“Abingdon, the county seat, is 304 miles SW. of Richmond… The town stands on an elevation; it is substantially built, with many brick buildings; the principle street is macamadized, and the town is surrounded by a fertile, flourishing, and thickly settled agricultural country. It contains several large mercantile stores, 2 newspaper printing offices, 1 Presbyterian, 2 Methodist, and 1 Swedenborgian Church, a variety of mechanical and manufacturing establishments, and a population of over 1000.” (Historical Collections, 1852; Source: House Divided, The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College)
Lewis Thomson Cosby’s “Remembrances of Abingdon”, “described Abingdon as it was just prior to the War Between the States.” [“The Cosby Papers,” p. 5]. As Margaret Rogers Davis explains in the same publication “Mr. Cosby’s paper is confined to the corporate limits of Abingdon for 1834.” These limits are defined by various plans that were enacted through the early years of “Old Abingdon” to regulate growth and development in and around Abingdon: The Original Plan (OP), the Robert Craig, Jr. Plan (RC), the David Craig Plan (DC), East End (EE), and the William King Plan (KP). [“The Cosby Papers”, p.4. Note: the Publication includes maps illustrating the different plans]. Written in 1910 and based on childhood recollections, Cosby’s “Remembrances” portray an active, thriving community. Most of the “Old Town” [OP] was given over to tradesmen, shops, also referred to as “store houses” (for example, Lot 12, home of John Mitchell, the Mayor of Abingdon, who also a merchant), Hotels, Taverns (or “Ordinaries” as they were sometimes called) Lawyers, attached to the County Courthouse, Doctors, Teachers, Ministers, Printers and Publishers, Craftsmen, Surveyors, and Bank Tellers. For the most part, Saddlers, Carriage Makers, Blacksmiths, Tanyards, and Wagon Makers were situated in the East End of town (EE), although there were exceptions. A blacksmith, Emmanuel Wright had a shop located on the corner (9 RC) of Church Street, and across the road, where the Methodist Church is now located, there was a large carriage factory. Before that, it was a tavern.
Parcel by parcel, Mr. Cosby takes us from one end of town, beginning at the Hoofnagle allotment (11 RC) down to the eastern end of the corporate limits (13 EE) where, as he states “No other house was beyond this point.” (About where Woody’s Goodys was located when I first moved to Abingdon). Based on his recollections as we make our way back and forth through town, he provides a glimpse at the people who lived and worked along the way. A quick tabulation (“back of the envelope,” by no means comprehensive) gives the following overview:
- Hotels and Taverns/Ordinaries: 5
- Shops/Stores (Storehouses): 20
- Blacksmiths/Saddlers: 4
- Carpenters/Tinsmiths: 7
- Tanners/ Tan yards: 2
- Carriage Factories/ Wagon Makers: 3
- Furniture Factories: 1
- Silversmith: 1
- Lawyers/County Officials: 11
- Postmaster: 1
- Doctors, “Doctor’s Shops” (Druggists, Apothecaries): 7
- Teachers/Ministers/Clergy: 6
- Publishers/Printers: 4
- Bank Tellers: 2
- Barber: 1
- Surveyor: 1
An interesting aside: The Surveyor, Leonidas Baugh was “appointed by the Governor of Virginia to rerun and mark the boundary line of 1802 between Tennessee and Virginia to settle a dispute between the states.” [Places in Time, p.12]. His home was situated on Lots 3 &2 [RC], the property of Valentine Baugh, his father, purchased in 1805.
Valentine Baugh’s granddaughters, Minnie and Ethel, “kept the Main St. home well into the 20th C., becoming local historians who helped found the Historical Society of Washington County, Virginia.” (Betsy White, A! Magazine).
“Miss Minnie Baugh lived her entire life in the Valentine Baugh house… . She opened an apothecary in an addition to the house in 1891. She also printed postcards and brochures about Abingdon’s history and characters… .” (Places in Time, p. 12)
- “Early Abingdon,” Margaret Rogers Davis and “Remembrances of Abingdon,” Lewis Thomson Cosby from: “The Cosby Papers,” HSWCVa Pub, Series II, No.9. 1971 (p.4-5)
- Places in Time, Vol. I, Abingdon, Virginia, 1778-1880, Nanci C. King
- “Backcountry Makers,” Betsy White, A! Magazine. Sept 11, 2012 (Online: www.aamearts.org/article/backcountry-makers/2012091118463650605, accessed 11/01/23