HISTORIC VIRGINIA

Shannon News, 17 May 1927, Page 4

HISTORIC VIRGINIA

?■ ‘ ’ preserving antiques. 11 l'-\, THE FAMOUS .POWDER. HORN. ' As -the' result- of a recent" campaigns for funds conducted by * the* Society! for -the»Preservation of Virginia An-s Uqulties and by individuals interested! in- history*' the future of one of America’s oldest arsenals* —the* fam- i ous "Powder Hbrn” at 1 Williamsburg,! Va.-—la -assured. The small structure with its . 22-inch octagonal-walls of brick in Flemish bond, capped with a roof rising'steeply into a peak, hasi withstood assaults for more than 2001 - years.- - But some time ago decay set to work inearnest beneath its lvy/mantle. Daylight could be seen :* through a crack- on one side from, top. to, base, presumably as the result of sinking foundations; and other cracks,- ever widening, appeared on the ' inside, The rotten ■ roof served: as hardly more than a seive for the rain. A Drive Launched. .The old magazine was also in .danger of being obscured by;modern buildings. In the days of its youth it stood in the centre of a public square, facing - the court: house on the picturesquely named Duke of Gloucest- . er‘ Street; A ten-foot brick wall edged Its enclosure, but the wall dong since disappeared- and a modern gar- . age reared its-tin - sides within a few* feet of the; old structure. Work on » a dwelling house was begun on an- . other. side.. Then a few persons* .who, felt that,flie,-Powder. Horn was a- relic/ worth,- keeping' obtained op- * lions- on• the• surrounding; property and; launched. a drive ; to rais4 funds for repairs to. the building—bracing Its walls, with, iron bands 7 ,, renewing ) Its; roof with copped shingles and safeguarding thei site; Ihe desired amount of money has now been raised. \', In"the Limelight.' Built-in 171*, in: the administration of’Governor Alexandra Spotswood, the - Powder Horn served in three .wars and for many other than its ..original purposes; The munitions ■ Washington took* with him when he went with Braddock'to fight the French and Indians in 1755 were taken from the Powder Horn,-.but the magazine first appeared in the limelight, in 1775, when it became the "boiling point” of the Revolution in Virginia^,. Feeling uneasy—about the insurgency* manifesting; itself in the neighbourhood; Lord Dunmore, the royal Governor; thought ; it Wise to do what ' he could' towards taking means of rebellion out of the colonist’s reach. By night, he. removed most, of the magazine to a British vessel anchored in the James River. When his action was discovered the news, threw tile community into, turmoil. Dunmore did what he couljd to explain, saying that he had taken the powder because he considered it unsafe where it was and he had done so by-.night to avoid alarm. He promised that it would be returned in half an hour whenever the Colonial Government might want it. When it was learned that.the battle of Lexington had been fought on the day before Lord Dunmore emptied * the magazine, the colonists were in no mood to be placated by his words. Patrick Henry raised his 150 Hanover Volunteers and marched on the

colonial capital to demand the re-

turn of the powder. Before they arrived they were met by the Gov'ri erner’a representative and payment

was made amounting to £330. Nevertheless the Williamsburgh atmosphere soon became too hpt for Dun-

more, who, with his family, fled to ' the battleship Fowey at Yorktown and never returned.

Used During Rebellion.

The Powder Horn served the Americans during the Revolutionary War. Abandoned after that, it came in time to house the first Baptist congregation in Williamsburg. Of a Sunday its aged walls resounded to the senorous tones of the Rev. Servant Jones. the same who, when offered the meagre remains of a dinner at a wayside, inn,>prpnounced that oft-quoted blessing: Good Lord of love, Look down from above. And bless the owl That ate this fowl And left these bones \ For Parson Jones. '

The voice of: Parsom Jones in the Powder Horn was followed by soaring strains of secular music; , when

, the building was turned from its use for ; divlne worship, and converted into - a dancing, school. In 1861 it again became'an arsenal, this time in the service of the e Confederate troops. • After the war, it was-again abandoned,. and'turned into a stable. In

; 1890 it was purchased by the Association for. the. Preservation of Virginia Antiquities and converted into a museum. "