From the tracks about the house Mason judged that there had been at least forty Indians in the party. He was of the opinion that most of them had gone back to Maryland.

After Mason returned to his home he wrote a long letter to the governor in which he described the murders as the "horriblest that ever was in Stafford." These two plantations would be deserted for the year, he wrote, and he was afraid that all the people would leave their plantations. "I am afraid," wrote Colonel Mason, "that we shall have a bad summer, but ... if I can keep them upon their plantations, it will be some discouragement to the enemy ... but God knows what I shall do now, for this has almost frighted our people out of their lives."

In another letter written in July, Colonel Mason seemed to have gotten the situation well in hand: "The Rangers continue their duties ... they range ... four days a week, which is as hard duty as can be performed.... The inhabitants still continue from their homes, but the abundance are better satisfied since part of the Rangers are constantly ranging among them." The Rangers had been re-enforced by the sons of the planters and other young men.

_FREE SCHOOLS_

In 1652 the court of Northumberland County granted the petition of Richard Lee of Cobbs Hall "concerning a free school to be set up."

Francis Pritchard, 1675, Lancaster County, left a large estate for the establishment of a free school.

In 1700 William Horton endowed a free school in Westmoreland County.

In 1702 John Farneffold made provision in his will for a free school in Northumberland as early as August, 1672. In 1680 he was minister of St.

Stephen's Parish, and remained such until his death in 1702. He was the son of Sir Thomas Farneffold of Sussex, England.

The provisions in John Farneffold's will concerning the free school were as follows:

"I give 100 acres where I now live for the maintenance of a free school, and to be called Winchester Schoole, for fower or five poore children belonging to ye parish and to be taught & to have their dyett, lodging & washing, & when they can read the Bible & write a legible hand, to dismiss them & take in more, such as my exors. shall think fitt, and for the benefitt of the said school, I give five cows and a Bull, six ewes, and a ram, a carthorse & cart and two breeding sowes & that my two mulatto girles, Frances and Lucy Murrey, have a yeares schooling & be free when they arrive at the age of 22 years, to whom I give a sow shoat to each, & for further encouragement of a schoolmaster, I give dyett, lodging & washing & 500 pds. of tobacco & a horse, Bridle & Saddle to ride on during his stay, the place where the school house is to be directed, my will is to have it neare my dwelling house, some part of which may serve for a school house til another may more conveniently be built. Item what schoole books I have in my study, I leave for ye benefit of ye schoole. Then my will is that some of my estate be sold for the maintenance of the said schoole except what my exors. shall think fitt to select necessary for use as bedding, potts, & pewter. My will is that Mr. Tarpley, Mr. Leo Howson, Richard Nutt and Edward Cole carry me to the grave, three to have guineas, and Richard Nutt a gold ring.... If the school fail for want of maintenance, which I hope it will not, give that hundred acres & all the rest of my land to Farneffold Nutt, son of Richard Nutt; to the minister who preaches my funeral sermon, my Preaching gown & Cassocke."

Another school was provided for by Daniel Hornby, of Richmond County. In his will, proved April 2, 1750, he made provision that a Latin master should attend Travers Colston, a relative, at twenty pounds per year, and that he should be obliged to teach ten children.

In 1770-71 Colonel Landon Carter of Sabine Hall, Richmond County, was supporting a free school in that county. William Rigmaiden was the master of this school.

_THE HOME IN THE FOREST_

Mary Ball was born on a plantation "up in the forest," which was the way the Northern Neckers described any place that was not on the water.

In this Neck where one is never far from the water, river plantations were the rule in colonial days, and it is an unusual fact that Colonel Joseph Ball established his seat in the forest. Lancaster was still a frontier county and there were only horse paths through the woods, for the rivers were still used as highways.

Joseph Ball had inherited his forested lands from his father, William Ball, the founder of the Ball family in Virginia. William came to Virginia, probably as a merchant, in 1650, but he did not settle until about 1663, at which time he purchased land in Lancaster County and established his seat on the east side of the Corotoman River, where it empties into the Rappahannock. This location, which he called Millenbeck, became the county seat.

Joseph Ball followed in the footsteps of his father as a man of prominence in county affairs. He was Lieutenant-Colonel in the militia, and vestryman of St. Mary's White Chapel. This chapel was known as "the Balls' church" just as Christ Church was known as the "Carters' Church."

Both churches were in Christ Church Parish.

Joseph Ball was married twice. Just before his second marriage he gave to the children of his first marriage certain portions of his estate, reserving the right of dower for his second wife.

Little is known of Joseph's second wife, Mary Johnson, except that she was a widow. When Mary Ball was born to Joseph and Mary, probably in the winter of 1708 or 1709, there was nothing to indicate that she was destined to become the most important woman of the Northern Neck. She was at that time just another baby born into the gentle, distinguished and religious Ball family.

Joseph Ball, who was no longer a young man, died when Mary was about two years old. In his will he left Mary four hundred acres of land near the head of the Rappahannock River, three slaves, fifteen cattle and "all the feathers in the kitchen loft to be put in a bed for her."

Within about one year, Mary Johnson Ball married again. Her third husband was a prominent merchant-planter, Captain Richard Hewes, who lived on his plantation Cherry Point in the upper part of Northumberland County, in the neck between Yeocomico and Coan Rivers.

When Mrs. Hewes went to Cherry Point to live she took her son by her first marriage, John Johnson, and Mary Ball with her. Thus Mary at three years of age had few, if any, memories of her birthplace "up in the forest" of Lancaster County.

Several generations later this Ball plantation became known as Epping Forest. It was named, it is believed, for a Ball estate in England.

_CHERRY POINT_

Mary Ball's first memories were probably of the fields and rivers at Cherry Point. It was a pleasant place to remember. The responsibility of the plantation soon fell on Mary's mother, for Captain Hewes died in 1713.

There were few toys then. Mary may have had one of those wooden dolls with stiff joints and staring eyes. She probably played out-of-doors and had animals for pets.

There were no childrens' books then. A Mother Goose book was published in Boston in 1719, but that was too late for Mary. She probably had only a horn-book from which to learn her A B C's. Perhaps there was an indentured servant who could teach her a little.

On Sundays the family probably attended church at Upper St. Stephen's Parish[8], where Captain Hewes had been one of the vestrymen. There may have been some sort of a road from the plantation to the church over which a coach could be pulled, but if so it certainly did not travel at the lively speed of King Carter's! More than likely they rode there on horseback--little Mary sitting up in front of some older person. She doubtless learned to ride at an early age.

[Footnote 8: NOTE: This church is said to have been located near the present village of Lottsburg.]

Mary probably valued the feather bed left her by her father far more than she did the legacy of land. She had never even seen the land, but every night she could sink into the warmth and softness of the feather bed.

Mary's childhood days at Cherry Point ended in 1721. The child's half-brother, John Johnson, and her mother both died in that year.

Mary Ball was now an orphan, but her mother had planned it so that she would not be alone in the world. Mary Hewes had stipulated in her will that--"my said Daughter Mary Ball--be under Tutiledge and government of Captain George Eskridge during her minority." Colonel Eskridge was also named as executor of Mary's estate. She had received almost the whole of her mother's estate, consisting of lands, two horses and personal property. And she had received all of her half-brother's estate, consisting of land in Stafford County.

Mary Hewes had chosen wisely in selecting her "trusty and well beloved friend George Eskridge" as guardian of her youngest child. Colonel Eskridge was not only a lawyer of distinction, an experienced business man, a leading man in his community, but he was also a gentleman. And Colonel Eskridge was "connected by marriage" with Mary Ball's half-sister Elizabeth Johnson who had married Samuel Bonum. Mary was therefore equally welcome to make her home at her guardian's plantation or at the farm of the Bonum's.

[Illustration: _Mary Ball at Yeocomico Church._]

_SANDY POINT_

Both the Bonums and the Eskridges lived in lower Westmoreland County, just across the Yeocomico River from Cherry Point.

Colonel Eskridge's plantation, Sandy Point, was directly on the Potomac.

Its name gave but a vague idea of the beauty of the beach and the sweep of river beyond. There was a feeling here of space. It was a place of restless sounds, made by the wind and waves. It was quite different here from the quieter waters and forest walls that Mary Ball had known.

Bonum's Creek Farm, the home of Mary's half-sister, Elizabeth, was east of Bonum's Creek. The "home-place" was situated on the bank of the Potomac, in sight of Pecatone, the manor home of the Corbin family.

Mary now had the choice of these two delightful places for her future home. She probably divided her time between the two. Perhaps Mary Hewes had this in mind when she left Mary a "good Pacing horse together with a good silk plush saddle," thus taking care of the problem of transportation.

Among the other things "bequeath unto" Mary by her mother were two gold rings, the "one being a large hoop and the other a stoned ring," a trunk and "all the rest of my wearing apparel." So when Mary went to her new homes she had a trunkful of clothes which would come in handy as she grew older, for it took a long time to receive an order from England, and ships were being taken by pirates during these years. It was lucky that fashions did not change much then, and that clothes were made to last.

Mary had a maid, who probably looked after her and her wardrobe. Mary had enough income for her needs, therefore she was more fortunate than most orphans of that time.

Sandy Point was doubtless the scene of many larks after Mary joined the Eskridge girls who lived there. In the evenings there was probably much talk around the fireplace--of pirates and witches and houses where mysterious lights flitted at night. And much giggling and chatter upstairs after the candles had been put out.

In 1726 Mary's life was again saddened, this time by the death of her brother-in-law, Samuel Bonum. In his will he left her "a young gray dapple horse."

While at Sandy Point Mary attended Yeocomico Church, where her guardian was a vestryman. She rode there on horseback, tradition says. In cold weather she probably wore a red cloak, and a hood or scarf to protect her head and face.

The simple church, cloistered in the virgin forest, invited worship, but the churchyard on Sundays was a festive place in those days. And it was a noisy place--there was the rattling of wheels, the cracking of whips, the neighing of horses and the chattering of the people, who were so glad to see each other. There were "rings of Beaux chatting" around the girls in their bright mantles.

It was cold inside the church in winter, sometimes too cold to have even the usual short sermon. The high-backed pews shielded their occupants from drafts, and some people had their servants bring in little stoves of perforated tin containing coals, or hot bricks to place under the feet.