Sketch of Forestville
by Al Abbott

Forestville is a village, among the oldest in Norfolk. In its palmy days it was the base for different supplies needed by the settlers and lumbermen. It did a thriving business and should not be overlooked in a sketch of early days.

The first saw mill water power in Norfolk was built, owned and operated by John White on Barnum's Creek, which flows through the village. The saw was of upright type, and 3,000 feet would be a big day's cut. It was in this mill he met his tragic death.

Hugh Steinhoff operated a carding and weaving mill just north of the road, and it was here that the wool of the settlers was carded into rolls, then spun by the old-fashioned spinning wheel into yarn, knit into socks and stockings and woven by hand looms into "hodden grey"; and finally made into garments to be worn not only on week days, but also on the Sabbath.

Gifford kept a general store and post office, which was much frequented by the early settlers, and here the news of the district was propagated and distributed, for newspapers were very rare in those days.

Two hotels, one kept by Titus Finch, supplied eats and grug to all applicants and many a fisticuff was the outcome of these too frequent debauches; but the cost was small, for grog was cheap. It was at this hotel where the poem, "Two jolly old fellows, sat once in an inn, discussing the merits of brandy and gin," was composed by Wm. Rusling at the request of Uncle Bill Finch.

Hoover ran a wagon and repair shop and it was said that so thorough was his work done that repairs were seldom needed. Carriages and buggies were then unknown, and buckboards were just the thing.

Henry Petty was the shoemaker and cobbler, and to have a pair of boots (men did not wear shoes) of his make, was to have a Sunday display.

Tom Price, "skilled to rule, the village master taught his little school." Dr. Finch, the civil war surgeon and doctor, who lived to an advanced age and died in Pt. Rowan, and Dr. [Naish] White, who practiced his profession for 50 years in Salt Lake City, Utah, among the Mormons, were two of his pupils. Others could be mentioned, but I will only instance Pellam Mabee, far and near known as the governor's boy.

The church was east of the village and Hiram Smith was the pastor. Spelling schools were frequently held and to come out best was quite an honor. So the boys and girls were far from illiterate; and as for penmanship, some could write the Lord's Prayer on a disc of paper not larger than a ten-cent piece, so plainly that every letter could be distinguished.

Table rapping and seaances [sic] were also frequently held and mediums were as common as potatoes, the daily fare of these settlers along with fish from the bay and trout from the various streams.

The cemetery has some of the oldest headstones in the county, and the epitaphs and dates would undoubtedly show that our forefathers slept according to Gray's Elegy:
Beneath those rugged elms, that ewe-tree's shade
Where Heaves the turf in many a mouldering heap,
Each in his narrow cell for ever laid,
The rude fathers of the hamlet sleep.
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Transcriber's Note: Additional paragraph breaks were added by the transcriber. Bold first letters indicate paragraph breaks in the source document.
 

Article Index
Dr. Finch
Uncle Bill Finch
Titus Finch
Gifford
Hoover
Pellum Mabee
Henry Petty
Tom Price
Wm. Rusling
Hiram Smith
Hugh Steinhoff
John White
Dr. Naish White