Thursday December 10, 1987
By MARK SCOLFORO
Democrat Staff Writer
In an era when the average American moves every three years, the Howdershells are a historic exception. They have lived on and farmed their land near The Plains for 250 years.
Charles and Betty Howdershell, the seventh generation to farm the land, have found a new connection with their past. They have spent the last year renovating their 220-year old farmhouse.
Their ancestor John Howdershell built their farm and Meadow View, the original frame farmhouse, on land granted to him in 1747 by Thomas Lord Fairfax.
The stone house the Howdershells are renovating was built 15 years later.
Mr. Howdershell remembers playing in the original house when he was a child. Everything in the old house was handmade, from the 12-and 16- inch floorboards nailed with wooden pegs to the three stone chimneys which provide every room with a fireplace.
"This is one of the last existing pieces of property which has stayed in one family. This has always been just a family farm. We've raised corn, wheat, barley, small grains, cows, hogs, chickens, and made our own products like butter. There used to be a creamery in The Plains where we'd make our own cream," said Mr. Howdershell.
Despite their long heritage, most of the Howdershell's family history has been obscured. Among the items taken during a burglary of the farmhouse two years ago was a trunk of family records, including a family Bible in German signed by the original owner John Howdershell. Some of it has survived, however. From a manuscript of anecdotal The Plains history by Francis Foster, written in 1937, the Howdershells have preserved the following story about their great-great-great- grandfather Thomas:
". . . at Meadow View during the War between the States he was visited by a band of Yankee stragglers who demanded a favorite saddle horse. Mr. Howdershell, though advanced in years, was a very game man, and refused pointblank to surrender the horse; hence he was shot and badly wounded by the invaders. And while he did not die immediately from this it was said that his death, when it did occur, was really due to the wound."
When the Howdershells began to strip the plaster from the exterior walls and the fireplace - the part which dates to about 1760 - they revealed the original stone masonry which was cemented with clay instead of mortar.
"The old-timers really had a knack for laying stone. Like the keystone on the fireplace. Nowadays people just put a metal piece down and lay the stone on top of it. Back then they relied on the placement of the stones to support the ones above them," said Mr. Howdershell.
Renovations on the stone house began about a year ago when Mr. Howdershell took a new job and decided to move into the deteriorating house, which his parents had occupied until 1983.
The renovations are nearly finished, and the Howdershells are obviously pleased with the results of their work.
The fireplace is framed by a mantel made from chestnut and pine by Page Howdershell, his father. He also carved the stairway railing from chestnut and maple.
Charles is the last male in the Howdershell line. Because they know that for the first time in 250 years the house and land will fall out of Howdershell hands when they die, they view fixing up the farmhouse as a means of preserving the family's memory.
When Mrs. Howdershell mentions moving away for 20 years she means across the road, where Rockley Farm is. When Mr. Howdershell went away to school, it was the five miles to Marshall High School, instead of the mile to Hopewell for elementary school.
People in The Plains who remember the one-room schoolhouse there will also remember Mr. Howdershell's grandfather, Lee, who taught there for 35 years. And they will also know Mr. Howdershell.
"There are people there who have lived to a ripe old age and I've known them my whole lifetime. People in my parents' age group who are still around. What made The Plains rather unusual was the prominence of families like the.Adamses, the Fosters, the Turners and the Beverleys. In the olden days we were closer knit," he said. "People in the country have a special quality. You can be much closer to them.
"The Plains was once a nice town where you would go on Saturday night to talk about your week's work," he added.
For the Howdershells, the last of seven generations to farm the same land, the newly refinished house has symbolic value. "My wife suggested we name it Resurrection, but we haven't settled on that yet," said Mr. Howdershell.
As he looked across the road to where the old house stood, and where the Yankees shot Thomas Howdershell, Mr. Howdershell reflected on the changes he has seen in 60 years.
"There's a lot of family history here. It's good to be able to look back on your childhood years. Back then, families lived together and cared about one another. Today it's different. Children don't stay home; they'll move clear across the country.
"It makes me proud that we were able to retain the land when so many other families haven't been able to. I've become a part of the place."