Mary Kerrick’s memories of Bluemont as told by Deborah Bauers, her daughter

Deborah Bauers (Coates) is the daughter of Mary Hannah Kerrick, formerly of Bluemont, VA. Mary Hannah Kerrick, now 90 years old, has many cherished memories of the Bluemont area. She often recounts stories passed down through her family, including accounts of the region dating back to before the Civil War, when slavery was still practiced in the area.

Mary attended school at the old Bluemont School House and danced in the dance hall next door to her home. Her parents, Frances Marion and Mary Cynthia Kerrick, owned the house next to Snickersville Store from the early 1900s until the mid-1960s. Deborah’s maternal grandmother, Mary Cynthia, was born a Wynkoop, and her grandfather owned a plantation near Middleburg. Mary recalls that her family was one of the first in the area to have electric lights and possibly the first to have indoor plumbing.

Mary’s house was a frame structure next to the dance hall, with a small vacant lot separating it from her mother’s house. The last time Deborah visited Bluemont, the house was in significant disrepair. It had once been painted white, with a lovely hardwood staircase, a formal sitting room, and an ornate iron fence with a wide gate bearing the Kerrick monogram.

Mary has shared stories about Clayton Hall being used as a station on the Underground Railroad, with slaves being hidden there before being taken by wagon to the rail line. Mary recalls that the large house with the two chimneys opposite Clayton Hall was converted into three smaller apartments during her lifetime. However, she notes that it wasn’t as old as her own house.

The little log cabin referred to as the Snickersville Academy stood on a small lane perpendicular to the Turnpike. According to Mary, it was once a school, but when she was growing up, the woman whose mother had been a freed slave lived there and worked for Mary’s parents.

Deborah spent many summers and holidays in Bluemont during the 1950s and 1960s, creating her own set of memories, from attending Bluemont Methodist Church with her parents when Lupton Simpson was the pastor to bagging groceries at Mann Store (formerly Snickersville Store).  As a child, Deborah hiked the mountains around the Bear’s Den area, where her aunt and uncle were caretakers for a large farm owned by the Weeden family. During a visit several years ago, Deborah attempted to access the old home site, but the house where her aunt and uncle lived is now in ruins.