USA > Virginia > Augusta County > Augusta County > Annals of Augusta county, Virginia, from 1726 to 1871 > Part 46
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Some account of the fashionable costumes of the people, and also of the current money, in 1830-'33 and thereabouts, may interest a portion of our readers, although neither costume nor currency was peculiar to Augusta county.
· In regard to costume, the cocked hats, short breeches, and knee and shoe buckles, formerly worn by gentlemen, had disappeared. A few aged men continued to wear long hair gathered in a queue at the back of their heads, and tied with black ribbons. But most men and youths wore their hair cropped. Their heads were covered with tall black hats, at first of genuine fur, and quite costly, and afterwards of cheaper silk. Coarse wool hats were extensively worn by laboring people. The faces of the men were clean shaven, except those of members of the Dunkard church. Now and then a young man, who aspired " to look like a bandit," braved public sentiment by turning out his mustache, but he was viewed askant by staid people, and hardly tolerated in society. The necks of middle-aged and old men were enveloped in white cravats. Others wore black silk cravats, or tall and stiff "stocks." Shirt bosoms were often adorned with ruffles. Dress coats were always of dark blue broadcloth, with high collars, swallow tails, and brass buttons. Frock coats were never worn except as surtouts. Vests, or "waistcoats," as they were
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generally called, were made of black velvet or satin. Pantaloons were of any kind of cloth the wearer had a fancy for, but always of a lighter shade than the coat, and in summer time generally of nankeen. Men who rode horseback, as nearly all did, more or less, wore leg- gings in winter time, or when the roads were muddy ; and as they often walked about the streets thus equipped, city people visiting here sometimes enquired why so many men had their legs in bandages !
The bonnets of the ladies were large and towering, of whatever material made, and the lace collars were ample in size. The dresses, or "frocks," probably contained less materials than those now worn, and less work and trimming were expended upon them. The dresses were low-necked, and capes or collars were always worn, at least on the street and at church. No lady appeared in public except in prunella or morocco slippers and silk stockings. Upon one feature of female costume much thought and attention were bestowed, and that was the sleeves. These were what was called " mutton-legged," small at the wrist, but swelling largely to the shoulder, the larger the better. To make them stand out fully and exhibit all their propor- tions, -a foot and a half to two feet in diameter,-they were, in cold weather, stuffed with feathers. In summer time stiff millinet took the place of feathers. Bustles and hooped-skirts, which came in after- wards, never attracted as much attention as the mutton-legged sleeves. This fashion went out in Paris and New York long before the fact was known in Staunton. Finally, however, a lady from abroad, wearing closely fitting sleeves, appeared in our streets. She was stared at as a curiosity, and really looked very odd ; but, nevertheless, the big sleeves speedily disappeared.
Until the decimal silver currency of the United States was issued, the small change current here, as elsewhere in the country, consisted of Spanish or Mexican dollars and other smaller pieces. By the year 1833, the pound, Virginia currency, had fallen into disuse, but lesser sums of money continued to be stated in shillings and pence. We had no five and ten cent pieces, nor quarters, so called, but a Spanish coin called " four pence ha' penny," another called " nine pence," and a third called "eighteen pence," or "one-and-six," that is, one shilling and six pence. Merchants marked their goods, and people counted money in dollars, shillings and pence. The nomenclatures and values were as follows : four pence etc., 614 cents ; nine pence, 121/2 cents ; a shilling, 1623 cents ; eighteen pence, 25 cents ; two-and- three-pence, 371/2 cents ; three shillings, 50 cents ; three-and-nine- pence, 621/2 cents ; four-and-six-pence, 75 cents ; five-and-three-pence, 871/2 cents ; six shillings, $1 ; seven-and-six-pence, $1.25 ; nine shil-
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lings, $1.50 ; fifteen shillings, $2.50. Cord wood was then unknown in Staunton, and the universal price of a four-horse wagon load of long wood was nine shillings. Nobody said a dollar and a half, as now-a-days, but nine shillings; and a quarter, or twenty-five cent piece, was always called eighteen pence. "Fifteen shilling lawyers," were those whose fees rarely exceeded $2. 50.
By the year 1833, a marked improvement had been made iu farm houses. All the original cabins of the early settlers had, of course, disappeared long before. These were succeeded by log dwellings built of the same materials and in the same general style as the former, but more substantial and comfortable, with here and there a rough stone honse. Some of the more recent modern houses stand to this day, but weather-boarded without and plastered within, so that the logs composing the walls are not seen. Then came frame buildings, and with them, or a little after, brick houses sprang up all over the county. The style of farin dwellings constantly improved, and at this day there are probably more really handsome brick residences in Augusta than in any other county in the country. For many years, however, there was a singular want of taste in the location and arrangement of farin buildings. Often an immense barn stood between the road and the dwelling, and the wood-yard was before, or in sight of, the front door. All this has been changed, and on most farms the old barn lias been removed, and the wood-pile, or wood-shed, has been retired to the rear. Still many farmers take more pride in their barns than in their dwellings. In eastern Virginia, where there were many young slaves to bring water and do other errands, the dwelling was generally located on an eminence, somewhat distant from the spring, and the kitchen was put as far off as possible from the family residence; in the Valley, the dwelling, with the kitchen adjoining, was put hard by the spring. But since cisterns and wind mill-worked wells have been introduced, the houses have been climbing up hill.
Many things now deemed essential to comfortable living were un- known in 1830,-cooking stoves, lucifer matches, gum over-shoes, and a hundred others. Reapers and mowers, movable threshing machines, grain drills, buggy rakes, gleaners, sewing machines, breech-loading guns, revolvers, and percussion caps had not been in- vented. Every gun had a flint lock, and merchants kept flints for sale along with powder and shot. The barns on some large farms, prior to 1840, had stationary machines for threshing, but most of the grain was beaten out with flails, or trodden out by horses. The only fertilizer imported was plaster of paris, which was used ex- tensively by farmers.
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About 1835, a silversmith named Paine, living at Waynesborough, manufactured small brass rifled-pistols, which were thought to be very superior to any other weapon of the kind. "Paine's pistols" were highly valued and much sought after.
Among the prominent citizens of Staunton, during the period of which we are speaking, was Dr. Alexis Martin. Dr. Martin was a native of France, and spoke very broken English. He claimed to have been a surgeon in the French army during the reign of Napoleon. In person, he was somewhat under the medium stature, rather stout, and of a florid complexion. He lived in a queer old frame house, which stood on the lot opposite the Augusta street African Methodist church premises. There he built an extensive bath house and cot- tages for the patients who for some years flocked to him. Miss Myra Clark, afterwards Mrs. General Gaines, was one of his patients. His chief remedies were "vapor sulphur baths" and a liquid called "Le Roy." He seldom appeared in public on foot, but often hurried through the streets on his black horse, " Cuffee," a natural pacer, so that the children of the town regarded him as a sort of centaur. Opinions differed materially as to Dr. Martin's merits. Many in- telligent people considered him an eminent physician, while others thought him a mere pretender. The native physicians unanimously entertained the latter opinion. Dr. Martin's judgment of his three rivals is said to have been, that the first was a physician, the second a gentleman, the third neither physician nor gentleman. He spent the latter days of his life at the Blue Sulphur Springs.
The transition from doctors to funerals is natural and easy.
The funeral customs in Staunton have changed so greatly since the opening of Thornrose Cemetery, in 1851, that a brief description of former nsages may be somewhat interesting. All interments of the town dead were made in the old Parish graveyard, until almost every spot was occupied, and sometimes the remains of one long buried were thrown out to make room for one who had recently died. A hearse was never used, and there was never a carriage in the proces- sion. The coffin was borne on a bier by four men at a time. Tlie number of pall-bearers was always eight, and they relieved one another at frequent intervals. The procession, formed at the dwelling of the deceased, was led by the minister and physician. Then came the pall-bearers with the corpse. The family of the deceased walked next. Following them came, first, the men and then the women in pairs, or vice versa, according to the sex of the departed. If the de- ceased had been connected with any church, the church bell was tolled ; otherwise the courthouse bell. To omit the bell-tolling would
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have been considered very disrespectful. At the funeral of a child young girls dressed in white generally served as pall-bearers, and the little coffin was carried by means of handkerchiefs passed under it and grasped by the bearers.
In 1835 the old courthouse of Augusta No. 3, and other buildings in the yard, were taken down, and the fourth courthouse and clerk's offices were erected. The present jail was not built till some years afterward.
In the same year occurred a famous contest for a seat in Congress, between Samuel McD. Moore, of Rockbridge, and Robert Craig, of Roanoke. The polls were kept open in Augusta for three days, and the county gave Moore a large majority, but Craig was elected.
Early in 1836 the commissioners appointed by act of assembly to receive subscriptions to the capital stock of the "Staunton and Potomac Railroad Company," met in Staunton and appointed agents throughout the county. Much interest was kept up in regard to the scheme until late in the year, when it was superseded by the excite- ment of the presidential election. At August court, Mr. Alexander H. H. Stuart addressed the people on the subject, and at that time fifty-eight persons had subscribed $65,000.
James Brownlee, about one hundred and six years of age, died in the neighborhood of Tinkling Spring, March 18, 1836. He was a native of Scotland, born in 1730, and came to this country early in the Revolutionary war.
In 1836 war was raging between the United States and the Creek Indians ; and by act of Congress the President was authorized to accept the services of ten thousand volunteers. An attempt was made to raise a company in Augusta. A meeting was held at Greenville, June 11th, to promote the object, which was called to order by James Bumgardner. Captain Robert Lynch presided, and Captain Harper and Doctor Austin made speeches. But a sufficient number of volunteers could not be obtained.
A State Convention of the opponents of Martin Van Buren was held in Staunton on the 4th of July. Colonel James Crawford, of Augusta, was president of the body, which nominated General Harrison for president of the United States and John Tyler for vice- president.
The Fourth of July this year was celebrated, as the Staunton Spectator expressed it, "with more than usual pomp, festivity, and glee." The citizens assembled at the Presbyterian church, where "the Declaration of Independence was read by Chesley Kinney, Esq., prefaced by some beautiful and appropriate remarks, and an oration
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pronounced by William Frazier, Esq., which has elicited universal commendation for its classic style and elegance." In the afternoon, a procession formed on Main street and proceeded to a spring near town where a dinner was provided. The dinner was spread on tables under a long arbor constructed for the purpose, in what was then known as " Bushy Field," northeast of town, near, if not on, the road now leading from the old Winchester road to the macadamized turnpike. Mr. Peyton presided at the diuner, assisted by General Baldwin, David W. Patteson, William Kinney, and Colonel George C. Robert- son. The members of the Harrison Convention, the Staunton Light Infantry, and " the orators of the day " were invited guests. Many toasts were offered and drank. At night there was a ball at the Wayne tavern.
One incident of the celebration was not mentioned by the Spectator in its voluminous and glowing account of the proceedings. At that time Fannin's massacre in Texas had recently occurred, and it was feared that John S. Brooks, a native of Staunton, was one of the victims. He had gone to Texas a year or two before, and was in the Texan army. Being well known and highly esteemed here, much solicitude was felt in the community in regard to his fate.
Another native of Staunton had also been absent for many months, but where he was few, if any, persons knew. This was Elijalı Calvert, a tailor by trade, commonly called "Lige." We mention his name with no unkindly feeling. On the contrary, we cherish for him a sort of gratitude for the amusement he afforded for many years to everybody in town. He was an incorrigible wag, full of practical jokes, good-natured, and willing to be laughed at if other people found enjoyment thereby. He had been a member of the Staunton Light Infantry, and was therefore a soldier. His appear- ance and bearing were eminently military. Anticipating the celebra- tion of the Fourth in Staunton, he arranged it so as to return from his tramp and make his advent here on that day. Accordingly, just at the close of the dinner in Bushy Field, he presented himself to the admiring throng. He wore a slouched hat, not common in this region at that time, but associated with our ideas of wild frontier life, and that had evidently gone through the wars. He had ou also a military coat, which might have been the uniform of a major- general. Tliis latter, as well as the hat, was worn with the most de- lightful negligence, as if the wearer were accustomed to it, but rather tired of the costume. His countenance was extremely solemn, and his manner in the highest degree dignified. His face plainly said : "I have recently passed through too many scenes of carnage to
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indulge in the least hilarity." He said little, but left tucli to be in- ferred. Immediately the information spread through the crowd that Lige Calvert had just returned from Texas, where, of course, he was the hero of a hundred desperate battles. He was plied with questions about John Brooks, but evaded them as far as he could. The captain and men of the Light Infantry gathered around him, eager to do honor to their foriner comrade, and planning how he should be intro- duced to the crowd. Lige, however, could not stand much ceremony, -at any rate, he knew better than any one else how to do the thing ; so, breaking away from tlie self-constituted committee of arrange- ments, he went forward on his own responsibility. Starting at one end of the arbor, he proceeded to the other, waiving his hat over his head and saluting the crowd with inimitable grace and dignity. The finest gentleman present, however, trained in courts and camps, could not have exhibited himself half so well. During his progress from the head to the foot of the arbor, the war-worn veteran was greeted with shouts of applause. In a few days,-before the next Spectator was issued,-it leaked out that the hero had been quietly working at his trade in various towns, and had not been near Texas.
The Spectator of August 11th, published a full and authentic account of Fannin's massacre. John Brooks, who was aid to Colonel Fanniu, with the rank of Captain, being unable to walk, was taken out by the Mexicans in a blanket and shot in cold blood.
Three or four years afterwards, the Fourth of July was celebrated in a different manner. There was a grand procession of Sunday- school children and others, and addresses were delivered in the Methodist church by Messrs. Lyttelton Waddell, Thomas J. Michie and Chesley Kinney.
In September, 1836, General Harrison was in Staunton, on liis way to visit his early home below Richmond. He was invited to partake of a public dinner here, but declined. Many of his political friends dined with him, however, at the Washington tavern. At the election, the vote of Augusta stood, for Harrison, 801 ; Van Buren, 302 ; Hugh L. White, 20. There were only six voting places in the county,-Staunton, Waynesborough, Middlebrook, Mount Solou, Mount Sidney and the Pastures.
Robert Craig was re-elected to Congress in 1837, and at the same time Alexander H. H. Stuart and William Kinney were elected to represent Augusta in the House of Delegates. David W. Patteson represented the county in the State Senate.
In March, 1838, the Valley Turnpike Company was chartered, to construct a macadamized road from Staunton to Winchester. The
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capital stock was three hundred thousand dollars, of which the State subscribed three-fifths. The remainder was promptly subscribed by the people immediately interested, and the work was vigorously prose- cuted. Early in the same year the Staunton and Parkersburg turn- pike was located, and the road was made, in course of time, at State expense. These great improvements gave a considerable impetus to Staunton.
During the night of October 4, 1838, an extensive conflagration occurred in Staunton. The Wayne tavern, then unoccupied, five other houses, three shops and six stables were consumed. The tavern stable had been rented and supplied with forage for the horses belonging to the members of the Presbyterian Synod of Virginia, then meeting in Staunton, and seventeen of these horses perished in the flames. Another fire occurred in town soon thereafter. Both were believed to be the work of an incendiary, and the town council, on October 12th, requested merchants to discontinue the sale of lucifer matches !
On November 1, 1838, the hundreth anniversary of the organiza- tion of the county, was celebrated. The Staunton Light Infantry, Captain Harper, and Captain S. D. Coiner's troop of cavalry, paraded in town, and salutes were fired morning and evening from the old field pieces. There was also a dinner at the Washington tavern, Mr. Peyton presiding.
The subject of supplying the town of Staunton with water, by means of iron pipes leading from a spring in the country, was intro- duced in the town council as early as 1833, but nothing was accomplished till 1839. The Legislature in that year passed an act for supplying the Western Lunatic Asylum with water, and the town united with the asylum in bringing water from Kinney's Spring. The county contributed one thousand dollars to the cost. The quantity of water furnished, however, proving inadequate to supply both town and asylum, the former, in 1848, piped the "Buttermilk Spring." Dwellings soon sprang up on the hills sur- rounding the town. The contract for the present extensive city water works was awarded July 27, 1875.
In July, 1839, Cyrus H. McCormick gave the first exhibition of his reaper in the county on the farm of Joseph Smith. The machine was advertised to cut one and a-half to two acres an hour and required two men and two horses to work it. The price was fifty dollars.
The Institution for the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind was opened in Staunton the latter part of 1839 in rented quarters. The corner- stone of the building, erected by the State, was laid with much
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ceremony, July 9, 1840. James McDowell, of Lexington, a member of the board of visitors, delivered an oration, and there was a dinner at the Eagle tavern.
During the summer and fall of 1840, politics were the absorbing topic throughout the country. The supporters of General Harrison, the Whig candidate, organized "Tippecanoe Clubs," built log cabins, and drank hard cider, to help on the canse. The people of Augusta were thoroughly aroused, a large majority of them supporting Harrison, but a "Spartan band " of the "unterrified Democracy " in the county was equally zealous. A two days' meeting was held in Staunton, August 24 and 25; ex-Governor Barbour, John S. Pendleton, and S. McD. Moore, were the speakers on the Whig side; and William Smith, afterwards Governor, Thomas J. Randolph, and John Letcher, represented the Democracy.
Early in October a great mass-meeting was held in Richmond, on which occcasion Daniel Webster delivered several speeches. The Whigs of Augusta attended the meeting in large numbers. On Sep- tember court-day the " Augusta Banner " was displayed at the court- house in Staunton. General Baldwin made a speech and delivered the " Banner" to John Wise, who was with Harrison under Wayne at the Maumee, to bear it in the procession at Richmond. General Porter- field was in town and at the court-house, and the people escorted him to his lodgings.
The Staunton Spectator of October 1, announced that one hundred and fifty Augusta farmers had recently crossed Rockfish Gap, in their wagons, on their way to the Richmond meeting. John Wise was, however, stolen from them at Richmond, and made to carry the " Maumee battle-flag."
At the election, Augusta county cast 1,206 votes for Harrison, and 461 for Van Buren.
In the spring of 1841, Alexander H. H. Stuart, of Augusta, was elected to the United States House of Representatives, over his com- petitor, James McDowell, of Rockbridge. The preliminary canvass was noted for the ability and dignity with which it was conducted by the candidates. It is a little remarkable that only two citizens of Augusta,-Jacob Swoope and Alexander H. H. Stuart,-up to this time, had ever sat in Congress, and they only for one term each, notwithstanding many eminent men have resided here from the earliest period in the history of the county.
At the session of the Legislature of 1841-'2, General B. G. Bald- win, of Staunton, was elected by the Legislature a Judge of the
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Supreme Court of Appeals. Mr. Peyton was at that time the State Senator from Angusta.
Staunton was from an early day the seat of a high school for the education of females, under a succession of teachers. In 1831 the widow and daughters of Daniel Sheffey opened a boarding school for girls, at their residence, called Kalorama, and conducted it prosper- ously for many years. In 1842 the Presbyterians of the county found- ed the Augusta Female Seminary. Soon afterward, the Episcopalians founded the Virginia Female Institute, and the Methodists the Wesley - an Female Institute. Lastly, the Staunton Female Seminary was founded under the auspices of the Lutherans.
General Porterfield died on Monday, February 13, 1843, in the ninety-first year of his age.
In October, 1843, two attempts at balloon ascensions were made in Staunton. John Wise, of Pennsylvania, a famons aeronaut, adver- tised an ascension on the 3d of October. He began to inflate his bal- loon in the Academy lot, around which a high and close fence had been built, spectators being admitted at so much a head, children half price. But the wind was very high, and Mr. Wise, with the concur- rence of the crowd, abandoned his project, promising, however, to renew it at some future day. The second attempt, on Saturday, the 14th, although by a man named Cramer, was in fulfillment of the promise, and was open to the public. Multitudes of people came in from the surrounding country, and even from neighboring counties, to witness the spectacle. It was a beautiful October day, and the sight of the immense crowd in Stuart's meadow and on the side of the adja- cent hill, including many females in gay shawls and dresses, was most picturesque. This time, however, there was not gas enough to inflate the balloon. Cramer detached the car, or basket, and sat astride the ropes ; he stripped off his coat, his hat, his shoes, and nearly all his clothing, but was still too heavy to ascend. The balloon occasionally leaped up a few yards, but before the crowd could raise a shout it was down again. Partly floating in the air, and partly borne by several men, who every now and then tried to toss it up, it traversed Stuart's hill, the eager throng following after. Finally everybody became ex- hausted, and the people dispersed, well pleased with the sport. A successful ascension could not have afforded half the entertainment. Previous to this date paper balloons, inflated with heated air, had frequently been sent up at night.
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