Sutherland Place 2023

 The other day, I posted about the 2022 hay crop on the Sutherland Place. Here are some pictures I took on June 6, 2023, when about a third of the farm's 75 acres of hay had been cut. A lot of the hay this year is thick and lush:

The old hay barn still stands, but barely:

An old tree, mostly dead except for a bit of green midway up, stands near the barn.

William Milton Sutherland's cabin continues to deteriorate. The collapsing chimney has lost bricks, the windows are fallling out, and part of the roof has blown off. Hay was cut to within a few feet from it.

The uncut patch is where the hearth in the old kitchen was.

How long before the cabin is gone? Time will tell. . . .

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The F&P Railroad

From 1880 until 1932, the Franklin & Pittsylvania Railroad ran through what is now my front yard and slowed down at the Novelty Depot to grab a mailbag from a hook and toss off another. The narrow gauge railroad, which made its first run on April 16, 1880, ran thirty-one miles from Rocky Mount in Franklin County to Gretna (then called Franklin Junction and later Elba) in Pittsylvania County.

The rails probably went through this section of my lawn to the Novelty Depot in the distance.
The road at left was once the old Louis Island Road.

Nicknamed "the Fast and Perfect" by locals, it was neither neither fast nor perfect. Beset by many problems, it never even made a profit. But the stories about it are pretty interesting—and Tex D. Carter has done a commendable job documenting some of these stories, as well as giving a brief history of the railroad, in his 35-page self-published book, The Old Fast & Perfect. (He plans a larger book in the future.) Available from Carter when he does presentations and also from Amazon, the book gives an interesting glimpse into a part of local history. 

This page from his book features a photo of the locomotive:

. . . and pages 30-31 have photos from some of the depots along the line near where I live—the Glade Hill Depot, the Union Hall Depot, Novelty, and the Pen Hook (it used to be two words) Depot.

Carter relates some of the accidents that happened along the line. On page 12, he refences a January 1915 Lynchburg News article about wreck near Union Hall, in which the train "derailed and two passenger coaches rolled down a steep embankment. While the passengers were "shaken up," none was seriously hurt. Other accidents resulted in fatalities. Carter included a photo of a brief news article about this accident: "Frank Haley of Franklin Junction, hostler on the Franklin and Pittsylvania branch of the Southern Railway, was run over near Union Hall to-day, severing both his legs, from which he died in a few hours.He was thirty-five yers old and is survived by a wife and children." He briefly mentions another accident, in which conductor Nathan Rucker "was killed while inserting a coupling pin between two cars."

The train never ran over twenty-five miles per hour, but still had ome problems staying on track. A quote from the back cover:

Carter has used a collection of pictures, news articles, letters, and recollections to tell this interesting story of the railroad that cut through two counties. If you're from Franklin or Pittsylvania counties, you'll enjoy reading about this regional history. Even if you ain't from around here, and you're a railroad buff, you'll enjoy the book. Since Carter is planning a much more detailed book in the future, this one will give you a good preview of what to expect.

Tex D. Carter holding the proof copy.

I have enjoyed reading my copy of The Old Fast & Perfect. I think Arlo the cat did, too.

Arlo wonders how he can use a spike from the F&P as a bookmark.

`
At $5.00 per copy, this little book is a bargain!

Note: I mentioned Tex and the F&P in my earlier blog-post about the Penhook Pottery. Clay from Pittsville was hauled to the pottery via the F&P.

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Update: Tex has published a two-volume set about the railroad: https://www.amazon.com/Railroad-Tex-D-Carter/dp/1986824241/ and https://www.amazon.com/Railroad-II-Tex-D-Carter/dp/1987525671/ 

Pen Hook Pottery

Last year, I acquired some pottery that I think is from the Pen Hook Pottery which hasn't existed for over a hundred years. (The village is now Penhook, one word instead of the original two.) I'd wanted to learn more about the pottery, but I couldn't find much online.

From p. 64, Franklin County 1785-1980 

Tex Carter, who is writing a book about the F&P railroad sent me two pictures taken at the Franklin County Historical Society Museum:

The exhibit pictured above is from Dorothy Cundiff, who knows local history and has been head of the Retail Merchant's Association for many years. Like me, she lives a few miles from where the pottery was.

The info in the picture frame: 

"About 1873, Kit Carter built a store across the road from Clement Store (later home to Mr. & Mrs. J.W. Perdue). Carter made pottery here about 12 years. In 1882, Wade Johnson began making pottery in back of what is now Blair's store (once Blair & —er's). The clay came from Pittsville. His [potters? partners?] were Elly Johnson and a Mr. Siegal.

"Janey Smith provided these pictures of pottery owned by her grandmother, Fannie Macenheimer Smith, who lived on Novelty Road at Penhook near the Pottery manufactory."

From an article on pages 45-46 in Franklin County 1785-1979 Yesterday & Today,  published by the Retail Merchants Assn, I learned this about the pottery: About 1879, a narrow gauge railroad was established to run from Rocky Mount to Franklin Junction (now Gretna). Since the railroad came through Pen Hook, where a store had been since the 1850s or earlier, the little town underwent a boom and a pottery shop opened in the 1880s. No trace of the pottery shop exists today, but it was apparently on a hill between what became Blair's Grocery (the building still remains) and Hodges' Store (which no longer exists).  Mr. C.L. "Kit" Carter founded the pottery business, and "his pottery bcame a fashionable item as well as a useful one." Clay for the pots came from Pittsville in Pittsylvania County and was delivered by train. It's possible that some local clay might have been used, too. Among his helpers at the pottery were A. J. Ramsey and Mary Ann Muse.

From p. 116 (a story by Miss Starn Carter of Gretna, VA): "He [Kit Carter] was a highly successful merchant at Pen Hook, manufacturer, and real estate operator. He operated a pottery keel [kiln?] and made many of the vessels still found around the county such as urns, churns, jugs, and jars. These were hauled by wagons into neighboring states and wagonloads of merchandise brought back to the store. The old Carter store stood on the hill in the vicinity of the home now owned by Mrs. Emmitt Jefferson."

Christopher ("Kit") Lawson Carter
Photo provided by his grandson Tex Carter

Pictured below are the pottery pieces I have. I don't know if all of them came from the Pen Hook Pottery or not. Some jugs are glazed in what is called the tobacco spit glaze because—although it was made from wood ash and not tobacco—it looks like chewing tobacco spit.

None of the pottery has a potter's signature, but I've been told that potters didn't want to be identified with their jugs that might be used for whiskey. I don't know if that's true or not.

The piece with a 2 is one of the few that have marks. I assume 2 stands for two gallons.

A few pieces appear to be salt-glazed with plume decorations.

Here's a view looking down.

All the pieces appear to be utilitarian. Nothing fancy here. Some are missing handles or show wear around their rims. Likely they were used for many years.

The paper towel roll will show the size of one of the larger jugs.

If anyone knows more about the pottery, I'd be glad to hear from you. Meanwhile, I'll keep researching.

~

What Was Once

. . . The Wilson James Wright Farm Is No More

Less than a mile down the road from me, the rabid clear-cutting so popular lately in Franklin County has revealed what used to be the Wright Farm. The cemetery and what's left of the house and barn are now exposed—and their remains now expose a way of life that's gone.

 

In the picture above, the fenced cemetery is in the foreground.  To its right, in the background, is the barn's roof. To the right of the barn is what remains of a two-story farmhouse.

Only a few graves are in the little cemetery. This was the easiest to read:

 

I'm not sure what kin Ina J. Dudley was to the Wrights. A daughter, perhaps? The parents graves are side by side. The father's stone is leaning.

 On the stone inscribed "Father," most of the information has worn smooth.

The mother's stone is only slightly more readable.

Outside the iron fence is a small plot.

Little Nelson Wright was born sometime in 1922 and died in 1923.

It looks like someone has been removing lumber from the farmhouse, but its framework is still visible.  To the left of the farmhouse, a chimney stands. No doubt that marks the spot where the kitchen once was.

 

The house isn't very far from the barn, so it was convenient to tend the stock. Also, the closeness no doubt made it easy to keep an eye on things.

 

The barn, at least from a distance, still looks sturdy.

 

But the farm itself is no more. 

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UPDATE: Thanks to ancestry.com and the Franklin County Genealogy Facebook group, I now have more info. The Wrights buried in the cemetery are Wilson James Wright (1860-1940) and Ada Ammon Dudley Wright (1864-1921. They were married 16 October 1885: Here's their picture:

Ada's death certificate was signed by their neighbor, Dr. George O. Giles, who lived second house from where I live now.

 

Ina J. Dudley was their daughter, the wife of S. T. Dudley. She and her husband lived on Jamison Avenue in Roanoke.  Her death certificate:

 

Nelson Wright died when he was only seven months old of "cholera infantum." He was the son of Charles William and Ethel Lee Brooks Wright. Charles—known as Will—was the son of Wilson and Ada. Nelson's death certificate:

Wilson and Ada had eight children: Ina J (1887), Elmo S. (1889), Annie W. (1891), Claude Leonard (1893), Henry Joseph (1895),  Gladys B. (1898), Charles William (1899) and Early (1901). No wonder they had such a large house.

~

The Wright Cemetery can be found online here: https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2644492/memorial-search?page=1#sr-180592932

Old Farm, New Farm

 
Philemon Sutherland—some sources give his name as Southerland—was one of the pioneer settlers of Franklin County. You can see where he was on this part of the settlers’ map of Franklin County.

His 700-acre plantation was located between where I currently live and my Union Hall farms. The pictures below are how some of his fields look like now.

 Philemon Sutherland was born before 1758 in Prince Edward County, which is a few counties east of Franklin County. He and his brother William—they were known as Phil and Bill—enlisted in Captain John Morton’s rifle company at the beginning of the Revolutionary War. They were to serve a two-year term. The company marched to Norfolk and then went to Philadelphia, where Phil joined General Washington’s army and was in the Battle of Trenton in December 1776. Then he was apparently mustered into Daniel Morgan’s division and fought in the Battle of Brandywine. At some point, while the brothers were up north, Bill was killed. (For a while, there was some confusion as to which brother had been killed.)

Phil served out his two years and returned home to Prince Edward County. But he again volunteered and “marched to Little York in Virginia, and aided in and was present at the capture of Cornwallis [19 Oct 1781].”

After the war, Phil married Frances “Fanny” Penick, daughter of William and Judith Penick, on 9 April 1782 in Prince Edward County. They were soon living in Franklin County, where their children were born: Polly (1782), Nancy (abt. 1783), Ransom (abt. 1787), Philemon II (abt. 1789), Judith (1791), Joseph (abt. 1797), Anna (20 May 1799), Hope Ann (abt. 1800), and Louise Keziah (23 Nov. 1806).

From various online sources, I know that he was fairly wealthy. The inventory of what he owned when he died on 11 July 1811 covers pages 450 to 454 of the Franklin County Will Book 1 that covered the years from September 1786 to July 1812. It’s also online, here: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/franklin/wills/sthrlnd1.txt

He must have been a learned man. The books he owned included a Johnson’s dictionary, 2 Bibles, and English reader and Bible, 3 volumes of Davies’ sermons and 1 of Martin Luther’s, Watt’s hymn book, a Guthries grammar, and others.

At the time of his death, he owned considerable livestock: a yoke of work bulls and a yoke of steers, 26 head of cattle (and an additional 2 cows), 26 head of sheep, 65 head of hogs, and 10 pigs. He also owned 9 horses: a black mare, a bay mare, a sorrel filly, 2 sorrel horses (I assume “horse” means gelding), 2 bay horses, a sorrel stud, and a bay stud colt.

He also owned slaves: Ephraim, Ned, Isaac, Peter, Riley, Hercules, Abednigo, Andrew, Eady and her child Betsey, Agnes, Dicey, Milley, and Jane.

Phil died in 1811, leaving his widow Fanny with 14-year-old Joseph, 12-year-old Anna, 10-year-old Hope Ann, and 5-year-old Louise at home. Daughters Polly and Nancy had married a few years earlier. Were any of the older sons still at home, or had they married also? How did Fanny manage? Might this have been the house where she bore and raised her children and lived out her life? Or was this dwelling built later? [Update: this cabin was the home of Phil's grandson, William Milton Sutherland.]

Fanny never remarried. In March of 1840, when she was in her mid-70s, she applied for a widow’s pension. (In 1838, Congress had passed an act “granting half pay and pensions to certain widows” of Revolutionary War veterans.) She died in 1863. [Update: Prior to her death, she'd divided the 700 acres into nine plots, each with at least one spring, and left a plot to each of her nine children.]

Part of Phil and Fanny Sutherland's old farm is now our new farm. My husband and I recently acquired 120 acres of what was once part of the Sutherland plantation.

~

UPDATE: Another Sutherland post, about a resident of the house pictured above, is here:

 https://peevishpen.blogspot.com/2019/02/samuel-sutherland.html