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McDowell, Virginia Highland County Historical Society (McDowell, Virginia) McDowell � April,2003 Our participation for McDowell left us with emotions probably as close to what our predecessors felt as possible. Lucy [Linda Nyland] and I left Virginia for our homes only to find out the return journey was going to be fraught with unexpected difficulty testing our resolve to a level neither of us would have suspected us capable of. McDowell,
Virginia is a picturesque little village nestled in the mountains with a
murmuring brook winding its way through the village providing a calming
sound as the waters rushed along. We
arrived to find spring just now in its zenith and tulips, lilacs, and
dogwoods in full bloom. The
heady scent of lilacs wafted through the entire village. Ruth
[Laura Painter], Lucy, Joseph [Lee Walker], Dr. Huff [Chris Crabb] and I
were amazed to find quite a large selection of goods for sale in the
village and soon had spent what money we could spare and then some.
Lucy and I were much pleased to find shoes and stockings that
were already scarce at home, along with underpinnings, buttons, and
books! My library grew by
several volumes thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Sitlington [Bill and Glenna Jo
Christen]. We
were thankful after our journey to find rooms to let in the inn.
Due to it being filled to capacity we shared with other travelers
packed into one room, but exceedingly grateful for a roof over our
heads. Saturday
morning began with breakfast provided by the local citizenry and then we
made our way to the wagon shop. Joseph
and son, Gideon [Steven Ditzel], having no orders for wagons or repairs
decided to build wheelbarrows from the materials on hand thinking that
they might be found useful and bring in some money until wagon orders
were forthcoming. Daughter,
Lucy, daughter-in-law, Ruth, and I went about our affairs as usual on
the front porch while the men folk worked nearby.
We were somewhat disturbed to see Federals now and again passing
by in front of the shop, but initially felt that if we ignored them they
might take no notice of us. One
group of ruffians, however, made improper remarks to the younger Hiner
women as he passed which all found offensive.
We hoped not to encounter any more the likes of him. At
noon the women discreetly began to gather in the church, coming in a few
at a time so as not to call attention to us.
An aid society meeting conducted by Mrs. Shaffer [Karen Timour]
and Mrs. Sitlington discussed preparations for much needed items to be
sent to the hospitals in Staunton and Lynchburg.
All present were of a like mind that should our meeting be
disrupted by the soldiers we would claim to be working on items for the
poor, and not in fact providing aid and comfort for the Confederate
troops. Lafayette
Hull, [Emanual Dabney] servant of the Widow Hull [Abigail Walker], came
in and gave a letter found at the Hull house to the ladies that revealed
that a recent visitor to the home, a Mrs. Dorsey [Linda Trent], was in
fact a loyal Unionist. She
was suspected of reporting activities within the town of McDowell to the
Federal soldiers. Much
concern was expressed after which Mrs. Dorsey was asked to stand and
declare her loyalties. She stated she had sons in the Union army and was, in fact, a
loyal Unionist. She
was immediately asked to leave the meeting and some discussion followed
as to what to do with her. After
that all haste was made to finish the business at hand in the event
should Mrs. Dorsey report our activities to the Federals and we should
find ourselves in a bad way. The
Rev. Price [Hank Trent] was asked to wait outside the church, keep an
eye out and inform us if we needed to make a hasty retreat. Also some boys were placed at strategic locations with
instructions to quickly inform us if they saw soldiers approaching.
Just
as it looked like we might go unmolested a Union officer entered the
House of God informing us that we were under his watchful eye; that we
were suspected of offering aid and comfort to the rebels.
He told us we had two options � either to remain in the church,
or if we chose to leave we would be searched and woe unto any woman who
was found with items he felt to be suspicious. He
removed himself but told us when asked that if we remained in the church
our captivity would last indefinitely at which point those of us who had
items we knew to be considered contraband began to conceal them on our
persons. I, myself, hid two
bottles of medicines � one in each stocking � thinking even a
Federal soldier would not search a mature woman of my years. Ruth
hid the running bag of values I constantly carried by tying it
underneath her apron. It
contained a few items that I felt I could not lose at any cost:
the Bible my dearly departed husband had given me 10 years before
containing the birth, death, and marriage dates for my precious loved
ones, a braid of hair from my departed daughter, my husband�s wedding
ring, my mother�s broach, and images of loved ones, many gone on to
their reward. Lucy
quickly squirreled away letters to her beau lest she be accused of
spying, and we decided to make our exit.
Lucy�s innocent face drew no suspicion, however, Ruth and I had
our baskets searched. Items
were taken from Ruth; however, the officer ordered they be returned to
her. The
soldier who searched my basket wanted to know what was in the poke in my
sewing basket to which I replied, �Sewing.�
He wanted to know what kind. I replied a quilt top. He inquired as to why it felt like paper. I told him,
�Because it has paper was sewn into the quilt.�
(English template method) He
asked no further questions returned the basket to me. I suddenly
realized I could have very easily had messages written on the paper
templates sewn into the quilt top.
Filing that information away for future reference should I need a
way of getting information in or out of town, I also made a mental note
that some of these union troops weren�t awfully bright. Mrs.
Dorsey left the village only to return and be sequestered on the front
stoop of the inn for the remainder of her time there.
When the innkeeper [Jim Lawhon] pointed out that she had made
statements leading the doctor to believe her mental faculties were
diminished the townspeople began to be less angry with her and more
pitying. The
Confederate avengers entered the town ridding it of federals on Saturday
after which they inquired of me if they could take rest in my side yard.
Being grateful to them for our safety we gave them all the food
that we had and wished we�d had more for them.
When it began to rain I invited them onto the porch, and one
soldier in turn played us several tunes on his harmonica that we enjoyed
immensely. It
was unknown to me at that time that Lucy had just accomplished a brave
and daring feat. When she
and Gideon walked back to the inn to collect more food for the
Confederates, she was taken aside by the innkeeper and told that two
wounded Confederates had made their way to the inn.
Every conceivable idea had been thought of to safely move the
soldiers within the town and have them seen by Dr. Huff without being
seen by the union soldiers. Just
as it looked impossible Miss Sarah Sitlington [Kyrstie Walker] arrived
saying she had something of much importance.
She produced two blank passes stolen from the Yankee
headquarters. She delivered
these into the hands of Rev. Price whom she trusted without reserve and
made her way back to the Hull house. Rev.
Price escorted Lucy Hiner back to the inn where he asked her if she
would forge these passes enabling the two wounded Confederates to come
and go as needed. Lucy
expressed concern that the men might be captured and the forged passes
discovered at which point they would be in grave danger. But she
proceeded to fill them out not worrying as to their effectiveness since
the men used these passes on several occasions without incident, their
origins never being questioned. Once
safely back at the wagon shop with so many soldiers, many who were
obviously of good breeding and kind to a fault, in our midst my Lucy
seemed to take no notice and continued writing away at her letters. One officer began to inquire of her who she was writing such
a long letter to and what it might contain.
I feared we were in danger for a while until it was ascertained
he was simply lonely and wishing for such a letter himself. Unfortunately
when the Confederates left town and made camp on the mountain their stay
was one of complete misery with rains falling and water flowing
underneath them. After they
left town the federals returned at which point we were somewhat fearful
for our safety after the entire town had seen us aid and comfort a
company of rebels. To
make matters worse, my grandson, Gideon, was taken along with another
young man [Jordan Lawhon] from the inn and spent the night in the
Confederate camp in the downpour. Their
aid had been elicited, and when Gideon returned the poor boy had not a
dry stitch of clothing so spent the remainder of Sunday in the inn with
a blanket wrapped around him, unable to venture from the house. Unknown
to most of the ladies at the time they were not the only ones meeting
secretly to provide aid for the Cause.
The gentlemen had met during the day on Saturday to discuss
activities for the Rangers led by Rev. Price, Joseph Hiner, Dr. Huff,
and the postmaster [Ashley Jackson]. These
gentlemen cleverly sent out some of the boys to observe the movements of
the soldiers expecting that the actions of mere boys were not likely to
draw attention. The boys
returned and reported the number of soldiers stationed about the town
and their locations. On
Sunday morning Miss Mary MacLeod [Kira Sanscrainte] told us of her
activities the night before in watching the actions of the soldiers near
the Hull house. Thankfully
her activities did not rouse suspicion and she was able to report their
activities to the Rangers without incident. Lucy,
Ruth, and I were visited by two very kind gentlemen that afternoon and
enjoyed the conversations immensely, somewhat to the dismay of the
innkeeper. Since we had
earlier in the afternoon been discovered at the window by the troops on
the ground I think we�d become somewhat of an embarrassment to him.
Thinking the troops unable to see us we�d watched their
movements from an upper story window in our room, only to have one of
them discover us. He
brazenly waved to let us know he knew of our presence and wasn�t
particularly pleased, and told the others they�d better keep an eye on
that upper story window. Sunday
morning all seemed relatively calm until we discovered large numbers of
federals advancing. We
again, although more discreetly, took up our watch at the windows
fearing the inn was going to be taken over.
We watched from the side window and the front window not too
awfully afraid until Ruth told us to go look out the window on the other
side of the house. Doing so we saw an entire company of federals on that side of
the house and realized we were surrounded. The
emotions that brought out were strong and for a moment we had to gather
our wits about us at the sight of them.
What to do when your only options are to stay in the house and
hope to defend it, or abandon all your worldly possessions and flee? All
was well in the end, however, and we decided to make our way home.
Lucy and I left Virginia and made it as far as Knoxville where we
again sought refuge for the night.
Next morning we were made aware of tornadoes that had beset our
friend, Miss Anna Rinehart [Pat McRae], and fearing for her safety, and
that of Mrs. Nyland we decided to abandon our plans and return to west
Tennessee immediately. We
had little idea what the rest of the day had in store for us.
Downtown Jackson was devastated by a tornado the night before,
and others would hit before the day was out. We soon realized we were
cut off as all entries into Jackson were sealed off preventing our
return. We read maps and
listened to reports of other tornadoes that were cropping up all about
west Tennessee and tried valiantly to get home.
We
spent the better part of the day tracking tornadoes per weather alerts,
and using the road atlas to try to dodge them while finding a safe route
home. Although our return
was blocked by killer tornadoes instead of enemy troops, I fear the
emotions we experienced were all together too similar to what many
refugees felt upon learning their entry into the city was blocked, and
they were separated from their homes and loved ones. Until
we are yet again reunited, I remain, humbly, The
Widow Hiner, aka
Victoria Rumble |
