DR. JOHANN DAVID SCHOEPF, SURGEON TO THE HESSIAN TROOPS.

1783.

DR. JOHANN DAVID SCHOEPF was born at Weinsiedel in 1752 and died in the year 1800. He studied medicine at Hof, Erlangen, Berlin and Vienna, then traveled in Russia, Italy and Switzerland, and made his degree in medicine at Erlangen in 1776. That year he came to America as surgeon to the Hessian troops in the British army. In 1784 he went to London and traveled through England and in France, Spain and Italy. He published in 1787 a Materia Medica Americana. Dr. Schoepf was particularly interested in scientific matters, was an accurate observer of things and of people, and his book is one of the best of the early travels in this country. These volumes have now been translated, and the account given below is a modification. Dr. Schoepf approached Virginia from the north, coming through Western Maryland.“By this road Leesburg is the first town on the Virginia side, a place of few houses, small and wooden. On account of the high, pleasant and healthful situation a Latin school has been established here. An advertisement of this institution was to be seen on the tavern door, recommending it in a handsome style to the public, which should give it patronage, since schools hitherto, except in the chief cities, are scarce enough in America. It is not the universal custom in America to hang shields before the inns, but inns may always be identified by the great number of papers and notices with which the walls and doors of these public houses are plastered—and the best inns are in general the most papered. From such announcements the traveler gets a many-sided entertainment, and gains instruction as to where taxes are heavy, where wives have eloped or horses been stolen, and where the new doctor has settled.

“Along the road from Leesburg towards Fredericksburg there was not a little difference to be remarked between the appearance of the country and the thickly settled regions of Piedmont Maryland and Pennsylvania, through which we had just passed. It was strange to see so much wild and newly cleared ground, due not to any unfertility of the soil, but to the large estates whose owners were unwilling to sell and found it difficult to secure tenants where there is so much land to be had almost for the asking. And the contrast in the appearance of the plantations, after the Potomac is crossed, is rather striking. In this part of Virginia, as in lower Maryland, the farmer builds a small village about him. In some cases, however, all of his buildings would scarcely make one comfortable house. From the time of his first clearing he is continually adding, and his plan may be not a very good one. We passed Moore’s Tavern and the Red House (30 miles from Goose Creek), and skirting the Bull Run Mountains, approached the strictly tobacco country. Fairly good tobacco is raised to the west along the foothills, but the profit is trifling on account of the heavy expense of carriage to warehouses whence it can be taken off by the European ships. In this region the crop had been greatly damaged by an August frost. The loss was the greater because many of these planters raise only the Sweetscented, a tender variety, but more profitable by 2½ shillings the hundred, or 25 shillings Virginia currency the hogshead.

“We spent a night at a plantation where, although no tavern is kept, the traveler is entertained for pay. There are disadvantages about this sort of inn, but on the one hand the proprietor escapes the payment of a liquor license and the trouble of catering to a crowd of idlers, and on the other hand the guest must answer only a few times the usual questions as to where he is going, where he came from, and what his business is. The captain had a large family, and wished to sell some of his land, of which he owned 4,000 acres. Land hereabouts can be bought for from 25 to 50 or 60 shillings Virginia currency. The captain would sell his for 40 shillings cash, and with the proceeds move to Kentucky. The people throughout are bent on providing for their children. This is difficult to do in the East, and hence the steady emigration to Kentucky.“Beyond this we got out of the right road, and meeting only a few darkeys, whose horizon was not extensive, traveled half a day before we were set right. We passed Cedar Run at a dangerous ford, and came to a plantation where there is a copper mine worked intermittently, a narrow vein. Following the direction, “keep straight on” (nobody thinks the stranger can be quite as ignorant as he says he is), we crossed Acquia Creek, and reached Fredericksburg. The public buildings of Fredericksburg—church, market house and court house—we found in bad condition, not because they had been damaged directly by the war, but simply because during the war there had been no use made of them. Tobacco was bringing a small price here, and at a sure profit to the buyers. No ships were in and taxes were due; the price had been knocked down to 25 shillings the hundred. The same at Alexandria. Hunter’s Iron Works, near Fredericksburg, at the falls above Falmouth, is one of the finest and most extensive works of this sort in America. There is a rolling and a slitting mill, both very ingeniously contrived, and of this description of iron works there have been up to this time only one or two established in all America. Under the British rule such enterprises were forbidden. Past Fredericksburg, we had the honor to breakfast with an American general, whose attire was conspicuous—a large white chapeau, a blue coat, a brown waistcoat and green breeches decorated him, and he a short, fat man.

“From this point on towards Richmond the country is open and level, and adorned with many large and at times tasteful dwellings. The rich Virginians do not prefer a town life. Here and there we passed large wheat fields. Several years before the war, owing to the heavy English import duties on tobacco, the people had begun to raise wheat on a more extensive scale. Here, as in other parts of America, the cornfields are seeded to wheat without removing the stalks. The weevil is bad, especially if the grain lies long in the straw. After floating off the light seed the good, heavy grain is broadcasted, mixed with shell lime. Between Fredericksburg and Richmond we noticed a good many swampy spots, which might easily be drained. We met on this road, to our great surprise, two Alsatians traveling along on foot, with their bundles slung behind. They had come into the Chesapeake on a French ship, and were seeking their fortune in Virginia. A foot passenger is a very unusual sight in Virginia. Passing Hanover Courthouse (December 18, 1783) and Hanover Town, we came to Richmond. On this road we were struck with the little provision made for the winter feeding of cattle. How easy it would be to lay down grass. Near Richmond we saw mules, the first pair. Mules, being found well adapted to the country, are beginning to be used a good deal.

“Richmond, before 1779 not a very important town, is built on two heights, separated by a creek called Shokoes. The houses are in general of wood, and are irregularly scattered about. A recent census gives the number as 280, and the population about 2,000. The falls of the James engaged my curiosity first. The total fall of the river from Westham to Richmond (7 miles) is only seventy-one feet, and hence there is no stupendous cataract. But the falls as a whole, over innumerable boulders, between winding wooded banks, present a great and striking appearance. The sound of the water, particularly at night, is heard not only through the entire town, but before the wind for several miles around. At the falls innumerable herring and shad are caught early in spring, and at times even in February. These appear in the Delaware and the Hudson not before the middle of April or the first of May. James River is one of the greatest and most beautiful of American streams.

“During my stay at Richmond the Assembly was in session. A small frame building serves as House of Assembly, and with a change of properties as ballroom and banquet room. The term is used, ‘the Assembly sits.’ This does not seem to me to be precisely descriptive. The members appeared to me to be anywhere rather than in their seats, and to be discussing anything except laws to be framed. The doorkeeper was busy, and in the vestibule there was an uproar. The vestments of the members are diverse—boots, trousers, Indian leggings, great-coats, the usual coat, and short jackets. In other words, each one wears what he pleases. The members from the West are greatly inconvenienced in coming so far. They even speak of establishing a separate government for the West, as in the province of New York, where there is a Governor at New York and another at Albany. If this is done, the West will very likely become in a short time an independent State. The pay of members has recently been fixed at 18 Virginia shillings or 3 Spanish dollars per diem. During the war they preferred tobacco (50 pounds) to currency. At a vote, the Speaker calls for the Ayes and Noes, and judges with a critical ear which side has made the majority of sounds. If the predominance is a matter of doubt a division is called.

“I stopped at the Tavern Formicola, which was naturally much crowded at that season. Every evening there came generals, colonels, captains, senators, delegates, judges, doctors, clerks and gentlemen of every weight and calibre to sit around the fire, drink, smoke, sing and swap anecdotes. Very entertaining, but Formicola’s not being a spacious house, I found the crowd embarrassing. There is only one newspaper published at Richmond; this paper appears twice a week.

“On the south side of James River, opposite Richmond, lies a little town called Manchester. The rocks in the river between the two places have been bought up, as well as a narrow strip along each bank, and the owner proposes to throw a fine bridge across, which, if built, will be the first and only one of the kind in America. The project depends upon whether the Assembly will license this bridge as a toll bridge. At Manchester I visited Mr. Jacob Rubsamen, a German, who was before the war engaged in mining in Jersey. At the outbreak of the war he came to Virginia and set up a powder mill, the first powder mill to be established in this country. Rubsamen was able to find saltpetre in the mountains; his sulphur he brought from Europe, on account of the heavy expense of getting it out in this country. His works were not very profitable, and were destroyed in the end by the British. Mr. Rubsamen told me that lead ore is found on New River and the Greenbrier, copper on the Roanoke (Dan), and iron everywhere about, particularly in Buckingham County. Coal was recently discovered twelve miles from Richmond by the mere chance of the uprooting of a tree by the wind. This coal brings 1 shilling a bushel (at the wharf), Virginia currency. Its smell is disagreeable, as I observed when at Richmond.

“Leaving Richmond we reached Williamsburg in two days, passing by Warwick (where the British had destroyed a considerable plant for the working of iron), Osborne’s, a pleasant place, though small, and Petersburg, a town of a thriving trade and larger than Richmond. Cotton is raised in this region on good new land or on heavily fertilized land, and the favorite tobaccos are the Sweetscented, the Long Green, the Varina, the Frederick, the Oroonoko, the Hudson, Thickjoint, Thickset, Shoestring and other varieties.

“Williamsburg is to be counted among the most beautiful of American cities. The Capitol, or Statehouse, closes one end of the High Street, a large and modern building. Because no better use can be made of it now, a Latin school is to be established where the government was once installed. Doctors in all the faculties are graduated at the College of William and Mary. Most of the students, however, complete their studies at the English and Scottish universities. The citizens of this town, as of all lower Virginia, greatly hope that the seat of government will be brought back to Williamsburg. At the tavern I found very good entertainment and paid high for it. The black attendants, neatly and modishly attired, make their bows with dignity and respectfulness. They spoke with enthusiasm of the politeness of the French officers lately quartered there.“We made an excursion to Yorktown, called also Little York, to see that famous place, and particularly to inspect the great oyster banks there. The inhabitants have not yet recovered from the disturbances of war, and many houses are still in ruins or half repaired. The spars of the ships sunk in the river to block the passage are yet to be seen. We returned the same day to Williamsburg, to set out the next morning for the South. Seven miles from Williamsburg, on the Southern road, we came to James River, and after much delay were obliged to turn back to Williamsburg because of an unfavorable wind at the ferry. The next day at sunrise, when the wind is generally still, we came again to the ferry and were put across, but not without delay. Lord Cornwallis was the excuse. They said he had ruined the wharf, and the tide was not yet high enough to take off men and horses from the bank, which is there low.

“Not far below the ferry lies James Island, formerly only a peninsula; in a fierce storm with high water the river broke through the slender tongue of land. Jamestown appears in several modern geographies as a place of eighty to a hundred houses. In reality there are there but one or two, and they ruinous. The most valuable land in this region is that along the rivers and creeks, not so much from the superior fertility, as because of the accessibility to water transportation. Such land sells at four, five or six pounds, Virginia. If the corn crop fails the planter is in straits, and if the price of tobacco is high everything else—bacon, corn, etc.—is high in proportion. Desiring gain, and spending his time on tobacco, the planter loses through not giving attention to those articles of necessity which he might produce at home.

“Five miles from James River we came to Surry Courthouse, where there was a crowd, because it was court day. Eleven miles farther on we passed Nelson’s Ordinary, and after ten miles more reached Smithfield, or Isle of Wight Courthouse. The road from Williamsburg is mainly through woods, but we passed more churches (five, that is to say) than during any other day’s journey in America.

“Towards Smithfield the traveler passes beyond the tobacco country. The chief exports here are tar, pitch, turpentine and salted meat. A barrel of tar, thirty-one and one-half gallons, costs from 8 to 9 Virginia shillings; a barrel of turpentine 18 shillings, and a barrel of salted pork (220 pounds) 50 shillings. At Smithfield we spent the evening with a party of gentlemen from the neighborhood. The conversation was for the most part on the subject of Virginia, what advantages that State has over every other State in the world, and how the nation of Virginia is superior to every other nation—in resources, manners, purity of speech and in all respects.

“The stranger notes deficiencies. For instance, a gentleman of Petersburg remarked to me that he thought of sending his son to Edinburgh to make a doctor of him, since he would probably not marry and set up as a planter, being now past the age of twenty-one. But it must be admitted that physically, the Virginians are a comely race, and they show on all subjects clear and strong understandings. It is to be regretted that they do not give more attention to the exact sciences. They read, but they do not study.

“Christmas Eve we came to Everett’s Bridge, and the next day to Suffolk, on another arm of Nansemond Creek. In the month of May, 1779, a great part of Suffolk was burned by the British. There are no stones at this place, and the deep, fine sand of the streets is an inconvenience. Before the houses they lay a sort of pavement, pitch and tar mixed with the sand and allowed to harden. They drive a trade from this place to the West Indies in small vessels, shallops of twenty to fifty tons burthen. Salt is an especial article of their traffic. When the vessels, which bring it from Tortola, Turk’s Island and other of the West Indies, are delayed, the price of salt is tripled and quadrupled. During the war the people were greatly in want of salt, and the attempt was made to get it from the sea by damming the water in ponds along the coast. Little success attended this experiment south of the thirty-seventh parallel, probably because of the frequent rain-storms which freshened the ponded sea water.

“From Suffolk to Cunningham’s we skirted the great Dismal Swamp. Along the road from York, in Virginia, to this point it is observable that the south bank of all the rivers and creeks is steeper and rougher than the north bank. This may be due to the weathering of the north and northeast storms.”

---