Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1876-12-08
STANTON, VA, !
Dec. 9th. 1876. !

I commenced this letter in M of the
oldest houses iE the country. 1t is now
the property of Capt. Harmon Hiner a
staunch and valuable friend of the Vim
DICTATOR. This house was built in 1774,
by Mr.. John Mccoy, the great grand faith
er of Capt. Hiner, and father Of General
VIM. Mccoy, q prominent citizen of Pen
dleton and one Of Virginia's honored and
trusted sons Gen. Mccoy after serving
in the Virginia legislature, was elected to
congress and so great was his hold upon
the esteem and confidence of the people of
this district that he was returned twelve
terms or
DURING TWENTY-FOUR CONSECUTIVE
YEARS,
though his seat was at times ably contes-
ted. Among his opponents as some OF
your readers will recollect, were two pop
ular and estimable Augustians, DR..
Stribling and Gen. Porterfield, who
have since passed from this stage of action.
l called one evening on Col. Benjamin
Henry, who lives just across the state line
formerly a member of the Virginia legisla-
ture and now that he is attached to the
| bastard state, Presiding Justice of Pen
dleton county. He is one of the Oldest
supporters of the VINDIcAToR, commenced
taking the paper in 1910. The Col, tho
! i'll his 6Sth year is as vigorous in mind and
body as many men who have not seen fifty
winters and last week pushed through the
driving snow and fast piling drifts of a
furious snow storm to Staunton with his
wagon. loaded with the rich produce of his
farm which carried
GOOD CHEER TO MANY A STAUNTON Ia
BILE.
I have just read an able an exhaustive ar.
ticle, ian historical sketch of Pendleton
county, written by Col. Hiner in response
to an invitation of the President to the
citizens of each county and city in the
country to furnish such a paper for pres
ervation in the centennial archives. But
to return to my Centennial house. It re-
manned, strange to say, in the Mccoy fam
lily just sixteen days over 100 years, when
it passed into the hands Of Capt. Hiner.
1t is built Of logs, weather boarded outside
and sealed within and carries its age well,
being as plumb as tho built yesterday, it
was a fine house in it's day. It is well
finished inside, the sealing being closely
fitted, the planks and joists overhead nice
ly dressed and grooved, the pannelled man
tie higher han the writers head and re-
curing a good reach to get down the to-
bacco box, for in those early days it was
not contemplated that the children had
any business with what went on the man.
tie piece. The Indispensable fowling piece
hangs from its rack OF the wall and the
old fashioned three story eight day clock
stands in the corner where it has licked
in q and fIot=GH Ouf thu aa.1 protirnC pacf and
still it looks down beamingly upon the
household and counts the hours as we
gather around the good old fashioned wide
mouthed fireplace
PILED HIGH WITH BLAZING LOGS,
to feed which would ruin a Staunton
householder in Il month, and.as it CLOVIS
its welcome to the safely housed and storm
bound traveller he laughs defiance at the
winds and needs not the fast falling SNOW.
This Hig land is a land of plenty if it is
high and hard to get to, the land of fat
mutton ard venisOn steak. wild turkeyan
pheasants, buck wheat cakes and yellow
butter and flowing with milk and maple
molasses which to say nothing of the snow
drifts make it about as difficult a matter
t. leave it as it is to get to it.
Speaking of fat mutton [ saw two South
down bucks of Capt. liners which if they
had been at our fair would ave pushed
our hest sheep men for the blue ribbon.
At 81 months old they weighed 1861 and
1141 pounds and one gained 25 p unds i'll
Is days. Mr.. J. W. Wilson had one which
at tie same age weighed 100 pounds. Did
we have any at the fair that beat them?
In Highland l heard some good stories
of the late election. One man, Il call no
names) said he and his neighbor return
ssng from the post office Tuesday after the
election stopped to tell a good Tilden man
who knew how to vote but did not under
stand exactly Low TO count Presidential
votes, that we had bad news. Hayes was
elected by one vote. "What a pity says
the Tllden man." somebody did not kill
that fellow before he voted it," An
other whose zeal had not prompted him
to work as he ought to have done. when
told that Hayes was elected by one maJ"rl-
ty remarked "Well we'll! amt l sorry [
didn't go over the oils after Jake and the
old man as Capt. H. told me to do. The
old man would have tied that one vote and
Jake's would have settled it,"
Let me give you
A HIGHLAND WRINKLE
apropos to the season and on the authority
Of a notable housewife too. & long stick
out end wise in your water barrel viii
pregent the barrel from bursting when the
water freezes and the same principle holds
good in the case of a pitcher or jar. Ii
YOU don't believe it try it,.
Tuesday night, the 28th, found me at
Monterey, tie metropolis aid capital city
Of the county OF Highland.
Leaeing my winter quarters at Dee
Hill, Tuesday morning, | drove down the
narrow. but fertile little valley Of the
Cowpasture. The riger is a very young
one, and the water bright and clear as
crystal; Che meadows all alorg tie road
for miles, thfckiy dotted over with SNOW
covered hay-stacks, looking like huge
loayes of white sugar. ma gfoups Of nun
CRY cattle standing around the4.a Ire I'M
patient children waiting for a lurhp. I
cross a new bridge near Mcdowell, which
a force Of road hands had just put down,
and stood around to see the first passenger
cross. Seeing me safely over they pro-
nounced il
4 TILDEN BRIDGE,
and the only kind that will carry a man
| safely across.
Making a short stay in Mcdowell, l am
somewhat surprised to find most o. the
houses look new or freshly painted. Among
them are several quite pretty residences OF
brick. frame ana concrete. This concrete
or composition sessIss 70 be a feature of
Highland architecture, ana makes q taste
full and durable building.
One of the principal county Officials,
Treasurer j. S. McNulty, resides at Nc
DoWell, and, Notwithstanding the stress OF
the times, he is progressing we'll with his
tax gathering, and by the 1st December he
had collected over half that was due.
Those good people Of Highland will pay
their taxes, even ii they have to 90 with
out sugar in their coffee 70 81 i.
Flushing on from McD0Wsl towards
Monterey, / find it is up, up, steadily ap-
wards foF eight miles. 1t is 50 high that
the moon Looks 90 big as a cart wheel, and
then looking over the cther side, there,
away down in thessDottoAs, il
MONTERREY, WITH us COURT AGVsE,
looking like the big house on d piapta4Aqq4a,