“You know, there are still people in the county who don’t know this exists?”
Richard Ruddle from the Pendleton County Historical Society said this in lament as he and Paul Clayton, society president, sat among an extraordinarily rich collection of old documents, traditional musical instruments, and colorful flags and banners in Franklin’s Boggs House. This August structure also serves as the main museum for the organization.
These exhibits and explanations grace the atrium of the museum, with many more materials to both fascinate and educate locals and tourists alike.
Not every museum gets to count the structure that hosts it also as an exhibit, but Boggs House’s different facets represent the entire history of Pendleton County itself, told through the mute, but still expressive walls.
Originally, some of those stout walls protected frontiersmen and women working hard to build a life, and then a new civilization, from the dense and, at times, dangerous forests.
Built at the same time as, but likely not officially part of, the chain of forts constructed by Virginia militia officer George Washington, what is now Boggs House was constructed three miles north of Franklin.
In those days, with both French soldiers and their allies among the Indians ever-threatening raids to steal iron tools, human beings, and other items useful to them, families often built their own homes with military needs in mind. Blockhouses with sturdy thick walls, small windows, and a defensible plan grew up in the spaces between the official Washington forts, such as Fort Seybert and Fort Upper Tract.
Logs from the fort made their way to Franklin by the 1800s to reform into a family home. By the 1870s, a modern exterior, kitchen, and porch appeared on it. By 2008, Grace Dyer left the historic home to the Pendleton County Historical Society.
In the atrium of the building, many displays greet the eye from colorful historical flags and banners to musical instruments played in bygone days placed on the walls. In the far corner, under glass and away from destructive natural light sits a large collection of historical documents and manuscripts.
Ruddle noted, “Here’s a book from the Old Wilfong Church written in German” among other papers and publications from the county over the centuries.
Many of the original founding frontier families stayed on for generations, spreading around the county. Their family names are woven into the fabric of Pendleton County history. That makes the museum unusual in that it shares the history of not only a community, but the families who lived in, built on, and raised their own families on the land here.
All that said, a museum can offer the widest variety of interesting exhibits, stories, and programs, but all of that history and heritage remains untold if people do not come to experience it. As Clayton and Ruddle lament, too few do, despite its being open during regular days and hours in the summer and by appointment almost any other time.
Clayton explained that the board had looked at ways “to make the museum more accessible.” Ruddle stated that when visitors do come to examine the surprisingly large amount of material on display for the size of the museum they “are always complimentary. They’re surprised at what we have here.”
One of the most interesting exhibits, put in place relatively recently, features the death and funeral ways of Pendleton County in the time between the frontier period and about the time of the Great Depression. It includes a coffin, displays of interior fabric, photographs from the then-common practice of photographing children who passed at, or directly after, birth, and more.
Ruddle pointed out an intricately carved tombstone to explain the different meanings of certain carved features on it. These images speak a language all their own, understood well in the 1800s, but not in the 21st century. Fortunately, a helpful guide posted on the wall explains them.
The Civil War in Pendleton County quite literally pit brother against brother, making the topic one of enormous importance. Ruddle pointed out photographs of Brigadier General James Boggs (C.S.A.) of the 31st Virginia and his brother, Captain John Boggs (U.S.A.) of the Pendleton Home Guards. They fought on different sides of the county on different sides of the war, but one can learn the story of the brothers in the room sharing Civil War history.
As befits a proper historical museum, the exhibits tell the story of the men who fought for either side with even-handedness. The displays honor men who stepped forward to defend their homes, their farms, and their community, regardless of which banner flew over their heads in battle.
With important research published by society member Brenna Mitchell and a collection of letters, photos, and other documents assembled by H. M. Calhoun, the museum and society have rich resources from which to conduct research on that and other topics. Through the website, online visitors can access databases in a number of different libraries.
While the accumulation of collections and the assembly of dynamic and instructive exhibits is quite impressive, it does no good if people do not travel up the hill and experience it for themselves.
The Boggs House Museum is open every Saturday from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., or later.
