Gov William H. CABELL

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William H. Cabell (1772-1853) The firstborn of Col. and Mrs. Nicholas Cabell , William H. Cabell was the only member of the Cabell family to serve as Governor of the State of Virginia. Following a thorough education, including private tutors, four years at Hampden Sydney College (1785-1789), three years at the College of William and Mary (1790-1793), and a year of legal training in Richmond (1793-1794), he followed his father's footsteps by entering public service at an extraordinarily young age.

William H. Cabell wrote the following sketch of himself in 1846:

"I was born December 16, 1772, at 'Boston Hill,' in Cumberland County, Va., the residence of my maternal grandfather, Col. George Carrington, whose wife was a daughter of Major William Mayo, who lived in that part of old Goochland which is now Powhatan County. 'Boston Hill' is within five or six miles of Cartersville.

"From the spring of 1782 to the spring of 1783, I went to school from my father's to George Lambert, a teacher of English. From February or March 1784, to the next Christmas, I went to school at my maternal grandfather's, 'Boston Hill,' to Mr. James Wilson, where I commenced the study of the Latin language. In the month of February or March 1785, I went to Hampden Sidney College, where I continued until September 1789. In the month of Feb­ruary or March 1790, I went to William and Mary Col­lege, where I continued until July 1793. In the fall of 1793, I went to Richmond to complete the study of the law, and remained there until June 13, 1794, when I was licensed to practice law, after an examination by Judges Joseph Prentis, James Henry, and William Nelson.

"In July 1794, commenced the practice of the law.

"On the 9th of April 1795, I married Elizabeth Cabell, the youngest daughter of Col. William Cabell, of Union Hill. I lived in his family till his death in 1798, and after­wards with his widow, at Union Hill, till the 29th of January 1801, when I moved to my own house at Midway.

"I was elected to the Assembly in the spring of 1796. I was also in the famous Assembly of 1798, and voted for the famous resolutions of that session. I was an elector at the first election of Mr. Jefferson, and filled the same office on one or two subsequent occasions.

"My first wife died November 5, 1801, shortly after which I went to Charleston, S. C., but returned the follow­ing spring.

"I was a member of the Assembly in the years 1802, 1803, and 1804.

"On the 11th of March, 1805, I was married to Agnes S. B. Gamble, oldest daughter of Col. Robert Gamble, of Richmond.

"In April 1805, I was again elected to the Assembly, and attended as a member (December 1805); but within a few days after the commencement of the session I was elected governor, in which office I continued for three years, till December 1808, when I was elected by the Legislature judge of the General Court (commissioned by Gov. John Tyler on December 15, 1808), which office I held until April 3, 1811. I was appointed to the Court of Appeals by Gov. Monroe and the Privy Council on March 21, 1811; qualified April the 3d following; was elected by the Legislature to the same judgeship on December 11, 1811, and commissioned by Gov. George William Smith, which office I continue to hold.

"After the adoption of the new Constitution of Virginia (1830), I was re-elected a judge of the Court of Appeals on April 11, 1831, and commissioned by Gov. John Floyd. On the 18th of January 1842, I was elected president of that court, and commissioned by Lieut.-Gov. John Ruther­ford. I qualified and took my seat January 20, 1842, and am now occupying the same position."


In 1795, he married his first cousin, Elizabeth Cabell, and moved into "Union Hill," the Amherst County home of his uncle, Col. William Cabell. The presence of three "William Cabells" in the same household prompted Cabell, christened simply William Cabell, to add the middle initial "H." to his name in order to distinguish him from his kinsmen. The residents of Amherst county took a liking to "William H. Cabell" and elected the twenty-three year old to the House of Delegates just over a year after his marriage. He was returned to the House again in 1798. The death of his first wife in 1801 did not impair his popularity in the county, and he won election each year from 1802-1805. In 1805 he both remarried, to Agnes S. B. Gamble (1783-1863), and declined serve his county as their representative. More prestigious duties awaited Cabell, for his colleagues in the General Assembly had selected him as Governor.

Gov. Cabell worked closely with the administration of President Jefferson during the two most sensational events of his tenure, the trial of jilted Vice-president Aaron Burr (right) and the "Chesapeake-Leopard Affair". A man without a party after Thomas Jefferson dumped him from the Democratic-Republican ticket in 1804, Burr lashed out by organizing a conspiracy in the trans-Appalachian west against the federal government. After receiving notice of the threat from Washington in January 1807, Gov. Cabell called up several units of the Virginia militia to protect the federal union. Once Burr was arrested, on February 20, Cabell then oversaw his transfer to Richmond, where he was scandalously acquitted of all charges before the Circuit Court of the United States for the District of Virginia. During Burr's trial, on June 22, the HMS Leopard fired on the USS Chesapeake when Commodore James Barron refused to allow the British vessel to board his ship in search of deserters. The event occurred just off the Virginia capes, and Gov. Cabell reacted with passion and energy to this affront to America's rights as a neutral in the contest between Britain and France. To the General Assembly, he fumed that the assault was "an outrage unprecedented in the history of nations" and dispatched troops to the Chesapeake Bay to defend against possible invasion and to prepare to fire upon British vessels should Congress declare war. Jefferson avoided war and pushed instead for passage of the infamous Embargo Act of 1807. Cabell completed his term as Governor in 1808 and immediately took on new responsibilities as a Judge of the General Court. He also purchased a home in Buckingham County from his cousin Joseph "Repton Joe" Cabell (1762-1831) around 1810, and named the estate "Montevideo." While Agnes Cabell and his growing family spent most of their time at Montevideo, Cabell himself was increasingly at Richmond, especially following his appointment in 1811 to the Court of Appeals. The separation eventually became too constant and too great a strain, so Cabell sold Montevideo in 1822 and brought the family to Richmond. Cabell served on the Court of Appeals for four decades, including nine years (1842-1851) as president of that body. During this time, he joined Spencer Roane (1762-1822) in the defense of State's Rights through the courts. Cabell and Roane fought as "Old Republicans" against the federal government in the famous case Martin v. Hunter's Lessee (1816). Pursuant to the Judiciary Act of 1789, the federal government claimed appellate jurisdiction over disputes over state law, while Cabell and Roane insisted that each state's highest court should be the highest judge of state law. The Old Republicans lost the battle, and Cabell continued to serve on the court with integrity and diligence until his retirement in 1851. He died in Richmond two years later.

William married Agnes Sarah Bell GAMBLE, daughter of Col. Robert GAMBLE and Catherine GRATTAN, on 11 Mar 1805. (Agnes Sarah Bell GAMBLE was born on 22 Aug 1783 in Augusta County, Virginia, USA and died on 15 Feb 1863.)

William next married Elizabeth CABELL, daughter of William CABELL II and Margaret JORDAN, in 1795. (Elizabeth CABELL was born in Nov 1774 in Union Hill, Prince Edward County, Virginia, USA, died on 5 Nov 1801 in Virginia, USA and was buried in Union Hill, Prince Edward County, Virginia, USA.)