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LEGENDS
of the
SKYLINE DRIVE
and the
Great Valley of Virginia
BY
CARRIE HUNTER WILLIS
AND
ETTA BELLE WALKER
RICHMOND, VA.:
THE DIETZ PRESS, _Publishers_
1940
COPYRIGHT, 1940
BY
CARRIE HUNTER WILLIS
AND
ETTA BELLE WALKER
_Printed in the United States of America_
Foreword
Tucked away among the hills and valleys in and near the Shenandoah
National Park and the Great Valley of Virginia are stories of the
beginnings of the white man's life beyond the comparative ease of early
Tidewater Virginia. These stories are true ones and they depict
something of the courage and hardihood of the early Virginia pioneer.
Perhaps in reading of their lives we may catch something of the majesty
and charm of their surroundings which were reflected to a marked degree
in their way of living. Surely they must often have said, "I will look
unto the hills from whence cometh my strength" or how else may we
account for the developments which came as the result of their constant
struggle for survival?
Stories of colonial Virginia on the eastern seaboard are numerous and
usually exciting but they are quite different from the tales beyond the
Piedmont. A combination of them may enable us to know Virginia as a
whole in a more appreciative way.
Long before the Knights of the Golden Horseshoe ever set foot in the
wilds of Virginia, intrepid explorers had passed through various parts
of the Valley country.
In 1654--more than sixty years before the Governor's expedition--Colonel
Abraham Wood received permission to explore beyond the mountains. His
purpose was to establish trade relations with the Indians. His journey
carried him through the lower Blue Ridge, crossing the range near the
Virginia-North Carolina line.
Reference is made elsewhere of the explorations conducted by the
one-time monk, John Lederer, whose journal of the trip was first
translated from German and published in London in 1672.
Let us plainly understand however that each of these trips was of a
migratory nature; not a thought was entertained by any of the
participants of remaining in the Virginia mountains. Any white man found
in these sections at this time was there because of good hunting
grounds, hopes of good trading, the zeal of a missionary spirit or love
of adventure and exploration.
The earliest settlers in the Valley in most part came either from
Maryland or Pennsylvania. They came in search of rich, cheap land or for
economic reasons or in the hope of establishing greater freedom for
themselves and their children.
Two nationalities invaded the Great Valley almost simultaneously: the
Germans and Scotch-Irish--both fine, sturdy, healthy and thrifty stock
which is reflected in marked degree among the present inhabitants of the
region. Their real interest in the new settlements may truthfully be
said to have begun about 1730 when land grants were obtained. About two
years later the actual move into the country and the house building
commenced in earnest.
The German settlers located chiefly along the territory extending from
Winchester to Staunton. The Scotch-Irish on the other hand selected
Staunton and the valley south of the town for their claims. No nice
distinction can be made so easily, for we shall find the two groups
interspersed all along the entire length of the Valley. But generally
speaking their domains may be defined thus.
So much fighting during the wars of our country could not have been
fought in this section of the State without leaving in its wake the
stories of chivalry, courage and accomplishment, a few of which are
included.
It is our desire that the trips along the Skyline Drive and in the Great
Valley country may be enriched and the imagination stirred because of
the accounts included in this small book.
Table of Contents
PAGE
KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN HORSESHOE 1
Progress to the Mines 2
ADAM MILLER AND HIS NEIGHBORS 5
JOIST HITE, THE PIONEER 7
GERMAN NEIGHBORS, Quakers 9
Dunkards 11
THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN THE VALLEY 12
INDIANS 15
INDIAN TALES 18
THE MOORE MASSACRE 20
WASHINGTON'S BOYHOOD FRIEND--LORD FAIRFAX 24
WINCHESTER--THE FRONTIER TOWN OF THE VALLEY 26
THE VALLEY PIKE 31
BERRYVILLE 33
FRONT ROYAL 34
FLINT HILL 36
THE SKYLINE DRIVE 37
STRASBURG 40
ORKNEY SPRINGS 42
STEPHENS CITY 42
MIDDLETOWN 43
THE STORY TELLER OF THE VALLEY--SAMUEL KERCHEVAL
Pioneer Life 44
WOODSTOCK 53
The Lincoln Family 55
NEW MARKET 56
Endless Caverns 57
LURAY 59
STONEWALL JACKSON'S VALLEY CAMPAIGN 61
BELLE BOYD, THE SPY 67
HARRISONBURG 72
Massanutten Caverns 73
Grand Caverns 73
Massanetta Springs 75
STAUNTON 75
WAYNESBORO AND AFTON 79
NATURAL BRIDGE 81
ROCKBRIDGE 84
The First Academy in the Valley 86
VALLEY INVENTIONS 87
WASHINGTON COLLEGE 88
LEXINGTON 89
THE VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE 92
CULPEPER MINUTE MEN 94
BLIND PREACHER 95
HEBRON CHURCH 96
HOOVER'S CAMP ON THE RAPIDAN RIVER 97
CHARLOTTESVILLE AND ALBEMARLE COUNTY 98
Jack Jouett's Ride 104
Lewis and Clark Expedition 105
FREDERICKSBURG 106
KENMORE--1752 111
THE MARY WASHINGTON HOUSE 115
RISING SUN TAVERN 117
ROANOKE 121
DRAPER'S MEADOW 124
WASHINGTON COUNTY 127
HUNGRY MOTHER STATE PARK 129
WHITE TOP 129
List of Illustrations
PAGE
George Washington's Headquarters, Winchester, Virginia 27
View Along the Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park 38
"The Cypress Garden", a Scene in Endless Caverns 57
"The Manse", Woodrow Wilson's Birthplace, Staunton, Virginia 76
Woodrow Wilson's Bed, Staunton, Virginia 78
Natural Bridge 81
Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia 90
Virginia Military Institute 92
"Monticello", near Charlottesville, Virginia 99
Rotunda of University of Virginia 102
"Kenmore", the Home of Fielding Lewis and Betty Washington
Lewis, Fredericksburg, Virginia 107
James Monroe's Law Office 109
"The Mary Washington House", Fredericksburg, Virginia 116
"Rising Sun Tavern", Fredericksburg, Virginia 118
Scenic Highway in Southwest Virginia 126
Hungry Mother State Park 130
[Blank Page]
[Illustration]
Knights of The Golden Horseshoe
Alexander Spotswood was the first Virginia Governor to become interested
in the glowing accounts which the hunters and trappers brought back from
the hill sections of the colony. He determined to see for himself those
distant blue ridges.
And while historians have not told us who guided him to the upper or
western boundary of what was then Essex County, we are told that he
became enthusiastic over the rich iron ore which he found in the
peninsula formed by the Rapidan River. He decided to build iron furnaces
at a point near the river. Later he had his agent, Baron de Graffenreid,
go to Germany and bring master mechanics and their families to Virginia.
The first German colony came in 1714 to Virginia and journeyed to
Germanna, as they called their new home on the bank of the Rapidan
River. They were made up of twelve families and numbered forty-two
people in all, men, women and children.
The Virginia Council passed an act which provided protection for the
Germans. A fort was built for them, ammunition and two cannon were sent
and an order was given for a road to be made to the settlement.
These men and women were brave, loyal and deeply religious. They
belonged to the German Reformed Church, which was a branch of the
Presbyterian family of churches. Here they organized the first
congregation of that faith in America and here they built their church.
They had come from Westphalia, in Germany, and of course had brought
their own customs and manners, which are not entirely gone even in our
modern Virginia. Later, as we shall see, many of this first colony left
Germanna and settled on Licking Run near Warrenton.
In 1717 came a second German colony to Germanna. They too were brave,
loyal, and devout; but were different from the first, being Lutherans
and representing twenty families from Pennsylvania.
Two years later, the third colony of Germans came to Germanna and from
there they settled in Orange and Madison counties.
If Governor Spotswood earned the title of "Tubal Cain of America", it
was because these Germans were industrious, thrifty and honest.
The Governor liked the neighborhood so well that he had a palace built
for his family. There was a terraced garden, which one may trace in the
ruins found there today. A courthouse was built there, for a new county
had been cut from Essex and was called Spotsylvania, in the Governor's
honor. Nearby was a bubbling fountain spring at which tourists stop
today to quench their thirst. This has been marked by the Colonial Dames
and over it there is a hand-wrought iron standard, giving the legend of
the spring.
In 1732, Colonel William Byrd of Westover visited Governor Spotswood at
Germanna. He was one of the Commissioners who ran the boundary line
between Virginia and North Carolina. He held many positions of honor and
trust in the colony. His writings give an intimate picture of Governor
Spotswood's settlement:
_Progress to the Mines._
"Here I arrived about three o'clock, and found only Mrs.
Spotswood at home, who received her old acquaintance with many
gracious smiles. I was carried into a room elegantly set off
with pier glasses, the largest of which came soon to an odd
misfortune. Amongst other favorite animals to cheer this lady's
solitude, a brace of deer ran familiarly about the house, and
one of them came to stare at me as a stranger. But unluckily
spying his own figure in the glass, he made a spring over the
tea-table that stood under it, and shattered the glass to
pieces, and falling back upon the tea-table made a terrible
fracas among the china. This exploit was so sudden and
accompanied with such a noise, that it surprised me and
perfectly frightened Mrs. Spotswood. But it was worth all the
damage to show the moderation and good humor with which she
bore the disaster. In the evening the noble Colonel came home
from his mines, who saluted me very civilly, and Mrs.
Spotswood's sister, Miss Theky, who had been to meet him _en
cavalier_, was kind too, as to bid me welcome.
"We talked over a legion of old stories, supped about nine, and
then prattled with the ladies till it was time to retire. In
the meantime, I observed my old friend to be very uxorious and
exceedingly fond of his children. This was opposite to the
maxims he used to preach before he was married, that I could
not forbear rubbing up the memory of them. But he gave a very
good natural turn to his change of sentiments, by alleging that
whoever brings a poor gentlewoman to so solitary a place, from
all her friends and acquaintances, would be very ungrateful not
to use her and all that belongs to her with all possible
tenderness.
"We all kept snug in our apartments till nine, except Miss
Theky, who was the housewife of the family. At that hour we met
over a pot of coffee, which was not quite strong enough to give
us the palsy. After breakfast the Colonel and I left the ladies
to their domestic affairs, and took a turn in the garden which
has nothing but three terraced walks that fall in slopes one
below the other.... I let him know that I had come to be
instructed by so great a master in the mystery of making iron
and that he led the way and was the Tubal Cain of America....
He assured me he was not only the first in this country, but
the first in North America who had erected a regular furnace,
that they ran altogether upon bloomeries in New England and
Pennsylvania, till his example had made them attempt greater
works.... At night we drank prosperity to all the Colonel's
projects in a bowl of rack punch, and then retired to our
devotions....
"I sallied out at the first summons to breakfast, where our
conversation with the ladies, like whipped sillibub, was very
pretty, but had nothing in it. This it seems was Miss Theky's
birthday, upon which I made her my compliments, and wished she
might live twice as long a married woman as she had lived a
maid. I did not presume to pry into the secret of her age, nor
was she forward to disclose it.... She contrived to make this a
day of mourning for having nothing better at present to set her
affections upon."
It was really from Germanna that the Great Expedition to the Mountains
began. Of course we know that Williamsburg was the scene of great
excitement when the Governor and some of his staff gathered for the
first start. The party consisted of the Governor, Fontaine, whose diary
gives us accounts of the journey, Beverley, the historian of Virginia in
1703, Colonel Robertson, Austin Smith, Dr. Robinson, Messrs. Talor,
Brooke and Mason and Captains Smith and Clouder. Others were gentlemen,
servants and guides. All were delayed when an old trapper told them that
their horses' feet would be ruined if not shod. In the sandy soil of
eastern Virginia it was not necessary to shoe one's horse, but the
rocks, as one travelled inland, would ruin the horse's feet. The party
made the best of the long wait by drinking the health of the King,
toasts to the maids left behind and in other farewells.
The party, after five days, reached Germanna and it is from Fontaine's
journal that we are told of the details of the trip. He relates the
hardships; some, including the writer, had fevers and chills and drank
Jesuits' bark tea. Their beds, made of boughs, were not soft enough and
the men slept badly and were sore the next day after camping out in the
wilderness. They made about six miles a day. Their food was bear's meat,
venison, and wild game, which they roasted on long wooden forks over
glowing coals. And each time they ate, they also drank the King's
health, not forgetting any of his children in their toasts. Fontaine
writes--
"We saw when we were over the mountain the footing of elks and
buffaloes, and their beds. We saw a vine which bore a sort of
wild cucumber and a shrub with fruit like unto a currant. We
ate very good wild grapes.... We crossed a river which we
called the Euphrates. It is very deep, the main course of the
water is north, it is four score yards wide in the narrowest
part.... I got some grasshoppers and fished ... we catched a
dish of fish, some perch and a fish called Chub. The others
went ahunting and killed deer and turkeys.... I engraved my
name on a tree by the river's side and the Governor buried a
bottle with a paper inside, on which he writ that he took
possession of this place in the name of King George the First
of England....
"We had a good dinner, and after it we got the men together and
loaded all their arms and we drank the King's health in
champagne and fired a volley, and the Princess's health in
Burgundy and fired a volley, and all the rest of the Royal
family in claret and a volley. We drank the Governor's health
and fired a volley.
"We had several sorts of liquors, viz Virginian red wine and
white Irish usquebaugh, brandy, shrub, two sorts of rum,
champagne, canary, cherry punch water and cider."
It was thirty-six days after leaving Williamsburg that the party finally
reached the mountain and scaled Swift Run Gap and for the first time a
group of Englishmen looked down into the fertile valley beyond.
The Governor was a romantic person, as well as practical, so he wanted
to have something tangible by which all of his party might remember
their thrilling trip. He asked some of his men what they thought of the
idea and someone suggested, no doubt in fun, that they call themselves
the "Knights of the Golden Horseshoe".
Anyway, historians relate that when he returned to Williamsburg, he
promptly wrote a letter to His Majesty and told him of the wonderful
country "beyond the mountains". He also asked for a grant for the Order
of the Knights of the Golden Horseshoe. In due time a proclamation
arrived from England creating The Order of the Golden Horseshoe and also
fifty tiny golden horseshoes inscribed in Latin "_Sic jurat transcerde
mantes_". There was a seal and a signature and the title of Knight was
conferred upon the Governor.
The King also had his own sense of humor and included with all the rest,
the bill for the golden horseshoes! And we are told the sporting
Governor paid for them out of his own pocket without any regrets.
Let us start our journey from this historic spot and drive along the
recently built Skyline Drive. As we go we may look down upon the first
settlers' homes, around which are built the thrifty towns of today.
Adam Miller and His Neighbors
Among the earliest settlers in the valley were young Germans, Adam
Mueller and his wife and his sister. Adam, as was his family, was born
in Germany. Like many others, he had left because of religious
persecution, devastating wars and social unrest. His first home in the
new country was in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Adam Miller (as his name was soon after spelled) journeyed to
Williamsburg, Virginia. There, he told someone, he wanted to make his
home. It was not long after the Knights of the Golden Horseshoe had
returned with their glowing accounts of the land beyond the mountains.
Adam listened with deep interest to the descriptions of the Valley where
a native grass grew on which buffalo fattened, where game lived all year
and where a forest fringed the fertile valleys. He decided to go with
some hunters and he found the kind of land which he wanted. Before he
returned to Lancaster he had built a rude log cabin. He returned home by
way of Williamsburg, and soon his wife and sister were getting ready to
set forth. Many of his German neighbors were interested also, and
historians claim he was the first German to build near Massanutten
Mountain.
His neighbors were Abram Strickler, Mathias Selser, Phillip Long, Paul
Long, Michael Rinehart, and Jonathan Rood. Some give the date of this
settlement as early as 1726. Adam Miller took out his naturalization
papers a few years later and today, the visitor may read the quaint
document hanging on the walls of the Miller home, near Elkton, Virginia.
His log cabin was soon outgrown. He was a good farmer and his wife and
sister helped him. His crops were larger each year. Besides, Adam was a
business man. He secured a large land grant and he soon was selling off
farms to other Germans who came from Pennsylvania and from Germany.
The Millers built a larger home and they bought some good sturdy
furniture to replace the crude tables and chairs which were home-made.
They took pleasure in getting the home all ready before they moved into
it. They had even spread the beds with the new hand-woven coverlets
which his wife and sister had made during the long winter nights. The
next night they would sleep in their new home. But during the night, a
fire broke out--no one ever knew its origin--and everything was
destroyed before the family woke up!
The Millers were undaunted, so they built again. We are told what good
neighbors there were in those days. The men took their own axes and cut
down the trees. They dressed the lumber, sawed the timbers by careful
measurements, laid foundations, and built chimneys. It did not take so
long to build a house. The visitor today will see a big white house on
the road between Luray and Elkton, almost beneath the shadow of old
Massanutten Mountain. He will see the marker which tells him that this
house was built by the Miller family. Inside, the visitor will see
priceless early American furniture. He will see rosewood and later
Empire furniture, too, as other generations added to their heritage. But
when one goes into the log cabin kitchen he will stand in reverence
before a collection of early Dutch tables, chairs, platters, plates of
Delft and pewter, spoons of the same ware. There is a huge corner
cupboard which everyone would like to have for his own. This house no
longer has a direct descendant of Adam and his good wife to occupy it,
for the last one of his line recently died.
Adam Miller was not only a good neighbor to his German friends but we
are told they did not have much trouble with the Indians during the
first years he lived in the Valley. However, he was a brave fighter
during the Indian Wars and his record is given in _Henning's Statutes_.
He lived through most of the Revolutionary War and no doubt longed to
fight in behalf of the country which had given him the opportunity to
develop it.
"On Sunday evening, Dec. 3rd, 1749 a young Franciscan went with
us (_Diary of Leonard Schell, a Moravian Missionary_) to show
us the way to Mathias Schawb, who immediately on my offer to
preach for them, sent messengers to announce my sermon. In a
short time a considerable number of people assembled to whom I
preached. After the sermon I baptised a child of Holland's. We
stayed overnight with Mathias Schawb. His wife told us we were
always welcome and we must come to them whenever we came into
that district.
"Toward evening a man from another Dutch settlement, Adam
Miller passed. I told him that I would like to come to his
house and preach there. He asked if I were sent by God and I
answered yes. He said if I were sent by God I should be
welcome, but he said there are at present so many kinds of
people that often one does not know where they come from. I
requested him to notify his neighbors that I would preach which
he did.
"On Dec. 4th we left Schawb's house commending the whole family
to God. We travelled through the rain across the South
Shenandoah to Adam Miller's house who received us with much
love. We stayed over night.
"On Dec. 5th I preached at Adam Miller's house on 'Whosoever
thirsteth let him come to the water and drink.' A number of
thirsty souls were present. Especially Adam Miller took in
every word and after the sermon declared himself well pleased.
In the afternoon we travelled a short distance, staying
overnight with a Swiss."
Joist Hite, the Pioneer
When Joist Hite arrived in Virginia he and his family were required to
settle on the land bought from the VanMeters. His purchase was made in
June 1731. In October of the same year, he and Robert McKay obtained a
grant from the Colonial Government to have 100,000 acres of land
surveyed on the west side of the mountain, with the agreement to bring
in one hundred settlers within two years. During that year, Hite moved
in and settled on that land, but he got an extension of time for
bringing in other settlers. By Christmas of 1735 Hite had brought in
fifty-four families.
All this land was in the County of Spotsylvania and Hite found that he
and his brothers were too far away from the courts so he became
interested in getting a new county organized in 1734. This was named
Orange, in honor of the Duke of Orange. Later on, having acquired more
land, he found himself again too far removed from a court house. And
again he applied for a new county. In fact he needed two counties for
all his lands and ever-increasing settlers. In 1738 Orange County was
divided into three counties, namely: Orange, Frederick, and Augusta to
the west of the mountain. With Joist Hite and his wife Anna Maria came
their daughters, Mary, her husband George Bowman, Elizabeth and her
husband Paul Froman, Magadelena and her husband Jacob Chrisman, and
their sons John, Jacob, Isaac, Abraham and Joseph. Hite, we are told,
allowed his sons-in-law to choose their own homesteads.
His wife, Anna Maria, died in 1738 at Long Meadows and soon he married
again. We read the following quaint marriage contracts between him and
his second wife:
"In the Name of Jesus
"Whereas, we, two persons, I, Joist Hite and Maria Magadelena,
Relict and Widow of Christian Nuschanger, according to God's
holy ordinance and the knowledge and consent of our Friends and
Children and Relations are going to enter into the holy state
of Matrimony. We have made this Nuptial part one with the
others. First promise to the aforesaid Maria Magadalena all the
Christian Love and Faithfulness. Secondly, as neither of us are
a moment secure from death so I promise her Home or Widow Seat
so long as she lives and the Heir to whom the said House shall
fall shall provide the necessary Diet and Cloathes and if that
do not please but that she rather desire to have her
commendations in any other place, so shall the foresaid Heir to
the House yearly pay her Six Pounds ready money and this is my
well considered desire.
"JOIST HITE."
"And Likewise wife, I Maria Magadalena promise the aforesaid
Joist Hite. First of all, Love and Obedience. Secondly, I am
designed to bring with me to him some cattle, money, household
goods which in agreement with attested witnesses shall be
Described and should I die before the said Hite so shall the
said Hite have the half thereof and the other half shall be
delivered back again to my heirs and this is also my well
considered desire. Thirdly and Lastly, whoever of the aforesaid
persons shall die first the half of the portion the Woman
brings with her shall go back to her heirs."
The following goods were brought by the said Mary Magadelena to Joist
Hite:
"1 In ready money, twenty two pounds seventeen Shillings and
four pence.
2 Two mares one colt value of fourteen pounds.
3 Two drawing steers value three pounds, ten shillings.
4 Two coarse beds Cloathes in all three pounds, Sixteen
Shillings and six pence. And said money is adjudged to be in
Virginia Currency the 16th day of November, 1741, also one
horse mare, six pounds."
Another neighbor pioneering in the Valley was Jacob Stover who secured
land grants. History records that he resorted to unusual methods in
obtaining them. Upon application, it was necessary to convince the
authorities that the applicant could furnish a sufficient number of
families to settle the land requested. Stover did not have the required
number. He took himself to England to petition the King and in order to
be convincing he gave names to every living thing he possessed--dogs,
sheep, horses, cows and pigs! After his successful trip which resulted
in receiving the land grant, he commenced selling small acreages to the
new-comers. He enriched himself materially, but incurred the wrath of
his associates.
German Neighbors
QUAKERS
Long ago, a shrewd trader from New York, John VanMeter, came into the
Valley. He made friends with the Delawares and often went with them on
their hunting trips. Once he even fought on their side against their
enemies, the Catawbas. While on this visit South, he saw for the first
time the fertile native grass, which grew "five or six feet high", in
the Valley. When he returned to New York he told his sons about the rich
country, far to the South, and advised them to secure some of it. One of
them, Isaac, took his father's advice and came to Virginia in 1736-7 and
with a tomahawk cut certain trees, thus making his original claim. This
was called the "Tomakawk Right".
Isaac and his brother John secured a warrant from Governor Gooch for
forty thousand acres of land. Later on they sold or transferred part of
their grant to Joist Hite who was later called the "Old Baron". The
latter was one of the hardiest pioneers and in 1734 was appointed by the
Virginia Council to act as magistrate. This gave him authority to settle
disputes, and to uphold the laws of Virginia as well as to punish all
offenders.
Hite soon built a stone house on Opequon Creek and his sons and
daughters grew to be splendid men and women. His sons-in-law, George
Bowman, Jacob Chrisman and Paul Froman and their families had come with
him from Pennsylvania. Robert McKay, Robert Green, William Duff, Peter
Stevens and several other families helped each other select land, build
homes and a fort.
We are told that the Indians had heard of the kindly relations which
existed between the Indians and William Penn's colonists. We know he
paid the Indians for their lands, and records show that many of the
Germans, especially the Quakers, who settled on Apple Pie Ridge also
bought lands from the Indians. These settlers were never disturbed by
the Indians. However, when it came to the lands which we now call the
Great Valley of Virginia, the Indians were agreed among themselves that
no one tribe was to possess any of it. The lands were so fertile and so
much game feasted there, that all should be at peace when in the Valley.
So when the first Quakers came we find these names recorded: the Neills,
Walkers, Bransons, McKays, Hackneys, Beesoms, Luptons, Barretts, Dillons
and Fawcetts.
Another Quaker, Ross, obtained a warrant for surveying lands and his
lines were run along the Opequon, north of Winchester, and up to Apple
Pie Ridge. Soon many other Quakers from Pennsylvania were moving into
the Valley to settle on Ross's surveys. By 1738 these deeply religious
people had built homes and were holding monthly meetings to worship God.
They had tiny settlements up and down the Valley. They cultivated their
farms, took little interest in politics, cared very little for worldly
intercourse and made excellent neighbors. Their manners and dress were
plain, their furniture only what was necessary, their homes were crude,
but their barns were large and their cattle were well protected.
They refused to pay taxes during the Revolutionary War or to bear arms.
Then their neighbors began to ridicule them, calling them cowards, and
were no longer friendly. Officers came and seized their crops or
property and sold them to raise funds with which to carry on the War
against England. The Legislature enacted a law whereby a Quaker either
had to fight or pay a substitute to fight for him. Their personal
property was put under the hammer and soon they were reduced to poverty.
One incident will give us a picture of those far-off days. James Gotharp
lived with his neighbors on Apple Pie Ridge. One day during the
Revolutionary War officers came, demanding that he should march away
with them to join the militia; he refused. The men forced him to come
along and later he was made a guard. He was placed beside a baggage
wagon and told to let no man go into the wagon who did not have a
written order from the commanding officer. Along came an officer who
started to climb into the vehicle. James called to him and demanded to
see his order of authority. The officer cursed him and stepped up to
climb in. James caught him by his legs and pulled his feet off the step.
This caused the officer to fall, striking his face against the wagon,
bruising his nose and mouth severely.
The dress of the Quakers is still picturesque and many are to be seen in
certain sections of the Valley. They wear a broad brimmed hat, a long
frock coat, generally black. The women wear full skirts, down to their
ankles, black hose, plain black shoes, with round toes. Their bodices,
usually black or gray in color, are severely cut, with long plain
sleeves, with a high neck, relieved by a white collar. They usually wear
a small cap, made of the same material as their dress.
DUNKARDS
Lending an air of uniqueness yet to the Valley towns is that religious
sect called Dunkards. One sees the women of that denomination, with
their little black bonnets, on almost any street in any town along the
Lee Highway.
At one time the sect was called Tunkers. They are an offshoot of the
Seventh-Day Baptists and had their beginnings in the Valley a little
after 1732.
When Dr. Thomas Walker passed through the section on his way westward he
noted in his journal on March 17th, 1750, "The Dunkards are an odd set
of people, who make it a matter of religion not to Shave their Beards,
ly on Beds, or eat Flesh though at present, in the last, they
transgress, being constrained to it, as they say, by the want of a
sufficiency of Grain and Roots, they having not long been seated here. I
doubt the plenty and deliciousness of the Venison and Turkeys has
contributed not a little to this. The unmarried have no private
Property, but live on a common Stock. They don't baptize either Young or
Old, they keep their Sabbath on Saturday, and hold that all men shall be
happy hereafter, but first must pass through punishment according to
their Sins. They are very hospitable."
The Dunkards built a part of their faith around their disapproval of
violence, even for self-defense, and their submission to fraud or
wrongdoing rather than resorting to court trials.
The Scotch-Irish in the Valley
Many reasons caused the people of Europe to emigrate during the
eighteenth century. In Ireland and Scotland an unrest was spreading as
seen in the story of John Lewis.
He was born in Ireland and was a thrifty gentleman. He fell in love with
and married Margaret Lynn, daughter of the laird of Loch Lynn, a
descendant of a powerful Scotch clan. They were very happy with their
three little sons and soon John Lewis rented more lands from a landlord.
These lands brought him more and more wealth and the landlord grew
jealous. He told Lewis that he would not let him continue to cultivate
them, although the lease was not expired.
One day the landlord came to the Lewis home. He brought many of his
hirelings and demanded that Lewis vacate the house at once. At the time,
Lewis' brother was ill and could not help him defend his home.
Margaret, his wife, and a few servants quickly barred the doors and
windows and defied the landlord to enter.
The infuriated man began to fire into the house and one shot killed John
Lewis' brother and one wounded Margaret. John could not stand such an
outrage any longer, so he rushed out and in the fight which followed, he
killed the landlord.
His family and neighbors, knowing the influential Irish would not give
him a fair trial, urged him to flee the country. At last he consented to
go, but before he did, he carefully wrote down all the details of the
trouble and sent it to the proper authorities. Then he hastily left the
country and soon was on his way to Virginia. Lewis went to Williamsburg
after landing in Virginia. There he met a weaver, Salling, who told him
some of the wildest stories he had ever heard.
The weaver had known a peddler, named Marlin, who took his pack far into
the land beyond the mountains and traded his pewter ware, beads,
compasses and other small articles to the Indians for furs. He told
Salling such marvelous stories of the Indians and country that the
weaver asked to let him go on one of his trips with him. This he did,
and the weaver had plenty of adventures before he finally got back to
Williamsburg.
The two men reached the Valley and were far beyond the Blue Ridge
Mountains when the Cherokee Indians, thinking they were spies, took them
prisoners. Marlin had the good fortune to get away, but Salling was
carried farther across another mountain range into what is now Kentucky,
where the Indians went to hunt buffalo. Here the Cherokees were attacked
by their enemies from Illinois. Salling was again captured and carried
off to the southwest. He was adopted by an old Indian squaw as her son
and for some time he lived with her. At last a Spaniard bought him and
took him as an interpreter to Canada. There he met the French Governor
who sent him to New York and after six years, he at last reached
Williamsburg.
You would think Salling after this would have settled down and become a
weaver again. But life was too tame. When Lewis asked him about the
lands in the Valley, Salling decided to take him and the Englishman,
John Mackay, who also wanted to go. Lewis found the country all that
Salling had promised him and he decided to settle on a creek which bears
his name today.
He obtained authority to 100,000 acres of land in and near the ground on
which he built his fort-like house. Before very long, many of his
friends and neighbors from Ireland were on their way to Virginia to join
him. Many of them settled in Western Augusta near Fort Lewis. One can
imagine how happy it made John Lewis to be told that the authorities,
upon investigation, had granted him a pardon and absolved him from all
blame in the killing of his landlord before he left Ireland. These
Scotch-Irish, like their German neighbors, did not have very much
trouble from the Indians for several years.
Thomas, a son of John Lewis, studied and went to represent his county in
the House of Burgesses. He was a man of sound judgment and voted for
Patrick Henry's celebrated resolutions.
Andrew, another son, was a soldier, and made his home in Botetourt
County. During the Indian Wars, he was made a General but not until he
had proved his worth in many a battle. He served with George Washington
on July 4th, 1754 when Fort Necessity was taken, and he was present when
the articles of the treaty were agreed upon. When Washington was made
Commander-in-Chief, it is said he asked Lewis to accept the commission
of brigadier-general. In 1776 he commanded the Virginians when Governor
Dunnmore was driven from Gwynn's Island and we are told he gave the
order for attacking the enemy and he himself lighted the match to the
eighteen-pounder.
General Lewis resigned in 1780 and on his way home was taken ill with
fever. He died near Bedford, about forty miles from home.
We cannot give all the accounts of William, Andrew and Charles, the
other sons, but if one would read interesting captures and escapes from
Indians, he will find that of Charles most exciting.
The sons of John and Margaret Lynn Lewis helped to develop the Valley of
Virginia and their name is an honored one wherever it is found.
Indians
Early historians give us some accounts of the various Indians in
Virginia. Opechancanough, a warrior chief from the East, went to war
with Sherando, a member of the Iroquois tribe. Opechancanough in
crossing the mountains on a foraging expedition was once attacked by
Sherando who felt his tribe should not have to share its hunting grounds
with anyone else and resented the invasion. A fierce battle took place,
with no one victor.
Opechancanough liked the country, so when he returned to his town below
Williamsburg on the Chickahominy, he left his son and a few warriors to
watch the hunting grounds which he had found so rich in game. This son,
Shee-wa-a-nee, with his band soon had to fight the main body of the
Iroquois and Sherando drove the Chief east of the mountains.
Opechancanough left the lowlands as soon as the news was brought to him
by runners. He gathered his warriors and set off with a large force. He
fell upon Sherando and in the fierce battles which followed, he slowly
drove him from his grounds, and he never returned from his home near the
Great Lakes.
Sheewa-a-nee was left again in charge of the Hunting Grounds and from
that day the Shawnees held the lovely Valley until the coming of the
white settlers.
The settlers kept many of the Indian names for both mountains and
streams. Opechancanough river was so called for the Great Chief. Legend
and history tell us that in his later years he became blind and could no
longer hunt in the lovely Shenandoah Valley.
There were many tribes of Indians in the country and though they did not
all speak the same language, they did have a common tongue and could
understand each other.
After 1710 all the lands west of the Blue Ridge Mountains were spoken of
as Indian Country. The different tribes evidently had understanding
among themselves about certain boundary lines as individual tribes had
certain domains. When one violated these rights, there was a war in
which whole tribes sometimes would be completely wiped out.
The Shawnees, the most powerful and warlike of all, claimed all the
hunting grounds west of the Blue Ridge and as far west across the
Alleghany as the Mississippi. They had three large towns in the Valley.
One was near where Winchester stands today, one on the North River in
Shenandoah County, and one on the South Branch, near where Moorefield is
situated. They did allow other tribes to visit them in the Valley on
condition they pay them tribute in skins or loot.
The next tribe was the Tuscaroras, and they spent most of their time in
what is now West Virginia.
Another tribe was an offshoot from the Sherandos and were called
Senedos. They were completely wiped out by the fierce tribe of Cherokees
from the South, in 1732.
The Catawbas were from South Carolina and had their towns along the
river which still bears that name.
The Delawares came from Pennsylvania and their villages were along the
Susquehanna River. The Susquenoughs were a large and friendly tribe on
the Chesapeake Bay and they were good to the white settlers until their
enemies, the Cenela tribes, drove them away from Tidewater Virginia.
Then they went to the upper Potomac River. The Cenelas soon followed
them to the same region. Another tribe, the Piscataway, lived along the
headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay.
The Cherokees had their villages on the Tennessee River down in the
Carolinas and Georgia and Alabama. This tribe was made up of the nations
of the South, the Muscogluges, the Seminoles, Chickasaws, Choctaws and
Creeks. At certain times, all these Indians made forages into the
Valley. Besides these there were those from New York--the Senecas,
Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas and Cayugas. These were called the Five
Nations and they too claimed the right to hunt in the Valley. These
Indians believed, we are told, that the Great Spirit had given this
Valley to all Indians and it is not surprising that they resented the
coming of the white men who soon began to build homes, barns and fences
and who claimed the right to shoot the Indians if they came on their
property.
Then the French about this time began to build forts along the St.
Lawrence River, the Great Lakes and on down the Mississippi River to the
Gulf of Mexico. The French made every effort to make friends with the
Indians and told them the British had no right to take their lands. The
French said they would protect their rights if the Indians would let
them. Consequently, they became allies of the French and they began to
move their villages and towns toward the French lines. They continued to
keep a part of their homes and to send back bands of hunters to look
after the hunting grounds beyond the mountains.
If the Indians had not been friendly to those pioneers who dared to
build homes in the Valley, there would not have been any civilization
there until a much later date. But as we have seen, many of them came
from Pennsylvania where William Penn and his colonists had dealt so
fairly with the Indians. Naturally then, the Indians thought all the
settlers would be like those. Besides, there were so few of them, they
did not at first realize that their hunting grounds were being taken
from them. Consequently, the Delawares and Catawbas in hunting did no
harm, though they were bitter enemies and the settlers often saw them
with prisoners from the other tribes.
There were Indian villages on the Potomac and on both branches of the
Shenandoah. Numerous Indian mounds and graves are still to be seen in
certain sections of the Valley. Many of these have been opened and
skeletons found to be in a wonderful state of preservation; utensils,
pipes, axes, tomahawks, pots and hominy pestles have been found. Their
pots and utensils were made of a mixture of clay and hard shells, very
crude as to workmanship but very strong.
After twenty or more years of comparative peace, the Indians suddenly
left the Valley. In 1753 messengers came from the Western Indians into
the Valley and invited them to cross the Alleghany mountains. Historians
claim this was done through the influence of the French and later
consequences seem to establish the point.
Indian Tales
In the year 1774 the Indians began to give serious trouble to the
settlers on New River. One day several children, those of the Lybrooks'
and the Snydow's, were playing down by the river. They heard a dog
barking and upon looking up, saw some Indians approaching. One of the
boys ran along the edge of the stream trying to make his escape and warn
the family. But one of the Indians ran ahead and cut off that means of
escape. He also fired at two boys who were farther out in the stream,
but fortunately missed them.
While the Indian was aiming at the boys, one of them ran up a rough path
which had been made by the animals as they went back and forth to drink.
The boy scrambled up this path and darted by the Indian who tried his
best to catch him. The Indian gave pursuit and the boy ran until he came
to a wide gulley about ten feet wide. This the boy easily jumped, but
the Indian hesitated and threw a buffalo tug which struck his head and
hurt his back. But he never stopped running until he reached his
father's home and slipped into the fort where he told the parents of the
attack.
In the meantime, five of the children who were playing in the river
climbed into the canoe. The Indians waded out, then swimming to the side
of it, pulled out the children, killed them, and took their scalps.
An older girl, about thirteen years old, turned over the canoe and swam
downstream, then jumped to the opposite bank. One of the Indians pursued
her and she screamed loudly for help. A faithful guard dog came to her
rescue and as the Indian reached out to grab her, the dog jumped at the
Indian, tearing the flesh in his thigh, and threw him down. This gave
the girl time to make her escape.
The Indian struck the dog a blow with his club which finally made him
let up on the man. The faithful dog went to the canoe and stood guard
over the five scalped children until their people came to take them away
for burial. Then the dog refused to leave the spot and began to howl in
a most pitiful way. He ran into the woods and back again, keeping up his
cries until one of the men followed him to see what was troubling him.
There near a tree, he found a little boy of six years, bleeding to death
from a scalp wound.
In 1760 two Indians were seen hiding around Mill Creek. Mr. Painter, his
brother John and William Moore went in search of them. After some time
they came to a newly fallen pine tree which had a very bushy top.
"We had better be careful," Mathias Painter said as they neared the
fallen tree. "There may be Indians hidden in it." As he spoke, an Indian
fired from the tree. His bullet grazed John's temple not injuring him.
Then the other two white men fired at the Indians, striking one of them
who fell to the ground. They supposed him to be dead, so they pursued
the one who had fled, leaving his gun and loot behind him.
But the Indian was strong and he outran the two men. Imagine their
surprise when they returned, and found the Indian gone whom they had
supposed dead, taking the guns and pack of skins with him. The white men
picked up his trail and followed him. He hid himself in a sink-hole and
when the men came near he opened fire on them. He poured out his powder
on the dry grass in front of him so he could reload his gun more
quickly. He fired at least thirty times before the two men finally were
able to kill him.
The Indian who had gotten away met a young woman of the neighborhood who
was riding horseback. He tore her from the horse and forced her to go
with him. This happened near where New Market stands today. They
travelled about twenty miles or more. The Indian became impatient
because she complained of being so tired. People near Keesleton heard
cries in the night. The next day when they went to see who had made
them, they found a pine knot on which blood was still fresh. Nearby,
they found the poor girl, already dead from the cruel blows and from
loss of blood.
The Moore Massacre
One of the most beautiful sections in Southwestern Virginia is called
Ab's Valley, in Tazewell County. It was first settled by Captain James
Moore, one of the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, who had moved from
Rockingham County in 1775. There was no river running through the ten
miles of fertile grounds, but several springs watered the tall grass
which afforded fine grazing for stock and game. Captain Moore's
brother-in-law, Mr. Robert Poage, came to live nearby, but they were the
only settlers in that neighborhood. Their nearest neighbors and a fort
were over twelve miles away.
In the Spring of 1782 the Indians came to Mr. Poage's house and burst
through the heavy door without any warning. They did not expect to find
any men there and when they saw there were three they did not attempt to
enter the house. The next morning, a man named Richardson, who worked on
the place, went out to look at some deer skins which he had soaking in a
nearby pond. The Indians crept up and shot him, taking his scalp.
Two years passed before the Indians attacked the Moore family. James, a
young boy of fourteen, was sent by Captain Moore to get some horses from
a field about two miles from his home. He wanted James to go to the mill
and for this he needed an extra horse.