USA > Virginia > Augusta County > Augusta County > History of Augusta County, Virginia > Part 30
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Another says: "With the exception of small enclosures of one or two acres, here and there, there is scarcely a fence worthy of the name from the Rapidan to Bull Run ; and the fields, once the pride of the farmers' hearts, and shut in by " ten rails and a rider," are now broad commons, with old landmarks obliterated, ditches filled up, quarters, corn-houses and barns in ruins, while the lone and blackened chimneys of the once happy home- stead stand like some grim old sentries on guard until the last. The once majestic forests of oak, hickory, chesnut and pine along the line of the Orange & Alexandria Railroad have disappeared, and given place to the rude huts and cabins improvised by the armies of Lee and Meade ; and instead of whortleberries, chinquepins and chestnuts, one kicks upon can- teens, worn-out knapsacks, old shoes, bread-boxes, suggestive of the in- evitable " hard-tack," bayonet-scabbards, with here and there a stand of grape, a ten-pounder Parrott shell, and everywhere almost the hollow- base " little Minnies," whose whistling tones are so familiar to us all. The village of Raccoonford is a village no longer ; Stevensburg is Stevensburg only on the military map ; and all along the route, crossing and recrossing the railroad, one sees nothing where man's agency is concerned but utter desolation. The people are returning to their once happy homes, after such hardships as only refugees can know, and are patching up any out- buildings at hand for a temporary residence until the "great house " can be rebuilt and former comforts collected around them. The negroes in Orange county can be hired for their food and quarters ; but this does not pertain in Culpepper and Fauquier, where labor is scarce and in demand, as nearly every negro,-man, woman and child, left home early in the war with the hope of an improved condition in the crowded streets of Alexandria and Washington. The supply, however, will be equal, and perhaps more than equal, to the demand, when the farmers are once more prepared to culti- vate their lands; but just now there is a feeling of oppressive uncertainty hanging over every man's head, and until courts are established, magis- trates, sheriffs, surveyors, commissioners, etc., are appointed, this feeling will prevail, and tend materially to retard the development of the agricul- tural resources of the country and of that desire to do their duty as good and loyal citizens, which is the sincere and hearty wish of nine-tenths of the poople of Virginia, now that the terrible struggle is over, and which has been decided finally against them. The farmers need nearly every article necessary to a successful cultivation of their lands, and with but very limited means for purchasing them, no credit, and an entirely new
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system of labor to contend with, the problem of success seems to be one of difficult solution ; but with industry, skill and integrity, the prolific soil will soon supply their wants, and in a few years one will scarcely be able to recognize this as the classic battle-ground of the two celebrated armies of the Potomac and Northern Virginia."
In a preceding page the reader has had a brief sketch of the inhuman cruelties inflicted on the settlers by the red men. In this chapter we have allowed the Federals to tell their own story-the story of their devasta- tions and cruelties in the Valley. These wanton acts surpass in barbarity those of Turenne in the Palatinate two hundred years ago, when lust and rapine walked hand in hand with fire and sword. If the glory of Turenne was stained by these cruelties and his reputation as a soldier merges into that of a monster, what must posterity think of a captain whose career is unmarked by victories, and whose fame rests solely upon his success in turning a garden into a desert, so that, to use his own coarse figure, "A crow flying over the Valley must take rations with him." The truth and the whole truth of Sheridan's barbarous rapacity and unfeeling violence has not been told, nor does our space admit of its being done here, but to find anything approaching it we must go beyond the age of Dubois and Turenne, of Wallenstein and Tilly, and search for the like among the an- nals of the fierce barbarians of the north of Europe or the savages of America; to the records of those rude tribes who, without religion, edu- cation, science or art, gloried in horrible devastations and incredible mur- ders. Like the Huns, Sheridan ravaged and destroyed all around him ; made no distinction between what was sacred and what was profane, re- spected no age, sex or rank, and converted the most fertile and populous region of the south,-the " Garden of America,"-into a desert in which the women and children-there were no men remaining-were left to starve in sight of their burning barns, smouldering granaries and demol- ished mills. Avenging his failures in the field upon innocent women and children, Sheridan imitated the barbarity of the Goths and Vandals, and has rendered his memory detestable by abusing the rights of conquest in doing violence to humanity and destroying the monuments of industry and art.
But no oppression, no destitution, could break the spirit of the people of the Valley, or abate their zeal. Men came forward to fill the ranks of the army as if from the funeral pyre and from out the heaps of ruins. The government, too, was undismayed, and President Davis declared in his message to Congress, about this time, that "peace is impossible without independence." But we cannot linger over matters of general history.
The surrender of Lee, April 9, 1865, and the disappearance of the Con- federate army, left Virginia desolated, her people impoverished, the civil authorities powerless and at the mercy of the Federals. General Halleck
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took command of Richmond, and refused to recognize any official autho- rity in the State officers elected during the war.
On May 9th, President Johnson issued a proclamation recognizing F. H. Pierpont, who was originally elected Governor of West Virginia, and upon the organization of a State government for that district, under the name of West Virginia, moved the seat of his government to Alexandria. During the existence of this government at Alexandria, a legislature was elected, designated the Legislature of Virginia. On the 26th of May, Gov. Pierpont removed the government to Richmond, and regarding his government as the restored State government, he proceeded to exercise authority accordingly. The people of Augusta accepted in good faith this government, and lent themselves cheerfully to its support, and the war being over, returned once more to the pursuits of peace.
CHAPTER XV.
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The clouds of civil strife dispelled, the people of Augusta resolutely addressed themselves to the work of repairing the damages resulting from the war. The heroism and genius displayed by the people of Augusta and the south during hostilities, astonishing and unequalled as they were, seem destined to be eclipsed by a more brilliant career in peace. During the seventeen years which have elapsed since the battle of Appomattox bridge, results have been obtained in our county which fill one with un- bounded astonishment. Trade has revived and is flourishing ; a load of private debt has been discharged, and the county is altogether without debt ; fences and enclosures have reappeared of a more permanent and substantial character ; old fields have been reclaimed and new ones been brought into cultivation ; improved agricultural machinery and a more in- telligent system of husbandry have been introduced, which has increased the yield per acre, and added largely to our individual and aggregate wealth. Some of our iron and other ores are being mined, and the public attention been directed to our vast mineral resources. In every part of the
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county new, handsome and durable buildings have been erected, and in Staunton more substantial and elegant houses have gone up than during any previous fifty years of the town's history. A wise man has said that the farmer is a continuous benefactor. He who digs a well, constructs a stone fountain, plants a grove of trees by the road side, plants an orchard, builds a durable house, reclaims a swamp, or so much as puts a stone seat by the wayside, makes the land so far lovely and desirable, makes a for- tune which he cannot carry away with him, but which is useful to his coun- try long afterwards. These substantial buildings enhance the value of the soil and create an attachment for the family residence. " Those who have been accustomed to poetry, ancient or modern, need not be told how finely and how impressively the household gods, the blazing hearth, the plen- teous board, and the social fireside, figure in poetical imagery. And this is not tying up nonsense for a song." They are realities of life in its most polished states; they are among its best and most rational enjoyments ; they associate the little family community in parental and filial affection and duty, in which even the well-clothed child feels its importance, claims and duties.
The amount of attachment to the family mansion furnishes the criterion of the relative amount of virtue in the members of a family. If the head of a family should wander from the path of paternal duty, and become ad- dicted to vicious habits, in proportion as his virtue suffers a declension a love of his home and family abates, until any place, however base and cor- rupting it may be, is more agreeable to him than his once sweet home. If a similar declension in virtue happens on the part of the maternal chief of the family mansion, the first effect of her deviation from the path of ma- ternal virtue is that " her feet abideth not in her own house." The same observations apply to children. When a young man or woman, instead of manifesting a strong attachment to the family mansion, is " given to outgoing " to places of licentious resort, their moral ruin may be said to be at no great distance.
Architecture is of use even in the important province of religion. Those who build no houses for themselves, build no temples for the service of God, and of course derive the less benefit from the institutions of religion. The very aspect of those sacred edifices,-churches,-fills the mind of the beholder with a religious awe, and as to the most believing and sincere, it serves to increase the fervor of devotion. Patriotism is augmented by the sight of the majestic forum of justice, the substantial highway, and the bridge with its long succession of ponderous arches. Rome and Greece would no doubt have fallen much sooner had it not been for the patriotism inspired by their magnificent public edifices. But for these, their histories would have been less complete and lasting than they have been. To ex- press the idea in a few words, these fine private mansions and public edifices
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imply the evolution of a highly organized man brought to supreme deli- cacy of sentiment; are the evidences of an advancing, on an advanced civilization, and of the growth of a nation after its own genius. They in- dicate a mysterious progress. Brutes make no progress; the savage red men are becoming extinct, not civilized ; the negro of to-day in Africa is the negro of Herodotus. The effect of a brick or stone house is immense on the tranquility, power and refinement of the builder. A man in a cave or in a camp, a nomad, will die with no more estate than the wolf or the horse leaves. But so simple a labor as a house being achieved, his chief enemies are kept at bay. He is safe from the teeth of wild animals, fron frost, sunstroke and weather, and fine faculties begin to yield their rich harvest ; invention and art are born, manners and social beauty and de- light. The builders of these durable edifices belong to the class of men who have left the world better than they found it, and their names deserve to be held in remembrance. Where there are so many substantial and elegant buildings, as in Staunton, they cannot be mentioned. The most worthy of enumeration beyond the city limits, but near the city, and they give animation, grace and beauty to the suburbs, are-
I. Montgomery Hall, a mile south of the city, and built by the Hon. John H. Peyton, in 1822-'24, from plans presented him by President Jeffer- son. The Hall is in a style between the Doric and Corinthian, combining the strength of the former with the delicacy of the latter, and marked for its harmony of proportion and beauty of detail.
2. Oak Grove, built in the early English style, about 1810, by the late Jacob Kinney, Esq.
3. Gaymont, built in the same stye, by the late John McDowell, Esq.
4. Wheatlands, built in the sam- style, by the late William Poage, Esq.
5. Bear-Wallow, built in the Gothic style, by Judge David Fultz.
6. Selma, built in the Grecian st'le, by the late Simpson F. Taylor, Esq.
7. Spring farm house, built in 177-'80, by Hessian prisoners, and added to by Judge John Brown.
8. Steep-hill, built by J. Lewi Peyton, in the Gothic or Villa-Romana style.
9. Bellevue, built by J. EmmetGuy, Esq.
IO. Fair-View Villa, built by William F. Ast, Esq.
II. Edgewood, built by Josep1 P. Ast, Esq.
12. Killarney, built by A. M.Bruce, Esq.
13. Glendale, built in the earl English style by the late Silas Smith, Esq., on the eastern slope of Bety Bell.
AUGUSTA AGRÈULTURAL SOCIETY.
Shortly after the close of the civ war, an important step was taken to revive our agricultural interests, and society was formed, the objects and purposes of which the following sketh will explain :
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SKETCH OF THE ORIGIN, PROGRESS AND PRESENT CONDITION OF THE BALDWIN-AUGUSTA FAIR.
Our wisest and best citizens in the past, recognizing the importance of agriculture to all the substantial interests of mankind, at an early period in the present century, sought to encourage a more intelligent and scientific mode of cultivation and improvement in the county, by means of united action, and a free interchange of opinions and experiences. Regarding agriculture as the foundation upon which the fabric of our social, moral, and political institutions are based, and upon which they must ever de- pend for support and prosperity, they organized, in Staunton, on the 8th of November, 1811, "The Augusta Agricultural Society." They sought by this association to increase the pleasures as well as the profits of rural labor, to enlarge the sphere of useful knowledge, and by concentrating their energies, to give to them greater effect in advancing the public good. The promoters of this movement were General Robert Porterfield, who was elected President, Alexander Nelson, James Bell, John H. Peyton, Chapman Johnson, Jno. Brown, Wm. Boys, Thomas Jackson, and James McNutt, who were officers of the society. Little is known of the history of this association beyond its organization, as the file of " The Republican Farmer," the only newspaper then published in Staunton, has not been preserved, but the society probably expired during the exciting scenes of the war of 1812-1815. Every praise, however, is due to the enlightened men who inaugurated the movement, and sought to promote the public good by dedicating a portion of their time and labor to the advancement of the art of theoretical and practical agriculture-in the success of which the welfare of the community is so deeply involved. And it is much to be regretted that such distinguished examples have not been more gener- ally followed. Notwithstanding the acknowledged strides which agricul- ture has since made in this county and the State, yet no science has been slower in its progress towards perfection ; and even admitting numberless existing instances of intelligent and spirited management among farmers of the higher class, it is still an endeniable fact that the great mass of men are of a very opposite description. Thus it is that the average product of Virginia has fallen below that of other States of less natural fertility and less favored by climate. To remedy this evil by spreading abroad that knowledge which is power, a new generation of public-spirited citizens united together about thirteen years since, in the creation of another asso- ciation as a means of developing the resources of the county and promot- ing thrift among the people. The leading spirits in this new movement were Cols. John B. Baldwin and Asher W. Harman, James Henderson, Geo. T. Antrim, Philip O. Polmer and others who undertook the task of forming the Augusta County Fair and prosecuted the design to ultimate success.
The General Assembly of which Col. Baldwin was the then Speaker, on the 15th of January, 1867. passed the act for its incorporation. This act is given in full, as it briefly and clearly sets forth the objects and purposes sought to be secured by its originators.
I. Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that the Court of Augusta county, when the justices thereof are next assembled to lay the county levy, shall choose ten citizens of the county to be " Directors of the Au- gusta County Fair," and shall divide them by lots into five classes, one of which shall go out of office at the expiration of each year. At the same
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term in each year thereafter, the said Court shall fill all vacancies in the said Directory. If a vacancy occurs by expiration of a term, the appoint- ment shall be for five years, but in all other cases for the unexpired term, so as to keep up the regular succession by classes.
2. The Directors so appointed shall be a corporation by the name of the Augusta County Fair, for the purpose of establishing and conducting fairs and other exhibitions of the natural and industrial products of Augusta county, as a means of developing the resources of the county and of pro- moting enterprise, industry, economy and thrift among the people.
3. The Directory shall, from its own number, choose a President of the corporation. They shall pass rules whereby citizens of Augusta county, on contributing one hundred dollars each to the permanent endowment of the corporation, may become life corporators of the Augusta County Fair. Whenever there shall be at least one such corporator for every two hun- dred inhabitants of the county, as shown by the next preceding census, the lists shall be certified by the Directory to the Court of Augusta coun- ty, who shall cause the same to be entered of record ; whereupon elections of Directors by the Court shall cease, and thereafter the said corporators shall be the constituent body, from whom and by whom shall be chosen the Directors of the corporation, to fill vacancies, and to keep up the suc- cessions as hereinbefore provided.
4. Elections for Directors by the corporators shall be held at the regu- lar annual fair. The voting shall be viva voce, and a plurality of votes shall elect in any case. In all other respects the elections shall be con- ducted, certified and determined as the rules shall prescribe.
5. The Court of Augusta county, in laying the county levy for any year, may provide a fund, not exceeding five cents for each inhabitant of the county, as shown by the next preceding census; and the Council of the town of Staunton may, in the same manner, provide a fund, subject to a like limitation, to be paid over in each case to the Augusta County Fair, and to be expended in suitable prizes to be offered at the fairs or other exhibitions conducted by the corporation.
6. This act shall be in force from its passage, and shall be subject to modification or repeal, at the pleasure of the General Assembly.
ACTION OF THE COUNTY COURT.
In accordance with the provisions of this act, the County Court, at its June term, 1867, chose ten citizens of the county to be Directors of the Fair, and divided them into five classes, to go out of office annually, as follows :
Ist Class-John B. Baldwin and A. W. Harman.
2nd -James Henderson and G. T. Antrim.
3rd -J. M. McCue and P. O. Polmer.
4th -- S. B. Finley and James Walker.
5th -W. A. Burke and W. M. Tate.
FIRST MEETING OF THE DIRECTORS.
The Directors thus appointed and classified by the County Court held their first meeting on the 29th of June, 1867, and elected Col. John B. Baldwin, President, and Major J. Hotchkiss, Secretary. Col. Baldwin immediately entered upon the discharge of his duties, and continued in them until his untimely death in 1873. On this melancholy occasion. the Directors paid a handsome tribute to his memory and his successful labors in establishing the Fair, remarking that, "Wholly unaided, almost without sympathy from any quarter in the then depressed condition of
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the popular heart, Col. Baldwin, whilst in the Legislature, and Speaker of the House, introduced and carried forward to its enactment the charter of incorporation. But this was much the least of his labors. The pinch was to raise the necessary funds. In the existing condition of affairs and of men's minds, it was a difficult task to awaken and keep alive an interest in almost any enterprise. But when this interest was to be at once and prospectively taxed with money contributions, there were few men with nerve to undertake a task so apparently hopeless.
" We believe John B. Baldwin was the only man in Augusta county who could have carried such a project through to a successful issue.
" The Board. therefore, upon a review of the past seven years, say em- phatically that John B. Baldwin was the father and founder of the Augusta County Fair. That it was born of his love for his native county, was cher- ished by him in their interest, that he gave to it his time and talents and means. That he wrote for it, spoke for it, and worked for it, in season and out of season, believing that it would do more than any other instrumen- tality to cherish and advance the interest of agriculture and the mechanic arts and household arts not only in Augusta, but ultimately, in the State at large."
CHANGE OF NAME.
As a further acknowledgement of his great efforts on behalf of the fair, the directory, after his death, applied to the General Assembly to have the name of the "father and founder " of the fair indissolubly associated with it, and that body by act approved January 20th, 1874, provided that the name of the Augusta County Fair "shall be and the same is hereby changed to the name of the Baldwin-Augusta Fair."
SUBSEQUENT MEETINGS.
At a meeting of the directory on the 29th of June, 1867, a committee was appointed to prepare rules and regulations for the permanent organi- zation and government of the corporation ; also, to select and report on a suitable place for holding the fairs. It was further provided that corpora- tors might pay the $100 prescribed for admission by executing a satisfac- tory bond.
SCRIP MADE TRANSFERABLE.
On the 29th of May, 1869, it was resolved that the privilege of mem- berships of the Augusta County Fair, represented by the certificates granted to corporators, shall be transferable at the death of any corporator, as part of his estate, to any white citizen of the County of Augusta, pro- vided such citizen was not before a corporator, and that no one person shall hold more than one membership.
PURCHASE OF LAND, ETC.
On the Ioth of October of the preceding year of 1868, twenty-one acres of land lying to the east of the town on Lewis creek, was purchased for the exhibitions for the sum of $6000, and in these grounds the first fair was held on the 27th, 28th and 29th days of October, 1868.
BY-LAWS.
On August 24th, 1868, the Committee on By-Laws reported the follow- ing, which were adopted :
I. The officers shall be a President, a Secretary, a Treasurer, a Super- intendent of the Grounds and an Executive Committee, to consist of three members.
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PRESIDENT.
The President shall preside at all meetings of the Directory and all general meetings of the Corporators. He shall appoint all committees, except such as shall be otherwise provided for by the Directory. He shall fill any vacancy in the offices of the corporation by an appointment to continue until an election by the Directory. He shall countersign all or- ders on the treasury before they are paid.
SECRETARY.
The Secretary shall be elected by the Directory and shall hold his office during its pleasure. He shall keep a fair record of the proceedings of the Corporators, of the Directory and of the Executive Committee, entering them in succession in the same book, which shall, at all times, be open to any corporator for inspection. He shall draw all orders upon the treasu- rer for claims audited by the Executive Committee, and shall enter among the proceedings of the said Committee a list of all such claims, preserving all papers relating thereto. He shall preserve all the papers, books, &c., belonging to the corporation according to such rules as shall from time to time be prescribed by the Directory.
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