Needless to say, these petticoats were treasured and passed on for several generations. When nothing was left of them except faded shreds, the tradition of the "seven satin petticoats" was then handed down from mother to daughter. _PHI BETA KAPPA_ In Williamsburg, Virginia, on December 5, 1776, was founded the first scholastic Greek letter fraternity--Phi Beta Kappa. That a native of the Northern Neck had a part in this is shown by the minutes of that first meeting: "On Thursday, the 5th of December in the year of our Lord God one thousand seven hundred and seventy-six and the first of the Commonwealth, a happy spirit and resolution of attaining the important ends of Society entering the minds of John Heath, Thomas Smith, Richard Booker, Armistead Smith, and John Jones, and afterwards seconded by others, prevailed, and was accordingly ratified." ".... Officers were elected--John Heath as President, Richard Booker as Treasurer, and Thomas Smith as Clerk, the society esteeming them as necessary persons for the functions of their several duties accordingly selected them." These young gentlemen were students of William and Mary College. The Apollo Room of the Raleigh Tavern is believed to be the birthplace of the distinguished Phi Beta Kappa Society. John Heath was a native of Northumberland County. Heathsville, the county seat, was named for his family. John Heath owned an estate called Black Point, on the outskirts of Heathsville. Black Point was later known as Springfield. _LIGHT-HORSE HARRY_ He rode into battle fast--with his sabre drawn and his three hundred screaming troopers following close behind. Under him was his own horse which he had ridden north from Virginia, one of those "fleet steeds" for which his home country was noted. From his tall leather helmet the horse-hair plumes streamed out behind and his jacket was a blur of green. His white lambskin breeches and knee-high boots were perfection. His troopers were brilliant and shining--that was because Henry Lee would have his Virginians no other way. His detachment of cavalry stood out like a torch amid the ragged forces of Washington's army. Henry Lee, lately graduated from Princeton, had been nominated by Patrick Henry in 1776, to command a cavalry company raised in Virginia for service in the Continental Army, under the command of Colonel Bland. In 1777, Lee's Corps was placed under Washington's immediate control. It was the "flower of Washington's troop." In Harry Lee's "flying detachment" there was one who was a neighbor of his back in Northern Virginia, John Marshall. Light-Horse Harry Lee received his nickname because his outfit traveled light. He never had more than three hundred men and they were as lightly equipped as possible. Speed was necessary if they were to survive, for to them fell the hard and dangerous assignments.