Nicholas CABELL, Jr.

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  General Notes:

Nicholas Cabell, Jr., was born December 24, 1780. He was educated by tutors at home; at Hampden Sidney College in 1798 and 1799; and at William and Mary in 1800 and 1801. "Govr. Wm. H. Cabell thought that he had naturally the best mind of any of the brotherhood." While he was at Hampden Sidney, Dr. Archibald Alexander was president, and took a great interest in this pupil. Leaving college, he took charge of his father's private af­fairs, which during his father's long public life had be­come somewhat embarrassed. His strict business qualities, and his practical progressive system of agriculture, soon enabled him to clear the estate of every incumbrance.

He met his wife, Miss Margaret Read Venable, while attending Hampden Sidney College, and married her on October 20, 1802. They lived with his father, and at his father's death he inherited the Liberty Hall estate proper, and I believe the house which had been the home of his grandfather, old Dr. Cabell.

He was a captain of the militia of his neighborhood, his commission being dated July 22, 1805, and one of the first justices of the county, the date of his commission being June 21, 1808.

As early as 1801, he showed symptoms of consumption. In 1808, while at "the Red Sulphur Springs" in Monroe County, the waters of which were thought to be beneficial to consumptives, he went out deer-hunting with Samuel Hansborough, Esq. They were separated in the mountains, when his comrade heard the report of his gun, and going to him found him sitting on a stone, looking much fatigued and very pale. "In God's name, Nicholas, what is the matter?" "Sam, I have killed the deer, but I have also killed my­self. Look here! but do not tell my wife."

The exertion had brought on a fresh hemorrhage, and the leaves and ground at his feet were reddened with his blood. He soon returned home, where he lingered until June 25, 1809. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church, and died in the faith and hope of a Christian. He was buried in the family graveyard at Liberty Hall.

Nicholas married Margaret Read VENABLE, daughter of Samuel Woodson VENABLE and Mary Scott CARRINGTON, on 20 Oct 1802. (Margaret Read VENABLE was born on 11 May 1782 in Springfield, Prince Edward County, Virginia, USA and died on 31 May 1857 in Nelson, Virginia, USA, "Liberty Hall".)