hamlet stood in colonial times. The Walker exploring expedition
started from this vicinity in 1748. Here, in June 1781, the
Augusta militia assembled to join Lafayette in the East. A town
was founded in 1797. It was established by law in 1801 and
named for General Anthony Wayne."
In 1854 the countryside was very much excited over the trip made by the
first train travelling west of the Blue Ridge. Crowds gathered to see
the phenomenon and half of them left in fright, we are told, as the iron
horse chugged off. Incidentally, mules hauled the first passenger engine
over the high mountains and set it down for its memorable exodus.
For the most part the buildings one sees in the town have been erected
since 1861, for in that year a devastating fire wiped out the landmarks
of pioneer days.
The last battle in Northern Virginia during the War Between the States
occurred here in March 1865, just about a month before the surrender of
General Lee at Appomattox. Hoping to protect Rockfish Gap, General Early
had his Confederate forces quartered in the town. Sheridan, the Union
General, surprised him and captured more than half the rebels.
Furnishing power for the large manufacturing interests are the numerous
springs of Waynesboro, which have a capacity of millions of gallons of
water a day. If you are unfamiliar with springs such as Virginia has,
you should stop at Brunswick, Baker's, or Basic Lithia Springs for an
unusual sight.
Swannanoa, one of the finest estates in Virginia, is on top of the
mountain between Waynesboro and Afton. It is said by numbers of people
that two of the loveliest views in America may be had from this point:
Rockfish and Shenandoah valleys. You will probably agree with the
statement when you stand where you may get a commanding view of the
country below you. The large home on the estate is now a country club.
Nearby is the site of "Old Mountain Top Tavern," widely known years ago
for its fine hospitality. A group met at the tavern in 1818 to decide
the location of the proposed University of Virginia. Among them were
Madison, Monroe, Marshall and Jefferson.
Driving along the roads you see some of the finest peach orchards in
Virginia, for the section is famed for its high quality fruit. Not only
do peaches abound here, but you will also see splendid apple orchards.
If you happen along at the right season you will be able to stop at a
roadside market to buy the renowned Albemarle Pippins--the apples which
are grown for miles around--and some of the luscious peaches.
Natural Bridge
"Who first discovered Natural Bridge?" is a question which nearly every
one asks, and a second one is, "How high is it?"
The answer to the first is given in an old Indian legend which reads
something like this: Long, long ago, years before the Princess
Pocahontas saved the life of Captain John Smith, there was a terrible
war between some of the tribes. The Shawnees were noted for their
cruelty and they joined forces with the Powhatans. They roamed through
Virginia and fell upon the Monocans, a more friendly tribe.
[Illustration: NATURAL BRIDGE]
There had been a famine that year and the Monocans were weakened by
hunger and many of their braves fell in battle. After a long conflict,
the Monocans decided to retreat and they gave way before the enemy. But
they were pursued relentlessly. The Monocans sought refuge in a strange
forest and suddenly they came upon a high chasm, whose steep walls were
of rock. The braves peered over and were made dizzy when they saw the
great distance to the bottom below, where a swiftly running river looked
like a small silver ribbon.
Even the strongest could not have jumped across the wide chasm, for it
was over a hundred feet wide. Their swiftest scouts ran hither and yon,
but each brought back word that there was no way around.
The Monocans were in despair and in their distress threw themselves upon
the ground and cried aloud to the Great Spirit to spare their lives from
the approaching enemy.
One of the braves arose and went again to the edge of the cliff. He
stared down at his feet, then turned and shouted, "Our prayers have been
granted us--The Great Spirit has built for us a bridge across the great
abyss."
"Be careful," cried one of the men. "Send the squaws and children first
to test it. If they cross in safety, then we will know it will be heavy
enough to carry our weight also."
And so the women and children passed over into the shelter of the forest
beyond. Even as they went they could hear the war whoops of the
advancing enemy.
But the Monocans were refreshed in spirit. Their courage had returned,
for was not the Great Spirit on their side? The braves quickly took
positions on the bridge, each feeling he stood on sacred ground, and
like the Greeks of old at Thermopylae they turned and faced their enemy
and fought victoriously. From that day, we are told, they called it "The
Bridge of God" and worshipped it.
The first white man to own Natural Bridge was Thomas Jefferson, and one
may see the original land grant still hanging on the walls of Monticello
which reads, in part:
"Know ye that for divers good causes and considerations, but
more Especially for and in Consideration of the sum of Twenty
Shillings of good and lawful money for our use paid to our
Receiver General of our Revenues, in this our Colony and
Dominion of Virginia, We have Given, Granted and Confirmed, and
by these presents for us, our heirs and successors, Do give,
Grant and confirm unto Thomas Jefferson, one certain Tract or
parcel of land, containing 157 acres, lying and being in the
County of Botetourt, including the Natural Bridge on Cedar
Creek, a branch of James River ..."
We are told that George Washington surveyed the land in 1750, and while
there he climbed up 23 feet and carved his initials "G. W." on the
southeast walls; the guide today will try to point them out to the
visitor. A story is also told that George Washington threw a stone from
the bottom of Cedar Creek over the Bridge. Evidently he liked to test
his strength by such sports, for it is said that he threw a Spanish
dollar across the Rappahannock River opposite the town of
Fredericksburg.
When this story was told to the late President Cleveland, he replied, "I
do not know about that, but I am well assured he threw a sovereign
across the Atlantic."
In 1927 another stone was found which scientists think proved George
Washington surveyed that territory. This stone is a large one and also
bears his initials which are engraved in a surveyor's cross. Evidently
he measured the height of the Bridge by dropping a line from the edge of
the bridge to the cross below.
Thomas Jefferson called his purchase the "most Sublime of Nature's
works." He visited it many times and during his presidency, in 1802, he
surveyed the place with his own hands. He later built a log cabin which
contained two rooms and one of them was always kept ready for a visitor.
Many famous people visited there and the list includes such men as John
Marshall, James Monroe, Henry Clay, Sam Houston and Martin Van Buren.
While in France, Jefferson collected many plants and shrubs which he
sent to America; many of these were planted at the Bridge, and some are
still in existence.
Cedar Creek, the parent of the Bridge, has been busy for thousands of
years cutting a bit deeper each year.
The answer to the second question, "How high is it?," is found on a
Government bench which carries a brass plate, "1,150 feet above the
sea." It is 245 feet high and is 90 feet wide.
Boys and men are especially interested in the exciting story of how Dr.
Chester Reeds actually measured the wonderful Bridge. He had a special
basket built which was strong enough to hold him. Two hundred and fifty
feet of rope was fastened to it and run through a pulley and one end of
it was tied to a fence post. He was very dizzy at first and could not
take pictures of the side walls of the bridge. Gradually he became
accustomed to turning around and was able to get many fine ones at
various angles and of the massive supporting walls, the huge slabs of
limestone and some of the foliage.
Natural Bridge is a monument to the patience of Old Mother Nature and
her skill as an artist. Today, one wonders at the deep gorge--by night,
with modern electrification, one is spellbound by its beauty--and when
sweet music fills the glen with its symphonies one's soul is lifted to
the Greatest Artist of all--to God in reverence and gratitude.
Rockbridge
Rockbridge County takes its name from the celebrated Natural Bridge and
was formed from Augusta and Botetourt counties. A branch of the James
River is called North River and this stream waters the county, flowing
diagonally across it. Some of the richest soil in all the Valley is
found in Rockbridge. Lexington, which is the county-seat, takes its name
from the town of Lexington in Massachusetts and was founded in 1778. The
first buildings of the old town were mostly destroyed by fire in 1794
and were replaced with substantial brick buildings. An Englishman who
was visiting America long ago described the little town in these words:
"The town as a settlement, has many attractions. It is
surrounded by beauty, and stands at the head of a valley
flowing with milk and honey. House rent is low, provisions are
cheap, abundant and of the best quality."
The settlers were mostly the Scotch-Irish and of the Presbyterian faith.
As soon as they had cleared the lands and built their homes they planted
orchards, built their barns and settled down. These were thoughtful men
and women who kept their emotions under constant guard. Yet when
occasion arose, they spoke simply and clearly and were unafraid. They
detested civil tyranny and as they were far away from the seat of
government, to a certain extent they made their own laws and rigidly
adhered to them.
They were among the first in the Valley of Virginia to rally to the
defense of their country during the War of the Revolution.
In their moral life, they were almost Puritanical. This was founded on
religious principle and often they were considered austere and stern.
Yet those who knew them, felt the kindness and devotion to which they
did not give expressions in words. To them, deeds meant more than
promises. Though they reproved one without a smile, their eyes often
expressed understanding and sympathy and the offending one felt the deep
love which had moved the other to speak--always for the good of the
offender. And while some other fault would rear its head, not often was
the offense repeated which had called forth the reproach.
The men and women were deeply religious and family prayers were the
first order of the day. As soon as homes were established provisions
were made for religious services to be held. Tiny churches dotted the
Valley wherever the Scotch-Irish settled. If the church was far away, as
it was from some, on meeting day young and old mounted their horses and
rode the intervening miles for the long services.
Many of these old Presbyterian churches are still standing today and
they serve as monuments to that hardy race of men and women who braved
all for religious freedom and for civic liberty. The building of these
churches meant such labor as we of the present generation cannot know.
There were no roads and no sawmills. An old historian tells us how one
church was built:
"The people of Providence Congregation packed all the sand used
in building their church from a place six miles distant, sack
and sack, on the backs of horses! And what is almost
incredible, the fair wives and daughters of the congregation
are said to have undertaken this part of the work, while the
men labored at the stone and timber. Let not the
great-granddaughters of these women blush for them however
deeply they would blush themselves to be found in such
employment. For ourselves, we admire the conduct of these
females; it was not only excusable, but praiseworthy--it was
almost heroic! It takes Spartan mothers to rear Spartan men.
These were among the women whose sons and grandsons sustained
Washington in the most disastrous period of the Revolution."
There was little social life in those early days such as their eastern
cousins knew along the James River. Except for their church festivals,
they did little entertaining. Twice a year they held the Lord's Supper
and this lasted for four days, with religious services each day. During
these times families living nearest the church invited those who lived
at great distances to stay with them. Often some young couple would be
married, either just before or immediately after these services. Then
there would be a little merriment, extra cakes and a few playful pranks.
THE FIRST ACADEMY IN THE VALLEY
Dr. Ruffner has left us a description of Timber Ridge, which was built
near Fairfield in Rockbridge County in 1776. The school took its name
from the fine oak trees which grew along its ridge. He writes:
"The schoolhouse was a log cabin. The fine oak forest, which
had given Timber Ridge its name, cast its shade over it in
summer and afforded convenient fuel in winter. A spring of pure
water gushed from the rocks near the house. From amidst the
trees the student had a fine view of the country below and the
neighboring Blue Ridge. In short all the features of the place
made it a fit habitation of the woodland muse and the hill
deserved the name of Mount Pleasant. Hither about thirty youths
of the mountains repaired to 'taste of the Pierian spring.' Of
reading, writing and ciphering, the boys of the country had
before acquired such knowledge as primary schools could afford;
but with a few late exceptions, Latin, Greek, algebra, geometry
and such like scholastic mysteries were things of which they
had heard--which they knew perhaps to lie covered up in the
learned heads of their pastors--but of the nature and uses they
had no conception whatever.
"It was a log hut of one room. The students carried their
dinner with them from the boarding-schools in the neighborhood.
They conned their lesson either in the schoolroom where the
recitations were heard, or under the shade of the trees where
breezes whispered and birds sang without disturbing their
studies. A horn--perhaps a cow's horn--summoned the school from
play and scattered classes to recitations.
"Instead of broadcloth coats, the students generally wore a far
more graceful garment, the hunting shirt, home-spun,
home-woven, and home-made, by the industry of wives and
daughters.
"Their amusements were not less remote from the modern taste of
students--cards, backgammon, flutes, fiddles, and even marbles
were scarcely known among these mountain boys. Firing pistols
and ranging the field with shotguns to kill little birds for
sport, they would have considered a waste of time and
ammunition. As to frequenting tippling shops of any
denomination, that was impossible because no such catchpenny
lures for students existed in the country, or would have been
tolerated. Had any huckster of liquors, knicknacks, and
explosive crackers, hung out signs in those days, the old
Puritan morality of the land was yet vigorous enough to abate
the nuisance. The sports of the students were mostly gymnastic,
both manly and healthful--such as leaping, running, wrestling,
pitching quoits and playing ball. In this rustic seminary a
considerable number of young men began their education, who
afterwards bore a distinguished part in the civil and
ecclesiastical affairs of the country."
Valley Inventions
The Valley of Virginia has often been termed "the granary of the South."
It is no wonder that farmers from time to time have tried to shorten
their labor in the wheat fields by inventing machines to do their work.
The name Robert McCormick means little or nothing to most of us, yet on
his farm, Walnut Grove, near Lexington he made repeated attempts to
invent a workable reaper. His son, Cyrus, had watched with growing
interest each of his father's undertakings. His regrets must have been
as keen as the elder McCormick's when they realized one May morning in
1831 that the clumsy machine could not replace the hand scythe and
cradle.
Cyrus knew something of machinery and determined to improve his father's
poor invention in time for the next harvesting. During the intervening
six weeks he stayed in the workshop as much as the busy growing season
would allow and secured the ready help of a slave boy, Joe Anderson.
In July when the wheat was ready to harvest Cyrus and his father moved
the machine out to the field. There a crowd of neighbors gathered and
watched with fascination as the reaper cut six acres of wheat during the
day.
McCormick continued to improve his invention and other farmers risked
their money in purchasing the first six he offered on the market.
Eventually the news spread to the grain fields of the Middle West and he
opened factories to supply the farmers there.
For years the inventor strove to improve the reaper; he discovered that
other labor saving devices were needed equally as badly, and he offered
other types of farm machinery to the rich farm lands.
Inventive genius lay near Lexington along other lines, too. It was near
here that James Gibbs invented his common sense stitch sewing-machine
which was a forerunner of our more modern models. And what a
labor-saving machine that was to all the housewives!
WASHINGTON COLLEGE
The Scotch-Irish were determined to have the best schools and colleges
for their children. The Hanover Presbytery, which in 1776 embraced all
the Presbyterian churches in Virginia, established a school which they
called Liberty Hall Academy. This was built in Lexington, Virginia, with
the Reverend William Graham, a native of Pennsylvania, as its first
president. George Washington, in 1796, gave the school a regular
endowment, the first of its kind. This is how it was made:
The Legislature of Virginia "as a testimony of their gratitude for his
services," and as "a mark of their respect," presented to George
Washington a certain number of shares in the Old James River Company, an
industry then in progress. Unwilling to accept anything for his own
benefit, he gave it to the Liberty Hall Academy.
In 1812, the Trustees of the school voted to ask the Virginia
Legislature to change the name to Washington College. Many others
decided to follow George Washington's fine example. A Mr. John Robinson
left his whole estate to the college; the next to aid it, we are told,
was the newly organized Society of the Cincinnati of Virginia.
Old records of the school throw an interesting light regarding the
expenses of a student in those far-off days. The treasurer's bill for
tuition, room rent, deposits and matriculation was $45 per year. Board
was $7.50 a month. Laundry, fuel, candles and bed amounted to about
three dollars per month. The cost of everything averaged about $140 a
year.
Lexington
When he was beset and overwhelmed, and without supplies, Robert Edward
Lee reached Appomattox in April, 1865, and surrendered to General Grant
on April 9th. He realized that the people of the South needed courage
and strength, and though he was offered many places of honor with
splendid salaries, he decided to help rebuild Virginia. When the call
came to become president of Washington College in Lexington he accepted
and took up his duties there in October, 1865.
As he spoke to the students assembled in the new chapel he saw familiar
faces. Many of them had followed him during the years of the War Between
the States; they, too, had courage and hope. These boys and men loved
the noble man and they were willing to follow him in rebuilding their
homes and the Southland.
"All good citizens must unite in honest efforts to obliterate
the effects of war, and to restore the blessings of peace. They
must not abandon their country, but go to work and build up its
prosperity.
"The young men especially must stay at home, bearing themselves
in such a manner as to gain the esteem of every one, at the
same time that they maintain their own respect.
"It should be the object of all to avoid controversy, to allay
passion, and to give scope to every kindly feeling."
In every respect he was prepared to be the president of a great school,
for he himself had been a model student at West Point. He had already
served as Superintendent there for three years.
He was very happy during the short years he lived in Lexington. He had
the grounds improved, planted many trees, and repaired the much worn
buildings. He studied and worked over the courses of study and enlarged
the faculty.
A young girl who was visiting in the home of General Lee in Lexington,
tells the following story. It was soon after the Surrender at Appomattox
and his acceptance of the Presidency of Washington College.
General Lee, with his family, was living in one of the comfortable and
large houses near the college. Their home at Arlington had been
confiscated during the War Between the States, and they had no furniture
except some which neighbors had lent them.
[Illustration:--_Courtesy Virginia State Chamber of Commerce_
WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY, LEXINGTON, VA.]
One day a letter came to General Lee, telling him good news. A lady who
lived in New York wrote him that her husband had died, and having no
children she had decided to give up housekeeping. She had been very
happy and had loved her home. Now she wanted the furnishings to belong
to someone who would appreciate and would care for them. She wrote she
sympathized with them in not having their own furniture and that there
was no one to whom she had rather give hers.
General Lee hated the thought of accepting, until he read on, that if he
could not use the furniture himself, perhaps he could use it in his
college. After some time he wrote the lady he would be very grateful and
would appreciate it very much.
In the meantime Mrs. Lee was looking forward to its coming, for her
large rooms were indeed very bare. At last the great boxes came. General
Lee was busy, so Mrs. Lee waited until he could be present to have them
opened.
After lunch one day, General Lee had men come to open them. Mrs. Lee's
eyes shone as the first box revealed two huge red velvet carpets.
She looked at the General. His eyes were shining too.
"Look, my dear," he said, "The very thing we need! If we cut them
carefully, we will have enough to carpet the platform and the aisles of
the new chapel!"
"Of course," she smiled, never saying one word about how warm and lovely
they would make the double parlors in their own home.
The next box was opened with intense interest. The men lifted out the
upper part of a handsome bookcase. The next brought the lower half, a
lovely desk, with many drawers.
"Oh," thought Mrs. Lee. "That will fill up that terrible space between
the windows."
"This is the very thing we want," General Lee said, as the men took them
to the walk. "We will put that in the basement of the new chapel. We
will use it for our records and put our best books in the bookcase, and
this will be the beginning of our college library."
And so it went. He used the best of everything for his college, and Mrs.
Lee took only the odds and ends which did not fit anywhere else.
Someone told her she should have taken a stand and insisted upon taking
some of the best.
"Oh, no," she laughed, "it was worth giving all of it up to see the joy
the General had in putting it to use in his college. The boys come
first--both of us are so interested in them."
General Lee died in October, 1870, loved by men and women, boys and
girls in both the North and South. His body rests under a beautiful
white marble figure, which was sculptured by his friend, Edward
Valentine. It is called the Recumbent Statue of General Lee and lies in
the Chapel of Washington and Lee. This is now a shrine to which hundreds
come daily from all over the world to pay their homage, love and respect
to this great man.
[Illustration:--_Courtesy Virginia State Chamber of Commerce_
VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE]
THE VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE