USA > Virginia > Rockbridge County > Rockbridge County > A history of Rockbridge County, Virginia > Part 26
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XXIX
JOURNALISM AND LITERATURE
THE REPOSITORY-ANTEBELLUM NEWSPAPERS-THE NEWER JOURNALISM-ROCKBRIDGE IN LITERATURE
At the outbreak of the War of the Revolution, there were only two news- papers published in Virginia and both were published at the capital. Neither of them contained more reading matter than one of our present four-page Sunday School papers.
On first glance it is almost a wonder that within thirty years a weekly news- paper of a still larger size should appear in distant Lexington. But at the open- ing of the nineteenth century the county seat of Rockbridge was one of the more important of the few and small towns of this state. It was also a time when poli- tical feeling in America was running high. This was a powerful incentive to the multiplication of partisan newspapers.
In the library of the Washington and Lee University is the only copy of the Rockbridge Repository, known to be in existence. It bears the date, Wednes- day, January 19, 1804. The title-page carries the motto, "Truth our Guide, the Public Good Our Aim"; and as a vignette, a bust of the Goddess of Liberty. A further scrutiny of the heading shows that publication began October 21, 1802. The size of the page is that of a five-column paper of the present day. Long prim- er type is used. The publisher was James McMullin, and the subscription price was $2 a year. The editor claims that his patronage is widely distributed. A recently established opposition paper was the Telegraph, which McMullin, like a truc knight of the quill, excoriates in his editorial column. The Repository was still in existence in 1805.
It is related in Foote's Sketches of Virginia that in October. 1804, the first number of the Virginia Religious Magazine was issued from the press of Samuel Walkup in Lexington. That periodical, which was of sixty-four pages, continued to appear every other month for three years. It is said to have been the first of the kind to be published south of the Potomac.
A dark age with respect to our knowledge of Rockbridge journalism now ap- pears to set in. In 1835, a paper calling itself The Union, and published by C. C. Baldwin, changed its name to the Lexington Gasette and under the latter title it has appeared ever since, excepting that it was The Gazette and Banner, in 1866, The Virginia Gazette, in 1869-70, and for a while in after years, The Lexington Gazette and Commercial Advertiser. Until after 1873 its editors were O. P. Baldwin. C. C. Baldwin, James Patton, Alphonso Smith. David P. Curry, James
218
A HISTORY OF ROCKBRIDGE COUNTY, VIRGINIA
K. Edmondson, John L. Campbell, W. W. Scott, Josiah McNutt, Samuel H. Letcher, John J. Lafferty, and .A. T. Barclay. In 1839, The Valley Star came in- to existence and was published until after the presidential campaign of 1860.
For more than twenty years these well-matched journals occupied the local field. Each had an ornamental title-head. this being a quite universal feature of the American weeklies of that period and also for some years after the war of 1861. The page is of seven columns. The type is smaller than is now customary in papers of this class, so that the amount of reading matter is very considerable. Fully two pages are devoted to Congressional doings. national politics, stories, and miscellaneous matter The proceedings in the halls of Congress are given at such great length, and such liberal extracts are taken from the speeches of "Timethy Tremendous" and his contemporaries, that this department of either pajer reads like the Congressional Record. So much space is given to politics- of the nation even more than of the state,-that the local news is very meagre. The person who is de'ving into local history consequently finds little to reward I'm for his search. The advertising matter, which covers nearly two pages, is set almost solid Capitals and heavy-faced type are counted upon to catch the eve of the reader The art of display was little understood.
The l'alley Star supported the Democratic party. The Gazette supported the short-lived American Party, which in a large degree supplanted the Whig, and disappeared in 1860 after changing its name to the Constitutional Union party. Some features of the advertising columns look strange to us now. There are advertisements of runaway negroes, while certain persons announce that they are in the market for the purchase of slaves. Occasional mention of the Maryland] Lettery calls to mind the fact that it has not been so very long since the Louis- jana Lottery was excluded from the mails after a long fight with its large corrup- tion fund A little carlier in the century, even churches did not scruple to raise funds by reporting to letteries. But a healthier moral tone at length drove this form of gambling to cover.
To the historian of the war of 1861, the Lexington papers of the years 1859. 1865 will repay a d'or examination, Particularly is this true of the twelve month ending with Mav. 1861. The issues of the day are ably and lengthily discussed in the editorial columns, in articles contributed by prominent citizens, and in letters coming from a distance Even the four years of actual combat did not induce the editors to cut out very much of the space they had formerly al- logged to poetry, fiction, travel, household items, and paragraphs of general in- terest In pursuing this course the editors were wise. Such reading was a re- laxasjon from the strain which was sure to follow a too absorbing interest in the events which persisted in occupying the foreground.
The Gazette appeared quite regularly throughout the war period, even
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JOURNALISM AND LITERATURE
though it reduced its pages from four to two. It was more fortunate than some other journals of the South, for it was often compulsory to resort to the most indifferent materials, even wall paper, in order to come out at all.
Until after the clash of arms in April, 1861, the Lexington papers were tem- perate in the language they used when speaking of the North and its people. But after that occurrence there was an abrupt change.
That the close of that conflict indeed marked the "end of an era," is perhaps nowhere more evident than in a comparison of the journalism of the 50's with that of the decade following the war. The earlier style simply passed out of existence. In the latter period there is a new point of view. The minute re- ports of Congressional proceedings are a thing of the past. Matters of state, and particularly of county interest, receive a greatly increased share of attention. In this is reflected a desire to repair the waste caused by the war. Economic change compels some change in mental attitude. There is a greater activity of the social consciousness. The literary feature is by no means neglected, and is indeed better than in the earlier time. There now begins a "fighting them over" of the campaigns of the war, articles of this class embracing biographies of Confederate leaders, controversies relative to military operations, and incidents of camp, march, and battle. The editorials are fiery and speak of the Federal administration as though it were a foreign government. The general effect of these on a Northern reader would have been much like that of rubbing a cat's back in the direction which is not agreeable to that animal. But in this respect there was little to choose in the political editorials of America, whether written north or south of the old Mason and Dixon line. On neither side was there any lack of ginger. The partisan journalism of that period, irrespective of section, has had much to answer for in keeping alive the coals of distrust and misunderstanding. How- ever, this peppery style of editorial writing was not often rebuked.
Wit and humor were more characteristic of this period in Rockbridge jour- nalism than either before or since. Conspicuous in this line are snake stories and other "yarns" of a like degree of extravagance; mention of orations by "Fur- iosus Bombasticus" and the "Reverend Theodore Swellhead"; the "Intercepted Letters" that were appearing about 1877. A forecast of the year 1874 we trans- fer to this chapter, using a slight amount of editing.
Careful calculations based on the respective situations and appearances of the heavenly bodies, by a competent astrologist, led to the following conclusions concerning coming events in this county during the year just begun.
The year will open with snows and the consumption of immense quantities of egg- nogg. The shire-town of the county will experience a political revolution ard consequent change in its administration policy and municipal officers. It will rain persistently for one week and then frecze and cause people to "slick up." The Franklin Society will disestablish the English Church. People will get drunk at court and other days, chew tobacco and smoke, and dip snuff. Some will be put in the "cage." It will snow and sleet and rain
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A HISTORY OF ROCKBRIDGE COUNTY, VIRGINIA
some more. One hundred and fifty people will get tired living singly and agree to do so doubly. Some will die The wheat will look dreadfully bad. It will certainly turn out to be "winter killed." taken by the fly, or rust. There will be no corn in the land. The taxes will be high. The dogs will kill some sheep. The roads will be in a miserable condition. Some people will eat possums and coons. A few will quarrel with our representatives in the legis- lature, and many will want to go there themselves. There will be preaching in all the churches tolerably regularly. People will sue and be sued. There will be court once a month and four times a year, too. The bank will not honor your check when you haven't any money there. The railroad won't come this year. Money will be hard to get. Children will be born with red, black, light, curly, and kinky hair, and some without any. None will be born with teeth. Some will be born good and some bad. There will be fights, fusses. and frowns.
In 1874 the Gazette thus speaks of its veteran typesetter :
There is a printer in the Gazette office. Burgess by name. Hle has been "setting" from scrawly type for half a century. The arrowhead inscriptions would be as plain as pica to him. He can put in type the curious marks made by the county court lawyer. He never failed on Judge MeLaughlin's writing, fine as if made by a cambric needle, with one good letter beginning a word and the balance a wavy line. Colonel Allen couldn't balk him with microscopic manuscript looking like the fuzz on a flea. But the law class sent up Mr. Tucker's notes to print. For two hours Burgess tried in vain to start a single line on any paragraph. The unrappy printer felt his head to find if it was too hot or out of gear A walk in the cool air gave him no aid. After we had examined them ten minutes, Burgess looked over our shoulder and said we had them upside down.
All in all, the Rockbridge newspaper of this period was a distinct advance over that of the 50's and had a general solidity that has not since been surpassed.
The Rockbridge County News, appearing as a non-political paper, made its bow November 7. 1884, and from that time to the present has been a well-printed local newspaper, substantial in its contents, and strong in its presentation of mat- ters that are of fundamental interest to the people of its county.
When we compare the Rockbridge paper of 1918 with its predecessor of 1858, the contrast is striking. Local news predominates in the former over all other kinds, and even state news occupies a subordinate place. Very long articles are infrequent, unless in the case of an address at the University or the Institute. Miscellaneous reading, unless it may feature as a topic of the day finds little room. The open spaces in the advertisements contrast strongly with the closely printed advertising columns of the earlier period.
In most instances the literary record of a county is soon told. Occasionally. in fact, there is no record to tell But the list of books by natives of Rockbridge. or long-time residents of the county, is of quite formidable length. So difficult would be the task of constructing a full and accurate biography, that we have not felt warranted in undertaking it Such titles as have become known to us are in general to be found in the sketches comprising Chapter XXXIII.
XXX
OLD MILITIA DAYS
THE COLONIAL SYSTEM-THE MILITIA IN THE REVOLUTION-THE ROCKBRIDGE ORGANIZATION -MUSTER DAYS
Before the Revolution there was no standing army in any of the American colonies, and the exclusive reliance in time of war was upon the militia. In this contingency, all the white males in Virginia, if adult and able-bodied, were sup- posed to be subject to the call of the county lieutenants. The commissioned of- ficers were nominated by the county court and confirmed by the governor.
The day of general muster was the fourth Tuesday of September. There was a company muster every three months. The private went to muster or to war in his ordinary clothes. The hunting shirt, sometimes of one color and some- times of another, and the coonskin cap were so typical on the frontier as to serve the purpose of uniform. The militiaman took his own rifle or smooth-bored gun, and in his belt were a hunting knife and a tomahawk. The company officer seem generally to have dressed like the privates and to have carried his rifle and pow- der-horn, the same as his soldiers.
A commission in the military service was esteemed very honorable, and was regarded as a stepping stone to something higher. Yet it was only the officer with a strong inborn power of leadership who could exert much influence over the frontiersman. The latter was almost without any sense of military ethics, and could not see why his neighbor should have any designated right to give orders. He was not inclined to obey except when it suited his pleasure to do so. His lack of precaution as well as discipline often caused him to run into an ambuscade, or to permit the Indian to get close to his stockade without being seen. His "tour of duty" was seldom for more than three months, and frequently it was for not more than one or two months. While thus absent the pay of the private was from a shilling to a shilling and a half a day.
During the Revolution there was no radical change in the method of public defense. A standing army was held in so great suspicion that it was all but im- possible to convince the leaders of affairs of the unwisdom of pitting an insubordi- nate militia against trained regulars. Nevertheless, a considerable number of men were enlisted in the Continental service. When trained by professional drillmasters, many of whom were foreigners, they could hold their own against the best of the redcoats. This shows that it was not the mien themselves who were at fault, but the system, or rather the lack of system. Occasionally, as at King's Mountain and the Cowpens, and to a partial extent at Guilford, the militia
2.2
A HISTORY OF ROCK RIME COUNTY, VIRGINIA
fought to good purpose. But in general their propensity to take to their heels cau ed them to be Fed in contempt by the Continentats and to be sworn at by the Ingher officers. No minhaman could tell how Is comrades might act. They were easily demoralized, and when this was the case, each person looked out tur lansert. Few of their officers had a practical knowledge of the art of war, and were consequently the less able to tuin raw, willtul material into good solchery a month or two. Washington, Morgan, Henry Lee, and other leaders under- stood the situation perfectly, but had to contend with opposition from men like Jefferson, who, with respect to military matters were impractical and metticient. But for the influence of men like hun, the war might have ended in 1777 instead of 1781.
Some light on the comparative merit of the trained and untrained soldiers of the Revolution can be gathered by reading their appuications for pension. In the case of a veteran who had served in a Continental regiment, we find that he usually Had seen considerable of the war. Not infrequently he was wounded or captured in some important engagement. But when the militiaman was out on several tours, the aggregate seldom amounted to a year of service, and we come ujan the very frequent statement that the applicant "was in no battle."
The militia companies of Augusta were expected to consist of expert rifle- men. Each so dier was to "furnish himself with a good rifle, if to be had, other- wie with a tomahawk, common firelock, bayonet, pouch or cartouch box, and three charges of powder and ball." If the ritleman made an affidavit that he could not supply himself as above, the equipment was to be furmsled at public expense. For providing his own equipment, he was to be allowed a rental of one pund a year. Ilis daily pay was to be twenty-one cents. From this was de- ducted an allowance for "hunting shirt, a pair of leggings, and binding for his hat."
After American independence was accomplished. Virginia was divided in- to div non , brigade, and regimental districts. The militia of this county belonged to the Thirteenth Brigade District, which lay in the Third Division District. In 17 9 there were five companies in each of the two battalions of the Eighth Reg- mest, Int in the year following there were six companies in each battalion. A gr radler and a rifle con pany are mentioned in 1794, and one company each of cavalry, artillery, and light infantry in 1815. A divi ion into two regiments seems to Dave taken place in 1807, in which year we find mention of the Third Regiment.
To cach divi ion were attached ene regiment of cavalry and one of artillery The regiment, consisting of at least 400 men and commanded by a colonel, was di- vided into two battahons, one commanded by the lientenant-colonel and one hy the maior Lach battalion Had a stand of colors. In each company were one captain, two firet licutenants, two second lieutenants, five sergeants, and six cor-
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OLD MILITIA DAYS
porals. The ensign, a commissioned officer having charge of the colors and ranking below the second lieutenant, was dispensed with after the war of 1812. On the staff of the colonel was one quartermaster, one paymaster, one surgeon, one surgeon's mate, one adjutant with the rank of captain, one sergeant major, one quartermaster-sergeant, two principal musicians, and drum and fife majors. Each company had one drum and either a fife or a bugle. A failure to attend muster meant a fine, usually seventy-five cents, and this was put into the hands of the sheriff for collection.
Regimental muster came off in April or May, and was preceded by a three days, training of the officers, who were gaily appareled. Their costume included a hat with dangling feathers and a long, swallow-tailed dark-blue coat with eqauletts and brass buttons. The privates were uniformed and sometimes car- ried canes or umbrellas in place of arms.
The day of general muster was the event of the year. It brought to town a great crowd of both sexes and races and all ages. The costumes presented all the colors imaginable. There were sheet-covered wagons with little tables in front, loaded with sweet cider, ginger ale, half-moon pies, lemonade, coffee, and cup-shaped pound cakes. There was the military strut of the officer, the proud prancing of ribbon-decked stallions, and the soul-stirring music of drum and fife. The hour of muster was ten o'clock. As the time approached, a detachment of cavalry was sent to escort the colonel and his staff to the parade ground. Guards were posted around it to keep the field clear. After two hours of drill, during which each man kept his own step the procession came back to town, and was dissolved with the long roll, concluded with "Yankee Doodle," or some other quick, lively tune. The colonel then complimented his men and told them how interesting they would make it for an enemy if ever they should have to meet him. There was finally the command to "break ranks, march." The sequel was a general imbibing of liquids much stronger than those vended at the tables in front of the wagons. This had its inevitable accompaniment of fights and bloody faces. There was noise and fuss of every description. It was a day of "rare frolic for the boys, a scary time for the mothers, and a busy time for the magis- trates and constables."
As a practical instrumentality, the militia system of that period was little better than a farce. Its inefficiency appears in the fact that before the middle of the century it had broken down and continued to exist only on paper.
XXXI
A ROCKBRIDGE HALL OF FAME
I.MIGRATION FROM THE COUNTY-NOTABLE NAMES
Almost from the very dawn of settlement there has been a persistent em- igration from Rockbridge. Like all agricultural communities of its class, this county has been a nursery ground for the peopling of newer portions of the Union. For a long while the outflow was almost wholly toward the points in the western half of the compass dial. Emigrants from this locality were in the fore- front in pcopling the Bluegrass region of Kentucky. So many of the sons and daughters of Rockbridge poured into the Valley of East Tennessee as to make some of its counties-Blount, for instance-look like colonies of Rockbridge. Some of the later emigrants did not pause until they reached the Pacific coast or the vicinity of the Rio Grande.
But during the last quarter-century the castern half of the compass dial is claiming some attention. The Great West has lost its pristine newness, and the Atlantic seaboard presents certain attractions. There is an appreciable reflex movement felt even as far as the Pacific. The outgoing tide from Rockbridge may be termed cosmopolitan, so far as the boundaries of the American Republic are concerned.
It is significant that from the center of the county, where there was the most slavery as well as the most wealth, the emigrants used to find the greatest attraction in the planting districts of the South and Southwest. But from the western border the emigrant has been much more inclined to settle west of the Ohio.
The people of Rockbridge have been a rather prolific stock. Had the rate of increase which was true of all America until 1840 been maintained to the pres- ent year, and had there been an iron law to keep any person from moving out, this county would now contain as many inhabitants as the city of Washington. It will thus appear that the people of Rockbridge birth or ancestry who live outside our borders are vastly more numerous than the people actually within them.
The colonial imigrants from U'lster were the pick of that region. The other people who took part in the subjugation of the Rockbridge wilderness were among the more energetic of the dwellers along the Atlantic coast. The fusion of these elements produced a stock virile, forceful, and intellectual. That from it should come statesmen, soldiers, explorers, professional men, writers, and in- ventors, was a more natural consequence Of the celebrities from Rockbridge
REV. HENRY W MCLAUGHLIN, D. D Pastor New Providence Presbyterian Church October, 1909 There have been only eight pastors of New Providence Presbyterian Church in 173 years of its history.
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Disotell to the edi ation of turis and Young Women In ats fitts third scar Principals Res F. H Rowe Prof R | Durham
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A ROCKBRIDGE HALL OF FAME
named in "Augusta County, Virginia, in the History of the United States," fifty- three are contributed by four families : the McDowells, the Dunlaps, the Logans, and the McKees.
No attempt to construct a Rockbridge Hall of Fame can result in complete- ness. To sift out from the major and minor celebrities of America all the names traceable to a Rockbridge source is a hopeless undertaking. In this chapter we mention only such names as have come to our notice.
Furthermore, Rockbridge has been much honored by men and women who were born and reared elsewhere, yet came here to live, sometimes not until the evening of their days had arrived. The influences that drew them here lay very much in the two great educational institutions of Lexington. Conspicuous among the personages of this class are Robert E. Lee, the foremost chieftain of the Confederacy ; Stonewall Jackson, the right arm of Lee; Matthew F. Maury, the "Pathfinder of the Scas"; John Brown and William Graham, founders of Liberty Hall Academy; Henry Ruffner and George Junkin, presidents of Washington College ; Francis H. Smith, fifty years the head of the Virginia Military Institute; John W. Brockenbrough, jurist and teacher of law, David H. Hill, the soldier- professor ; J. Randolph Tucker, authority on constitutional law ; William L. Wis- son, congressman, cabinet officer, and university president ; John M. Brooke, the professor who planned the ironclad Merrimac and made occan cables possible by his device for determining the depth of the ocean ; and finally, the authoresses, Margaret Junkin Preston and Susan P. Lee.
It would be very interesting to know to a certainty how many counties, cit- ies, and towns in our forty-eight states have been named for Rockbridge men. As to counties, we know of more than are to be found in Arizona, Delaware, Ne- vada, or Wyoming, or in any of the six New England states.
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