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HISTOE OF M’GAHEYSYILLE..r • «BY THE PUPILS OF THE M’GAHEYSVILLESCHOOL.fWe have partly traced the settlement of McGaheysvilie as far back as 1740. For a space of 23 years after that time we have been unable to find anything of the progress of the settlement. A patent for the lands in and around McGah-♦eysville was granted by George III to Peter Miller and Jacob Harman, in 1763. The portion of land granted to Miller afterwards passed from him to John Long, grandfather of our well known patriarchal citizen, Mr. J. C. Wetzel. The portion granted to Harman—a family now extinct—passed from him to a Mr. Conrad. This was then called WestAugusta, afterwards changed to Rockingham. This village was first calledina highly and accomplished lady, and grandmother of Mr. Wetzel. She had a most excellent library, was a Swiss by birth and educated in that country, and was connected to a Lord of considerable note. After her father’s death she came to this country—date not known—and married John Long, a minister.The first McGahev of whom we have any account was Wm. McGahey, who was born in Glasgow, Scotland, Oct. 26, 1741. When he was 8 years old his parents moved to Antrim, Poland. At the age of twenty, he left his home for America, where he landed in 1761. He married Ann Kincade, Aug. 7, 1764, and their son, Tobias Randolph McGahey, was born in Dover, Delaware, March 24, 1765. He came to Rockingham county in 1801, and married Mrs. Mary Eva Conrad, the widow of the Conrad spoken of in the first part of the sketch. She was known afar for her wealth, and her residence was the corner house—at one time blacksmith shop—now owned by Mre^Wetzel. After his marriage he re-builflhe property now occupied by Mr. Berry. This house had been built at an arlier date by a Mr. Patran, Mr. McGahey established a postoffice in 1802 and called it McGaheysvilie—the room that was used for the office is still to beseen. It is the small attachment on the est corner of the same building. At the expiration of 19 years his wife departedthis life, Nov. 1, 1819. May 21, 1821, he married Elizabeth Anderson, of Wood-stock, Shenandoah county, Va., andthree years after his marriage he soldten or fifteen miles to church with their guns and would stack them near the door, ready for a surprise from the Indians. The next church was built and the congregation was organized in 1769, and was known as the Peaked Mountain Church. The church now standing was built in 1800 by Nicholas Leap. The pastor at that time was a man by the name of Brown who traveled horseback over Frederick, Shenandoah, Page, Pendleton and Rockingham counties, preaching once a month at each place. The Methodist church was built in 1835 by a Mr. Bader.OLD PEOPLE.Our village can boast of some of the oldest people in the country, and we can lay undisputed claim to several, one of whom is Mr. John C. Wetzel, who was born at McGaheysvilie in 1802, and hasmade it his home ever since. He is a living model of temperance, and is well and hearty at the present time. Mrs. Wetzel is only a year or two younger than her husband. Another very old man is Mr. Himler, an old bachelor, 80 years of age, and a native of Germany.A traditional fact of the village is that at an early date in its history the surrounding country was nothing more than a treeless prairie, and one could see for miles. The first stock-raisers, at evening when they wished to know the whereabouts of their cattle, had only to go to the high grounds now occupied by Mt. Olivet Cemetery, and there they could see for miles over a waving mass of tall grass and undergrowth, with hereand there a tree standing erect like watchers over the stock. What a difference between the country then and now. Then nothing more than a silent prairie roamed by the wild beasts and the almost equally wild Indians, the stillnessonly broken by the murmuring of some♦sylvan brook as it meandered toward the sea, or the war-whoop of the red man in his battles against a rival tribe, or attacking some hardy pioneer settlement, where the white man’s axe and hoe had pointed him out to their vengeance. Now there are no signs of the Indian; e is gone toward the setting sun and is war song is heard no more; his former presence hardly known of by the child ofthe white man, his hunting ground occupied by farms and villages, and the game he Bought either killed by the white man or driven away by the whistle of the locomotive as it rushes along at almost lightning speed.nr ii anno ikti w
Newspaper Details
Harrisonburg Rockingham Register
Harrisonburg, Virginia, US
Fri, May 13, 1898
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
James M.
USA 05 Feb 2022
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