The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-03-09
THOMAS PRICE, GENTLEMAN.
A HERO OF THE REVOLUTION

". T. Price, tells of this in his sketches
Of Pocahontas county. Whether ne came
here directly from Charleston, through
the mountains, foot-soro sololer, OF
whether he went to his home In what was
then Washington county, Md, 1t having
been cut off from Frederick IN lno:
cannot say. There was an Impression
made on the minds Of some OF ms oe-
seendants that his journey was direct
from the Carolinas to this place.
can learn nothing from official records
after 1888. Up to that time he was III
service, and some of his descendants
have seen his discharge, though do not
know date.
Now 1 know that he married Ellzabeth
Taylor in 1855; their first daughter,
Polly was horn in 1857; their second
daughter, Sophia (who was my grand
,nothcr), was born 1885, and died 1901
He had thirteen children. Their home
stead was about seven miles from New
castle.
Newcastle was called Brookville, or
F'ontville; I am not sure which. 1t was
LAID off as a town and called Newcastle
i'll 1918 by William Anderson, the land
having been sold to one Myers, by j ohn
Taylor, Gentleman and by the former
IT, the trustees of the township.
LITTLE WORLD OF ITS OWN.
Thomas Price, who passed his time
with much reading, as his books show,
lad a good deal of property, and his
seat had Welsh name, given by nm,
row forgotten by his descendants, "UWch-
drffrin," as nearly as I remember. In
his day it was a little world within it
self. There was a powder-mili, a srlst-
mill, cloth loom operated by Portu-
guese weaver, and cattle and negroes by
the thousand head. He had large
family and after lowering them hand-
somely with farms and slaves le1t
large estate TO his sec2nd wife, whom he
.,ames in his WILL made eighty years ago,
My beloved wife Margaret" This Will
is on record in Botetourt.
The Assembly of Virginia enacted law
ito authorize a lottery to raise money
for opening a road from LynchburS by
Ieaks Of Otter to Monroe. in BotetouIt,
tc Sweet Springs, in Monroe county, and
from there to Grcenbrer Courthouse" in
1883
This road would have passed the scat
OF Thomas Price, but it was only COM
rietcd as far as Fincastle-for wheel
travel'' From Tincaste, which had
been named Monroe travellers took
pack-horses.
Again, ten years later, a law was pass
cd to open a road through the Shenan-
doah Valley by Fincastle to Sweet
Strings. But it was not until about $50
or 1923 that tho well-graded post-road
vas completed, and then it was built by
enc Of the many sons-in-law OF Ihomas
Price Captain Jacob Price, with his
own slaves, built the road, which is called
in old histories prices Turnpike" and
across Prices Mountain. Jacob Price
was an officer Of 1872.
After this time the old seat, loved for
it's shcltcring solitudcs, and called after
some stone castle in the Clywiddian hills
Of Wales, passed into the hands OF the
Scott family. After his death some years
there was a sale, which Thomas Price,
who from his will and his papers, l
Judge to have been both a gentleman
and a Christian, expressly desired the
court to prevent.
He wanted no appraisement Of his
goods and chattels, and the will proves
that he had perfect right to say what
he wanted.
At the March court of Botetourt county,
1923, the will was offered to probate, and
William Anderson, who was the grand
father or great-grandfather CD of the
present States Attorney, and James l..
Woodville, two of the safest and leading
men of their day, swore that "Thomas
Price was of sound and disposinG nina.
He had but one son by first marriage
Dr. William Price-who died in the United
seu1cr 'cIsL VI NloJIoN 9e eo!AIes selB1S
Atlee Price Gather of author and min
ister, Rev. w. Z. Price, of West Vir-
ginia), was son by second marriage,
OLD-TIME TAVERN.
Now, after the death Of the first owner
and settler on this virgin soil, the old
Ilace became a tavern. William Scott
the grandson of Thomas Price, held it as
long as he lived, and added more land,
il is said His heirs still hold it; but 1t
rcw only furnishes a shelter for two of
his sons, the ladies of the family all
having left the lonely. decayed place,
about 1900 acres of the original land.
It's Welsh name was long ago trans
lated into Middle Mountain" and since
the stage coach days it has been lost
mecca for no traveller ever passes it
and no visitor ever awakens its sleeping
echoes.
And where are those who once made
merry in the misty mountains? Where
are all the SoulleSs creatures called
slaves. many of them named in the
masters will Poney, Luallen, Sylvia,
Patsy, Martha, and the scores Of others,
who worked the rich meadows and sang
end danced in the quarters at night?
Where is the old "Fortugon'' weaver,
who used a bell loom, strung up to his
national songs, and carried twenty
five pedal power?
Where are the bolts of linen made on
this LOOM till every bed in the house had
linen sheets and every high-poster was
lren draped?
But, alas. the day of the stage coach
arrived No doubt the long tin horn.
with its roulade from the top Of the
Sweet Springs Mountain, was as offensive
to the lovers of solitude as the hoarse
whistle of the steam locomotive is to us.
After the stage coach reached that val
ley times began to change. Travellers
came. loud-mouthed, acknowledgement.
and in time thick-tonsucd. for the great
curse of human life, the intoxicating
EcN crage, with its evil influences, became
a necessity in the rugged winters and
much stir of comfortless travel.
We'll, q tavern is Il tavcrn..
1t was at its height in 1869 1t was
! on the road to Sweet Springs, and it
saw all the guests who went and came,
many of them prcferring to remain in the
lovely old-fashioncd place, rather than
so on to the springs.
But in 1858 there appeared a dark cloud
in the shape Of a struggling and con-
fused fragment Of the Northern army
Il