ascribed Virginia hospitality to the "Ignoranceingenuity, & coveteousnesse" of the people, who rather than pay the high price of board and room at a tavern would "with a common impudence . .. goe to a mans house for diet & lodgeings tho they have no acquaintance at all." Even at this early date, however, such hospitality had "grown into rank custom," which Clayton said made Virginians "seem liberall"(The Reverend John Clayton. A Parson with a Scientific Mind. His Scientific Writings and Other Related Papers, edited by Edmund Berkeley and Dorothy Smith Berkeley, Virginia Historical Society Documents, Vol. VI [Charlottesville, 1965], 4). A house with two brick "Chimbles,"or chimneys, would indicate the home of a middle- to upper-class planter, who would be most likely to have room and food to accommodatetravelers. 60 The tribe referred to by Grove was the combined nation of the Nottoway and Nansemond Indians. In answering the queries of the Lords of Trade concerning Virginia Indians, Governor William Gooch noted that the only Indians in the colony were the Pamunkies, consisting of ten families living on the north side of the York River, and "the Nancemonds and Nottoways on the South Side of James River whose strength exceed not fifty fighting men." Two years later, these two tribes were divested of much of their reservation land by order of the Virginia Assembly ("Virginia under Governor Gooch," VMHB, III [1895], 120; Hening, Statutes,IV, 459). 01 It is possible that the Indian referred to was the son of the Queen of the Pamunkies,of whom Governor Alexander Spotswood wrote in 1711: "The Queen of the Pamunkey had not only sent her son to the College with a boy to attend him but also two of the chief men's sons of that nation, all handsomely cloathed after the Indian fashion, so that there are hostages from all of our tributary Indians now at the College, who all seem as much desirous of a liberal education as can be expressed" ("Journalsof the Meetings of the Presi-

Virginia in 1732

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There are many of our English Countrimen and Travelling personsand WatermenExposedto the Sun who would be as Tawney, or Rathermore, than these [Indians], if Like those they Went without hatts. And let men pussletheir brainsabout the Blacknessof the Negroes, its very Evidentthe Nearer you Come to the Line of Either side [of the Equator] the Inhabitants are the Blacker,and the same Paralelgives the Same Colour. So these are Indians,being underthe Latitudeof Gibralter, of Colour [similar]to the of thatPartof Spain.62 Spaniards Their Living seems to us very Wretched, being only on Roots, Turtles Where they can meet with them,andDear when they can Shoot them.They Trafficka Little in Skinsfor Rum, of which they are very fond, and [for] old Blankets,which all wrap about them Like Pladds. However, [they] Enjoy freedomandEase. The Negroes The Negroes are all Slavesbroughtin or born here. I have been on board 2 Ships from Guinea and Angolo.63One had near 500 Negroes. The men are Stowed before the foremast,then the Boys between that and the mainmast,the Girls next, and the grown Women behindthe Missen. The Boyes and Girles [were] all Stark naked;so Were the greatestpart of the Men and Women. Some had beadsabouttheirnecks, arms,and Wasts, and a ragg or Peice of Leatherthe bignessof a figg Leafe. And I saw a Woman [who had] Come aboardto buy Examinethe Limbs and soundnessof some she seemedto Choose. [p. 117] Dr. Dixon, with whome I went, bought 8 men and 2 women on boardthe Ship Consignedto Col. More and Mr. Lyde,64 and broughtthem
dent and Masters of William and Mary College," WMQ, 1st ser., I [1893], 216-217). On at least one other occasion Spotswood offered his service as a godfather, this time to an Indian princess, but she died before the ceremony could be performed (Spotswood to the Bishop of London, October 26, 1715, The Official Letters of Alexander Spotswood, edited by R. A. Brock, Collections of the Virginia Historical Society, new series [Richmond, 1885], II, 138). 62 Winthrop D. Jordan discusses the history of the idea that a person's color derives from the nearnessof his habitation to the equator (White Over Black. American Attitudes Toward the Negro, 1550-1812[Baltimore, 1971], pp. 11-15). 63 Angola was a region on the west coast of Africa, south of the equator. Guinea was a broadly defined area encompassing a large region on the west-central coast of Africa, north of the equator (The New and Complete American Encyclopedia or Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences [New York, 1805], I, map opposite p. 164). 64 Cornelius Lyde was the son of Lyonel Lyde, the mayor and merchant of Bristol. Cornelius was both a justice and a burgess for King William County. His brother, Lyonel, was a naval officer engaged in protecting the Virginia trade ("Virginia Council Journals, 17261753," VMHB, XXXVI [1928], 348; XXXVII [1929], 23; XV [1907], 11-12; Tyler, Encyclopedia, I, 281).

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on Shoar with us, all stark naked. But when [we had] come home [they] had Coarse Shirts and afterwards Drawers given [to] them.65 [They] cost

20 [per] head.
Here they are allowed They allow them on shipboard only horsebeans.66 a peck of Indian Corn per Week,67 which stand the master in 26 sh[illings] per annum each, and broun Linnen at 6d per yard [for] 2 shirts [and] 2 drawers [is] 10 yds, [costing a total of] 5s; shoes, 1 pair [at] 3s; all [together] will Cost about per annum [blank].68 They also allow them to plant little Platts for potatoes or [?] Indian pease and Cimnells,69which they do on Sundays or [at] night, for they Work from Sunrising to setting.706000 plants of Tobacco, which wil[l] make 1000 Ibs. weight, beside their Share of Corn is a Slaves task.7

Food for Manand Beast

Thus the keeping their Slaves cost[s] Little. Fish and fowl cost nothing
65For a discussion of slave clothing, see Gerald W. Mullin, Flight and Rebellion: Slave Resistance in Eighteenth-Century Virginia (New York, 1972), p. 51. 66 Perhaps the Canavaliaensiformis, a bean with a large, flat, sword-shaped pod, native to tropical Africa (Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World, edited by U. P. Hendrick [1919; reprintedNew York, 1972], p. 131). 67 The food ration reported by Grove is nearly the same as that recorded by Robert Carter of Nomini Hall who stated that "the Common allowance for Negroes, who are not fed with Animal food" was 15 bushels, or 60 pecks, of corn per year ("A List of Mills in the Neighbourhood of a place where the Court of Westmoreland County have Empowered Mr. Thomas Edwards to Build a Mill," n.d. [ca. 1771], Carter-Keith Papers, files 2-3, Virginia Historical Society). 68 Grove's calculation of the cost of maintaininga slave is: 26 shillings corn ................................ 5 brown linen ........................ 3 1 pair shoes ........................ 34shillingsper annum 69 A cimnell (also spelled symnel, cymling, cimnel, etc.) is an edible plant of the squash family (Sturtevant'sEdible Plants,pp. 213-214). 70 Philip Vickers Fithian, tutor in the household of Robert Carter of Nomini Hall, recorded the same practice of allowing slaves to cultivate gardens to supplement their food supply, although they were only allowed to work in them on Sundays. On Sunday, April 10, 1774, Fithian observed the slaves "digging up their small Lots of ground allow'd by their Master for Potatoes, peas &c; All such work for themselves they constantly do on Sundays, as they are otherwise employed on every other Day" (Journal & Letters of Philip Vickers Fithian. 1773-1774: A Plantation Tutor of the Old Dominion, edited by Hunter Dickinson Farish ], [Williamsburg, 1957 p. 96). 71 At three feet between the hills, the figure mentioned later in the diary, 6,000 tobacco plants would have required about 1'/ acres of land. Three feet spacing was low for tobacco. Some planters reportedly allowed six to nine feet between tobacco hills, although Landon Carter planted the tobacco in one of his fields at 3 feet apart (The Diary of Colonel Landon Carter of Sabine Hall, 17S2-1778,edited by Jack P. Greene [Charlottesville, 1965], I, 149; see also, Lewis Cecil Gray, History of Agriculture in the Southern United States to 1860 [Gloucester, Mass., 1958], I, 215).

Virginia in 1732

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but Labour to Catch. Horses, Hoggs, [and] Cattle run in the Wood, as many as the Owner Can procure, and the Winter fodder is the Leaves and tops of Corn, the provender [is] the grain, of which they give the horses in the Stable a Gallon a day. Their Bacon is fatted after the mast Chestnuts and Chinkapin[s] by this Corn and Exceds any in England or even Westphalia. Poultry [is] Plentifull, [and] Beef, Veal, [and] Lamb sufficient, but mutton is not so good as in England, nor do they feed many Sheep, [because] the grass being Course produces as Course Wool. Venison is Shot in the Woods where also Hares, or rather Rabbits, tho very small, are plenty enough. But by throwing away the Innards [they] deprive themselves of Bullocks heart, tripe, Calves feet, and Pluck. They had Reaped their Wheat in June. Barley they have good, but they make little malt or Beer, and few Oats. [p. 118] Corn, by which you must alwayes Understand Indian, is planted like our Hops in hills [illegible] feet dist[ance], 3 grains in an hill. The stalk grows often 10 or 12 feet high [and] yeilds a prodigious Increase. I have [been] told [there are] 12 Rows round an Ear and 46 grains in Each [row], which amount to[blank], and 3 such ears on one Stalk, making [blank]. 2 Its Planted in March or April, but not ripe till October. They strip the under Leaves for fodder for Horses and Cut of[f] the tops above the Ears for other Cattle in Sept.73Tis the only support of the Negroes, who Roast it in the Ear, Bake it for Bread, Boyl it when Hulled, and Like our buttered Wheat, the Children and better sort breakfast with it and make farmity.7 The first they call Homeny, the Latter Mush. To Hull it they Beat it in a Mortar as the scots do their Barley. 5000 hills75in midling land produces 5 barrels, each [containing] 5 Bushels. [w/ritten in margin] Often 8 or 9 Barrel[s]. Their Hay is not good, tho there is enough in the Marshes.
72The completed calculation would be 552 grains per ear and 1,656 grains on three ears. Grove's calculation agrees closely with one made by John Harrower in 1774. He estimated that an ear of corn had between 400 and 600 grains, with usually no more than five ears per stalk (The Journal of John Harrower, An Indentured Servant in the Colony of Virginia, 1773-1776,edited by Edward Miles Riley [Williamsburg, 1963], pp. 52-53). 73 For a discussion of pulling and topping corn for fodder, see Gray, History of Agriculture, I, 174. 74 Frumenty, or frumety, is a dish made of hulled wheat boiled in milk and seasoned with cinnamon, sugar, or other spices. 75 In planting Indian corn, as with tobacco, the number of hills per acre varied according to the personal preference of the planter. In 1772, Landon Carter calculated that 3,111 hills could be planted on an acre if the hills were seven feer apart and in rows two feet wide (Landon Carter, p. 678). At this rate, the 5,000 hills mentioned by Grove would have required slightly less than two acres of land.

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Gardens They have plenty of Gardenstuff, but as I came from Englandtoo soon, so I came here too Late for Pease,Beans,Cherryes,Raspberrys, Asparagas, Currants,Strawberrys,Mulberrys,and tasted none Except a Goosberrys, plate of old Peaseand Withered Cherrysat York, and a dish of Beansand Bacon at the Governorstable [which had been] kept backwardin his own [written in margin] Strawberysplenty in the old fields and Asgarden.76 also in many of them. peragas There are severalsorts of french or Kidney beans, one sort called the'6 Weeks beanis stripedandfrom the Plantingripensin that time. Another [is] somethinglargerand the pod 8 Inches Long, and rounder,which they call and IndianPea,But [it] is truly a kidneybean.Cabbages our Someror Green Kale, with curledSavoyesare Plenty, but Few Colyflowersor Hartichoak,77 tho the Gentry sometimes raysea few andhavevery latelytryed the Brochili. and Cymnells,which are a smallround Gourd of the [p. 119] Cucumbers and Pompion[s] are in request, with Quasshes,and Cushers, Pompionkind, EspeciallyCimneles,at gent[lemen's?]tables.78 Food Crops OtherCultivated They dont generally Plow their Land but Manage it with the Broad Hough, tho I have seen some Ox ploughs.Their Potatoesare either of the Barmudas Kind, fashionedthick and short like a pear, or Long like a beet Root. These are either White or red and [are] Commonlyrosted. They are Sweet and over Luscious,best in a pye.79 Turneps are in shape like a Such [turnips]I hadat Sutton. Parsnip. Musk Mellons are plentifull Enough, but they plant them among their Corn in the shadeand [in] ordinarygroundwith out any care as our Gardenersuse, and [thereforethey] have not the Advantageof soyl or sun and Consequently[lack] the high flavorof our EnglishMelons.But they cheifly [sic] Esteem the Water Melon, which is green, as bigg as a Pump[k]in, smooth, not furrowed.They Eat it as an apple, but in my opinion [it is]
76The bean-growing governor was William Gooch, lieutenant governor of Virginia from 1727 to 1749. 77 Jones wrote: "The worst thing in their gardens, that I know, is the articoak; but this I attribute to want of skill and good management" (Present State, p. 92). John Randolph, Jr., Treatise provides the best description of how artichokes were grown in colonial Virginia (A on Gardening. By a Citizen of Virginia, edited by M. F. Warner [Richmond, 1924], pp. 1-3). 78Quasshes, cuskers, pompions, and cymnells are all edible plants of the gourd-pumpkinsquash type (Sturtevant's Edible Plants, pp. 212-217). 79 For a discussion of early potato varieties in the colonial South, see Gray, History of

Agriculture, I, 193.

Virginia in 1732

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too flatt and Waterish. They say [eating] it hurts no one, even in fever.80 Grapes grow wild in the Wood, twisting round the trees like woodbines,8 but being never Priened [Pruned] or Cultivated and always shaded, [they] are Very Sour. But [they] might be Improved and good Wine made, but all their Care is for Tobacco and Little Else Minded Except Corn. To the same reason also I attribute their Peaches not having the same flavour. They plant them and apples Standard82in the worst of their ground in order to Improve it, their Cattle and Swine feeding under [the trees], which they say Improves their Swine Extraordinary, and [they] often shake them down to them, otherwise the wind would shake them first down and [they] Can never Ripen to attain their due flavour. This makes them fancy their Cyder will not keep, tho I have Tasted good bodyed of 7 year[s] old and the same gent[leman], Col. Custis,83has some of 13 [years old]. He attributes the not keeping to grinding their apples too soon. They also make strong hedges of Peach plants in their gardens. Fruit- and Nut-Bearing Trees [p. 120] Priscislum4 is a fruit growing in great abundance on a large tree as big as a Walnut tree. The fruit when green is very Rough, and almost Contracts the mouth. In September [it] grows red and soft, but is not ripe till October or November, when its black and Candyed over. [It is] about
80Watermelon remained in high favor among Virginians, as attested to by Anne Ritson, who, however, acquired somewhat more appreciationof the fruit than Grove: The water melon most they love, I never could the fruit approve; It was so very light and sweet, It did not seem as fit to eat, Melting so quickly in the mouth, Like syllabub and trifle froth; Yet during autumn'ssultry air, Its coolness was delicious fare. (Poetical Picture, p. 75) 81 Woodbine could refer to a number of vines, including the Virginia creeper or the Old World honeysuckle (Taylor's Encyclopedia of Gardening: Horticulture and Landscape Design, edited by Norman Taylor [4th edition, Cambridge,Mass.,1961], p. 1315). 82 Standard, meaning growing naturally, without being pruned into strange shapes or being attached to walls or espaliersas was popular in England at the time. 83 Grove is referring to John Custis of Williamsburg (1678-1750). For a good biographical sketch of Custis, see Brothers of the Spade: Correspondence of Peter Collinson, of London, and of John Custis, of Virginia, 1734-1746,edited by Earl Gregg Swem (Worcester, Mass., 1949), pp. 26-34. 84 From the description of this tree and its fruit, it is clear that Grove is referring to the persimmon (Diospyros virginiana, L.) (Liberty Hyde Bailey, Manual of Cultivated Plants Most Commonly Grown in the Continental United States and Canada [revised edition, New York, 1949], pp. 791-792).

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the Bigness of a London Plumb [but] rounder. It has 2 flat stones [which] when Joyned [appear] like those of a Tamerine.8 They make a Liquer of The Leaf is exactly like that of it, Hop it, and ferment it with Easter balm.86 a black Cherry. The Chinkepin has a Leaf also like a Maszard,'8or Black, Cherry. The Nutts grow in a Burr like our Chestnuts, and drop out about Mich[aelmas]. The nut is Round and of a dark red, but in a manner polished. [They are] not so bigg as our Hazle. They are sweet as filberts. Great bearing Small bushes and Large tall trees bear plentifull. Hazel nuts and filberts are very scarce, unless in Hannover [County]. Walnuts are of 3 sorts. The Black [walnut]. The Outside Husk [of the nut] is very Rough and round and has a Sweet Smell. The Shell is very thick and the nut must be picked out with a fork. This makes the Chaires in England and tables here. The White [walnut], [blank]. The English Walnut. When growing here [the nut] is of an harder shell [than in England]. The Hickary is [a] Sort of Walnut. [It is] a very lasting Timber and hard. The Husk [is] Striated and Parts in quarters, Like an Orange. [It] Comes Clean from the Nutt, which is very thick and hard. The Kernel [is] small and sweet, but difficult to be picked out. The Leaf and husk [have] a Sweet Smell. [The tree has] a large full Leaf. The Nut [is] round, but something less than a walnut. Peaches [are found] in great Plenty, but mostly Mealy and dry. Their best Common ones are the English Molacoton.88I have heard of 50 hoggs fatted by apricots. [They] are plenty at York, but not high flavor. I have seen none Since.

OtherTrees
[p. 121] [The] Locust tree is about the Bigness and has exactly the Leaf of the Quickbeam.8"[It] bears a White flower suceeded by a large, long
tamarind (Tamarindus,L.) (Bailey, Manualof CultivatedPlants, p. 587). 86Probably Melissa officinalis,L., an aromatic herb used in seasoning,particularlyin liqueurs (ibid., p. 859; Sturtevant'sEdible Plants, p. 359). 87The mazard is the common sweet cherry (Prunus avium, L.) (Alfred Rehder, Manual of Cultivated Trees and Shrubs Hardy in North America [2nd edition, New York, 1940], p. 474; Bailey, Manual of Cultivated Plants, p. 544). 88"The Malacoton (or Cotton Apple) is a large fair Peach; the Skin is cover'd over with a thick downy Substance,from whence it took its Name; it is of a beautiful red Colour next the Sun, but of a light Yellow next the Wall; the Flesh is firm, and full of a rich vinous Juice, and when duly ripen'd, is an excellent Fruit. This ripens towards the latter End of September" (Philip Miller, The Gardeners Dictionary: Containing the Method of Cultivating and Improving the Kitchen, Fruit and Flower Garden . . . [2nd edition, London, 1733] ). 89 The quickbeam,or wild service tree, is a species of Sorbus (ibid.).
85 The

Virginia in 1732

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with in which pod Like that of a Kidneybean,Indianpea, or IndianCreeper, is a Sweet pulp like Honey which Jo[hn the] Bapt[ist] Lived on. It also has a Long, stiff, sharpThorn of a fingerslength. There is anothersort [of Locust with a] Leaf somethinglike the former,but no Thornes. [Locustis] a very hard [wood], but lastingfor Ever. The woods aboundin forrestTrees, but havelittle Incumbrances Thorns of and Briars,no Goz,90or fern to hinderridersamong them. But I see none but the Sycamorethat Exactly agreeswith our English,and the Holly and Hawthornand Asp. There is the Black, White, and SpanishOak, all being acorns.The Leaf of the White Oak somewhatresemblesour Maple. The Black is darkerand Broaderand shorter.The Poplarhas no resemblance to but has the Leaf of a Maple or Black Oak. [It] bearsa flower and is ours, the samewith the Tulip in Lord Peterborows [It] garden.91 grows as bigg as an Oak. The Leaf is smaller,exactly like a Savinor Juniper,but the Cedaris Sweet, whereasthe Savinstinks.The CedarBearsno ConeLikethe fir, but a Bl[ue?] a Berry which is the seed, and is the Juniper Cedar of Johnson,92 sharp poynted Leaf and sweet sm[ell]. [The] Pyne bearsa leaf and cone like our Pine, only the Cone is full of short Prickles, and I can find no seed or Kern[el] in it. There are Round and Long ones on the sametree. They use it as wee do firr,but its redder.It agreesotherwisewith the PinusMontana of Johnson.93 Cypressgrows Largerand is the Wood of which they maketheir for Covering[Roofs and?] for Clapboard. shingles Shrubs [p. 122] Shrubsand plants. Myrtle grow very Plenty. They boyl the Berryesto a Wax and make green Wax Candleswhich burn well, but are tallow are 5d. dear,viz. 9d perlb., whereas
90 Probably Ulex, L., also known as furze, gorse, or whin, a species of spiny shrub (Bailey, Manual of CultivatedPlants,p. 570). 91Grove is referring to the tulip tree (Liriodendron Tulipifera, L.). Lord Peterborough's tulip tree is mentioned by Richard Bradley (New Improvements of Planting and Gardening, both Philosophicaland Practical ... [4th edition, London, 1724], p. 95). 92 Undoubtedly referring to Thomas Johnson, M. D. (d. 1644), a botanist and native of Yorkshire, who wrote the first local catalogue of plants published in England (London, 1629). Johnson's major work, and the one which Grove was probably citing, was The

Cedars are plentiful, but make not so stately or fine [a] Tree as the Pine.

Herball . . . gathered by Jobn Gerarde . . . very much enlarged and amended by Thomas

Johnson, citizen and apothecary of London (London, 1633). Johnson added over 800 new species and over 700 figures to Gerard's original work, which was published thirty-six years earlier (Dictionary of National Biography, edited by Sidney Lee, XXX [London, 1892], 47-48).
93 See footnote 92.

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Dogwood grows [to] an high tree, equal of [an] Apple tree. [It] bears a small red Berry like an Haw in the Center of 3 Leaves, which Leaf in Autum grows red. Tis the root [which] has the Virtue by some esteemed Equal [to] the Jesaets bark,94 [although] some say the Inward Bark. The English Dogberry is black when ripe. Wood Sorrell is a bushy tree almost as large as the former. The Leaves also turn Red in Autumn. The Seed hangs in long Bunches 6 or 7 Inches Long, 10 or 12 Strings in a bunch, knotted Like Knotted fringe. Cypress is of the sort of our garden Cypres. [It] bears very smal[l] Cones and [the] seed [is] much coveted by Ants. There are few of them in York, James City, or Kent, or King and Queen County, But plenty in Glocester and the Dragon Swamp. The Wood is very lasting. Of it they make shingles for their houses, which being tarred over every 2 or 3 years will hold good 20 Years. It grows in the Water like our Aldar. Lignum Vitae s is but a small tree, the branches hanging down, leaves exactly like a Savine, but Thicker, broader, and more gummy and Odoriverous. [It] bears a Yellow flower among the Leaves, but no fruit. It grows from Layers 96 in England at falston. The Cedar is also much the same leaf, but [with a] pricky poynt, [whereas] this is smooth. Sumack [is] of two sorts. The one for Dyers is a shrup [i.e., shrub] about 2 feet High. [It has] a Small Leaf [and] bears a Large Tuft or Clustor of Small Deep red Berries. The root is Excellent in the Pox. Sassafrasis as big as our Maple. [It has] a very rough bark. There is Little Virtue in the boughs and body, and the scent [is] in the root. [p. 123] The Blossom drank as Tea is a pretty relish.

Animals
Fish. In our Voyage wee Saw Several Grandpusses and great numbers of Porpusses. [We] struck one, but it get of[f]. [We also saw] several Bonettas, of about 2 feet Long, and Dolphins which wee struck at, but could take only one, which was as good as Zalmon.97Its a Beautiful fish, both in shape and Colour, [being] strait, slender [and] of a Changeable
94Jesuit'sbark, the bark of the cinchona tree, was the source of quinine. 95Grove may have mistaken the identity of this shrub. The lignum vitae (Guaiacum officinale) is an evergreen tree or shrub native to the West Indies and the warmer parts of North America, not known to extend as far north as Virginia (The Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening [2nd edition, Oxford 1956], II, 935). 96For a discussion of propagating plants by layering, see Richard Bradley, Dictionarium Botanicumn:or, A Botanical Dictionary for the Use of the Curious in Husbandry and Gardening (London, 1728), II, under "Layer." 97Grove probably means salmon.

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Blue, red, and Gold Colour. It had in it 3 or 4 Garr fish, a small Rudder fish, [and] a Flying fish. Blubber and Carvil I described before.98 Sheeps heads are accounted a very good fish. Cats heads are more Course, but I think very good. Sting rays are the same as our Schates" not [illegible] here. They say if You done [i.e., do not] Carefully and nimbly Cut of[f] its tayl when taken, it will strike it into your hand or Legg to the Endangery of the Limb. Flying Squirrells are of the Colour of a Common Squirrel and differ in two Wings and the Tayl, All broad and thin films covered with hair Like other parts of their Body. [They] fly from tree to tree, but not farr. The Common Squirrell is red flesh, but eats like rabbit. I eat of it Aug. 9, 1733 at Major Johnsons.'0 They have no lobstors, nor are the Crabbsgood. There are Crabbs in fresh Water. They slip their shells Yearly, have a Picked side, and their Claws [are] more slender than ours. [p. 124] We saw very few fowle in our Voyage, Except Gulls, some Sheer waters, so Called because they skit on the Water like Swallows, one Troppick bird, and some Petterells, which are a Sea swallow. [The] Turky Buzzard flyes Like our Kite, but is Bigger and doth Prey on Chicken. Crows resemble ours in Shape and Colour, but fly in Company as Rooks and Make a noyse Like the Barking of a dog. Blackbirds resemble ours but do not whistle Like them, But make a noyse Like our Stares and fly Like them in Large flocks. The Cock is Black with a Spot of red as Broad as a 6 p[ence] on Each Pinion. The hen [is] more Like a Starling. Mocking birds are as are bigg as a pigeon. Blew Birds and Red birds10T so Called from their Colour. The Red is bigger than the blackbird. The Cock red bird has a beautiful Tuft on its head. The Blew birds are Least. Didapers more resemble our Sheldrake or Barrow Duck. [They are] very near as Large, and like them [have] red Leggs. Partridges often pitch on Trees. Humming birds, or Colibres, [are] no bigger than a Beetle. [It is] beautiful [and] makes a surprising noyse as it flyes. Muscovy ducks thrive Well and all their Poultry is good. Raccoons and Possums both resemble Hogs flesh, exceeding fat and Luscious.
98

100 Grove must have made an error in writing 1733 instead of 1732. There is no evidence that Grove remained in Virginia longer than a few months. Grove mentioned earlier in the journal that he had been entertained at Major Johnson's house before he settled at Dixon's. Perhaps it was then that he enjoyed a meal on squirrel.

Grove, Diary, pp. 109-110. 99 Skate (Raja).

101 Referring to the cardinal (genus Richmondena).

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[p. 125] Flying Insects. The flying Bugg is a Very large kind of Beetle. [It] makes to the Light, and Like beetles Strike against the Walls till it falls down. Fire flyes are very thick and make a pretty shew in the night. [They] Carry a light in their Tayl, Like our Glowwork [i.e., glowworm]. Some fancy them Cantharides,but they are of a Brown Colour, and as I have Compared, differ also in shape from the other. There is a lesser Beetle Called a Tis a pretty amusement to see them Roll up dung as Bigg Tumbel turd.102 as a Billiard Ball and Work, two together, to roll it to a hole and Burry it. In it they Lay their eggs, and the outside is Winters Provision. They swarm and all most Cover the ground near the Cow penns. [p. 126] Amphibious animall. Here are no Toads, but Innumerablefroggs of different sort[s]. The Common Little land frog is Blackish, but striped down the Back less than ours. The Yellow frog is more like [ours], but the Bull frogg is Monstrous. The Land frogg sings like a Grashopper toward Evening. The other Croak very different from ours, but the little green frog is very Beautifull. It Lives altogather on trees, Eats the Leaves, [and] never comes on the ground. But when it [is] taken and placed on the ground, [it] takes greater Leaps than either, viz. 2 or 3 yards at a Leap. Turtles, or tortoises, lye in Little ditches and standing Pools, Especially where a red weed grows. The Negroes eat them, but few of the English, more because their belly resembles an overgrown toad than for any Ill tast, for stewed they make good broth and the flesh [is] equal to stewed beef.103 They differ from Talopins 104 in this: the Turtle Careys its shell on the back but is Soft under the belly; the other is all Environed with shell and Contracts its self into it. The Turtle are sometimes found 2 feet over or more. That whereof I eat was about a foot. The Talapin is seldom as Wide as a Common plate, 6 or 8 Inches. [p. 127] Snakes. The black is not Venemous. It[']s Long and hunts Rats and therefore they rather cherish than drive them out of their Storehouses.'05
102The tumble turd, or tumble bug, is a scarabaeidbeetle common along the Adantic coast of America. It is illustrated in Mark Catesby, The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the BahamaIslands.. . (3rd edition, London, 1771), II, appendix,plate 11. 103 The Swiss visitor, Francis Louis Michel, observed that turtles were used as food when he toured Virginia in 1702. He wrote: "Turtles . . . are gathered and eaten by the negroes or slaves. The largest which I have seen was like a small hat in circumference" ("Report of the Journey," VMHB, XXIV, 42).
104

writing half a century later, also commented on the black snake's propensity for destroying rats and mice, declaring them "more useful than cats" for this purpose. But Smyth snakes reported that the Americans, "one and all," had such an abhorrence of all species of that "notwithstanding this kind of serpents are absolutely harmless, and indeed extremely serviceable . .. yet they are as eager to kill and destroy them, as the most noxious, virulent,
105 Smyth,

Grove is referring to the terrapin.

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The Green speckedsnakeis alsoreputedof no venom.The Rattlesnakewill not avoyd you as repor[ted?]. [It] is a dull, heavy Animall,nor will it hurt you unlessyou strikeor treadon it, when it will springat you. And the bite is generally Mortal,tho they report that Indianscan Cure it. There are 2 Instancesof recoverywithout their help. They say they have an Additional Rattle every Year. The Horn snake is the most venemousof all. It lyes in its tayl which it will dart into a tree and kill the Tree with its poyson."06 Neither these nor Rattle snakesare frequentin the Inhabitedparts,but Lye in the Back woods, so that many old Natives [n]ever saw one alive. I have yet seen of no kind. Lizardsare Very numerousand of differentsorts. The Red headedone they say is the Scorpion.The lizardwill run Crossyou as Swift as an Arrow from a bow [so] that you can neither discoverColour or Shape.
and deleterious of the species . . ." (John Ferdinand Dalziel Smyth, A Tour in the United State of America [fascimile reprint of London, 1784 edition, New York, 1968], I, 53-54). 106 Nicholas Cresswell provided even more vivid details about the horn snake. He saw the skin of one on June 4, 1776, and recorded in his journal: "It is covered with scales like a fish, Black and white on the back, the belly white with a small hair in its tail like a cockspur from whence it takes its name. It does not crawl on its belly like other snakes, but tumbles tail over head and by that means strikes its Horn into its enemy, which is of such a poisonous nature it is instant death. I have been informed by several credible persons . . . that if it strikes its horn into a tree in full leaf it withers and dies in twenty-four hours. I never saw this, but have not the least reason to doubt the truth of it" (The Journal of Nicholas Cresswell, 1774-1777 [2nd edition, New York, 1928], p. 144). Burnaby was told a similar story, this time concerning a rattlesnake. He met an "ignorant planter" on the road when he was returning from a trip to the western counties, who told him that he had once seen a rattlesnake strike a small vine, and as a result it "presently drooped and died." Burnaby noted that some persons to whom he related the story doubted its veracity, but he was convinced that the man was telling the truth (Andrew Burnaby, Travels Through the Middle Settlements in North-America. In the years 1759 and 1760. With Observations upon the State of the Colonies [2nd edition, London, 1775], p. 62). One of the few men to record actually seeing a horned snake was Elkanah Watson. While traveling with a companion between Halifax and Williamsburg in 1777, it was necessary to cross a number of creeks "infested with a most venemous reptile-the horned snake-whose sting is death." The party spotted one of the dreaded reptiles by a swamp, and Watson's companion dismounted to examine it, believing that it was dead. Watson's description continued: "The moment his whip touched it, the snake coiled itself in an attitude of attack, its head horribly flattened, its eyes sparkling fire, its execrable tongue darting out of its mouth. After the danger was over, we laughed heartily at Hussey's fright and discomfiture. This snake has sharp, fine teeth, but its subtle venom is embedded in a horn, tapering to a fine point, at the end of the tail, whence it is ejected. I was told that the poison was fatal to a tree, if it is stung by the snake when the sap is ascending" (Men and Times of the Revolution; or, Memoirs of Elkanah Watson, Including Journals of Travels in Europe and America, from 1777 to 1842, with his correspondence with public men and reminiscences and incidents of the Revolution, edited by Winslow C. Watson [New York, 1856], pp. 58-59). Although the variety of snake seen by Watson cannot be identified, the frequent mention of the dreadful horn snake in travelers' accounts suggests that Virginians customarily recounted the story to test the gullibility of greenhorns from abroad.

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Additional Notes on Crops and Husbandry [p. 128] Tobacco is raised from the Seed, for the Stalks, after [being] Cut like Cabbage in a red flower, run to Seed. [The seed is] ripe in October and sown in beds in January, Thence planted out In hills Like Hops, about 3 feet dist[ant], in June, and after a months grouth [it is] topt to make the Leaf Larger. Its Cut in August and then runs to seed and bears a white flower. Virginian Potatoes hath many hollow, flexible branches trailing on the ground, three Square Knoted at Certain distances, from which Knots Spring the Leaf. [It] bears a flower of purple Colour [and] the fruit suceeds round as a ball, as bigg as a Little Bullet, 1st green, and [then] black when ripe, wherein is [a] Small white Seed Less than Mustard. The Root [is] Thick, fatt, and Tuburous. In Colour and tast [it is] like the Common Potato [although] not so Long or bigg, and some [arel round, some Ovall. Ours came from America. N[ote:] I have seen none of this sort as yet. This is Johnsons107description. [written in margin] those [potatoes] that I have seen are Long Like parsnips, some White, but mostly redish Yellow. [They are] Luscious and as Large as Lincoln Shire or Spanish Potatoes. Woodbines,'08 with a red flower but have no smell, make a pretty shew over a Palisade or arbour and last till october. Snake root sends forth many slender stalks a foot Long [which are] tough, Indented, tending toward the ground or creping on it. [It has] green, sharp, poynted Leaves and [a] red flower. [It has] a smal[l], fibrous, matted root. Prickly Pear is a plant without body or boughs. The Leaf set in the ground produceth other Leaves. These Leaves are Broad and thick as a Mans hand, of a deep green, set with Long, Slender, Sharp, whitish Prickles [so far it agrees with Gerards Indian figg].109 At the End or top of these Leaves Issue a red flower Like a Pear in Shape, or Rather like a Crocus, full also of Prickes, which Containes fruit. It grows here close to the ground, but a foot high in the West Indyes. It grows green all the year, flowers in September, [and] is reputed very astringent, viz. the Juice. [p. 129] Forreign Commod[it]yes are Brought almost [exclusively] from England, except some Madera limported] directly and rum, which makes Almends, reasons [raisins], Orenges, Lemons, [and] Currantsonly seen sometimes at Merchants and gentlemens Tables. Ginger is planted in Hills like our pease. Every kind sprouts forth blades
107

Herball, or, Generall Historie of Plantes in London, 1597. This was the work revised by Thomas Johnson, see footnote 92.

See footnote 92. 108See footnote 81. 109The brackets around the phrase are Grove's. John Gerard (1545-1612) published his

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Like Wheat. The roots are Scraped to Clear it from the outward skin and kill it, other wise it would be always growing. Some Scald it, but that proves not so good. Red pepper is some of it at 2 y[ards] dist[ance] not to be discerned from a Childs Coral at 3 Yards dist [ance]. Purcelain110grows wild and over runs the ground. [p. 130] Tobacco in Stalk and Leaf and flower is not much unlike our Henbane, only [it] will grow 7 or 8 feet high if suffered. But they always top it in [blank] "1 to make the Leaves Spread the broader. The Stalk is as bigg as [a] good hand Cudgel, branchd with Long Branchs, to which is fixd a Long and broad Leaf, [which is] smooth with an [illegible] poynt, soft and of a Light green Colour. The flowers, in [the] Shape of a Bell flower, grow at top of the Stalks. [They are] hollow within, Long and Cornered, of a White Carnation Colour toward the Stalk, but more red toward the brim. The Seed is Contained in Long, Sharp poynted Podds, Like the Yellow Henbane, but Something Smaller and browner. The root [is] great and of [a] Woody substance with some Thready Strings. Its soun in beds in January. Carefully scattered, [it] needs no Raking, but will doe even til April. In June the Young plants are set out in hills Like hops, 3 feet dist[ant] and Cutt off or topt at a months grouth. They cut [it] about a foot from the ground in August. [It is then] hung in the Shade to dry and in October pickt and put in Cask. Among other Virtues, the oyl [of tobacco] heals galls [and] kibed heels."1 Tis Excellent in Burnings and scaldings [when] boyled with hoggs greese into an Oyntment and spread on a Cloth and applyed. [The] Ashes [are] Excellent to Clean teeth. Cotton is planted early in the Spring. In July and beginning of August, it produces a flower of Damask red or bright yellow Issuing from a Cluster of Green leaves. This flower consists of only 2 leaves which are Close like a Rose bud and Incloseth a Yellow Chive with [which?] become [s] a Cone of the
Purslane (Portulaca oleracae,L.). 111Grove probably intended to insert a month in this blank, and in his previous discussion of tobacco he had stated that it was planted in June and topped a month later. In general this was correct, although plants were topped when they had reached a certain stage of growth rather than at a particular time in the year. Topping was done to prevent the plant from running to seed and to increase the size of the leaves which were left on the plant (William Tatham, An Historical and Practical Essay on the Culture and Commerce of Tobacco [London, 1800], pp. 18-19). 112 A gall is a chronic sore, especially those on horses caused by irritation from the saddle. A kibed heel usually referred to a horse's hoof which was cracked. William Byrd used tobacco oil in a medication for piles (The Secret Diary of William Byrd of Westover, 17091712,edited by Louis B. Wright and Marion Tinling [Richmond, 1941], p. 197).
110

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Shape of a Pear which In[closes?] the Cotton, which bursts it open and is Ripe in October. [p. 131] Husbandry, etc. They are the Slovenliest husbandmenImaginable. Those few that use the Plough never harrow the corn nor Weed their Wheat, but when once Sown take no more Care of it. They lead their Oxen by the horns in Plowing, 1 Yoke to the Plough. Their hay is the coursest Sedge, Cut with an hook and dryed without Turning or Cocking. They neither Shoe nor litter [?] their horses. After Galloping 20 or more mile[s], they will tye them to a tree or rayl all day, and Eat, bait, and away again home, perhaps turn them into a Stable loose where they may Eat Rackstaves if they please, and next morning On again. Yet will they hold it and [remain] more healthy than Ours which are so tenderly used.1l3 Sheep do not thrive here and no Wonder. They never belch drench or take Care of them or their Lambs, nor Wash them before Shereing."1 Nor do they Wind the Wool, but they wash the Wool after tis taken off, which last of Washing the Wool after Sheering and not before is also usual in Devon.

113An Englishman who visited the Chesapeake in the 1740s also expressed amazement at the hardiness of the horses. He called them "serviceable little Creatures" and added that they "live most prodigiously hard." He said that he had seen them go "six Days Journey without a feed of Corn [grain]; having nothing but the Stalks of Indian Wheat [maize] and such other Litter as they could pick up ..." ("Observations in Several Voyages," WMQ, 1st ser., XV [1907], 154). 114 Although probably atypical, William Byrd did wash his sheep before shearing (Secret Diary .. 1709-1712, p. 527).