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Source |
School and community history of Dickenson County, Virginia |
Author |
Reedy, Dennis |
Coverage
Publication information
Type |
Miscellaneous |
Publisher |
Overmountain Press |
Date issued |
1994, c1992 |
Place issued |
Johnson City, Tennessee |
Citation
Reedy, Dennis. School and community history of Dickenson County, Virginia. (Johnson City, Tennessee: Overmountain Press, 1994, c1992). |
Repositories
InLine Citation
- Source:Reedy, 1994
Electronic SOurce
- Google Books
Snippet
from p303-304:
ANNALS OF PINE CREEK
by C.S. Beverly, Freeling, Virginia
First Public School
The real school history of Pine Creek dates back to certain other
schools which served the people ofthe section in question in days called
"ancient" in parlance slangy. The most notable of these was the Trivette
school, located near the mouth of Howell Branch, a tributary of George’s
Fork. This school was probably established soon after the institution
of the public school system in this state. One among the early teachers
was Mr. Russell McFall, son of Mr. William McFalI. Russell McFa|l
became insane sometime in 1906, and died about 1909. He was at one
time Commonwealth’s Attorney for Dickenson County, and became
famous locally for the defense of the Bryant brothers, while practicing
law in the latter part of 1904. Most people yet believe that he so con-
centrated himself on this case as to bring on insanity.
A Mr. French, a Miss Clevenger and Mr. C.S. Colley taught the
Trivette school from about 1900 to 1904. This was the heyday of the
school, and during that time it is very probable that it was the most
markedly energetic and public-spirited school in the county. Every Friday
evening was an open day for those aspiring to oratorical honors and
those who made pretensions to unusual spelling abilities. The center
of population was in this particular section, and it was comparatively
a large school. Two flourishing general merchandise stores drew an
unexplained amount of trade from far and near, and the postoffice also
had a very large quota of patrons. This was a gathering place for a wide
strip of territo|'y, and the business of visiting school on Friday evenings
was in strong public favor, and the school was known far and wide
as which was amply able to furnish entertainment for visitors. This
practice was held to very generally then, but now the psychology of
the average citizen does not seem to call for any such activities. One
of the students of the Trivette school, who long held the reputation of
having traveled farther than anyone else in Dickenson County, was a
Mr. Barlow Willis, son of James Willis. It is told that he did not seem
to find any interest in the majority of his studies, but seemed to want
only to study geography and such maps as he could secure. When the
Klondike Gold Rush began, he had never seen a train, and knew nothing
of the world beyond his kin by personal experience, but without warning
he started for Alaska. He seems to have had a migrating instinct, likewise
his brothers, most of which now live in the state of Washington. Willis
reached the Klondike, but for a long time no word came back, and it
was supposed that he was dead, but after two or three years he appeared
in Lebam, Washington, and at wide intervals visited home. He now
lives in the same place.
About 1905 several of the patrons left the Trivette
community, and the school lost some of its prestige. Miss Bertha McFall,
daughter of Russell McFall taught in 1907; Mr. Delbert Davis, in 1908.
This was a markedly successful school, though rather small, and perhaps
the most successful entertainment held in these parts was given at the
close ofschool. Mr. J.l(. Colley taught a good school in 1909. In 1910
Mr. Marshall Meade taught for two months, and then stopped to attend
college. The school was still small, but held several spelling matches
with such schools as could be reached, consistently winning, and then
offered the Clintwood High a match, but the offer was not accepted.
There were not more than twenty students at the Trivette school at this
time, but it was probably the strongest spelling aggregation ever gotten
together.
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