• Jun 12-Jul 6 – Puritan Jehue Burre and family arrived with John Winthrop's famous fleet of 11 ships that arrived in the New World near Boston. These deeply religious people were escaping religious persecution and coming here largely for religious freedom.
• Oct 19 – Burr applied to the general court of Massachusetts for rights as a freeman.

• May 18 – Jehue Burr was admitted a freeman. A freeman was a Puritan who was recognized as free to participate in the church and government. Massachusetts' government was representative and restricted to church members. Non-Puritans were allowed to reside in the colony but were forbidden participation in the government. Freemen were also the only ones able to own land, buy stock, and be free to go where they pleased.

• "Jehu Bur" was admitted to the Roxbury church as member #12, which would be at or soon after the 1632 organization of the church. Only freemen could be members of the church, and only church leaders could be leaders in the local government.

• Jehue Burre served on a committee with William Pynchon, the Colony Treasurer, to over-see building a bridge over Muddy & Stony river, between Boston & Roxbury.

• July – 11 Native Americans in the village of Agawam agreed to sell land on both sides of the Connecticut River to Mr. William Pynchon and his group of planters (Jehue Burre included) in exchange for 18 fathoms of wampum (a fathom = 6 feet), 18 coats, 18 hatchets, and 18 knives. Each of the 8 original planters received a 10 acre house lot on the east side of the river plus a 3 acre planting lot on the Agawam (west) side of the river. In order to reach his planting land, each man had to cross the 300 yards wide river by canoe. Agawam was renamed and is now known as Springfield, MA. These early founders of Agawam were described as young men "of good spirits & sound bodies." Agawam was the northernmost trading post of the Connecticut Colony, seated on major trading routes including the Connecticut River.

• Feb 9 – Burre was appointed by the Gen. Court of Conn, to collect taxes at Agawam, (which at that time was under the jurisdiction of Connecticut), to assist in defraying the expenses of the Pequot war.
• He was appointed Collector for the Connecticut Colony.

• Burre was Deputy for Springfield to the Connecticut Legislature in April 1638 and September 1641.

• Jehue Burre and family removed to Fairfield, CT

• Burre became a representative for  the town. He was granted a home-lot from the town SW of the Meeting-house Green & the pond, afterwards called Edward's Pond, the rear of which adjoined the home-lot of the Rev. John Jones.

• Sep – Burre was appointed deputy to the Gen. Court

• Mr. Jehue Burre appealed a jury verdict given in Stratford, to the Gen. Court

• Jehue Burre was a grand juror

• Sep 1645 & Apr 1646 – Burre was a commissioner of the United Colonies, a Deputy to the Connecticut Legislature for Fairfield

• Jehue Burre died and left four sons Jehu, John, Daniel & Nathaniel, & probably other children.
• He was a carpenter.

Seventy-eight of the earliest Burrs in the New World are buried

• Judge Peter Burr graduated from Harvard and began an unusually successful career. He was the uncle to our Peter Burr Sr who was not yet born. The Judge was one of those important personages from Fairfield, having rendered the name of Burr illustrious. He was one of the first of the name who graduated at Harvard, having entered that institution in 1686.

• Jul 23 – Peter Burr, Sr. great grandson of Jehue Burre and nephew of Judge Peter Burr, was born in Fairfield, CT.

• A popular path leading into today's West Virginia was earlier a place where animals first, then Indians, then settlers crossed the Potomac River. This path became known as the Great Wagon Road as early settlers traveled from Philadelphia, past the Blue Ridge Mountains, and into the wild frontier of the upper end of the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of the Virginia Colony. The Wagon Road continued on through  the Colony of Virginia and southward through Kentucky and Tennessee Territory to the Colony of Georgia.
• At first, a variety of traders, trappers, and explorers came to the Shenandoah Valley. Then came families. Indians were rapidly dispossessed westward by treaty and force of arms as settlers took over their land. In fact, ownership of the land was an issue that was at the root of many phases of much controversy to come.

See Video:Oh Shenandoah – Part I (5:42)

The Shenandoah River - "daughter of the stars" - the serpentine, beloved river flows thru time and we follow its story. Ardyth Gilbertson sings. By Jim Surkamp.

See Video:Oh Shenandoah – Part II (4:43)

Follows the dreamy, winding river all thru time and the romance it holds. Ardyth Gilbertson sings, By Jim Surkamp.

• Dr. John Lederer, a German physician and explorer was the first Englishman to set foot in present-day Jefferson County.

See Video:Lederer's Diary (7:45)

Early diary of Virginia explorer John Lederer as he wrote down how Native Americans lived in Virginia before the 18th century. By Jim Surkamp.

• Germany, Hans Jost Heydt (also spelled Yost or Joist Hite and future resident of the area) was born.

• Explorer Louis Michel and Baron De Graffenreid visited the local area 1706.

• White settlers may have been in the local area by 1707. In 1899, a badly weathered gravestone in the Engle-Ronemous Graveyard near Duffields was examined that had been inscribed with the name Katrina Bierlin and the date 1687-17_7.  The missing number appeared to be either a "0" or a "5." Several local sources, relying primarily on oral tradition, insisted that the date was 1707. Maps and statements of explorer Louis Michel and Baron De Graffenreid allege that a settlement had been established in the area between their 1706 visit and Michel's return to Europe in 1708. The pastor of the Elk Branch Church in 1869 stated that the date could earlier be read clearly as 1707. James R. Graham, D. D., Pastor Emeritus of the Presbyterian Church in Winchester, VA wrote in his 1904 book that the date after much investigation is strongly believed to be 1707. Other evidence in Presbyterian records indicates that a church was organized in the general area near Duffields or Shepherdstown long before the otherwise documented dates. If these arguments are true, then the discovery indicates that white settlers (believed to be Presbyterians) may have been in the area as early as 1707.

• Governor Alexander Spotswood and his fifty "Knights of the Golden Horseshoe" crossed into the Valley and returned with glowing accounts

• Benjamin Franklin taught himself how to swim

See Video: Ben Franklin's Learns to Swim(4:32)

Ben Franklin learned to swim at about age 11. In an age when few people knew how to swim, Franklin taught himself. He later studied swimming stroke-for- stroke and wrote down what he learned. He was an avid swimmer all his life and even contemplated becoming a full-time swim instructor. By Jim Surkamp.

• ca.1718 – Major General Adam Stephen (future resident of the area) was born

• by 1719 – The first permanent English settlement in present-day Jefferson County was attempted in the Shepherdstown area, but no official records were kept of the settlers' names. Their presence is suggested by a letter written from the residents of "Potomoke" to the Philadelphia Presbyterian Synod requesting that a minister be sent to the town. (Bushong, Millard Kessler. A History of Jefferson County, West Virginia [1719-1940]. Heritage Books, 2008. Pages 438.)
• In England, Thomas, the Sixth Lord Fairfax, inherits all of a 5.2 million acre land grant in the Virginia Colony

• Spotsylvania County was formed in the Virginia Colony; the county includes today’s Jefferson County. As settlements grew, county lines were redrawn at least 5 times in 80 years. (1721, 1734, 1738, 1772, 1801)

• Several German immigrant families founded the town of New Mecklenburg.
• Jul 26 – Major General Horatio Gates (future resident of the area) was born.
• Aug 1 – Daniel Burr (father of Peter Burr Sr and a wealthy land owner) died in Fairfield, CT leaving: 1000 pounds to his oldest son (Jehu) and 545 pounds to each of his other 9 surviving children and his wife. Valued by standards of 2008, Daniel Burr's estate would have been equivalent to about $1 million. His son Peter (Sr) was the fourth son of a large household and was named after Daniel's prestigious brother. Several of his  children (probably deceased) were not named in the will. In addition to being the father of Peter Burr (Sr), Daniel was also the father of Rev. Aaron Burr and of Abigail Burr (who married Nathan Gold, grandson of the Honorable Nathan Gould, former governor of the Connecticut Colony ).

• Oct 21 – Peter Burr II was born in Fairfield, CT. He was the first born son and due to be the heir of his father's estate.

• Morgan Morgan (credited by some as the first permanent white settler in the area) built a house.
• Oct 20 – Captain Robert Rutherford (brother of Thomas Rutherford and future resident of the area) was born in Scotland

• John Smith arrives in the area he will settle as Smithfield.
• Thomas Rutherford (brother of Robert Rutherford and future resident of the area) was born in Scotland

• Land speculators Joist Hite and John and Abraham VanMeter acquired large tracts in the Northern Neck of Virginia, which included present Jefferson County. This began the first wave of settlement in the area and it also marked the beginning of land disputes that would soon follow. Land authorized by the Colony of Virginia was sold to German and English immigrants, mostly from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. Shortly thereafter, other settlers arrived from the tidewater area of Virginia. Many of the later arrivals received land from Thomas Lord Fairfax who moved to the area from England to the land he claimed was his. As Hite’s settlers and those holding grants from Fairfax began to lay claim to the same property, land disputes followed. These disputes would later lead to a lawsuit in 1749 between Fairfax and Hite. The suit was not settled until 1786, leaving local land titles in dispute for many years.
• ca.1731 – Settlers representing varied cultures came to the fertile land in the Northern Neck of the Shenandoah Valley between the beautiful Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers.
• ca.1731 – Englishmen who had settled the piedmont, pushed west by foot and horse through passes in the Blue Ridge, and many German and Scotch-Irish settlers came down the valleys from Philadelphia and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. These settlers were attracted by the fertile soils and the abundant forest and water resources.
• ca.1731 – Jacob Hite built the house that more than 40 years later would become the home of General Charles Lee; Lee is the one who gave the house the name Prato Rio.

• Feb 6 – Major General Charles Lee (future resident of the area) was born. He would later be considered an eccentric fool by some, an impolite scoundrel by others and one of the great generals of the American Revolution by many more.
• Feb 22 – George Washington is born to Augustine and Mary (Ball) Washington at Wakefield Farm, Westmoreland County, Virginia.

• A German immigrant named Peter Stephens (originally "Stephan") established the ferry at the lowest point where the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers joined. This area was known as “The Hole” and later was named Harpers Ferry.

See Video:Peter Stephens – Part I (3:34)

Harpers Ferry first settler was a "squatter." By Jim Surkamp.

See Video:Peter Stephens – Part II (4:14)

Harpers Ferry's first settler learns how to build a log cabin. By Jim Surkamp.

See Video:Peter Stephens – Part III (4:48)

Harpers Ferry's first settler Peter Stephens learns how to build a log cabin. By Jim Surkamp.

• Orange County was carved out of Spotsylvania County; the county includes today’s Jefferson County. As settlements grew, county lines were redrawn at least 5 times in 80 years.
• Thomas Shepherd was granted 222 acres on the south side of the "Potowmack" river, along the Falling Spring Branch (now known as the Town Run). From that tract he selected fifty acres and laid out a town known as New Mecklenburg. He was the town's leading citizen until his death in 1776.

See Video: Thomas Shepherd Mill and the art of milling (9:10)

Shepherdstown – The Thomas Shepherd Mill (oldest part of which was built on the site in 1734) is featured here with description of how mills work. By Jim Surkamp.

• Quakers built the Hopewell Friends Meeting House which still stands near Winchester, Frederick Co, Virginia. That area was originally known as Opeckan.
• 1734-1790s – Scollay Hall in Middleway was built in three stages with the first stage during the 18th century. The oldest section was built before the Revolutionary War.  In the early 1790's Nicholaus Schall conducted Lutheran services there.

• Piedmont was built by Robert Worthington a devout Quaker. The house was later (1780) sold to Dr John Briscoe who immediately built the house that exists today.
• Lord Fairfax came in person from England to Virginia to defend his claim to the land; he returned to England in 1737 to negotiate with the Privy Council.

• The northern boundary of the Northern Neck was identified, but the western boundary remained in dispute. A stone was set at the corner of the Fairfax grant on the headwaters of the Potomac.
• May 6 – Major General William Darke (future resident of the area) was born
• Jul 6 – General Daniel Morgan (future resident of the area) was born

• Dec 21 – Frederick County was formed in Virginia Colony; the county includes today’s Jefferson County. Augusta County (adjoining to the west) was also carved out of Orange County.
• Thomas Shepherd built a two-story stone grist mill in Mecklenburg that still exists.

• ca.1739 – Hager House, home of Jonathan Hager is built in Hagerstown. This house is used as a fort during the French and Indian War.

• ca.1740 – Stone House at Morgan's Spring is built.
• Colonel Hugh Stephenson (future resident of the area) was born.

• William Darke (age 4) arrived in the area with his father, pioneer Joseph Darke. The Darke family settled around the modern location of Duffield’s Station and scratched out an existence in an area which had seen little settlement. (Duffield’s Station is only a hundred or so yards from the northeast corner of Peter Burr’s property.)

• White House was built
• William Vestal's iron works was built

• Frederick County's Court was proclaimed and organized, and its officials took their oaths of office.
• The Frederick County Court admitted that Lord Fairfax's land included the County.
• The Shepherdstown Presbyterian Church was officially chartered. Prior to charter, earliest settlers are believed to have been in this area as early as 1707. Presbyterianism continues today as the oldest continuous denomination in the state. The Shepherdstown Church is also the first recognized Christian congregation in the town. The present building (built 1836) replaces the original one that was destroyed by fire. The Shepherd family collected a legal ground rent consisting of “one ear of Indian corn” for the property.

• Virginia officials purchased the Iroquois title of ownership to West Virginia in the Treaty of Lancaster.

• Old Trinity Church was originally the "Old English Church," a log chapel, erected 1745. The log chapel was replaced by a stone building in 1769, known as "Mecklenburg Chapel.”  That building fell into neglect caused by the Revolution and disestablishment of the Church in Virginia. In 1815 the church was rebuilt and today is known as Trinity Episcopal Church.

• Peter Jefferson (Thomas Jefferson’s father) and another surveyor completed the surveys that officially established the boundary known as the “Fairfax Line;” Lord Fairfax’s ownership was determined to be 5.2 million acres.

• George Washington, at age 16, copied the "Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior." Manners and civility were marks of a Gentleman.

• Thomas, Sixth Lord Fairfax, returned to Virginia and by 1749 had built his home, Greenway Court, in present-day Clarke County (adjacent to Jefferson County); he lived there until he died in 1781
• Robert Harper comes to “The Hole,” which is now known as Harpers Ferry. He bought the ferry and land surrounding it. Harpers Ferry is situated at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers where the U.S. states of Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia meet.
• 1747-1748 – Two Peter Burrs (father and son) crossed the Potomac at Pack Horse Ford as they migrated to the area. Pack Horse Ford was near the area that in 1762 became know as Mecklenburg and later as Shepherdstown (1798). It is still unknown whether others from Fairfield came with them. It is also unknown whether or not the elder Burr’s second wife came with him or if he traveled back to Fairfield on one or more occasions. He did however father children during the time he first arrived and later returned permanently in Dec 1784. His wife Rebecca gave birth to his children as follows: Feb 8, 1748; unknown date 1751; and Jun 1, 1755.

• Peter Burr (assumed to be the father) testified against Jacob Hite. “It is ordered that David Lloyd pay Peter Burr seventy five pounds of tobacco for attending three days as evidence for him against Jacob Hite.”

See Transcription: Peter Burr testifies in court & Other Records

• Land Transfer: “A deed of bargain and sale from David Lloyd to Peter Burr and Henry Lloyd was proved by the oaths of Robert Buckles and Benjamin Bradley two of the witnesses there to the same is ordered to lay for further proof.” Buckles lived in close proximity to Burr and both Lloyds had property adjacent to Burr.

See Transcription: Peter Burr testifies in court & Other Records

• Peter Burr and Henry Lloyd stand as security in discharge of David Lloyd from custody in a case against Lloyd brought by John Smith, administrator of John Miller deceased, for "the sum of forty four pounds current money with lawful interest thereon from the 22d day of June 1747 and…” Smith and Miller are both surnames that show up later when a Daniel Smith and John Miller about 40 years later become Peter Burr Jr’s son-in-laws.

See Transcription: Peter Burr testifies in court & Other Records

• A (probable) relative in the area brought action in court “On the petition of James Burr praying that a former order of this court made for binding Robert Tomkins to Thomas Postgate be revoked.” The petition was ordered to be dismissed. Peter Burr Jr’s son, James, was not born until Apr 1776.
• NOTE: Dates for these court actions need to be determined as possible indicators as to how early the Burrs may have been in the area. Numerous indicators lead to a belief that one or the other or both of them were interacting with their neighbors and seemed to be well established. It is also interesting that family names appear early that later are also found in marriages of Peter Burr Jr’s children.

• Lord Fairfax sets up office at Greenwood Court, White Post, VA and builds a home in Frederick Town (Winchester VA)

• Mar – Young George Washington (age 16) begins surveying in a venture to the Shenandoah Valley on behalf of prominent Virginia landowner, Lord Thomas Fairfax. Accompanies James Genn, surveyor for Prince William county, and George William Fairfax, the son of Lord Fairfax.
• Spring flood occurs on the Potomac.
• George Washington remained associated with Winchester and Frederick County; he maintained a surveying office in Winchester; was given a Commission during the French and Indian War and later made Commander in Chief of the colonial forces with headquarters in Winchester

See Video: George Washington Survey Diary – Part I (4:22)

Part I George Washington surveyed the southern part of what is today Jefferson County entering the at Long Marsh in Kabletown. Five Washington brothers bought some 10,000 acres of the land he surveyed. He kept a diary as he surveyed thru Jefferson County,Virginia. Read by Ernest Johnson. By Jim Surkamp.

See Video: George Washington Survey Diary – Part II (6:26)

Part II Young George Washington got his first dose of the frontier when he surveyed in 1748. Read by Ernest Johnson. By Jim Surkamp. 

• The land dispute between Lord Fairfax and Joist Hite goes to court. It is not settled until 1786.

• Frederick Town, VA was granted a charter by the House of Burgesses and the name of the town was changed to Winchester.
• Lord Fairfax began issuing land grants and decisions began that in many cases caused early settlers to be evicted from lands that had been granted to them by the Virginia Colony.
• George Washington encouraged his older half brother to purchase fertile land in this area, and they began purchasing many acres via land grants from Lord Fairfax. George bought his first lands at Bullskin (2314 acres) in today’s Jefferson County. The Washington family was from the wealthy Tidewater plantation area where more tobacco growers were often looking for new land.
• May 11 – Estate Transfer: David Lloyd [Loyd] to Henry Lloyd and Peter Burr - entire estate.

See Transcription:David Lloyd to Henry Lloyd & Peter Burr - Entire Estate

• Oct 6 – Land Grant: Richard Morgan - 250 acres. 
• Oct 6 – Land Grant: Richard Morgan - 250 acres.
• Oct 11 – Land Grant: Henry Bradshaw - 400 acres.
• Oct 11 – Land Grant: William Teague - 145 acres.
• Oct 11 – Land Grant: Henry Bradshaw - 400 acres.
• Oct 13 – Land Grant: Henry Loyd - 400 acres.
• Oct 13 – Land Grant: Walter Shirley - 404 acres.
• Oct 13 – Land Grant: Thomas Smith - 490 acres. 
• Oct 15 – Land Grant: Thomas Swearingen - 444 acres. 
• Oct 16 – Land Grant: Edward Musgrove - 135 acres. 
• Oct 17 – Land Grant: Augustine Washington - 500 acres.
• Oct 17 – Land Grant: Lawrence Washington - 554 acres. 
• Oct 17 – Land Grant: Lawrence Washington - 1106 acres. 
• Oct 18 – Land Grant: Thomas Swearingen - 478 acres.
• Nov 24 – George Washington purchased his first tract of property (from Robert Rutherford) in present-day West Virginia, the Bullskin or Rock Hall Tract, located in Jefferson County. Bushong, p. 25.
• Oct 27 – Land Grant: Lawrence Washington - 209 acres. 
• ca.1750 – Beverly is built.
• George Washington discovers a cave where he holds his Masonic meetings.

See Video: Washington’s Masonic Cave (5:24)

George Washington took part in the first Masonic Order meeting (1750) west of the Blue Ridge in this cave in Jefferson County. By Jim Surkamp.

• Land Grant: William Green - 197 acres.
• Feb 13 – Additional appraisement of estate of Israel Friend. 
• Feb 27 – Will of Charles Friend filed. Sons Gabriel, Jacob and Charles are listed as beneficiaries. 
• Apr 25 – Land Grant: Robert Harper - 125 acres. This land became Harper’s Ferry
• May 30 – Land Grant: Edward Lucas - 400 acres.
• May 30 – Land Grant: Edward Teague - 400 acres.
• May 31 – Land Grant: Thomas Caton (possibly Cato) - 196 acres.
• May 31 – Land Grant: William Hall - 582 acres. 
• Jun 1 – Land Grant: Peter Bradford - 301 acres.
• Jun 1 – Land Grant: John Swain - 325 acres.
• Jun 7 – Land Grant: Jeremiah York - 323 acres.
• Jun 12 – Land Grant: William Chaplain - 465 acres.
• Jun 12 – Land Grant: Thomas Shepherd - 457 acres to add to Shepherd's 1734 acquisition from the governor for what would become the town of Shepherdstown
• Jun 14 – Land Grant: Robert Buckles - 407 acres. This property adjoins Peter Burr’s property to the SW
• Jun 20 – Land Grant: Walter Shirley - 311 acres.
• Jun 24 – Land Grant: John Sewell - 365 acres adjoining southern boundary of Peter Burr Sr’s Halltown property

See Transcription: John Sewell Land Grant adjoining Peter Burr

• Jun 27 – Land Grant: Peter Burr - 480 acres.

See Transcription & Image: Peter Burr Land Grant - 480 acres

• Jul 3 – Land Grant: Peter Burr - 406 acres. Note: Peter Burr purchased two land grants (totaling 886 acres) and managed somehow to select undisputed land that would not be tied up later in court battles.

See Transcription & Image: Peter Burr Land Grant - 406 acres

See Video: Peter Burr House (5:29)

The oldest wood frame house in West Virginia has been preserved. By Jim Surkamp.

• Jul 4 – Robert Dinwiddie appointed Lt. Gov. of Virginia Colony
• Jul 14 – Land Grant: Peter Bradford - 200 acres.
• Aug 29 – Land Grant: Thomas Rutherford - 2071 acres. This land was surveyed by George Washington, who named Peter Burr as sharing a common property line. In surveying the land, George Washington most likely would have been on Burr’s property 

See Transcription & Image: Thomas Rutherford Land Grant - 2071 acres

• Aug 30 – Land Grant: Thomas Lafferty - 380 acres. 
• Sep 2 – Land Grant: Simeon Turner - 395 acres.
• Oct 1 – Land Grant: Nicholas Mercer - 425 acres.
• Oct 10 – Land Grant: Nicholas Mercer - 425 acres.
• Oct 11 – Land Grant: Edward Mercer - 275 acres.  
• New Light Baptists demand freedoms. The Anglican Church (Church of England) was the state church in the colony of Virginia. Everyone was required to pay taxes to the state church. Not only was the church the center of the government, but also a marriage outside the Anglican Church was not recognized as legal. Beyond the combined system of church and sate, the church process was also further distinguishing the distance between wealthy and poor.

• Israel Friend's widow Sarah, now married to John House, makes an additional claim against the estate of Israel Friend.
• Neals Friend is appointed overseer of the road from Potomac River at Neals Friends to the Falling Springs. The Tithables Eight Miles on each side of the said road are to work on the same under him as their overseer and he is to clear and keep the same in repair according to law.
• Israel Friend becomes involved in lawsuit against Samuel Baldwin which is dismissed because of Friend's death. 

• The New Gregorian Calendar was adopted by Great Britain and the colonies; it replaced the Old Julian Calendar. To bring the calendar in line with the solar year, it added 11 days and began the New Year in January rather than March. Historic dates such as 1751/52 (or earlier) denote 1751 by the Old Julian Calendar and 1752 by the New Gregorian Calendar. This accounts for numerous conflicts in dates, such as the question: Did George Washington start surveying in 1747 or in 48? Perhaps he started in 1747/48 – with each year determined depending on which calendar is referenced (i.e. Julian/Gregorian).
• Jan 1 – Land Grant: Samuel Walker - 473 acres. 
• Jan 2 – Land Grant: David Osborn - 231 acres. 
• Jan 4 – Land Grant: William Morgan - 305 acres. 
• Jan 10 – Land Grant: James Glen receives - acres.
• Jan 13 – Land Grant: Benjamin Mackall - 400 acres. 
• Jan 13 – Land Grant: Jacob Van Meter - 100 acres. 
• Jan 14 – Land Grant: Van Swearingen - 187 acres. 
• Mar 17 – Land Grant: Jacob Hite - 346 acres.
• Mar 19 – Land Grant: Josiah Cart - 400 acres.
• Apr – Washington does his last surveys
• Apr 4 – Land Grant: James Loyd - 395 acres.
• Apr 10 – Land Grant: Josiah Cart - 400 acres.
• May 21 – Land Grant: Thomas Swearingen - 155 acres. 
• Jun 4 – Articles of Agreement between John Hardin and Gersham Keys to build two grist mills on Evitts Run

• July – George Washington inherits rights to Mount Vernon plantation upon the death of brother Lawrence Washington.

• Nov 7 – Land Grant: Robert Rutherford - 287 acres.
• Nov 8 – Land Grant: Reubin Rutherford - 444 acres.
• Nov 13 – Land Grant: John Lemmon - 356 acres. 
• Nov 18 – Land Grant: Walter Shirley - 472 acres.
• In Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin experiments with a kite in a thunderstorm led to the development of the lightning rod.
• Lawrence, George Washington's half brother, died. He left much of his land to in the county to his brothers, George, Samuel, John Augustine, and Charles.

• Feb 21 – Land Grant: John Pagan - 1069 acres.
• Apr 18 – Land Grant: John Washington - 588 acres.
• May 4 – Land Grant: Richard Blackburn - 2420 acres.

See Transcription & Image: Richard Blackburn Land Grant - 2420 acres

• Jun 5 – The will of Israel Friend is proved.

• Oct – The “Pumpkin Flood” occurred on the Potomac River, washing ripe pumpkins from Indian gardens along the river. The event in various documents has been referred to as the “Pumpkin Flood of Harpers Ferry” where it was apparently observed and noted in a journal entry in someone’s diary.
• Oct 31 – Virginia’s Gov Dinwiddie sent 22 year-old George Washington (a Major in the Virginia militia) to Fort Duquesne (now Pittsburg, PA) with a message warning the French to leave Virginia territory. The results from this event lead to the start of the French and Indian War
• Nov – George Washington leads Virginia expedition to challenge French claims to the Allegheny River Valley.
• Hampshire County, Virginia was created. This was the first county whose boundaries were within present-day West Virginia.
• Properties were listed on Maryland side of Potomac River for Charles Friend, John Vandever, John Friend, and John House.

• Until 1754 – The eastern panhandle of today’s WV (land west of the Blue Ridge Mountains) was used as a hunting ground by several Indian tribes including Shawnee.
• Jan 1 – Land Grant: Melchior (Melger) Engle - 397 acres near present-day Duffields
• Jan 2 – Land Grant: Thomas Hart - 268 acres.
• Jan 3 – Land Grant: Lewis Neil - 392 acres.
• Feb 20 – Land Grant: Francis Lilborn - 212 acres.
• Apr 1 – Land Grant: Thomas Swearingen - 400 acres.
• May 1 – Land Grant: William Wright - 200 acres.
• May 28 – The first battle of the war was fought by a young George Washington who was sent by the British into the Ohio Valley. He attacked a small French force killing their leader, lost a third of his men at Fort Necessity, and surrendered. This was his first battle.
• Jul 3 – Col. Washington surrenders to the French at Ft. Necessity
• Oct 10 – Land Grant: Alexander Vance - 131 acres.
• Oct 10 – Land Grant: Richard Barber - 200 acres.
• Oct 23 – Land Grant: Robert Buckles - 403 acres.
• Oct 30 – Land Grant: Robert Buckles - 145 acres.
• Nov 2 – Land Grant: Samuel Taylor - 140 acres.
• Nov 4 – Land Grant: John Carney - 320 acres.
• Nov 4 – Land Grant: Samuel Darke - 360 acres.
• Nov 7 – Land Grant: John Right - 231 acres.
• Nov 25 – Land Grant: Joseph McCamish - 400 acres.
• Dec 3 – Land Transfer: Peter Burr Sr and wife Rebecca Burr to Henry Moore - 480 acres originally obtained by Fairfax grant. Some believe there was one or more family graves on that property

See Transcription: Peter Burr land assignment to Henry Moore

See Transcription: Peter Burr & wife sell land grant to Henry Moore

• After selling his first land grant Peter Burr migrated back to Fairfield, CT where his wife was ill; she gave birth to their child the following Jun. 
• George Washington visits the area
• The local militia drilled in preparation for the upcoming French and Indian Wars in the location that today is Trinity Episcopal Church in Shepherdstown.

See Video:Adam Stephen: Before Virginia – Part II (4:08)

Part II (Revolutionary War general, physician, George Washington's executive officer over 20 years, founder of Martinsburg, delegate to Virginia Constitutional Convention - Adam Stephen grew up with young George Washington enduring the disasters of Fort Necessity and Fort Duquesne. Description of his early fiasco at Fort Necessity in 1754 with Washington. By Jim Surkamp. Acted by Bill Caldwell.

See Video:Adam Stephen: Frontier with George Washington – Part III(5:36)

Part III Doctor, adventurer and George Washington's executive officer for twenty years. this describes his early fiasco at Fort Necessity in 1754 with Washington. By Jim Surkamp. Acted by Bill Caldwell.

See Video: Adam Stephen: Fort Duquesne fiasco – Part IV(7:19)

Part IV Stephen and Washington are defeated at Fort Duquesne. Stephen fights Indians from Fort Cumberland, then enjoys a furlough at South Carolina. Lord Dunmore's War follows and storm clouds of the Revolution are forming.By Jim Surkamp. Acted by Bill Caldwell.

Massacre of Kelly Family not far from Peter Burr's House

• French and Indian War – While Peter Burr’s family did not experience any tragic skirmishes during the French and Indian War, dramatic news with vivid details of brutal scalpings was widely spread across the colonies. About 12 miles from Peter Burr’s House, the Kelly family was massacred by Indians during an uprising at Prospect Hill in Gerrardstown. This is believed to have been the last such Indian incursion into this part of the Shenandoah Valley. As we look back, we realize there were not many serious events involving Indians locally during that time, but as the settlers looked ahead, they had no way of knowing they would not encounter events like the Kelly family. 

• Jan 7 – Land Grant: Vachael Medcalfe - 300 acres.
• Jan 10 – Land Grant: Thomas Maybury - 400 acres.
• At age 19, William Darke (a neighbor in close proximity to Peter Burr and a future member of the church Burr helped found) entered service as a Ranger under George Washington during Braddock’s march toward Ft. Duquesne where he was unscathed by this early combat; it is believed that Darke served as one of Rutherford’s Rangers.

• May 29 – British General Edward Braddock led about 2,000 troops on an expedition to take Fort Duquesne. They had camped for about a month earlier in two locations one being about the location of today’s Charles Town, less than 10 miles from Peter Burr’s house. The other location near Winchester also was not far away. Benjamin Franklin had helped to procure wagons and supplies for the expedition. They then marched through part of Jefferson County on their way to capture Fort Duquesne.
• Jul 5 – Land Grant: Thomas Hart, Jr. - 223 acres

See Transcription: Thomas Hart Jr Land Grant

• Jul 9 – Braddock and his 2000 men were surprised by a force of 900 French and Native Americans at the Monongahela River. The expedition was a disaster. Braddock was mortally wounded; Washington helped organize the retreat; about 2/3 of the colonials (officers and troops) were killed or wounded. Survivors included well-knowns, such as: Daniel Boone, Daniel Morgan, George Washington, Charles Scott, Thomas Gage, Charles Lee, William Darke, and Horatio Gates (who was severely wounded and Washington saved his life in the retreat). The Virginia frontier became open to French and Indian attacks.
• Sep-Dec 1756 – In Winchester, VA (previously known as Frederick Town, seat of Frederick Co government) George Washington sets up an office. He used a little log building as a military office while his headquarters at Fort Loudoun was being constructed at the north end of town

• Apr 22 – Col. Washington writes of Mr. Paris engaging small band of Indians on North River and killing French officer with orders in his pocket to harass the frontier; Washington sends men to reinforce Ft. Edwards
• Fort Frederick was built during the French & War. It continued to be used during the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and at other times as needed.
• Sep. 5 – Land Grant: Nicholas Lemen III - 570 acres near Kearneysville  
• Sep 14 – Land Grant: William Morgan - 300 acres. 
• Sep 15 – Land Grant: Richard Morgan - 155 acres.
• Sep 16 – Abigail Burr daughter of Peter Burr is born
• Oct 1 – Land Grant: Richard Morgan - 198 acres.
• Oct 2 – Land Grant: Richard Morgan - 400 acres.
• Oct 4 – Land Grant: Richard Morgan - 211 acres.
• Oct 22 – Land Grant: William Hall - 486 acres.
• Oct 26 – Land Grant: Miles Hart - 187 acres.
• Oct 28 – Mary Burr daughter of Peter Burr is born
• Nov 2 – Land Grant: Anthony Turner, Jr. -300 acres. 
• Nov 10 – Land Grant: Thomas M. Goldsberry - 407 acres. 
• Nov 11 – Land Grant: Joseph Chapline - 635 acres.
• Nov 12 – Land Grant: Nicholas McEntire - 278 acres.
• Nov 23 – Land Grant: George Henry Peahtolt - 400 acres. 

• George Washington held his first elected office as a representative to the House of Burgesses for Frederick County

• Jan 6 – Geo Washington marries Martha Dandridge Custis, widow of Daniel Parke Custis. Washington assumes parental care of her children, Martha ("Patsy") and John Parke ("Jacky")
• For the next several years, Geo Washington acquires additional lands near Mount Vernon and in the Ohio Valley. Geo Washington diversifies agricultural production to include wheat as well as tobacco and reduces debts to British tobacco merchants. He expands and remodels the house at Mount Vernon. And he begins fifteen years service in the Virginia House of Burgesses from Frederick County in the Shenandoah Valley.

George Washington the Gentleman Farmer

• A smallpox epidemic begins and lasts into 1760.
• Back in Fairfield, CT Cousin Thaddeus Burr married Eunice Dennie in 1759 and the two become known as the "first couple" of Fairfield in pre-revolutionary times. 

See: The Eunice Dennie Burr DAR Chapter

• Feb 26 – Land Grant: Edward Lucas - 373 acres.
• Feb 27 – Land Grant: Edward Lucas - 416 acres.
• Feb 28 – Land Grant: Edward Lucas, Jr. - 140 acres.
• Feb 29 – Land Grant: Robert Lucas - 141 acres.
• Mar 29 – Land Grant: Van Swearingen - 321 acres.
• Apr 9 – Land Grant: Van Swearingen - 200 acres.
• Apr 28 – Land Grant: John Carlyle receives land grant.
• May 19 – Land Grant: John Burden - 213 acres.
• Jun 12 – Land Grant: Samuel Taylor, Jr. - 138 acres.
• Jun 14 – Land Grant: John Wright - 398 acres.
• Jun 27 – Land Grant: Judeah Lafferty - 72 acres.
• Jun 28 – Land Grant: John Taylor - 204 acres.
• Springdale is built

• Feb 24 – Land Grant: Moses Teague - 100 acres.
• Feb 25 – Land Grant: Jacob Vanmeter - 96 acres.
• Mar – Robert Harper obtains right to establish and maintain a ferry across the Potomac River to the Maryland shore.
• Mar 24 – Land Grant: Nathaniel Thomas - 240 acres.
• Mar 25 – Land Grant: Gersham Keys - 109 acres.
• May 15 – Sarah Burr daughter of Peter Burr is born.
• Aug 20 – Land Grant: John Carlyle - 123 acres
• Aug 24 – Land Grant: John Carlyle - 236 acres. 
• Aug 25 – Land Grant: John Carlyle - 1200 acres.
• Aug – Thomas Wilson, John Friend, and Joseph Dodridge ordered by Frederick County, MD, court to view proposed route for road from "Upper Hundred of Monocacy" to Baltimore. 
• Joist Hite died
• Robert Harper establishes a ferry across the Potomac in the town soon thereafter named “Shenandoah Falls” (later Harpers Ferry)
• George Washington was re-elected to office as a representative to the House of Burgesses for Frederick County

• Sep 2 – Land Grant: Jacob Huntsbarger - 214 acres.
• Feb 5 – Land Grant: Richard Stephenson -180 acres. This is believed to be the property that Stephenson owned that adjoined Peter Burr’s Bardane property.
• Mar 19 – Land Grant: William Strupe [Stroop] - 185 acres.
• Apr 16 – Land Grant: Caspar Parkdall - 357 acres.
• Apr 16 – Land Grant: George Smith - 215 Acres
• Apr 17 – Land Grant: George Adam Moler - 297 acres
• Apr 19 – Land Grant: Robert Harper - 92 acres.
• May 18 – Land Grant: Richard Pearis - 224 acres.
• May 22 – Land Grant: William Burns - 418 acres.
• Aug 23 – Land Grant: William Stroop - 381 acres.
• Aug 24 – Land Grant: William Stroop - 400 acres.
• Aug 31 – Mr. McGanis is ordered to supply the Presbyterian church at "Turcarora and Potomack in Virginia."
• Sep 21 – Land Grant: John Lemon - 100 acres.
• Sep 23 – Land Grant: Humphrey Keys - 113 acres.
• Sep 24 – Land Grant: Gersham Keys - 415 acres.
• Nov 12 – Thomas Shepherd presents bill of incorporation to the Virginia House of Burgesses to charter Mecklenburg in the county that today is Jefferson.
• Nov 18 – A bill for incorporation of the town of Romney (in today’s Hampshire County) was given its first reading in the Virginia House of Burgesses. 
• Nov 20 – The bill for incorporation of the town of Romney was given its second reading in the Virginia House of Burgesses. 
• Nov 22 – The bill for incorporation of the town of Mecklenburg was given its first reading in the Virginia House of Burgesses.
• Nov 25 – The Virginia House of Burgesses passed the incorporation bill for the town of Mecklenburg. 
• Nov 30 – The Council of Virginia approved the incorporation of Mecklenburg.
• Dec 14 – Land Grant: John Vestal - 58 acres.
• Dec 15 – Land Grant: Thomas Smith - 400 acres. 
• Dec 17 – The Virginia House of Burgesses passed the incorporation bill for the town of Romney
• Dec 23 –The Virginia governor signed the bill officially incorporating Romney and Mecklenburg. Note: On the same day the governor signed the bills in the same order they appeared in the stack. The papers for Romney were approved by the House of Burgesses 22 days after those for Mecklenburg and were immediately on top in the stack. The papers for Romney’s incorporation were signed immediately before those for Mecklenburg’s incorporation. Debate has existed ever since as to which town is the oldest, even though Mecklenburg had the first settlers a number of years earlier and was approved almost 3 weeks before Romney by the House of Burgesses. No matter how you interpret it, Mecklenburg and Romney are the oldest towns in present-day West Virginia.
• In Thomas Shepherd’s town (Mecklenburg) he was the sole trustee: he owned the town and was responsible for its government. Church Street was named for the log “Mecklenburg Chapel,” which was soon thereafter replaced by a stone building.
• John Augustine Washington builds the house known as Prospect Hill. Note: this is the newer house on the property where the Kelly family was killed by Indians.
• John Ballendine's debts forced him into the position of superintendent of Occoquan forge. He was not sharing in the profits. 

• The Proclamation of 1763, prohibited settlement west of the Allegheny Mountains, because England's King George III feared that more tension between Native Americans and settlers was inevitable; many land speculators violated the proclamation by claiming vast acreage in western Virginia. So . . .
• Jan 5 – Land Grant: Gersham Keys - 420 acres.
• Jan 17 – Land Transaction: David Ross, Samuel Beall, and Richard Henderson enter into an agreement to pool their property and develop forges, iron furnaces, and mills near Antietam Creek.
• Feb 4 – Land Grant: Gersham Keys - 140 acres.
• Feb 5 – Land Transaction: Adam Stephen - 1100 acres (property adjacent to Peter Burr’s Bardane property) 

See Transcription: Adam Stephen Land Grant

• Mar 4 – Land Grant: Robert Harper - 184 acres.
• Mar 11 – Land Grant: Robert Buckles receives land grant.
• Mar 22 – Land Grant: Edward Mercer, Jr., - 327 acres.
• May 7 – Land Transaction: Humphrey Keyes sells 400 acres to Gersham Keyes. (The land formerly belonged to Thomas Mayberry and Thomas Maynard Goldsberry). 
• May 11 – Land Grant: Michael Pruner - 60 acres.
• May 25 – Miriam Burr daughter of Peter Burr was born
• May 26 – Land Grant: George Houte - 254 acres.
• Jun 8 – Land Transaction: Gersham Keyes sells to John Semple - 1675 acres along the Potomac River.
• Jun 15 – Land Transaction: Gersham Keyes sells John Semple Ore Hill -116 acres in Maryland across river from Elk Run. 
• Aug 6 – Land Transaction: John Semple buys 35 acres near Harper's Ferry.
• Sep 7 – Land Transfer: John Wright and Hannah Wright sell land to James Hendricks. 
• Oct 7 – Land Grant: George Carger (possibly Carter) - 172 Acres.
• Nov 1 – Land Grant: Thomas Swearingen - 41 acres.
• Dec 2 – Land Grant: Thomas Rutherford - 116 acres.
• Dec 5 – Land Grant: William Brown - 16 acres.
• Dec 6 – Land Grant: Thomas Swearingen, Jr. - 324 acres.
• Dec 10 – Land Grant: Thomas Hart - 49 acres.
• Dec 12 – Land Grant: Helen Dungan - 233 acres.
• Dec 17 – Land Grant: Thomas Rutherford - 220 acres.
• John Semple's partnership with James Lawson is dissolved; Semple moves to Occoquan, Virginia, and takes over control of forges and grist mills formerly owned by his creditor John Ballendine. Semple acquires control of Keep Triste Furnace and Maryland tract.
• Land Transaction: John Semple buys Mill Place from the heirs of John House.
• John Semple erects a forge on Israel Friends' tract at Antietam Creek.
• Land Transaction: Semple buys "the tract of land called Two Wives, opposite the mouth of Antietam Creek in what was then Frederick County, MD:  "the ten acres ...  purchased from Peter Gilly, part of the Antietam Bottom the four parts of a tract called Mill Place which he purchased from the heirs of John House and the four acres he purchased of a tract called Dutch's Loss from John Bedham and Rachel Vandever."
• Peter Burr and Benjamin Bradley were listed this year as chain carriers for surveyor Thomas Rutherford, who resurveyed property adjoining Burr’s and that would later be granted to John Crow (1770)

• Feb 6 – Land Grant: Stephen West - 413 acres.
• Jul 21 – The first deed (which helped to establish the town of Mecklenburg) was filed. Through the deed, Thomas Shepherd and his wife Elizabeth Shepherd transferred thirty-five lots to others.
• Oct 9 – Land Grant: John Cart - 145 acres. 
• Oct 11 – Land Grant: John Hough - 342 acres.
• Oct 18 – Land Grant: William Hall - 2236 acres.

• George Washington moves his office from Winchester to Fairfax County and continues his service in the Virginia House of Burgesses from there.   
• Mar 2 – Land Grant: James Castle - 400 acres. 
• Mar 29 – Jane Burr daughter of Peter Burr is born.
• Aug 2 – Land Grant: Mary Turner - 25 acres.
• Jul 9 – Land Grant: Thomas Swearingen - 97 acres.
• Aug 22 – Land Grant: James Foreman - 230 acres.

• Nov 1 – Land Grant: John Lemen - 590 acres.
• Aug 3 – Land Grant: William Davis - 75 acres.
• Jun 9 – Land Grant: Conrad Oronemus - 133 acres.
• Sep 16 – Land Grant: Anthony Worley - 398 acres.
• Aug 19 – Land Grant: John Vestal - 17 acres.

• Oct 1 – Land Grant: Henry Selser - 13 acres.
• Jun 2 – Land Grant: Jacob Vanmeter - 13 acres.
• Aug 4 – Peter Burr III, first son of Peter Burr is born 16 years after the father began clearing the land. These were during the several years when the frontier had been quiet due possibly to England's King fearing that more tension between Native Americans and settlers was inevitable.

• Two Indian treaties open the frontier for growth and the Expansion period begins. The Iroquois Confederacy (often called the Six Nations) and the Cherokee signed the Treaty relinquishing their claims on the territory between the Ohio River and the Alleghenies to the British. With the frontier now open, settlers, once again, began to enter into present-day West Virginia.
• Jan 4 – Land Grant: Michael Pruner - 13 acres.
• Jan 15 – Land Grant: Thomas Shepherd - 32 acres.
• May 9 – Land Grant: William Forrester - 200 acres.
• Nov 14 – Land Grant: Edward Lucas, Sr. - 200 acres.

• Elk Branch Presbyterian Church appears in official records.
• St George’s Chapel was completed by Col. Robert Worthington and others. The Anglican/Episcopal chapel was first called the English Church, then Berkeley Church, and then Norborne Chapel, as the parish was Norborne, 1770–1815. The ruins and cemetery remain.
• Old Episcopal Church in Shepherdstown was built.
• George Washington visits in the area.
• Nov 9 – Land Grant: Jacob Vanmeter - 123 acres.
• Samuel Washington (one of George’s younger brothers) begins building Harewood. Harewood is built. The house (still existing) features an exquisite marble mantelpiece that had been given to George Washington as a gift by General Marquis de Lafayette. Samuel was the first of the Washington family to take residence in this area.

• Peter Burr, along with John Wright and Mesrs Tully, as trustees of the Elk Branch Presbyterian church, acquired one acre from John Engle and his wife. This congregation reportedly met in a small log church located about 1/2 mile west of the current Elk Branch church (very near NE corner of Peter Burr’s property). Peter Burr was named as elder on deed for the church. The congregation dissolved about 1792 due to financial difficulties and was revived in the current location with new building built ca. 1830.
• Jun 12 – Land Grant: John Crow - 463 acres.
• Aug 29 – Land Grant: Joseph Darke - 380 acres.
• Glenburnie was built.
• Eastwood was built.
• 1770s - Mass migration of the Scot-Irish Presbyterians

See Video: Promised Land Bound – Part I (7:12)

Scot-Irish Presbyterians – Massive migration of the Scot-Irish prompted Lord Fairfax to affirm property titles to his seven million acres. Describes from a diary the Atlantic crossing to the New World. By Jim Surkamp.

See Video: Promised Land Bound – Part II (2:06)

Describes from a diary the Atlantic crossing to the New World. By Jim Surkamp.

• Rockland was built by James Verdier, an early settler in Shepherdstown.  Of royal Huguenot descent, he and his wife (Lady Susana Monei) escaped persecution by fleeing with gold coins, shoe buckles, and jewelry sewn into their clothing. They settled in Shepherdstown where he established a tannery along Town Run.
• Feb 5 – Samuel Washington was appointed justice of the peace for Frederick County and a vestryman for Norborne Parish. He served as a colonel in the local militia.
• Nov 25 – David Castleman and wife deeded the land on which the Bullskin Presbyterian Church stood at the head of Bullskin Run, near Summit Point, to the church trustees Isaac Larew, John Riley, John Oliver, George Hampton, William Rankin, and William McCormick.

• Jan 28 – A storm on this date was named the Washington and Jefferson Snow Storm since both of their diaries recorded it. The storm left 36 inches of snow (3 feet) in central and northern Virginia and the area that is now Washington DC. Official weather records did not begin until after the Civil War. Therefore, this storm is not listed as the record, but it was the largest snow for this area ever noted.
• Feb 8 – Hannah Burr daughter of Peter Burr is born
• Peter Burr’s first wife (Mary) died after the birth of Hannah and left him with 6 daughters between the ages of infant to 16 and one son, age 5. Mary was said to have died from “milk fever.”
• Feb – Berkeley County was carved out of Frederick County, with Martinsburg to soon become the center of local government. The county includes all of today’s Jefferson County. 
• Peter Burr’s property became a part of Berkeley Co, VA
• Dec 20 – General Adam Stephen writes English Army officer, General Horatio Gates encouraging him to buy land in Berkeley.

• The original town of Martinsburg was laid out by General Adam Stephen as an industrial center along Tuscarora Creek.
• The house that is now known as Bellevue in Shepherdstown was built this year by Thomas Van Swearingen as a single-story stone house. The house today is the home of descendants of Captain Thomas Shepherd, founder of Shepherdstown. The original stone house has been extensively altered and in 1900 was the setting for a dinner party on the lawn for William Jennings Bryan during his second presidential campaign.
• Samuel Washington, George's brother and second largest landholder in the county after Adam Stephen, becomes the new sheriff of Berkeley County, VA.
• General Horatio Gates, who had earlier distinguished himself in the British Army and who served in the Braddock campaign, resigned his commission in England and moved to the Virginia Colony. Gates and his family sailed from England and upon arriving here bought 659 acres in the area now known as Kearneysville, very near Peter Burr’s house. Gates built his limestone house (named Travelers Rest) and in time became a slave owner, a local justice, and a lieutenant colonel in the militia. He lived at Travelers Rest through the American Revolution and in 1790 sold the home, freed his slaves and moved to New York City. Horatio Gates played a significant role in exploring, establishing, and developing an “American” presence in the “Valley of Virginia.”  Gates and Burr are believed to have shared some similar political views after the Revolution.
• Jun 19 – Martha ("Patsy") Custis, Washington's stepdaughter, died of epilepsy.

George Washington's Family: Martha, Patsy, George, and Jacky

• Aug 9 – Land Grant: Thomas Turner - 61 acres.

• George Washington again visits the local area.
• Williamsburg, VA - Virginia convention meets to call for a boycott of British goods.
• The Revolutionary War begins with bloodshed at Lexington and Concord (13 Colonies are now against Britain). During this war, General George Washington (as Commander-in-Chief of the Colonial forces) has his headquarters again in nearby Winchester; many prisoners were held in the area. The war will last until 1783.
• Feb 5 – Land Grant: Joseph Barnes - 55 acres.
• Feb 7 – Land Grant: Joseph Barnes - 39 acres.
• Jul 1 – Horatio Gates writes to his neighbor and future Continental General Charles Lee, “I am ready to risque my life to preserve the Liberty of the Western World.” For both men, each now a resident of Berkeley County, risking his life for liberty would be the choice to make in the coming months and each rose to the occasion.
• Several more incidents between the Shawnee and surveying parties traveling within present-day West Virginia resulted in the deaths of several surveyors and Indians.
• Jacob Hite sold the 1731 house built by Jost Hite to General Charles Lee; in a snub to the English aristocracy, Lee renamed the home Prato Rio, Spanish for stream through the meadow. Some also called the house “The Hut” for its squat, unattractive appearance. It is said that the house did not have interior walls, but that eccentric General Lee drew lines to separate living areas.
• Major General Adam Stephen (who earlier owned land adjacent to Peter Burr) built his house in Martinsburg and founded that city.
• Martinsburg, VA. - Residents petition General Assembly for Martinsburg's incorporation.

See Video: Adam Stephen: Lord Dunmore’s War Revolution coming – Part V (5:10)

Part V The Revolutionary War looms. Washington and Stephen are told to come up with Virginia recruits for the new army. By Jim Surkamp. Acted by Bill Caldwell.

• Continental Congress and early founding of our nation occurs; during this time numerous founding fathers visited in local area at various times

• May – The capture of Fort Ticonderoga, New York.
• An empty lot (located where the Entler Hotel is today) served as a drill area for troops preparing to join George Washington for the Revolutionary War.
• When Washington called on by congress to select officers for the Continental Army, he requested Berkeley County’s Horatio Gates, who was commissioned adjutant-general with the rank of brigadier-general.
• Jun – Horatio Gates met with George Washington at Mount Vernon and was appointed a brigadier general, acting as the adjutant of the Continental Army.

• General Washington called for ten rifle companies from the middle colonies to support the Siege of Boston. The Virginia House of Burgesses approved the request by approving the assembling and dispatch of two companies of “Virginia Volunteer Riflemen.” Captains Daniel Morgan and Hugh Stephenson answered the call and both companies distinguished themselves on the battle field.
• Jul 14 – After being requested by General Washington, Captain Daniel Morgan recruited 96 men in ten days, assembled them, and marched them to Boston in 21 days. They became well known as Morgan’s Sharpshooters and were credited with a victory at the Battle of Cowpens (Jan 17, 1781) which was a decisive win by American Revolutionary forces under then Brigadier General Daniel Morgan.
• Jul 16 – Captain Hugh Stephenson also filled the ranks of his company in response to General Washington’s call. The troops departed "Morgan's Spring," about one-half mile south of Shepherdstown (and not far from Peter Burr’s house) as they began their 600 mile march in 24 days. (He lost several days due to a good-humored trick by Daniel Morgan who wanted to be the first to march him men into Cambridge.) This response with the departure of both Virginia companies became known as the Beeline March to Cambridge. Stephenson’s Berkeley County volunteers were easily distinguished on the field of battle; they embroidered Patrick Henry's famous slogan "Liberty or Death" on their shirts. Tragically, many of them were taken prisoner when the British captured Forts Washington and Lee, and many died after being treated harshly. “Nowhere . . . was there a more prompt and determined response to the fervid appeal of Patrick Henry than the patriotic citizens of Shepherdstown showed . . .” (Honorable Alex Boteler, “My Ride to the Barbecue” -- 1860)

See Video:Beeline March to Cambridge, MA – Part I (5:25)

See Video: Beeline March to Cambridge, MA – Part II (4:39)

Two companies of Virginians, one leaving from near Morgans Grove, (in Shepherdstown) marched 600 miles in 25 days, to join the Continental Army - July-August, 1775.

• Jul 16 – Some of Stephenson’s troops assembling for the Beeline March would have traveled up Warm Springs Road that went through Peter Burr’s property. We can only wonder what feelings were felt as residents of all ages watched these eager volunteers moving with passion toward the rally site.

• Jul 17 – Hugh Stephenson of Berkeley County led his military company out of Mecklenburg, present-day Shepherdstown to Cambridge, MA. 
• Aug 6 – Captain Morgan’s troops arrived in Cambridge.
• Aug 11 – Captain Stephenson’s troops arrived in Cambridge. Both companies arrived with hopes of being the first to present demonstrate their eagerness in response to Washington’s call. General Washington is said to have been very pleased and somewhat emotional as he welcomed his old friends. 
• Nov 21 – Land Grant: John Lewis - 951 acres (Swan Ponds?).
• Nov 22 – Land Grant: Henry Whiting - 951 acres.

• Dec 31 – Peter Burr’s first cousin, 19-year-old Aaron Burr (fresh out of Princeton), gained hero status during a fierce snow storm near Quebec. The young Burr distinguished himself with brave actions against the British including attempting to carry the dead body of General Richard Montgomery from the field at great risk to his own life. Only Captain Aaron Burr, Edward, and one soldier survived.Burr's courage hastened his rise to the rank of lieutenant colonel and made him a national hero which earned him a place on Washington's staff in Manhattan (but then that’s another story as he quit after two weeks).
• After the death of his first wife and with 7 children still at home, Peter Burr married Jane Calhoun of Lancaster Co, PA. Because marriages outside the state church (in the Colony of Virginia) were still not recognized as legal until after the revolution, then marriage records for these unions were not officially kept by the government, but often by the ministers. Small frontier churches without regular ministers contributed to difficulties in identifying who preformed marriages and where the records were kept . . . if, in fact, they were kept during these tumultuous days.
• Robert Harper moved from Harpers Ferry to about one mile up the Shenandoah River. 
• Fort Pitt, PA - Adam Stephen helped conduct the largest conference with Native American leaders in the Ohio Valley.
• Martinsburg, VA - Adam Stephen was appointed the new Berkeley County's first sheriff
• Williamsburg, VA. - Adam Stephen was a delegate at Virginia Convention.

• ca.1775 – Christ Reformed Church & cemetery in Shepherdstown was established.

• ca.1775 – The Lutheran cemetery in Shepherdstown was established.

• Feb – Rev. Philip Vickers Fithian, who served as a supply minister to Elk Branch Church spent one night during his stay at Peter Burr's house; Mrs. Burr would deliver a baby less than 2 months later. An entry in Fithian’s journal states of his visit: “...a Settlement of my Countrymen. Mr Burr, Tully, Conklin, Boyd, Sayre, Garrison, with their Families, and others. dined at Mr. Burr's. He is a good-Liver, as it is commonly said. Appears to be a modest, sensible Man, & is in high Repute.” (Albion and Dodson 1934:181). Fithian had graduated from Princeton in the 1772 class with Aaron Burr, Peter Burr’s first cousin.
• Feb 9 – William Darke enlisted as a captain in the American Revolution, Eighth Virginia Regiment
• Apr 2 – James Burr son of Peter Burr was born
• Aug – Colonel Hugh Stephenson died a few months before his son Richard was born. He died at “Roxbury Camp," New England (Note: Roxbury is where Immigrant Jehue Burre first settled in with the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630)
• Oct 8 – Rev. Philip Vickers Fithian, died near Fort Washington while serving as a Chaplin in the Continental Army. He is remembered as having been highly critical of the “deleterious treatment inflicted upon African-American slaves” by many of the Virginian plantation owners. He had served as a tutor to the children of one of the wealthiest of plantation owners (King Carter) who treated his slaves with greater respect than others of his peers.
• Dec 3 – Rev. John McKnight was ordained as minister of the Elk Branch Presbyterian Church, about five miles south of present-day Shepherdstown. He was their first regular minister. 
• Berkeley County’s General Horatio Gates accompanied Washington to Cambridge, MA, and was commanding-general of the northern army operating against Crown Point and Ticonderoga. He won the support of the delegates to congress from the New England states and was given the rank of major-general and superseded not only John Sullivan, but in August 1777, Gen Phillip J. Schuyler. Gates actively pursued the British in upstate New York.
• Dec 8 – Along with the rest of Washington’s army, General Charles Lee was driven back from New York Harbor. He was eventually taken prisoner at Basking Ridge, New Jersey.
• Mr. Jacob Hite, who migrated from Berkeley Co to Cherokee Co, KY (with his family and a large parcel of negroes) was murdered at his own house by savages. Most of his slaves and his wife and children were carried off as prisoners.
• Thomas Shepherd, founder of New Mecklenburg (Shepherdstown) dies. Shepherd willed the property upon which “Mecklenburg Chapel” was located, to the church parish. The building then fell into neglect caused by the Revolution and disestablishment of the Church of Virginia. After the American Revolution, numerous improvements occurred and the chapel became the Trinity Church of the Episcopal denomination. The building today is referred to as the Old Trinity Church as a larger building was relocated in the 1800s.
• "Hessian fly" harms wheat
• Adam Stephen prepares to go to battle.

See Video: Adam Stephen: On the eve of American Revolution – Part VI (3:32)

Part VI On the eve of American Revolution, Adam Stephen and Washington assemble the first Virginians to go to war. By Jim Surkamp. Acted by Bill Caldwell.

• Mar 4 – Peter Burr Sr. died in Fairfield, CT

• Jul 16 – Elizabeth Burr daughter of Peter Burr Jr. was born in VA.
• Oct 17 – General Gates further magnified his military genius at the battle of Saratoga, which resulted in the surrender of Burgoyne. Congress voted him a gold medal, gave him the thanks of the country, and placed him at the head of the board of war.

See Video: Adam Stephen: Fall from general to court martial – Part VII (5:27)

Part VII Adam Stephen falls from being major general to being court marshaled - a review which he imprudently demanded himself. By Jim Surkamp

• Major William Darke was wounded and taken prisoner at the Battle of Germantown; he was held in a British prison ship in New York Harbor until his exchange in 1780.
• Winter through Spring – General George Washington and Lafayette are at Valley Forge.

George Washington at Valley Forge

• Dec 6 – Moses Burr son of Peter Burr was born.
• Summer – The Culper Ring was a spy ring organized under the orders of General George Washington. The Ring's task was to gather information and send messages to General Washington about British activities. The Ring conducted covert operations until the end of the American Revolutionary War, though its heyday was between 1778 and 1781.Washington was well aware of the need for good intelligence and he asked one of his officers to recruit people who could be trusted to collect it. In Sep 22, 1776, the British had caught Nathan Hale with drawings of their fortifications and hanged him. Perhaps Washington had Hale in mind when he made sure that the Culper Ring spies had more support. He provided them with codes, invisible ink, dead drops, and aliases. Because of the code names or aliases, some of the spies were never identified. Only recently, has Thaddeus Burr been identified as one of the members who collected info easily as he entertained British officers at his home in Fairfield, providing them with drinks and collecting info as they talked freely.

• March – A regiment of the Virginia Infantry marched from Falmouth to Fredericksburg. They walked across ice on the Rappahannock River which had been frozen since the previous November.
• July 7 – Back in Fairfield, CT, the British, under the orders of General William Tryon, burned almost the entire town including the Burr Homestead belonging to Peter Burr's cousin, Thaddeus Burr, the most important man in town. His wife, Eunice Burr, didnt believe her house would be stormed or that she would be harmed because General Tryon had been a guest of the Burrs. However, she later stated that a "pack of the most barbarous ruffians came rushing into the house, and repeatedly accosted me with, you Dam [sic] Rebel where is your husband . . . I drew back to the yard, the only shelter that I had, and there committed myself to God . . ." When they returned to town the next day, 97 homes, 67 barns, 48 stores, two schools, a courthouse (Town Hall), two meeting houses (Congregational and Trinity Churches), and the county jail lay in ruins. Fairfield was destroyed.

• George Washington was at Bullskin
• Virginia ceded most of the northern part of West Augusta District to Pennsylvania after Pennsylvania agreed to accept land grants that Virginia had made in the disputed region.
• Sep 22 – Land Transfer: Peter Burr to Benjamin Blackford. Six acres from Burr's grant. Berkeley County Deed Book 5, p. 376.

See Transcription: Peter Burr to Benjamin Blackford

• Nov-Spring of 1780 – This winter was so cold that ice was piled 20 feet high along the Virginia Coast and stayed there until spring! The upper portion of the Chesapeake Bay was frozen allowing people to walk from Annapolis to Kent Island, Maryland.
• ca.1779 – Abigail Burr (daughter of Peter Burr) married John Cowan. Abigail, the second-born child, had a new step mother and three new siblings in a very short period of time. She was the first of her siblings to marry. Like other settlers who married before the dissolve of the state church, Abigail’s marriage record has not been found.

• Charles Washington began building his home in the area; Happy Retreat is still in existence. Charles was George’s youngest brother & founder of Charles Town.
• After his release from the British prison ship, Major William Darke was promoted to lieutenant colonel.
• Jun – General Gates was given command of the southern army. His force of 4,000 men was concentrated in North Carolina to oppose Cornwallis, who was rapidly marching northward.
• Oct 13 – Daniel Morgan is promoted to Brigadier General.
• Aug 16 – The armies met at Camden, South Carolina, and General Gates was overwhelmed and his army almost annihilated.
• General Horatio Gates returned to Traveler’s Rest after leaving the Continental Army. He found himself in good company with other revolutionary war officers who resided in the area (Charles Lee, Adam Stephen, and Daniel Morgan). 
• Dec 28 – Ann Burr, daughter of Peter Burr, was born.
• 1780s – Mt. Ellen was built.
• 1780s - The Jefferson County Fair began

See Video: The History of the Jefferson County Fair – Part I (5:09)

A brief history (18th century to now) of the County Fair of Jefferson County, West Virginia (WV) when the fair was at locations around Shepherdstown as early as the 1780s.

See Video:The History of the Jefferson County Fair – Part II (5:44)

This second part picks up in the mid-19th century and traces the fair moving to Charles Town to its present form. By Jim Surkamp.

• Jan 17 – Virginia’s Brigadier General Daniel Morgan lead his sharpshooters to a decisive victory at the Battle of Cowpens in South Carolina. Morgan used superior strategy. His plan resulted in 110 of the 1,076 British troops killed and 830 captured. The cunning plan is widely considered to be the tactical masterpiece of the war that turned the direction of the Revolutionary War and one of the most successfully executed double envelopments of all of modern military history.
• Feb 10 – General Morgan returned to his Virginia farm.
• Jul – General Morgan briefly joined Lafayette to once more pursue the British.

• Oct 19 – British General Lord Charles Cornwallis surrendered his 8000 soldiers and sailors to American and French forces at Yorktown, VA to effectively bring the American Revolution to a close. These British and Hessians became prisoners. Gen. William Darke, as colonel commanding the Hampshire and Berkeley regiments, was present. Cornwallis, however, was not present; he claimed to be ill. Because the British commander was absent, military protocol dictated that a subordinate (in this case, Washington’s  second in command, Major General Benjamin Lincoln, accept the surrender through the British General’s second-in-command (Charles O'Hara). Washington on horseback remained in the background.

• Dec 9 – Thomas, Sixth Lord Fairfax, died at Greenway Court near Winchester, VA.
• Samuel Washington died and was buried in a family graveyard on his property at Harewood. At the time of his death, Samuel owned over 3,800 acres of land, of which 268 acres remain as part of Harewood today. Harewood is the only Washington home in Jefferson County that has remained in the Washington family.
• Selby-Hamtramck House in Shepherdstown was built.

• General Daniel Morgan joined the Presbyterian Church and built a new house near Winchester, VA. He named the home Saratoga after his victory in New York. He turned his attention to investing in land, and over time built an estate of over 250,000 acres.
• Oct 2 – Eccentric General Charles Lee passed away, mourned only by his dogs and the two slaves listed in the assessment of his property. His last Will and Testament bore the following direction, a fitting final commentary on the life of General Lee and his bitter distrust of the world, explaining, “I desire most earnestly that I may not be buried in any church or church yard . . . for since I have resided in this country I have kept so much bad company when living that I do not choose to continue it when dead.”
• ca.1782 – Harper’s Cemetery and view

• The Revolutionary War ends. The total loss of life is unknown. Disease claimed more lives than battle. The war took place during a massive North American smallpox epidemic which probably killed more than 130,000 people. Some believe Washington's decision to have his troops inoculated may have been the commander-in-chief's most important strategic decision. An estimated 25,000 American Revolutionaries died during active military service. About 8,000 of these deaths were in battle; the other 17,000 deaths were from disease, including about 8,000 who died while prisoners of war. The number of Revolutionaries seriously wounded or disabled by the war has been estimated from 8,500 to 25,000. The total American military casualty figure was therefore as high as 50,000.

• Jan 22 – William Burr, youngest son of Peter Burr was born.

• Oct 25 – Thomas Jefferson visited Harpers Ferry and called the site and proclaimed the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers to be "perhaps one of the most stupendous scenes in nature.”

See Video: Thomas Jefferson at Harpers Ferry (2:16)

Quoted from Jefferson’s account from his “Notes on Virginia,” where he said that the view is worth "the crossing of the Atlantic." By Jim Surkamp.

• William Darke retired from the Continental Army and returned to present day Jefferson County to live at his home near Duffield’s Station (very near Peter Burr’s house); he engaged in farming.
• The early attempt to establish a church on the Elk Branch was failing; the church lost its first minister (Rev. McKnight) due to inability to pay his salary. The church lingered on unproductively until it dissolved between the years of 1792-1832 until a new (and currently existing) church could be re-established.
• Mt. Hammond was built.

• Feb 13 – The winter was so cold over this area and a large part of the US that ice flows blocked the Mississippi River at New Orleans and then passed into the Gulf of Mexico.
• May 24 – Appraisal of the Estate of Benjamin Blackford; Peter Burr is shown as a witness.

See Transcription: Benjamin Blackford Estate Inventory

• Jun 29 – Mary Burr (daughter of Peter Burr) married Daniel Smith
• George Washington visited at Happy Retreat

See Video: Charles Town - George Washington's Visit(5:27)

After the Revolution George Washington dined at Happy Retreat with his old comrades Daniel Morgan and Michael Cresap to figure out a profitable water route thru the hinterland. By Jim Surkamp.

• Virginia ceded its claims north of the Ohio River to the United States but reserved a section known as the Military District for Revolutionary War bounty land.
• After the 1783 death of his wife, General Horatio Gates (one of Peter Burr’s neighbors) asked Janet Livingston Montgomery, widow of Maj. General Richard Montgomery to marry him. She turned him down. Recall that General Montgomery is the highly regarded officer whose dead body young Aaron Burr tried to carry from the battle field. (See Dec. 31, 1775)

• In Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin proposes the idea of daylight savings time.

• Mar 17 – A Certificate for Wheat was issued to Peter Burr; this document serves as documentation for DAR membership

See Image: Certificate for Wheat

• Jul 31 – Esther Burr, youngest daughter and last child of Peter Burr, was born

• With independence from British rule and with Lord Fairfax and Joist Hite both dead, the lawsuit over land disputes is finally settled. This ends the 50-year Fairfax-Hite suit.
• Locust Hill was built.
• Charles Town Presbyterian Church founded was founded.
• After being turned down by Janet Livingston Montgomery, widow of Maj. General Richard Montgomery, General Gates married wealthy Mary Vallance and became able to live the lifestyle he had longed for.
• Charles Washington petitioned the Virginia General Assembly for permission to incorporate the town which was also named for him, Charles Town. Charles named the streets after family members and reserved the four main corners in the heart of town as public space.

• ca.1787 – At age 14, Thomas Worthington, orphaned earlier (after the death of his mother and wealthy father, Quaker Robert Worthington) asked General William Darke to be his guardian. Darke had been close friends with the boy’s father and agreed to take the child; he raised and educated him as his own. The child grew up and migrated about 1798 to Ohio Territory, where he became the 6th Gov of the state. The Darkes and Worthingtons were long acquaintances who had come from PA and settled in Jefferson Co. WV, near Charles Town.
• Feb 17 – Peter Burr’s name with three other elders for Charles Town Presbyterian Church appears on the deed for sale of land by Charles Washington. Records of the Presbyterian Historical Society indicate that Peter Burr helped found Charles Town Presbyterian Church. A framed copy of the deed is in the Jefferson County Museum.
• May 25 – The Constitutional Convention began in the Pennsylvania State House. Robert Morris of PA, the "financier" of the Revolution, opened the proceedings with a nomination—Gen. George Washington for the presidency of the Constitutional Convention. The vote was unanimous.

Constitutional Convention

See Video: Adam Stephen: Part 1 of final remarks at the Virginia Constitutional Convention – Part VIII (4:14)

Part VIII The Constitution was ratified by ten votes or the decisions of five of the delegates, the western counties led by Stephen and William Darke provided the winning margin.

 See Video: Adam Stephen: Part 2 of final remarks at the Virginia Constitutional Convention – Part IX (4:42)

Part IX Stephen also tried to establish the nation's capital in Shepherdstown. By Jim Surkamp Bill Caldwell Actor

• Dec 3 – James Rumsey successfully demonstrated the 1st steamboat on the Potomac at Shepherdstown. Among the hundreds of spectators and notables for the first successful steamboat trial was General Horatio Gates who famously cried: “My God, she moves.” Rumsey often paced along the edge of the bluff contemplating his many inventions. For years the area was known as “Crazy Rumsey’s Walk.” The demonstration was 20 years before Robert Fulton demonstrated his steam boat.

See Video: Shepherdstown - James Rumsey - 1st Steamboat – Part I (7:23)

Thomas Jefferson called James Rumsey "the most brilliant and original mechanical genius I have ever seen." This tells the story of his genius as a one-time blacksmith from the frontier village of Shepherdstown, Virginia in the 18th century. By Jim Surkamp.

See Video: Shepherdstown - James Rumsey - 1st Steamboat – Part II (7:43)

James Rumsey went to London and came very close to a deal with the world's largest steam engine company, Boulton and Watt but . . . By Jim Surkamp.

See Video: Shepherdstown - James Rumsey - 1st Steamboat – Part III (6:23)

James Rumsey was on the verge of being thrown into debtor's prison on the even of the trial voyage of his second steamboat on the Thames in London. By Jim Surkamp.

• Elmwood was built.

• Apr 2 – Sarah Burr (daughter of Peter Burr) married William Biggs
• Jun 2 – Land Transaction: Walter Baker - 6 1/2 acres adjoining northern boundary of Peter Burr's Bardane patent. Granted by the Commonwealth of Virginia.

See Transcription: Walter Baker Lane Grant 6 1/2 acres

• Peter Burr’s name is shown on the 1788 poll list for those eligible to vote for two delegates  for the Virginia Assembly. General William Darke and Brigadier General Adam Stephen were elected as delegates to represent Berkeley County.
• In Martinsburg, Peter Burr voted for delegates to the Constitutional Convention
• Virginia ratified the constitution and became a state. For more information about the United States during the Colonial Times see the Colonial Times 1607-1789 page.
• Jun 25 – Representative William Darke voted for the ratification of the United States Constitution. He served almost continuously as delegate to the Virginia legislature until his 1801 death in Jefferson County.
• Nov 29 – The Virginia General Assembly passed an act establishing the building of the Mecklenburg Warehouse for the inspection of tobacco. Peter Burr would have taken his tobacco to this warehouse on the Potomac River near Pack Horse Ford where he first entered the Virginia Colony.
• George Washington elected President of the United States
• ca.1788 – Aspen Pool was built.

• Thomas Jefferson on Rumsey: "The most brilliant and original mechanical genius I have ever seen."
• Apr 30 – General George Washington took the office as President of the United States. He took the oath of office while standing on a balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street, NY.
• ca.1789 – Mecklenburg Tobacco Warehouse was built.
• ca.1789 – Landsdale was built.

• Pop. (est.) 9,500; 1,700 enslaved
• Shepherdstown/Sharpsburg was suggested for Nation's Capitol
• Strider Farm was built.
• Feb – Peter Burr III married Hannah Sewell
• Rumsey patented his invention and traveled to London in an attempt to find investors willing to finance the construction of additional steam ships. During his time in London, He met Robert Fulton who later modified Rumsey's design and made steam navigation a success.
• “The Potomak Guardian and Berkeley Advertiser” published in Shepherdstown was West Virginia's first newspaper
• General Gates sold Traveller’s Rest, freed his slaves, and moved to New York City, settling on Manhattan Island in New York Harbor where he purchased a farm. He supported Thomas Jefferson and the Anti-Federalist platform and remained politically active in his final years prior to his death.
• Congress awarded General Daniel Morgan a gold medal to commemorate his victory at Cowpens.
• Coppersmith Conrad Shindler came to Shepherdstown.

See Video: Shepherdstown - The Coppersmith Shindlers – Part I(3:55)

Actress Mary Tyler Moore's ancestor Conrad Shindler came to Shepherdstown around 1790 and was a coppersmith who built the house on the southeast corner of Church and German Street. Descendants remained in the area for over a hundred or so years 1790-1900. This is her ancestors' story. Ardyth Gilbertson acts and sings. By Jim Surkamp.

See Video: Shepherdstown - The Coppersmith Shindlers – Part II (5:44)

Conrad Shindler and descendants (actress Mary Tyler Moore's ancestors) were coppersmiths in Shepherdstown and farmers in the late 18th century and first half of the 19th century. She purchased their home to become a historical research center. Ardyth Gilbertson acts and sings. By Jim Surkamp.

• The clay soil in the area of Mecklenburg was conducive to brick making, and many of the homes and buildings existing today still bear the bricks of the 1790s. By the late 1790s, there were several local commercial brickyards in the area. Bricks were plentiful and cheaper than nails. Roofing material affected the market value and the insurance premiums of the brick structures. Those structures covered with tile were much more valuable then those topped with wooden shingles. Fires starting in the shingles destroyed many brick homes, mills, stores and out-buildings.

• Head Spring at Summit Point was built.
• Aaron Burr wins a US Senate seat for NY.
• Jul 16 – Major General Adam Stephen died in his town, Martinsburg, VA
• Aug 2 – Jane/Jean Burr (daughter of Peter Burr) marries John Melvin
• Nov 4 – General Willam Darke was commissioned lieutenant colonel of the Kentucky militia in a regiment of "levies;" he commanded the left wing of St. Clair's army at the disastrous Battle of the Wabash at the Wabash River in the Old Northwest Territory. During the Northwest Indian War, they were defeated by the Miami Indians. He made two gallant and successful charges with the bayonet in this fight, in the second of which his youngest son, Captain Joseph Darke, was killed and Col. Darke was himself wounded, narrowly escaping death. He was afterward made major general of Virginia militia.

• Washington was re-elected President of the US for a second term.

• Feb 27 – Peter Burr's wrote his Will

See Transcription and Image: Peter Burr's Will

• Mar 20 – The first post office in present West Virginia was opened in Shepherdstown under Postmaster Horatio Ross. 
• Dec 2 – The Virginia General Assembly passed an act granting the town of Mecklenburg, present-day Shepherdstown, its second charter.
• Jun 24 – Miriam Burr (daughter of Peter Burr) married John Conklyn
• ca.1793 – Chapline-Shenton House was built.
• ca.1793 – Linden Spring was built.

• Aaron Burr was passed over by President Washington in favor of James Monroe for French Ambassador, due to “machinations” of 1794 Republicans.
• George Washington selected Harpers Ferry for the location of the Harpers Ferry National Armory (it would be the second federal armory commissioned by the United States government)
• General Morgan was briefly recalled to national service, as he led militia units to suppress the Whiskey Rebellion. By presenting a massive show of force, he managed to resolve the protests without a shot being fired.
• In Philadelphia (the nation’s capital at the time), Aaron Burr introduced his dear friend, 26-year-old Dolley Payne Todd, to his former Princeton classmate, 43- year-old James Madison. Dolley was a widow after having lost her first husband John Todd Jr. to yellow fever. James Madison considered the “Father of the Constitution,” was extremely well read, impressively educated and serving as a United States Congressman in the House of Representatives
• Late summer – James Madison proposed marriage to Dolley. She, with some reservations, left Philadelphia before providing an answer and headed for her sister’s home. Lucy Payne Washington was the wife of Samuel Washington’s son, George Steptoe Washington, who had inherited Harewood. Lucy had recently married into the Washington family and urged her sister to answer Mr. Madison.
• Sep 16 – in Jefferson County, James Madison and Dolley Payne Todd were married at “Harewood” in a room that even today still has the same paint on the wall. For her marriage to the Episcopalian James Madison, Dolley, who had been raised Quaker, appeared in stunning attire, in direct opposition to Quaker dress. One reported description of her on that day was: “She looked a Queen . . . It would be absolutely impossible for any one to behave with more perfect propriety than she did."
• Adam Livingston's house exorcised (Legend of Wizard Clip)

See Video: Wizards Clip – Part I (5:35)

Middleway - The trouble of Wizards Clip prompted the Catholic Church's first house exorcism in North America - 18th century. This story can also be found in Ohio history where many settlers from this area migrated about 1800 and apparently continue telling the story. By Jim Surkamp.

See Video: Wizards Clip – Part II(4:38)

The trouble of Wizards Clip prompted the Catholic Church's first house exorcism in North America. By Jim Surkamp.

See Video: Wizards Clip – Part III(6:38)

The trouble of Wizards Clip prompted the Catholic Church's first house exorcism in North America. By Jim Surkamp.

• bef 1795 – Hannah Burr (daughter of Peter Burr) married John Miller

• In Philadelphia, Eli Whitney patented the cotton gin

• Jan 20 – Peter Burr died. According to family tradition, he died while kneeling in front of an open Bible at his prayer table. That prayer table is one of the only artifacts that still exists from his personal possessions. At his death, he left 5 of 13 children still minors between ages 10-17. He was survived by the following:

Daughter Mary Burr age 38 & husband Daniel Smith;

Daughter Abigail Burr age 37 & husband John Cowan;

Daughter Sarah Burr age 34 & husband William Biggs;

Daughter Miriam Burr age 32 & husband John Conklyn;

Daughter Jane Burr age 30 & husband John Melvin;

Son Peter Burr age 27 & wife Hannah Sewell Burr;

Daughter Hannah Burr age 23 & husband John Miller;

Son James Burr age 19;

Daughter Elizabeth Burr age 17;

Son Moses Burr age 16;

Daughter Ann Burr age 14;

Son William Burr age 11;

Daughter Esther Burr age 9.

• Peter Burr was buried beside his two wives in a since-forgotten location believed to be on the land where his father’s first land grant was located near today’s Halltown, WV. This location would be within a few miles of Harpers Ferry just above the railroad track and Flowing Springs In the vacinity of the north section of Golf Course off Old Country Club Road.)
• Feb 3 – Land Transfer: Moses and Anne Hunter to David Moore – 2 acres on Warm Springs Road near Peter Burr property.
• Feb 25 – Peter Burr’s Estate Inventory

See Transcription: Peter Burr's Estate Inventory

• Mar – Ad for sale of Peter Burr’s estate: "Stock and Household Furniture for Sale," Potomac Guardian.
• May 5 – Land Transfer: Property inherited by Peter Burr’s daughters (Jane, Hannah, Abigail) and their respective husbands to David Moore. Three 10-acre parcels inherited by the wives from their father, Peter Burr. Berkeley County Deed Book 12, pp. 299-301. 

See Transcription: Burr Daughters to David Moore

• Caledonia was built.

• Apr 2 – Land Transfer: Property inherited by Peter Burr’s daughter (Mary Smith) to David Moore - 10 acres devised by Peter Burr to daughter Mary Smith. Smith, Daniel and Mary Smith to David Moore

See Transcription: Burr Daughter Mary to David Moore

• The future King of France, Louis Phillipe, and his brother were entertained at Harewood while on a tour of “the West.”
• Kearsley House was built.

• Thomas Jefferson writes that he will defer to John Adams if elected President.
• Jefferson had served as Washington's secretary of state, and ran a close second to John Adams in the election of 1796.
• Alexander Hamilton had tried unsuccessfully to ensure the defeat of Adams in the election of 1796.
• John Adams was elected US President
  

• 23 Jan – Elizabeth Burr (daughter of Peter Burr) married Samuel Reed.
• General Morgan was elected to the United States House of Representatives as a Federalist.

• Mar 4 - John Adams took office as US President; Thomas Jefferson became Vice President, pursuant to Article II of the Constitution.
• Amendment to Article II proposed and defeated.

• Washington's second term as President was over - John Adams became President.

Martha and George Washington at home in Mt Vernon

• Mecklenburg became known as Shephard’s Town and later as Shepherdstown.

• Spring – In New York, Aaron Burr elected to Assembly.
• Summer – Alien and Sedition Acts passed. John Adams became increasingly unpopular in office, especially for the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts, repressive legislation designed to stifle freedom of the press. Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions were written in response.

• Jan 12 – James Burr (son of Peter Burr) married Nancy McGarry and the two make their home in Jefferson County.
• Apr 30 – In New York, Aaron Burr loses Assembly election.
• May 6 – Robert Troup says Aaron Burr revolutionized state in favor of Republicans.
  
• The United States Arsenal was established at Harper's Ferry, and John Hall started making inter-changeable parts. Industry was on the rise.
• In New York, Aaron Burr founds the Manhattan Company and the associated Bank of Manhattan, which later evolved into the Chase Manhattan Bank and later into J P Morgan Chase.

• Dec 14 – Geo Washington died at called Mt. Vernon, his home located in Fairfax County, Virginia. He died from affects of a throat infection, after making a tour of his estate on horseback in severe winter weather. Washington arranged for his slaves to be freed in his last will and testament.

• Population (est.): 78,000 people in what is today West Virginia , with 35,000 west of the Alleghenies. Existed 13 counties, 8 post offices, and 19 incorporated towns. Berkeley County (est.): 1,357 families, at least 1,451 enslaved; 1 tavern per 71 families; 1 store per 42 families.

• As a critic of the Adams presidency, Jefferson was an obvious candidate on the Democratic-Republican ticket that would oppose the Federalists.

• Alexander Hamilton, a Federalist born in the Caribbean, was technically eligible to be president under the Constitution (having been a citizen when the Constitution was ratified), but he was such a controversial figure that a run for high office never seemed feasible. Hamilton did not hold governmental office in the late 1790s, but built a Federalist political machine in New York City. He had played a formidable role in the administration of George Washington, serving as the first secretary of the treasury. Over time he came to be an enemy of John Adams, though they were both members of the same Party.
• Aaron Burr, a prominent New York political figure, was opposed to the Federalists continuing their rule. A constant rival to Hamilton, Burr also had built a powerful political machine opposed to Hamilton's Federalist organization.
• Burr threw his allegiance to Thomas Jefferson and ran with him on the same ticket as the vice-presidential candidate.
• The 1800 election marked the first time that candidates campaigned.
• Mar – Aaron Burr launched his own newspaper.
• May – Colleagues applauded Aaron Burr’s work; Republicans approached him and Governor George Clinton (NY) to run for Vice President alongside Thomas Jefferson. Burr declined and then consented when James Madison promised no southern elector would drop votes. Burr promised to obtain same result in Rhode Island.
• Jun 20 – Aaron Burr was chosen as Thomas Jefferson’s running mate.
• Jul – Aaron Burr predicted that Thomas Jefferson would win majority of electoral votes.

• Sep – Aaron Burr began a six week campaign throughout New England and is credited largely for getting he and Thomas Jefferson elected.

• Oct 9 – Aaron Burr wrote James Madison that Thomas Jefferson would receive all Rhode Island’s electoral votes.
• Oct 23 – Aaron Burr wrote to John Taylor of “Caroline,” acknowledging his name had been put forward.
• Dec 15 – Thomas Jefferson’s letter to Aaron Burr.
• Dec 16 – Aaron Burr’s letter to Samuel Smith, disclaiming competition.
• Dec 18 – Aaron Burr communicated to John Taylor that Rhode Island would vote for John Adams, and Jefferson was not expected to result in a tie. Burr supported Jefferson.
• Dec 23 – Aaron Burr’s letter to Thomas Jefferson.
• Dec 24 – Federalist Robert Goodloe Harper to Aaron Burr: take no step that will embarrass.
• Dec 24 – Aaron Burr’s letter to Samuel Smith: “No time to quarrel with phantoms.”
• Dec 29 – Aaron Burr to Samuel Smith: will not resign if elected President.
• The election of 1800 was significant and controversial. The conflicted result revealed a serious flaw in the US Constitution that led to the passage and ratification of the Twelfth Amendment, which changed the way the electoral college functioned.

• Jan 5-8 – Boston paper comes out for Aaron Burr.

• Jan 08 – Jefferson County created from Berkeley County, 211 sq. miles; the county included today’s Jefferson County. As settlements grew, county lines were redrawn at least 5 times in 80 years: 1721, 1734, 1738, 1772, 1801. This was the last time the county lines were redrawn. The county was Jefferson County in the state of Virginia; West Vigrinia did not become its own state until 1863.
• Jan 16 – Aaron Burr to Eustis: pledge was of good faith, will not resign.
• Jun 17 – Ann Burr (daughter of Peter Burr) married John McGarry and the two make their home in Jefferson County.
• Jan 21, 25 & Feb 6 – Washington Federalists support Aaron Burr.
• Feb 4 – Aaron Burr to Samuel Smith: “you believe every lie.”
• Feb 9 – Republican George Hay contemplates Constitutional question.
• Feb 11 –  The ballots for the electoral college were finally counted, and it was discovered that the election was a tie.
• Feb 12 – Thomas Jefferson reacted negatively and wrote in his diary of Aaron Burr’s "betrayal".
• Feb 16 – Federalist James A. Bayard wrote that Aaron Burr played a paltry part.
• In the event of a tie in the electoral college, the Constitution dictated that the election would be decided by the House of Representatives. So Jefferson and Burr, who had been running mates, were now rivals in the election in the House.
• Alexander Hamilton, who detested Burr and considered Jefferson a safer choice to be president, wrote letters and used all his influence with the Federalists to thwart Burr.
• Feb 17 - The election in the House of Representatives began in the new Capitol building in Washington. The voting went on for several days, and after 36 ballots the tie was finally broken. Thomas Jefferson was declared the winner. Aaron Burr was declared vice president. And it is believed that Alexander Hamilton's influence weighed heavily on the eventual outcome.
• Feb 28 – Aaron Burr to Thomas McElderry: triumph of principle.
• Mar 8 – James Bayard to Hamilton: Aaron Burr made little use of the opportunity.

See Document: Aaron Burr and the Electoral Tie of 1801: Strict Constitutional Construction

• Nov 20 – Major General William Darke died in Jefferson County, VA; he was an original trustee for the town of Charles Town. He was buried at Duffields, Jefferson County, WV (a short walk from Peter Burr’s House)
• ca.1801 – James Burr built his home, which still stands today.
• ca.1801 – Moses Burr built his home, which still stands today.

• Jul 6 – General Daniel Morgan died in Winchester at age 66; he was one of the most gifted battlefield tacticians of the American Revolutionary War.

• Sep 4 – Land Transfer: Moses Burr to William Lyne, Jr. - Exchange of 14 acres.

See Transcription: Land Transfer - Moses Burr to William Lyne Jr

• Sep 4 – Land Transfer: William Lyne Jr. and wife Elizabeth to Moses Burr.

See Transcription:Land Transfer - William Lyne Jr & wife to Moses Burr

• Oct 10 – Captain Robert Rutherford (brother of Thomas Rutherford) died on his estate near Charles Town, VA
• Meriwether Lewis began his expedition to the Louisiana Purchase in Jefferson County. He spent a month at Harpers Ferry overseeing the production and gathering of supplies he and his men would need on their exploration of the vast area comprising nearly 503,000,000 acres of territory west of the Mississippi River

• Feb 14 – Burr brothers (James, Moses, William) and William Lyne Jr., legatees of Peter Burr III, agree to the assignment of lands.

See Assignment: Assignment of Land Inherited by Burr Sons

• Apr 10 – Land Transfer: William Lyne Jr. and wife Elizabeth to David Moore - 110 acres inherited by Peter Burr III from Peter Burr II.

See Land Transfer: Lyne to Moore - Land transaction re Peter Burr property

• Jul 11 – Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr fight their famous duel at Weehawken, NJ. While exclaiming his intentions to not fire, Hamilton brings illegal dueling pistols with unseen hair-triggers. When asked if they were ready, Hamilton needed more time to check his scope. Stories differ as to who fired first, but Hamilton's shot hit a tree limb above Burr's head. Though both men agreed to the duel and both men shot, Hamilton's supporters took action to bring murder charges against Burr.
  

• Thomas Rutherford (brother of Robert Rutherford and friend and neighbor of Peter Burr’s) died.

• Feb 25 – Land Transfer: John Wright to Philip Engle – the 1-acre parcel previously given to the Elk Branch Church. Deed Book 3, pp. 458-460, Jefferson County, WV.
• Apr 10 – Major General Horatio Gates died in NY.

• Vice President Aaron Burr was tried for treason and found not guilty in a landmark case that continues to be discussed by those interested in the judiciary process. This case set precedents that a sitting president of the US can be subpoenaed to court and the definition of treason under the United States Constitution. It dealt with the rights of an accused to a fair trial and innocence until proven guilty. And it

See Video: Equal Justice Under Law - United States v. Aaron Burr (3rd in a 4 part series). (01:13:16)

An excellent 1 hour 14 minute Dramatizations (narrated by E.G. Marshall) of the historic decision of America's great Chief Justice, John Marshall in the treason trial of Aaron burr. Strictly adhering to the Constitution, Marshall stepped between Burr and death, and the doors were closed against government abuse of the treason charge. This presentation was produced in 1979 by: The Committee on the Bicentennial of Independence and the Constitution: The Judicial Conference of the United States

See Teachers Guide: Equal Justice Under Law - United States v. Aaron Burr

• May18 – William Burr (son of Peter Burr) married Margaret Young
• Ca.1809 – William Burr built his house on inherited land. His house continued to stand until after 1980s when it was unfortunately torn down. Another historic house lost to progress.

• Population (est). 11,851; 3,532 enslaved

• Sep 9 – Peter Burr’s daughter Hester wrote a letter home from the Ohio Territory. 

See:Hester's Letter - Transcription

• William and Margaret Young Burr migrated to Kentucky Territory and bought land on the Logan County, KY / Robertson County, TN line (including the same location where Andrew Jackson in 1807 had his famous duel with Charles Dickinson)

• A dress worn by a Burr daughter or granddaughter was preserved and today can be seen in the Jefferson County Museum.

• Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) Railroad was built through Peter Burr’s old property. It cut off the driveway that entered from Warm Springs Road and was diverted to enter from Old Route 9 (Charles Town Road). Because of the change of entrance, the back of the house became the front of the house, which today faces out onto Burr Industrial Development which occupies a portion of the original Bardane.