Robert Logan had the
refusal of the tutorship in Hampden Sidney when John H. Rice applied for
it. Upon being visited by Mr. Rice upon the subject, he gave up his
right, and recommended his friend to be the tutor. He was born in Bethel
Congregation, Augusta County, September, 1769. He was reared piously in
the strictness of the Presbyterian faith and customs, one of a large
family of children, all of whom became professing members of the Church.
His literary and theological course was passed at Liberty Hall under the
care of Rev. Wm. Graham. Upon being licensed to preach the gospel, he
made some missionary excursions, and visited Genessee County in New
York, made an excursion to New England, visited Kentucky, and finally
settled in Fincastle, Botetourt County. While in Kentucky he married
Miss Margaret Moore, from "Walker’s Creek, Rockbridge County, Virginia.
For many years he was the frontier minister. Mr. Houston, at the Natural
Bridge, was his nearest neighbor north, and Mr. M’Ilhenney, of
Lewisburg, Greenbrier County, west. Rev. Samuel H. M’Nutt was for a time
his neighbor on New River. With a wide field around him, and a
disposition to occupy it, he was compelled to teach a classical and
promiscuous school a great part of the time he was in the ministry, to
obtain a decent support for his family. His life was therefore
monotonous, and his opportunities for improvement very limited ; while
his labors were great and unremitted, except as sickness sometimes
caused him to intermit his regular course. Salem, now in Roanoke, shared
with Fincastle in his principal labors ; and as his strength enabled him
he visited the surrounding counties with the messages of mercy.
Occasionally he would dismiss his school, and try the practicability of
living as a minister of Christ disengaged from all business but the
especial duties of the office to which he had been ordained. On one of
these occasions, having stated his intentions and hopes to Mr. Speece,
and the amount of expenditure he thought would supply the wants of his
family, and how it was to be-obtained, that brother remarked, that
brother Logan’s faith must be very strong to live in Fincastle on his
salary. Mr. Logan died October, 1828, in his 60th year, having preached
in Fincastle about thirty years. Though his church and congregation were
not large, there were some members of both for whom he had the highest
regard. His remains lie near the church in Fincastle. A short sketch of
two gentlemen of Fincastle, his cotemporaries, will not be
uninteresting— Col. Bowyer and Col. Anderson, both of whom survived him
a few years.
On the many in Botetourt
County that did well in the Revolution, some at least, should have their
names enrolled in the list of those to be remembered. Of the greater
part of the active patriots no memorial has been written, and their
names and their deeds are passing away from all human recollection. The
following letter from the late Judge Edward Johnston gives all that can
be gathered of one brave soldier, the type of many others.
"Early in the war of the
Revolution, if not at its commencement, Col. Bowyer was living in
Fincastle with his uncle Mike Bowyer, who owned a store in that place,
in which Colonel Bowyer, then supposed to be about sixteen years old,
acted in the capacity of salesman. His uncle having determined to join
the army, upon leaving Fincastle for that purpose, committed the
management of his store to his nephew, with directions to continue the
business until all the goods were disposed of. This, according to the
Colonel’s mode of conducting the business, required but a very short
time, for, burning with a desire to join the army himself, no sooner had
his uncle taken his departure than he put up the whole establishment at
auction, sold the goods for what they would bring, and immediately
started himself for the army. He first went to Philadelphia, but whether
he entered the service at once there, or at some other place, is not
remembered. It is however certain that he soon connected himself with
Col. Washington’s corps of cavalry, with which he continued to the end
of the war. There is reason to believe that at one time he served in the
infantry, from a circumstance which he once mentioned, for the purpose
of showing the undying hate which the enemy cherished towards the
‘rebels.’ It was this: After a skirmish, in which we were successful,
Col. Bowyer was reloading his musket, and while doing so a wounded
soldier of the enemy, who was lying prostrate on the ground near him,
raised his head, and begged him for a drink of water. Having nothing
else, Col. Bowyer took off his cap, and dipping up some water from a
stream just at hand, handed it to the soldier. The latter, after
satisfying his thirst, spirited his mouthful of water into the Colonel’s
face. His first impulse,' he said, was to run his bayonet through him,
but remembering his helpless condition, he restrained himself.
“Col. Bowyer was in that
most bloody and disastrous engagement to our army, known as Buford’s
defeat. He acted as aid to Buford on the occasion, and during the day
was ordered by the latter to bear a flag (of truce, I think) to
Tarleton. Col. Bowyer remonstrated with Buford against the undertaking,
by telling him that he must needs pass between the two armies, then
hotly engaged, and thus be exposed to the fire of each. Col. Buford
replied that ‘ he had his orders.’ Immediately he put spurs to his
horse, and galloped off in the direction of Tarleton, who was surrounded
by his staff. Just before reaching the spot where Tarleton was
stationed, the latter’s horse had been shot, and in falling had caught
Tarleton’s leg under him, and Tarleton, being very much exasperated5 and
seeing Col. Bowyer approaching, ordered his men to 'Cut the d—d rebel
down.’ No sooner was this spoken, than they surrounded Col. Bowyer, and
commenced cutting at him with their swords. At this critical moment,
however, a well directed fire from our men, some of whom were watching
with intense interest the result of Col. Bowyer’s hazardous undertaking,
set the horses of those around him to jumping and rearing, and thus an
opening was formed, sufficient to pass through. Of this he instantly
availed himself, neither he nor his horse, to use his own expression,
'liking the company they were in.’ He was pursued for a considerable
distance, and only escaped being taken by leaping a high fence that lay
across his way. Those in pursuit of him did not attempt to follow him,
although close upon his heels. His horse afterwards fainted from loss of
blood from the wounds he received in the attempt to deliver the flag. By
this time it is presumed our men were running in every direction. Col.
Bowyer, in the flight, met with one of our wounded soldiers, who could
scarcely walk. Dismounting, he put the wounded man on his horse, and
reached in safety a cabin in the woods. Here they remained all night,
the wounded soldier lying before the fire, unable apparently to rise.
But about midnight, a tramping of horses’ hoofs being heard around the
cabin, in an instant, as if nothing, said Col. Bowyer, was the matter,
he sprang to his feet, and grasped his gun, and stood ready for battle.
The alarm, however, proved a false one, for instead of the* enemy as
they supposed, the horses turned out to be loose ones, that had strayed
in that direction, from the field of battle.
“At one time Col. Bowyer
was stationed in Petersburg, While there, he performed a feat on
horseback, which, in process of time, was much exaggerated. As the story
ran, he leaped over a covered wagon standing in the street, and the
prints of his horse’s hoofs were visible for many years after. Upon
being repeated to Col. Bowyer, in his old age, by a lady who lived in
Petersburg at the time of the event, he was much amused, and said it was
true he had leaped a wagon, but it was a small one, and had no cover on
it. The facts, he said, were these: A company of soldiers, of whom Col.
Washington and himself formed a part, had been to a party in the
country, and returning at night in a gallop, they encountered a wagon
stretching across the road. Col. Bowyer being mounted upon a remarkably
fine horse, succeeded in clearing it, but none of the company followed
him.
“After the war was ended,
Col. Bowyer returned to Fincastle, and was subsequently elected Clerk of
the County Court of Botetourt. This office he held until the new
Constitution went into operation in 1831, a period of about 40 years.'
At the election under the new Constitution, he declined being a
candidate, and his son, Henry W. Bowyer, the present Clerk of the
Circuit Court of Botetourt, was elected in his place. Col. Bowyer’s wife
was a daughter of Thomas Madison, Esq., of Botetourt, brother to Bishop
Madison. Her mother, Mrs. Madison, was a sister of Patrick Henry.
“Col. Bowyer departed
this life in 1833, aged 72 years, leaving his wife and eight children to
survive him. Of Mrs. Bowyer much might be said, were we attempting a
sketch of her life. She was, in many respects, an extraordinary woman.
Of a strong mind, and fond of reading, she devoted a large portion of
her time to that favorite employment, especially to the reading of the
Scriptures. For the last 20 years of her life she was in the constant
habit of reading the Bible through every year, and sometimes in six
months. She was remarkably punctual and regular in all her habits,
devoting portions of every day to reading, and others to the ordinary
duties of life. Of her deeds of charity and benevolence we will say
nothing. She made no display of show while living, and was so averse to
anything like ostentation, it would hardly be respectful to her memory
to mention them now. Her recollection of past events was very accurate,
and as evidence it may be interesting to mention the following fact.
Some years before her death, which took place in 1847, a publication
appeared of the Tract Society, in which it was stated that the work of
Soame Jennings had produced so powerful an impression on the mind of the
great orator, Patrick Henry, that he had, while Governor of Virginia,
procured an edition of it to he struck off for distribution among his
friends. As soon as Mrs. Bowyer saw this statement, she said she
distinctly remembered, while she was yet a girl, that her uncle, Mr.
Henry, paid a visit .to her father in Botetourt, and had in his
saddle-bags a copy of that book, which he intended to present to General
Breckenridge.”
William Anderson, born in
Delaware, in the year 1763, came with his father’s family, when about
six years of age, to the County of Botetourt; which was henceforth his
home, and finally his burying-place. He grew up in the troubles, and
distresses, and excitements, and sufferings of the Revolutionary War.
When sixteen years of age, he took his musket, and engaged in the famous
Southern War, of which Gen. Lee has given so powerfully graphic a
description, in his Memoirs of the Campaigns. The battle of Camden had
been fought, and Greene was sent to try the strategy of war with
Cornwallis. Morgan, who would not serve under Gates, on account of the
events succeeding the surrender of Burgoyne, was persuaded to go with
Greene to the recovery of the South from the defeat at Camden. Young
Anderson joined a volunteer company, and marched with Greene to North
Carolina. He was detached with Morgan to Ninety-Six, where the battle of
Cowpens was fought—in a manner so honorably and successfully. Morgan’s
flight towards Virginia, to preserve his 500 prisoners from recapture,
brought the famous march of Greene across North Carolina, to cover
Morgan’s flight, and the equally famous pursuit of Cornwallis to recover
Tarleton’s men. The rear guard of the American forces was committed to
Col. Otho Williams of Maryland, and young Anderson was detached to form
one of his corps. Cornwallis was pressing on to bring Greene to action ;
and Greene straining every nerve to escape that necessity. The front
guard of Cornwallis and the rear of Greene were often within gunshot of
each other; and detachments not unfrequently in speaking distance.
Conscious that any skirmish could but end in the loss of a few men, and
that a general battle could be brought on only at some river, these
brave men refused to fire at each other in these circumstances, and
busied themselves in the ordinary duties of advanced and rear guards, it
is said that small companies of these guards sometimes unexpectedly met
at springs, and exchanged salutations, and tobacco, and rejoined their
companions. Three times the main armies were so near, an action seemed
inevitable—at the passage of the Catawba, the Yadkin, and the Dan. In
this memorable passage across Carolina, young Anderson bore cheerfully
the trials and distresses of the patriot army, on the success of which
depended the liberties of the South. It is to be regretted that Mr.
Anderson entirely omitted to leave any written memoranda of his youthful
campaigns. A succinct, yet brief, diary of his marches with Morgan, and
under Otho Williams, would now be read with intense interest by more
than his descendants, If we could read from him, how he fared, how far
they marched, what the soldiers did in their encampments, we should he
more than amused.
The second war with Great
Britain found him a colonel of the militia of Botetourt. He answered the
draft made for the defence of Norfolk; and marched at the head of a
regiment to the seaboard. Through the trials of that tour of duty he
passed with the cheerfulness that characterized him in Carolina. It is
to be regretted that memoranda of his second experience in war, from his
pen, can nowhere be found. In Carolina, activity, speed, and romantic
enterprise, were the order of the day in the taste his youth had of war;
in his 50th year, the dull routine of a camp life, in which sickness
wasted the ranks the enemies bullets might not pierce. For a great part
of his active life, about fifty years, he was county surveyor, for a
long time a magistrate, and for many years commissioner of the James
River, and occasionally engineer of public improvements, and member of
the Legislature of the State. In all these public stations, he exhibited
a high order of moral and physical energy, which seems to be passing
away with the generation that were young in the Revolution, or confined
to the remote frontiers of our extended country. He studied to make
himself useful to the public that employed him, and the public continued
his employment on account of his usefulness and integrity. His office as
surveyor, when the country was comparatively new, and the boundaries of
estates not very definitely settled, and much vacant land of good
quality to be found, and speculations involving no impropriety, offering
speedy increase of capital and future wealth, opened for him continued
opportunities of acquiring large possessions. But he passed through life
in moderate circumstances. Scrupulously honest, sensitive of his
reputation, and cherishing the pure principles of the gospel, he
practised a charity that seeketh not her own, believing that wealth was
not the best inheritance for children.
In the great revival, to
which reference is so often made, commencing in Charlotte and Prince
Edward, and spreading ultimately over the Valley of Virginia, under the
preaching of J. B. Smith, Graham, Mitchel, Lacy, and Legrand, about the
years 1788 and ’89, Mr. Anderson felt himself moved to attend
particularly to the great concerns of his soul under the gospel
dispensation. Of the crowds who then waited on the ministrations of the
gospel, and professed their faith in the Lord Jesus, Mr. Anderson was
one of the few that remained to tell, to the present generation, of the
excitements and experience of those days. The Rev. Stephen F. Cocke, the
pastor of Fincastle Presbyterian church, in a sermon at the burial of
Mr. Anderson, says, ‘‘ He often referred to the period, in his private
conversations with his Christian friends, and with becoming emotions of
gratitude, thanked God that he permitted him, so early in life, to
dedicate the prime and vigor of his days to the service of his Church.
And when, like David, he was old and full of years, the Lord did not
forsake his servant, but gave him the inestimable peace and satisfaction
of looking back upon a long life, truly and faithfully endeavored to
have been spent in the service of his Maker, and forward to that
dispensation of happiness in heaven, which he had embraced by faith,
possessed in hope, and of which he had so often tasted in the comforts
of the Holy Ghost, shed abroad in his soul. ’Tis true, as he himself
observed, he had a most dreadful conflict with death; for the malignant
character of his disease was most tormenting to the animal frame ; and
few men have been called to endure so much of excruciating bodily pain
as that with which it pleased the Almighty to embitter the last moments
of his life. But notwithstanding this, he never distrusted the constancy
of God’s goodness, or indulged the most distant fear of his completeness
in Christ. He more than once exclaimed, ‘I know in whom I have believed,
and that he will keep that which I have committed unto him until that
day. ‘For though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh
shall I see God; whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold
him ; though my reins be consumed within me.’ Such were his triumphs
over the grave.” He fell asleep in Jesus on the morning of Sept. 13th,
1839, in his 76th year. |