Legends of the Skyline Drive and the Great Valley of Virginia Part 7

When a child was born with a frail body, or developed rickets, it was often thought to be caused by the spells of someone unfriendly to the family.

If one would get rid of the witch in his neighborhood a picture of the supposed witch was drawn on a board or on a stump and shot at with a bullet which contained a bit of silver. This bullet, if it struck the picture, was thought to put a spell on the witch.

We may smile at the thought of those superst.i.tions, but few of us, if we are honest, will not admit that we have one pet superst.i.tion just as foolish as those referred to above.

Kercheval tells us how difficult it often was for the farmer to retain all of his crops. There were so many animals, like the squirrels and racc.o.o.ns, which liked their grains. Storms would come and huge trees would fall on their fences, letting their horses and cattle get into the fields.

He makes us realize how difficult it was to procure the necessities of life. Where, for instance did they get the mills with which to grind their grains, where the instruments with which to make their farming implements and their household cooking utensils? Who were their weavers, their shoemakers, tailors, tanners and wagon makers? Of course there were none, for each farmer and his family had to rely on what they could do with their own hands or what they could trade to some neighbor in return for something done for him.

The first mills or hominy blocks were made of wood. A block of wood about three feet long was burned at one end, wide at the mouth and narrow at the bottom, so that when the pestle hit the corn it was thrown up and as it fell down to the bottom it was mashed. Gradually, each grain of corn was ground to a like size. When the corn was soft, as it was in the Fall, this grinding made a fine meal for mush or "journey cake" as they called this form of bread. However, this was slow work later on when corn got hard.

The farmer also used a different kind of mill. He used a sweep made of springy wood, thirty feet or more long. This pole was supported by two forks, placed about a third of its length from its b.u.t.t end where it was securely fastened to some firm object. To this was attached a large mortise, a piece of sapling five or six inches in diameter and eight or more long. The lower end was shaped like a pestle and a pin of wood was put through it at a proper height so two people could work the sweep at once.

Kercheval says he remembers the one which he helped work in his own home. It was made of a sugar-tree sapling and was kept almost in constant use either by his own family or by the neighbors who came to use it. He says these sweeps were used to make gunpowder from the saltpetre caves which the settlers soon found.

The women often used a grater for the corn when it was very soft. This was made of a piece of tin, a few holes punched in on one side and then nailed to a block of wood and the corn sc.r.a.ped against it. This produced a form of corn-meal but was a very tedious method. Another kind was a mill made of two circular stones. The one on the bottom was called the bed stone and the upper one the runner. These were placed in a hoop with a spout for discharging the meal. A staff was let into the hole in the upper surface of the runner near the outer edge and its upper end through a hole in a board fastened to a joist above. The grain was put into the runner by hand. This type of mill, is one of the earliest ever known by man.

Then every man tanned his own leather. The tan-vat was a huge tub which was sunk into the ground. A quant.i.ty of bark was quickly gotten each spring when the farmer cleared his land. This was first dried then brought in and on rainy days, the bark was stripped, shaved and pounded on a block of wood with an ax or mallet. Ashes were used in place of lime for taking off the hair from the skins of animals. They did not have fish-oil, so the settlers subst.i.tuted bear's grease, or lard made from boiling the fat of these animals. This oil was used to make the leather soft and pliable. The leather was often very coa.r.s.e, but it was tough and wore well. They made their blacking or polish for their shoes by mixing soot with lard. Not every man could make shoes, but everyone could make shoepacks, an article similar to the moccasin.

Kercheval's father was a master weaver as well as a fine shoe maker. He made all the shoes worn by his family and would not let anyone else make his thread, as he thought no woman could spin it as well as he could. He made all the woodenware called set work. He hand-carved some of them, making grooves in which he fitted hoops to hold the staves in place.

During the days when every man had to serve in some military service, the elder Kercheval was not strong enough to fight. The men brought all their firearms to him and he repaired them. He could straighten a crooked gun barrel with ease and file off any broken edges.

Kercheval's father had been to school for only six weeks, yet he read, worked hard problems in mathematics and wrote letters, not only for himself, but for many of his friends. He drew up bonds, deeds of conveyance and wrote other articles for them. He taught his boy to use his hands, for Samuel tells that as a boy, he wove garters, belts and shot pouches. He, too, could make looms. He traded well, for he says he would swap a belt for a man's labor for a day, or give one to a man for making a hundred fence rails.

An amusing custom developed among the German settlers regarding their weddings. Young men and women, termed "waiters," were selected to help officiate at a wedding. The groomsmen were proud to wear highly embroidered white ap.r.o.ns on such an occasion, for it was symbolic of protection to the bride. Each waiter tried to keep the bride from having her slippers stolen from her feet during the festivities. If she did sustain the loss the young man had to pay for it with a bottle of wine, since the bride's dancing depended upon its recovery.

Characterized by their strong religious beliefs it was only natural for the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians to build their churches as they built their little homes. Opequon Church south of Winchester is thought by many to be the oldest church in the Valley. Not so with the Germans.

They did not attempt to build separate houses of wors.h.i.+p for a generation or more after coming to the new section but they did hold regular services in the homes of the settlers and waited until a better time to erect churches.

There was an interesting custom among the Scotch-Irish at their weddings, too. It was called "running for the bottle." Usually the bride and groom went to the parson's home for the marriage ceremony, attended by their friends on horseback. At the conclusion of the ritual the young men took to their horses and dashed for the bride's father's house. The man on the fleetest horse was given a bottle of wine from which the returning bride and groom first drank and then it was pa.s.sed on to others. In most instances the mad rush to the home was made in spite of numerous trees and small brush which were cut down to serve as obstacles in their paths.

At Winchester these two distinct nationalities got along fairly well together. An example of their friendly relations is to be seen in their "War of the Guelphs and Ghibellines." The Dutch on St. Patrick's Day would parade through the village streets with effigies of St. Patrick wearing a necklace of Irish potatoes and his wife carrying an ap.r.o.n full of them.

And then on the day of St. Michael, the patron of the Dutch, the Irish retaliated by holding aloft an effigy of the saint decorated with a necklace of sourkrout.

As was to be expected these frolics occasionally went to the extreme and ended before the judge in the log cabin courthouse.

It was hard for those early settlers to get such articles as salt, iron, steel and casting. There were no stores where they could purchase sugar, tea and hundreds of other necessities of today. Pelts, furs or skins were their only money before they had time to raise horses and cattle.

In the Fall of the year, after all crops were harvested, every settler's family formed an a.s.sociation with some of their neighbors for starting a caravan.

This consisted of two packhorses. A bell and collar was put on each horse, as were a pair of hobbles made from hickory withes. Bags were packed on the back of the saddles in which to bring back two bushels of alum salt, each bushel weighing eighty-four pounds. Each horse carried two bags on the return journey. This was not such a heavy load for a horse but one must remember the animal also had to carry its own food.

Somewhere along the narrow trail, some of this grain was hidden until the return journey. Large pouches or bags were also carried in which were loaves of home-baked bread or "Journey Cake," a mixture of Indian meal and water baked on an iron skillet and boiled ham and cheese.

The men traded first in Baltimore, Hagerstown and c.u.mberland. They also took along a cow and a calf, which was what they paid for one bushel of the much needed salt. While the salt was being weighed, no one was allowed to walk on the floor.

Woodstock

First called Muellerstadt after its founder Jacob Miller, Woodstock was granted its charter in 1761 by the General a.s.sembly of Virginia. Miller was farsighted in his plans for the community and provided adequate building sites for homes and businesses.

The historian Kercheval tells an interesting account of the appearance of Indians around Woodstock:

"In 1766, the Indians made a visit to the neighborhood of Woodstock. Two men by the name of Sheetz and Taylor had taken their wives and children into a wagon, and were on their way to the fort. At the narrow pa.s.sage, three miles south of Woodstock, five Indians attacked them. The two men were killed at the first onset, and the Indians rushed to seize the women and children. The women, instead of swooning at the sight of their bleeding, expiring husbands, seized their axes, and with Amazonian firmness, and strength almost superhuman, defended themselves and children. One of the Indians had succeeded in getting hold of one of Mrs. Sheetz's children, and attempting to drag it out of the wagon; but with the quickness of lightning she caught her child in one hand, and with the other made a blow at the head of the fellow which caused him to quit his hold to save his life. Several of the Indians received pretty sore wounds in this desperate conflict, and all at last ran off, leaving the two women with their children to pursue their way to the fort."

When Lord Dunmore came to govern the colony of Virginia in 1772 the citizens pa.s.sed a resolution endorsing his administration. They requested that a new county be formed from Frederick which would be called Dunmore County. Five years later, when he began to have trouble with the colonists the people of Woodstock instructed their burgess to get the name of their county changed to Shenandoah. This name is retained to the present time.

About six miles from Woodstock a Mr. Wolfe erected a fort on Stony Creek years and years ago. He had a fine hunting dog and at the time of our story Indians were lurking in the neighborhood. This was during the period when the savages were endeavoring to rid the Valley of the white men.

Mr. Wolfe went out hunting one morning and had not gone far before his dog began to run around and around him, blocking his path. Then he jumped up in front of his master, put his feet on his shoulders and seemed to try to stop Wolfe's progress. When the dog found he could not stop his master he ran back towards the fort, then back to his master, all the time whining a warning.

The hunter suspected some danger, so he kept his hand on his gun and watched out for Indians. He soon saw two of them behind a tree.

Evidently they were waiting for their man to come close enough for them to get a good shot at him. Mr. Wolfe began to walk backward, making a rapid retreat to the fort. Long afterwards someone asked Mr. Wolfe why he did not kill the old dog since his years of usefulness were over and he was apparently uncomfortable. He told the inquirer the story of how the animal had saved his life and added, "I would sooner be killed myself than suffer that dog to be killed."

"There is a time to every purpose under the heaven--a time of war and a time of peace." So spoke one of Woodstock's most famous sons, the Reverend John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg, in the Lutheran Church one Sunday morning after the Declaration of Independence had been issued.

After delivering an inspired sermon taken from this text in which he reviewed his stand on liberty, he dramatically cast off his black pulpit robes and revealed to his astonished congregation his colonel's uniform of the Revolutionary army. He was about thirty years old then and had served the Woodstock flock for four years.

Dr. Wayland in his book _The German Element in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia_, suggests that the Rev. Mr. Muhlenberg was a.s.sociated with the Episcopal as well as the Lutheran church and that "he seems beyond question to have received Episcopal ordination.... His connection with the Church of England was probably sought in order that his work as a clergyman might receive the readier and fuller sanction."

Almost immediately after preaching his patriotic sermon he raised a regiment among the Valley folk. Known as the Eighth Virginia, or German Regiment, they saw hard service at Germantown, Brandywine and Monmouth as well as in some of the southern battlefields.

Before the close of the war Muhlenberg was made a brigadier-general and after his retirement he lived in Pennsylvania, his original home before coming to the Valley of Virginia.

A movement is under way at the present time to restore the little church of the Lutheran faith where the colonel made his firey sermon. Let us hope this may be accomplished so that we may catch the inspiration of his remarks.

Woodstock saw the march of many feet during the War Between the States; almost constantly were the troops pa.s.sing by, causing fields to be laid waste, crops to be confiscated and stock to be carried off. But the little town conceals her war scars well and today is a progressive community.

Ma.s.sanutten Academy is located here and draws boys from all over Virginia and a number of other States.

THE LINCOLN FAMILY

Contrary to popular belief, President Lincoln's forebears were not poor and s.h.i.+ftless, but were influential and prosperous Virginians who lived in the handsome old brick Colonial home which, in a fine state of preservation, is still standing, with the Lincoln family cemetery and slave burying-ground nearby.

The Lincoln homestead is near the little village of Edom, not far from the Caverns of Melrose, and can be reached by turning west from U. S.

Highway 11 at these caverns, six miles north of Harrisonburg. Visitors are welcome at this homestead. Exact directions as to how to reach it can be obtained in the Melrose Cavern's Lodge.

Thomas Lincoln, father of President Lincoln, was born in this house.

John Lincoln, great-grandfather of the President, moved with his family into Virginia in 1768 where, as an influential pioneer, he built the first brick unit of the beautiful Colonial home.

John Lincoln was known as "Virginia John." Abraham Lincoln, his eldest son and grandfather of the President, lived in this homestead and was captain of a Virginia company during the Revolution.

Captain Abraham Lincoln, with his son Thomas (father of the President) moved to Kentucky in 1782, leaving Jacob Lincoln, a brother of Captain Lincoln, in the Virginia homestead. Many Lincolns, descendants of Jacob and other sons and daughters of "Virginia John," now live near Melrose Caverns, in Harrisonburg and elsewhere in Rockingham county.

On February 24th, 1829, when Melrose Caverns were known as "Harrison's Cave," Franklin Lincoln, grandson of Jacob and a cousin of President Lincoln, entered the caverns and, by the light of torches or candles, carved his name and the date. He later fought in the Civil War as a Confederate soldier.