| Â
Researched from old Calhoun Chronicles 1898 by Norma Knotts Shaffer
Note: The author of this article in not given, but it was probably written
by
the newspaper's editor at the time, S.C. Barr. History of northern Calhoun is in short supply, here a good review.
Reminiscences of Early Life in Calhoun County
6/12/1898
In order to more fully appreciate the advantages enjoyed by the
good
citizens of this county today it may be wise to spend a few minutes
with
the early settlers of the section of country now known as Calhoun
county.
In this number we will omit incidents of personal life and consult
old-time
friends (a few of whom are yet among us) regarding conditions and
associations
of life in those early days.
In the Spring of 1832 Archibald Burrows moved to this section and
settled
on the present site of Grantsville. His son, William H. Burrows,
who was then a lad of seven summers, went with his father to the
different
homes throughout the neighborhood, and learned the location of every
home
for many miles around, gives us the following interesting
information.Â
He says:
"The following list represents the inhabitants of the community
from
DeKalb, in Gilmer county, to Sixteen bend at the Wirt county
line:Â
Joseph Bennett, Alexander Huffman, Joshua Smith, William Stalnaker,
Job
Westfall; John Ball and Samuel Barr moved to the places now known by
their
names in the year 1834, and Martin Moore, who was succeeded by Philip
Stallman,
on the present Judge Reese Blizzard place, opposite the mouth of
Leafbank,
in 1833. Cornelius Vennoy then lived just below, and soon after
sold
to Joshua Smith. Levi Taylor soon afterward purchased the place
now
known as the Hardman farm, where Allen Hardman now lives, from a Mr.
Harris,
and John Holbert, Joseph Robinson, Robert Bennett, James Nedly Norman,
Beriah DePue, Beriah Maze, Andy Sharp and John Booher, on the Wood
county
line below Sixteen bend included the entire inhabitants of the county
with
exception of Job Westaall, on Steer creek, and a few families on the
West
Fork."
"Then," continued our informant, "wolves spoke to us every night;
we
saw bear very frequently and one could not go out without scaring up a
deer.
The entire country from the Little Kanawha river to Hughes river
was
then an uninhabited forest, and all wild game, large and small, roamed
at will in undisputed possession of the territory where now stands the
many comfortable homesteads."
"In 1833," continued Uncle Bill Burrows, referring to Yellow creek,
"there were more wolf tracks on that creek than there are now tracks
of
all our domestic animals, including dogs and cats; and there was not a
house or inhabitant on the creek from head to mouth.
In the Spring of 1832 I went from home, the present site of
Grantsville,
to where Smithville now stands, to lay in a supply of coffee for
ourselves
and neighbors, and found one shanty on Leatherbark, the only human
habitation
between the Little Kanawha and Hughes river."
Now on Yellow creek and its tributaries there are about eighty
families,
the greater number whom own their own homes.
Ben Jackson, an enterprising young man, settled with his young wife
on the place now known as the old Jackson farm in 1843. Their
rude,
but comfortable log cabin was then the only house on the path between
the
Little Kanawha and Hughes river, the way the path then ran from
Leafbank
to the present site of Smithville.
We called to see Aunt Jane Ferrel, widow of Hiram Ferrel. Her
first husband, Thomas J. Rice, with his young wife, added their names
to
the list of early settlers in 1838, and made their home where
Granville
Rice now lives, near Mussel Shoals.
Aunt Jane is a lady of remarkable energy, strength and agility for
one
of her years, and her memory seems to be accurate. She can
detail
many interesting incidents of early life, some of which we will give
our
readers in a succeeding number of the Chronicle.
Aunt Jane wove, on the old hand loom, three hundred yards of carpet
and blankets last winter before Christmas. She says:
"In 1838 we had to ask hands all the way from DeKalb, in Gilmer
county,
to the Sixteen bend to get enough help for a log rolling."
6/21/1898
It is interesting to review in company with early settlers the
conditions
existing in social, educational and religious interests as late as
1843
and during the ten years preceeding that date. Then there were
no
social lines drawn between the families of this section of
country.Â
It is true that a few persons were educated and had come from homes of
refinement; but the majority of the early residents, of course were
not
educated, and many had never seen advantages for education and
refinement
of a higher order than those afforded after coming to this wooden,
hilly
and wild region. But the man of education and the unlettered,
alike
mingled in the society of his neighbors - a welcome guest; and the
only
thing that excluded any from a hearty welcome was dishonor.
An interview with Elizabeth (Aunt Betty) Ferrell, who is most
obliging,
furnished instances to substantiate the above statement. "Aunt
Betty"
was married to her first husband, Benjamin Jackson, Nov 4th, 1839 and
they
moved to Yellow creek March 15th, 1843, when there was only one house,
that of George Rogers, on the creek; and the now famous Norman ridge
was
a virgin forest "from end to end."
"Aunt Betty" informs us that the first Sunday school of that
section
was organized during her youth (She is now nearly seventy eight years
of
age) at the house of Henry Bell's by Robert Bennett, James N. Norman
and
Henry Bell. Mr. Bell being elected superintendent; and this
school
was attended by all parents and children, a majority of whom walked
many
miles on Sunday morning to the place of meeting. At that time
there
was preaching at Benjamin Riddle's every two weeks. Among the
early
Methodist preachers who traveled throughout the country were Rev.
David
Hess and Rev. Benjamin Athey. These pioneer preachers traveled
long
distances, preached three sermons every Sunday and nearly every day
during
the week, and "Aunt Betty" says: "They had something to talk about
besides
collecting money, too."Â She can give many texts, chapter and
verse,
of sermons preached in those early days, though no written note was
made
of the occasion or service. Texts used by Henry Bell, J.N.
Norman,
Robt. Bennett, Benjamin Athey, Shadrich Chaney and others and the
occasion
upon which these texts were used are yet fresh in her memory.Â
She
tells how she, in company with other girls, walked all the way from
the
old Stallman place, opposite the mouth of Leafbank, after attending to
the morning's work, to the mouth of Upper Leading creek, in good time
for
morning service.
The first day school ever taught in this section was by Joseph
Robinson,
who consented to teach a two-months school, provided a sufficient
number
could be interested to justify him for giving his time. The old
cabin
of John B. Goff's, on the bank of the river at the mouth of Philip's
run,
was secured, and in the early winter of 1831 Mr. Robinson opened the
first
school ever taught in this section of country; and Henry, George and
Jane
Fling, from Tanners Fork; Jane Burrows, Mary Vennoy, two of Job
Westfall's
children, two of John Westfall's children, Joseph Bennett's family,
the
children of John Ball, Sandy Hoffman, Levi Johnson and "Aunt Betty"
were
the scholars.
The next winter, 1832, the citizens having built a school house on
the
flat above Samuel Barr's, "Uncle Sandy" Hoffman taught there three
months,
and Ephraim Sayers taught in the same place in 1833, and again "Uncle
Sandy"
Hoffman taught three months during the winter of 1834 and 1835.
"Our school house," "Aunt Betty" says, "was 12 x 15 feet, built of
logs
with clap board roof, the boards held in place by weight-poles
extending
from one end to the other of the building, the solid earth was the
floor,
one door at one end, no chimney, but instead a wall of rocks built
against
the logs inside the building with stones placed at each side in front
to
keep the log fire in place and a large aperture in the roof above to
admit
of the exit of smoke; round poles split, with four pins, two at each
end,
driven in auger holes for seats; and one window the full length of the
building, one log being left out for that purpose, which was covered
with
greased paper, dipped in hogs lard or bears oil to admit the
light.Â
There and at the end of the old cabin, and at the Sunday school,"
continued
"Aunt Betty," "I received during three winters all the schooling I
ever
had."
"Aunt Betty" is spending a truly comfortable and contented old
age.Â
She has pieced and sewed together many quilts, and few are her friends
who have not some token of her regard for them, in patch-work of some
kindÂ
Thus she spends her time coming and going at will, among her children,
grandchildren and intimate friends and many doors stands open wide for
"Aunt Betty."
We will close this sketch by giving one peculiar incident to early
life
in this country.
"When we were girls," "Aunt Betty" says, "Jane Burrows (afterward
Jane
Taylor,) and I were going from "Granny" Burrows' down to our house,
and
we crossed the river just at the mouth of Philip's run.Â
Incidently
the cows were in front of us in the path, and as Jane and I were going
along, at about the place where Mr. Zach Stump's house now stands, the
largest black bear I ever saw stood almost in the path before
us.Â
The cows passed on and we followed, and as we passed I could have laid
my hand on the bear, but he did not move, and we passed him and left
him
standing there. The next afternoon, that same bear, crossed the
river
to "Granny Burrows' and went into the hog pen and lifted out
"Granny's"
big old sow, took it up in his arms and carried it across the river,
carrying
it in his arms as one would carry a child, walking on his hind feet;
walked
up the steep hill on the opposite side of the river and disappeared,
the
hog meantime squealing and trying to get away. It was only a few
days after this incident that that same bear was killed by old "Uncle
Jimmy"
Hoffman, after it had chased his hogs in from the woods, and the old
hunters
all said its skin was the largest bear skin they had ever seen."
Philip's run received its name from Philip Lyons, who was the first
settler on the Burrows place, where Grantsville now stands.
9/6/1898
Your correspondent visited Uncle Bill Burrows, and though time is
precious,
in answer to queries Uncle Bill said:
"I was married on January 13, 1848, to Malinda Mayze and resided at
the present site of Grantsville until November, 1851, when I moved
with
my little family to my present home on the head waters of
Laurel.Â
At that time, except a small improvement made by Johnson Yoak on Bull
river,
there were no improvements of any kind in all the scope of country now
included between the Gilmer county line - or even the Trace Fork of
Tanner
- and Grantsville.
"The resources upon which we then depended for a living have mainly
vanished; and we only remember the old hand-mill and the old
hand-loom.Â
We ground our own corn upon our own hand mills; and manufactured, by
the
use of the hand break and hackle and (illegible line) flax into wool
and
warp; and with the hand cards we prepared our own wool for spinning,
made
our own winter and summer clothes of cloth of our own manufacture.
"We generally cut and fit our own garments.
"Then, our roads were narrow paths winding along the valleys and
over
the hills the nearest way to our next neighbors.
"If my memory is correct our first school on Laurel was taught by
Adolphus
Ayers in 1866; and the second school in that section was taught by
J.W.
Taylor, near White Pine, in 1867 and 1868, in a house built for that
purpose.Â
This school was attended by many young people from adjoining
districts.
The Rev. Alex Holden was the first Baptist minister whose work
resulted
in a regular organization of the Baptist church. Mr. Holden held
regular monthly meetings at the house of Alexander Hoffman during a
long
term of years. There were however several good men - local
preachers,
who did excellent work in holding revival meetings at private houses
in
more thickly settled districts; and John A. Goff, a local Methodist
preacher,
is remembered as one of the most active and useful men of that class.
"For many years Mr. Goff did the work of a regular itinerant
preacher,
while at the same time he earned his own support. He made and
promptly
filled many appointments regularly, and held many revival meetings, at
which many were converted. Those good men made many sacrifices
to
carry the Gospel to the needy in remote district; and Mr. Goff lived
to
a good old age and was permitted to see the results of his earnest,
honest
Christian zeal in the more advanced conditions. In 1860, while
holding
a meeting at Pine Bottom, he was taken seriously ill and announced to
a
large audience that he was then preaching his last sermon. This
proved
to be so, as he never recovered from that illness, but died soon
after,
full of years and of faith and good work, by the memory of which, He
being
dead yet speaketh.
Everybody then went to meeting, Well dressed or poorly clad
if
necessary and all were brothers and sisters "Godliness with
contentment"
more generally prevailed then than now." |
