The Story of Father Byrd, Richmond

This City, Born in September, 1733, is Center of New South
and Recalls the Old South As Well

By Edmund Brill

It was September, 1733. Summer was waning. Cool, gentle breezes at sunset served notice that fall was near--the season which would transform Virginia's great, green forests into a magnificent rainbow.

Colonel William Byrd II had returned to his home at Westover. Pen in hand, he sat by a window, gazing admiringly at the rolling, deeply wooded hills. Then he wrote in his diary:

"We laid the foundation of two large cities. One to be called Richmond, and the other to be named Petersburg. These Major Mayo offered to lay out into lots without fee or reward. The truth of it is, these two places, being the uppermost landing of the James and Appomattox Rivers, are naturally intended for marts, where the traffic of the outer inhabitants must center. We did build not castles only, but also cities in the air."

Thus, Richmond was born in the mind of Colonel Byrd.

Three and a half years later, in April, 1937, Major William Mayo executed his promise and laid out his prophetic "checkerboard" of thirty-two squares. An advertisement appeared in the Virginia Gazette, stating that there had been "laid off by Major Mayo a town called Richmond, with streets 65 feet wide. A pleasant and healthy situation. . . "

Thus, Richmond became a reality instead of figment of the imagination.

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But the wildest dreams of those illustrious founders could not have pictured the future that was in store for the embryonic city--a future that contained joys and sorrows, peace and war, growth and destruction.

In its 200 years, Richmond has thrice been reduced to ashes and twice crushed under the heels of conquerors. But she has brushed aside all obstacles until, today, she is far more than simply the capital of the Old South. She is the industrial, financial, commercial, medical and cultural center of the New South.

In telling the story of Richmond, let us go back further than that September day in 1733. Let us go back to the birth of the New World.

It was on May 13, 1607 that Captain Christopher Newport and John Smith landed at Jamestown and established the first permanent English settlement in America. A few days later a small company of these intrepid explorers sailed up the James River in search of a new route to the South Seas. They were doomed to disappointment, because, on May 23, 1607, they arrived at the falls and could go no farther.

Although shattered were their dreams of great wealth from gold of the Indies, the adventurers could not help admire the wild beauty of the scenery--the beautiful flowers and trees of the primal forest growing in rich profusion on either bank of the James. At the falls, they discovered a flourishing Indian village, ruled by Little Powhatan.

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The Indians lived well. There was an abundance of wild game and fish. They cultivated small plots with pumpkins, beans and peas, interspersed between stalks of maize. Near these plots there were always little fields of tobacco, the golden weed destined to play such an important part in the history of Virginia.

The years that passed before Richmond was founded at the falls were filled with the dangers of frontier life--sudden and fierce Indian Warfare. In 1647 a fort was established on this site, named Forte Charles." The place also was called "World's End," because the point was the extreme western frontier on the New World until, twenty years later, the hearty newcomers began to push into the vast, unexplored hinterland.

Then, in 1733, Colonel Byrd saw the possibilities of the site as a trading center. Richmond was incorporated as a town in 1742, and was a promising village when George Washington and the son of her founder led two Virginia regiments in the French and Indian War.

One of the most important dates in the history of this city is 1775, because it was in that year the second Virginia convention met at St. John's Church to attempt to avert war with England. The brilliant group of patriots had discussed the tense situation at length when Patrick Henry, tired of the futile attempts to obtain justice for the Colonists, rose in his pew.

Slowly, deliberately, he began what was destined to take its place among the brilliant orations of all time. The country lawyer urged the immediate arming of the Virginia militia. Then, leaning far forward, measuring every syllable, he uttered the words that ignited the flames of revolution and made possible the United States:

"Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but, as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"

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The wisdom of Colonel Byrd in selecting the falls of the James River as the site for Richmond resulted in 1779 in this city receiving the greatest prize Virginia had to offer--the seat of its government. It was in that year the capital was moved from Williamsburg to Richmond because of its more central and more easily protected location.

Two years later Jefferson--Governor of Virginia--had to flee to prevent capture when Benedict Arnold swooped down on Richmond. The British troops pillaged and burned the town, but the capital of the Old Dominion rose from the ashes to become a thriving center of commerce.

It was in Richmond that the first American iron and brick were made, that the first coal in the New World was mined, and the gigantic tobacco industry had its inception.

Although Richmond had long been one of the leading cities of the nation, the War Between the States put her directly in the center of the spotlight of public interest. Capital of the great Commonwealth and occupying a leading position in the South, the city was the logical choice for the capital of the Confederacy.

The Virginia Ordinance of Secession was ratified in the Capitol building, where met the Congress of the Confederate States of America during the four trying years of the great war. It was in the old hall of the House of Delegates, scene of the trial of Aaron Burr for treason, that General Robert E. Lee accepted his Southern command.

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Jefferson Davis moved to Richmond in April, 1961, and remained throughout the period of the conflict in a residence that was sold to the city for the use of the Confederate government.

Then came four harrowing years in which the Federal Armies hammered almost incessantly at the gates of the capital of the South. Time has not erased evidences of those battles in which tens of thousands of men died because of a difference in a point of view. There were great heroes on both sides. The Union soldiers wanted to keep our great nation united. The Confederate troops demanded States rights and felt that they were protecting their homes from an invading army.

Finally, came that fateful Sunday in April of 1865. President Davis was worshipping in St. Paul's Episcopal Church when a messenger arrived with a note from General Lee.

My lines have broken around Petersburg," wrote the illustrious Southern leader. "I can no longer defend the capital."

President Davis was face to face with the cold realization of what he possibly had expected for months. His cause--the South's cause--had become a lost cause. All those men had died; countless thousands had suffered untold agony; a land had been reduced to ruins--all in vain.

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Richmond was burned when she was evacuated. Then came the trying years of reconstruction--dark years that brought everything but utter despair. But, once again, the capital overcame fire and aggression, its head high, looking with confidence toward an even more brilliant future.

And Richmond has realized those dreams of yesteryear. Those troublous times are only memories.

Today, the capital of the Old South is a thriving city of 220,000 persons. Skyscrapers have risen on the seven ancient hills; 300 manufacturing plants are busy turning out wide varieties of products valued at more than $270,000,000 annually; trains roar over a web of six trunk-line railroads; buses stream constantly in and out of the city over numerous principal highways; ships come up the James River from countless ports, and a regular airplane service places Richmonders within a few hours of the nation's centers of population.

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First of importance in Richmond's industries is the manufacture of plug and smoking tobacco, cigars, cigarettes and the handling of leaf tobacco; second is the manufacture of paper and paper products; third is printing, publishing and engraving, and fourth is iron, steel and machinery.

Richmond also has become a financial center of national reputation. Since 1914 this city has been the headquarters of the Fifth Federal Reserve District, and today there are twelve banks and trust companies here, with resources of $208,961,000. It was not a mere coincidence that both Richmond and the banks have enjoyed such progress. The two went forward, shoulder to shoulder. The banks have done much in the financing of railroads, canals, turnpikes, new businesses and other enterprises that made the capital of Virginia enjoy a healthy growth.

But, mingled with this great, new, industrial Richmond, is the Richmond of bygone days. The best of the old remains with the best of the new, because the city has taken pains to retain much of her charm of the Revolution and the War Between the States.

This brilliant past has made Richmond a center of things historic--her streets virtually lined with places that make countless pages of history books spring to life.

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One of the outstanding showplaces is beautiful Capitol Square where stands the magnificent Capitol building, designed by Thomas Jefferson after the Maison Caree at Nimes. The foundation was built in 1785 and the structure completed in 1792. When more space was required, two wings were added in 1902, designed in the same Grecian style so much admired by Jefferson in France. This building is the meeting place of the oldest representative lawmaking body in America, and the oldest in the world established by a free people under a written Constitution.

In the rotunda of the Capitol is the Houdon statue of Washington--the only one in existence today designed from life. Jefferson engaged the famous sculptor to make the statue at the request of the Virginia General Assembly. Houdon came to America and spent some time at Mt. Vernon taking measurements. He returned to Paris and completed his work in time for it to be unveiled in 1788. Washington himself viewed his marble likeness at its present location and approved it.

Also in the Capitol building is the old hall of the House of Delegates, the most historic room in America, with the possible exception of Independence Hall in Philadelphia. In this one room the Virginia convention ratified the Articles of Secession, resulting in the War Between the States; here Chief Justice John Marshall presided over the trial of Aaron Burr for treason; the Confederate Congress met during the war, and Robert E. Lee accepted command of the armed forces of Virginia.

The Capitol Square is the location of the equestrian statue of Washington, executed by Thomas Crawford and cast in Munich at the cost of $100,000! the Governor's Mansion, and many monuments to Virginia's famous sons.

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Nestling amid giant shade trees on one of Richmond's hills is old St. John's Church--the church made famous by Patrick Henry. In the cemetery surrounding the quaint, white frame structure are the graves of George Wythe, first professor of the first law course offered by an American college, and Elizabeth Arnold Poe, mother of Edgar Allan Poe.

The White House of the Confederacy is now the Confederate museum--a treasure house of relics of the War Between the States. A room is dedicated to each of the thirteen States of the Old South. On display are the uniforms, swords, camp chest and multitudinous relics of General Robert E. Lee, Thomas J. (Stonewall) Jackson, Joseph E. Johnston and J. E. B. Stuart. For the student, there are invaluable historical papers and files.

In bold contrast to the Confederate Museum are the new, modern buildings of the Medical College of Virginia which are in the same section of the city. The M. C. V. is one of the oldest medical colleges in the South and one of the oldest in the nation. It was the only medical college in the Confederacy to remain open during the entire period of the War Between the States.

A simple exterior hides the classic dignity of the interior of the home of chief Justice John Marshall, which he himself designed. The residence, containing much of the original furniture, is now the property of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities.

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On Franklin Street in Richmond is a wooden building that is the oldest Masonic Hall in continuous use in the nation. Lafayette was given a reception there in 1824 when he returned to visit the battlefields on which he fought during the Revolution.

Not far from this landmark is the oldest house in Richmond, erected about 1686. It has been restored and is now the Edgar Allan Poe Shrine, housing much Poe material and many articles relating to his residence in the Southern capital. In the rear of this home that time seems unable to destroy is a beautiful "Enchanted Garden."

Only a few blocks away is the site of the Southern Literary Messenger Building, where Poe edited that magazine to enduring fame.

The residence of General Robert E. Lee is now the home of the Virginia Historical Society. It is an upright house, typical of many built by the wealthier Richmonders in the early Nineteenth Century, and contains priceless papers and many intensely interesting mementos of the war.

In the heart of Richmond's tobacco district is the site of the Libby Prison, most famous of all Confederate prisons. The old warehouse bastille, where thousands of Federal prisoners had been confined, was torn down and taken to Chicago to be rebuilt for The World's Fair in 1893.

Monumental Episcopal Church was build in 1812 on the site of one of Richmond's greatest tragedies. It stands today as a memorial to more than seventy persons, including the Governor of Virginia, who lost their lives in a fire which destroyed a theatre on December 26, 1811. It was in this same theatre that Poe's mother had acted a few months before the conflagration, and that the Virginia Convention of 1788 had ratified the Federal Constitution.

Typical of the Richmond residences of the early Nineteenth Century is Valentine Museum, erected in 1812 by John Wickham, a leading attorney for Aaron Burr. The home contains a collection of Indian Archaeology as well as many prints, casts, books and tapestry dating from 1474. Many of the works of Edward V. Valentine, Richmond's most famous sculptor are in the Valentine Museum, including a plaster cast of the recumbent statue of Robert E. Lee.

Another place of great historic interest is old Hollywood Cemetery. Two Presidents of the United States--Monroe and Tyler--are buried there, as well as Jefferson Davis and his family, Matthew Fontaine Maury and several Virginia Governors.

The arsenal of the Confederacy, the Tredegar Iron Works--founded in 1836--is still in operation. This foundry furnished the Southern forces with most of its cannon and shot, and rolled the plates for the Merrimac, the iron-clad warship of the Confederacy.

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Much of the new Richmond is to be seen in the Western section of the city. Beautiful Monument Avenue is lined with monuments of leaders of the Confederacy. Travelling westward, the first statue shows General J. E. B. Stuart, the great cavalry leader. Next, is a monument on which are marked only three letters--Lee. The South felt that anything else would be superfluous. This likeness of the Confederate commander, on "Traveller," was sculptured by the French artist, Jean Antoine Mercie.

The monument to Jefferson Davis shows the President of the Confederacy in the posture of oratory.

Thomas J. (Stonewall) Jackson is mounted on "Sorrel." It was General Lee who called Stonewall Jackson his right arm.

One of the most beautiful buildings in Richmond is Battle Abbey -- the Confederate Mermorial Institute. An entire section of the museum is devoted to the famous murals of Charles Hoffbauer, depicting the four seasons of the War Between the States. Another section contains rare books and old newspapers.

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts houses the John Barton Payne and Henry Strause collections of paintings, prints and decorative arts. The museum was made possible through a donation by Judge Payne, who contributed the first $100,000 of the total cost.

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The Carillon, in Byrd Park, is Virginia's contribution to her dead of the World War. It towers 240 feet and contains sixty bells ranging in diameter from six feet, nine inches to six inches. On the floor of the Carillon is a museum containing relics of the world conflict.

Every Richmonder and all visitors owe it to themselves to visit Maymont on the James at this time of the year. High above view the historic river, it has a breathtaking panorama of flowering shrubs, rare flowers and careful landscaping. Actually there are two gardens to vie for your favor--one an Italian garden, the other, Japanese.

The late Major and Mrs. James H. Dooley gave Maymont to Richmond, so today it is a city park. The gift also included the magnificent Dooley mansion, which is filled with rare objects of art.

A place of beauty is the campus of the University of Richmond. The many classic buildings are situated among rolling, green hills and giant trees.

So numerous are the shrines in this section that they extend beyond Richmond's borders.

Just outside of the corporate limits are the battlefields where the Northern and Southern forces fought for months. The area has been restored by the National Park Service, so today an hour's leisurely motor trip will take visitors through the land for which thousands of heroes died. Most of the fortifications are still there--monuments to the War Between the States.

Governor Price expressed the charm of Virginia in the words:

"Today, as yesterday, romance still lends a distinctive glamor to life in the Old Dominion. It murmurs in the foliage of historic shrines and gardens, deepens the lure of seashore and mountains playgrounds, and sheds a splendor of legend over a host of majestic natural wonders.

"These resources Virginia dedicates to the pleasure and happiness of her guests, hoping and believing that they will always come back."