Harvest Time and Distilling

Prior to 1900, most farms had a still house in which a wide variety of spirits were produced. Distilling was a very profitable way to convert grain into much needed cash.  Most of our ancestors used similar methods and recipes which they brought with them from Europe.

Pot still similar to those used in Scotland and other parts of Europe.

 Farmers in our rural mountain regions found it difficult to haul fully loaded wooden wagons full of grain across the mountains to market.  Those of us living today take modern roads for granted, but indeed they are a luxury item which was not available in the past.

Etching of Loaded Hay Wagon

It takes a complete growing season for grain crops to mature and ripen.  Farmers, both then and now, harvest grain crops in the fall of the year. After the crops are cut and stacked in the field to dry, the grain is removed from the sheaves or stalks by hand.  It then is put into containers [bags, barrels or baskets] which will sit into a wagon bed to be taken to market.  Normally, this coincides with the fall rainy season.

Corn shocks drying in a row.

To complicate this situation further, Richmond was basically the closest market. Our Shenandoah Valley was the wheat producing area of Virginia.  Can you imagine having to haul a few wagons fully loaded with grain over the Blue Ridge Mountain on wet muddy roads?  Now add to this, the fact that all of your neighbors were attempting to do the exact same thing at about the same time which causes the roadway to develop the texture of slippery wet cornmeal.

My grandfather [Claude A. Lilly (1893-1964)] use to tell of going to market with his grandfather  and along the way, listening to stories which his grandfather told about his own boyhood, including one about going to market with his very own grandfather. These events would have occurred seven generations ago, most probably shortly after the American Revolution.

Wooden wagon. 

Granddad always laughed as he told the story which had been told to him of wagons marring up to their hubs in the muddy dirt road. Of course, the men worked until dark trying to free the wagon loaded full of grain before they finally gave up and unhitched the team of horses trying to pull it out of the mar. Fires were built for the night and meals were prepared in the pouring down cold rain for the exhausted men.  When they awoke early the next morning they found, much to their horror, that the muddy road had frozen solid.  Hitching the team, they worked to free the wagon. Finally after hours of work, the whole bed of the wagon pulled free, spilling all of grain.

Field of rye

Due to many such problems and the fact that distilling was also more profitable as compared to the selling of grain, many of our ancestors chose the easier way of ensuring that their family's needs were met by turning their grain crop into a more portable form.  For instance, in 1880, rye sold at forty cents per bushel, while whiskey sold for between thirty-five to forty cents per gallon.  Three gallons of whiskey could be made from one bushel of rye.  By 1900 rye sold at fifty cents per bushel and whiskey was selling between two and two and a half dollars per gallon. Thus, a farmer could make fifteen times as much by distilling his crop as he could by selling the grain once he actually got it to market.

Stoneware Jug

Rye whiskey was but only one product that our ancestors distilled. Our folk also produced corn liquor, applejack [brandy] and a whole host of other varieties of beers and wines.  Of course, we all "know" because we've been told that many of our own ancestors were violently opposed to the consumption or use of alcoholic beverages in any form, unless of course, it was perhaps in the form of Blackberry, Cherry, Dandelion, Elderberry or Strawberry Wine, and of course you know that these were only used for medicinal purposes,now don't you???

A Journal - Elkton - McGaheysville, Virginia Area

Miss Lottie Davis

Part Ten 
Page Forty-nine.
December 1930
  4 Dec 1930 - Mrs. Alice Monger Nash baby dies.
  8 Dec 1930 - Virginia Miller new baby.
  8 Dec 1930 - Back porch finished.
 11 Dec 1930 - Started painting Mr. Powell.
 13 Dec 1930 - Got hogs from V.E. Williams weigh 165 lbs $21.88.
 15 Dec 1930 - Got hog from Brown $32.75. $54.63 [Total for hogs].
 17 Dec 1930 - Mrs. Clint Shifflett mother's brother died.
 24. Dec 1930 - Howard Davis married.
 21 Dec 1930 - Shirley Shifflett died.
 25 Dec 1930 - Mrs. Site new baby - Rev. Stearn daughter.
 31 Dec 1930 - Naomi died at Hospital 10 years 5 mos 8 days. Wed night.

January 1931 = Came in on Thursday-
   3 Jan 1931 - Naomi funeral at home on Saturday.
 19 Jan 1931 - Mrs. Everette Fogle new baby.
 17 Jan 1931 -  Mrs. Lillie Frazier's husband killed in mine in Pa [Pennsylvania?] Funeral at East Point Church.
22 Jan 1931 - Got strap & sox from Hanger. $400.00 $100.00 off.

Page Fifty
January 1931
 21 Jan 1931 - Rue G. B. Fadley died 72 years. Funeral at Harrisonburg Va U[nited] B[rethern] Church pneumonia..
 22 Jan 1931 -  Mr. J. L. Maiden died 72 years. McGaheysville.
 26 Jan 1931 -  Mrs.Helen Monger Rogers new baby.
 24 Jan 1931 - Mr. Raines died on Saturday.
      Jan 1931 - Egg 15 cent
 30 Jan 1931 - Mr. Jollett killed 49 years Funeral at Shenandoah Va on Sun. Lena Cliff & Family    there.
 30 Jan 1931 - Mr. T.R. Whitfield taken sick.
      Jan 1931 - Mr. Fred & Ruth Baugher moved to Washington, D.C.

February 1931
 1 Feb 1931 - First Needle Craft from Phila[delphia?] record.
 2 Feb 1931 - Eggs 13 cents
    Feb 1931 - Mrs. Lillie Dupree sick.
 4 Feb 1931 - Marylice [Mary Alice?] Armentrout operated on Wed.
 6 Feb 1931 - Harold & Grace sent for bed.
 7 Feb 1931 - Went to Dr. E. R. Miller for glasses $5.50 & Armentrout

Page Fifty-one
February 1931
 5 Feb 1931 - Mr. Charles Miller flue burned.
 7 Feb 1931 - Vella [Vella Maude Monger] party.
 4 Feb 1931 - Mrs. Joe Black silver tea on Wed.
 8 Feb 1931 - New song books at S[unday] School  .25 [cents?].
 8 Feb 1931 - Mr. T. R. Whitfield died at hospital 66 years Funeral Wed.
14 Feb 1931 - Daddy new truck on Saturday.
18 Feb 1931 - Dean child funeral on Tuesday.
22 Feb 1931 - Mrs. Bob Davis funeral on Sunday at home.
22 Feb 1931 - Went to New Market.
19 Feb 1931 - Mrs. Allens funeral on Tues.
     Feb 1931 - Mr. Thacker left M.G.
24 Feb 1931 - Grace & Harold got bed from S.
21 Feb 1931 - William Richards broke arm on Sat.
21 Feb 1931 - Annie Laur[a] Hensley & Blain Lam married Sat J.W. Stern.
19 Feb 1931 - Busy Bees name party $29.00.
25 Feb 1931 - Mrs. Leap new renter.
28 Feb 1931 - New floor feed room.
 9 Feb 1931 - Miss Virginia H. died  39 years Hospital.

To be continued...

 

Western Frontier - Ruddell's Station & Martin's Station

Frontier Fort

As we saw the last time [12 Jul 2015]  when we examined the “western frontier,” a document had been signed on the 8^th of October 1776 for Government Service in Fincastle County, Virginia which stated, “For being legally apart of the colony and for the creation of new counties, a citation for the Western Part references the election of John Gabriel Jones and George Rogers Clark as their representatives.  Members of the Committee were John Gabriel Jones – chairman, John Bowman, John Cowen, William Bennett, Joseph Bowman, John Crittenden, Isaac Hite, George Rogers Clark, Silas Harland, Hugh McGary, Andre McConnel, James Herrod, Wm. McConnel, and John Maxwell.  This document was signed by John Gabriel Jones – Chairman and Abraham Hite, Jr. – Clerk at Harrodsburg, 20^th of June 1776.  This act formed the counties of Kentucky, Washington and Montgomery in Virginia and made Fincastle County, Virginia extinct.  This act took effect on the 31^st of December 1776.  From the above document we know that the State of Kentucky was first referred to as “Kentucky County,” part of Virginia.  In 1780, this same Kentucky County, Virginia, was divided into three large Virginia Counties: Lincoln, Fayette, and Jefferson.

If these dates are carefully examined, it may be readily determine that these events occurred during America’s struggle for independence from Great Britain. It is also important to remember that the Revolutionary War continued in more remote territory long after the surrender of Cornwallis and the British Army at Yorktown.  The frontier had experienced fighting prior to 1777 when George Rogers Clark established the Fort at the Falls of the Ohio [now Louisville, Kentucky].

The British, supported by their Native Americans allies, controlled the territory north of the Ohio River with fortifications at Fort Detroit [Detroit, Michigan], Vincennes [Vincennes, Indiana] and along the Mississippi River in what is now Illinois [Kaskaskia and Cahokia which were both inhabited by French settlers].  South of the Ohio River on the western side of the mountains, settlers following the “Wilderness Trail” were arriving via the Cumberland Gap located in what is now southeastern Kentucky.

Fighting Indian Style

Among the ensuing battles which were fought“Indian style,”  Lt. Col. George Rogers Clark captured Sackville and Lt. Governor Henry Hamilton, known as the “Hair-buyer,”  in 1779 at Vincennes [Vincennes, Indiana].  Raids south of the Ohio River included such atrocities as the destruction of Ruddell and Martin’s Stations in 1780 under the direction of British Captain Henry Bird, Indian Agent Alexander McGee and an army that included two hundred Canadian Rangers, and Tories, with approximately six hundred Native Americans of various tribes.  This army was fortified with several cannon which are believed to be the first cannon used in frontier warfare.  The original plans were for this army under Captain Henry Bird to attack Fort Nelson at what is now Louisville, Kentucky, but the Native Americans refused to attack this larger fort under the commanded of Lt. Col. George Rogers Clark whom they called the “Long Knife.”  They felt it was much safer for them to achieve their goals by attacking Ruddell’s and Martin’s Stations which were located in what is now central Kentucky.

Ruddell’s Station also known as Liberty Station was located on the Licking River.  This fort or station was forced to surrender on the 26th of June 1780 after two successful cannon shots made it obvious that the cannons could easily blow the fort to bits.  After the surrender, the Indians who were out of control rushed into the fort each claiming prisoners while killing the old and infirmed.  Babies were pulled from their mother’s arms - their heads bashed and then, their lifeless bodies were thrown into the fires as their hysterical mothers watched.  The cattle were butchered by the Indians instead of being preserved as a primary food source for the return journey to Detroit as planned and requested by Captain Henry Bird.   The prisoners were divided amongst the Indians and then were forced to carry the plunder which the Indians had acquired in the raid. The Indians proudly rode their stolen horses.  

Martin’s Station located a few miles away suffered much the same fate.  Approximately twenty-seven persons were killed; four hundred seventy captives began a death march to Fort Detroit.  As a bounty of five dollars was paid for each scalp or prisoner, it made little difference to the Indians if the captured arrived at Detroit as a scalp or as a live prisoner.  It has been recorded that carrion birds filled the sky for a distance of five miles  after the massacre at Ruddell's.

When we investigate Ruddell’s [Liberty] Station a bit further we find that in April 1779, Captain Isaac Ruddle of Shenandoah County, Virginia who had removed to Kentucky in 1777 was assisted by John Burger in renovating an “improvement” in Harrison County, Kentucky which had been made by Captain John Hinkson of Monogahelia in 1775, but who had abandoned it.   Captain Isaac Ruddle was a Captain in George Roger’s Clark’s Regiment.  This fort was renovated and maintained because of an expected British invasion of Virginia’s western frontier.  Isaac Ruddell had married Elizabeth Bowman, daughter of Hans Jerg [George] Baumann [Bowman] and his wife, Maria Elizabeth [Mary] Heydt [Hite] the daughter of Johann Jost Heydt/Hite who was known as the Old German Baron. Elizabeth Bowman’s brothers were Captain Jacob Bowman of the old 96th District in the Province of South Carolina and  Major Joseph Bowman, Colonel Abraham Bowman, Captain Isaac Bowman, and Colonel  John Bowman all of Kentucky.

After the march to Detroit, Isaac Ruddell was reunited with his wife and their two daughters. His two sons were turned over to the Shawnee and were eventually adopted into the tribe.  Stephen Ruddell, twelve years old at the time of the attack was adopted into the family of Chief Blackfish and eventually became the adopted brother of Tecumseh.  The younger son, Abraham Ruddell, when repatriated in 1794 from the Indians by the War Department could barely speak English.  He later settled in Arkansas.

Ruddell's statement concerning Tecumseh

Notes:

1. Due to the advent of modern technology and the internet in particular, it is now possible to read the actual historical/military records of many of the nations of the world.  As many of you know,  I wrote the book, The Mongers: A Family of Old Virginia, which was published in early 1980, after twenty-one years of time consuming research all of which was accomplished before the days of the personal computer, ease of  communications by telephone, copy machines and even accurate listings of various  holdings in many state, national and international archival depositories.  The Mongers: A Family of Old Virginia, covers the Ruddell's Station massacre in detail and contains photographic copies of actual court documents of the period.  Most probably the reason for a four day discrepancy in the date that this event occurred is that at that time communications in Kentucky, in an area experiencing bitter warfare, depended entirely upon word of mouth which could literal take days.  Today, in the year 2015, it  is relatively easy to find the actual dispatches of  Captain Henry Bird which officially state that this event [Massacre at Ruddell's Station] occurred on the 26th of June 1780 with Martin's Station falling on the 28th of June 1780.  

2.  Ruddell is also cited as Ruddel, Ruddle, and Riddle.

3..  Surnames of some Shenandoah Valley families captured at Ruddell’s Station are Davis, Denton, Dofflemyer/Tofflemire , Fisher, Hon/Hehn/Haines/Haynes, Kratz md. Mary Monger, Long, McDaniel, Monger/Manger/Munger, Ruddell, Sellers /Zellers. 

4. Surnames of some Shenandoah Valley families captured at Martin’s Station: Berry, McGuire.

The Frontier - Virginia - 1776

 A document which was signed on the 8th of Oct 1776 for Government Service in Fincastle County, Virginia states, “For being legally apart of the colony and for the creation of new counties, a citation of the Committee for the Western Part references the election of John Gabriel Jones and George Rogers Clark as their representatives.  Members of the Committee included in this manuscript are: John Gabriel Jones - chairman,  John Bowman, John Cowen, William Bennett, Joseph Bowman, John Crittenden, Isaac Hite, George Rogers Clark, Silas Harland, Hugh McGary, Andrew McConnel, James Herrod, Wm. McConnel and John Maxwell.  Signed by John Gabriel Jones - Chairman and Abraham Hite Jr. - Clerk at Harrodsburg,  20th of June 1776.  This act formed Kentucky, Washington and Montgomery counties in Virginia and made Fincastle County, Virginia extinct. The act took effect on the 31st of December 1776.

Many of us living today do not grasp the importance of this one single document.  This is extremely important because it formed the two counties of Montgomery and Washington but especially so because it opened the entire frontier including what would become the states of Kentucky and Tennessee for westward expansion.  Also note  that it eliminated Fincastle County, Virginia. 

Please look carefully at the names of the men who were present when this document was created and then who signed it.  Several of these men stand out as having ties to our own Shenandoah Valley area.  These men were indeed friends and neighbors of own families.Men who had a direct bearing upon the lives of many members of our own families. Men who were well respected individuals that influenced our nation’s early settlement.   Note again the date this document was signed, 20 June 1776.

Let’s look more closely at the lives of some of these men who not only influenced events happening in our own Shenandoah Valley but also in Virginia and the colonies which became the United States of America.

Belle Grove

 Major Isaac Hite

Major Isaac Hite was born on the 7th of Feb 1758 at his father’s home, Long Meadows which was then in Frederick County, Virginia.  He died on the 24th of Nov 1836 at his home, Belle Grove near Middletown, Virginia.   He was the son of Isaac Hite, Sr and his wife, Alida Eleanor Eltinge who were married 12 Apr 1745 in Frederick County, Virginia.  Isaac was the grandson of Johann Jost Heyd / Hite and his wife, Anna Maria Merckle of Baden, Germany.

He was educated at The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa Society of 1776, which was the first Greek letter fraternity in America.

Isaac Hite enlisted as a private in the American Revolution and rose to the rank of Major.  He served on the staff of General George Washington.  Isaac was aide-de-camp to General Muhlenberg at Yorktown in 1777.  At one point during the American Revolution, he lost one of his fingers due to the fact that it was shot off.  He was made a member of the Society of Cincinnati by General Washington; however in 1781, Isaac Hite was not on good terms with George Rogers Clark in the area which became Lincoln County, Kentucky.

One of Isaac's Hite’s homes was 'Long Meadows' where he was born and grew up. 'Long Meadows' was located south of Middletown, Virgina.   He is also reported to have lived at a property called 'Old Hall' near the Massanutten Mountains along the South Fork of the Shenandoah between 1787 and 1797.  Note the photos in this article which prove that ‘Old Hall’ was indeed located in the yard of his final home, ‘Belle Grove’. 

Old Hall  sign which is located in the yard of Belle Grove.

Excavated foundations of Old Hall with shadow of the above sign.

Isaac Hite had received 'Old Hall' in 1783 at the time of his marriage to first wife, Eleanor ‘Nelly’ Madison.   Isaac and Eleanor ‘Nelly’ Madison Hite lived at ‘Old Hall’ while he built 'Belle Grove' of limestone quarried from his own land.  In 1794 the construction began on the 40 ft x 100 ft. limestone home which had walls two feet thick.  The capstones were ordered from England. 

Eleanor ‘Nelly’ Madison Hite's brother, James Madison and his wife, Dolley Todd Payne Madison spent part of their honeymoon at Old Hall. James Madison became President of the United States serving in this capacity from 1809 to 1817.  He was President during the War of 1812 which was also known as America's second war for independence. He is also known as the Father of the United States Constitution.

After the death of Nelly Madison Hite in 1802, Major Hite married Ann Tunstall Maury.  Three children had been born to the first marriage and ten were born to the second. Twelve of these thirteen children lived to adulthood.  In 1815, as the family grew, an addition was made at the west end of the original house to finish-out the one-hundred-foot facade of Belle Grove as it stands today near Middletown, Virgina.

Belle Grove

The grain and livestock plantation continued to grow from its original gift of four hundred eighty three acres  from Major Hite’s father until finally the Major owned seven thousand five hundred acres of land and one hundred and three slave workers.  On this land he grew wheat, raised cattle and Merino sheep which were and still are prized for their wool.  Major Hite also owned a general store, a grist-mill, a saw-mill and a large distillery.  He died in 1836, and after Ann's death in 1851, ‘Belle Grove’ was sold out of the Hite family.

Seven of the Hite grandsons lost their lives in the service of the Confederacy during the War Between the States.  Union General Phillip Sheridan made his headquarters at ‘Belle Grove’ during the Battle of Cedar Creek. 

Cedar Creek Battlefield sign at Belle Grove.

‘Belle Grove’ is located one mile south of Middletown, Virginia on U.S. Route 11.  It is now the centerpiece of the new Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historic Park.  Belle Grove is a Historic Landmark, a Virginia Historic Landmark, and a Historic Property of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. 

Note 1:  There are two Madison homes/properties named Belle Grove.  The first is a river-seated plantation at Port Conway, VA.  This is where President James Madison was born.  The original house of his birth is no longer standing.  The future President’s mother, Eleanor “Nelly” Conway Madison was living at Mount Pleasant, Virginia, with her husband of a year, as the birth of their first child neared.  Anticipating the event, Nelly traveled to her mother’s home, ‘Belle Grove’, in Port Conway. At midnight on March 16th, 1751, James Madison Jr. was born.  It has long been believed that Major Isaac Hite’s home, ‘Belle Grove’, was named for the earlier ‘Belle Grove’ in honor of his wife’s family where her brother, President James Madison was born and where her mother, Eleanor “Nelly” Conway Madison, grew up. 

Note 2: It has also been long reported that ‘Long Meadows’  was the Middletown home of Isaac Hite and his wife, Alida Eleanor Eltinge.  The Long Meadows Cemetery located on this Virginia farm, is said to contain the graves of Isaac Hite and his wife, Alida Eleanor Eltinge; Major Isaac Hite and his two wives [Eleanor ‘Nelly’ Madison and Ann Tunstall Maury]; and that of Johann Jost  Heyd/Hite's wife, Anna Maria Merckle, who was buried there in 1739 in what is now an unmarked grave.  

When Isaac Hite was 16 in 1737, his father, Johann Jost Heyd/Hite gave him approximately nine hundred acres of land known as the Long Meadow Tract. This property was named for its beautiful view of lovely, fertile meadows along the banks of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River.  The Shenandoah Valley is located between the Blue Ridge Mountains to the east and the Allegheny Mountains to the west. The Massanutten Mountain runs amid the Valley's floor between those two mountain ranges and splits the Shenandoah River into the North Fork and the South Fork. Hite’s Long Meadow Tract is located along the North Fork, at the base of the northern end of the Massanutten Mountain. It extended from the river toward the land where ‘Belle Grove’ now stands.

Isaac Hite who died in 1795, left his vast estate primarily to his son, Major Isaac Hite, who was an up-and-coming planter and entrepreneur in the Shenandoah Valley.  Major Hite divided his father’s land into five separate tracts.  ‘Belle Grove’ was built upon one of those  five tracts. In 1836, when Major Isaac Hite died, he left Traveler's Hall to his daughter, Matilda M. Hite Davison. In 1840, she sold the land to Col. George W. Bowman and his brother, Isaac Bowman, great-grandsons of Johann Jost Heyd/Hite.

A Journal - Elkton - McGaheysville, Virginia Area

Miss Lottie M. Davis 

Part Four

Page Fifteen

January 1927

12 Jan 1927 - Dr. T.C. Firebaugh died age 56 years.

10 Jan 1927 - Mr. Joe Cash died.

14 Jan 1927 - Mr. Isaac Hammer died.

12 Jan 1927 - Mrs. S. L. Baugher died age 54. 

Jan 1927 - Miss Annie Argenright in hospital

20 Jan 1927 - Mrs. Russell Hensley new baby.

Jan 1927 - Lester MGuire moved to Rhoda.

Jan 1927 - Build Standard Oil Company.

February 1927

1 Feb 1927 - Tall Stanley child died 2 years.

5 Deb 1927 - Miss Anna Funkhouser died 75 years.

Page Sixteen

March 1927

18 Mar 1927 - Mrs. Baughter get Miss Mollie place.

14 Mar 1927 - Mrs. Swartzle other died.

18 Mar 1927 - Miss Mollie J Sale on Saturday.

11 Mar 1927 - Mr. I. H. Hammer died age 78 years.

5 Mar 1927 -  Irene Monger and Mary Long married.

24 Mar 1927 - Limb taken off by Dr. Deyler and Dr. Miller.

27 Mar 1927 - Mr. Bob Frazier died.

24 Mar 1927 - Limb taken off by Dr. Deyler and Dr. Miller. [2nd entry for this]

April 1927 

14 Apr 1927 - Came home from Hospital.

28 Apr 1927 - New Wing on R.M.Hospital. [Rockingham Memorial Hospital].

May 1927

4 May 1927 - Mrs. W. G. Brill operated on.

13 May 1927 - Mrs. T. Farror new baby.

24 May 1927 - Mrs. Joe Sugher [Sughrue] operated on.

15 May 1927 - Mrs. Homer Monger died age 28 years.

16 May 1927 - New paper on 3 [three] bedrooms.

 2 [?] May 1927 - Mr. Aaron Davis died.

Page Seventeen

21 May 1927 - Mr. W. A. Sandridge died 88 mashie [spelled correctly].

30 May 1927 - Eula McGuire gravated [graduated].

16 May 1927 - Mrs. Warn McGahey died age 55 years.

21 May 1927 - Fawley moved in new home.

June 1927 

1 Jun 1927 - Alice and Jula [Julia] Keezle tonsil removed.

5 Jun 1927 - Rue  Mrs. Wood new baby.

6 Jun 1927 - Pauline Gilmore married.

7 Jun 1927 - Mattie Downs died.

9 Jun 1917 - Harold Workman.

11 Jun 1927 - Miss Carrie Rolston married.

16 Jun 1927 - Miss Cook married.

19 Jun 1927 - Miss Nancy Dyke married.

20 Jun 1927 - Mr. Bob Keezle married.

30 Jun 1927 - Mrs. Nora Whitfield Hensley died age 32.

27 Jun 1927 - Mrs. George Breeden new baby.

Page Eighteen

July 1927

1 Jul 1927 - Mrs. Farror died age 95 years.

3 Jul 1927 - Virginia married L.

10 Jul 1927 - Mr. P.B. Monger died age 84 years. [Benjamin Price Monger?]

10 Jul 1927 - Lester McGuire new baby Chas.

26 Jul 1927 - Gale Davis birthday.

30 Jul 1927 - Chas & Alice here.

30 Jul 1927 - Mr. F. Leap married.

August 1927 

5 Aug 1927 - Iris Secrist operated on.

27 Aug 1927 - Dr. L.B. Yancey died.

26 Aug 1927 - Mr. Rains died.

27 Aug 1927 - Mr. Eaton new home.

Page Nineteen

September 1927 

6 Sep 1927 - Miss Kate Lee Rolston kill self.

Sep 1927 - State road started Spotswood.

6 Sep 1927 - Mable and Earl take trip.

5 Sep 1927 - Aunt Sis Secrist moved to Washington D.C.

11 Sep 1927 - Mrs. Yancey killed by Dovel.

11 Sep 1927 - Mrs. Floyd Burke hurt.

14 Sep 1927 - U.B.C. [United Brethern Church] met in Winchester.

15 Sep 1927 - Rev. N.F. A. Cupp died at conference age 65.

15 Sep 1927 - Mr. A. J. Bear died age 78 years.

28 Sep 1927 - Mr. E. Petty died 52 years.

20 Sep 1927 - Mr. Sam Monger stable burned.

October 1927 

2 Oct 1927 - Aunt Sis here.

6 Oct 1927 - Mrs. McIntyre died age 65 years.

7 Oct 1927 - Henry Dean killed age 28 years.

20 Oct 1927 - Mrs. Joe Black new baby.

27 Oct 1927 - Arthur Hensley died.

Page Twenty

2 Oct 1927 Mrs. Charles Burner new baby.

24 Oct 1927 - Miss Cora Lee Yate operated on.

Oct 1927 - Miss Ruby Maiden married.

November 1927 

Nov 1927 - New water pipe layed.

11 Nov 1927 - Mrs. Hammer died Harrisonburg age 84 years.

14 Nov 1927 - Bill goes to M.G.

17 Nov 1927 - Laurence Frazier drown in Boom [Boone] Creek age 54 yrs. 8 mo. 17 dys.

5 Nov 1927 - Mrs. Site new baby.

19 Nov 1927 - Norwood Workman operated on RMH [Rockingham Memorial Hospital].

26 Nov 1927 - Kisting [Kissling] shot by Caldwell.

28 Nov 1927 - Stated painting house.

27 Nov 1927 - Alice Monger married Nash.

27 Nov 1927 - Mr. Charles Armentrout died.

24 Nov 1927 - Annie Hammer married.

29 Nov 1927 - Lelia [Lelia Davis Monger] operated on.

Page Twenty-One

December 1927

2 Dec 1927 - John Eaton died age 74 yrs.

5 Dec 1927 - Mrs. Ed Jome died age 58 yrs.

7 Dec 1927 - Killed Hogs. 450# 14 c [cents] $63.77.

10 Dec 1927 - Lelia [Lelia Davis Monger] came home.

9 Dec 1927 - Clara Molone operated on.

12 Dec 1927 - Rev. Mr. Dycke died age 83 yrs.

29 Dec 1917 - Charles Keezle married.

To be continued: