The Westover Manuscripts: Containing the History of the Dividing Line 
Betwixt Virginia and North Carolina; A Journey to the Land of Eden, A. D. 
1733; and A Progress to the Mines. Written from 1728 to 1736 by William Byrd, and Now First Published, edited by Edmund Ruffin

Published: Petersburg, Printed by Edmund and Julian C. Ruffin, 1841

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                                    THE
                           WESTOVER MANUSCRIPTS:
                                CONTAINING
                     THE HISTORY OF THE DIVIDING LINE
                   BETWIXT VIRGINIA AND NORTH CAROLINA;
                A JOURNEY TO THE LAND OF EDEN, A. D. 1733;
                                    AND
                         A PROGRESS TO THE MINES.
            WRITTEN FROM 1728 TO 1736, AND NOW FIRST PUBLISHED.
                                    BY

                               WILLIAM BYRD,
                               OF WESTOVER.

                                PETERSBURG:
                 PRINTED BY EDMUND AND JULIAN C. RUFFIN.
                                   1841. 

         ENTERED, according to act of congress, in the year 1841,
                             by EDMUND RUFFIN,
                                  in the
 Clerk's office of the District Court of the Eastern District of Virginia.




CONTENTS. [from page 144]
EDITOR'S PREFACE, III 
HISTORY OF THE DIVIDING LINE, 1 
APPENDIX, 94 
A JOURNEY TO THE LAND OF EDEN, 103 
A PROGRESS TO THE MINES, 123 



Page iii

EDITOR'S PREFACE.
   THE manuscripts of Col. William Byrd, of Westover, the father of the 
last proprietor of the same name, of different dates from 1728 to 1736, 
are contained in a large folio volume bound in parchment, which has been 
carefully preserved in his family, until recently placed in the hands of 
the editor. The whole is in the hand-writing of a copyist, but written 
evidently under the immediate direction of its author, as there are 
numerous corrections, interlineations, and more considerable additions, in 
his own hand-writing. The book was doubtless copied exactly from the 
author's earliest draught on loose sheets, which were afterwards 
destroyed, as useless. At any rate, this old volume is the only copy in 
existence. The Historical Society of Virginia obtained the consent of the 
proprietor of the manuscripts to have them copied, with a view to 
publication. But the operations of that society ceased before the 
publication had been commenced, and when only one of the several 
manuscripts had been copied. It was one of the latest acts of the last 
proprietor, George E. Harrison, Esq., of Brandon, to place at our disposal 
this highly valued work of his distinguished and talented ancestor, with 
permission to publish any portion, or the whole of the contents, provided 
the manuscript volume itself should be preserved uninjured, and afterwards 
restored to the owner. The better to secure the latter object, the copy of 
the part made for the use of the Historical Society, has also been placed 
in our hands by the directors.

   The manuscripts offer abundant internal evidence that they were written 
merely for the amusement of the author, and for the perusal of his family 
and friends, and not with any view to their being printed. This adds much 
to their other and important value. For there prevails throughout, as in 
the private letters of an accomplished writer, a carelessness in the mode 
of expression, and a manifest freedom from all restraint, which together 
serve to render subjects pleasing and interesting, that, however worthy of 
consideration, would be dry and tedious if the writer had sought for the 
applause, or feared the censure, of the reading public. The author was a 
man "too proud to be vain," and who neither cared for, nor thought of 
seeking, public applause for his writings. The influence of that first 
feeling, and its results, naturally operated on his children and later 
descendants, to deter them also from publishing the manuscripts; and this 
course, besides being in conformity with the writer's intention, was 
perhaps deemed the more proper, because of his great freedom of 
expression, and of censure, often tinctured by his strong "church and 
state" principles and prejudices, and which might have given offence to 
some of the individuals or classes who were the subjects of his free 
remarks. But at this late time, there no longer remains, if there existed 
before, any reason for withholding these interesting writings from the 
public. And there is no free expression of even the prejudiced and 
erroneous opinions of the writer, which, to an intelligent and liberal-
minded reader, would now give offence. Col. Byrd was a true and worthy 
inheritor of the opinions and feelings of the old cavaliers of Virginia; 
and it is because from such a source, as well as being designed at first 
as private and confidential, that his writings should be now considered.

Page iv

   Col. William Byrd died where he had long lived, at his then beautifully 
decorated and princely mansion, Westover, on the north bank of James 
river; and which even at this late day exhibits admirable remains of his 
taste, and his magnificent scale of expenditure for its gratification. His 
body was buried in the garden, and his grave is covered by a monument of 
white marble, on which is the following inscription:

[ON THE NORTH SIDE.]

Here lieth 
The Honorable William Byrd, Esq., 
Being born to one of the amplest fortunes in this country, 
He was sent early to England for his education; 
Where, under the care and direction of Sir Robert Southwell, 
And ever favoured with his particular instructions, 
He made a happy proficiency in polite and various learning.

By the means of the same noble friend, 
He was introduced to the acquaintance of many of the first persons of that 
age 
For knowledge, wit, virtue, birth, or high station, 
And particularly contracted a most intimate and bosom friendship 
With the learned and illustrious Charles Boyle, Earl of Orrey.

He was called to the bar in the Middle Temple, 
Studied for some time in the Low Countries, 
Visited the court of France, 
And was chosen Fellow of the Royal Society.

[ON THE SOUTH SIDE.]

Thus eminently fitted for the service and ornament of his country, 
He was made receiver general of his majesty's revenues here, 
Was thrice appointed public agent to the court and ministry of England, 
And being thirty-seven years a member, 
At last became president of the council of this colony.

To all this were added a great legancy of taste and life, 
The well-bred gentleman and polite companion, 
The splendid economist and prudent father of a family, 
With the constant enemy of all exorbitant power, 
And hearty friend to the liberties of his country.

Nat. Mar. 28, 1674. Mort. Aug. 26, 1744. An ætat. 70.