January 26, 2011 Robert Adams 1754-1790

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Virginia Militia in the Revolutionary War  J. T. McAllister

page 153  William King -  Enlisted in Bedford, 1778, for two months as guard at the lead mines in Wythe under Capt. Robert Adams, Lt. M. Reynolds and Col. Charles Lynch.

page 185
Bedford County
Adams, Robert  Captain Recommended by County Court  Nominated  February 24, 1778
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In my constant search for information I provided the reader with a website on January 25, 2011. In it is many pension applications for militia and soldiers in the Revolutionary War.  I am trying to search through them to ascertain information on who served at the lead mines and what actions were taken.  It is rather slow going.  Anyway, today I found some information on the Battle of Shallow Ford in North Carolina between Tories and Whigs which occurred right after the Battle of Kings Mountain.  You might enjoy reading this article.
http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/spring97/shallowford.html

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I was reading the History of Southwest Virginia by Lewis Preston Summers on page 69 he explains the ownership of the lead mines at Fort Chiswell.
In the year 1756 the New River Lead Mines were discovered by Col. John Chiswell, at which time operations were begun.
Col. Chiswell had been engaged in mining operations near Fredericksburg, Virginia for some time previous to this time, and was an intimate friend of Col. Wm. Byrd.
About this time the lead mines were discovered, and four hundred acres of land, including the mines, were surveyed on October 1, 1781, and a patent was issued to Chas. Lynch, trustee for the lead mine company, by Beverly Randolph, governor of Virginia, on the 7th day of May 1791, in consideration of 3 pounds, 10 sterling paid by Chas. Lynch, and of pre-emption Treasury warrants Nos. 2393 and 2356.  As far as I can ascertain this property was owned originally by Col. Wm. Byrd, Col. John Chiswell and John Robinson, afterwards Treasurer of Virginia.  Col John Chiswell, some time previous to 1775, killed a man in Cumberland county, Virginia, and while awaiting trial he committed suicide.
At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, the Legislature of Virginia directed the Committee of Safety for Fincastle county to lease these mines, at a reasonable rent, and if they could not lease them, to impress them for the use of the State.  The committee, acting according to their authority, took possession of the lead mines, whether by lease or by impressment I cannot say, and the State of Virginia, through her agents, Chas. Lynch and Capt. Calloway, operated these mines during the Revolutionary War, and paid rent therefor to the representative of John Robinson and Wm. Byrd.

So we can see by the information we found that Captain Calloway and Charles Lynch were agents for the Commonwealth of Virginia to operate the mines during the War.

This is a great book to read.  There is so much information provided and resources.  You can find it on the Library of Congress Internet Archives.  If you remember, I found a story told by an patriot about Campbell hanging a tory on a Sycamore Tree after he chased him down.  I found out the name of the Tory Francis Hopkins in this novel.  This is a great book for genealogist that are looking for information on relatives in that area.  He gives names and places.  Some of the stories about Indian raids and Wars are gripping.  During the Revolutionary War, Patriots had their hands full of fighting off attacks from Indians and Tories.  Some Continental Army soldiers had to leave their service in the army to come back and stop the threat at home.
If you have the time, this is an informative and enthralling book.

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The Many Faces of Judge Lynch  by Christopher Waldrep
page 15 and 16
Bedford County narratives normally present Charles Lynch as a leading citizen and stalwart patriot, who responded to a Tory plot to seize Virginia's lead mines in the summer of 1780.  Since the mines provided the bullets necessary to save Virginia from the British, the emergency preempted defendant's rights.  When the Tories mounted their insurgency, moreover, the General Court in Williamsburg had practiacally ceased to exist because of  the war.  According to another version of the story, the court did function, but the Tories defeated their prosecutions by providing false alibi witnesses.
Parts of the legend are correct.  Charles Lynch really was a member of the Bedford County, elite, a colonel in the militia, a magistrate, and a legislator.  Lynch and other Virginia militia officers brutally put down sporadic outbreaks of Troy sentiment in Virginia's southwestern counties, Colonel William Campbell of Washington County, hearing that Tories conspired to seize the lead mines in Montgomery County and murder county leaders, marched his soldiers to the rescue.  His laconic report after a hunt for disaffected Virginians survives today:  "Shot one, Hanged one, and whipt serveral."
In June of 1780 word circulated among Virginia militia officers that Tories had organized around New River and had already committed murders and various other outrages.  In August new reports of murders and horse thefts perpetuated by Tories spread through Virginia.  In response to news of this "horrid conspiracy,"
Colonel Lynch marched his soldiers from Bedford County into Montgomery County to protect the lead mines.
According to the most detailed account of Lynch's work, he and his fellow justices of the peace tried accused Tory conspirators, carefully following proper due process, even as they violated the letter of the law denying them jurisdiction over felonies.  According to legend, convicted defendants received thirty-nine lashes administered at the base of a tree in Lynch's yard.  As he began arresting alleged traitors, Lynch received a letter from Preston expressing the worry that Lynch did not give his prisoners proper trials.  Lynch wrote back, "What sort of tryals you have been inform'd I have given them I know not, but I can assure you I only Examine them strictly and such as I believe not Very Criminal I set at Liberty."  The others, Lynch assured Preston, received "a proper tryal."

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According to the Adams Family Genealogy written by Thomas Tunstall Adams  page 23

An old song relating to the deeds of Lynch, Adams and Callaway is still remembered and repeated in party by some of the old people in Campbell County, the refrain was:
Hurray for Colonel Lynch, Captain Bob, and Callaway,
They never turned a Tory loose until he shouted,
Liberty!

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Robert Adams was closely involved with his family.  We know that he was nominated as a Captain in the Bedford Militia, that he helped guard the mines at Fort Chiswell which his Uncle  Charles Lynch managed, that he was closely involved with any Tory suppression in the years from 1778 to 1781. He was appointed as a representative for the Virginia House of Delegates in 1781 for Campbell County.  Whether he was with his Uncle Charles at Guilford Courthouse, I have yet to determine.
Breaking The Backcountry: Seven Years War In Virginia And Pennsylvania 1754-1765
The Preston and Virginia Papers of the Draper Collection of Manuscripts: -1915The Preston and Virginia Papers of the Draper Collection of Manuscripts: -1915