H A R D S C R A B B L E

In another article, I talked about S. S. Anderson and his contribution to Alexandria.  I also mentioned Myrtle Carlock, his wife, but focused instead on Wash Carlock's heritage.  Myrtle's family needs a mention.

Some communities make it, some disappear, and others were very loosely defined.  Alexandria and Jersey, at one time, had the necessities of life before becoming a bedroom communities as work was found in larger cities.  Ash and Beech disappeared under roadways and corporate development.  Scott's Corners and Clemon's Station never really were developed beyond the occassional store, church, school, small factory, or rail stop and telegraph office.  One community came and went without much fanfare - Hardscrabble.  All that remains is Hardscrabble Road, Township Road 18, which runs from near Clemons in the south to Concord in the north.

Merriam-Webster defines hardscrabble as "being or relating to a place of barren or barely arable soil,"  hardly a good name for a farming community.  Yet, a community grew on Hardscrabble Road and Battee Roads.  One of the larger farms - 109 acres - belonged to Elias Funderburg.  The Funderburg family tree lists Elizabeth Dupler as Elias' wife.  Elizabeth's mother was a Helser.  Members of the Helser family owned surrounding farms.  Sadly, Elizabeth died in 1865.  Elias remarried.  The Federal Census of 1870 records:  Elias Funderberg, 45; Matilda Funderberg, 41; Mary K Funderberg, 17; Emily (Emma) E Funderberg, 15; Amanda J Funderberg, 12; Martha A Funderberg, 8; John J Funderberg; 5; and farm hands Henry Focht, 15; Wm H Hartsough, 25.  Unfortunately, Elias died in 1875.  Elias' second daughter, Mary, married Washington Carlock, Jr., and their daughter Myrtle married S. S. Anderson.

What, then, made Hardscrabble a community?  Was it a community of farms run by loosely related families?  There was more.

There was Hardscrabble school.  In these days, schools were run by subscription.  Today, we might call it tuition.  At the northwest corner of Elias Funderburg's farm, where the eastern portion of Battee Road intersects Hardscrabble Road, was a log cabin.  This cabin was a settler's home and was converted for use as a school...   Hardscrabble School, although I have heard it called Battee School and Hammond's School, depending on the time period.

Schools were very local then.  Another school was located across Lobdell Creek at the southeast corner of Mounts Road and Lobdell Road.  What mattered was walking distance.  The school would run two terms - one starting in late summer and the other in winter.  The winter term was more attended as older boys had less chores on the farm.  This term was also more likely to have discipline problems.

There was a church as well, St. Albans Christian Union Church.  This church was located north of the school on Hardscrabble Road where today's Corner Road takes off to the east.  Corner Road does not exist on 19th Century maps.  It is difficult to determine the denomination of this church.  At times, St. Albans Church associated with the Methodist Church in Alexandria while at other times St. Albans Church associated with the Alexandria Congregational Church.  There are also connections to Concord and New Way.

The church began their meetings in 1850 and 1851 in the Hardscrabble school house with a revival led by Oscar Baker from the Free Will Baptist Church in Concord.  Another record from the Alexandria Methodist Church in 1859 shows Elisha Battee as the officer in charge of Sunday School classes at St. Albans Church.  By 1872, a permament structure for the church was built at the Hardscrabble crook.  The building was built by Daniel Battee, Joseph Mowry, and John Wainscott and was a Christian Union Church.  The Christian Union Churches were organized at the Deshler Hotel in Columbus in 1864 as an attempt to unite various Protestant sects.  Many local families were part of this church...   the Battees, Brooks, Hammonds, Thorpes, Drakes, and Bishops.

So, once again, what makes a community?  All that remains of Hardscrabble are tombstones.