The Smithfield Review, Volume 20, 2016

In this issue — On 2 January 1869, Olin and Preston Institute officially became Preston and Olin Institute when Judge Robert M. Hudson of the 14th Circuit Court issued a charter Includes Ten Year Index for the school, designating the new name and giving it “collegiate powers.” — page 1 The On June 12, 1919, the VPI Board of Visitors unanimously elected Julian A. Burruss to succeed Joseph D. Eggleston as president of the Blacksburg, Virginia Smithfield Review institution. As Burruss began his tenure, veterans were returning from World War I, and America had begun to move toward a post-war world. Federal programs Studies in the history of the region west of the Blue Ridge for veterans gained wide support. The Nineteenth Amendment, giving women Volume 20, 2016 suffrage, gained ratification. — page 27 A Note from the Editors ........................................................................v According to Virginia Tech historian Duncan Lyle Kinnear, “he [Conrad] seemed Olin and Preston Institute and Preston and Olin Institute: The Early to have entered upon his task with great enthusiasm. Possessed as he was with a flair Years of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University: Part II for writing and a ‘tongue for speaking,’ this ex-confederate secret agent brought Clara B. Cox ..................................................................................1 a new dimension of excitement to the school and to the town of Blacksburg.” — page 47 Change Amidst Tradition: The First Two Years of the Burruss Administration at VPI “The Indian Road as agreed to at Lancaster, June the 30th, 1744. The present Faith Skiles .......................................................................................27 Waggon Road from Cohongoronto above Sherrando River, through the Counties of Frederick and Augusta . To Adam Harman’s at Tom’s Creek on New Thomas Nelson Conrad: Educator, Editor, Preacher, Spy River, above the Blue-Ridge; shall be the established road, for the Indians Clara B. Cox ................................................................................47 our Brethren of the Six Nations, to pass to the Southward, when there is war Adam Harman, the New River, and Tom’s Creek: An Analysis between them and the Catawbas.” — [quotation from the Treaty of Lancaster] of the Earliest Documentary Records — page 55 Ryan S. Mays.................................................................................55 The estate named Cavan in Burke’s Garden, Tazewell County Virginia, was where Letitia Preston Floyd: Supplementary Notes Virginia’s First Lady Letitia Preston Floyd spent the last dozen years of her life as Jim Glanville and Ryan Mays ......................................................69 a widow. It was here [she] was baptized . in August 1852, and where she died in December of that year. — page 69 Letitia Preston Floyd’s “My Dear Rush” Letter Jim Glanville and Ryan Mays.......................................................79 uring the second half of the 19th century the “My Dear Rush” letter was in the D Index to Volumes 11-20 possession of Mrs. Floyd’s daughter Nickette Buchanan Floyd Johnston. After Mrs. Johnston’s death the letter remained in the possession of Floyd family Rachael Garrity..........................................................................110 members for about a hundred years until three great-great-granddaughters of Mrs. Published by the Floyd and their mother brought it and donated it to the Smithfield Plantation in Smithfield Preston Foundation October 2004. — page 79 in cooperation with the Department of History, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University The Smithfield Review, Volume 20, 2016 Blacksburg, Virginia The Smithfield Review publishes book reviews. The editors plan for each issue to carry one to three reviews of books dealing with all periods of trans-Appalachian history and culture. We enlist active scholars and professionals to write the reviews. Review copies, requests to review books, and other inquiries may be addressed to: Tom Costa, Book Review Editor The Smithfield Review Department of History and Philosophy The University of Virginia’s College at Wise This publication has been made possible Wise, VA 24293 through the generous contributions of National Bank Blacksburg, Virginia The Smithfield Review is published annually by the Smithfield Preston Foundation. Published in cooperation with the Subscriptions are $14.70 per year, including tax; please add Department of History $4.50 for shipping. Make checks payable to the Smithfield Museum Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Store. Proposals or manuscripts to be considered for publication through funding from the are welcome. Please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Frank L. Curtis Fund Texts may be of varying length, but should ordinarily not exceed 8,000 words. Annotations should be collected as endnotes. Please address all correspondence to: The Smithfield Review 555 Edgewood Lane Blackburg, VA 24060 The Smithfield Review Studies in the history of the region west of the Blue Ridge Volume 20, 2016 Published by the Smithfield Preston Foundation in cooperation with the Department of History, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, Virginia The Smithfield Review is published annually, in the spring, by the Smithfield Preston Foundation, Blacksburg, Virginia, in cooperation with the Department of History, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Subscribtions are $14.70 per year: Individual copies or the entire set of sixteen volumes are available from: Smithfield Museum Store 1000 Smithfield Plantation Road Blacksburg, VA 24060 Or call 1/540-231-3947 or email [email protected] Please include $4.50 shipping/handling per copy. Multiple copies are available at a discount. Complete sets are available at a further discount. ISSN 1093-9652 ©2016 Smithfield Review Printed in the United States of America ii Smithfield is an important historic property adjacent to the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia. The manor house, constructed around 1774 on the frontier, is a premier example of early American architecture and is one of few such regional structures of that period to survive. It was the last home of Colonel William Preston, a noted surveyor and developer of western lands, who served as an important colonial and Revolutionary War leader. Preston named the 1,860- acre plantation “Smithfield” in honor of his wife, Susanna Smith. Today, the manor house is a museum that is interpreted and administered by a local group of volunteers. In 1997 the Smithfield Review was founded with the purpose of helping to preserve the often neglected history of the region west of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia and adjacent states. We seek articles about important personages and events; reports of archaeological discoveries; and analyses of the social, political, and architectural history of the region. Whenever possible and appropriate, the articles will incorporate letters, speeches, and other primary documents that convey to the reader a direct sense of the past. IIIiii A Note from the Editors The first three articles of this volume provide insight into some of the early history of Virginia Tech. That history reveals the unusual vision of early leaders and the external forces that altered the course of that vision. As is often the case, the impact of these individuals and events often go unnoticed at the time, but in retrospect they become quite obvious. The fourth article presents the early history of the region now called Whitethorn where Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture does much of its research. The final two articles extend the discussion of the life and letters of Letitia Preston Floyd who was born at Smithfield and later became the wife of Dr. John Floyd, who served as the Governor of Virginia in the 1830s. The first article is Part II of “Olin and Preston Institute and Preston and Olin Institute: The Early Years of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University” by Clara Cox. It traces the difficult transitions of the young Methodist school as it overcame disruptions from legal battles, financial problems, and the Civil War. It tells the story of leaders who were dedicated to education in an era when public schools as we know them today did not exist. In “Change Amidst Tradition: The First Two Years of the Burruss Administration,” author Faith Skiles presents the early plans of Virginia Tech’s longest serving president, Julian Burruss , who served in that office from 1919 until 1945. Those plans included policy changes that required less time spent in military training and more time spent in academic studies. Burruss also arranged for the enrollment of the first female students---a movement that evolved and expanded until its completion in the 1960s. The third article, “Thomas Nelson Conrad: Educator, Editor, Preacher, Spy” by Clara Cox is a brief biographical sketch of the man who served as president of both Preston and Olin Institute and Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College. As a young man, Conrad lived an exciting life as a spy for the Confederacy during the Civil War. Documents that provide information about the earliest settlers in Southwest Virginia in the 1740s are often difficult to find and interpret. Author Ryan Mays has done considerable research in presenting “Adam Harman, the New River and Tom’s Creek: An Analysis of the Earliest Documentary Records.” v A Note from

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