Episodes Located: WYTHE, Virginia in the 1880's

  1. New Baptist Church Brings Prosperity to Wytheville
    date March 6, 1884 to 1884map WYTHE, Virginiatags Church/Religious-Activity

    Nineteenth century southerners took tremendous pride in their small towns and communities. Built nearly from scratch, these small towns were the ?heartbeat? of the South. Small news was big news in a town like Wytheville. When the plans to build a new Baptist church were announced, the local paper saw it as yet ?another indication of the prosperity in Wytheville.? At the cost of 1,000, the local...

  2. Livestock and Appalachia
    date April 3, 1884 to 1884map WYTHE, Virginiatags Agriculture, Health/Death, Economy

    Healthy livestock were imperative to running a successful farm in Appalachia. Unfortunately, keeping these animals healthy after the Civil War became a constant struggle for many Appalachian farmers. Disease ravaged the livestock population after the war. In 1884, the Wytheville Dispatch ran an article about ?our friend? Bob Crockett. Crockett was famous in Wytheville for his work in improving the...

  3. Another Negro Boy Caught Stealing
    date April 17, 1884 to 1884map WYTHE, Virginiatags African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Law

    Will Crockett, a thirteen year old boy became the ninth negro boy in a month to be caught stealing and sent to jail in April of 1884, in Wytheville. Crockett stole twenty dollars from Wolfenden Brothers and was sentenced to two months in jail by Judge Obenchain. Interjecting their own opinion, the Wytheville Dispatch hoped that his would be a lesson to local merchants to keep ?these little rascals?...

  4. Opposition to Westward Migration
    date March 13, 1884map WYTHE, Virginiatags Migration/Transportation

    Manifest destiny was supposed to be just that, a destiny. The West would offer opportunities for wealth that no longer existed on the eastern seaboard. In March 1884 word quickly spread throughout Wytheville, Virginia that several country boys were leaving their small town for the vast frontiers of the West; their imaginations filled with fertile lands and crop surpluses. The townspeople had other...

  5. From Delicacy to Modesty
    date 1881map WYTHE, Virginiatags Arts/Leisure, Women

    Stella Haas, a resident of New Orleans, Louisiana, had her photograph taken by W.A. Johnston's photograph gallery in Wytheville, Virginia. Her portrait, like the other nine in the 1881 collection of photographs from western Virginia was taken as a solo frame and was presented as a "carte-de-visite," or postcard. Although the portrait did not reveal anything about Stella Haas except her hometown,...