Monday, March 26, 2012

Bestselling author Sharyn McCrumb to speak at the Palisades



Bestselling author Sharyn McCrumb to speak at the Palisades


The Giles County Historical Society will present an evening talk and book signing by New York Times bestselling author Sharyn McCrumb on Tuesday, March 27th, at 7:00pm at the Palisades Restaurant in Eggleston. The event is free and open to the public.

The talk will feature two of McCrumb’s books: The Ballad of Tom Dooley, which tells the true story behind the celebrated folk song, and the new edition of Ghost Riders, a tale chronicling
the Civil War in the Southern mountains as a local reenactors group plans a mock skirmish in their community.

With ancestors hailing from the mountains of North Carolina, it is no surprise that McCrumb
is best known for her Appalachian “Ballad” novels, including The Ballad of Frankie Silver, She Walks These Hills, and The Devil Amongst the Lawyers. Set in the mountains of western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee, the ballad novels interweave local legends and natural wonders with contemporary Appalachian issues.

McCrumb has received numerous accolades throughout her career, including Writer of the Year at Emory and Henry College in 2005 and, in 2008, Virginia Woman of History for Achievement in Literature by the Library of Virginia.

Her gift for storytelling, however, is not confined to pen and paper. Patricia Jacobs, Executive Director of the Giles County Historical Society, recalls hearing McCrumb speak at the 2007
Appalachian Studies Conference in Maryville, Tennessee:

“I attended an all-day program on health issues in Appalachia, and, by the end of the day, we were tired, restless, and noisy. But as the final two presenters entered the room, it suddenly became silent. The male presenter introduced himself and said that he, too, would be speaking on health care in the region, but a very, very different kind of health care. Then, he introduced his co-presenter Sharyn McCrumb.

“The presentation was on folk healing, specifically the gift of “removing fire” or “talking the fire out” in which the practitioner heals those who have been severely burned. For the next half hour
the audience set mesmerized as the man explained the practice and its history in Appalachia while Ms. McCrumb told magical tales of “fire removers” known throughout the region and their miraculous ability to heal. First, the pain and redness would disappear, but within days even
scarring would completely disappear!”

Jacobs, a student at Radford University at the time, was studying physical anthropology, but after hearing McCrumb’s talk she changed her focus to cultural anthropology with an emphasis on Appalachian studies—a focus she has continued in graduate school at Virginia Tech.

Jacobs encourages the community to attend the presentation saying “It will be an exciting and memorable evening for all!”

Friday, March 16, 2012

The Early Years of Newport by Dr. Doug Martin




The Giles County Historical Society invites you to its quarterly meeting on Sunday, March 18th at the Palisades Restaurant in Eggleston. Newport native Dr. Doug Martin will talk about the early years of Newport, when the village was a bustling hub of commerce and transportation on the main east-west road through the county. Both members and non-members are welcome to this free presentation, and they may also enjoy an optional High Tea offered by the restaurant for an additional cost.

To set the stage, Dr. Martin offers the following vignette:

“The year was 1872. In the southwest Virginia county of Giles, the village of Newport was recovering from a War that involved many of the local citizenry and other individuals who had witnessed and participated first-hand in battles and skirmishes between North and South. Many
soldiers did not return and others brought back with them injuries, experiences and memories that required a time of healing. Yet this village, with the vestiges of pre-history Native Americans and European settlement prior to the Civil War, was determined to re-establish its autonomy and structure consistent with its founders’ vision. There was an optimism as nearby railroads became connecting points, and the Great Wagon Road westward assured a steady stream of visitors, as stagecoaches rumbled through Newport on their way to hot springs resorts, and as returning soldiers sought to re-establish their definition of the good life.

“Efforts were made to make Newport the first incorporated town in Giles County and those
efforts reached fruition through General Assembly action in 1872.

“For Newport, Chapter 129, Acts of the Assembly, 1872, titled “An ACT to Incorporate the Town of Newport, in County of Giles, In Force March 4, 1872 provided the following:

“‘Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia, That the village known as the town of Newport, in the County of Giles, laid off within the following boundaries, beginning at the white oak tree, at corner of David B. Price’s and John P. Martin’s lands, marked with four chops; thence running south thirty three degrees west one hundred and fifty poles, crossing the turnpike leading from Newport to Blacksburg, to an apple tree near a line between Gustavus A. Butler and William H. Martin’s lands;’ – an so on.

“The act appointed George W. Hines as mayor, and David B. Price, William R. Gitt, William Keister, Flayle P. Payne, J. Addison Logan and Christopher C. Wingo as councilmen. These men – returning veterans, a medical doctor, ministers and local citizenry – worked in concert to add to the colorful history of the Village of Newport.”

Monday, March 12, 2012

Pssst . . . Have you heard the rumors about what happened in Pearisburg?





Pssst. . . Have you heard the rumors about what happened in Pearisburg?

On May 6, 1862, Union forces entered Pearisburg where Major James M. Comly of the 23rd Ohio regiment reserved rooms for two of his officers, Col. Rutherford B. Hayes and Major William McKinley, at the Woodrum Hotel. Surveying the town, Hayes and McKinley decided to set up headquarters in Dr. Harvey Green Johnston’s medical office.

Shots were heard the morning of the 10th as Confederate forces under Brigadier Gen. Heth engaged the Union forces at Giles Court House. Poor Annie Johnston was home alone with her
young children. She must have been terrified by battle taking place just outside her home!

The Confederate forces prevailed and within a short time the 23rd Ohio retreated to the west with Heth and his men in hot pursuit. As the town quieted down, Annie saw a large sack on the stoop of her husband’s office. Thinking the Union troops had left food or perhaps coffee behind in return for her hospitality during their encampment, she hurried over, only to find a sack of horse feed.

Mrs. Johnston was not the only Pearisburg resident hoodwinked by the dastardly boys in blue. Col. Hayes, in his haste to vacate, had neglected to pay his room and board at the Woodrum Hotel. Fourteen years later, Mrs. Woodrum, upon learning of Hayes intent to run for president, lightheartedly wrote newspapers in New York about the unpaid bill still owed to the Woodrums. No doubt the scandal was kept quite by Hayes powerful political supporter, attorney James M. Comley, as Hayes was elected the 19th president of the United States in 1877.

These two yarns (undocumented stories which describe incredible or fantastic events) are part of the local legend about Giles County during the Civil War. While it is known that the 23rd Ohio regiment occupied Pearisburg from May 6-10, 1862 and that a skirmish ensued, there is no actual documentation that Hayes and McKinley (actually a newly-promoted sergeant) used the Doctor’s Office as headquarters during that period, or that Annie Johnston found a sack on the stoop left by the retreating Union forces. As for the yarn about the unpaid bill at the Woodrum Hotel, all that remains is a faded article from The Virginian (predecessor to the Virginian Leader) some sixty years after the original events describing Mrs. Woodrum’s efforts to inform voters about
Hayes’ unpaid bill.

While the mission of the Giles County Historical Society is to document historical facts about the county, we are also interested in yarns and family stories about Giles County during the Civil War. These tales not only provide color and insight into life during that period, but will pique interest in the reenactment of the Battle of Giles Court House planned for June 9th and 10th. The Historical Society invites you to call 921-1050 to share your Civil War-era yarns and family stories which we hope to compile into a book. Who knows . . .maybe documentation will be unearthed, turning your tale into a new, previously unknown fact about Giles County!

The Giles County Historical Society works to preserve, interpret and exhibit Giles County’s rich historical and cultural heritage. It provides a repository for Giles County family histories, documents and artifacts, assists genealogical researchers, and supports the preservation of endangered Giles County artifacts, sites and records.