Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 15.djvu/509

 VIRGINIA

455

VIRGINIA

dition to the direct line of consanguinity, no man may marry his step-mother, sister, aunt, son's widow, wife's daughter, or her granddaughter, or her step- daughter, brother's daughter or sister's daughter; and no woman may marry her step-father, uncle, daugh- ter's husband, husband's son or his grandson or step- son, brother's son, sister's son, or husband of her brother's, or sister's, daughters. Marriages between white and coloured persons are forbidden, and mar- riages between such persons and between persons under the age of consent, the age of consent of the male being fourteen j-ears and of the female twelve years, and bigamous marriages, are void without de- cree of court. Seven years' absence of the husband or wife without knowledge that he orshebe living, will entitle the other to remarry without incurring the pen- alty for bigamy. The statutory grounds for divorce a vinculo arc: consanguinity or affinity within the pro- hibited degrees; want of mental or physical capacity existing at the time of the marriage; felony; desertion for a period of three years; pregnancy of the wife at the time of marriage, by some person other than the husband; and prostitution of the wife before mar- riage. Divorces a merisn are granted for cruelty, rea- sonable apprehension of bodily hurt, and abandon- ment. One year's residence in the state of either the husband or wife is necessary to the jurisdiction of the court. From 1S67 to 1886, 2635, and from 887 to 1907, 12,120 divorces were granted.

Denominnlionnl Appropriations. — Appropriations by the General Assembly of money or other property to any Church or denominational or sectarian institu- tion, directly or indirectly controlled by any Church or denominational or sectarian society, are prohibited by the Constitution; nor has the General Assembly power to make anj' appropriation of money or other prop- erty to any charitable institution which is not owned or controlled by the State.

Intoxicaling Liquors. — The General Assembly has full power to enact local option, or dispensary laws, or any other laws, controlling, regulating, or prohibiting, the manufacture or sale of intoxicating liquors; but local option has been to the present time (1912) the policy of the legislature. On 1 Januarj', 1912, 66 of the 100 counties, and 8 of the 19 cities of the state had no form of liquor license.

WilU and licquesls.—^o person of unsound mind, or under twenty-one years of age, is, by law, capable of making a will, except that minors, eighteen years of age or over, may, by will, dispose of their personal estate. A will to be vaUd must be signed by the tes- tator, or by someone for him, in his presence, and by his direction, in such manner aa to make it manifest that the name is intended as a signature, and, more- over, unless the will be wholly WTitten by the testator, the signat\ire must be made, or the will acknowledged by him, in tlie presence of two witnesses, present at the same time, and the witnes.ses must subscribe the will in the presence of the testator, but no form of at- test at ion is necessary. Wills arc revoked by the mar- riage of the maker. A devisee or legatee under a will is a competent witness thereto, if the will may not otherwise be proved, but the devise or legacy to him is void. The influence which will vitiate a will must amount to force and coercion, destroying free agency. Bequests to inror[)orated charitable institutions are valid, but those to unincorporated institutions gener- ally fail for uncertainty as to the beneficiaries.

History. .S'/wni.s/i Sittlements (1.526-70). — Eighty- one years before the coming of the English to James- town in lt')07, a .settlement was made in Virginia by Spaniards from San Domingo, under (he leadership of Lucas V'!tsUez de .AylMn, one of the judges of the island, who, 12 .June, l.')20, had obtained from the King of Spain a patent empowering him to explore the co-ast for SOO leagues, make settlements within three years and Christianize the natives. Accompanied by

the Dominican Fathers Antonio de Montesinos and Antonio de Cervantes with Brother Peter de Estrada, the expedition set sail in three vessels from Puerto de la Plata, June, 1526. It was composed of no less than 600 persons of both sexes, with horses and extensive supplies. Entering the Virginia capes and ascending a wide river (the .James), the Spaniards landed at Guandape, which A}116n named St. Michael. Rude buildings were erected and the Sacrifice of the iVIasa ofifered in a log chapel. On the death by fever of Ayll6n, 18 October, 1526, Francis Gomez succeeded to the command. The severity of the winter, the re- belhon of the settlers, and the hostility of the Indians caused the abandonment of the settlement in the spring of 1527, the party setting sail in two of the vessels. The one containing the remains of Ayll6n foundered with all on board, leaving only 150 souls to reach San Domingo.

Menendez, the Governor of Florida, sent to Vir- ginia a second Spanish ex-pedition, which settled on the Rappahannock River at Axacan, 10 September, 1570. It was composed of Fathers Segura, Vice-Pro- vincial of the Jesuits, and Louis de Quiros, with six Jesuit brothers and some friendly Indians. Bent on a permanent settlement, the missionaries carried chapel furnisliings, implements, and necessary winter sup- plies. A log house with chapel served as residence. Don Luis de Velasco, so named by the Spaniards, a treacherous Indian guide, led a party of Indians who slew Father Quiros and Brothers Sohs and Mendcz, 14 February, 1571. Father Segura, with the remain- ing brothers, I^inares, Redondo, Gabriel Gomez, and Sancho Zevalles, met a similar fate four days after- wards. In the late spring a Spanish pilot was sent to Axacan to get news of the missionaries. He returned, bringing an account of their murder, whereupon Menendez again sailed to'Axacan and had eight of the murderers hanged, they being converted and baptized before their execution by Father Rogel, a Jesuit mis- sionary.

English Colonization (1607-1775). — Sebastian Ca- bot probably explored the Virginia shores in 1498. In 1584, 1585, and 1.587, Sir Walter Raleigh sent fleets to the coast of North Carolina, but no permanent set- tlement w:»s effected. The name ," Virginia", in honour of Queen Ehzabeth, was given to all the terri- tory from the I>ench colonies on the north to the Spanish settlements on the south, and from the At- lantic to the Pacific Oceans. In 1006 when Virginia extended from the 34th to the 45th parallels, it was divided by James I between the London and the Plymouth companies, the former getting the land from the 34th to the 41st parallels. Colonists to the number of 143, the prime mover being Captain John Smith, set sail from England in three small ships. Passing up a large river, which they named the James, they formed on its shores the first permanent English settlement in America, 13 May, 1607, calling the place Jamestown. That the English settlement was on the exact spot (Guandape) where the Span- iards had settled the preceding century, appears from the relation of Ecija, the pilot-in-chief of I'lorida, who was sent to Virginia by the Spanish in 1609, to learn the movements of the English. His statement is practically conclusive, since he possessed Spanish charts and maps of the coast, which he studied accu- rately, and m.ade careful measurements to establish his as.sertion, WTitten only 83 years after the landing in Virginia of the Spani.ards under Ayll6n. It is probable that some evidences of the Spanish occupa- tion remaine<l to help determine the ICnglish in their choice of Guandajie as .a place of settlement. The colonists elected Edward Wingfield president and pro- ceeded to construct houses and a suitable fort. Meantime, Ca|)lain Christopher Newport, who had commanded the ve.s.sels, with C.iptain John Smith and 23 others, explored the James River as far aa the falls