Rain, Cold and Wet, Again

13th (Nov.) Breakfast at house one mile east of the 7mile ford,⁽¹⁾ rained all morning, stayed all night at young Atkins, Good fair 23 mile – cost– 4.62, grain straw .25, whiskey grog 62.

The 23 miles would put Clark in the vicinity of present-day Atkins, Smyth Co. VA, less than 5 miles from the Wythe Co. line. Frederick Cullop built the Old Stone Tavern a.k.a. Rock House circa 1815 (36°51’51” N -81°26’12” W). The distance and location are reasonable for the house that the Clark party stayed in on 13 November 1809.⁽²⁾⁽³⁾ Cullop appeared in the Wythe County tax records in 1797 and acquired the tavern property in 1806 and 1808.⁽⁴⁾ There are reasonable questions concerning the tavern or home stayed in by the Clark party on 13 November, but this is the most likely location. William Clark had a habit of listing the name of the manager of a tavern instead of the actual owner. Was “Young Atkins managing the tavern for Frederick Cullop? Had the tavern been built earlier than “circa 1815”?

On the 14th the Clarks passed through Wytheville and stayed all night at Capt. Kent.⁽⁵⁾ Chloe, Scott and presumably Rachel, their daughter, were sent to the Kent’s Tavern near the main road to spend the night. They traveled 29 miles – cost- unknown. We are fortunate to have historic pictures but the house was destroyed by fire.

During the day of 15 November, they passed near Ft. Chiswell. The fort was built 1758 -1760 by Col. William Byrd III as an out-post during the French and Indian War and named after John Chiswell the owner of the nearby lead mine. The (lead) Shot Tower Historic Site is 8 miles south of I-81 on I-77.⁽⁶⁾⁽⁷⁾ Unfortunately, the old fort and related building were lost during the construction of I-77 and I-81.⁽⁸⁾ Today, there is a pyramid monument erected near the fort site.⁽⁹⁾

Sources:

(1) http://www.mtnlaurel.com/history/2080-the-history-of-seven-mile-ford-virginia.html

(2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Stone_Tavern_(Atkins,_Virginia)

(3) https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/086-0002/

(4) https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/VLR_to_transfer/PDFNoms/086-0002_Old_Stone_Tavern_(Rock_House)_1982_Final_Nomination.pdf

(5) Heitman, Francis B., Historic Register of the Continental Army during the revolution April 1775 to December 1783. Page 330.

(6) https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/shot-tower#general_information

(7) Rouse, Jr., Parke, The Great Wagon Road, The Dietz Press, Richmond, VA, 1995, page 109

(8) https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/098-0026/

(9) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Chiswell_Site