  The first Charlottesville Court House, built in 1762, was of wood, and reproduced that of Henrico County; the cost 375 pounds, ten shillings. It stood near the site of the Confederate statue and faced down Court—now Fifth—Street. In that small structure both Jefferson and Monroe, as fledgling lawyers, practiced that profession. Both were youthful magistrates—although public life early broke this tie for both of them. There are no records of Mr. Jefferson’s sitting on the bench, although he did take depositions. Mr. Monroe sat regularly for six months in 1799, just previous to becoming Governor. TARLETON AND JACK JOUETT.As the Revolutionary War drew to its end the little building knew a brief notoriety. Before the threat of Cornwallis, Governor Jefferson and the Legislature refugeed, May 24, 1781, to re-convene in Charlottesville. The Legislature met in the Court House, the overflow occupying the Swan Tavern across the street. Cornwallis dispatched in pursuit his “hunting leopard,” Col. Banastre Tarleton, with a troup of 180 cavalry and 70 mounted infantry. These reached the village on the morning of June 4th, to find that a warning had preceded them. The members had left town for Staunton: they were pursued and seven captured. The Jeffersons—the family by carriage, Mr. Jefferson on horseback—refugeed to Enniscorthy, the Coles plantation in Southern Albemarle. The warning was brought by John Jouett, captain of militia, and a native of Charlottesville, his father being the owner of Swan Tavern. Chancing to be in Cuckoo Tavern in Louisa County as the legion swept by on the main road, he suspected their destination and rode swiftly by a shorter route, covering the forty-odd miles in time to arrive several hours before the enemy. This was the famous “Jack Jouett’s Ride,” which in dash, and political importance, surpassed that of New England’s Paul Revere. In Charlottesville the British troops destroyed military stores amounting to 1000 new muskets, 400 barrels of powder, several hogsheads of tobacco, and a quantity of soldiers’ clothing. A more serious loss was the burning on the court house green of the County records, which covered the foundation of the County. As the uniform of the legion was white, faced with green, and that of the infantry red, the village must have presented a dramatic appearance during these hours. Upon the 5th, Tarleton with his prisoners, withdrew towards Tidewater, his movements being hastened by rains which flooded the streams, and by the gathering of local militia. Jouett’s gallant action received State recognition. A resolution of the General Assembly, December 14, 1786, reads: Colonel Meriwether directed, “to procure an elegant sword for Capt. John Jouett on the best terms he can for the Contingent Warrents.” PRESENT COURT HOUSE BUILDINGThe main portion of the present court house was built by order of court, 1803. A committee of three produced the plan. (Mr. Jefferson was not one of these, but is said to have approved the design.) We do not know the style of the original portico; the present entrance and T-front are post-Civil War. The grounds held the usual whipping post, stocks, and pillory, and as late as 1857 the whipping post was restored. The court house long served as the town’s public building, and the denominations used it in rotation. Writing about this in 1822, Mr. Jefferson says:
Mr. Jefferson was a frequent worshipper, riding down from Monticello and bringing a light cane which opened into a seat—his own invention. It was not unusual to see on this green a president and two ex-presidents in friendly talk with neighbors. Mr. Madison, who lived some twenty-odd miles off in Orange County, was a close friend of the Albemarle two: they were called “the great trio,” as in close harmony they governed the United States for some twenty-four years. Mr. Madison was a member of the University Board, and, oddly enough, president of the Albemarle Agriculture Society. An interesting old document, originally deposited in the court house was the will of Thaddeus Kosciusko, the gallant Pole who came to America to fight in the Revolution. He left it with Mr. Jefferson, and appointed him executor. When Jefferson heard of his death in 1817 he had the will recorded in the office of the Albemarle Circuit Court, where it remained on file until May, 1857. It was then transmitted to the Secretary of the Commonwealth, to be deposited in the State Library. Mr. Jefferson’s own will, executed here, contained many interesting and touching features. Although overwhelmed with debts, he freed five of his servants. This portion reads as follows: JEFFERSON’S WILL
COURT HOUSE VOTINGUntil towards the middle of the 1800’s this court house was the sole voting place in Albemarle County. Elections were held on court days. Only “Freeholders”—white, adult males owning at least twenty-five acres of land with a building on it—had the franchise. The secret ballot was unknown. Candidates were required to be present throughout the election, and by popular custom they were expected to furnish a “treat” for their followers. These supplies of food, and especially of drink, became an expense which friends sometimes had to share. Rum punch was the usual drink, although cider was also offered. The procedure was as follows: the voting was by voice. A long table was placed in the court room. At the center of this sat the High Sheriff; on either side of him were a few of the county Justices; then at the two extreme ends were the respective candidates, each with a clerk who recorded his party’s votes. The room was open to the crowd. Singly, each voter advanced before the bench. If unchallenged, the Sheriff asked his It is interesting to know that Jefferson and Monroe both voted in such elections many times. This method continued until after the death of both men. On one occasion, April 1810, Mr. Jefferson came down hurriedly from Monticello and lobbied on this green for Monroe, who at that time was undergoing a brief decline in popular favor. The contest was for the State Assembly. The local party had gone so far as to decide to nominate another man; Mr. Jefferson’s intervention, however, nipped this in the bud; the proposed candidate withdrew at Jefferson’s solicitation; Monroe was substituted and elected. JOHN S. MOSBY.Coming momentarily down to the War-Between-the-States era, Virginia’s famous cavalry officer, Col. John S. Mosby, is doubly connected with this building. Mosby came to Albemarle as a small boy, grew up near town, and attended the University. While a student, he—in an altercation—shot and seriously wounded a man. He was tried in this building and sentenced to a year in prison; but he was pardoned after serving seven months. During the war, as “Ranger Mosby,” he had a brilliant guerrilla career. In March, 1865, about a month before the surrender, he happened to be in Charlottesville at the time of Sheridan’s raid through the town. He was warned that Sheridan would enter from the West. He obtained civilian dress. Believing he had time, he entered a Main Street shop. However, the Union troops had spread out and a small company was entering from the North, down Park Street, at that very time. A running colored boy warned Mosby of his danger; hearing the words ‘Park Street,’ he supposed he was to escape in that direction. Rushing for his horse, he entered Fifth Street on the dead run. Reaching Jefferson Street he found the company was already at the court house and disbanding. Dashing through unrecognized he cleared High Street at one jump, ‘with mud splashing to Heaven,’ and escaped down Park Street after all. Sixth Street. Eastern Boundary of Village. J. Rawlings Thomson |
|
