For a century, from 1833 through 1933, White Top attracted an array of unique visitors, beginning with the reclusive Wilburn Waters and culminating in the appearance of the anything but reclusive First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt. In between there were Naturalists like Asa Gray and Anna Murray Vail, entrepreneurs like Luther Hassinger and Douglas Robinson, picnickers and Festival-goers, a poetic tribute and a dramatic rescue. Some of their stories help to put a human face on White Top.
George Featherstonhaugh (1849)
“…the Blue Ridge divides into three ridges, the western most taking the name of the Iron Mountains, and further to the S.W. that of Unaykay, which is the Cherokee name for white.” (Ogle, p. 127)
Wilburn Waters (1812-1879)
“Description of White Top Mountain, near which, forty five years ago, Wilburn Waters selected a spot for his cabin, and where, except at short intervals, he has ever since resided.
“There is a peak in the Appalachian range, here more familiarly known by the local name of Iron Mountain and near the point where the three states of Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee all unite at a common corner. It is about twenty miles from Abingdon… . Until within a few years, comparatively, owing to its inaccessibility, it was almost in its primitive state, and visited only by hunters and trackers, and here and there a ‘squatter’… .
“Its summit is a vast field [now referred to as a ‘Bald’], comprising from 300 to 500 acres, without a tree or shrub, and covered with a luxuriant growth of wildgrass, resembling that of our Northwestern prairies, which is highly nutritious, and cropped with insatiable avidity by vast herds of stock, driven there from the neighboring settlements to graze and fatten.
“It was near the base of this mountain, upwards of forty years ago, in an obscure ‘cove,’ where the rays of the sun were practically shut out by the dense foliage of a grove of giant sugar-maples, that Wilburn Waters, then about twenty years of age, pitched his lonely tent and lighted his first camp-fire. He chose this spot for several reasons–first, because the foot of man rarely polluted the virgin soil; second, because it was the covert of wild animals in cold and stormy weather; and third, because a bright and bubbling spring of cold water leaps from the rocks and dashes off singing its wild lullaby among the gorgeous flowers and the songs of strange and brilliant plumage. (Coal, p. 2, 5)
Anna Murray Vail, “Notes on the Flora of Smyth County, Virginia” (1892)
Anna Murray Vail was a student of Nathaniel Lord Britton who, with his wife, founded the New York Botanical Garden… . Anna was the first librarian for the Botanical Garden.
“The mountains of the southwestern portion of Virginia, as well as those farther south and west, are yearly becoming more accessible to travelers, and their quiet charm and beauty are sure, before long to make the tide of spring and summer turn in their direction. Away from the railroads, accommodations are scarce and usually of the most primitive description, but beauty of scenery, superb views and the intense quiet of the great forests make up to a degree for the lack of luxury. The mountaineers were invariably civil and hospitable, and readily shared their simple fare with us.” (Ogle, p. 137, 155)
Laurel Farm
“When he [Douglas Robinson] commented to Uncle Saybird on the lack of bathing facilities at the farmhouse, the old man declared with scorn that ‘thar wa’n’t no manner of sense in so much washin’ nohow! Thar was a piece o’ his back whar hadn’d seen wattar for nigh on twenty years… .” (Miriam Sheffey [Goodrich], p. 381)
Corrine Roosevelt Robinson, “The Trail to White Top” from The Call of Brotherhood and Other Poems (1912)
“As we climb we see Elk Garden, with its broad and grassy sweep,
And the crown of black old Balsam casting shadows long and deep,
But we mount forever higher, where the wind plays like a lyre
And the sunset’s sudden fire falls on summits wild and steep.
(Source: Ogle, p. 171-72)
Eleanor Roosevelt, “First Lady Visits Whitetop” (1933)
“The mountain was alive with music that August Saturday… . Even as she ate fried chicken, Virginia ham and beaten biscuits in a cabin reserved for her, she was entertained by the sounds of ‘Flop Eared Mule,’ played by the Blevins Brothers, Frank and Ed, and Jack Reedy.
“In the recently erected pavilion, where contestants from Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee vied for prizes in ballad singing, instrumental music, hymn singing, and folk dancing, during a break Mrs. Roosevelt spoke briefly:
“To the people who live here I want to say a special word of gratitude,’ she said. ‘They have given me the feeling that they remember my father, whom I adore.”
“She found the mountains glorious in the sunshine that had broken through the early morning on the mountain.” (Mark Sturgill. New River Notes)
Ironically, Corinne Robinson had died of pneumonia earlier that year.
Train Helps Snowbound Stork
High up in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Grayson County, Va., last month, snow drifted waist high and blocked all highways. Back in the mountains about five miles from White Top, a station on the Abingdon Branch of the Norfolk and Western (and incidentally the highest point on the railroad) an expectant mother, Mrs. Wade W. Weaver, lay critically ill, with an immediate operation the only hope for herself and her unborn child. The nearest hospital was nearly 45 miles away, at Abingdon, the junction point with the N. & W. mainline.
Thus began a grim race against time … a race which seemed almost impossible to win. Thus began the dramatic story of how our railroad played the role of a good neighbor.
Undaunted by the snow which impeded all other forms of transportation, N. & W. Train No. 202 was all set to leave White Top at 1: 15 p.m. for its trip to Abingdon, when the station agent received a frantic telephone call from Mr. Weaver asking if it would be possible to hold the train. The answer went back … yes.
Wrapped in blankets, the expectant mother was placed on a cot which was made fast to a two-horse sled. Husband, doctor, nurse and relatives started on the perilous journey struggled and stumbled through the deep snow. Horses strained at the traces, floundered, stalled. Neighbors joined in on the way. Men took the place of horses. Through torturous hours, sheer will and hard muscles forced the sled on. . .
Finally, around a bend-and there was the train-waiting! Quickly, trainmen and neighbors made the transfer. The locomotive started. And down the snow-covered, winding mountain branch line the train rolled swiftly. At the hospital everything was ready … the conductor had wired ahead.
The story has a happy ending. The operation was a success … the baby was a fine seven-pound boy. And Mrs. Weaver insisted upon naming this, her sixth child, Dickie Norwest, in honor of the Norfolk and Western. Mr. Weaver writes, “I feel obligated to the Norfolk and Western for the lives of my wife and baby.”
(From N&W Magazine, April 1942)
Credits
- Douglas Ogle, Whitetop: The Great Meadow Mountain of Virginia
- Charles B. Coale, The Life and Adventure of Wilburn Waters: The Famous Hunter and Trapper of White Top Mountain, by Charles B. Coale (1878) Printed in Richmond, Virginia 1878; Reprinted by Rev. M.D. Hart, West Jefferson, N.C., 1960
- Goodridge Wilson, Smyth County, Virginia History and Traditions, Kingsport Press, Kingsport, Tennessee (1932)
- Ken Miller, Archivist, Norfolk and Western Historical Society https://www.nwhs.org/
- New River Notes: Grayson County Virginia Heritage Foundation) https://www.newrivernotes.com/
Next: Elliott and Eleanor