The Muse: May 2002

Museum Silent Auction and Yard Sale
Saturday, June 8, 7:00 AM -1:00 PM

This year will be different! This sale could be the big one and WE NEED YOU!!! Many individuals have already volunteered to help and there are plans to contact all local members personally. We hope that each of you will save your trash and treasures for us. Some very nice things have been promised. We plan to have a whole room of upscale items to be offered at the silent auction.

Please help us by telling everyone you see. Excitement on your part and word of mouth advertising are the very best ways to get the buyers to the merchandise. You will be interested to know that Hill House is also having their famous LEMON SALE across the street this same day. So make a morning of it and  bring your friends.

You may bring your donations to the museum after 2:00 on Friday the 7th. If you cannot make this date, you may deliver Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday that week from 10:00 until 3:30.

Please call Alice Powell to volunteer or for more information. Mark your calendar TODAY or you may miss just the thing you have always wanted.

New Addition to Amherst County Pathways

We have a new - and wonderful - addition to our exhibit. Terri Linton and Diana Rhode have donated two beautiful original murals to place in the windows. Ms. Linton’s mural depicts several of the prominent mills in Amherst’s past. Ms. Rhode’s piece shows a beautiful scene of our county’s fields and mountains with the “Sleeping Giant” in the background. Mark Campbell and Diana Rhode have already installed these works of art. The Museum is extremely grateful for the generosity of these individuals to help complete this long project.

Green Thumb Worker Returns to Museum

Welcome back to Mildred Watkins, our returning Green Thumb worker. We are very excited to have her here with us. You may see her working at the Museum on Thursdays, Fridays or Saturdays.

Director’s Notes
The Benefit of Oral Histories

Did you know that the Museum has a collection of video interviews of Amherst County citizens relating tales of the past? Over the last few months I have had several opportunities to confront the idea of collecting oral histories. Last fall we applied for and received a grant from the Library of Virginia to purchase a new camcorder for recording these interviews. This will allow us to capture local residents and their stories in order to preserve them for generations to come. This is a very important project.

In March, I was asked to speak to a group about some women of historic importance in Amherst County. The only two individuals I could find any substantial information on were Indiana Fletcher Williams and Sarah Henry. I am sure there are other women who have made great strides in Amherst – the first female doctor, the teachers, the mothers, the stenographers. Their stories were missing.

Collecting oral histories is a crucial part of preserving our local history. Consider all the information that is stored up in the men and women who lived and worked in Monroe during the railroad heyday. We can look at photographs to learn where buildings were or read newspaper articles about the change from steam to diesel locomotives. However, where are we going to find out about the local hangouts or where the youth gathered to play ball? Those answers can be found in the stories of the people who lived there.

At the recent Piedmont Conference in Nelson County, there was a presentation on organizing oral history projects. Although a formal program requires planning and organization, this does not prohibit people from gathering their own oral histories. At the Museum, we continue to look for individuals willing to share their memories. I encourage all of you to do the same. Speak with elder family members or the woman down the street who has lived in the same house all her life. The stories you will get may amaze you and provide you with an entirely new view of life in Amherst County.

Meghan

Planning the Town of Bethel
Contributed by Mr. Doug MacLeod

It was February 11, 1775, when the following advertisement appeared on page two of the Virginia Gazette newspaper in Williamsburg, VA:

Whereas we, the subscribers, have laid out a town on the James River, below the great mountains, in Amherst Co. Virginia, and near the upper end of navigation with small craft in said river, in a very healthy convenient place for trade and tradesman, where good wheat may yearly be bought at 2s. 6d. a bushel, and Indian corn from 1s. 6d. to 2s. a bushel, and other grain on very reasonable terms, also good fat beef from 1.5d. to 2d. a pound, and fat hogs from 2d. to 3d. a pound and being determined to do everything in our power to promote the said town, and encourage all inhabitants: We hereby give notice thereof, and likewise that we rent lots in said town (called Bethel) for lives, or any terms of years, 5s. per year the first seven years, 10s. per year the next seven years, and 15s. per year the next seven years; also rent land convenient thereto, at 2s. 6d. an acre yearly rent, and give the first settlers some timber for building.

Nicolas Davies, Henry Landon Davies

It was the invention of Anthony Rucker’s bateau, after the flood on 1771, that was the promise of commercial transportation along the James River. This promise likely encouraged Nicholas and son Henry Landon Davies to lay out the town of Bethel near the grist mill on Salt Creek. Between Lynchburg and the Pedlar River, Bethel was the best access to the river to ship tobacco to Richmond. However, twenty-six years elapsed before Bethel was established by an act of Assembly.

Down by the Old Mill Stream
Mr. Charles Hamble

In 1992, I explored the remains of an old mill site near the crossing of Roses Mill Road over the Piney River. The last wooden structure that once sat on the rock foundation was washed away in the devastating flood of 1969, along with two nearby iron bridges. All that remains today is the rock foundation built into a rise of land on the South side of the river.

A canal or millrace approaches the site from the west on higher ground above the riverbank. The millrace curves west for 400 yards, crossing under the present road, to the river. A stone dam once blocked the Piney and supplied water through the canal to turn the water wheels and works. An old wood-frame two-story side-passage house (c. 1812) sits a few yards back of the mill site.

Four hundred yards west is an old brick house - the stagecoach inn. The two-story structure was once the residence of Samuel Simmons, and then a tavern/inn serving the stage route from Charlottesville to New Glasgow. Clearly visible beside the road is a square, stone platform where passengers dismounted from the stage. The stage road turned east along the river and forded the Piney just past the mill.

Rose Mills began as a joint venture of three Rose brothers - Hugh, Patrick and Charles. The Rose Brothers petitioned the county court for permission to construct a dam and mill on 9 November 1769. The permission was duly granted by the court. The brothers built the dam, canal and the mill before 1780 to serve their own requirements and to meet the needs of their neighbors – for a fee of course. A deed entry of 1782 gave a good description of the enterprise.

5 August 1782. Hugh Rose, Patrick Rose, and Charles Rose some years ago built a mill on Piney on public road from Amherst Court House (at Cabellsville/Cobden) to Lynch’s ferry and held it in common until October 1780. At that time Charles sold to Patrick but reserved the right to have grain ground without toll as long as the present works stood. Patrick sold rights to said mill to Hugh Rose for 10 shillings, the mill and all appurtences. Further Patrick sold to Hugh one acre of land adjoining mill on south side of river - one acre of land lying on the bank before the mill dam in an oblong square (5 shillings). Also the privilege of cutting firewood and timber for the building and repairing the mill or any other houses Hugh chose to build (a tavern excepted without consent of Patrick). Patrick does not object to a canal carrying water to the present mill seat by a dam to be raised on any part of the river between the mill and the ford above McGhee’s tavern. Charles doth grant to Hugh the privilege of getting stone from the hill on the north side of the mill pond.

Thus Hugh Rose acquired the mill works and, perhaps, operated the mill sporadically for a few years or left its running to an overseer and slaves until his death in 1794.

1802 April 18. (Gift). Patrick and Mary Rose to son John Nicklons Rose, 500 acres, part of tract where they now live, south side of the road from the court house to New Glasgow, Piney, little below a mill, and Carter’s line.

With this gift, John N. Rose took possession and operation of the mill. In 1805, he purchased a further 105 acres on the south side of the 500 acres, from his father for 250 pounds; and by 1812 he had built a house for his wife, Mary, on the mill site. Also in 1812, the heirs of Hugh Rose took John to court over the ownership of the mill. John lost the case and paid the heirs 10 shillings each to clear the title of the mill.

On 13 December 1817, John made another important transition by forming a partnership with John Thompson, Jr. for the operation of the mill complex.

1817 December 13. John R. Rose and wife, Mary, to John Thompson, Jr. mill on Piney. Lines: Spring used by Wm. Staples, Hill Carter, Col. Patrick Rose, small island - 36 acres - known as Roses Mills. $4000.00.

he deed included the mill works, millhouse, dam, pond and canals and covered 36 acres. John N. Rose also built a fine colonial I house on the stage road a few yards south of the mill dam for his family.

The firm, Rose and Thompson Merchants Mill, rapidly expanded the operation and improved the mill works. Soon, the business had, in addition to the gristmill, a tile-hammer mill, saw mill, blacksmith shop, and other enterprises. By 1832, another house had been erected on the stage road, 1400 yards south of John Rose’s house. William Staples occupied this house; he had been in place as a tenant farmer on John Rose’s land since 1817. The Piney River valley echoed with the creaking, grinding, and hammering of machinery turned by the potent power of falling water.

However, the firm of Rose and Thompson was in serious financial difficulty by 1823. It was uncertain what action caused the problems; whether ambition and expensive expansion, improper management, or a simple wasting of money. John N. Rose was the primary culprit.

What followed was a disaster for John N. Rose - a series of deeds of trust being issued for loans, bonds being made, and land being sold or traded. Firstly, John issued a deed of trust on land south of the mill to his partner who had paid some of the firm’s debts with his own funds. The same year, 1823, his partner as trustee sold 221 acres of John’s land to the west of the stage road to William H. Waller. More creative financing followed in 1824, including a deed of trust on the mill works and tools. That same year, the mill complex was placed under lease to Samuel Simmons, and John N. Rose moved elsewhere.

Secondly, the Rose family moved to take control of John’s affairs. James Rose, John’s brother, was appointed trustee for John’s wife, Mary. James negotiated a dower for Mary of 113.4 acres which included John’s former residence and outbuildings at the mill and the use of a spring.

Thirdly, in 1826, Rose and Thompson Merchants Mill traded Roses Mills (plus 98 more acres on John’s land) to Samuel Simmons for 541 acres of land on Buffalo Ridge and a tavern at Amherst Courthouse. (The deed included a codicil that reserved use of a spring and path by the millpond for Mary and Waller). Simmons assumed the debts and leins on the mill.

Lastly, John N. Rose was apprehended by the sheriff of Albemarle County for nonpayment of debts in 1829. John was forced to give and oath of insolvent debt on the steps of the courthouse and sold 50 acres in Nelson County as repayment. In 1831, Robert Seldon Rose of Seneca County, New York, and oldest brother on John, had attempted to save John by buying deeds of trust through John Thompson, Jr., acting as agent for Robert. Robert S. Rose sold 300 acres just south of and adjoining the mill tract, including the dwelling house, to Samuel Simmons.

Meanwhile, around 1831, Samuel Simmons constructed a brick house (stagecoach inn) on the stage road east of the dam and the road for his wife, Cynthia, and was operating a stage stopover and tavern. William Waller, failing to meet payments, sold his 221 acres to Richard Landrum in 1835. Then, in 1839, with debts increasing, Simmons sold out; lock stock and millwheel to Archer B. Smith on Lynchburg. The transaction included the millworks, dam and pond, the stagecoach inn, and 223 acres south of the mill complex. Smith took in a partner, Leonard H. Childress, and in 1842 they issued a power of attorney to James McDonald to superintend the business in their names at Roses Mills for five years. In 1842, Smith ad Childress sold the whole mess to James McDonald, but not before William S. Claiborne brought suit in circuit court and won a judgment for all "stock, gear, blacksmith tools, and etc. in the hands of James McDonald."

List of 2001 Financial Supporters

Thank you to all of our members and supporters who contributed to the Museum during 2001. Without your support and financial assistance, we would not be able to continue with our programs, exhibits and everyday Museum activities. The following is a list of individual and corporate contributors for the 2001 year.

Queries

Looking for children of Greenberry Lanham and Caty Nightingale Lanham: Known are Lucy (married a Martin in TN) Pleasant, Andrew Jackson, Matthew Nathan went to KY about 1802. Catherine is daughter of Matthew Nathan Nightingale and sister of Mary Coffey.

Looking for Greenberry Lanham, son of Benedict and Nelley Lanham born Nov. 1765, Amherst Co. Died 30 Nov 1801, Amherst/Nelson County. Catherine Nightingale Lanham, wife (Caty) Land: Cosby’s Creek, Bonemarrow Mt. Dutck Dreek, Rockfish River, Kirby’s Creek; Friends Joseph Smith, John Matthews, John Jopling, Absalom Cox, James Bibb, Coffey. Need record of birth, marriage, burial, war service record.

Looking for Lanhams, friends of the Matthews and Bibbs: 1765-1830 - any information about both Nelley and Benedict Alive in 1820 Amherst Census. Benedict in Putnam, WV 1828, Greenbery, son died 1801. Would like a map of area, names and places of any graveyards, churches, deaths of Nelley and Benedict, marriage of Benedict and Nelley, maiden name of Nelley.

Reply to bdwagner@redshift.com

Leroy Mitchell abt 1797 to 1867. Married Sarah Sallie Harvie abt. 1803. Had Beverly (male) abt 1826, married Miss Williams of MS; Nancy Ellen abt 1827, married George R. Johnson; Lucy Jane abt 1829, married John Bowling; Bettsie Ann abt 1834, married James Whitney; Louise abt 1838; Salinal abt 1838; married Thomas W. Ware; Thomas W abt. 1832-1865, Dedham, ME married Mary Dexter; and Sapronia T. abt. 1844-1919, married Washington Campbell.

Reply to Bruce Mitchell
600 Colonial Blvd.
Township of Washington, NJ 07676

Welcome New Members

• Betty Austin — Amherst, VA
• Jennifer Pugh Combs — Amherst, VA
• Terri Linton and Don Nunziato — Amherst, VA
• Frances and Charles Midkiff — Marriottsville, MD
• Mr. Bob Sales — Madison Heights, VA
• Mr. Paul Saunders — Piney River,VA
• Karen. S. Strider — Charlottesville, VA

Amherst Genealogical Society

The Amherst Genealogical Society will have its third meeting at the Amherst Museum on Sunday, May 5th at 2:30 P.M with Florence Nixon as the speaker. The Society meets on the first Sunday every other month.

If you are interested in searching for your Virginia ancestors, especially in Amherst, Nelson and surrounding counties, and you are not sure how to begin, attend a meeting and let our researchers help you. If you are a new resident and you are interested in the history of Amherst County, you would enjoy the speakers and discussions. The meeting is informal and there is a free exchange of ideas and information. The Museum has an extensive research library and new books are added monthly.

Please contact Meghan Wallace, Director, at 946-9068 for further information.

Museum Welcomes TimeTravelers

The Museum is again participating in the Virginia TimeTravelers program which encourages school-aged children and their families to visit six different museums in Virginia through Nov. 1, 2002. At each participating site, children will get a “passport” stamped and after gathering six stamps, they can send the passports into Richmond to receive a certificate from the Governor and a TimeTravelers t-shirt.

Those students who visit the Amherst County Museum will have the opportunity to tour the Museum including the current exhibits. They can also experience the Tyler one-room schoolhouse and complete a Museum treasure hunt.

There are enough local sites participating in this program that it can be completed without leaving the Lynchburg area.

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