CHAPTER 45
The Tracy Family History
The Tory
Farmington
(Ivy Road)
We go back to Albemarle County and that enchanting book of
drawings. This mansion was built by Francis Jerdone, the Tory. In 1779, under a
law which confiscated the property of British sympathizers; 3,000 acres of
Jerdone land, including the "Farmington" estate, were attached. Apparently, Mr.
Jerdone, the Tory, regained possession of the land after the war.
The estate was long the home of the Warner Wood family (I
don't know if that is one of ours), having been presented, with two hundred and
fifty slaves, to Mrs. Joseph Harper (mother of Mr. Warner Wood) by her brother,
Joseph Miller of England, who was a protege of (the famous) James Watt and a
distinguished mechanical engineer. "Farmington" was opened as a Country Club in
1926.
Not all of the colonists rebelled against England. Many
remained loyal to the king. Those who stayed loyal were called Tories, or
Loyalists. John Adams (2nd President) is often quoted as saying that during the
war, one-third of the country were Patriots, one-third were Tories, and
one-third were neutral.
This was from his memory some thirty years after the war and
has never been corroborated by any other source. This observation is from his
viewpoint, as he saw things from where he lived in Massachusetts. The truth is
that nobody knows how many were on which side and how many were neutral. It
would appear that there were a lot in all three categories.
I do not think there were many Tories in Albemarle County. Of
the 92 drawings in the Albemarle book, only one refers to the owner as "the
Tory."
Many terms were used to describe those on both sides. On our
side, the usual term was Patriot. On the other side was the term Loyalists.
There were other terms used. To keep things simple I will call our people
Americans and Patriots and the colonists loyal to the king, Loyalists or Tories.
Keep in mind that the Tories were as much Americans as our Americans. It is just
that they had a different way of looking at things.
From the beginning of the conflict, the Americans organized
and took control of most of the colonies. They formed what they called
“Committees of Correspondence.” These organizations took over control of most
local governments. They grabbed all positions of power: mayor, sheriff,
legislatures, militias, etc.
The one word to describe the actions of the Patriots was
"organization.” The Tories did not organize or try to take over governmental
power throughout the thirteen colonies. They retained power in those areas where
they were predominant. However, they did not match the Patriots in action.
The Tories theory was quite simple. The rebellion was temporary. In a few
months, the British government would put down the mutiny and things would be
back to normal. They lay low, biding their time. Mostly, they tried to keep
their heads and their property. This was hard to do when your neighbors were mad
at you. Some were driven out, their property confiscated. Others were luckier
with their neighbors merely boycotting and ignoring them. Games were played,
with some members of the families swearing allegiance to the new government in
hopes of retaining their property. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. If
they were driven out and their property confiscated, that wasn't so bad. After
the king made things right, they figured, they could return home and regain
their possessions.
When living in those areas where they were oppressed, quite a
few Tories (actually, about 80,000) temporarily abandoned their property and
took refuge in British sanctuaries: Canada, the West Indies, behind the British
lines in New York City. Some even went as far as England itself.
“Temporary,” was the Tory way of thinking... until the
British lost an entire army to the Americans at Saratoga, in October of 1777.
Then the thinking of the Tories and the English leaders started to change as to
the outcome of the war. It was no longer a sure thing.
Some Tories kept everything, through it all, and some lost
everything, including their lives.
It all depended on where you were born. If you were a Tory in a Patriot area,
then the Patriots might try to kill you. On the other hand, if you were a
Patriot in Tory country, then the Tories just might try to kill you. If you were
neutral, both sides would kill you!
"The majority of the Loyalists lived quietly amongst them. To
speak up openly for the British would have been foolhardy for them. The British
controlled but little of the countryside; but wherever they went, they were met
by many Loyalists. The vast majority of the country though never saw any British
presence during the war. These folks mostly just accepted British defeat at the
end of the war and continued on with their lives. They would have been happier
had the British won…Many Loyalists had made their peace with the Americans and
gone home, deserted, before the end of the war…they had to start the task of
building a new life for themselves out of a wilderness…"
--Todd Braisted, Loyalist Institute
Todd Braisted says that the Loyalists were welcomed into the
British army from the beginning of the war. They were treated equally and given
all ranks. When the Loyalists did come into the British ranks they made up a
considerable force: at least 40 battalions. (Another source says 70 regiments,
as many as 50,000 Loyalists soldiers.)
However, the Loyalists volunteers did not come in the "flockable"
numbers hoped for by the British High Command, but not enough to turn the tide.
The famed British general, Gentleman Johnny Burgoyne, tells discouragingly, “The
great bulk of the country is undoubtedly with Congress.”
Our people in Virginia lived in strong Patriot country. I
suspect that the Tory who lived at the Farmington plantation was the only Tory
in Albemarle County. Going across the Blue Ridge to the land of our people in
Augusta County, we find that there were considerably more Tories: In fact, there
were two Tories, and they were encouraged to leave!
There are library books available that tell the story of the
Loyalists during the American Revolutionary War.
The savage let loose, or The cruel fate of the Loyalists.
"The Whigs and Tories persecute each other with little less than Savage fury. There is nothing but murders and devastation in every quarter." -- Gen Nathanael Greene
A London cartoon of 1783, which shows the
English version of how the pitifully loyal Tories were treated by the ungrateful
colonists. Here we see three savages, fighting on the Patriot side, murdering
six Tories accordingly: Four are being hung from a tree; one is in the process
of being scalped; one is about to be axed to death. Unfortunately, it happened
sometimes.
The war in the North was most often fought in a civilized
manner, by gentleman who had honor and obeyed the rules of war. Sometimes, there
was even chivalry. This was not case in the South. Here it was a Civil War,
brother against brother.
The British were fighting in the West Indies, India, the
Mediterranean, now in America. They needed the Loyalists manpower to fight on
their side in the South. Cornwallis orders an evaluation of the Loyalists
availability in the South.
“...the Loyalists...are not so numerous as I expected.” –
report to Cornwallis.
The British foraging parties ravished the countryside for
supplies. Such were their depredations that when the day came that the British
gave their command to sign an oath to the king, the neutrals went to the side of
the patriots.
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