With the reunion having concluded yesterday, we filled Sunday with a variety of
stops and places that I wanted to see during our extended vacation in Virginia.
We filled much of our morning with a few trips to some local cemeteries but
that is a post for another day. This post is about where our family lived both
in the early part of the 20th and latter part of the 19th
century.
Before
moving up to Pennsylvania, my grandfather was born and raised in Eagle Rock,
Virginia. This is where all of my great aunts and uncles were born as well. I
guess you could say that it all started at the Eagle Rock Baptist Church where
my great grandparents, Harry Teaford and Nettie Love, were married in 1917. For
the first time, I was able to see the church thanks to my great uncle serving
as our tour guide for the morning.
Of
course, before we received this guidance, we were left on our own to explore
the small town. While it is clear that it was once a nice little mountain
community, the town seems to have never recovered from the depression that
drove my family north.
While
the train station still looks like it is in good working order…
…the
car dealership has obviously be lacking that new leather smell for some time.
This
is obviously not a touristy type stop but it where we come from and it is the
first time that I have been able to walk the streets and probably the first
time that my father had been there in about 50 years. While pictures and
documents make up much of work in genealogy, places are also an important part
of the process. Walking the same streets and seeing the surrounding mountains
gave me a much better understanding of the generations of my family that called
this small town home.
Later
in the day we met up with a cousin in Fincastle (as well as my aunt and uncle
who also joined us for the afternoon). Surprisingly, we were the only ones that
took her up on her offer yesterday for a tour of the capital of Botetourt County.
Many of our family documents can be found in this building so I was looking
forward to finding out a little more about the town itself. We all convened at
the local museum and proceeded to walk the town as the humidity continued to
rise.
Just
in front of the museum was the county courthouse…
…which
served as the gateway to the west when this now modest county extended far
beyond its current boundaries and deep into the Midwest. It is because of this
distinction that the courthouse is recognized for its place in the Lewis &
Clark Expedition.
From
the courthouse we walked up and down the main and back streets of Fincastle…
…passing
numerous historic sites and old houses…
…and
quite a few churches including the one below which dates back to before the
Revolutionary War.
The
town tour ended where it began and our generous host concluded the afternoon
with a walk through the museum. Of course, the path around the building lead us
directly to the research room where we couldn’t help but pour through a few of
the volumes stacked on the shelves. While we didn’t uncover much, it was nice
to be back in the stacks sifting through all of the names. And, obviously, it
was once again nice to have my feet on the same soil and stones that were once
walked by many in my family decades ago.
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