USA > Virginia > Rockingham County > Rockingham County > A history of Rockingham County, Virginia > Part 15
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Central District.
Justices of the Peace-D. Wampler Earman, F. J. Argen- bright, P. I. Derrer.
Constable-G. R. Black.
Road Commissioner-J. W. Sheets.
Assessor-Frank A. Heatwole.
Overseer of Poor-J. W. Minnich.
School Trustees-E. J. Suter, Frank Ralston, C. A. Cren- shaw.
Linville District.
Justices of the Peace-J. C. Cooper, J. P. Howver, Joel Rinker.
Constable-A. A. Frank.
Road Commissioner-C. W. Dove.
Assessor-B. F. Myers.
Overseer of Poor-W. H. Shaver.
School Trustees-John S. Funk, A. A. Howard, S. R. Bowman.
Plains District.
Justices of the Peace-J. W. Pickering, Geo. A. Neff, L. P. Souder.
Constable-T. A. Fansler.
Road Commissioner-E. P. Myers.
Assessor-M. Harvey Zirkle.
Overseer of Poor-C. F. Evans.
School Trustees-E. P. Myers, H. H. Aldhizer, J. Luther Wittig.
Stonewall District.
Justices of the Peace-John W. May, J. A. S. Kyger, John I. Wood.
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Constable-G. W. Baugher.
Road Commissioner-C. W. Baugher.
Assessor-E. L. Lambert.
Overseer of Poor-J. F. Life.
School Trustees-A. S. Bader, A. S. Kemper, J. T. Heard.
Representatives in General Assembly. Senate-John Paul. House of Delegates-C. H. Ralston, G. N. Earman.
CHAPTER XI. TOWNS AND VILLAGES OF ROCKINGHAM.
It appears from the "American Gazetteer" that in 1798 there was only one postoffice in Rockingham County. This one was at Harrisonburg, which was put down as "Rock- ingham Court House."1 The old postoffice, just west of Har- risonburg, noticed more particularly in the next chapter, had probably been absorbed by the one at the court house by 1798. In 1813 there were only three postoffices in the county: Harrisonburg, or Rockingham C. H., Henry Tutwiller, P. M .; MGaheystown, Tobias R. MGahey, P. M .; Kites Mill, Jacob Kite, P. M.ยบ In Martin's Gazetteer of Virginia, edi- tion 1835, the following towns are put down as in Rocking- ham County: Bowman's Mill, P. O., Brock's Gap, P. O., Conrad's Store, P. O., Cross Keys, P. O., Harrisonburg, Kite's Mills, P. O., Linville Creek, P. O., McGaheysville, P.O., Mount Crawford, Port Republic, and Smith's Creek, P. O.3 Harrisonburg, Mt. Crawford, and Port Republic are fol- lowed by the letters "P.V.," which supposedly stand for "postal village." The population of these three villages is given (1835) as 1,000, 180, and 160, respectively. In 1845, or thereabouts, Henry Howe visited Harrisonburg, Mt. Craw- ford, Port Republic, Deaton (Dayton), and Edom Mills. He says Mt. Crawford then had a church and about 30 dwellings; Port Republic, a church, and about 35 dwellings; Deaton and Edom Mills he calls "small places." Harrisonburg is cred-
1. A copy of the American Gazetteer, abridged edition of 1798, was loaned by Mr. E. M. Whitesel, Pleasant Valley, per Mr. Q. G. Kaylor.
2. For these items I am indebted to the researches of Mr. Milo Custer, Bloomington, Ill. Kite's Mill was probably on the river below Elkton.
3. I am indebted to Hon. Geo. E. Sipe for the loan of Martin's Virginia Gazetteer for 1835.
ROCKINGHAM COUNTY
ited (1845) with 8 stores, 2 newspaper offices, a market, 1 Methodist church, 2 Presbyterian churches, and about 1100 people.4
It is quite probable that one of the oldest centers of trade in what is now Rockingham was at Peale's Cross Roads, the point 5 miles southeast of Harrisonburg, where the roads from Swift Run Gap and Brown's Gap come around the end of Peaked Mountain and cross the Keezletown Road. Felix Gilbert had a store at or near this point in 1774, and likely had been located there for a number of years preceding. A tanyard and other productive establishments marked the place later.
With these statements as introductory, let us take up the several towns in more detail.
Harrisonburg, laid out upon 50 acres of land belong- ing to Thomas Harrison, was legally established in May, 1780, by the same Act that gave recognition to the town of Louisville, in the county of Kentucky.5 The place in early days was often called Rocktown; for example, Bishop Asbury designates it by that name in his journal, in 1795; and as late as 1818, perhaps later, the name Rocktown was frequently used. It is said that German Street was originally the main street, and what is now Main Street was then called Irish Street or Irish Alley.
In 1797 the town was enlarged by an addition of 23} acres, laid off in lots and streets, from the lands of Robert and Reuben Harrison; and Thomas Scott, John Koontz, Asher Waterman, Frederick Spangler, and Saml. McWilliams were made trustees. In 1808 an Act was passed enabling the free- holders and housekeepers resident in the town to elect five trustees annually; and by the same Act the trustees were authorized to raise $1000 by taxation for the purchase of a fire engine, hooks, and ladders. All the men of the town were to constitute the Harrisonburg Fire Company.
+. Howe's Historical Collections of Virginia, 1852 Edition, pp. 460, . 461.
5. Hening's Statutes, Vol. X, pp. 293-295.
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In the Rockingham Register of October 5, 1876, appeared a long article entitled, "Harrisonburg Fifty Years Ago," from which we quote the following paragraphs. They pre- sent a graphic account of certain interesting conditions in 1826, and thereabouts.
Jos. Cline occupied the Wm. Ott house, 6 and carried on the tanyard now owned by Lowenbach. The house on the corner was built by James Hall, lawyer, fifty years ago. The stone house attached was the first house built in Harrisonburg. It was built by Thomas Harrison. After that house was put up, Mr. Harrison offered Maj. Richard Ragan (the father of 'Aunt Polly Van Pelt'), who was a blacksmith, ten acres of land around the 'big spring' if he would bind himself to put up a shop near the spring. But the Major could not be fooled into any such a specula- tion, and he declined. At that time the ground around the spring was covered with rocks, many of the cliffs being so tall that a horse could hide behind them. There were but two practical paths to the spring, one running along by Dr. Waterman's house and the other down by the house in which A. M. Effinger lives. Subsequently the rocks and thorn bushes and other undergrowth was cleaned away, and the spring was made a resort of the ladies of the town, who used to do their washing by the spring. Clothes lines made of grape vines were provided along the branch, and after the clothes were dried they were carried home to iron. Subse- quently the trustees of the town passed an ordinance forbidding women to do their washing at the 'spring.'
Fifty years ago there were no railroads in all this country. Our mer- chants went 'below' twice a year only. It required from four to six weeks to go 'below,' lay in goods and return. The goods for Harrison- burg were sent to Fredericksburg by water, and from there brought over in wagons. It took two weeks to make the trip. The wagoners charged from $1 to $1.25 a hundred for hauling. Some goods were brought up the Valley, by way of the 'Keezletown road,' that being at that time the principal thoroughfare of the Valley.
Fifty years ago the mails were carried from Winchester to Har- risonburg in Bockett's two-horse coaches. The mail came once a week, except when the river at Mt. Jackson would be swollen by the rains, or when the roads were very bad, when the mail would not come oftener than semi-monthly. In the course of time the business of the Valley be- came so important, that the mail route was changed to a semi-weekly one. It was hard work, but Bockett actually ran from Winchester to Staun- ton in three days.
6. The Ewing building, opposite Newman Avenue, occupies the site of the Ott house. The stone house built by Th. Harrison is now Gen. Roller's law office.
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Fifty years ago there were but two churches in town, the old Meth- odist Church, which stood on the hill above the Catholic Church, and the Presbyterian Church.7
Fifty-five years ago there was no paper published in Harrisonburg. At that time Ananias Davisson, had a small office in which he printed the Kentucky Harmony and other musical works. Shortly after that Lawrence Wartmann commenced the publication of the 'Rockingham Weekly Register,' with 86 subscribers. The REGISTER list now reaches 1800.
On March 31, 1838, Samuel Shacklett, Isaac Hardesty, Jacob Rohr, Jr., Nelson Sprinkel, and Samuel Liggett were elected trustees of Harrisonburg for the ensuing year. All these gentlemen were well known residents of the town for many years, Hardesty and Shacklett being very successful merchants. Before me is an old account book used by Mr. Shacklett, containing entries made from 1851 to 1874. On one of the leaves is a carefully prepared table, of four columns, headed,
Merchants that have done business in Harrisonburg and quit, classed as follows to Wit
Broke
Neither made or Lost
Made under $10,000
Made over $10,000
In the column under "Broke" are written the names of 36 individuals and firms; under the next head, "Neither made nor Lost," are 30 names; three men, A. E. Heneberger, M. Hite Effinger, and Geo. Cline, are put down as having made under $10,000; while in the fourth column are eight names: Thos. Scott, John Graham, Jerry Kyle, Jno. F. Effinger, Isc. Hardesty, S. Henry, M. H. Effinger, and "S. S."8
By an Act of March 16, 1849, the boundaries of Harrison- burg were defined as follows:
Beginning at a point on the old Valley road, beyond the gate leading
7. "The old Methodist church on the hill" stood where the church of the Brethren now stands; the Catholic church referred to stood (1876) opposite the passenger station, on the site now occupied by the large Snell building; the Presbyterian church in 1826 was on E. Market Street.
8. This old book was placed at my disposal through the courtesy of Messrs. Sipe & Harris, Harrisonburg.
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to Mr. A. C. Bryan's farm, and in a line with the land of J. Hardesty and others; thence westwardly, on a line with the said land, to the head of a lane which intersects with the road leading to Antioch; thence from the head of said lane, in a southern direction, in a line parallel with the present western limits of said town, to a point in the Warm Springs Pike, at or near the old brewery, and on a line with the lands of Mrs. P. Kyle Liggett and others; thence east, in a line with said lands, to a point in the lots of Mrs. E. Stevens; thence northwardly, in a straight line, to the be- ginning, shall be and continue to constitute the area of the town hereto- fore known as the town of Harrisonburg, in the County of Rockingham.
The boundaries of the town have been rearranged at var- ious times since the above date; for example, in 1868, 1877, 1894, etc. On February 14 and 15, 1868, J. H. Ralston, county surveyor, made a survey which was defined in the next issue of the Register as follows:
The survey commenced at a point near Swanson's residence, about 1 mile East of the Court House. It ran thence in a Northern direction, passing east of Hilltop, R. A. Gray's property, to a point in the line between Gray & P. Liggett, thence in a North-western direction, crossing the Valley Turnpike to the North of David Yeakel's lane, on the Kratzer road. Thence with the Kratzer road, crossing the O., Alexandria and Manassas Gap Railroad, to a point near Capt. D. S. Jones' pond, thence crossing the lands of D. S. Jones to a point West of the Waterman house, thence passing West of Jackson Miller's house, to a'spring in Kyle's field, West of the brick dwelling house, thence cross- ing the H. & W. S. pike to the Toll-gate on the Valley pike, thence with the Port Republic road, to a white oak tree on the top of the hill, (not far from where Gen. Ashby was killed,) thence in a Northeastern direc- tion to the beginning.
The Woodbine Cemetery Company was chartered by the legislature in March, 1850, John Kinney, Ab. Smith, and fourteen others being named in the Act, and given the right to purchase and hold, in or near the town, not more than 15 acres of ground for the purposes specified.
In 1868 the amount of taxes levied in Harrisonburg on personal property was $1659.57, and on real estate, $2885.82; on both, $4545.39. In 1911 the total amount, on real and personal property, at a rate of 65 cents on the $100, was $22,083.80. In 1870 the population of the town was stated as 2828; at present (1912) it is, almost exactly, 5000.
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The "boom" period was marked by decided "plants" and prophecies in Harrisonburg, not all of which grew or came true; but, as already indicated, the town has had a con- stant and healthy growth. It is noted as the best horse market in the Valley. In 1899 Harrisonburg voting precinct was divided into East Harrisonburg and West Harrisonburg.
In August, 1873, Judge James Kenney wrote in his diary: "The necessity of pure water is now felt in our town"; and the question of a good water supply was agitated for a num- ber of years following. In 1883 the city fathers put in a water system, on a small scale, apparently for protection against fire. In 1886 the artesian well which was to supply the town had been put down 455 feet. In 1889 the well of J. P. Houck had been bored to a depth of 600 feet. The same year a system of water works was completed and ac- cepted by the council. In 1890 the town had a water supply from an artesian well 600 feet deep (presumably Mr. Houck's) ; and the Houck Tanning Company was putting in an electric light plant. On December 22 (1890) the electric lights were turned on for the first time. In 1895 the town took up a proposition for a better water supply, and in 1898 the present splendid system, bringing an abundant supply by gravity from Riven Rock, near Rawley Springs, was installed under the direction of N. Wilson Davis, engineer. In 1904 the town issued $60,000 in bonds for the construction of a muni- cipal light and power plant, which has been in successful operation for a number of years past.
On Christmas day, 1870, about 4 o'clock in the morning, fire broke out on the south side of the public square, and burned all the buildings over to the old stone Waterman house. The loss totaled $50,000 or $60,000.
In 1875 the first town clock for Harrisonburg was put in the court house tower.
In 1887, and thereabout, Harrisonburg had no saloons.
In 1902 the Big Spring, so long a landmark of the town, was covered over.
Among the historic houses of the town are the Harrison
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house, now Gen. John E. Roller's office; the Waterman house, south side of the public square; and Collicello, west of the freight station.
Collicello was built about 1812 by the eminent lawyer, Robert Gray; and there his 8 children, one of whom became the distinguished Col. Algernon Gray, were born.
The Waterman house, a low stone structure with dormer windows, was the residence of Dr. Asher Waterman, who built it prior to 1799. Later, it was the home of Sen. Isaac S. Pennybacker (born 1805, died 1847). In 1854 it was the original home of the Bank of Rockingham, the first bank in the county. From 1860 to 1905 it was the residence of Hon. D. M. Switzer. When Mr. Switzer came to Harrisonburg in 1843 this house was occupied by the Rev. Henry Brown, pastor of the Presbyterian church. At that time there was but one pavement in the town: that one was of stone, and lay on the north and east sides of the Waterman house, which then, and until the fire of 1870, stood more than 20 feet in advance of the other buildings on the south side of the public square.
The Harrison house is mentioned in this volume in so many connections that no special sketch is deemed necessary here.
Harrisonburg has had an organized military company throughout many years of its history; and, as already indi- cated, the beginning of its fire companies must be dated more than a century ago. The Harrisonburg fire companies in recent years have been conspicuous in the State conventions and contests, winning notable honors at Staunton in 1893, at Portsmouth in 1894, at Roanoke in 1912, and at other places at other times. They are doing a fine service in Harrison- burg, and occasionally in neighboring towns.
In July, 1897, shortly after the fire laddies of Harrison- burg had distinguished themselves at Winchester, the follow- ing lines by M. J. McGinty, of New York, appeared in the Register:
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CKEPRICE CLOTHING DM SWITZER & SON.
Switzer Building Waterman House | Pages 192, 354]
The Chinkapin Tree [Page 406]
Old Town Hall, Bridgewater [Page 199] Photo by Furry
Fertile Farm Lands on Cook's Creek
ROCKINGHAM COUNTY
All hail to the laddies, those knights of the reel, The quick-sprinting victors, with hearts true as steel; All hail to the firemen, victorious and brave, Slaves only to duty-their mission to save. * * *
All hail to the champions! Our hats off to you; O, here's to the invincible wing-footed crew! We drink to your health! may your record remain As a shaft for all time to your worth and your fame.
* * *
The present municipal officers of Harrisonburg are: Mayor-John H. Downing. Recorder-John G. Yancey, Jr. Assessor-R. Lee Woodson.
Treasurer-Henry A. Sprinkel.
Sergeant-J. E. Altaffer.
Councilmen-J. S. Bradley, A. M. Loewner, T. E. Se- brell, R. Lee Allen, T. N. Thompson, D. C. Devier, V. R. Slater, F. F. Nicholas, J. M. Snell.
Keezletown, or, as it was first written, Keisell's-Town, was laid off on 100 acres of land belonging to George Keisell, and established by law under an Act of Assembly passed December 7, 1791. Seven gentlemen, George Houston, George Carpinter, Martin Earhart, Peter Nicholass, John Snapp, John Swisher, and John Pierce, were made trustees.9 It is said that a good deal of rivalry had developed between Thomas Harrison and Mr. Keisell in the effort to locate per- manently the county-seat, the former championing Harrison- burg, the latter Keisell's-Town. In fact, a rather entertain- ing story is told of how, on one occasion, the two gentlemen ran (more exactly, rode) a race to Richmond in the interests of their respective enterprises, in which, by the merest chance, Mr. Keisell was outdistanced by his rival.
In 1844 Houck, Hosler & Co. were advertising the open- ing of a general store at "Huffman's Tavern establishment in Keezletown." Shepp's spring, near the village, is said to
9. Hening's Statutes, Vol. 13, page 297.
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supply fine mineral water. The people of the community are intelligent and enterprising, and give good support to their schools and churches. The population of Keezletown is about 225.
The following interesting account of McGaheysville and the man for whom it was named has been supplied, upon special request, by Mr. Richard Mauzy.
McGaheysville is located eleven miles east of Harrisonburg on the Stanardsville turnpike, and on "Stony Run," appropriately named, which has its source between the main longitudinal ranges of the Massanutten mountain, locally called "The Kettle," and flows through the center of the village, and, two miles below, empties into the Shenandoah River.
This village is, as the Irishman said of his pig, "Little, but ould."
Its name dates from 1801 when the first postoffice was established there with Tobias Randolph McGahey as Postmaster, for whom the village was named.
Among the first, if not the first to settle there, was Thos. Mauzy, (the eldest son of Henry Mauzy of Fauquier Co., Va., by his second marriage,) who settled there in the latter part of the 18th century, and owned the property which he sold in 1805 to his youngest brother Joseph, where the latter did business and reared his family and lived till his death in December, 1863, and where his son Richard now resides, having been owned by the Mauzys for 115 years consecutively.
Thos. Mauzy also owned the farm and mill on the Shenandoah River where the Harrisonburg Electric plant is now located, which he sold in 1822.
Though the population has increased slowly with time, the number and variety of industries have decreased, owing to the combination of capital and to the establishment of factories which made private enter- prises unprofitable.
About 75 years ago there were in the village several tailor shops, shoemaker shops, cabinet and carpenter shops, hatter shops, wheel- wright-shop, blacksmith shops, a tannery, and one store of general merchandise.
The following are the names of some of the citizens who lived there about that time:
Dr. Darwin Bashaw, Dr. Hitt, Joseph Mauzy, Christopher Wetzel, Peter Bolinger, A. J. O. Bader, Philip Rimel, John Garrett, John and Jacob Leap, Solomon and Jacob Pirkey, John and Augustus Shumate, Zebulon and David Gilmore, David Irick, Allison Breeden, Jacob Fultz, and Geo. Brill.
The following with reference to the man for whom the village was
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named, furnished by his granddaughter, Miss Alice McGahey, will be of interest:
Tobias Randolph McGahey was born in Dover, Delaware, March 24, 1765. He came to this valley with a Scotch-Irish colony when a young man. In 1801, when a postoffice was established there, he was appointed postmaster, and the office was called McGaheysville. In 1802 he married Mrs. Eva Conrad, a wealthy widow of one of the first settlers in the Valley, and a resident of McGaheysville. They remained 19 years at this place, when his wife died.
His occupation, when he first came to the Valley, was surveying. He also built flouring mills in Shenandoah, Page, Rockingham, and Augusta counties, and afterwards, in 1827, engaged in the mercantile business at Bonny Brook, on a farm he owned there, one mile northeast of McGa- heysville.
His mother (Mrs. Barnes) was a notable character in the village. She taught school, and not only taught the girls to read, write, and cipher, but to sew, knit, and paint. She lived to an old age and did much good in her journey of life.
During his first wife's time, Mr. McGahey lived where A. S. Bader now resides, and reared three nieces and two nephews.
It is said that McGaheysville was first called "Ursulas- burg," in honor of a Mrs. Long, a native of Switzerland, who lived near.10 The present population of the village is about 350. It has one of the best schools in the county.
Port Republic is one of the oldest towns in Rockingham, and in the 20's and 30's, after the South Shenandoah had been made navigable for floatboats, was, in the happy phrase of Mr. Richard Mauzy, a place of great expectations. The fol- lowing paragraph, from an Act of Assembly passed January 14, 1802, gets us back to formal beginnings:
Be it enacted by the general assembly, That twenty-three acres of land, the property of John McCarthrey, junior, lying between the north and south branches of the south fork of Shenandoah river in the county of Rockingham, shall be, and they are hereby vested in George Gilmer, Benjamin Lewis, Matthias Aman, John Givens, and Henry Perkey, gen- tlemen trustees, to be by them, or a majority of them, laid off into lots of half an acre each, with convenient streets, and established a town by the name of Port Republic.
Lots were to be sold at auction, the purchaser in each
10. See Rockingham Register, May 13, 1898.
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case being required, upon forfeit, to erect "a dwelling house sixteen feet square at least, with a brick or stone chimney to be finished fit for habitation within ten years from the day of sale."
January 26, 1866, an Act was passed incorporating Port Republic, and on March 31, following, the first election under the new charter was held. John Harper was chosen mayor, and Tobias M. Grove sergeant.
In olden days "Port" was noted for its fights-personal encounters-but in latter times it is as peaceable and law- abiding as other places.
The bridges at Port Republic, specially those across the North River, have had an interesting history. The first one, or one of the first, was burned in June, 1862, by Stonewall Jackson, to prevent Fremont from following him across the river. The next one was built in 1866, by citizens of the com- munity, at a cost of about $3000. This washed away in the great flood of 1870. In January, 1874, the county court ap- propriated $600 to aid in rebuilding this bridge. The next bridge was washed away in 1877, and was not rebuilt for two or three years. The present bridge is a single-track iron structure.
Mr. Richard Mauzy says that Holbrook, a citizen of Port, is entitled to the credit of making the original McCormick reaper a success, by devising the sickle as it has since been generally adopted on all reapers.
The population of Port Republic is about 200.
In January, 1804, an Act of Assembly was passed estab- lishing the town of Newhaven on the land of Gideon Morgan and William Lewis, and appointing Edwin Nicholas, Asher Waterman, George Huston, George Gilmore, Mathias Amon, Benj. Lewis, Henry Perkey, and Henry J. Gambill as trustees. The site of New Haven is on the north side of the rivers, op- posite or a little below Port Republic. It will be observed that the two places had several trustees in common, and their names indicate the importance that was attached to their lo- cation upon navigable water. We can readily imagine them
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