PLACES NEAR THE MOUNTAIN E. Botetourt and Roanoke Co. VA By Helen R. Prillaman Pages 235-237 "GREENRIDGE" The Bushong Farm "Greenridge" is located on Old Peters Creek Road (Barns Road) and is generally known in the area as "The Bushong Place". It is now owned by Mr. and Mrs. Jared Green who purchased it in 1974 from Dr. and Mrs. Lawrence Becker. The Beckers had bought the property from the Nininger family who were descendants of the Bushong family----a Bushong daughter, Bess, married Clyde Nininger, son of Nathan Nininger. The Beckers restored this home. Greenridge has an interesting history. It began with Henry Pefley (Peffley). He was born and reared in what is now known as Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. He and his brother David came to Botetourt County together and purchased adjoining farms from William McClanahan. Henry bought 100 acres from McClanahan and additional acreage from Leonard Houts and the Borndrager Estate. He married Susannah Borndrager, daughter of Andrew Borndrager, who owned a sizable farm near what is now Hollins College. Henry Pefley (Peffley) built his substantial brick house about 1832, soon after his marriage. It is said that the house was built of brick burned on the place which was in itself quite an art. The front of the house was red brick made of blue clay and the rear of the house was gray brick burned from red clay. Very unusual brick were used in the construction of the house. Some were "U" shaped for the cornices and other "V" shaped for corners. The kitchen was a separate building at the rear of the house. It is thought that the Pefley (Peffley) family members were buried on the farm since we are told there was a sizable cemetery in a wooded pasture where there were a number of unmarked graves. (See "The Peffley Brothers"). John M. Smith, Executor of Henry Pefley, deceased, conveyed the Henry Pefley property to David Deyerle by deed dated October 3, 1860 for $5,806.50, or $25.25 per acre. According to a survey made May 6, 1833 the property contained 258 acres, however, 29 acres had been sold to John Smith and the macadamized road took three acres. (Deed Book 11-Page 538-Botetourt County). Deyerle doubled the size of the house. The older part of the house had three rooms on the first floor and two on the second floor with a fireplace in each room. The staircase is boxed in. The fireplaces are arched and the mantels are simple. The floors upstairs are pine boards more than a foot wide. In the section added by Deyerle there is a lovely curved, paneled stairway. The house has old "Christian" doors, so called because of the cross design at their tops. In the basement of the older section there is a large fireplace where an old cooking crane with chains and hooks once were found. David Deyerle was a prominent and outstanding brick maker and contractor. He made the brick and erected the Main Building at Hollins College. He began on this building the day Virginia seceded from the Union and did not complete it until 1869. He also built the old Peters Creek Church of the Brethren and many other buildings and homes still standing in the Valley. David Deyerle died in 1898. An article appearing in the SALEM TIMES REGISTER October 14, 1898, told of Mr. Deyerle, one of the oldest, most prominent and wealthy citizens of Roanoke County, being killed by a vicious bull. The article went on to say that Deyerle, who resided on his splendid farm near Hollins, rode into his wheat field to drive out cattle which had gotten out of the pasture, when he was attacked by a dehorned bull. Although Deyerle was critically injured he managed to mount his horse and make it home. He died shortly after reaching there. David Deyerle left the Greenridge property to his son William. William went to Texas shortly thereafter. He deeded Greenridge to his sister Maggie and her husband, H. Clay Bushong. The deed, dated January 23, 1899, noted, "for and in consideration of one dollar in hand paid...and the further consideration of the care and kind attention given by the parties of the second part (H. C. Bushong and Maggie C. Bushong) to the support and welfare and comfort of David Deyerle, the father of William W. Deyerle, during the last years of him, the said party of the first part do grant with covenants of General Warranty unto said parties of the second part, to share and share alike, the following described land..." Greenridge remained in the Bushong family until 1971. A story has come down through the years about a prized possession of Mrs. David Deyerle. She valued highly a foot-high pewter Teapot given her by Mrs. Lucy Carvin, widow of Richard Carvin, son of William Carvin II. According to information available Mrs. Carvin was the last of this family to live in the Roanoke-Botetourt area. She died around the close of the Civil War. One of the most notorious lawsuits developed over the provisions of her will ever recorded in Roanoke County. Mrs. Carvin lived on land inherited by her husband from his father. He willed the property to her as long as she remained his widow. Known as "Carvin's Meadows" this land was later owned by Harvey Hall and at least part of it is still owned by the Hall Family (Brookside Golf Course). The Carvin house was diagonally across from the once lovely old home built by Nathan Nininger which still stands between Florist and Williamson Roads. The Nininger home and much of the land was owned for a number of years by Marshall L. Eggleston from Franklin County. The teapot, prized so highly by Mrs. Deyerle, was made on the order of a thermos bottle, the inner surface separated by a fraction of an inch from the outer covering. Mrs. Deyerle gave the teapot to her daughter, Mrs. Maggie C. Bushong, and it is hoped that it is still owned by the family. An interesting story has also come down through the years about a great old grandfather clock operated by weights and chains which stood in the Bushong home. According to the story, the Church of the Brethren held its Annual Meeting in the area where J. B. Fishburn was to later build his home. Mrs. Bushong started to the Meeting, driving a horse hitched to a two-seated surrey, when she overtook a lady walking in the direction of the meeting. She invited her to ride. As they became acquainted Mrs. Bushong learned that the lady and her husband were attending the Annual Meeting but the lady informed her that she had actually come to Roanoke for another purpose. She said that she had come to buy, if possible, a grandfather clock which was owned by someone living in a brick house about half way between Salem and Hollins, on the "Old Post Road". Two clocks, the lady had been told, had been sold in that neighborhood many years before by a peddlar from Hagerstown, Maryland. One had been inherited by her brother-in-law who lived in Indiana. She was hoping to buy the other one and had $100 to pay for it. The lady inquired of Mrs. Bushong as to whether she knew where the house was and if she knew the grandfather clock was still there. Mrs. Bushong replied that she did know where the house was and yes, the clock was still there but it belonged to her and she would not sell it. The Pefley, Deyerle and Bushong families had a great water supply from a cave spring located in a cliff across the road from the house. The entrance to the cave was walled up and entered through a wooden door. On entering a solid rock cavern extending about 20 feet into the hill was found. It was about seven feet high at the entrance and sloped down at the back. From the dark recesses in the back flowed a clear cold stream of water. The cave was a perfect refrigerator and milk, butter, etc. were kept there. The draft of air in the cave suggested underground caverns beyond. This brings to mind the story given by Mr. Alvin Cannaday, whose father Dr. A. A. Cannaday, owned the property where Woodrum Airport is now located. Mr. Cannaday talked about a hand-dug well on his father's property, which was dug through solid limestone. He remembered that paper could be dropped in this well and would soon reappear at the Bushong Spring, floating out in the stream of water coming into the spring. The cliff in which the cave spring was located has now been destroyed, or a least partially destroyed, in the airport runway extension taking place in the expansion program of the 1980's. A log house stood across the road from the main house at one time. In the early days this was used as a school house. This burned a number of years ago. There was once considerable woodland on the Pefley, Deyerle, Bushong property. An interesting story is told by older residents of the area. It seems that bears used the woods as they crossed The Barrens from one group of mountains to another. Greenridge has stood by the road as history in the making passed by. What great stories could be told if a house could talk." Henry Clay Bushong was the son of John W. Bushong and Jane Evans. Born: 10 June 1851 Died: 12 January 1904 Copied and Submitted by Russell and Gloria Bushong -- Jeffery G. Scism, IBSSG ~~ "Proponents of each side are vying with determination to prove their ignorance is greater than the other." President Andrew Jackson, discussing a bill going through the US Congress. Visit http://ibssg.org/ For The Blacksheep website, Montgomery County, Putnam County, and Fountain County USGenWeb sites. MORE... 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