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Frazier Mountain School
photo courtesy John and Janet Thompson
Frazier descendants |
Frazier Mountain was the stomping grounds of my 3X
great-grandmother Nancy Frazier Shiflett and her many aunts, uncles and cousins.
However, this photo of the Frazier Mountain School is not THAT old, more likely
from the very early 1900s.
That is when the settlement movement made its way to the
mountains of Virginia. The aim of settlement schools was to provide education
for children in rural and mountain areas that were often not served by the
county, usually for economic and logistical reasons. Churches often filled the
gap building a school, a church, a clothing bureau, and sometimes even a
hospital.
Frederick Neve Comes to Virginia
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Frederick William Neve
1855-1948
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Frederick William Neve was an Episcopal minister born and
educated at Oxford in England who was asked to come to Virginia in 1888. He was
based in the town of Ivy in Albemarle County, but he was drawn to the Blue
Ridge Mountains just twenty-five miles away. He found someone to take him into
those mysterious communities – Shifflett’s Hollow, Bacon Hallow, Mutton Hollow,
Blackwell Hollow, and Simmons Gap – places that inspired stories of moonshine operations,
backwoods justice and suspicion towards strangers.
There were probably 175 people living there, but
reportedly only two of them could read and write. Neve inquired about the
mountain community and learned that no school or church existed within miles of
the area known as “Frazier Mountain” to the locals but previously as “Lost
Mountain.” Neve actually liked that name because he reasoned that without
religion and education, the people were indeed “lost.” (Today it is known as
“Loft Mountain.”)
Ambitious Project
Neve bought some property straddling Greene and Albemarle
counties where he could build a mission school. One of the families offered the
use of two empty cabins – one for a school and the other to house a teacher. In advertising
for a teacher, Neve provided full disclosure about the isolation and lack of
amenities. He expected men to apply but instead 15 women came forward. Angelina
Fitzhugh was selected and became the first of many women and men who taught the
mountain families at the mission schools.
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Ruin of Pocosan Mission
at the end of a fire road in Shenandoah National Park |
For quite some time, Neve and others like him were thwarted
in their effort to help the mountain families. People were pessimistic and
thought it was a waste of time trying to cure sinful behaviors like drinking
and licentiousness among people that they viewed as not only ignorant but also
primitive and untamed. Even when they viewed outsiders suspiciously, the mountain
families saw the missions as a glimpse into another world that offered
opportunities for their children.
Neve continued to draw followers and missionaries.
Together they built mission schools and churches about every 10 miles throughout
seven Virginia counties. Costs were sometimes double the cost of a building in
a more convenient location. Transportation was still mostly by horse and wagon.
There were no paved roads, and even the dirt roads were little more than paths winding
through woods into the hollows.
BRIS
Neve’s most ambitious mission project was the co-ed Blue
Ridge Industrial School. It was the vision of his missionary Rev. George Mayo
who realized he could not be effective unless he lived among the mountain people.
He saw that since most young people were likely to remain in a rural area, a
school that provided practical training for farm life and related occupations
would be the best chance mountain children would have to improve their condition. The school operated a demonstration farm, dairy, sawmill,
orchards, kitchens, workshops. It even operated a cannery for a number of
years. The school initially offered an elementary education but soon grew adding
more advanced education. BRIS was the first accredited high school in Greene
County.
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Historic Gibson Chapel at Blue Ridge School
wikimedia commons |
Between 1890 and 1912, Frederick Neve started twenty-eight
missions, ten of them in Greene County alone, and sixteen schools. He is
remembered today as the founder of the mountain mission movement of the
Episcopal Church in Virginia, 1888-1948.
Today all of the mission schools have closed except for the
Blue Ridge school which is still going strong as a college-prep boarding school
for boys.
Sources:
Alvic, Philis. Weavers
of the Southern Highlands. Lexington, KY: U of Kentucky, 2003. University
Press of Kentucky. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.
<https://books.google.com/books?id=G6geBgAAQBAJ&dq=southern+highland+weavers&source=gbs_navlinks_s>.
Campbell, Olive D. Southern Highland Schools Maintained by Denominational and Independent
Agencies. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1921. 30 July 2009. Web. 25
Nov. 2015.
<https://books.google.com/books?id=c4p6V571x2QC&dq=frazier+mountain+school+virginia&source=gbs_navlinks_s>.
Chretien, Kay Collins. “A History of Faith Mission Home.”
Shiflett Family Genealogy Website.
http://www.shiflett-klein.com/shifletfamily/HHI/missionh.html
Covey, David D. Greene
County, Virginia: A Brief History. Google Books. The History Press,
n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2015.
<https://books.google.com/books?id=kkzjkVKswewC&dq=neve%2Band%2Bblue%2Bridge%2Bschools&source=gbs_navlinks_s>.
"A Guide to the Frederick W. Neve Papers, 1854-1981
(bulk 1900-1940) Neve, Frederick W., Papers 10505." Virginia
Heritage: Guides to Manuscripts and Archival Collections in Virginia. Virtual
Library of Virginia, n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.
<http://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=uva-sc%2Fviu03549.xml>.
“Settlement School.” Wikipedia:
The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc. 13 Aug. 2015. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.
Shifflett, Larry. "County Place
Names." Shiflett Family Genealogy. <http://www.klein-shiflett.com/shifletfamily/PS/alpnames.html>.
Swenson, Ben. “Far Pocosan or Pocosin Mission.” Abandoned
Country. 7 Jan 2013. http://www.abandonedcountry.com/2013/01/07/far-pocosan-wild-with-moonshine-whiskey/
Amy Johnson Crow continues to challenge genealogy
bloggers and non-bloggers alike to think about our ancestors and share a story
or photo about them. The challenge is “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.”
Wendy
© 2019, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.
