USA > West Virginia > Hampshire County > History of Hampshire County, West Virginia : from its earliest settlement to the present > Part 22
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The county superintendent had enjoyed a monopoly on holding examinations for candidates for the profession of teaching up to the year 1873, but the acts of that year pro- vided two examiners to assist him. His office heretofore had some possibilities of being moderately lucrative, but in 1879 he was reduced to a maximum salary of one hun- dred and twenty-five dollars, but as an offset he was ex- cused from visiting school and his duties became very few. This office has always been so poorly paid as to render it almost useless by not holding out inducements sufficient to lead men of education and ability to devote their time and attention to it. A little more dignity was added to the office and a little better salary attached by an act passed in 1881 when it was made to pay not less than one hundred and fifty dollars nor more than three hundred dollars, and the superintendent was again required to visit the schools. Just where and by whom the first school was taught in Hampshire cannot now be stated with any absolute cer- tainty. There are many traditions and facts, however, concerning these schools, some of which will be given.
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HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE.
Even after the civil war the school houses in this county, perhaps, did not exceed a dozen. In earlier times they were exceedingly scarce. There was a school house on . Sandy ridge where some of the oldest persons now living attended school. This was built about 1835. Another at Forks of Capon near John Hiett's was scarcely less old. A very old school house with dirt floor and a chimney built of mud and sticks was standing as early as 1845 three miles from Forks of Capon, near North river. On the Bright's hollow road, one mile from Levels Cross roads, was built a school house in 1840. Outside of the towns these were, no doubt, among the first, if not the first, school houses built in the county.
The names of the early teachers have almost been for- gotten. In the eastern part of the county we hear of the names of Barrett, Warren and Higgins as teachers, but the dates when and places where they taught are now for- gotten. It was without question near the beginning of this century. Jeduthan Higbee, who taught in this coun- . try as early as 1830, came here from England. He had been educated for an Episcopal minister, but chose the profession of teaching. An entry made in an old note book shows that William Dunn taught school in Romney in 1813. Other early teachers who have long since passed away were a Mr. Chadwick and James A. Cowgill, the latter an able preacher of the Disciples' church.
Some of the pioneer educators of Hampshire are yet alive and can contemplate with pleasure the harvest now being gathered from their sowings in former years. Among these is Mrs. D. W. Swisher (nce Katharine Bonnifield) who taught her first school in Hampshire county, near Higginsville, in 1845, something over a half century ago. Miss Mary E. Keckley is another of our aged and respected early lady teachers. Colonel Samuel Cooper began teaching in 1843 and Colonel Alexander Monroe about the same time. Another of the veteran
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educators of this county is B. F. McDonald, who be- gan teaching in 1852 at the age of eighteen. All honor to these early workers in the educational vineyard. May they share with the present generation the advantages that have come to us from their labors.
The first public school taught in the county had for its home the law office of Andrew Kercheval in Romney and the teach r was Rev. O. P. Wirgman. This was in 1864-5. The six or seven schools opened the year after the war have grown to be more than a hundred at the present time. The county is now divided into seven school districts as follows: Gore, Bloomery, Capon, Sherman, Springfield, Romney and Mill Creek. Some mention of the academic schools is here in place and they will be considered in the order of their foundation.
Romney Jeademy .- Just back of where the present court house stands, for many years there stood a stone building, constructed so long ago that all remembrance of when it was built is now forgotten. This was the Rom- ney academy. Many of the oldest inhabitants of the town went to school there in their youth. John G. Combs remembers attending school there as early as 1823, at which time he was ten years old. He has, however, no recollection of when it was built. It was undoubtedly the oldest school house in the county, and perhaps was built about the beginning of the present century. The rough, unhewn stones of which the academy was built, gave it a very uncouth exterior. The name of its founder, as well as of the first teachers who wielded the rod and saved the child within the walls of this early structure, are lost in oblivion. The remembrance of some of those early dis- ciples of learning and knights of the birch is yet fresh in the memory of persons now living. Henry Johnson, an Englishman, was for years a teacher there.
Rev. Wm. H. Foote became principal about 1826 and continued in that position for many years. The following
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named gentlemen were either principals or subordidate teachers in the academy at sundry times in its history: E. W. Newton, Silas C. Walker, Brown, Thomas Mulledy and Samuel Mulledy.
After it ceased to be used as a school building the old academy was put to various purposes. For a time it was the home of the Virginia Argus. Its upper hall was also used for years as a meeting place for secret orders. The walls stood for years after it ceased to be used at all, and the place where it stood is yet to be recognized.
Romney Classical Institute .- It was through the educational forces put into operation by the Romney literary society that this school was established. Before any considerable progress can be made in any enterprise it is essential that people first think along the line of pro- gress desired. The thought concerning educational ad- vancement provoked by the discussions in the literary so- ciety at length materialized in the above-named school.
It was in 1845 that the matter took definite shape. In a local paper of the date April 4, 1845, we find a notice asking for bids from contractors "for the erection of a building for the Literary Society of Romney." This was, in the words of the advertisement, to be "a brick building, 36 feet by 40 feet, 22 feet high from the foundation of the square, to consist of two stories, to have a tin roof and be surmounted by a cupola. The end to be the front and to be embellished with a handsome portico the whole width of the house." The notice is signed by E. M. Armstrong, John B. Kercheval, David Gibson, committee.
All bids were to be in by the 24th of May of the same year, and it was on this day that the deed for the land on which the building was to stand was made to the trustees. The school opened the following year.
Rev. Wm. H. Foote, who at that time was teaching an academic school in the old court house which stood on the present site of W. N. Guthrie's store, was induced to be-
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come principal. He continued in this capacity until the fall of 1849, when he withdrew and soon after established the Potomac seminary.
Wlien Dr. Foote resigned E. J. Meany was chosen principal. He had for his assistants John J. Jacob, Mrs. Meany and Miss Kern.
For some years there was a literary organization known as the Phrena Kosmian society in connection with the insti- tute. On November 15, 1850, this society discussed the question, "Would the Southern States be justified in seceding from the Confederacy under present circum- stances?" There is no record of the conclusion reached, but we all know too well, alas, the decision of the states themselves little more than a decade after the debate.
John J. Jacob, afterwards governor of West Virginia, became principal of this school in 1851. At this time Rom- ney had two academic schools, the seminary and the insti- tute, both in a flourishing condition.
Mr. Jacob was succeeded by J. Nelson, who was teach- ing in the institute when the war broke out in 1861. The doors of the school were then closed until peace once more came to possess the land. About 1866 William C. Clayton became principal and held school for a few terms. Mr. Dinwiddie was also a teacher in this school after the war.
When West Virginia decided to establish a school for the deaf and blind, Romney put in its bid for the location. . One of the inducements was the offer on the part of the trustees of the classical institute to give the building and grounds of that school to form the nucleus of the new school for the deaf and blind. Romney was finally chosen as the site for the state school for these unfortunates, and with the foundation of the institution we loose sight of the Romney Classical institute which was then absorbed by and became a part of the new organization.
Potomac Seminary .- Owing to some friction be- tween Dr. Foote, principal, and the governing body of the
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Romney Classical institute, he resigned the principalship of the institute in 1849 and established the Potomac sem- · inary in 1850. The deed for the land on which the build- ings stand was made a year after the building was erected. It was expressly stipulated in the deed that the principal of the seminary should always be a member of the Presby- terian church, and that the government of the school should be in the hands of the pastor and sessions. Such has always been the case, and the school is yet governed and presided over in the manner originally intended.
In the opening session in the fall of 1850 Rev. W. H. Foote was principal, Rev. Edward Martin professor and Mrs. Foote and Mrs. White assistants. Dr. Foote con- tinued as principal until June, 1861, when the breaking out of the civil war turned the minds of the people to things other than education.
J. M. Diffenderfer took charge of the school soon after the war, but his success was not great owing largely to the financial stringency of the times. For a few years after Mr. Diffenderfer's resignation no academic school was held, but primary instruction in the form of a sub- scription school was still given.
About the year 1870 S. L. Flournoy took charge of the school and met with considerable success. He was succeeded by Dr. John Wilson, who continued for some years when the school was again given over to primary instruction.
W. H. Morton, of Kentucky, in 1890, placed the school once more upon an academic basis and it has so continued until the present time. Mr. Morton had charge of the seminary until 1894 when he was succeeded by Professor J. B. Bentley, who served as principal for a single year.
The present efficient principal took charge of the semi- nary in the fall of 1895. Under Rev. W. S. Friend, the gentleman now in charge, the name of this institution of learning was changed from Potomac seminary to Potomac
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academy. Under his administration the tendency has been decidedly progressive and the future outlook of the school is encouraging.
Springfield Academy :- This school might almost be called a branch of the Potomac seminary as Dr. Foote, who shaped the destinies of the seminary, also took an active part in founding the academy. The deed for the ground on which this school was built was made in 1854 by William Abernathy to William Henry Foote, William Walker and William Earsom, trustees. The deed con- veys "the said land to be held for the purpose of erecting such buildings as may be thought necessary for carrying on a school or schools of such order and grade as may be deemed advisable for the welfare of the community."
The following gentlemen were principals of this school in the order named: Rev. Conkling, John Q. A. Jones, J. M. Diffenderfer and Rev. Mr. Chadwick. The academy closed its doors during the late war and they were never reopened.
We have passed in hasty review the various educational movements within our county's borders. It is gratifying, to be sure, that so much has been done and the past augurs well for the future. The principal drawback to educa- tional advancement at the present time is the meager salaries of the teachers. Such salaries as are now paid are not calculated to encourage persons to thoroughly pre- pare themselves for the profession of teaching. But let the friends of education be patient. Teachers are paid as much perhaps as the people are able to pay, or at least as much as they are willing to pay, at the present time. Public shools have long ago proved their raison d'etre and we can but hope and believe that in the future those who have shared in their blessings will see to it that they are well cared for. An institution that has its foundation in the affections of a people cannot be easily destroyed.
CHAPTER XXV,
AMONG OLD LAWS,
BY HU MAXWELL.
Hampshire being the oldest county in the state of West Virginia, has been governed by every state law of Vir- ginia in force between the years of 1754 and 1861, and by every West Virginia law from 1863 until the present. A history of the county would be incomplete without a refer- ence to some of these old laws. They are not only worthy of consideration because they were once the rule of the land, but they should be studied to show the progress of society during the past century. There are persons who speak of the good old times as though everything were better than now; and who speak of the people of a hundred years ago as if they were greater, purer, nobler than the men of today, and as if when they died, wisdom died with them. The historian knows that this belief is erroneous. Not only are there men now living who are as upright. wise and patriotic as any who ever lived, but society, in all its branches and departments, has grown better. Only the pessimist refuses to see that the human race is climb- ing to a higher level, and not retrograding.
To bring this truth nearer home to the people of Hamp- shire county, let a retrospective view of the customs and laws prevailing here a century ago be taken. That the people of Virginia, and those of Hampshire in common with the rest, tolerated the laws long after the close of the Revolutionary war, is proof that the laws were not obnox- ious to a majority of the people; otherwise they would have changed them. Before proceeding to a statement of
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the acts of the Virginia legislature, let it be remembered that at that time Washington was president of the United States, and the great men of Virginia, at the close of the last century and the beginning of this, were in their prime. They were responsible for the bad laws, as well as for the good; if not directly, at least indirectly, for they were looked upon as leaders. Patrick Henry, who had ex- claimed, "give me liberty or give me death," was yet liv- ing and practicing law; John Randolph of Roanoke was entering his career of greatness; James Monroe, soon to be president of the United States, was a leader in Virginia; George Mason, the author of the Bill of Rights, had not yet lost his influence; James Madison, also to be president of the United States, was a leader among the Virginians; William Wirt, one of Virginia's greatest lawyers, was in his prime; Edmund Randolph, governor of Virginia, was in politics; John Marshall, the famous chief justice, was practicing in the courts; Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, was in the height of power; and the list might be extended much further. Yet, with all of these truly great men in power in Virginia, the legislature of that state passed such laws as will be found below:
On December 26, 1792, an act was passed for the pur- pose of suppressing vice, and provided that for swearing, cursing or being drunk the fine should be eighty-three cents for each offense, and if not paid, the offender should have ten lashes on the bare back. For working on Sunday the fine was one dollar and sixty-seven cents. For steal- ing a hogshead or cask of tobacco found lying by the pub- lic highway, the punishment was death.
On December 19, 1792, an act was passed by the Vir- ginia legislature providing that any person found guilty of forgery must be put to death; and the same punishment was provided for those who erased, defaced or changed the inspector's stamp on flour or hemp. No less severe was
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HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE.
the punishment for those who stole land warrants. But for the man who made, passed, or had in his possession counterfeit money, knowing it to be such, the penalty of death was not enough. He was not only to be put to death, but was forbidden the attendance of a minister, and must go to execution "in the blossom of his sin." The design of the law-makers evidently was to add to his punishment not only in this life, but, if possible, send him to eternal punishment after death. It is not in the province or power of the writers of this history to ascertain whether the Vir- ginia assembly ever succeeded in killing a man and send- ing him to hades because he had a countefeit dime in his pocket; but the probability is that the powers of the law- makers ceased when they had hanged their man, and a more just and righteous tribunal then took charge of his case.
It is evident that the early Virginia law-makers laid great stress on the idea of clergy to attend the condemned man. If they wanted to inflict extreme punishment they put the finishing touches on it by denying the privilege of clergy. On November 27, 1789, an act was passed by the legisla- ture segregating crimes into two classes, one of which was designated as "clergyable," and the other as "unclergy- able." It was provided that the unclergyable crimes were murder in the first degree, burglary, arson, the burning of a court house or prison, the burning of a clerk's office, feloneously stealing from a church or meeting-house, rob- bing a house in presence of its occupants, breaking into and robbing a dwelling house by day, after having put its owner in fear. For all of these offenses the penalty was death. A provision was made in some cases for clergy; but, lest the convicted man's punishment might not there- by be too much liglitened, it was stipulated that lie must have his hand burned before he was hanged. The same law further provided that, although a man's crime might not be unclergyable, yet if he received the benefit of clergy, 22
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and it was subsequently ascertained that he had formerly committed an unclergyable offense, he must then be put to death without further benefit of clergy. In this law it was expressly provided that there should be no mitigation of punishment in case of women.
By an act of December 26, 1792, it was provided that the man who apprehended 'a runaway servant and put him in jail was to receive one dollar and forty-seven cents, and mileage, to be paid by the owner. This law was, no doubt, intended to apply chiefly to slaves rather than to white servants. If the runaway remained two months in jail un- claimed, the sheriff must advertise him in the "Virginia Gazette," and after putting an iron collar on his neck, marked with the letter "F." hire bim out, and from his wages pay the costs. After one year, if still unclaimed, he was to be sold. The money, after the charges were paid, was to be given to the former owner if he ever proved his claim, and if he did not do so, it belonged to the state.
The law-makers believed in discouraging gossip and tat- tling, as well as burning a condemned man in the hand prior to his execution. A law passed by the Virginia leg- islature, December 27, 1792, was in the following language: "Whereas, many idle and busy-headed people do forge and divulge false rumors and reports, be it resolved by the gen- eral assembly, that what person or persons soever shall forge or divulge any such false report, tending to the trouble of the country, he shall be by the next justice of the peace sent for and bound over to the next county court, where, if he produce not his author, he shall be fined forty dollars, or less if the court sees fit to lessen it, and besides give bond for his good behavior, if it appear to the court that he did maliciously publish or invent it."
There was a studied effort on the part of the legislators to discourage hog stealing. It is not apparent why it should be a worse crime to steal a hog than to steal a cow; or why the purloining of a pig should outrank in criminality the
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taking of a calf; or why it should be a greater offense to . appropriate a neighbor's shoat than his sheep. But the early law-makers in Virginia seem to have so considered, and they provided a law for the special benefit of the hog thief. This law, passed by the legislature December S, 1792, declared that "any person, not a slave, who shall steal a hog, shoat or pig," should receive thirty-five lashes on the bare back; or if he preferred to do so, he might escape the lashing by paying a fine of thirty dollars; but whether he paid the fine or submitted to the stripes, he still must pay eight dollars to the owner for each hog stolen by him. This much of the law is comparatively mild, but it was for the first offense only. As the thief advanced in crime the law's severity increased. For the second offense in hog- stealing the law provided that the person convicted, if not a slave, should stand two hours in a pillory, on a public court day, at the court house, and have both ears nailed to the pillory, and at the end of two hours, should have his ears cut loose from the nails. It was expressly provided that no exception should be made in the case of women. If the hog thief still persisted in his unlawful business and transgressed the law a third time, he was effectually cured of his desire for other people's hogs by being put the death.
The slave had a still more severe punishment for steal- ing hogs. For the first offense he received "thirty-nine lashes on the bare back, well laid on, at the public whip- ping post." For the second offense he was nailed by the ears to a post, and after two hours of torture, had his ears cut off. For the third offense he was put to death. The law provided that if a negro or Indian were put on the stand as a witness against a person accused of stealing hogs, and did not tell the truth, he should be whipped, nailed to a post, his ears cut, and if he still' testified falsely, he paid the penalty with his life. After a hog had been stolen and killed, the relentless law still followed it to try to discover if some one else might not be punished. If
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AMONG OLD LAWS.
a person bought, or received into his possession, a hog from which the ears had been removed, he was adjudged guilty of hog stealing, unless he could prove that the hog was his own property. There was also a law forbidding any one from purchasing pork of Indians, unless the ears went with the pork. There would be some inconvenience in retailing pork under this restriction, as it would require a skillful butcher to so cut up a hog that each ham, shoulder, side and the sausage should retain the ears.
There can be no question that hog raising was profita- ble in Hampshire under this law, and also before the law was enacted. Indeed, it is said that the name Hampshire was given the county because of its excellent hogs. Ac- cording to this story, Lord Fairfax was once in Winches- ter when a drove of very fine hogs passed along the street on their way to market. He asked where they came from, and upon being told that they were raised on the South branch of the Potomac, he remarked that when a new county should be formed in that part of the country it should be called Hampshire, after a place of that name in England which was famous for its fine hogs.
If stealing hogs was a crime almost too heinous to be adequately punished in this world, horse stealing was so much worse that the law-makers of Virginia would not undertake to provide a law to reach the case. They, therefore, enacted a law, December 10, 1792, that the con- victed horse thief must be put to death; and, in order that he should certainly reach eternal punishment beyond death, he was forbidden to have spiritual advice. The language of the law is that the horse thief shall be "utterly excluded."
A law of unnecessary severity was passed December 22, 1792, against negroes who should undertake to cure the sick. It is reasonable and right that the law should care- fully guard the people against harm from those who ignor- antly practice medicine; but to us of the present day it
.
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appears that a less savage law would have answered the purpose. It was provided that any negro who prepared, exhibited, or administered medicine should be put to death without benefit of clergy. It was provided, how- · ever, that a negro might, with the knowledge and consent of his master, have medicine in his possession.
The law of Virginia required every county to provide a court house, jail, pillory, whipping post, stocks and a ducking stool. But the ducking stool might be dispensed with, if the county court saw fit to do so. The whipping post was the last of these relics of barbarism to be removed from Hampshire county. Many persons now living can remember when the whipping post stood in the rear of the old court house, a grim reminder of the severe laws gone by. It was a large post, octagon in shape, and had a roof over it. The culprit was tied by his wrists and drawn close against it, and the whip was applied.
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