The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1951-10-11

sons VINO produce large quantities OIL
potatoes.
The distinguishing feature of the
Hurley Miller farm was the old shook
shop which stood on a bank of a
small stream running through the
place. Here blocks or bolts of the
finest straight grain white oak were
rived or hand-split into slaves and
shaved into shape The slaves were
then set up in form and drawn
into shape of barrels after which
kerr was cut at each end by means Of
horse power Then the inside was
chaned over an open fire. After the
slaves were set, the slaves for one
barrel were assembled into a bunch
and bound together by wooden hoops
or ties at each end This formed
"shook." Some of the timber was
hauled for quite distance, even
from across the mountain. The panic
of 1873 put an end to this enterprise.
This farm was originally started by
the Arnold family. 1t has been in
possession Of Edward Miller and his
son Hurley since about 1875.
About 1860 Henry G. Sanders
settled on the farm adjoining that Of
Henry Ridder This place at that
time had quite growth Of spruce
and hemlock pine up near the noun
tain. There was small creek rum
ming down through the place. With
the generous help of his neighbors
he constructed primitive dam and
mill race for water powered saw
mill. The water wheel was about fiji
teen feet in diameter. By reason Of
the small volume of water available
it was only operative during high
water However many small orders
were sawed at the mill. One snowy
night in 1887, the mill caught fire and
burned down and was never rebuilt
as steam operated mills took It's
place Henry Sanders was very
energetic man. He saw service in the
Union Army and also served a term
as judge of the Orphans Court. He
raised large family and was very
successful farmer.
The building of the Northwestern
Virginia Turnpike, now Route so,
was responsible for the settling Of
William Waltz in the 1905 at the
foot of Backbone Mountain below
Table Rock, and Ezra Houser on the
adjoining farm. Back Of these two
places was the Lee farm, now owned
by Greeley Janoske. On the old Waltz
place was an old grave yard on the
side of hill 1t is now grown up
with small trees. Most of the graves
were marked by long slabs Of stone
peculiarly grooved and which have
a strange sound. No one knows where
they came from. One stone was
marked with 1855" 1t probably was
marked for "Uncle Billy Moon" who
was last1to be buried there. Robert
Lee often spoke of having helped
build the old Pike and had his feet
frost bitten while helping to build
the old road. He married Christine
Waltz and moved to Missouri in 1859.
In 1857 Mr.. Lee with his family re-
turned to the old farm where he
ended his days His mother died in
1885. She drew pension by reason
of her husbands service in the War
of 1912.
Except for the house built on the
Mason place, which was of sawed
timber hauled by OK team from Deep
Greek, and Henry Riders brick
house, all the houses of this section
were built of logs, usually two stories
high and heated by open fire places
of generous dimensions. Baking was
usually done in outside ovens. The
barns likewise were of logs, usually
of two spaced cribs with an inter
vening threshing floor, in the John
Ridder barn the floor was of clay
The storage capacity was small so
that lean-to sheds were usually added.
About 1885 the farmers became
"bank barn" conscious and before the
turn of the century most of the old
log barns were replaced by modern
frame structures. Cheap building ma
terial and abundance of skilled arti-
sans had lot to do with this change
In 1875 Uncle Henry Ridder erected
a brick house, one of the few then in
the County. A bricklayer by the name
of Smiley superintended the burning
of the brick as we'll as the laying Of
them. The only machinery used was
a horse operated pug mill to mix the
clay. The bricks were nodded by
hand, sun-dried and then burnt in a
kiln fired with maple wood. The site
of the kiln was just below what is
generally known as the old Combs
place. The walls of this house are
now as sturdy as the day the house
was built.
The first school house built in that
section was a rough log building
erected at the corner of the Grover
Lee place near to the road leading to
Table Rock. AS the writer remembers
it stood in the woods near the road.
Most of the roof was gone. In 1881