USA > West Virginia > Pendleton County > A history of Pendleton County, West Virginia > Part 9
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Stoves being unknown, cooking was done before or over the fire, or in the bake oven. Kettles were suspended from a hook in the fireplace. The skillet to hold over the fire was long-handled, and it was an art to toss up a flapjack and catch it on its other side. The stone bakeoven with a smooth slab or an iron plate for its floor was made hot with a fire of dry wood. When the flames had died away the ashes were swabbed out and the loaves set in with a long paddle, and the door of charred boards tightly closed.
Fires were kept alive as much as possible. If the coals went out and it was too far to fetch live ones from a neigh- bor's fireplace, resort was had to flint and steel, or to the priming from a flintlock rifle, tow, punk, and fat pine being the materials for starting a fire.
The dietary was simpler than at present, the staff of life being pone, johnny cake, or mush, more often than the white loaf. Until gristmills were built, hard corn was pounded with a pestle in a hominy block, and softer corn was rubbed on a grater. Game meat was much in use so long as it remained plenty. Vegetables were fewer in variety and not so early as with us. During the cold season there was no fruit except stored apples and the various kinds of dried fruit, the process of airtight canning being unknown. The potpie was a feature of the big dinner at the frolic. Coffee and tea had to come from the seaport by means of wagon or pack- saddle, and being therefore expensive various substitutes were used.
China was seen in the homes of the more prosperous set-
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tlers, but pewter dishes were more common, as were like- wise bowls and other utensils of wood. Cedar ware was made with alternate red and white staves.
The log house was wellnigh universal, and at first the logs were generally unhewn. Nails being made by hand from ex- pensive iron, pegs generally took their places. The floor was commonly of puncheons made very smooth with a broadaxe. The roof was of clapboards and weightpoles. The stairway was a ladder. Windows were small and few, woden shut- ters often taking the place of the small panes of glass. Greased paper was sometimes a substitute for glass. The chimney was a massive stone structure occupying a consid- erable part of the house, and the fireplace was so broad as to render it possible to sit within it at one end while a fire was burning at the other. At the first the only way to make boards was for two men to saw them out with a whipsaw. A good day's work was 50 feet of lumber to each man. For a very long while the few sawmills were quipped only with the up and down blade. and the sawing was slow and uneven. In some of the poorer cabins and earlier schoolhouses, there was no floor at all, except the earth floor provided by nature.
None of the very earliest houses remain. A few are yet occupied that were built within the time of Indian peril, as is evident from the loopholes now hidden by the weather- boarding. A specimen of the older type was the one stand- ing near Cave postoffice, until about 1870, on the farm of Henry Simmons. It was two storied and built of oak and hickory, the round logs being notched and the ends project- ing. One end was built sloping with a chinking of mud and straw held in place by laths. This was for an additional protection against bullets. The fireplace was nine feet broad and high enough for a person to pass into without stooping. The poplar joists were eight inches square. The planks were of pit-sawed poplar. Some of the windows had only a single light.
In 1779 Virginia opened a land office and inaugurated a homestead policy. Any person could get title to unoccupied land at the rate of $2 per hundred acres. the land office to issue a warrant authorizing the survey. The warrant was lodged with the chief surveyor of the county, an official who held his place during good behavior. The surveyor was to mark trees, leave no open lines, and when practicable to make the breadth at least one third of the length. Within 12 months after the survey the claimant was to return to the general land office the plat and certificate of survey. Within 6 to 9 months thereafter, the register of the land office issued a deed executed on parchment. This was signed by the go v.
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ernor and stamped with the seal of the state. A caveat might be entered against an issuance of title. No land could be entered if settled on for 30 years. A squatter holding pos- session that length of time could gain title. A foreigner could take land with the proviso of becoming a citizen within two years after returning his plat to the land office. He could also transfer his right to a citizen. An inclusive sur- vey and new grant might be authorized by the county court if it were desired to put two or more tracts into one, or if errors were discovered in the boundaries. The cost of the land patent, if for less than 100 acres, was $1.78. The cost of the warrant of survey was 75 cents.
There were still other modes of acquiring unoccupied pub- lic lands.
Building a cabin and growing a crop of grain, even if a small crop, entitled a man to 400 acres, and a preemption right to 1000 acres adjoining. The certificate therefor was granted by a board of three commissioners appointed by the governor. After lying with the board six months, and no caveat being filed. a patent was issued.
The tomahawk right consisted of deadening a few trees, especially around the head of a spring. and cutting the man's initials on a few trees along the boundary. This sort of claim had no actual standing in law, yet in some cases was bought and sold. Sometimes the title was quieted by the application of a hickory rod.
The corn right gave a claim to 100 acres by inclosing and cultivating a single acre. The cabin right gave a claim to 40 acres by building a log hut on a certain tract.
However. these more liberal regulations were of no exten- sive advantage to this county, the best of the land having already passed into private ownership.
For the better care of the public highways, the county was divided into road precincts, one for every militia district. All white males above the age of 16, except ferrymen and the owner of two or more slaves, were required to work the roads, and so were all slaves of similar age. For repair work, the overseer was empowered to impress help. A pub- lic road was supposed to be 30 feet wide and to be kept in repair, but the provision as to width was seldom carried out. An "index board" was required at every fork. For this pur- pose the overseer might take timber from the adjoining lands, although it had to be paid for. Bridges were supposed to be 12 feet wide. There was a fine of $50 for felling a tree across a public road, or into a stream above a bridge, and not removing the same within 24 hours. The law was also very strict on the bribery of viewers. While a piece of road-
making was going on, it was a felony to accept presents or even "meat or drink." Until 1820, the viewer seems to have served without pay. He was then allowed 75 cents a day, although in 1830, the per diem allowance is mentioned as 50 cents.
Virginia was early covered by a militia organization. Aside from the persons specially exempt or physically dis- qualified, all free white males and all apprentices between the ages of 16 and 50 were enlisted in companies of from 32 to 68 men. They were required to assemble one day in every two weeks-excepting the three winter months-at the hour of ten in the morning, and give two hours to regimental muster. Millers and ferrymen were exempt from militia duty but not from actual service. Each private had to pro- vide rifle, -or tomahawk, firelock, and bayonet, -cartouch box, three charges of powder and ball, and keep on hand one pound of powder and four of lead in reserve.
Under American statehood the militia of Virginia were grouped into five divisions and 18 brigades, Hardy, Hamp- shire, and Pendleton constituting one brigade territory. To each division were attached one regiment of cavalry and one of artillery. The regiment, consisting of at least 400 men and commanded by a colonel, was divided into two battalions, one commanded by the lieutenant colonel and one by the major. Each battalion had a stand of colors. In each company were one captain, two first lieutenants, two second lieutenants, five sergeants, and six corporals. The ensign, a commis- sioned officer having charge of the colors and ranking below the first lieutenant, was dispensed with after the war of 1812. On the staff of the colonel were one quartermaster, one paymaster, one surgeon, one surgeon's mate, one adju- tant with the rank of captain, one sergeant major, one quar- termaster sergeant, two principal musicians, and drum and fife majors. To each company was one drum and also a fife or bugle. Officers received their commissions through recom- mendation to the governor from the county court. It would seem, however, that the captains and lieutenants were pri- marily chosen by the privates. A rigid anti-duelling oath was exacted of the officers. The best men to be found were appointed to office under the militia system. A position therein was considered very honorable and as a stepping stone to something higher.
Company musters took place in April and October, battal- ion musters in October or November, and regimental musters in April or May.
Non-attendance at muster led to a fine usually of 75 cents, and this was turned over to the sheriff for collection. Fines
near the close of the eighteenth century, and stands near the Propst church on a part of the original Propst homestead.
A FARMHOUSE OF THE LATER PIONEER PERIOD: NOAH PROPST RESIDENCE .- Phot'd by J. F. Rexroad. This log house dates from
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were numerous, whether or not they were generally collected. Excuses for cause were granted by a court martial. the clerk of the same having in 1794 a yearly salary of $6.67. In the same year we find one man excused for an impediment in his speech, and another for "a deficiency in intellect." Others are excused until "in a better state of health."
During the later years of the militia system, musters were less frequent, the men went through the evolutions without arms, and the practical value of the drill was not very great. The officers did not pay much attention to costume, the regi- mental and some of the company officers wearing coats of the pattern of 1812; a dark-blue garment with long, swallow- tail, epaulettes, and brass buttons.
As a colony, and for some years as a state, Virginia ad- hered to the British coinage of pounds, shillings, and pence. For some cause not well understood, the value of these coins fell off nearly one-third from the British standard. As early as 1714 it took 26 Virginia shillings to equal one guinea of Eng- lish money. During the period of the Revolution and later, the value of the Virginia pound was $3.33. The shilling was 16 2-3 cents and the penny was worth 1 1-3 cents. Ameri- can familiarity with the dollar standard came through ac- quaintance with the Spanish milled dollars, which were cir- culating freely throughout the colonies during the years of the Revolution. Our decimal currency, so much more con- venient than the cumbersome English system, was mainly the work of Thomas Jefferson. *
But old habits are hard to break, especially at a distance from the large commercial centers. The British notation was used in this country almost exclusively until after 1800. It then began to yield, though very slowly. An ap- praisement at a sale would be reckoned by one method, and the result of the sale by another. It was not until the up- heaval of 1861 that the last vestiges of the old system were driven out of use.
By 1830 the word pound had fallen into disuse, but smaller
* Jefferson wished to extend the decimal system to other denominate numbers. His plan for reconstructing the table of long measure was as follows :
10 points make 1 line
10 lines 1 inch 10 inches 1 foot
10 feet .6 1 decad
10 decads 1 rood
10 roods 1 furlong
10 furlongs " 1 mile
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sums were still reckoned in terms of shillings and pence. There were as yet no nickels, dimes, and quarters of Federal coin- age, but there were Spanish coins in general circulation. These were the fip (five-penny bit), worth 6 1-4 cents; the levy (eleven penny bit), worth 12 1-2 cents; and the 25 cent piece. Six shillings were counted to the dollar. A sixpence was 8 1-3 cents, a ninepence was 12 1-2 cents, and 25 cents was called eighteen pence. 37 1-2 cents was called "two and threepence, " 62 1-2 cents was "three and ninepence," 75 cents was "four and sixpence," 87 1-2 cents was "five and three-pence," $1.25 was "seven and sixpence." The sum of $1.50 was spoken of as 9 shillings. The term "fifteen shil- ling lawyer" referred to a practitioner who did not charge more than the usual fees, the minimum being commonly $2 50.
Until 1794 tobacco was legal currency in Virginia, 100 pounds of the weed being reckoned equal to one pound in coin. The value of one pound of tobacco was therefore 3 1-3 cents. In the colonial records of Augusta, and even in the earliest records of Pendleton we find county levies and wit- ness fees computed not in pounds, shillings, and pence, but in pounds of tobacco.
The Spanish dollar was not the only foreign coin in circula- tion prior to 1800. The pioneer with a hoard of coin in his specie pouch might be able to produce gold coins known as pistoles, doubloons, "loodores," and the "Joe Portuguese." The first was worth $3.60. The second was equal to two pis- toles. The loodore (louis d'or) was worth $4.44, and the Jo- hannes was worth $8.
The practice of agriculture was rude and the tools were primitive. An undue share of labor was done by hand, but this was partly because of the losses which would result from the forays of the Indians. Oxen were preferred as work ani- mals. The harrow was a thornbush. The wooden plow did lit- tle more than scratch the ground. The scythe had a straight handle. A forked sapling, peeled and dried, made a grain fork.
The gristmill was as primitive as the style of farming. The earliest form was the tubmill with its five foot water-wheel lying in a horizontal position. Since the burrs could rotate no faster than the wheel, a strong current was secured if possible. The handmill with a pair of burrs about as large as a common grindstone was much used, and by dint of back- aching work a bushel of meal could be made in a day.
Tobacco, formerly the great staple of Virginia, was grown for export even in the mountains. Two crops were usually taken in succession from a new field. After 1794
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wheat was crowding out tobacco, and though it brought from $1.00 to $2.50 a bushel on navigable waters, Pendleton lay 100 remote to profit thereby. Its farmers had to do as they are still doing: grow their home supplies of corn. grain, and minor products, and send their surplus to market in the form of cattle. sheep, and wool. But the little fields of flax and hemp, once so common and so important, have all but disappeared.
Until within the memory of living persons, produce was wagoned to Fredericksburg, at a head of deep water navi- gation, or to Scottsville. where it could be transferred to a canal boat. As these points are distant from Franklin 105 and 74 miles by airline, it was a matter of some days to make the roundtrip. As late as 1845 store goods sold high because of the small amount disposed of. In 1770 sugar cost 17 cents a pound at Staunton, gunpowder was 67 cents, and a single nutmeg cost 10 1-2 cents.
In the earlier days the pioneer took his rifle to market and if possible one or more scalps of animals. A single wolf scalp, worth 160 pounds of tobacco, would more than cover his tax bill, and the rifle, worth about $7, might put still an- other scalp in his hands while going home. The larger beasts of prey were not ordinarily inclined to molest man, though it was not prudent to go defenseless. The bear-trap weighing 50 pounds was a feature of every huntsman's outfit. and the hunting camp, perhaps miles from his home, was his shelter while looking for deer.
The practice of medicine was like a dark age to the well read physician of our own time. Perhaps it was as well that physicians were few in those days, and that recourse was often had to the trained instinct and good judgment of the "old woman doctor." At all events her herb teas were far less expensive than the well-labeled bottles we now buy of the druggist.
Whatever the forra of the medicine then in use. there was nothing small in the size of the dose. Worms were thought to be the chief ailment of children, and there was accordingly a dosing with salt or green copperas. A poultice of meal or scraped potatoes was used for burns, and one of slippery elm, flaxseed, or turnips for wounds. Croup was treated with the juice of roasted onions; itch with sulphur and lard. Snake- root was used to produce a perspiration in fever, yet the fever patient was denied cold water and fresh air, and if he left his bed it was perhaps with an enfeebled circulation. A high birthrate was partially offset by a high mortality. The infec- tious nature of some diseases was not understood, and an ignorance of what we now consider the elementary principles of hygiene and antiseptic precaution led to a loss of life that
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is now usually preventable. For these reasons, croup, wounds, and childbirth were not infrequently fatal. Among the herbs in common use were boneset, lovage, horehound, chamomile, wild cherry, prickly ash, and "old man's beard."
Vaccination was unknown at the outset of the period and pock-marked faces were common. In 1777 we find the physi- cians in Rockingham authorized to inoculate persons living within three miles of a point where small-pox had broken out. By this now abandoned method, the disease was com- municated in a mild form, although the patient became as dangerous to the exposed person as though having small-pox in full vigor. The doctor at the courthouse was the only sub- stitute for the professional dentist, yet he did little else than clamp an ailing tooth between the jaws of an instrument of torture and jerk it forth in blissful ignorance of anesthetics. However, the unsound tooth was comparatively infrequent, thanks to the thorough chewing required by the hard-crust- ed corn bread, the less common use of sweets, and the ab- sence of the modern soft foods that favor the stomach at the expense of the teeth.
Despite a very common opinion to the contrary, the people of that early day were no more healthy than we are. We hear much of the grandpa and grandma of iron constitution and long life, but they were a survival of the strongest. We hear little of the weaklings who existed then as well as now, and of the hosts of people who went into their graves at too young an age.
The old times were unlike the present times, so much so that we can understand them very imperfectly unless we give no little time and thought to the points of difference. Even the manner in which people wrote and conversed was not quite the same. We have abandoned many of the ex- pressions once in everyday use and have taken up others which would puzzle our foreparents to understand. It is often imagined that the old times were better than the pres- ent. Without doubt we have in our modern haste lost some of the features of the olden time which it would have been well to keep. We have cares they knew little of, yet on the whole it would prove a very unpleasant experience to be thrown back into the environment of the early pioneer days.
"'Tis distance lends enchantment to the view,
And robes the mountains in their azure hue."
CHAPTER X
Formation of Pendleton
At the close of 1787 the population of Rockingham was nearly 7000, including about 700 slaves. With at least two- fifths of its area lying beyond the high, broad, and infertile Shenandoah Mountain, the time had come when it was too in- convenient to travel from 30 to 60 miles to reach the courthouse. Accordingly the State legislature passed, December 4, 1787, the following act :
"1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly, That from and after the first day of May next, all those parts of the counties of Augusta, Hardy, and Rockingham within the following bounds, to-wit : Beginning on the line of Rockingham county, on the North mountain, opposite to Charles Wilson's on the South Fork, thence a straight line to the Clay Lick on the North Fork, thence to the top of the Allegana, and along the same and the east side of the Greenbrier waters to the south- west fountain of the South Branch, and thence between the same and the waters of James River, along the dividing ridge to the said North Mountain, and with the top of the same to the beginning, shall form one distinct county, and be called and known by the name of Pendleton.
** 2. A court for the said county of Pendleton shall be held by the justices thereof on the first Monday in every month, after such county shall take place, in like manner as is pro- vided by law for other Counties, and shall be by their com- missions directed. And the Court of quarterly sessions for the said County of Pendleton, shall be held in the months of April, June, September, and December, in every year.
"3. The justices to be named in the commission of the peace for the said County of Pendleton, shall meet at the house of Zeraiah Stratton in the said County, upon the first Court day after the said County shall take place, and having taken the oaths prescribed by law, and having administered the oath of office to, and taken bond of the sheriff according to law, proceed to appoint and qualify a clerk, and fix upon a place for holding Court in the said County, at or as near the center thereof as the situation and convenience will admit of; and thenceforth the said Court shall proceed to erect the necessary public buildings at such place; and until such buildings be completed, to appoint any place for holding courts as they think proper. PROVIDED ALWAYS, That the
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appointment of a place for holding courts and of a clerk, shall not be made unless a majority of the justices of the said county be present; wnere such majority shall have been pre- vented from attending by bad weather, or their being at the time out of the county, in such case the appointment shall be postponed until some Court day when a majority shall be present.
'4. The Governor, with advice of the Council, shall ap- point a person to be first sheriff of the said County, who shall continue in office during the term, and upon the same conditions as are by law appointed for the sheriff.
"5. PROVIDED ALSO, AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That it shall be lawful for the sheriff of each of the said counties of Augusta, Hardy, and Rockingham to collect and make dis- tress for any public dues and officer's fees which shall remain unpaid by the inhabitants thereof, at the time the said county shall take place, and shall be accountable for the same in like manner as if this act had not been made.
"6. And the Courts of the said Counties shall have juris- diction of all actions and suits which shall be depending before them at the time the said County of Pendleton shall take place; and shall try and determine the same, and award execution thereon.
** 7. In all future elections of a senator, the said county of Pendleton shall be of the same district as the county of Augusta."
Within the limits defined by the Act of 1787, the area of Pendleton was perhaps 850 square miles. On the east, north and west, the original boundaries have remained unaltered. On the south there have been two subsequent changes. The original boundary included the northern portion of the Crab- bottom and all the rest of the present county of Highland that lies north of the watershed between the streams flowing into the Potomac and those forming the upper basin of the James. Near Doe Hill the line therefore fell even north- ward of its present location.
The population of Pendleton in its beginning was about 2200, almost exclusively white. The distribution of the in- habitants between the three valleys was not very unequal. As yet the people lived mainly along the larger watercourses, the mountains being still an almost unbroken forest.
The house of Seraiah Stratton, where it was decreed that the new county should be organized and the first term of court be held, lay about a fourth of a mile south of the Rud- dle postoffice, only a few yards to the west of the present highway, and close to a watering trough. The only present vestige of the dwelling is a mound of rocks marking the site
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of the chimney and from the midst of which rises a young tree. Tradition states that the court used the barn instead of the house. If so it was doubtless because the dwelling it- self was too small to afford a sufficient surplus of room. But whether house or barn, or both, the charge of four dollars for the whole period of time during which the premises were used as a county seat does not look exorbitant.
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