REVOLUTIONARY SHORE: Shore selects local leaders to establish trade and social prohibitions against British

THE REVOLUTIONARY SHORE – December 4, 1774

By Kellee Blake

250 years ago . . .

Nearly a year had passed since the Boston Tea Party of 1773 and, this December, Virginians were forming local committees to implement the trade and social prohibitions demanded by the “Continental Association” in Philadelphia. These measures could only effectively damage English trade, however, if all colonists submitted to them. Would merchants truly stop their British importing or farmers discontinue selling crops to British buyers or would fashionable folks cease wearing prohibited luxury items? Virginia leaders were sure adherence would require “supervision” in the form of local “inspection” committees, ultimately known as Committees of Safety.

On the Shore, Northampton County freeholders were first to cast their Committee votes. On December 13, the courthouse buzzed as twenty-four representatives were chosen:

Rev. Isaac Avery	John Kendall
John Blair	Rev. Samuel McCroskey
John Bowdoin, President	Adiel Milby
John Burton	John Respess
Michael Christian	William Roland
Thomas Dalby	George Savage
Zorobable Downing	Littleton Savage
Thomas Fisher	Nathaniel L. Savage
Henry Guy	William Simpkins
John Harmanson (senior)	Griffin Stith
Patrick Harmanson	John Stratton
William Harmanson	John Wilkins

They divided Northampton County into seven districts with three or more Committee members representing each district. The members would “observe the conduct of all persons” and report violations and troublemakers in their area to the Committee. Any public censure required agreement from thirteen Committee members.

The freeholders of Accomack met at their courthouse on Friday, December 23rd and chose their own twenty-two Committeemen:

James Arbuckle	William Selby
Thomas Bayley	William Seymour
Charles Bagwell	Alexander Stockly
George Corbin	Southey Simpson, Chairman
Thomas Crippen	Isaac Smith
James Henry	George Stewart
Clement Parker	Thomas Teackle
George Parker	Arthur Upshur
William Parramore	Caleb Upshur
John Powell, Clerk	John Watts
William Riley	Tully Robinson Wise

These Shoremen were local leaders and men of property with much to lose. Their names were now publicly affixed in support of actions intended to harm British revenue. How would their Committee work affect their lives and those of their Shore neighbors? Certainly more than imagined, as the work quickly became complicated and, not surprisingly, highly political. Still, the Americans’ boycott actions would soon enough prove well more than a “nuisance” for the British.

The year of 1775 was upon them. Shore folks understood the ground was shifting and winter’s event-filled months quickly cascaded into a Revolutionary spring heralded by Patrick Henry when he loudly demanded “liberty or death.”

Join WESR on the 4th of each month to learn more about Virginia and the Shore’s role in the War for Independence.