of Major-General Baron Frederick William Steuben, we find a bounty of 15,000 acres, “in consideration of his military services, granted to him by a particular Act of Assembly, agreeably to a Certificate from himself, which is received into the Land Office." The Act in question recites-"As a testimony of the high sense the General Assembly of Virginia entertain of the important services rendered the United States by the Honourable Major-General Baron Steuben, It is further enacted, That fifteen thousand acres of land be granted to the said Major-General Baron Steuben, in like manner as is hereinbefore granted to other Major-generals." (See Acts of October, 1780, Chapter 27, Section 5; Hening's Stats., Vol. 10, page 375.) For certified copies of any of the warrants here catalogued, address the Auditor of Public Accounts of Kentucky, or the Clerk of the Land Office, care of State Capitol, Frankfort, Kentucky, enclosing fifty cents (50c), the statutory fee, for each copy desired. CHIEF EXECUTIVES OF VIRGINIA, FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE REVOLUTION, IN 1775, TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF KENTUCKY AS AN INDEPENDENT COMMONWEALTH, ON JUNE 1, 1792. John Murray, Earl of Dunmore, was the last Royal Governor of Virginia. He served as Governor from his accession on March 31, 1772, to the outbreak of the Revolution in 1775, when he abandoned his office and left the country. From the abdication of Lord Dunmore to the formal erection of Virginia into an independent and sovereign State, in June, 1776, there was an "Interregnum," during which the executive functions were exercised provisionally by the Presidents, for the time being, of the successive Virginia Conventions. Peyton Randolph was President of the Conventions of March and July, 1775, but having died before the next Convention, held in December, Edmund Pendleton was appointed his successor. Edmund Pendleton was President of the Conventions of December, 1775, and May, 1776, at which last, the Constitution of Virginia being adopted, the powers of the Convention ceased. Patrick Henry was elected the first Governor of Virginia, under the Constitution, on the 29th of June, 1776, the same day on which the Constitution was adopted, and he continued as Governor until the latter end of the May Session, 1779, of the Virginia Assembly. Thomas Jefferson was elected Governor June 1, 1779, and served as such until June, 1781, when he resigned. Thomas Nelson, Junior, was elected Governor June 12, 1781, and continued as such until November 30, 1781, when he resigned. Benjamin Harrison was elected Governor November 30, 1781, and served until November 29, 1784. Patrick Henry was elected, a second time, Governor of Virginia, in December, 1784, and held the office until December, 1786. Edmund Randolph was elected Governor in December, 1786, and continued as such until December, 1788. Beverley Randolph was elected Governor in December, 1788, and served as such until December, 1791. Henry Lee ("Light-Horse Harry") was elected Governor in December, 1791, and held the office until December, 1794. It was Governor Henry Lee, the father of General Robert E. Lee, who pronounced Washington, "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." |