moved farther west and settled near Fincastle, in what is now Botetourt County, where he soon after died in 1771. His elder sons had grown to manhood, but he left a wife and five young children, four of whom were sons, upon the very confines of civilization, and at the beginning of a period of war and deprivation. The Virginia frontier suffered severely throughout the Revolution, being constantly vexed by Tories at home, the inroads of the savages stirred up by British and Tory agents, and the scarcity of all the comforts of life, and it was not till the victory of King's Mountain hurled back the tide of invasion refluent to the sea and quelled the restless Tories in their midst, that any respite came to the harassed population along the western lines. During these years John Breckinridge, although only the second son of his mother, assumed the chief part in bearing the burden of the family. His character was early developed under the pressure of circumstances, and he cared for the family property, scoured the country as a surveyor, and occupied every leisure moment with eager and well-directed studies; and the autumn of 1778 found him prepared to enter college. He accordingly set out over the mountains and through the wilderness to the capital town of Williamsburgh, and entered himself at the good old college of William and Mary. Here he continued for two years, taking every advantage of his opportunities, and continuing his surveying in the western wilds in the vacations. He was about to set out from home for his third year at college when he was elected to
