HSWCV Newsletter & Bulletin Archive

The spring 2026 issue celebrates the Society’s 90th anniversary — coinciding with the 250th anniversaries of both the United States and Washington County — announcing a campaign to retire the remaining $30,000 mortgage and previewing a landmark summer highlighted by the Virginia Highlands Festival’s “Threads of Time” colonial village, a “Conversation with Jefferson and Washington” fundraiser, and an exhibit honoring 250 years of the U.S. Armed Forces. A feature article traces the Society’s 1936 founding by the Black’s Fort DAR chapter from its first meeting at Ethel Baugh’s home through its growth into the institution it is today.

The spring 2025 issue previews a history-packed Virginia Highlands Festival featuring Kurt Smith and Bill Barker’s two-night “Conversation” program, a new historical marker at William King’s Grace Hill home, and the free VA250 mobile museum, while the Society announces a $25,000 database upgrade now holding over 1.26 million indexed records and 273,942 images. Also featured are Emory & Henry Bonner scholar Kylie Blankenship’s research for a Town of Abingdon history app, 14-year-old Shep Parsons’s national DAR first-place volunteer award, and the third installment of the Fincastle Committee series covering the group’s mid-1775 break with Lord Dunmore.

President Walter Jenny’s annual update reports 831 library visitors in 2024 and calls for membership growth and a computer equipment upgrade, while the Board announces the June 21 annual meeting and a proposed bylaws change to make the financial review biennial. A continuing feature profiles the fifteen signers of the 1775 Fincastle Resolutions — including Arthur Campbell, William Campbell (hero of King’s Mountain), William Christian, and Rev. Charles Cummings — tracing their deep Washington County roots and their role in the break with British authority.

The fall 2024 issue features the Society’s year-end “Toys — Past and Present” exhibit of antique Christmas gifts and the annual “Evening with the Spirits” cemetery program, which was shaped in part by author Greg Lilly’s novel “Abingdon’s Boardinghouse Murder” and raised over $300 for the Society. Also highlighted are a new historical marker at the Glade Spring School site — the county’s 20th — and a major feature article marking the approaching 250th anniversary of the January 20, 1775 Fincastle Resolutions, the first colonial declaration tying the cause of liberty to freedom of religion.

The 2024 Sinking Spring Living History tour drew over 130 guests and debuted a dowsing rod demonstration for locating burials, while the annual meeting reported a record 396 library patron visits through June and presented Davis-McConnell Distinguished Service Awards to Carol Hawthorne-Taylor and Charlie Barnette. A feature article provides a detailed account of the October 10, 1774 Battle of Point Pleasant — whose 250th anniversary falls this year — tracing how Lord Dunmore’s War and the hundreds of Washington County men who fought in it helped set the stage for American independence.

The spring 2024 issue marks the centennial of the Christmas Eve 1924 Saltville muck dam disaster that killed 19 people, announcing a community campaign to erect a monument at the Saltville town commons; library visits reached a record 847 in 2023 and the Society joined the Washington County VA250 committee planning events for the 2026 Declaration of Independence anniversary. The fifth annual “Conversation with Jefferson” fundraiser brought Thomas Jefferson and the Marquis de Lafayette to the Martha Washington Inn ballroom in April, while Rick and Dr. Susan Humphreys were honored with Preservation Virginia’s 2023 Outstanding Preservation Achievement Award.

This abbreviated issue was published to meet the bylaws requirement of advance notice of board nominations, updated following the death of Secretary/Treasurer Charles Seaver at age 87 — a Virginia Tech graduate, retired Army Lt. Colonel with the Legion of Merit, and the Society’s institutional memory who served as both president and secretary/treasurer. Previews a full summer schedule including the third “Reclaiming Our History” African American genealogy conference, the annual Sinking Spring Living History tour, and a return of “Conversation with Jefferson and Adams.”

The issue previews a packed Virginia Highlands Festival schedule including the 10th annual Sinking Spring Living History tour and a two-night “Conversation with Jefferson and Adams” (Bill Barker and Steven Holloway), while announcing the third “Reclaiming Our History” African American genealogy conference for June 17 with keynote Renate Yarborough Sanders. Features the full text of the January 20, 1775 Fincastle Resolves — drafted by men from present-day Washington County and representing the first colonial statement vowing resistance to death to preserve political liberties — and a feature on the newly renovated 1908 Blackwell Chapel country store on Rich Valley Road.

The October 15 “Evening with the Spirits” opened with an SAR color guard honoring veterans buried at Sinking Spring, then presented six spirit interpretations including the “Fighting Parson” Rev. Charles Cummings and Governor David Campbell, while Holston High School’s new Appalachian History class used the library for research projects. Also features a Society “wish list” for holiday donations and a display of historical Christmas advertisements from the Society’s digitized Washington County newspaper collection.

The summer Sinking Spring Living History tour featured seven spirit interpretations including Washington County’s first millionaire William King and Civil War captain Connally Trigg Litchfield, followed by a sold-out “Conversation with Jefferson and Hamilton” at The Martha Washington Inn drawing 217 guests. Eleanor Grasselli received the Society’s Davis-McConnell Distinguished Service Award, and the second “Reclaiming Our History” Juneteenth conference highlighted notable African Americans including Ambassador John Reinhardt of Glade Spring.

The Society takes custody of the “Rambling Roots” genealogy website and 16 boxes of research files following the death of its creator, Diana Moffett Powell, and hires Nathan Graybeal — a Daniel Boone descendant and former Emory & Henry sports information director — as office manager. The issue also announces the return of the “Conversation” fundraiser, pairing Thomas Jefferson interpreter Bill Barker with Alexander Hamilton interpreter Ian Rose at The Martha Washington Inn during the Virginia Highlands Festival.

The 2021 Sinking Spring Living History tour drew a record 200 guests — double the 2019 attendance — with six costumed interpreters, and the Hiram Dooley house was successfully moved to Park Street on June 9 in a spectacle covered by the Wall Street Journal and London’s Daily Mail. Features original research tracing Washington County native jazz trumpeter Frankie Newton’s early musical education in Roanoke, and an excerpt from Jim Hagy’s book on rebuilding the county courthouse after its 1864 burning.

The spring 2021 issue celebrates the Society’s 85th year and reports on COVID-era resilience, including surpassing the dues-paid membership growth goal and securing dual Virginia Humanities grants; the centerpiece story recounts the community campaign — including a nearly 3,000-signature petition and the intervention of preservationists David and Jill Dalton — to save Abingdon’s 1849 Hiram Dooley brick house from demolition. Also previews the June 19 “Reclaiming Our History” virtual conference on African American genealogy and covers the restoration of the bark-clad Konnarock Training School by the Blue Ridge Discovery Center.

President Walter Jenny’s annual report details the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on library visits and revenue, offset by PPP funding and a $10,000 Virginia Humanities grant, while the Society conducted its annual meeting by mail ballot for the first time. The issue spotlights Howard Sullins, who coached Bethel High School to Virginia’s undefeated 1952 state basketball championship, and launches the Society’s African American genealogy project tracking the 2,876 Black residents recorded in Washington County’s 1870 census.

COVID-19 forced the library to close and the annual meeting to be rescheduled, while the Society’s Facebook membership surged past 4,400 and the Weisfeld newspaper digitization project reached approximately 15,000 scanned pages. Features the history of the Fuller Bus Line connecting Bristol to Saltville, personal memories of Johnston Memorial Hospital’s nursing school, and a comparison of the 1918 influenza epidemic to the current pandemic drawn from locally scanned newspapers; also covers the fall of Abingdon’s 300-year-old Hassinger Oak and plans to preserve a slice for public display.

The second annual President’s Day fundraiser brought Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry interpreters to the Barter Theater before 300 guests and approximately 900 local students; the issue also marks the centennial of women’s suffrage with a history of the 19th Amendment’s ratification battle. Features a ceremony honoring Revolutionary War patriots Abraham and Israel Hayter in Hayters Gap, and the dedication of bookcases at the Society in memory of vice president and John Battle history teacher Sarah Sanders.

New president Walter Jenny introduces himself with a membership “Ambassador” drive; a personal essay by member Myrle Gilpin Bowe recalls growing up in Washington County with a multi-talented blacksmith-builder grandfather born in 1864. Organizational highlights include 411 members, 349 library visitors in six months, and reports on the summer and planned fall Sinking Spring Cemetery Tours.

A “Conversation with Thomas Jefferson” fundraiser at Barter Theatre drew 350 attendees, and the George Wertz Photography Exhibit opened at the new Main Street location; the media center reports 188,200 images totaling 3.03 terabytes of data. The long-awaited Cemeteries of Washington County, Virginia (642 pages, updating High On a Windy Hill) is announced as available for purchase.

The Society celebrates the opening of its renovated facility at 341 W. Main Street with a photo tour; the annual meeting features a speaker on early 20th-century fake marriage scams that impacted an Abingdon family. The media center reports 172,028 images and a new multi-field index system; two anonymous $25,000 donations are announced to reduce the mortgage.

The Society announces the purchase of its permanent home at 341 W. Main Street, Abingdon, and the 2017 Annual Meeting theme honors the WWI centennial with speaker Dr. Lynn Rainville. Includes articles on two early Washington County stoneware potters (J. W. Gardner of Craig’s Mill and E. W. Mort of Alum Wells) and the discovery of the James L. Brown grave on Russell Road.

President Martha Keys announces a five-year window to secure a permanent building and a new building fund; a call goes out for G. N. Wertz photographs for a planned exhibit on this prolific early Abingdon photographer (active 1875–1924). The media center introduces “Lizzie,” a large-format flatbed scanner, and ABBYY OCR software enabling full-text newspaper search; 154,700 images indexed.

The Society celebrates its 80th anniversary with a themed gala and launches a building fund campaign to purchase a permanent home after 14 years in the Town’s train depot. The media center reports 121,625 images scanned over 11 years, and a community effort to protect the historic Gray Cemetery near Johnston Memorial Hospital from development is highlighted.

The Society announces acquisition of the Abingdon Virginian newspaper archive (1886–2006), dubbed the “Weisfeld Collection,” as a landmark preservation milestone in its 80th anniversary year. Features a Hayter Cemetery restoration story, a 1906 moonshine raid account from the Bristol News, and a year-in-review recap.

The 2015 Annual Meeting features author Frank Kilgore speaking on Far Southwest Virginia: A Postcard and Photographic Journey; a 65-volume Lewis and Clark collection donated by Dyer Moss of Abingdon is highlighted. Announces the upcoming Abingdon Block Party Quilt Show and the 4th Annual Civil War Weekend with Sinking Spring Cemetery Tour.

The Society receives a rare framed 18th-century land grant signed by Governor James Monroe and recaps the 2014 Sinking Spring Cemetery Tour; Charlie Barnette presents a detailed history of two distinct Seven Springs mineral water resorts near Glade Spring, the Washington Springs Hotel and the Celebrated Seven Springs Iron & Alum Mass Company. Includes an extensive donations and acquisitions list.

The Society publishes a technology “wish list” for its digitization project and announces upcoming bylaw amendments; Charlie Barnette profiles the failed planned town of Carrickfergus (1801), laid out at the confluence of the Holston forks but never built. A reprinted Bristol Herald Courier article reports on the Society’s search for a permanent home.

Two historical petitions are examined — one from 1777 to move Washington County’s seat westward, and one from 1832 to relocate Virginia’s capital — alongside a genealogical study of Col. James Lowery White, one of Abingdon’s wealthiest early 19th-century merchants. Also features the first Living History Tour of Sinking Spring Cemetery and a history of the Stephenson Medicine Company of Emory, VA.

The 77th Annual Meeting features a program on restoring Edmondson Hall, a Meadowview antebellum home; the media center reports a record year with over 7,600 pictures and 18,000 document pages scanned, bringing the 8-year total to 28,678 pictures and 64,200 document pages. Proposed bylaw amendments and new membership dues categories are presented.

The train station roof is being restored to its original 1914 slate-and-skylight appearance; a member traces Jones and Cowan family roots to Washington County land records from the 1830s–1850s. Features a reprinted 1965 newspaper series on the first pioneer settlers of the Holston Valley and Charlie Barnette’s account of solving the Clark-Middleton Cemetery identity mystery.

A fall program on local paper money issued 1863–1935 and a Veterans Day excursion train from Roanoke to Abingdon are highlighted; volunteer Carol Hawthorne-Taylor is profiled for her cemetery work. Includes Eleanor Grasselli’s article on Backbone Rock and the CCC Camp McArthur, and a scholarly analysis of conflicting accounts of the 1864 Abingdon courthouse burning.

Virginia Highlands Festival events include walking tours of Sinking Spring Cemetery and tours of four historic log cabins; the naming of the Society mascot “Cinder” is announced. Features the dedication of two Civil War markers in Abingdon honoring enslaved-born Landon Boyd (who served on Jefferson Davis’s treason jury) and Capt. James Wyatt.

The 76th Annual Membership Dinner features Joe Tennis presenting his book Washington County: Then and Now; the newly released 1940 U.S. Census online is explained, and Michael Shaffer’s new book Washington County, Virginia in the Civil War is announced. Genealogical resources at the library are highlighted.

Martha Keys assumes the presidency after Eleanor Grasselli’s resignation; the media center reports discovering the rare 1866 Washington County cohabitation list of freed slaves among seven years of digitization totaling 21,000 pictures and 110,000 index lines. Includes a feature profile of Charlie Barnette and his documentation of over 600 county cemeteries.