USA > West Virginia > Hampshire County > History of Hampshire County, West Virginia : from its earliest settlement to the present > Part 21
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The roads of Hampshire county compare favorably with those of any other county in the state. In the rugged and thinly settled mountain districts the highways are often not all the people desire, but this is offset by the fine pikes which follow the principal streams. History does not record the beginning of road-building in Hampshire. Their growth has been an evolution from the trails and paths followed, first by Indians, and afterwards by the early set- tlers. One by one these paths were widened for wagons, but the earliest wagon road in the county cannot now be named. It may be that none were made prior to the mili- tary road constructed by Braddock during the campaign of 1755, unless a portion of a road made the preceding year for military purposes may be classed as a wagon road. The Braddock road was not built as a temporary measure. It was not the purpose of the British government and the American colonies that it should be used only as a military road and then abandoned. But it was to be a great high-
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way between the east and the boundless and alinost unex- plored west. Civilization was to march toward the setting sun upon that thoroughfare. The land beyond the moun- tains was to be reached along the highway built by Brad- dock and his army as they marched against the French. Wagons and teams to the value of a quarter of a million dollars went west with the army. They never returned, but were abandoned on the Monongahela after the terrible defeat of July 9, 1755. That was the largest train of wag- ons that ever passed through Hampshire county, except, perhaps, that of General Forbes in 1758; and it is remark- able that it should have been the first, and that the first should have had so melancholy ending. There is no evi- dence that the Braddock road was ever extensively used by the people. Portions of it were early abandoned.
A number of the roads now in the county are on excel- lent grades, so far as the topography of the country wil permit; but others were never properly surveyed, and many grades are steeper than necessary, while in numer- ous instances hills and mountains are crossed when the roads could have been constructed as casily around them. The men who laid them out forgot that a potbail is as long standing up as laying down.
The Virginia road law, several parts of which were in operation before the beginning of the nineteenth century, provided amply for roads. All men over sixteen years of age must work on the highways. Slaves must work the same as free people. The owner of two slaves who per- formed their required labor on the highways was exempt. The law required that every road must be kept in repair, and thirty feet wide. This provision was seldom complied with. Finger-boards to direct travelers must be kept at all intersecting roads, and the overseer was authorized by law to take timber and stone from adjoining lands to be used for finger-boards, but such material must be paid for. This law was passed in 1785. Bridges were required to
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be at least twelve feet wide. When a road or bridge was in need of repairs the overseer could impress teams and teamsters and seize material for that purpose. But, though material might be taken from county property, the law for- bade going upon town property for that purpose. When such material had been seized, its value was determined by two householders acting as a board of arbitration. Bridges across streams which were the dividing lines of two coun- ties must be maintained by both counties in proportion to their respective assessments. The punishment prescribed for cutting a tree across a public road, or in a stream above a public bridge, and not removing it within forty-eight hours, was a fine of fifty dollars. A road leading across a milldam was required to be kept in repair, twelve feet wide, by the owner of the dam. In case the dam washed away the owner was not held responsible for the repair of the road until one month after he had repaired the dam and had ground one bushel of grain.
The early law of Virginia was strict on viewers of pro- posed roads, lest they should take bribes of such persons as were interested in having the highway located in cer- tain places. The law passed in 1786 provided that the viewers appointed to locate the road should meet at a cer- tain point on the proposed road, and begin work. From that time until their work was completed they were for- bidden to accept any present from any person, "neither meat nor drink," on penalty of immediate imprisonment. The law of 1785 provided that no road could be opened through a lot in town without the owner's consent. The land could not be condemned.
Road overseers were not highly paid. In 1830 they received fifty cents a day, and there were thirty of them in Hampshire county. It may be of interest to know who they were at that time, and their names are given: Caleb Evans, Abbott Carder, John Horn, James Summerville, Absalom Doll, George Rudolph, Jacob Pugh, Moses
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Thomas, John Berry, Benoni Cassady, Michael Pugh, John Crawfish, John Leatherman, Thomas Sloan, William Tor- rence, Mathew Hare, John Largent, Jesse Bane, Jacob Vandever, Arthur Spencer, Jacob Lambert, Henry Powel- son, Frederick Spaid, Clark D. Powell, Peter Evans, Thomas Dean, Joseph Smith, Peter Leatherman.
The building of the Northwestern pike from Winches- ter to Parkersburg, through Romney, was a great event. This splendid highway was surveyed by one of the mili- tary engineers who served under Napoleon Bonapart in the Russian campaign. On the downfall of the emperor, it became necessary for the engineer to leave France, and he came to the state of Virginia, and was employed in road surveys. The construction of the pike was com- menced at Winchester and was completed as far as Rom- ney in 1837. The road was required to be twenty-one feet wide, and no grade more than five degrees, which is about two hundred and eighty-five feet to the mile. It was fortunate for Hampshire that nature cut gaps through Mill creek mountain in four places, by which roads may pass without climbing over that high and steep range. These gaps are, at the mouth of Mill creek, at upper Hanging Rocks, at lower Hanging Rocks, and at the Poto- mac just above the mouth of the South branch. The Northwestern pike passes through Mill creek gap, by a grade of about one degree, and along a route of great beauty. Every stream on this road was bridged. During the war nearly all the bridges were destroyed. The most of them have been rebuilt.
The Jersey mountain road was surveyed and improved in 1846. An older road had followed nearly the same route for many years, but at the above date it was widened and straightened. The Capon and North branch turn- pike was made about 1842. It passes from Cumberland to Capon bridge, by way of Frankfort, Springfield, Hig- ginsville, Slanesville and North river mills. It was built
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by subscription, two-fifths of the stock subscribed by the state of Virginia, and the other by private parties. The pike from Greenspring to Moorefield was built by a stock company about 1850, the state taking two-fifths of the stock. This was called the Moorefield and North branch turnpike. In 1852 a turnpike was built from a point near Charles Taylor's, on the Capon and North branch turn- pike, to a point near French's store, on the Potomac, near the mouth of the South branch.
The first stage line in Hampshire county, so far as any record exists, was established in 1830, between Winches- ter and Cumberland. In 1845 the stage lines from Green- spring to Romney and from Romney to Parkersburg and Marietta, Ohio, were owned by Nathaniel Kuykendall and Jesse Hildebrand. This was the main thoroughfare be- tween the east and west, through what is now the nothern part of West Virginia. The National road, from Cumber- land to Wheeling was a rival in importance. The stages from Romney to the Ohio river made remarkably good time, reaching Clarksburg in one day and Parkersburg in two. Stages left Greenspring for the Ohio river on Mon- days, Wednesdays and Fridays, "upon the arrival of the cars from Baltimore, " as stated in an advertisement of that date. It would appear that only three passenger trains a week arrived from the east at that time. The distance from Greenspring to Parkersburg was two hundred and ten miles, and the fare by stage was ten dollars. The railroad fare from Baltimore to Greenspring was four dollars, or from Baltimore to Parkersburg, fourteen dol- lars. The time required for the journey from Baltimore to the Ohio river was fifty-seven hours; and from Balti- more to Greenspring nine hours. Stages from Winches- ter and from Moorefield connected at Romney with the stages for the Ohio river.
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CHAPTER XXIV
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EDUCATIONAL AFFAIRS.
BY H. L. SWISHER.
The tracks of the Indians were scarcely effaced from our valleys and hills before the pioneer pedagogue appeared upon the scene. Who the first teacher was that ever meted out learning in the county of Hampshire will never be known. Even the names of these early teachers have be- come mere traditions, and we can only describe them as a class, making abundant allowance for exceptions.
In those early days that a man was a teacher did not sig- nify that he was educated or cultivated. In fact these were often his least important qualifications. He must, how- ever, be a man of courage and muscle, able to hold his own when the "big boys" entered upon the precarious pastime of "putting the teacher out." He must, moreover, be ex- pert in the use of the rod and skilled in making quill pens. While he was not always of the most religious turn of mind, he had no shadow of doubt but that Solomon's saying : "Spare the rod and spoil the child," was a divine revela- tion.
This primitive apostle of education, the forerunner of the present educational system, labored under many dis- advantages. His remuneration was small, and a place to hold his school was not always to be had. Sometimes a rude hut near a fort answered the purpose, or sometimes a public-spirited citizen would allow the use of his cabin a few hours each day.
It was not many years, however, until the backwoods school house was built. It was not an elegant building, but
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it served as a place for holding schools, religious and polit- ical meetings. The structure was usually of unhewn logs with the cracks between more or less closed by puncheons and mortar. The floor was made of puncheons placed with the hewn side up, and the door made of clapboards. Somewhere in the wall a part of a log was left out and paper greased with lard served to close the aperture and let in the light. There was a huge chimney at one end large enough to accommodate a child or two on each side and yet have a roaring fire in the middle. Nor was the furni- ture more inviting than the building itself. The seats were made of split logs, hewn smooth on one surface, which was placed upward and supported by legs thrust into auger holes on the under side. These benches had no backs, and as they were rather high the position was not an easy one, especially for the smaller pupils, who sat all day dangling their tiny feet in a vain effort to reach the floor. Writing was done exclusively with pens made from quills, and a slab supported on pins driven into the wall served as a writing desk. Among the earlier text books there was a United States speller, the New Testa- ment, the English reader and an arithmetic.
These early schools received no state aid, nor were they regulated by law. They were made up in something like the following manner. A peripatetic pedagogue appeared in a neighborhood with a subscription paper and each fam- ily "signed" whatever number of pupils it felt able to send. If enough "signers" were secured the school would begin; if not, the teacher wandered on to another neigh- borhood to try his luck again. Not infrequently the teacher took his pay in "produce," and the meager pay he received was made to go further by what was called "boarding round." By this system the teacher stayed a part of the time with each of his patrons. He frequently contributed to the comfort of the families with whom he stayed by chopping wood and doing chores. 21
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RESIDENCE AND FAMILY OF FRANKLIN HERRIOTT.
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THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
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ASTOR LENOK AND TILDEN FOU. . DATOS
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The instruction given was usually of a very rudimentary nature, embracing the three R's, "reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic," and some knowledge of spelling. In mathe- matics the study extended as far as vulgar fractions, before which came proportion in the old arithmetics. But proportion was not proportion in those old books; it was the "single rule of three" and its mastery was consid- cred an intellectual feat. There were no blackboards, no globes and charts, no steel pens; in fact hardly any appa- ratus and yet these primitive schools were the places where many a man got his inspiration that in after life made him a giant among his fellows.
It was not until 1810 that Virginia gave any recognition to popular education. It was then that the general assem- bly created what was known as the "Literary Fund." One of the provisions of the act was that all escheats, con- fiscations. fines and pecuniary penalties and all rights in personal property, accruing to the commonwealth as derelict and having no rightful proprietor should be used for the encouragement of learning. The auditor was instructed to open an account with the "Literary Fund." The management of this fund was vested in the governor lieutenant governor, treasurer, attorney general and president of the court of appeals.
By an act passed 1818 it was provided that "it shall be the duty of the courts of the several counties, cities and corporate towns * in the month of October or as soon thereafter as may be, to appoint not less than five nor more than fifteen discreet persons to be called school commissioners." These commissioners had charge of the disbursement of their pro rata share of the fund which was distributed annually. In 1819 the "Literary Fund" amounted to four thousand five hundred dollars. That portion received by each county was used to pay the tuition of indigent children at the subscription schools. These children were selected by the commissioners and
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apportioned to the different schools of the county. Here we see the first instance of the state taking it upon itself to educate its citizens, a work which at the present time seems so necessary. These "poor" or "primary" schools were what in 1863 developed into the free school system.
Poor white children only received benefit from the "Literary Fund." No provision was made for the educa- tion of colored children, in fact it was discouraged by sen- timent and statute. An act passed by the general assem- bly, March 2, 1819, provides, "that all meetings or assem- blages of slaves at any school or schools for teaching them reading or writing either in the day or in the night shall be deemed and considered an unlawful assembly." Corporal panishment to the extent of twenty lashes was to be inflicted upon the offenders. This was likely to make it unpleasant for the philanthropic teacher who sought to give instruction to his African brother.
There was a semi-compulsory provision connected with the distribution of the "Literary Fiind" by which the com- missioners were allowed to select children whom they con- sidered as standing in need of help. After these children had been selected by the board of commissioners it became the duty of the parents or guardians to send such children, and if they failed they were made to pay a sum equal to the tuition for each day the children were absent. Many per- sons objected to this system of schools as when they re- ceived aid it placed them in the light of panpers. There were unquestionably many grave faults in the system, but it was a step toward that system which sets forth the idea that there is no child either too rich or too poor to receive an education at the hands of the state.
There was little change in the school system from 1819 to 1845, when we find an act passed by the state legislative body authorizing the county court to redistrict the coun- ties and appoint a commissioner for each district. These commissioners were to meet at the court house of their
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respective counties at the October term of court, and pro- ceed to elect viva voce a county superintendent of schools. This is the first officer of that kind provided for in the school system. His duties were numerous, among them was to keep a register of the children in his district and report annually to the "Literary Fund" the condition of the schools under his care.
Still another step toward the free school system of today was an act for the establishment of a district public school system. This act was passed March 5, 1846. It provided that if one-third of the voters of a county should petition the county court, the court should submit to them at the next regular election the question of establishing district public schools. If two-thirds of the votes cast were in favor of such schools they were established. The main- tenance of these schools was accomplished "by a uniform rate of increased taxation" upon the taxable property in the county. This additional levy was laid by the school commissioners. There was also a provision for three trus- tees in each district, two of whom were elected by the vot- ers of the district at the annual election, and one of whom was appointed by the board of commissioners. These trustees were authorized to select a site for a school house in the district, build and furnish the same, and to employ a teacher, whom they could discharge for good cause.
It was also a part of their official business "to visit the school at least once in every month and examine the schol- ars and address the pupils if they see fit, and exhort them to prosecute their studies diligently and to conduct them- selves virtuously and properly."
We see, then, how nearly the plan of the present system of schools was evolved more than fifty years ago, but its weak point was that it was left to the option of each county to accept or neglect it as the people saw fit, and we may safely say it was more often neglected than accepted.
The boom of cannon had scarcely died out of our hills
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when the arts of peace began to be taught in every county in the state. During the horrors of civil strife, in which time our state was born, the free schools had been estab- lished. The system was in operation before the war in many states of the union, and in the neighboring states of Pennsylvania and Ohio. When those men who refused to follow the old state in seceding from the union met to frame a constitution for the new state they comprehended the advantages of a uniform system of free education. Well knowing the opposition such a system would meet with and the obstacles it would have to surmount, they builded on a sure foundation by inserting in the first constitution this declaration: "The legislature shall provide, as soon as practicable, for the establishment of a thorough and ef- cient system free schools by appropriating thereto the interest of the invested school fund, the net proceeds of all forfeitures, confiscations and fines accruing to this state under the laws thereof, and by general tax- ation on persons or property, or otherwise. They shall also provide for raising in each township [district], by the authority of the people thereof, such a proportion of the amount required for the support of free schools therein as shall be prescribed by general laws." When the first legislature met, December 20, 1863, they showed their desire to co-operate with the framers of the cor- stitution by passing an act establishing the free school system. The voters of each township were to elect a board of education, and the voters of the county were to elect a county superintendent of free schools. The first board of education for Hampshire county was that of Romney district and was composed of Rev. O. P. Wirg- man, president; William S. Purgett, Dr. Leatherman and J. D. McIlwee, secretary.
The first county superintendent of free schools was Wil- liam Head, who was elected in 1865. At this time there were less than a dozen schools in the county. This sys-
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tem, which all now consider so necessary and which all heartily support, met with vigorous opposition for several years after its introduction. The duties of the board of education at that time included those now performed by both board and trustees. It was not until 1866 that an act was passed providing that the board should appoint three trustees for each sub-district. The powers of these trus- tees consisted in caring for school property, hiring teach- ers and visiting the schools under their charge.
The duties of the county superintendent were many and diversified. He was "to examine all candidates for the profession of teacher and to grant certificates to those competent." There was at that time a wide range in securing a certificate. There were five grades, known as number ones, twos, etc., up to number fives. Many of those who applied for certificates were woefully unpre- pared and few number ones were granted. The lower grades, however, made it almost impossible for a candi- date to fail it he could write his name and knew the date of his birth. There is a current tradition of a teacher who presented himself to the county superintendent for examination in those early days. When he returned home some of his neighbors inquired how he had succeeded. He replied that he had done very well, having made a num- ber four, but that he intended to return to the next exam- ination and try for a number five, as he thought he could do better a second time.
Other duties of the superintendent were to visit the schools "at least three times during each term of six months," to "encourage the formation of associations of teachers and teachers' institutes," and "to secure as far as practicable uniformity in the text-books used in schools thoughont the county." His salary for this service was to range from one hundred to five hundred dollars.
While these schools were established for persons from six to twenty-one years of age, they were even more lib-
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HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE.
eral than this. In 1865 union soldiers honorably dis- charged from the service could receive instruction in the free schools without charge. It was also provided that other persons over school age could receive instruction upon the payment of a stipulated amount.
At the present time the district levies are laid by the board of education for each district. This has been the case since 1868, but previous to that time they were laid by the annual township or district meetings and could not go beyond twenty-five cents on each hundred dollars valuation for building fund and twenty cents for the teachers' fund. In 1867 the maximum for each fund was fixed at fifty cents on the hundred dollars valuation, and the moneys of the funds were to be kept separate. Uniformity in the text- books was aimed at in a law enacted in 1865, enabling the state superintendent to prescribe a series of class books to be used. The question of providing suitable text- books has been one that has always confronted and hin- dered the advance of education. There is probably not a state or territory in the United States that has a series of text-books which are wholly satisfactory. When some satisfactory solution to this troublesome problem has been reached the free schools will make still more wonderful steps forward than have been made in the past.
We have seen that under the laws of Virginia, while there was in reality no free school system, yet there was a provision whereby district schools might be established, and later there was an act calling for three trustees to be appointed to care for each district. Trustees were pro- vided for as early as 1866 by the new state, and it became the duty of the board of education to appoint three trus- tees for each sub-district.
In introducing the free schools the legislature and friends of education overreached themselves by passing a law requiring the schools to be kept open uniformly six months each year. This could not be done by the maxi-
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mum levy laid, and thus one law made another null and void. It was therefore enacted in 1867 that the schools should be kept open at least four months in the year, but even this could not be done, and in some districts of coun- ties in thestate there were not more than two months' school a year. The constitution of 1872 reaffirmed the position of the former one and enjoined upon the legislature to pro- vide by general law for a thorough and efficient system of free schools. When the legislature assembled after the adoption of this constitution, among its first acts were those intended to carry out this clause of the constitution. A board of education was to be elected in each district, composed of a president and two commissioners. At the same time one trustee was to be elected. This number was afterwards changed to three and they were appointed by the board.
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