Rev. Jesse F. Pike
By Beverly Belcher Woody
There is something especially heartwarming when a former child of Patrick County, long gone to distant places, pauses to look back and remember the hills of home.
In the spring of 1915, two letters appeared in The Enterprise, written by Rev. J. F. Pike of Frankston, Texas. Across the miles and the passing of nearly half a century, his recollections were so vivid of the days spent in the Peters Creek community at the Edmond Waller Schoolhouse.
Census records point to a likely match in the Pike family of the Peters Creek District. In the 1860 census, the household of Joseph Pike, age 47, and his wife Sally, age 37, was a full and busy one. Their children included Henry C., Martha J., Lucinda F., John Adams, Joseph T., Jesse F., Edmund, Thomas J., Samuel F., Shadrach Jasper, and little James H. Eleven-year-old Jesse F. Pike stood right in the middle of this large tobacco farming family.
By the 1870 census, the family was living in the Carter’s Mill Post Office district, with several of the older children grown and establishing lives of their own. Joseph and Sally had been blessed with three more children, William, 9; Sarah, 7; and Daniel Webster, age 5. Not long afterward, on March 3, 1870, Jesse left Patrick County. On the 12th of February 1871, he married Miss Mary Patton of Adair, Kentucky. His path eventually led him to Texas, where he became a minister. Yet the memories of his Virginia boyhood never left him.
Writing in April of 1915, Rev. Pike described the Edmond Waller Schoolhouse as it stood in the late 1850s — a simple building about twenty feet square, with few windows and very plain furnishings. Students wrote on foolscap paper, carefully copying lines placed at the top of each page by the teacher. There were no tablets and few supplies, only diligence and practice.
The teacher during the 1856–57 term was Professor Milan, a man remembered not for harsh discipline, but for quiet authority. There were only three rules: shutting the door when entering or leaving, only one boy could leave the room at a time, and students must behave properly on their way home. When a boy became disorderly, the teacher would simply take him by the hand and walk with him through the woods, speaking in a low voice. Rev. Pike noted that he never had to lead the same boy out twice.
His memories brought the school to life — the crowded room of forty or fifty pupils, some boarding in the neighborhood to attend, older students reviewing their studies, and even the harmless mischief of boys. He recalled geography lessons sung aloud each Friday afternoon; the entire school joining in while the teacher led them.
In a second letter published May 15, 1915, Rev. Pike added more details of his school days. During the spring and summer of 1858, he attended a five-month term taught by Miss Kitty Flippin. He walked three miles each way and did not miss a single day.
After his first letter appeared, Rev. Pike received a response from S. G. Dobyns of Claudville, who kindly provided him with the names of those still living who had attended the Edmond Waller School during Professor Milan’s time. This exchange shows how strongly the bonds of that small community endured, even after many years and many miles.
But perhaps the most meaningful portion of his second letter was a tribute to the character of the Peters Creek neighborhood.
Rev. Pike wrote of James A. Waller, one of the leading citizens of the community and a devoted friend of his father. Up until 1858, the Pike family “had lived on the John Tatum, Jr. place about ¾ of a mile N W of the Tatum place on the county road.” In1858, Joseph Pike purchased a farm on the headwaters of Long Branch from George Z. Edwards. Although he had made the first payment, he feared his tobacco crop would not be ready in time to make the final one.
Seeing his concern, Mr. Waller told him not to worry. Though he did not have the money himself, he knew where it could be obtained. Rev. Pike believed the funds came from Jacob Clark, who lived near New Hope Methodist Church. Clark counted out one hundred dollars and handed it over — no note required, no written agreement, only trust.
Mr. Waller then carried the money to Joseph Pike, also without requiring a note or due bill. With it, the final payment was made, and the Pike family secured their home.
When the tobacco was ready for market later that year, Mr. Waller returned and offered to purchase the crop at a fair price. Rev. Pike wrote with confidence that both Mr. Waller and Mr. Clark were repaid in full.
More than fifty years later, he shared the story so the kindness would not be forgotten.
“Perhaps I am the only living person who knows of that kindly act,” he wrote, “but I desire others to know it, hence this sketch.”
From a crowded schoolhouse on Peters Creek to a ministry in Texas, Rev. Jesse F. Pike carried with him the lessons of home — the value of education, the strength of family, and the quiet generosity of neighbors who helped one another without expectation of reward.
The old schoolhouse is gone now, and the voices of those early students have long since grown silent. Yet through Rev. Pike’s memories — and through the lives of people like Professor Milan, James Waller, and Jacob Clark — we glimpse the spirit that once shaped the Peters Creek community.
Those memories still echo across the years, reminding us that the true history of Patrick County lives not only in records and census lists, but in the character, kindness, and faith of its people.
Rev. Jesse F. Pike passed away on the 28th of February 1930 in Jasper, Missouri where he and his wife Mary had made their home for many years.
Author’s Note: I suspect the S. G. Dobyns mentioned in Rev. Pike’s 1915 letter was likely Samuel Green Dobyns (born 1851) of the Claudville community. Census and local records place him in the Peters Creek area during the period Rev. Pike attended the Edmond Waller School. As a near contemporary and fellow student, Dobyns would have been well acquainted with the school and its pupils, making him a reliable source for identifying those still living at the time of Rev. Pike’s writing.
For questions, comments, or story ideas, contact Woody at rockcastlecreek1@gmail.com or 276-692-9626.
