Martinsburg weekly independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1873-1875, 1874-06-06
FROM HEDGESVILLE.
HEDGEsvILLL. Nav %. Y.


for my sc,ibbling in the columns
ola public Journal, but having left
your enterprising city for ramble
among the mountains Of old Nor
gan and Hampshire counties some
days ago,on my return, making it
convenient to come by this little
mountain village, were / have for
merly spent many happy hours,
though many who then shared
those pleasures with me, have
gone, as the poet has it, "to that
undiscovered country from whose
borne no traveller" &c. After
crossing the long needed bridge
which spans the easily excited wat
ers of Back creek, the first face
that attracted my attention, as /
was contemplating the changes in
cident to lapse of twenty years,
was that of Richard Bodine, who,
though worn by care and time, re-
tains much Of his former self !;
there is that same complacency of
humor and social hospitality as Of
yore. Dick could not ask me in
to drink, being deprived of the
right both to sell or give, by the
village fathers, who are not in ia
vor OF taking their toddy at home.
He rendered me the Inequalities
of his home, which / accepted and
have since been visiting around.
The day following my arrival
here, /, in company with an old
and tried friend, George w. Nc
Allister, the popular mail carrier
between this place and North
Mountain depot, visited the last
named place. was astonished to
see the many changes that had
taken place since / stepped aboard
the train, then bound for the
West; score Or more of years
since.
The property owned by Mr.. Pc
ter III. Cookus, who was then tick.
ct agent, was destroyed by the
Confederates during the war. The
land lying between the depot and
the mountain, which was of yore
covered by gigantic oaks and rug
ged elms, that wreathed their
old fantastic roots so high,
is now entirely cleared.
The meandering little stream
still flows on, though unshaded, to
empty itself into the placid lake in
the centre OF this once beautiful
grove, ormore properly, forest.
Well do we remember how in
The long ago we loved to wander
forth into the depths of this wood,
and when our then little feet had,
from sheer WEAKNESS, refused to
carry us further, we delighted to
tell beneath the refreshing shade.
to the little faxen- haired girls, who
have since become mothers, our
tales of boyish love. The old
school house that stood hard by on
the railroad where we were wont
to pay more attention to our boy
ish pranks than our books for
which we were soundly thrashed)
is no more, but the spot is familiar
still.
So it is with the old "John
French" school house, in those
days better known as the clap
Stone Academy" 1t was here
that old Mr.. Lamb-peace to his
ashes-used to make the school
house benches so uncomfortable
by the frequent and vigorous use
Of knotty branch of grape vine;
but he could not, even with the
aid of his grape vine, make us
more attentive to our Jess arith-
metic and Mnrray's grammar than
to the canal we used to dig with
our slack knives" A feeling of
sadness comes over us as we gaze
upon these old familiar scenes and
places, and memory recalls the in
cidents of bOyhOod. Among the
improvements at North Mountain
station we notice the neat dwelling
recently erected by Mr.. Geo. Sci
bert. The old store house that
stood on the railroads very edge
has been torn down and like an old
garment turned inside out, has been
made new.
This building, we learn, with
large lot, on which there is now
going up a fine stable, is to be
rented at a fair rent for a hotel.
The house, which is attractive in
appearance, is suggestive of cool
ness these warm days-is entirely
free of gaudy ornament.
The trees, once beautiful in their
gigantic form, which composed the
grove heretofore mentioned, were
long since doomed to add fuel 10
The camp fires, whose heat has
warmed manga soldier during the
bloody conflict. Their ashes, that
now enrich the verdant knobs of
the beautiful, undulating pasture
grounds is now alas all that re-
mains of them. On this pasture
Ill, l. 4 !. l.