New London is currently an unincorporated community and former town in Campbell County, Virginia, United States. The site of the colonial community is eleven miles southwest of downtown Lynchburg. In 1754, Bedford County was formed and New London was established as the county seat. Situated near the intersection of the Great Wagon Road and the Wilderness Road, the town was an important stopping point for settlers heading west.
Patrick Henry delivered his famous "beef" speech during the John Hook trial in the New London Courthouse. Also available from the Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation Digital Library. Other prominent historical figures with connections to New London include Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson constructed his retreat, Poplar Forest, near New London in Bedford County. New London was also home to a Revolutionary-era arsenal. In 1781, Bedford County was divided in two, forming Campbell County. The Bedford county seat was then relocated to Liberty, later known as the town of Bedford. After the county seat and court were moved, the former bustling commercial center declined.
In the 19th century, the rising popularity of mineral springs sparked a brief revival. The Bedford Alum Springs Hotel, located in New London, drew visitors seeking the benefits of the nearby natural springs. The town sought to capitalize on this attraction and changed its name from New London to Bedford Springs in 1880.
New London is home to several historic structures. Mead's Tavern is the sole remaining building from the colonial era, but several historic buildings from the later period are still standing. These include the former Bedford Alum Springs Hotel, the office of Dr. Nicholas Kabler, the W.W. Driskill General Store, two Methodist churches, and the Holt-Ashwell house. The New London Academy (Virginia) is still in operation today as an elementary school.
In 2015, the Friends of New London, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving historic New London, sold Mead's Tavern to Liberty University. Current archaeological and architectural studies at Mead's Tavern are contributing to what is known about the building, the town, and the people who lived and worked there.
History Colonial history
In 1753, William Callaway contributed 100 acres of land to the Virginia General Assembly for the creation of a new town which would soon serve as the county seat of the newly formed Bedford County. This tract of land became New London. In 1754, the courthouse and jail were erected. The town was laid out in lots and offered for sale. The town charter required that owners must construct a building of at least twenty-by-sixteen within one year. Its location at the intersection of the Great Wagon Road and Wilderness Road meant that it became a bustling center of travel and trade. It remained so until the formation of Campbell County in 1781 and the subsequent relocation of the county seat.
The New London courthouse was an important landmark of this time. The John Hook trial took place in the courthouse. During the Revolutionary War John Hook, a Scottish-born merchant living in New London, was accused of being sympathetic to the British. In 1781, John Venable, the commissary for the American army seized two of John Hook's steers for the army to eat. John Hook brought a case against John Venable for taking his property. The case stays on the docket until 1789. During the trial Patrick Henry defended the state and John Venable against John Hook. On September 19, 1789, Patrick Henry delivered his famous "beef speech".
John Hook
One of the best-documented merchants in Virginia and an early member of the town of New London, John Hook demonstrated how consumerism worked in Colonial and Post Colonial Virginia. He squabbled with rivals, complained to the firm's partners in Scotland, and grew discouraged that he had not achieved the dream of great wealth. Yet in only a quarter-century, Hook went from doing menial tasks in an established Tidewater store, to managing a store in Piedmont, to imagining expanding his business as the line of European settlement roared westward.Smart Martin, Ann (2008). Buying into the World of Goods - Early Consumers in Backcountry Virginia. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 11. .
Early years and move to New London Born in Scotland, John Hook (1745–1808) arrived in America as an apprentice at the age of 13 in 1758. He began his training as a shopkeeper and clerk learning the tobacco trade under the training of the Donald family, a Scottish family that dealt in tobacco in the Chesapeake area.Hook, John. "John Hook Papers." David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Edited by February 2011 Encoded by Meghan Lyon. Duke University, Processed by Rubenstein Library Staff, 1950s. In 1764 Hook traveled from Chesapeake to New London, Virginia, where he partnered with William and James Donald to establish a store.
By 1768 Hook was doing well in New London and wrote to his partner in Scotland stating "this and the adjacent Frontier counties is settling unaccountable fast from people below (the fall line of the James River) and from the Northward". In 1770 John Hook married Elizabeth Smith, daughter of Colonel John Smith of Goochland. John and Elizabeth had six children.
Hook the Loyalist In June 1775, word was given to the Committee for Bedford County that John Hook had been heard making remarks and handing out pamphlets against the war with England. Hook wrote back to the committee asking for the charges in writing to which he responded with a declaration of his innocence. On June 18, 1777, a mob led by Colonel William Mead dragged Hook from his house to appear before the committee. According to Hook, they threatened to "burn down & cut my house to peaces over my head" and he was told "they intended tarring & feathering me."Holland, Maggie (June 1925). "John Hook* as a Loyalist". Virginia Council Journals: 399–403 – via Maggie Holland of Moneta, Franklin County, Virginia, a great, great granddaughter of John Hook. Ultimately, Hook was forced to sign a Certificate of Fidelity for Captain George Hancock at the Green Bryor Court on October 10, 1777, an act witnessed by Samuel Hairston.
Hook Trial During the latter part of the Revolutionary War Army Commissary John Venable requisitioned two of Hook's cows for the troops. In 1783, after the war was over, Hook filed suit against Venable for the "theft" of the two cows. The case lingered on the docket until 1789. Hook was represented by Mr. Cowan and Venable acquired the services of Patrick Henry. The trial itself was the occasion for Henry's famous "Beef speech" which elicited strong laughter within the courtroom. The resulting verdict was for Hook for the sum of one cent.
John Hook Collection Hook is one of the best documented merchants of Colonial America. The bulk of his surviving papers are held at the Rubenstein Library at Duke University.
19th-century history By the early 1800s, New London began to fade as an independent township due to the relocation of the county seat in 1781. Locals of both Bedford County and Campbell County created a petition for a new county to be created in 1813 with New London at its center, but the movement did not gain traction and ultimately failed.
Though it lost the court seat, New London's position next to a crossroad allowed it to have many visitors and even some prominent guests. In April 1816, General Andrew Jackson stayed in the town and almost had a duel in a New London tavern as he was passing through. Around 1820, the dirt Salem-Lynchburg Turnpike was covered with broken stone (macadam) which made traveling to and from New London smoother and helped to boost trade, at least until the introduction of the railroad in nearby Lynchburg in 1848.
New London changed its name to Bedford Springs in the late 1870s after the Echols family marketed water from the nearby alum spring and a large health resort named The Bedford Alum Springs Hotel opened in 1878.
Education history In the early 19th century, New London was the location of at least two schools, the New London Academy and the Roland School for girls. New London Academy was a prominent secondary educational institution throughout the 19th century. In the first half of the 19th century, the academy offered a range of subjects and students would receive an individual diploma for every subject completed.History of Campbell County – https://web.archive.org/web/20140320053751/http://www.co.campbell.va.us/Pages/historicresources.aspx New London Academy was so renowned, that Francis Eppes attended the academy at the insistence of his grandfather, Thomas Jefferson. Even during the Civil War, it managed to remain in operation. In its early years, the school had a strong religious affiliation. The school grounds were home to a brick Episcopal meeting house, and the ministers of the church were often the principals of the school. This religious connotation eventually faded, starting with the removal of the Academy Church in 1856 to another location after the original brick building was condemned and torn down in 1855. This separation of the church from the academy lead to it becoming a public school in 1870 and a coeducational school in 1879.
New London also hosted the Roland School for girls between 1812 and 1822 in the former Mead's Tavern. Roland was a finishing school run by Samuel T. Miller and his wife and may have held up to forty students at a time. The school closed in 1822 when Samuel Miller moved to Lynchburg to start another school.Lichtenberger, Randy . Phase I Archaeological Survey of the Mead's Tavern Site (44CP0244), Campbell County, Virginia. Report no. 20150754. History, Liberty University. Lynchburg, VA: Liberty University, 2016.
Military history
It is possible that because of New London's central location in Bedford County it was a natural place for the county militia to drill and assemble for war. The county militia participated in several frontier conflicts including the French and Indian and Anglo-Cherokee wars. During the early French and Indian war, the Cherokees were allied with the British. That all changed when a series of misunderstandings and thefts led to a confrontation in 1758 between a Cherokee war party and colonists from Bedford County that left at least five Virginians and thirty Cherokees dead. This incident near New London exacerbated the already tense relationship between the British and the Cherokees and helped set in motion the events that led to the Anglo-Cherokee War.
Arsenal During the Revolutionary War, New London was home to an arsenal used by the Virginia state militia. The weapons and supplies manufactured in the arsenal were used to help support the campaigns of General Nathaniel Greene in the South and Colonel George Rogers Clark in the Ohio river valley. In his memoirs, British Lieutenant-Colonel Banastre Tarleton claims to have raided New London in search of the arsenal and the supplies that were stored there. However, according to Thomas Jefferson, Tarleton never made it to New London and stayed closer to Charlottesville. The New London arsenal was operated by the state of Virginia until 1794 when Congress passed a law authorizing the war department to erect "three or four arsenals" to supply and equip the army. New London's existing state arsenal made it a natural choice for use as a federal arsenal.