Page 139 - WPA Book
P. 139
Works Project Administration – Articles from Rockingham County
HOUSES
1. SUBJECT
Craney Island and tombstones.
2. LOCATION:
Sixteen miles northeast of Harrisonburg, Virginia, on east side of Route 11, about a mile distant from highway.
3. DATE:
Unknown.
4. OWNERS:
Abraham Byrd by patent, 1749, 1765, 1778, 1800, B.R.D.B. DD [?], page 399.
Lewis and John Zirkle from Abraham Byrd, March 18, 1800, D.B. DD [?], page 399.
John Zirkle and Lewis Zirkle, June 1804, record burnt, D.B. 000, page 1904.
George Rosenberger from John Zirkle, June 12, 1814, three hundred acres, twelve thousand pounds,
B.R.D.B. 2, page 192.
E.J. Rosenberger from George Rosenberger by will, 1858.
H.J. Rosenberger partly by inheritance and partly by purchase from other heirs, February 17, 1883, two
hundred and seventy-one and one quarter acres, $14,600 and his interest in the estate $6,400 = $21,000,
D.B. 23, page __.
John H. Hoover from H.J. Rosenberger and others March $41919, one hundred and nine acres, two rods,
and eleven poles, D.B. 52, page 277.
Lester D. Hoover, present owner, from John H. Hoover, July 31, 1929, one hundred and eighty acres,
$15,000 and life annuity $200, D.B. 144, page 481.
5. DESCRIPTION:
Craney Island is a weatherboarded log house with an L extension. It has two stories and two chimneys; the L
has been partly torn away. The porch has four box columns. There is a rather small hall with a colonial stairway
to the attic. Six rooms have fireplaces and plain mantels. The windows are two sash, nine panes in upper and six
in lower sash. Some of the rooms are wainscoted to the chair rail, some of the original doors have hand made
thumb latch, the floor boards are wide, and doors and floors are made of pine wood.
The date of erection is not known but is supposed to be in the late 1730s or 1740s.
6. HISORICAL SIGNIFICANCE:
Andrew Byrd was among the early pioneers in this part of the Valley and seems to have been here as early as
1731. He was a lieutenant in Captain Peter Scholl’s company in 1742 and was commissioned captain of Militia
in 1744.
He is said to have been a brother of Ordway Byrd and, by tradition, of the James River family of eastern
Virginia. He died early in 1751.
The first survey to Andrew Byrd is found in survey Book 0-1. There were granted by King George the Second
in 1749 and surveyed by Thomas Lewis, one hundred and ninety acres on Smith’s Creek; there was also another
patent from Governor Botetout for two hundred and seventy acres on the north side of Limestone Ridge, D.B. 1,
page 82.
Lieutenant Andrew Byrd, Thomas Moore, Peter Schell and others were in the region between John Harrison,
Sr., and the Fairfax line some three or four miles north of the Big Spring. Valentine Siever and Daniel Davison
were also located here. In 1753 Siever sold to Byrd one hundred and eighty four acres of land between
Limestone Ridge and Smith’s Creek at the corner of Andrew Byrd’s survey and Robert Milsap’s survey.
(Chalkley, vol. 3, page 315).
Page 138 of 482
HOUSES
1. SUBJECT
Craney Island and tombstones.
2. LOCATION:
Sixteen miles northeast of Harrisonburg, Virginia, on east side of Route 11, about a mile distant from highway.
3. DATE:
Unknown.
4. OWNERS:
Abraham Byrd by patent, 1749, 1765, 1778, 1800, B.R.D.B. DD [?], page 399.
Lewis and John Zirkle from Abraham Byrd, March 18, 1800, D.B. DD [?], page 399.
John Zirkle and Lewis Zirkle, June 1804, record burnt, D.B. 000, page 1904.
George Rosenberger from John Zirkle, June 12, 1814, three hundred acres, twelve thousand pounds,
B.R.D.B. 2, page 192.
E.J. Rosenberger from George Rosenberger by will, 1858.
H.J. Rosenberger partly by inheritance and partly by purchase from other heirs, February 17, 1883, two
hundred and seventy-one and one quarter acres, $14,600 and his interest in the estate $6,400 = $21,000,
D.B. 23, page __.
John H. Hoover from H.J. Rosenberger and others March $41919, one hundred and nine acres, two rods,
and eleven poles, D.B. 52, page 277.
Lester D. Hoover, present owner, from John H. Hoover, July 31, 1929, one hundred and eighty acres,
$15,000 and life annuity $200, D.B. 144, page 481.
5. DESCRIPTION:
Craney Island is a weatherboarded log house with an L extension. It has two stories and two chimneys; the L
has been partly torn away. The porch has four box columns. There is a rather small hall with a colonial stairway
to the attic. Six rooms have fireplaces and plain mantels. The windows are two sash, nine panes in upper and six
in lower sash. Some of the rooms are wainscoted to the chair rail, some of the original doors have hand made
thumb latch, the floor boards are wide, and doors and floors are made of pine wood.
The date of erection is not known but is supposed to be in the late 1730s or 1740s.
6. HISORICAL SIGNIFICANCE:
Andrew Byrd was among the early pioneers in this part of the Valley and seems to have been here as early as
1731. He was a lieutenant in Captain Peter Scholl’s company in 1742 and was commissioned captain of Militia
in 1744.
He is said to have been a brother of Ordway Byrd and, by tradition, of the James River family of eastern
Virginia. He died early in 1751.
The first survey to Andrew Byrd is found in survey Book 0-1. There were granted by King George the Second
in 1749 and surveyed by Thomas Lewis, one hundred and ninety acres on Smith’s Creek; there was also another
patent from Governor Botetout for two hundred and seventy acres on the north side of Limestone Ridge, D.B. 1,
page 82.
Lieutenant Andrew Byrd, Thomas Moore, Peter Schell and others were in the region between John Harrison,
Sr., and the Fairfax line some three or four miles north of the Big Spring. Valentine Siever and Daniel Davison
were also located here. In 1753 Siever sold to Byrd one hundred and eighty four acres of land between
Limestone Ridge and Smith’s Creek at the corner of Andrew Byrd’s survey and Robert Milsap’s survey.
(Chalkley, vol. 3, page 315).
Page 138 of 482
