PAST TWO HUNDRED YEARS A truly good book comes along now and then and, if you have any interest or concern with the New Hope, Virginia area of Augusta County - even if yours is about the nearby Battle of Piedmont during the Civil War - a new,"must-have" volume is now available.
The title is lengthy as is oft times true of a new history book tracing the "past two hundred years" of events, circumstances and popular reactions which make up "The History of New Hope, Virginia."
You will find find yourself being appreciative of the work of,a least,four persons as you read this book: The writers - Owen Early Harner and Wayne Edward Garber and Jennifer Wood and Nancy Sorrells,layout artists at Lot's Wife Publishing, Staunton,Virginia who did the cover and the photo layouts which highlight accounts, lists, official records, newspaper clippings and family snapshots which bring each story a bright intimacy which may have been muted - even lost - had they not been included.
There is no possible way in which writers, editors, compilers, collectors, organizers and summarizers of this sort of information about a community can possibly say "thank you" to all who helped bring it all together. They fear the very real possibility that someone may be overlooked.
If you want to know just how individuals and families who lived in the area during the early years, you can start with their homes,if you wish, some still standing even though they have been somewhat modified. The Kerr house,the first known settlers in the area, was constructed in part during the eightieth century. The early days of the community can be best be re-lived, perhaps,by our approximating the conditions under which we suppose they could have lived what they have to live with. We, today, are quite hard on our predecessors without realizing it as we continue to see them having benefits they never had available.
We often read books of this nature to find out what it was most evident about the manner in which people existed. We have some of the same problems today in different, more modern guise, but we read such accounts of the relatively, small battle at Piedmont-New Hope with a rather vague thought in mind that we may find,in re-living past circumstance among our own kind,to avoid such disasters in our future.
Some of these people,for me, have been kids I have had in my Sunday School Classes many years ago at Augusta Stone Presbyterian Church; and some of us grew old together in Adult Study groups. I am "kin" to a number of them through the families of both my first and second wives. I know some of these people of the New Hope area as relatives,too,through our children and grandchildren as well. I have actually lived some of the events recorded.
Thank you - Wayne Garber and Owen Harner. Thank you, too - Lot's Wife, Staunton, Va.
To all: "Well done!
Andrew McCaskey Sr. amccsr@comcast.net 1-28-07 [c515wds]
