TIME WAS.... I have been surprised time-and-time again, in writing so much about historic Augusta Stone Presbyterian Church at Fort Defiance, Virginia, how the people who built that "wee kirk in the Valley" managed to prosper and get along so well very often with that which happened to be "at hand. Theirs was often a "make do" economy.
In 1813, for instance, records show they had quite a large crowd of people in as guests for week to attend Installation Services making the Rev. Conrad Speece the third pastor of the church. The records of Lexington Presbytery of that time tell us that there was an average of three "gigs" - horse and buggy combinations - in each county of the Valley which meant that the crowd of people there on the hill on that day either walked or rode horseback to get there. We often forget that what we call "roads" simply did not exist. Most were ,at best, trails established by steady use. Lesser ones suffered from seasonal vegetation disguises, too, and fields were unfenced so many false pathways were offered to lead the traveler astray. All roads of the time were long ones, because they went around hills rather than over them.
It is difficult for us to imagine such a lack of transport in those times. Cattle had to be driven to and from market and we have instances of human slaves being move from the market place Auction Block of the home of their new owner.
There was no mail service. Letters arrived only because of he courtesy of travelers who happened to be going in the same direction you who wanted your notes to go. They might eventually arrive at the proper location - maybe. Contact with the outside world was often erratic and mostly verbal; so events took on the opinion of the traveler who told you about it quite often. Facts were kept at a bare minimum it often appears.
Small, wonder,really, that people would gather in large numbers for church services which -in this particular occasion - started on Friday and ended on Tuesday. There was a special Communion Service, of course; the Installation Ceremonies themselves and a sample sermon by the newly appointed Minister. Members needed such time to get together to exchange small,medium and great news about shifts and changes in each family unit. Some took such opportunities to express their feelings and to comment on matter civic importance and their concern about people views and beliefs...that which they felt to be important at that particular time be business, politics, or social in nature. The often came early and stayed late.
Andrew McCaskey Sr. amccsr@adelphia.net 8-5-06 [c458wds]
