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William Cabell, Sr.

Surveyor. Legislator. Patriot. Builder of Union Hill.

William Cabell, Sr. was a steady hand in Virginia’s public life for more than forty years: a planter, surveyor, militia officer, and legislator whose work helped shape the upper James River region from the colonial era through the early Republic.

At a glance

A life rooted in land—and public service

Cabell’s early training and career reflected the practical leadership needed on Virginia’s frontier: he worked as a surveyor and county officer, and he served Amherst County in multiple roles (including burgess, magistrate, county lieutenant, surveyor, coroner). Tradition holds that he studied at the College of William & Mary, and records emphasize that surveying was central to his work from an early age.

In 1763, Cabell received 1,785 acres from his father and developed what became his principal homeplace and working plantation: Union Hill. He lived at Colleton until the Union Hill house was completed.

Revolutionary-era leadership

During the Revolution, William Cabell participated in Virginia’s shift from colony to commonwealth in ways that were both local and statewide. He attended four of the five Virginia Conventions and served on the Amherst County Committee of Safety, and is described as the only Piedmont-area representative on the state Committee of Safety.

After independence, voters elected him to the Virginia Senate (beginning in October 1776) and later to the House of Delegates, reflecting a long record of public trust through the 1790s.

Family and legacy

William and Margaret Jordan Cabell raised a large family whose marriages and migrations connected Union Hill to other Cabell homes across Virginia and beyond.

William and Margaret Cabell’s children, spouses, and homeplace

  1. Samuel Jordan Cabell (1756-1818) and Sarah Syme lived at Soldier’s Joy
  2. William Cabell, Jr. (1759-1822) and Anne Carrington (1760-1838) lived at Union Hill
  3. Paulina Cabell (1763-1845) and Edmund Read lived in Charlotte County, Va.
  4. Landon Cabell (1765-1834) and Judith Scott Rose lived at Rose Hill
  5. Hector Cabell (1768-1807) and Paulina Jordan Cabell lived at Spring Hill
  6. Margaret Jordan Cabell (1770-1815) and Robert Rives lived at Edgewood and Oak Ridge
  7. Elizabeth Cabell (1774-1801) and William H. Cabell (1772-1853) lived at Midway.

Notable Descendants of Col. William Cabell

18th century

19th century

20th century

Works Consulted

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