Volume 14 , Issue 15

Highland County Virginia - Schools & Professions

As to this week's look back at Highland County, Virginia schoolhouse, that is unknown. But the earliest teacher of whom we know about was William Steuart. Steuart taught regularly from the time of his arrival about 1755, and appeared to have been well educated, especially in mathematics.

Another early teacher was John Sprowl of ireland, who taught at his home near the mouth of Dry branch about 1790. Sprowl was also a surveyor. It has been told that John Steuart had wedded in Ireland a feeble-minded woman whom he thought it best to leave behind. Yet while John Sprowl was teaching one day, he was thunderstruck to see Bridget Sprowl step into his schoolroom. Sprowl, the teacher, accepted the situation and then lived with her. Several of John and Bridget's children were blighted with the inheritance of a weak mind. It was not until 1810 the state government of Virginia took no official notice of popular education. Everything was left to private effort, and excel t with those who were awake to the need of educational training, nothing was of course done.

It was in John Beverage's will of 1830 that he wanted his boys, John and Andrew, to be taught to read and write. Beverage wished that his daughter Margaret to taught to read and spell well, also. With books being scarce and mostly of religious nature, that made for little to read. Few newspapers came into the Highland valleys of Virginia. The almost prohibitive rate of outage was not favorable to the writing of many letters.

It was not until 1820 that a very rudimentary school system was initiated through the use of a "literary Fund" was provided for out of certain fines and penalties, and other odds and ends of public moneys. Each county was to have an unsalaried collection agent, and it was entitled to a board of commissioners, one being a bonded treasurer.

This board was to determine how many indigent children it would educate and what it would pay for this purpose. The board could select indigents, but had to gain the consent of parent or guardian. Books and other necessaries were furnished, but only the three R's (Reading, wRiting and arithmetic) were taught. It was under this law that Thomas Jones was director of the Literary Fund for Pendleton and treasurer of the school committee.

In 1845, the law went much further, as it empowered the county courts, on a petition of a third of the voters, to submit to the people the question whether they would have public schools or not. It retired a two-thirds note to establish the much needed schools and such schools were maintained by a special tax.

The three school trustees in each district, two were elected by the people and one by the school board. The trustees were instructed to build the schoolhouse and employ or discharge the teacher. Several counties beyond the Alleghanies, availed themselves of this law, but no thorough system of public instruction was set on foot until after the War of 1861 (the Civil War).

The Highland court of October 1850 divided the county into twelve school districts, with boundaries as follows. These twelve districts were the only ones unit after the war.

1. North of the turnpike and east of the top of Bullpasture Mountain.
2. South of turnpike and east of top of Bullpasture mountain.
3. Bath line to Clover Creek Mill and between Jack and Bullpasture mountains.
4. Bullasture Valley from Clover Creek Mill to Blue Hole on Crab Run and Mrs. Malcomb's on Bullpasture River.
5. Bullpasture Valley above Blue Hole and Mrs. Malcomb's
6. Straight Creek Valley to Forks of WAters, including Crab Run Valley above Blue Hole.
7. All the northwest of county as far cough as the new church in Crabbottom and the lane from said church to the South Branch road.
8. All south of District 7, as far as the turnpike and west of Monterey mountain.
9. All south of turnpike to Abraham Gum's and west of BAck Creek and Monterey mountains.
10. All south of District 9 and west of Back Creek mountain.
11. From turnpike to mouth of Dry branch, insulting valley of said stream, and between Jack and Straight Creek mountains.
12. All the middle of county south of District 11.

The commissioners for these districts were Andrew J. Jones, Andrew H. Byrd, John Graham, charles Steuart, Jared Armstrong of W., Henry Seybert, Emmanuel Arbogast, John Bird, Benjamin B. Campbell, David H. Bird, William W. Fleming and David Stephenson. Each commissioner was bonded in the sum of $2,000.

The schoolhouse of 1850 at Valley Center was described as a log-and-daub cabin fourteen by sixteen feet in size. The space left vacant by a log from the sidewall was covered with greased paper fastened to stays and occasionally repaired. No light could enter the room except through the door. Heat was afforded by a fireplace and occasionally the flames would take hold of the jamb. The school topics was wholly in the three R's and geography, even with the limited range there was no uniformity in the books. Head tickers were given for proficiency in spelling. After WEbster's blueback speller and reader was outgrown, anything else was used as a reader. One boy even brought a copy of Daniel Boone. Pike's Arithmetic was the law and gospel in mathematics.

There was a school near Doe Hill of an earlier date as it was described by the late James W. Blagg as having backless puncheon seats. On each side of the room was a writing board supported by pegs inserted in auger holes. The ink was of copperas and maple bark. There were some slates but no blackboard. The books were Walker's Dictionary, Dilworth's Speller, the English Reader, and Pike's Arithmetic. In 1840, geography was introduced and a few pupils studied grammar. There was only one recess and that was at noon. Most of the studying was said aloud. The tuition was one dollar month to each pupil, and during this three months the teacher sometimes "boarded around." The qualifications of many of the teachers appeared to have been better than the schoolhouses. The teachers severe discipline was upheld by the parents, yet the unsatisfactory instructor could be discharged.

Among the earlier teachers were James McNulty, William C. Holcomb, Jacob Bird, David H. Bird, James Slaven, William Lowery, Mitchell Meadows, william S. Thompson, John Bradshaw, Patrick Maloy, Joel Hidy, John A. Hidy, William Life, James Ervine, George Dameron and S. C. Lindsay.

Some teaching was done by Presbyterian and Methodist ministers. Another effort in the direction of better schooling was the Highland Academy at Monterey, authorized in 1850, with a capital stock of not over $15,000. The trustees named in the Act of Assembly were W. W. Fleming, Adam Stephenson, Jr., Dr. G. N. Kinney, W. c. Jones, and Jacob Hiner. The Doe Hill Academy was established about 1872 by W. R. McNeer, and comprised a two-storied schoolroom and a boarding hall. Its doors were open a number of years and it educated many young people. STill another and much later effort was an academy under Presbyterian auspices near Hightown. After doing good work for several years, the building was closed. The high schools of Monterey and Crabbottom afford broader local facilities then the outh of Highland have either afforded.

The only newspaper Highland county has ever possessed before 1911 was established at the county seat in 1877 by Witz and Jordan and called The Highland Recorder. Witz and Jordan came to Highland from Franklin, West Virginia, with the presses and type of their defunct "Pendleton News." It passed through nine changes of ownership.

It was the rise of the "Whig" party in the 1830's, Highland was Democratic. During the third years prior to the great war, the new party had a very strong following. The reconstruction period had the effect of bringing the greater mass of the Southern whites into the Democratic party. Accordingly there were few Republicans in Highland prior to the Readjuster movement of 1880. The subsidence of the Readjuster party as a distinct organization left a large share of its followers wear of the Blue Ridge in the Republican ranks. Since then the two great political parties had been rather evenly represented in Highland, although in local elections Democratic candidates were more frequently chosen.   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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