Legends of the Skyline Drive and the Great Valley of Virginia

by Carrie Hunter Willis; Etta Belle Walker

The farmer also used a different kind of mill. He used a sweep made of springy wood, thirty feet or more long. This pole was supported by two forks, placed about a third of its length from its butt end where it was securely fastened to some firm object. To this was attached a large mortise, a piece of sapling five or six inches in diameter and eight or more long. The lower end was shaped like a pestle and a pin of wood was put through it at a proper height so two people could work the sweep at once.

Kercheval says he remembers the one which he helped work in his own home. It was made of a sugar-tree sapling and was kept almost in constant use either by his own family or by the neighbors who came to use it. He says these sweeps were used to make gunpowder from the saltpetre caves which the settlers soon found.

The women often used a grater for the corn when it was very soft. This was made of a piece of tin, a few holes punched in on one side and then nailed to a block of wood and the corn scraped against it. This produced a form of corn-meal but was a very tedious method. Another kind was a mill made of two circular stones. The one on the bottom was called the bed stone and the upper one the runner. These were placed in a hoop with a spout for discharging the meal. A staff was let into the hole in the upper surface of the runner near the outer edge and its upper end through a hole in a board fastened to a joist above. The grain was put into the runner by hand. This type of mill, is one of the earliest ever known by man.

Then every man tanned his own leather. The tan-vat was a huge tub which was sunk into the ground. A quantity of bark was quickly gotten each spring when the farmer cleared his land. This was first dried then brought in and on rainy days, the bark was stripped, shaved and pounded on a block of wood with an ax or mallet. Ashes were used in place of lime for taking off the hair from the skins of animals. They did not have fish-oil, so the settlers substituted bear's grease, or lard made from boiling the fat of these animals. This oil was used to make the leather soft and pliable. The leather was often very coarse, but it was tough and wore well. They made their blacking or polish for their shoes by mixing soot with lard. Not every man could make shoes, but everyone could make shoepacks, an article similar to the moccasin.

Kercheval's father was a master weaver as well as a fine shoe maker. He made all the shoes worn by his family and would not let anyone else make his thread, as he thought no woman could spin it as well as he could. He made all the woodenware called set work. He hand-carved some of them, making grooves in which he fitted hoops to hold the staves in place. During the days when every man had to serve in some military service, the elder Kercheval was not strong enough to fight. The men brought all their firearms to him and he repaired them. He could straighten a crooked gun barrel with ease and file off any broken edges.

Kercheval's father had been to school for only six weeks, yet he read, worked hard problems in mathematics and wrote letters, not only for himself, but for many of his friends. He drew up bonds, deeds of conveyance and wrote other articles for them. He taught his boy to use his hands, for Samuel tells that as a boy, he wove garters, belts and shot pouches. He, too, could make looms. He traded well, for he says he would swap a belt for a man's labor for a day, or give one to a man for making a hundred fence rails.

An amusing custom developed among the German settlers regarding their weddings. Young men and women, termed "waiters," were selected to help officiate at a wedding. The groomsmen were proud to wear highly embroidered white aprons on such an occasion, for it was symbolic of protection to the bride. Each waiter tried to keep the bride from having her slippers stolen from her feet during the festivities. If she did sustain the loss the young man had to pay for it with a bottle of wine, since the bride's dancing depended upon its recovery.

Characterized by their strong religious beliefs it was only natural for the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians to build their churches as they built their little homes. Opequon Church south of Winchester is thought by many to be the oldest church in the Valley. Not so with the Germans. They did not attempt to build separate houses of worship for a generation or more after coming to the new section but they did hold regular services in the homes of the settlers and waited until a better time to erect churches.

There was an interesting custom among the Scotch-Irish at their weddings, too. It was called "running for the bottle." Usually the bride and groom went to the parson's home for the marriage ceremony, attended by their friends on horseback. At the conclusion of the ritual the young men took to their horses and dashed for the bride's father's house. The man on the fleetest horse was given a bottle of wine from which the returning bride and groom first drank and then it was passed on to others. In most instances the mad rush to the home was made in spite of numerous trees and small brush which were cut down to serve as obstacles in their paths.

At Winchester these two distinct nationalities got along fairly well together. An example of their friendly relations is to be seen in their "War of the Guelphs and Ghibellines." The Dutch on St. Patrick's Day would parade through the village streets with effigies of St. Patrick wearing a necklace of Irish potatoes and his wife carrying an apron full of them.