In person, Nicholas Cabell was tall and well built. In his younger years he stood very straight, though he began to stoop a bit as he grew older. His features were well shaped: a high forehead, an aquiline (eagle-shaped) nose, and striking black eyes. The rugged good looks he was known for as a young man had faded with time, but his eyes never lost their brightness, and his face kept its strongly intelligent expression to the very end.

Although he was known in private life for courage and firmness, he was gentle and affectionate at home—loyal to his friends, kind to the poor, and deeply compassionate toward anyone who was suffering or in distress.

At a glance

  • Born: 1750 at his father’s plantation on Swan Creek in Nelson County, Virginia. He attended William and Mary College, completing his education in about 1771.
  • Married: In 1772, Hannah Carrington (1751-1817), daughter of George Carrington and Anne Mayo.
  • Died: 1803, Liberty Hall, Nelson County, Virginia

Revolutionary Era Leadership

Nicholas Cabell of Warminster in Amherst County exemplified the Virginia militia officer who answered every call during the Revolution, serving from the first armed resistance in 1775 through the victory at Yorktown in 1781. He helped muster volunteers at his home, Liberty Hall, and marched toward Williamsburg after Lord Dunmore seized colonial gunpowder, then rose to captain by late 1775, organizing and commanding an Amherst County minutemen company. Cabell led men at the Battle of Great Bridge—an early Patriot victory that helped drive British forces from Norfolk—and continued serving on varied wartime assignments in 1776, including movements along the James River corridor, coastal and river crossing defense, and protection of military supplies. In 1781 he again joined the field forces as Virginia volunteers shadowed Cornwallis and ultimately took part in the Yorktown campaign, where he witnessed Cornwallis’s surrender.

Remembered not for a single dramatic moment but for steady, sustained service across six years of war, Cabell also transitioned into public leadership during the conflict, representing Amherst County in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1779 to 1785.

Family and Legacy

On November 13, 1788, the Virginia legislature passed an act creating the town of Warminster on Nicholas Cabell’s land.

In 1784, Nicholas Cabell brought Freemasonry to his community by organizing a lodge that later became “The George Lodge,” formally chartered by the Grand Lodge of Virginia on April 14, 1791, to meet in Warminster under its first Master, the Rev. Isaac Darneille. In communities like Warminster, Masonic lodges served as civic and social anchors—promoting mutual aid, charitable work, and networks of trust and leadership. A Masonic hall was built in 1794–1795. Cabell remained active in the Grand Lodge of Virginia, serving as acting grand treasurer (1792), grand senior warden (1795), and acting Grand Master (1796).

After the Revolution, he became a member of the Virginia Society of the Cincinnati. In 1796–1797, Col. Nicholas Cabell served as a trustee of the “College of Washington in Virginia” (later Washington and Lee University). He later sat in the Virginia Senate in 1798 and voted for the well-known resolutions opposing the federal Alien and Sedition Acts. He was also a progressive farmer who promoted better land cultivation and improved livestock, including importing fine horses.

In 1800, his health began to fail. In 1802, he visited the Virginia Springs for the treatment of the day, but died at the age of 53 in Aug. 1803. His wife, Hannah Carrington, survived her husband by nearly fourteen years. She lived mainly at Harewood so she could help raise her granddaughters, four year old Hannah and two year old Sarah Hare, after the death of their mother in 1802. She died in 1817 and was buried at Liberty Hall.

Notable Descendants of Nicholas Cabell

18th century (Chronological Order)

19th century (Chronological Order)

  • James Lawrence Cabell (1813-1889) – Early pioneer practicing sanitary techniques for surgical patients. Professor of Physiology and Surgery at the University of Virginia, chairman for a time of its faculty, and President of both the National Board of Health and the American Public Health Association.
  • Edward Carrington Cabell (1816-1896) – First U.S. Representative from Florida (1847-1853)
  • John Morgan Evans (1863-1946) – U.S. Representative from Montana (1913-1921)
  • Thomas Henry Birdsong (1867-1933) – Founder of Birdsong Peanuts
  • Albert Cabell Ritchie (1876-1936) – 49th Governor of Maryland from 1920-1935.
  • James Branch Cabell (1879-1958) – Author Jurgen (1819). Brother of Robert Gamble Cabell III.
  • Robert Gamble Cabell III (1881-1968) – Philanthropist and founder with his wife Maude Morgan Cabell of The Cabell Foundation.
  • Henry Carrington Lancaster (1882-1954) – Scholar of French dramatic literature at Johns Hopkins University.
  • Dabney Lancaster (1889-1975). Higher education professor and leader serving at Virginia Tech, University of Alabama, and as 17th president of Longwood University.

20th century (Chronological Order)

  • Margaret Cabell Self (1902-1996) – Horsewoman and author of books on horsemanship.
  • Mary Groesbeck Cabell (1911-1998) – Cofounder of the Cabell Family Society with her cousins, Randolph McGuire Cabell and Mayo Cabell.
  • Sterling Colgate (1925-2013) – Physicist who worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Cofounder of the Santa Fe Institute. Winner of the Bruno Rossi Prize in 1990. His grand-mother, Margaret Cabell Auchincloss, was the wife of Richard Morse Colgate of the Colgate soap family.
  • Cabell Davis Smith – One of the first women as a sound mixer in the film industry, nominated for an Emmy in 1978.
  • Ernest H. Williams, Ph. D – Professor and author.

Works Consulted

  • Brown, Alexander. The Cabells and their Kin: A Memorial Volume of History, Biography, and Genealogy. Richmond, Va.: Garrett and Massie, Inc., 1939. First published 1895.
  • Cabell, Randolph W. 20th Century Cabells and their Kin. Franklin, N.C.: Genealogy Pub. Service, 1993
  • Cabell Family Papers, 1727-1875, Accession # 5084, Albert H. and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.
  • Virginia. General Assembly. House of Delegates. Journal of the House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia, 1777–1780. Richmond: Commonwealth of Virginia, 1780. Internet Archive. Accessed February 4, 2026.