William Cabell (March 13, 1730 – March 23, 1798) was an American planter, soldier, and politician who served more than four decades in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly representing the area of his and family members' plantations on the upper James River.
Early life, family and education
Cabell was born on March 13, 1730, near Licking Hole Creek in what was then vast Goochland County, Virginia. The firstborn son of physician, planter and surveyor William Cabell (1699–1774), who had emigrated from Warminister, England, and his wife the former Elizabeth Burks (1705–1756), he would have younger brothers Joseph Cabell (1730-1798), John Cabell (1735-1815) and Nicholas Cabell (1750-1803), and a sister Mary. All the Cabell brothers (and Mary's husband John Horsley) became patriots in the American Revolutionary War shortly after their father's death, and married well (thus making their family one of the First Families of Virginia), as they operated plantations using enslaved labor, and served in the Virginia General Assembly and local governments.
Cabell's father returned to England for several years to settle his father's estate, during which time he often wrote his wife about the boy's education. Elizabeth Burks Cabell ran her family's estates and greatly increased them during this time (including by buying slaves). According to family tradition, after receiving a private education suitable to his class from his parents and tutors at home, this William Cabell studied at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg. At some point the college acknowledged his qualifications as surveyor, so by 1749, he was assisting in his father's surveying business. His public career would begin in 1751 as he joined his father as a vestryman of St. Anne's Parish in Albemarle County, Virginia. Two years later he received an official appointment as surveyor in his own right. As settlement proceeded westward through Virginia's Piedmont, the Virginia General Assembly created Albemarle County from the western section of Goochland County in 1744, and would create Buckingham County from the southern part of Albemarle County and Amherst County from the western section in 1761. Joseph and John Cabell would represent Buckingham County for many terms and Nicholas Cabell (who inherited his father's last plantation, called "Liberty Hall") would represent Amherst County during many legislative sessions (although "Liberty Hall's address would become Nelson County when it was created from Amherst County).
This William Cabell married Margaret Jordan, daughter of future one-term Buckingham County Burgess Col. Samuel Jordan in 1756. Seven children survived their father. Their firstborn, Samuel Jordan Cabell, was born the year of their marriage and would like his father become a planter and politician, serving in the U.S. Congress as well as Virginia House of Delegates. His slightly younger brother Margaret Cabell bore William Cabell, Jr. (1759–1822), who also served in the Continental Army, married the daughter of Virginia judge Paul Carrington and succeeded his father at "Union Hill," most of which became part of Nelson County during that county's creation from parts of both Albemarle and Amherst counties in 1808. Their two other sons were Landon Cabell (1765–1834) and Hector Cabell (1768–1807), with Hector's widow marrying judge William Daniel and helping raise future justice William Daniel. Their three daughters all married well. Margaret married prominent Nelson County planter and merchant Robert Rives; their son William Cabell Rives would have a distinguished legal and diplomatic career. Paulina (1763–1845) married Maj. Edmund Read and after his death c. 1808 Rev. Nash LeGrand. Their youngest daughter Elizabeth (1774–1801) married her cousin William H. Cabell (1772–1853; Nicholas' son), who became governor of Virginia and, after her death, president of what later became the Virginia Supreme Court.
Colonial planter, politician and military officer
In 1756, William Cabell won his first election and the following spring began what became a more than four decade long political career as a delegate in the House of Burgesses, representing first Albemarle County, then Amherst County following its creation by the legislature in 1761. Amherst County voters re-elected him as their (part-time) representative to successive assemblies until Lord Dunmore suppressed that legislative body just before the American Revolutionary War. In 1764, Cabell was one of the first subscribers to the James River Canal Company (although it would not be formally incorporated by the legislature until January 5, 1785), and in 1772 began the first of several terms as treasurer of Amherst County.