USA > Virginia > Rockingham County > Rockingham County > A history of Rockingham County, Virginia > Part 4
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From Deed Book No. 1, Orange County, the following items have been selected:
12. See Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, April, 1906, pp. 360-362.
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September 17, 1735, Jacob Stover sold 550 acres of land to Christian Clemon, the said land being on a small run, on the south side of the Shenandoah River, adjoining the "upper corner of Stover's lower 5000-acre tract." Two of the three witnesses to this conveyance were Thomas Hill and W. Russell; the name of the third witness appears to be G. Home.
November 11, 1735, Jacob Stover sold two tracts of land to George Boone, the said tracts containing 500 and 1000 acres respectively, and being situated "near the end of North Mountain, 13 so called, on a small branch of Sherando River": part of 5000 acres laid out for Stover by the Virginia Council, June 17, 1730.14 Mordecai Simon and S. Hughes were witnesses. Boone is put down as having come from Oley, Pa.
December 16, 1735, Jacob Stover sold 1100 acres, in three tracts, on Gerundo River, 15 to Ludwick Stone. On the same date he sold three tracts, aggregating 500 acres, on the same river, to Mathias Selser.
At least three more men bought land of Stover on this date : (1) John Prupecker, two tracts, of 300 acres and 200 acres, respectively; both on Gerundo River, the larger adjoin- ing the land of Selser; witnesses, John Bramham, Gideon Marr,
13. The Massanutten at this time was commonly referred to as the North Mountain, and the Blue Ridge as the South Mountain.
14. Boone's Run is probably the small branch referred to, likely bear- ing its name from George Boone. It flows southeastward out of Runkle's Gap, in the Massanutten, directly toward Elkton, then turns northeast- ward and enters the river two miles below Elkton. One can hardly de- termine whether Stover sold this land from his upper or lower tract. One would at once say, From the lower, were it not likely that he had sold the lower tract entire to Adam Miller and his friends in 1729 or 1730.
15. "Gerundo" is merely another form of Shenandoah. This name has been found in no less than twenty different spellings. See Wayland's "German Element," page 3. No attempt is made herein to reduce the spelling of proper names, of either places or persons, to uniformity. The diverse forms in which they appear are part of the material of history, and have a value.
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ROCKINGHAM COUNTY
William Ferrell; (2) Abraham Strickler, 1000 acres, at "Mes- enutten on Gerundo"; (3) Henry Sowter, 300 acres, on the south side of Gerundo, near the mouth of Mesenutten Creek.
Some of these tracts, sold by Stover, in December, 1735, were possibly never within the limits of Rockingham County, but all were evidently near the Fairfax line, on one side or the other.
We may place the following land sales, made in 1736, in the same locality. The complete records may be found in Orange County Deed Book No. 1.
February 24, 1736, Ludwig Stein sold 517 acres, in three tracts, on Gerundo River, to Michael Cryter of Pennsyl- vania; witnesses, Gideon Marr, John Newport. On the same date Ludowick Stein sold 217 acres, on Gerundo River (part of land formerly granted to Jacob Stover), to Michael Coff- man.
September 21, 1736, Jacob Stover sold 400 acres, on the west side of Sherundo River, to Peter Bowman; witnesses, G. Lightfoot, Thomas Nichols.
September 26, 1736, Henry Sowter sold about 300 acres, on Gerundo River, to Ludwig Stine.
In Orange County Deed Books 1 and 2 are to be found records of the following land sales on the South Shenandoah in 1737 :
February 24, three tracts; Ludwig Stein to Martin Coff- man of Pennsylvania: 300 acres on the south side of the river; 217 on the north side; and 100 acres on the north side, at Elk Lick.
October 22, 400 acres; Peter Bowman to Christian Red- licksberger. This was probably the same tract that Bowman had purchased of Jacob Stover in September of the preceding year.
Several transactions of special interest appear in the year 1738. On March 21 Jacob Stover sold to Christopher Franciski 3000 acres, with the mansion house, adjoining Peter Bowman on the river: part of 5000 acres patented to the said Stover, December 15, 1733. The same day Jacob Stover
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and his wife Margaret gave a bond to Franciski for £700. At another time within the year they gave him another bond for £1000. To secure the payment of these bonds, Stover and his wife mortgaged 5000 acres on both sides of the Shenandoah River. 16
How Stover could keep on selling his 5000-acre tracts, and still have them seven or eight years after the first sale, is a mystery. Possibly he took back some land on default of pay- ment; or he may have obtained more than two 5000-acre grants.
March 23, 1738, Ludwig Stein sold two tracts of land ag- gregating 1005 acres, on the Shenandoah River, to Philip Long; witnesses, John Newport and Christian Kleman. 17
December 13, 1738, Jacob Stover obtained a grant of 800 acres. This land was on the Shenandoah River, below Port Republic, and was at least in part on the south side of the river, opposite the "Great Island." This island, containing about 60 acres, was purchased of the Franciscos on August 31, 1751, by Thomas Lewis. Two days earlier, August 28, 1751, Lewis had bought of the Franciscos a tract of 470 acres, on the south side of the river, part of the 800-acre tract granted to Stover in 1738.18
Christopher Franciscus-"the old Stopfel Franciscus," as he was termed in 1749 by one of the Moravian missionaries who passed through the Valley-19 had large holdings of land in what is now East Rockingham. He appears to have located in Lancaster County, Pa., in 1709.20. It is not certain that he ever located permanently in Virginia himself, but he evi- dently was in the Valley frequently, and his sons, Christopher and Ludwig, were permanent residents. 21
16. See Orange County Deed Book No. 2, pp. 229-234.
17. Idem, page 260.
18. Augusta County Deed Book No. 4, pp. 58-65.
19. Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, October, 1903.
20. Rupp's Thirty Thousand Names, page 436.
21. For more particulars concerning Franciscus and his sons, see Way- land's "German Element," pp. 54-56.
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ROCKINGHAM COUNTY
It is evident, from the foregoing particulars, that a con- siderable number of settlers had located within the present boundaries of Rockingham within the decade following the first known settlement in 1727. The earliest settlements were in the eastern side of the county, though it is quite likely that the tide of immigration that was creeping up the north fork of the Shenandoah had also reached and passed the Fairfax line, west of the Massanutten, by 1734 or 1735. As early as April 30, 1732, William Beverly wrote that the "'northern men" were fond of buying land on the upper Shen- andoah, because they could get it there six or seven pounds cheaper a hundred acres than in Pennsylvania, and because they did not care to go as far as Williamsburg.22 It should be remembered also that John Lewis located at or near Staun- ton in 1732, and that a number of his fellow-countrymen came into the upper Valley with him, or soon after he came. These facts are recalled here in addition to what is definitely known concerning the first settlers and settlements, to show that a large number of persons, Germans, Scotch-Irish, and others, had located in and about the present limits of Rockingham by the year 1738. The majority of these settlers had come up the Valley from Maryland and Pennsylvania, but a few had come across the Blue Ridge from East Virginia.
The first grants of land were sought and secured along the main watercourses, though it is said that in many cases the settlers in a little while sought dwelling places on the higher lands toward the hills and mountains, because of the malaria that infested the bottom-lands. It is not likely, how- ever, that such conditions caused any one to relinquish per- manently his fertile holdings along the rivers; and with the development of civilization-the clearing of lowland thickets, the draining of swamps and marshes, the erection of better dwellings-the malaria gradually disappeared.
22. Waddell's Annals of Augusta, 1902 edition, page 21.
CHAPTER IV. ROCKINGHAM AS PART OF AUGUSTA.
1738-1777.
When the first white settlers located in what is now ' Rockingham County, the whole district west of the Blue Ridge was a part of the county of Spotsylvania. It was thus until 1734, when Orange was formed so as to include within its limits the country west of the Ridge. The Valley thus continued a part of Orange till 1738, when, by an Act of the colonial government, that part of Orange west of the said mountain was divided into the two new counties of Freder- ick and Augusta. The text of this Act has already been given in Chapter I. The district later organized as Rocking- ham County fell within the limits of Augusta, according to the division of the Valley made in 1738. The complete organ- ization of Frederick and Augusta was delayed for several years, the first courts being held for the former in 1743, and for the latter in 1745. In 1739 the inhabitants of the lower Valley, impatient at the delay, petitioned Governor Gooch, requesting that the said county of "Frederica" might im- mediately "take place." About fifty men signed the petition, but none apparently from the upper part of the Valley.1 We have already seen, however, in Chapter III, that in Augusta, particularly in that part later to become Rockingham, settle- ment was going rapidly on. From various sources we are enabled to get occasional glimpses through the heavy curtain of years, and recognize some of the figures moving upon that far-off, pioneer stage.
1. For a list of the names signed to this petition, see Wayland's "Ger -- man Element," pp. 57, 58.
ROCKINGHAM COUNTY
A few years years ago, Mr. Charles E. Kemper, a native of Rockingham, and Rev. William J. Hinke, a native of Ger- many, discovered in the archives of the old Moravian church at Bethlehem, Pa., a series of diaries that had been kept by Moravian missionaries who traveled through the Valley and adjacent parts of Virginia during the years from 1743 to 1753. Mr. Hinke translated these diaries from the German, Mr. Kemper edited them by supplying historical and geographical notes, and then the annotated translations were published in the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. In these matter-of-fact records, made by zealous heralds of the cross more than a century and a half ago, we find many things of interest relating to persons and conditions in what is now the county of Rockingham.
On July 21, 1747, the Moravian brethren, Leonard Schnell and Vitus Handrup, were in the vicinity of Linville and Broadway, and staid over night with an Irishman who must have lived somewhere below Timberville. They had come across the mountains from what is now Pendleton County, West Virginia, and were traveling on down the Valley toward Winchester. The next spring Brother Gottschalk, who ap- pears to have followed thus far the general course taken by Schnell and Handrup, likely fell in with the same son of Erin. He writes:
At night [about April 1, 1748] I lodged in a very disorderly, wicked and godless house of an Irishman, who kept an inn. The Saviour helped me through.
Who this Irish innkeeper was cannot now be determined; but he lived near the site of Timberville.
Under date of April 2 Brother Gottschalk writes:
I continued the journey on foot to the Germans. I crossed the Chan- ador,2 which was pretty deep, cold, and had a rapid current. If the Lord had not supported me in the water by his angels, the rapid stream would have carried me off, for I was hardly twenty feet above a fall.
Having gone down the Valley to Cedar Creek, Gottschalk
2. The north fork of the Shenandoah.
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turned southeastward, crossed the Massanutten Mountain through the picturesque Powell's Fort, and came up the south fork of the Shenandoah to the Massanutten settlements. One night he lodged with John Rhodes, the Mennonite preacher, who was doubtless one of the pioneer settlers. The next day he went to the home of Matthias Selzer, of whom he speaks as follows:
He is a rude and hostile man towards the Brethren. I was compelled to stay with this man all afternoon, because I wanted to make inquiries about the people in that district and because I was surrounded by water and terribly high mountains on all sides. He treated me very rudely, called me a Zinzendorfian, threatened me with imprisonment, and re- ferred to the travels and sermons of the Brethren in a very sarcastic manner. He said if I should get to the upper Germans they would soon take me by the neck, for he did not know what business I had among those people. In the first place we had been forbidden to travel around through the country, and then again they had such an excellent minister, that if the people were not converted by his sermons, they would cer- tainly not be converted by my teaching. But soon afterwards he related of the excellent Lutheran minister that he got so drunk in his house that on his way home he lost his saddle, coat, and everything else from the back of his horse. I was silent to all this, but prayed for the poor man that the Lord might open his eyes.
Having staid over night with Mr. Selzer, Brother Gott- schalk set out eastward to cross the Blue Ridge. His host, with no mean courtesy, speeded the parting guest, the latter being witness:
I started early. Matthias Selzer saddled two horses and took me not only across the South Branch of the Chanador, but even five miles far- ther so that I could not go astray.3
Having crossed the Blue Ridge, Gottschalk descended into the beautiful valley of the Robinson River, now in Madi- son County, and became the guest of Rev. George Samuel Klug, pastor of Hebron Lutheran Church from 1739 to 1764. Mr. Klug was at this time extending his ministerial labors to the German communities in Rockingham and adjacent sec- tions of the Valley, and was doubtless the "excellent Lutheran
3. See Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, July, 1904.
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minister" of whom Matthias Selzer had spoken. After a day and a night in association with him, Brother Gottschalk gave him a fair report. 4
In July, 1748, Brethren Spangenberg and Reutz were in the vicinity of Brock's Gap and Timberville. On the 26th of the month they were at the home of Adam Roeder, for whom it is probable that Rader's Church, just west of Timberville, was named. The Brethren made note of the fact that Adam Rader's mother was at that time eighty-six years old, and that she was living in Lehigh County, Pa., a member of the Macungie [now Emmaus] congregation. Crossing the Valley toward the east, the missionaries came to the Massanutten settlements, where they reported Germans of "all kinds of denominations-Mennonites, Lutherans, Separatists, and In- spirationists."5
Early in December, 1749, Brethren Schnell and Brand- mueller were on a missionary tour in Virginia. They came down from the vicinity of Staunton, into what is now East Rockingham, and made record of their goings and doings in the following interesting narrative:
On December 2nd we continued our journey the whole day, because we wished to be with the Germans on Sunday. Once we lost our way. But our desire to preach to-morrow strengthened us in our journey. In the evening we attempted to hire a man to go with us part of the way, but none was willing. We continued for a time down the Tschanator, and arrived rather late at the house of the sons of the old Stopfel Franciscus, who kept us over night.
On Sunday, December 3rd, the young Franciscus went very early with us to show us the way to Matthias Schaub's,6 who, immediately on my offer to preach for them, sent messengers through the neighborhood to announce my sermon. In a short time a considerable number of people assembled, to whom I preached. After the sermon I baptized the child of a Hollander. We staid over night with Matthias Schaub. His wife told us that we were always welcome in their house. We should always
4. For an extended account of Mr. Klug's life and labors, see Huddle's History of Hebron Lutheran Church, pp. 31-38. See also Virginia Maga- zine of History and Biography, January and July, 1904.
5. Virginia Magazine, January, 1904, pp. 238-240.
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come to them whenever we came into that district.
Towards evening a man from another district, Adam Mueller,7 passed. I told him that I would like to come to his house and preach there. He asked me if I were sent by God. I answered, yes. He said, if I were sent by God I would be welcome, but he said, there are at present so many kinds of people, that often one does not know where they come from. I requested him to notify his neighbors that I would preach on the 5th, which he did.
On December 4th we left Schaub's house, commending the whole family to God. We traveled through the rain across the South Shenan- doah to Adam Mueller, who received us with much love. We staid over night with him.
On December 5th I preached at Adam Mueller's house on John 7: "Whosoever thirsteth let him come to the water and drink." A number of thirsty. souls were present. Especially Adam Mueller took in every word, and after the sermon declared himself well pleased. In the after- noon we traveled a short distance, staying over night with a Swiss. 8 The conversation was very dry, and the word of Christ's sufferings found no hearing.
On December 6th we came to Mesanoton. We staid with Philip Lung, 9 who had his own religion. I intended to preach, but he would not let us have his house, assuring us that none would come, since Rev. Mr. Klug had warned the people to be on their guard against us. We had soon an opportunity of seeing how bitter the people are towards us. Hence we concluded to leave, which we did, wishing God's blessing upon
6. Schaub (Shoup) died a month or two after Schnell's visit. On February 26th, 1750, Jacob Nicholas and Valentine Pence qualified as ex- ecutors of his will. See Augusta County Will Book No. 1, pp. 312, 313. He evidently lived on the west side of the river, somewhere between Port Republic and Elkton.
7. Adam Miller, the first settler.
8. Mr. Chas. E. Kemper thinks that this "Swiss" was likely Jacob Baer, Sr., a native of Zurich, and at this time a resident of East Rocking- ham.
9. Philip Long was one of the first Massanutten settlers. The Long family is still numerous and prominent in upper Page County. A mem- ber of this family was the wife of Gen. Sterling Price, of Missouri. Philip Long was born in Germany in 1678, and died in Page or Rocking- ham County, Va., May 4, 1755.
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Smithland (p. 68) Looking Toward Harrisonburg. The white cross marks site of original Court House. Photo by J. J. Reilly
Bear Lithia Spring (Page 37)
Suter Wheat Field, near New Erection
Steam Plow (first in County) in East Rockingham
ROCKINGHAM COUNTY
the district. An unmarried man, H. Reder, took us through the river. He told us that eight weeks before he had visited Bethlehem. 10
On their tour through Virginia in the fall and winter of 1749, to which reference has just been made, Breth- ren Schnell and Brandmueller made out a table of dis- tances over which they travelled, beginning at Bethlehem, Pà., crossing Maryland into what is now West Virginia, fol- lowing up the South Branch of the Potomac through what are now the counties of Hardy and Pendleton, and going be- yond, even to the valleys of the James and New River, then returning to Pennsylvania through the Shenandoah Valley. Beginning about Staunton, the following distances show the route taken through Rockingham and Shenandoah:
[From N. Bell] To Franciscus at the Soud Schanathor, 30
To Matthias Schaub, 4
To Adam Mueller and back again across the river, 8 To Philip Lung and Mesanothen, 16
To Captain John Funk, 2011
In the autumn of 1753 a colony of the Moravian Brethren migrated from Pennsylvania to North Carolina. Their way led up through the Valley. In their record they mention the Narrow Passage and Stony Creek (in Shenandoah County), and speak of camping alongside the "Shanidore Creek," at a place that must now be located between Hawkinstown and Red Banks. Five miles further on they crossed the "Shani- dore," and camped close to the bank to observe Sunday (Oc- tober 21, 1753). They were now in the famous Meem's Bot- toms, between Mt. Jackson and New Market. Brethren Loesch and Kalberland were bled, because they were not well, and all gave themselves a treat by drinking tea. The next day, coming on up the Valley, they found, in the vicinity of New Market or Tenth Legion, a tavern-keeper named Severe. This was evidently Valentine Severe, father of General John Sevier, and a relative of Francis Xavier. The next part
10. Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, October, 1903, pp. 126-128.
11. Idem, July, 1904, page 82.
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of the narrative gives so many realistic touches relating to the Rockingham of that day, that it is quoted herewith ver- batim:
We inquired about the way, but could not get good information After traveling three and a half miles, we found two passable roads. Brc. Gottlob and Nathanael preceded us on the left hand road. They met a woman, who informed them about the way. Then they came back to us again and we took the road to the right. We traveled ten miles without. finding water. It was late already and we were compelled to travel five miles during the dark night. We had to climb two mountains, which compelled us to push the wagon along or we could not have proceeded, for our horses were completely fagged out. Two of the brethren had to go ahead to show us the road, and thus we arrived late at Thom. Harris's plantation. Here we bought feed for our horses and pitched our tent a short distance from the house. The people were very friendly. They lodge strangers very willingly.
The "two mountains" above mentioned were probably spurs of Chestnut Ridge; and "Thom Harris" was probably no other than Thomas Harrison, founder of Harrisonburg. It is likely that Harrison had already (1753) erected his stone mansion house, now occupied by Gen. John E. Roller as a law office, and, according to the present lay-out of the town, situated on Bruce Street, just west of Main; and that the wayfaring brethren pitched their tent beside the big spring that was for so many years a familiar rendezvous at the west. side of Court Square. Harrisonburg still has the habit of being hospitable to strangers.
We follow the brethren a few miles further, as they go on toward "Augusti Court House, a little town of some twenty houses, surrounded by mountains on all sides."
On October 23 we started at daybreak [from Thomas Harrison's]. We had bought a small barrel of milk to use for dinner, but it broke and we lost all. Two miles farther we bought some meat, and then traveled six miles farther to North River, where we ate our dinner. This creek is half as large as the Lecha [Lehigh], but it is impassable at high water, nor is a canoe in the neighborhood. 12
The brethren had thus come in their journey to the:
12. Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, October, 1904, pp .. 144-147.
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vicinity of Mt. Crawford. They tell of their dinner there of meat and dumplings, and of their experiences farther on, at Middle River, at Robert Bohk's, and at "Augusti Court House"; but having followed them to the borders of Rock- ingham, we bid them farewell.
Samuel Kercheval, the old historian of the Valley, says:
From the best evidence the author has been able to collect, . the settlement of our Valley progressed without interruption from the native Indians for a period of about twenty-three years. In the year 1754, the Indians suddenly disappeared, and crossed the Alleghany Moun- tains. The year preceding, emissaries from the west of the Alleghany Mountains came among the Valley Indians and invited them to move off. This occurrence excited suspicion among the white people that a storm was brewing in the west, which it was essential to prepare to meet.13
Kercheval dates the beginning of Valley settlement in 1732. Counting thence twenty-three years would give 1755, the year of Braddock's defeat. The war with the French and Indians began in 1754, and continued till 1763. During this time Indian raids into the Valley from the west were frequent, particularly in the two or three years following the defeat of Braddock. Occasionally the bands of red men were led by French officers. It was in April of 1758 that the mas- sacres at Upper Tract and Fort Seybert took place, in which more than forty persons were killed, some twenty-odd others being carried into captivity. The Indians at Fort Seybert were led by the famous chief Killbuck. From 1777 to 1787 both Upper Tract and Fort Seybert were within the bounda- ries of Rockingham County, the site of the latter being west of Brock's Gap, only a few miles beyond the present Rock- ingham line. 14
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