Benjamin Hines (1776-1829)

Benjamin was born in 1776. He was the first of two children of Joshua (1750-1779) and Lucy Hines.

Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (annotated transcript)

The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom is both a statement about freedom of conscience and the principle of separation of church and state. Written by Thomas Jefferson and passed by the Virginia General Assembly on January 16, 1786, the Statute is the forerunner of the first amendment protections for religious freedom. Divided into three paragraphs, the statute is a statement of Jefferson's philosophy.

The first paragraph is both a statement of natural right and Jefferson's deism -- that is, the belief that God created the world and along with it, man's capacity to rule himself. Deists believe that although God is the creator, He is not actively involved in worldly affairs. God has granted individuals freedom of conscience in religious matters and any attempt to limit or restrict it is wrong.

I. Whereas Almighty God hath created the mind free; that all attempts to influence it by temporal punishment or burthens, or by civil incapacitations, tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness, and are a departure from the plan of the Holy author of our religion, who being Lord both of body and mind, yet chose not to propagate it by coercions on either, as was his Almighty power to do . . .

The second paragraph is the act itself, which states that no person can be compelled to attend any church or support it with his taxes. It says that an individual is free to worship as he pleases with no discrimination.

II. Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.

The third paragraph reflects Jefferson's belief in the people's right, through their elected assemblies, to change any law. Here, Jefferson states that this statute is not irrevocable because no law is (not even the Constitution). Future assemblies that choose to repeal or circumscribe the act do so at their own peril, because this is "an infringement of natural right." Thus, Jefferson articulates his philosophy of both natural right and the sovereignty of the people.

III. And though we well know that this assembly elected by the people for the ordinary purposes of legislation only, have no power to restrain the act of succeeding assemblies, constituted with powers equal to our own, and that therefore to declare this act to be irrevocable would be of no effect in law; yet we are free to declare, and do declare, that the rights hereby asserted are of the natural rights of mankind, and that if any act shall be hereafter passed to repeal the present, or to narrow its operation, such as would be an infringement of natural right.

The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme law of the United States. It is the foundation and source of the legal authority underlying the existence of the United States of America and the Federal Government of the United States. It provides the framework for the organization of the United States Government. The document defines the three main branches of the government: The legislative branch with a bicameral Congress, an executive branch led by the President, and a judicial branch headed by the Supreme Court. Besides providing for the organization of these branches, the Constitution carefully outlines which powers each branch may exercise. It also reserves numerous rights for the individual states, thereby establishing the United States' federal system of government. It is the shortest and oldest written constitution of any major sovereign state.

The United States Constitution was adopted on September 17, 1787, by the Constitutional Convention (or Constitutional Congress) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and later ratified by conventions in each U.S. state in the name of "The People"; it has since been amended twenty-seven times, the first ten amendments being known as the Bill of Rights. The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was actually the first constitution of the United States of America. The U.S. Constitution replaced the Articles of Confederation as the governing document for the United States after being ratified by nine states. The Constitution has a central place in United States law and political culture. The handwritten, or "engrossed", original document penned by Jacob Shallus is on display at the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C.

In the United States, the Bill of Rights is the name by which the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution are known. They were introduced by James Madison to the First United States Congress in 1789 as a series of articles, and came into effect on December 15, 1791, when they had been ratified by three-fourths of the States. Thomas Jefferson was the main proponent of the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights prohibits Congress from making any law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise therof, forbids infringement of "...the right of the people to keep and bear Arms...", and prohibits the federal government from depriving any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. In federal criminal cases, it requires indictment by grand jury for any capital or "infamous crime", guarantees a speedy public trial with an impartial jury composed of members of the state or judicial district in which the crime occurred, and prohibits double jeopardy. In addition, the Bill of Rights states that "the enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people," and reserves all powers not granted to the federal government to the citizenry or States. Most of these restrictions were later applied to the states by a series of decisions applying the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which was ratified in 1868, after the American Civil War.

Benjamin married Elizabeth Simmons Williams on December 18, 1797 in Southampton County, Virginia. Benjamin had seven children. Elizabeth and Benjamin had six children. Rebecca was born in 1800 and died sometime after 1880. Daniel L. Simmons (died 1845) married Rebecca Hines in 1819 and they had seven children.

This is how the Barn Tavern caretakers house looks today, located at current day Sebrell Virginia. The actual Tavern consisted of about 26 rooms, was built about 1775 by Zeb Simmons, it was destroyed by a storm around 1835. The tavern was on the route between Washington and Southern Cities and was frequented by state representatives on their trips to the nation's capital. Daniel L. Simmons and Rebecca Hines operated the tavern in addition to being the local postmaster and lived in a nearby house. The tavern was a sporting place, with drinking and dancing, a story is told that when the storm hit in 1835 a baby and a cradle was taken through the woods by the strong winds but were found 2 days later safe and sound.

Henry was born in 1802. Kezia was born in 1803. Zebulon L. Simmons (1798-1877) married Kezia in 1820 and they had six children, they lived in a house currently called the Simmons-Sebrell-Camp House that is still standing in Sebrell, Virginia.

The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of America of 828,800 square miles of the French territory Louisiane in 1803. The U.S. paid 60 million francs ($11,250,000) plus cancellation of debts worth 18 million francs ($3,750,000), a total cost of $15,000,000 for the Louisiana territory. The Louisiana Purchase encompassed portions of 14 current U.S. states and 2 Canadian Provinces. The land purchased contained all of present-day Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, parts of Minnesota that were west of the Mississippi River, most of North Dakota, nearly all of South Dakota, northeastern New Mexico, the portions of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado east of the Continental Divide, and Louisiana west of the Mississippi River, including the city of New Orleans. (The Oklahoma Panhandle, and southwestern portions of Kansas and Louisiana were still claimed by Spain at the time of the Purchase.) In addition, the Purchase contained small portions of land that would eventually become part of the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. The land included in the purchase comprises around 23% of the territory of the United States today. The purchase was a vital moment in the presidency of Thomas Jefferson. At the time, it faced domestic opposition as being possibly unconstitutional. Although he felt that the US Constitution did not contain any provisions for acquiring territory, Jefferson decided to purchase Louisiana because he felt uneasy about France and Spain having the power to block American trade access to the port of New Orleans. Napoleon Bonaparte, upon completion of the agreement, stated, "This accession of territory affirms forever the power of the United States, and I have given England a maritime rival who sooner or later will humble her pride.

Elizabeth was born in 1805. Sally and Benjamin Jr.. of whom more below. Benjamin Jr. is a direct descendant of the family line that is researched here, was born September 13, 1807. Benjamin appears in the Muster Rolls of the Virginia Militia in the War of 1812 as a Corporal. He was entitled to Land Bounty under an act of Congress.

The War of 1812, between the United States of America and the British Empire was fought from 1812 to 1815. There were several immediate stated causes for the U.S. declaration of war: first, a series of trade restrictions introduced by Britain to impede American trade with France, a country with which Britain was at war (the U.S. contested these restrictions as illegal under international law); second, the impressment (forced recruitment) of U.S. citizens into the Royal Navy (though many of those impressed were British citizens whose change in citizenship was not recognized by Great Britain); third, the British military support for American Indians who were offering armed resistance to the expansion of the American frontier to the Northwest. An unstated but powerful motivation for the Americans was the need to uphold national honor in the face of what they considered to be British insults (such as the Chesapeake affair).

Benjamin remarried on February 19, 1813 to Sarah Ann Simmons of an old and prominent Southampton County family. Her great-grandfather, John Simmons was a member of the House of Burgesses from (then) Isle of Wight County, and one of the Commissioners who negotiated with the Nottoway Indians for the sale of a huge tract of land which encompassed a large part of what became Southampton County. Sarah Ann and Benjamin had one child. John born in 1814.

The Monroe Doctrine was a United States policy introduced on December 2, 1823, which said that further efforts by European governments to colonize land or interfere with states in the Americas would be viewed by the United States of America as acts of aggression requiring US intervention. The Monroe Doctrine asserted that the Western Hemisphere was not to be further colonized by European countries, but also that the United States would not interfere with existing European colonies nor in the internal concerns of European countries. The Doctrine was issued at the time when many Latin American countries were on the verge of becoming independent from Spain and the United States hoped to avoid having any European power take Spain's colonies. President of the United States James Monroe first stated the doctrine during his seventh annual State of the Union Address to Congress. It became a defining moment in the foreign policy of the United States and one of its longest-standing tenets, invoked by U.S. presidents, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, John F. Kennedy, and others.

Benjamin Hines died in 1829. Sarah died April 11, 1839 in Southampton County, Virginia. Benjamin's will is dated the 15th day of September 1829. The will mentions that he leaves the land to his wife Sally (Sarah?) a life estate to be distributed to his children upon her passing.