Note 11 — JOURNAL.

Capt. Joist Hite came to Virginia from Pennsylvania in 1732 with his family, settled on the Opequon creek about five miles south of the town of Winchester. The year before he had bought from John and Isaac Van Meter a warrant for nearly 40,000 acres of land in the Shenandoah valley which they had obtained from Governor Gooch of Virginia in 1730. Capt. Hite brought with him from Pennsylvania sixteen families, all of whom settled in the same vicinity on fine arable ground. They were all judges of good lands and devoted to agriculture. The descendants of Hite are quite numerous throughout the southern and south-western states, and many farms in the valley are still held under titles derived from him. Kercheval says, Joist Hite built a stone house on the Opequon shortly after his coming to the valley. It is still standing and has a very ancient appearance though there are no discoverable marks to fix the date. On the wall plate of a frame barn, however, built by Hite, the figures "1747" are plainly marked and can still be read.