USA > Virginia > Rockbridge County > Rockbridge County > A history of Rockbridge County, Virginia > Part 35
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Even after the dastardly sinking of the Lusitania, the diplomatic corres- pondence with Germany was accompanied by a considerable measure of confi- dence on the part of the American people, that war would not result. In October, General Nichols spoke in Richmond on the subject of preparedness. He fay- ored preparedness as a necessary means of enforcing peace. He urged an adequate navy and standing army, a reserve corps of officers and enlisted men. and a more generous action on the part of the national government in support- ing the militia of the several states.
But until the United States entered the war in April, 1917. the Rockbridge
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newspapers gave little space to the conflict, except as to the telegraphic news on the front page. As in 1801, the people of this county were not precipitant. Yet they were quick to rise to the situation when the crisis did arrive.
Two months before the war definitely came to the United States, Doctor Latane used these words in addressing the Democratic Club of Baltimore: "We must fight. No self-respecting nation can sit still while its ships are being kept in port by a submarine blockade of a foreign power." Next month Congress- man Flood spoke to the same effect in Washington. In 1915 he had said that "neither the President nor the United States are afraid of war when the honor of the country is at stake."
A meeting was held in the courthouse at Lexington, March 26th, to discuss the relations between our country and Germany. William A. Anderson called the assemblage to order. E. L. Graham was made permanent chairman, and J. W. McClung secretary. Doctor D. B. Easter spoke on the nature of the government of Germany, Colonel R. T. Kerlin on the issues of the war, Doctor F. I .. Riley on the failure of diplomacy, and General E. W. Nichols on what the United States can and ought to do. The meeting was also addressed by Colonel Hunter Pendleton, M. W. Paxton, and others. Numerous flags ap- peared on the courthouse, and the anti-German spirit of the audience was very pronounced. The following resolutions were adopted by a unanimous vote :
Resolved : That we urge Congress and the President of the United States to put an end to the present state of armed neutrality, assumed by this country towards the Furopcan conflict, by declaring war, or that a state of war exists between this country and Germany. and we furthermore urge the prosecution of such war with the utmost vigor, and with all our national resources.
At Fairfield, April 11th, a national flag, eight by twelve feet in size, was raised on a flagstaff sixty-five feet high. A week later Congress declared war. although the military aristocrats of Germany told their deluded countrymen that the action of America could not have the slightest effect on the outcome The e arrogant taskmatters were to learn to their cost that Americans learn war with speed and proscente it with unequalled efficiency.
The war activities of Rockbridge were in the hands of efficient men and were well organized. Particularly was this true of the filling in of the ques- tionaires required of the men called out by the selective draft. Whenever the situation required it, the professional and busienss men of the county gave their whole time to these new duties.
Very speedily after the declaration of war a military camp was opened by Washington and Lce University. Enthusiasm ran high, nearly every student signifying his desire to take two years of training Before the close of April drilling was carried on every day. A committee of the faculty began enlisting the talents and capacity of both faculty and students for such special services
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as they might be called on to perform. The first unit to begin training was a volunteer ambulance corps. In June, 1918, it was given the croix de guerre for gallantry in the removal of wounded from the battle front. Had the war con- tinued into 1919, military training would have been still further emphasized at Washington and Lee. It was the purpose of its authorities to enroll every student who was not physically disqualified. After October 1, 1918, all the students of military age who were detailed by the War Department for instruc- tion in the army training schools were placed under military control and discip- line. Already, the Doremus gymnasium and Castle Hill had been offered as a base hospital. Of the alumni of the university, 17.7 per cent. entered the mili- tary service of their country.
At the Virginia Military Institute, as a matter of course, the military feature was even more pronounced. The attendance was record-breaking. This school sent out in all about 2,000 soldiers. Its parade ground was a scene of great activity in drill. By April 25, sixty tents had been set up in front of the barracks. Nearly 100 men were already in its training camp, and applica- tions were coming in daily. At a meeting held in May by the Virginia Council of Defense, General Nichols counseled putting a stop to the further distillation of alcoholic liquor from foodstuffs.
May 16, 1917, was Patriotic Day, and was fittingly celebrated in Lexington. Over 1,000 men marched in the morning procession, which was followed at one o'clock by a parade of 100 automobiles. At eleven o'clock in the morning there were stirring addresses at the courthouse by President Smith and William A. Anderson. A resolution introduced by Colonel Shields declared for conser- vation and economy and an increase in production. The following Sunday, Henry St. George Tucker gave an address on patriotism in the Methodist Church of Lexington. At the end of the month, Miss Elizabeth Mccullough, of Missouri, arrived at Lexington to assume the duties of Woman Demonstrator for Rockbridge.
The first registration day was June 5th, and was conducted by Sheriff R. L. Morrison, Colonel A. T. Shields, and Doctor C. H. Davidson. The number em- braced in the first draft, as estimated by the War Department, was 1650. The actual number was 1283 whites and 236 negroes. In the same month, B. E. Vaughan, president of the First National Bank of Lexington, accepted a call to represent the Tenth Congressional District on a committee of the American Bankers' Association for Virginia. The following citizens organized themselves into a committee of solicitation for the placing of the first Liberty Loan :
Town of Lexington
Major J. W. McClung, Chairman
Lexington District
L. G. Sheridan, B. P. Ainsworth
E. T. Robinson, S. O. Campbell Natural Bridge District
A HISTORY OF ROCKBRIDGE COUNTY, VIRGINIA
Buffalo District . Benjamin Huger. P. M. Penick
Kerr's Creek District Frank Moore, S. M. Dunlap
Walker's Creek District D. E. Strain, A. P. Wade
South River District . Dr. F. W. McCluer, F. 1 .. McClung, J. McD. Adair To the first Liberty Loan the subscription of the county was $207,606, the trustees of Washington and Lee deciding to invest $20,000.
As early as July the Lexington Branch of the National League for Woman's Service, working in a room on Washington street, sent off their fourth box, containing bandages worth $100.
The first contribution from Rockbridge by the selective draft left Lexington for Camp Lee. September 9th. It was made up of Charles P. Bragg, Howard F. Giles, Clem L. Irvine, Stokes K. Reid. Henry Rooklin, Martin B. Shafer, Thomas R. Simpson, Walter W. Thomas, and Samuel M. Wood. A second group of six- ty-eight men went off September 20th. A third, of sixty, went out October 9th. after being banqueted at the Hotel Lexington by the business men of the town. A delegation of thirty colored men left October 27th, accompanied to the station by a colored band and by hundreds of other persons both white and colored.
Already, there was a suggestion to perpetuate the name of the Rockbridge Artillery of the war of 1861. The plan struck a very responsive chord Organ- ization was effected at the courthouse, July 7. in a meeting presided over by W. A Anderson and P. M Penick, and addressed by General Nichols So far as po sible, the membership of the battery was to be limited to the sons of Confederate veterans. The company, 140 strong and commanded by Captain Greenlee D Letcher, was mustered into service August 4, as a part of the First Regiment of the Virginia Artillery. It drilled at Camp Mcclellan, Annis- ton, Alabama, and in October subscribed $12,750 to the Liberty Loan. The command reached France the next July, and was to have taken a position on the firing line. November 15. The armistice was signed four days too soon for this expectation to be realized.
Earle K Paxton, county chairman on the conservation of food. appointed as local committee, Wilham R. Kennedy, and Misses Elizabeth Mccullough, Evelyn Davis, and Elizabeth Barclay.
A large audience assembled in the auditorium of the Lexington High School to hear addres es on the war savings drive by the Honorable D. P. Hal- sey, of Lynchburg, and Judge M P Burks, of the Supreme Court of Virginia.
For the first week of 1918, the three letter carriers in Lexington reported selling Thrift Stamps to the amount of $1500 16 The purchases by the white pupils of Lexington am unted to more than $1,000. The same month the Red Cross Chapter for Lexington sent out as hospital supplies, fifty-two bedsocks. seventeen pajamas, fifty-five tray covers, eighty-nine washcloths, fifty-eight
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comfort pillows, fifteen knitted squares, nine fracture pillows, eighty-four hand- kerchiefs, 5,900 wipers, and a box of linen. 171 sweaters were also sent out the same month. In February the membership of the Red Cross for Rockbridge was 1,705, distributed as follows: Lexington, 944; Brownsburg, 143; Fairfield, forty-one; Goshen, fifty-eight; Glasgow, sixty-six; New Monmouth, ninety- three; Natural Bridge, seventy; Murat, forty-eight; Raphine, 137; Vesuvius, sixty-nine; Timber Ridge, thirty-six. About this time several lady teachers were at work in the courthouse to assist in the draft registration.
In March the subscription for Camp Community Service was $932.73, the mark being $1,000. At the end of the thrift drive for April, a large meeting was addressed by the Honorable George E. Allen, Secretary of the American Bank- ers' Association. Sales of $2,063.69 were reported from the three booths. The ladies attending these were Dora Witt, Helen Campbell, Marion L. Becton, Harriet Edwards, Lucy Patton, Leslie L. Weaver, Nell Carrington, and Elizabeth Mccullough. John L. Campbell was the presiding officer.
April 6 was an ideal day for the Liberty Loan parade which then took place. The chief marshal was Major M. F. Shields, of the Virginia Military Institute, and he had fifty assistants. The number of visitors in Lexington was 5,000. The drive of the Third Liberty Loan closed May 4, Rockbridge being al- lotted $246,200, and subscribing $326,700. In one week in April the Lexington High School sold Thrift Stamps to the amount of $475.95. The county's quota was thus distributed :
Lexington Town $123,300 Natural Bridge District $35,800
Buena Vista .79,300 Kerr's Creek District 4,200
Lexington District 5,600
Walker's Creek District 41,650
Buffalo District 6,050 South River District 31,300
In the summer of 1918 service flags were presented to New Providence Presbyterian Church and to Trinity Methodist Church of Lexington, the stars thereon numbering twenty-five and twenty-one, respectively. In the registration of September 9, 2302 white and 305 colored men registered. October 1, the Students' Army Training Corps began work with six tactical officers.
The ministers of Rockbridge agreed to preach sermons on the thrift drive. March 24, 1918. The county has but a small representation among the non- resistant religious organizations. Consequently the "conscientious objector" was little in evidence. Neither were slackers conspiculously numerous, in compari- son with other counties. As was the case elsewhere, selfishness and money-get- ting were at the bottom of some of the claims for exemption from the draft; more so than a deficient sense of patriotic duty. In July, 1918, several men were reported hiding in the Blue Ridge and in the Short Hills. The following Octo- ber six deserters skulking in the Blue Ridge were brought in from Irish Creek.
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Another died from the gunshot wound inflicted by a constable, the officer being exonerated.
Throughout the war period it was never possible not to observe at Lexing- ton that the United States was in the throes of a mighty struggle. The injunctions to conserve food, fuel, and clothing were well observed, although in the winter of 1917-18 wood was scarce and high at Lexington. Among the young men who first went to the training camps, there was somewhat of a feeling that they were destined for the shambles. This was due to an exaggerated idea of the mortality on the European battle line, and it wore off considerably as the con- test advanced. The epidemic of influenza, which appeared in the county before the signing of the armistice, claimed a greater death toll among the people at home than among the Rockbridge soldiers who faced German bullets and gas bombs. The granting of furloughs had a salutary effect. It could not but be noticed that the young men in khaki were improving in carriage, physique, and case of deportment.
As a center of military activity, Lexington had a number of visitors during the war period. In September, 1917, Lieutenant J. J. Champenois, of the French army, visited the Virginia Military Institute as an adviser of the United States Army. He spoke English fluently. Next May two crippled Canadian soldiers gave very realistic lectures at Washington and Lee University. The same month Lieutenant T. McP. Glasgow related his experiences in Europe to a very large audience at the High School. At the end of August Thomas A. Edison and Henry Ford were guests at Castle Hill.
The commendation of Company G, Second Battalion, at the Officers' Train- ing Camp, Plattsburg, New York, was of especial interest. All but six of the 146 members were from the Virginia Military Institute. Out of 219 Virginians present, only eighteen were not considered good material for commissioned of- ficers.
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SUPPLEMENTARY ITEMS
MATERIAL RECEIVED TOO LATE FOR INSERTION IN OTHER CHAPTERS*
At the court of Orange for October 27, 1737, Benjamin Borden presented by certificate thirteen wolf-heads, supplied by John McDowell, George Robin- son and Robert McCoy.
The following, all heads of families, were presented by the Orange court, May 24, 1739, for failing to give in on time their lists of tithables : Robert Mor- phet, George Morphet, James Greenlee, John McDuel, Ephriam McDuel, Richard Wood, William Wood.
John McDowell proved, February 28, 1740, the importation of himself, Magdalene (wife), Samuel McDowell, and John Rutter, stating he came to America in 1737, and that "this is the first time of proving his and their rights to land." The proof for Ephraim, James, and Margaret McDowell was given in by John, the parent being too infirm to travel to court.
William Sawyer, was appointed constable in Borden Tract, May 23, 1740. Benjamin Borden made oath, 1741, he was in fear of his life from George Moffett. Moffett was bound in twenty pounds.
Gilbert Campbell and Joseph Lapsley were constables in Borden Tract, 1743.
Peter Wallice, John Collier, and George Birdwell each bound in twenty pounds to go to Williamsburg as witnesses of the killing of Andrew Hemphill by Matthew Young,-1745.
Prices (taken from chancery suits), 1741-43 : handkerchiefs, 30c; muslin, per yard, $1.00; one pair knitting needles, 5c; one fine comb, 41c ; sickle, $1.50; frying pan, 83c ; broadaxe, $1.08; weeding hoe, $2.33; felt hat, 66c; one ounce thread, 4c; one ounce cinnamon, 25c; Kendale cotton per yard, 18c ; calico per yard, 72c ; brimstone per pound, 12c ; 500 feet plank, $7.50; lead, llc; two sows, seven shoats, $5.67.
In Donoho v. Borden, Charles Donoho says Benjamin Borden had an order of council to take up 100,000 acres on several conditions, one of which was that Borden should have a patent for the same when he could prove 100 settlements had been made thereon; this in lieu of paying his majesty's rights for the land. Immediately after obtaining the order, Borden set up several advertisements, and continued to do so for upward of two years. To any person who would build
*NOTE: This appendix is largely from material supplied by Mr. Boutwell Dunlap, of San Francisco.
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A HISTORY OF ROCKORIIX,I. COUNTY, VIRGINIA
a little log house, or make other small improvements, so that he might be ac- counted one of the 100 settlers, Borden promised to give 100 acres adjacent to such improvement, and to sell as much more land as he would buy at the rates of three pounds for each 100 acres. Such improvements were to be made by April 1, 1738. The settler was to pay for drawing and recording the deed, and was also to pay eight shillings for laying off each tract. If any person were to settle on different parts of the grant he was to have a right to 100 acres for each separate improvement. Doncho made three such settlements, but Borden entirely refused to carry out his obligations.
Magdalena McDowell gave bond March 24, 1743, as administratrix of John McDowell. The appraisement of 112 entries totals 216 pounds, four shillings. three and one-half pence, of which forty-nine pounds, sixteen shillings, ten pence is cash. There are fourteen horses, eighteen cattle, seven sheep, a still. and thirty gallons rye brandy valued at $12.50. There were two slaves and one servant The fall crop of wheat and rye was appraised at $10, the flax at $15
The road by Stuart's Draft was the old pioneer route for people going southwest, and at certain seasons there was an almost endless procession of wagons. A part of the travel, however, went by Goshen. It was customary for statesmen and politicians to make speeches in the towns they passed through. Many of them must have paused at Lexington. This circumstance, and also the schools, probably made Rockbridge less provincial than most counties of the antebellum South.
Of the twenty-four commissioners to report on the proposed University of Virginia, all but three met in Rockfish Gap. August 1, 1818. Thomas Jefferson. the chairman, presented a model of the state in cardboard and a long list of octo- genarians to prove that Charlottesville was mere centrally located than either Staunton or Lexington, and also very healthful. All the fifteen commissioners from cast of the Blue Ridge voted for Charlottesville. Of the other nine, three voted for Lexington, two for Staunton, and only one for Central College, at Charlottesville- Washington Academy was the most dangerous rival, its property bring worth $25,000, and the Robinson estate believed to be worth $100,000 The Einenmati Society was at first hostile to Charlottesville.
According to a phamplet by Harman and Mayo, published in 1868, a hunting party of Cherokees was ordered out of the Little Calfpasture by the Shawnees. who claimed an exclusive right to it The Cherokees refused, and in the battle that followed the Shawnees were defeated. But as the victors were fewer in number, they threw up fortifications still visible and were besieged several days. They then retreated in the dark, were pursued, and were driven through Goshen Pars The fighting was renewed on a more sanguinary scale on Walker's Creek. Jar above the yells of the warriors could be hicard a wild shriek from the sun-
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mit of Jump Mountain. An apparition with streaming hair and outstretched arms was seen falling through the air and disappearing at the foot of the preci- pice. The superstitious fears of the combatants were aroused. Both parties be- lieved the Great Spirit was angry and had hid his face under a cloud. A council was called, the pipe of peace was smoked, and the tomahawk was buried. Both the Cherokees and Shawnees buried their dead in a single mound. Before the fight the Cherokees sent their females some distance to the rear, except a pretty maiden, whose interests in a young chief induced her to climb the mountain and watch the battle. She beheld her lover fall at the hands of a Shawnee, and then leaped to her death, the mountain henceforward being given the name of the Jump.
We have given the substance of the above account for what it is worth, which is very little.
The paternal grandfather of Joseph G. Baldwin was a native of Connecticut, who set up in Rockbridge the first woolen and cotton mill in the Valley of Vir- ginia. He wrote "Flush Times of Alabama and Mississippi," dedicating it to "the old folks at home in the valley of the Shenandoah."
WV. A. Caruthers was well known in Savannah, Georgia, for his congenial ways and his skill as a physician. He was an antiquarian and hoarded an old tale or tradition as a treasure. He wrote "Cavaliers of Virginia," a story of Bacon's rebellion, "The Kentuckian in New York (1834)" a humorous and sociologically valuable narrative of early days, and "Knights of the Horse- shoe." (1845.)
Archibald Alexander was perhaps the most influential man of his day in moulding religious thought.
James C. Ballagh, a son of the Rev. James H. Ballagh, was born at Browns- burg, October 10, 1868. His studies were completed at the Johns Hopkins Uni- versity where he specialized in history, economics, and jurisprudence, won prizes and took the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. In 1895 he was made assistant professor of history. He has travelled over the greater part of the world, and is the author of numerous works, such as "The Scotch-Irish in Virginia" (1896,) "North and South in National Expansion" (1899), and "A History of Slavery in Virginia." (1902).
John Lyle Campbell, a native of this county, died at Lexington, February 2. 1886, aged sixty-seven. He wrote "Mineral Resources of the James River Valley" (1882), "Campbell's Agriculture," and was many years professor of chemistry and geology in Washington and Lec.
Joseph Hamilton Daviess, born in Rockbridge March 4, 1774, was killed in 1811 at the battle of Tippecanoe. His wife was a sister to John Marshall, chief justice of the United States. In being chosen to prosecute Aaron Burr, he became
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temporarily unpopular. Hence he published "A View of the President's Con- duct Concerning the Conspiracy of 1806."
John Finlay, a poct, was born in Rockbridge January 11, 1797, and died in Richmond, Inchiana, at the age of sixty-nine. He was the author of "The Hoo- sier's Nest and Other Poems."
John Leyburn, D. D., was born in this county April 25, 1814. He was edi- tor of The Presbyterian, and was twenty years a pastor at Baltimore. He wrote "The Soldier of the Cross," "Hints to Young Men on the Parable of the Prodi- gal Son," and "Lectures on the Journeyings of the Children of Isreal."
John G. Paxton edited an interesting collection of letters written in camp and field by his father, General E. F. Paxton. The work is prefaced by a memoir.
Givens B. Strickler was a son of Joseph and Mary ( Brown) Strickler, and was born at Wilson's Springs, April 25, 18440. After serving in the Stonewall Brigade, he completed his academic and theologie studies. After being thirteen years pastor at Tinkling Springs and the same length of time in Atlanta, he took the chair of systematic theology in Union Theological Seminary, from which he was graduated. Doctor Strickler was one of the ripest scholars and profoundest thinkers in the Presbyterian Church.
The leading works of Bishop William Taylor are "Seven Years Street Preaching in San Francisco," "The Model Preacher." "Reconciliation : or How to Be Saved," "The Story of My Life," "Infancy and Manhood of Christian Life," "Christian Adventure in South Africa," "Four Years Campaign in India," "Pauline Methods of Missionary Work," and "The Flaming Sword in Darkest Africa."
George A. Wauchope, a son of Joseph W. and Jane ( Armstrong) Walkup. studied in Harvard University and in Germany, made literary pilgrimages in England and Scotland, and is a ripe scholar with critical powers of analysis. He has lectured on the great English and American poets, and since 1910 has been profes or of English literature in the University of Virginia. Doctor Wauchepe has furnished numerous poems, essays, and short stories to the high class periodicals.
Charles McG. Hepburn, born in Rockbridge, August 19, 1858, has been profesor of law in Indiana University since 1903. He organized the American Institute of Law at the city of New York, and is the author of several books relating to his professien His father, Andrew D. Hepburn, L.L. D., was born mn l'ennslovania in 1830 After being pastor at New Providence he was presi- dent ( 1871 73) of Miami University and of Davidson College ( 1877-85.)
Charle Campbell, one of the hi torians of Virginia, was a son of John W. Campbell of this county. The son was a bookseller at Petersburg.
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