By Beverly Belcher Woody
I have enjoyed several telephone conversations with Kenneth Harbour these past couple of chilly weeks. Talking to Mr. Harbour reminds me of talking to my Dad (who has been gone for seventeen years) for several reasons. Both men gave United Elastic and J. P. Stevens the biggest part of their lives, so they were no strangers to hard work. Second is their capacity to remember and recall things that happened many years ago. Lastly, just like my Dad, Mr. Harbour has a wonderful storytelling ability.
Mr. Harbour grew up on the north fork of the Smith River in the Lone Ivy community. He is the oldest son of John Estel Harbour and Nova Ellen Pendleton Harbour. Mr. Harbour spent a lot of time on the farm of his paternal grandparents John Wesley Harbour and Mary Lou Jefferson Harbour who lived on the Winding Stair Road.
When there was talk that Winding Stair Road was going to be renamed when the 911 system came to Patrick County, Mr. Harbour gathered up all the old deeds he could find that listed the land as being on the Winding Stair Road. He was successful in making sure that beautiful name was retained. Of all the road names in Patrick, Winding Stair is my personal favorite too. It always conjures up images in my mind of Jacob’s Ladder extending from earth to Heaven.
Mr. Harbour’s paternal great grandparents were Ahira Jackson “Hick” Harbour and Martha Rorrer Harbour. When war came to Patrick County in 1861, Ahira and his brothers Joshua and Elkanah joined the 51st Virginia Infantry. Meanwhile, Abner Jackson Harbour joined the 51st Virginia too; their captain was David Lee Ross. Ahira and Abner’s names were so similar that Captain Ross nicknamed Ahira “Hick” and Abner “Jack” to distinguish between the two. Hick’s brothers, Joshua and Elkanah, both died in the war and Hick got shot in his right hand and lost four of his fingers. Mr. Harbour said his great grandfather Hick was loved and adored by his children. In 1915, Hick became ill with pneumonia after wading the river to get some of his cattle that had gotten out of the fence. He lapsed into a coma lasting several days when he suddenly woke up with his hands clasped in prayer. When his wife Martha asked him who he was praying for, he responded, “all of you.” He then folded his hands over his chest and passed away.
Mr. Harbour’s other paternal grandfather was in the 51st Virginia Infantry too. His name was Peyton Graves Jefferson, and he was married to Louisa Vaughan. In the fall of 1863, Peyton left camp to come home and cut wood so his young wife and baby daughter would not freeze to death over the winter. Peyton and Louisa’s homeplace was near the little water wheel just above where Buffalo Ridge Pentecostal Holiness church is located now. A member of the Home Guard, (who was also from Patrick County and has many relatives here), caught Peyton just as he was climbing over the fence at his farm and shot him in the back. Ironically, the assailant is the one that fetched the doctor to help Peyton.
Mr. Harbour’s grandmother said that the doctor pulled a silk handkerchief through the wound to clean it and that he bled through the feather tick and straw tick that night. Miraculously, the Minie ball missed all Peyton’s vital organs, and he was sent back to fight as soon as he was able. Peyton and his brother, Moses Peter Jefferson, were both wounded at the Battle of Cedar Creek on the 19th of October 1864.
So, what about the man that shot Peyton Graves Jefferson? On October the 26th 1864, he was traveling on horseback along what is now known as Highway 58. He was shot from a rock bluff above the road one and a half miles east of where Howell’s Store is located. He managed to stay on his horse awhile before he fell, mortally wounded. The murder remains unsolved to this day.
Peyton returned home after recovering from his injuries at Cedar Creek. He and his wife Louisa would eventually have twelve children, six girls and six boys. Peyton and Louisa both passed away in 1911 and are buried in the Shough cemetery in Patrick Springs alongside their daughter Martha Texas Jefferson Shough.
Mr. Harbour and I are both descended from Reuben Jones and Judith Elizabeth Moore of Vesta and this led to a conversation about another Jones descendant, Preacher Jim Vipperman. Mr. Harbour said that early one morning Preacher Vipperman was getting ready to get up his hay. Someone came from Willis and asked him to preach a funeral that same day. The preacher looked up at the sky and then proceeded to go in the house, change clothes, and leave for the funeral. When passing some neighbors along the way, it came up in conversation that the preacher had intended to get up his hay before it rained. As Preacher Vipperman traveled on to Willis, one of the neighbors went to find Coy, the preacher’s young son. The neighbor asked Coy to drive up hay poles where he thought his Daddy would want them and several of the men in the neighborhood stacked all of the preacher’s hay. When Preacher Vipperman came home that evening, his wife reported that he was crying tears of happiness.
Thank you, Mr. Harbour, for taking the time to share your stories and memories. Your stories bring to life the people that have gone before us and creates a lasting legacy.
“To live in the hearts of others is not to die.” ~ Kahlil Gabran
