Dr. John W. Wayland Dies Shoveling Snow At Home

Noted Historian Will Be Buried Friday at 2 p.m.

Dr. John Walter Wayland, widely acclaimed as the Shenandoah Valley's foremost historian, died Wednesday morning at 11:50. He was 89.

Active until the very end of a long and fruitful career, the venerable Dr. Wayland died of a heart attack while shoveling snow at his home at 53 Weaver Ave. He was rushed to Rockingham Memorial Hospital by Lindsey Ambulance but was pronounced dead on arrival.

Author of numerous histories, most of them on Shenandoah Valley subjects, Dr. Wayland was an eminent Civil War historian. Ending a long teaching career upon his retirement from the Madison College faculty in 1931, he continued his prolific writing until his death. His latest books were on his favorite subjects: "A Brief History of the Shenandoah Valley," and "John Kagi and John Brown," written for the centennial of John brown's raid on Harpers Ferry.

He was married to Mattie V. Fry of Bridgewater on June 8, 1898. She and two sons, Francis Fry, professor of history at Wagner Lutheran College, Staten Island N. Y., and John Walter, Jr., of Alexandria, survive.

Funeral services will be held at two o'clock Friday from the chapel of the Lindsey Harrisonburg funeral Home. His pastor, the Rev. David H. Mefford will conduct the services, assisted by Dr. Paul H. Bowman. Burial will be in Oak Lawn Cemetery in Bridgewater.

The body now rests at the funeral home where friends, active and honorary pallbearers are asked to meet at 1:45 Friday.

The members of Rockingham Union Lodge of Masons will conduct Memorial Rites at the grave.

The relatives will meet at his late home on Weaver Avenue at 1:40 Friday for a brief service prior to leaving for the chapel.

The family requests that flowers be omitted.

Born To Chronicle

"Dr. John W. Wayland," Prof. C. E. May of Bridgewater College wrote in the Dally News-Record in 1958, "was born to chronicle the history of the Shenandoah Valley and to sing songs about her scenic beauty and romantic past."

The great-great-great-great grandson of the Rev, John Henry Haeger, spiritual leader of the noted Germanna Colony in pre-Revolutionary Virginia, Dr, Wayland was born Dec. 8, 1872 at Woodlawn in Shenandoah County, the son of John Wesley and Anna Kagey Wayland. In later life he was to become a charter member and a trustee of the Memorial Foundation of the Germanna Colonies in Virginia.

Dr. Wayland's mother, his father, and the location of his birthplace developed in him an early interest in local history and influenced him to become the chronicler of the Shenandoah Valley. His mother kept a diary from 1850 until 1900. Included in her daily entries were accounts of Confederate and Northern armies as they passed her home near Mt. Jackson, and Dr. Wayland, as a boy, often heard her tell of stirring Civil War events.

Father History Teacher

Woodlawn, Dr. Wayland's birthplace, later became Woodlawn Academy, a noted Shenandoah County school in the 19th century. His father was a history teacher at the Academy.

Dr. Wayland attended a one-room school in Shenandoah County and later taught three years in Shenandoah public schools. He received his B. A. Degree from Bridgewater College, whose alma mater he wrote, in 1899 and his Ph D. from the University of Virginia in 1907.

During his attendance at Bridgewater, which awarded him an honorary Li. D. degree in 1936, he was a tutor and a leader in student activities, founding a literary magazine. "Philomatheon Monthly." After graduation he taught briefly at the college.

After attending the University for one year, Dr. Wayland returned to Bridgewater and taught New Testament, history and ethics. He then returned to the University as an assistant in its history department.

Original Faculty Member

Dr. Wayland came to Harrisonburg in 1909 with the 15-member faculty assembled by Dr. Julian A. Burruss to organize Harrisonburg State Normal School, now Madison College. He remained there as professor of history and social science until his retirement in 1931. From 1916 until 1931, he was secretary of the college faculty.

While at Madison, Dr. Wayland wrote many books, among them "How To Teach American History," "A Virginia History for Boys and Girls," "History Stories for Primary Grades," "A World History for Secondary Schools," and "Ethics and Citizenship." It was also during this period that he wrote his well-known histories of Rockingham and Shenandoah Counties.

After retiring from active teaching, Dr. Wayland continued his research into and his writing about Shenandoah Valley history. "Stonewall Jackson's Way," "The Bowmans," "A Pioneering Family in Virginia, Kentucky and the Northwest Territory," and "The Washingtons and Their Homes" were written between 1931 and 1946. In 1946 he published "The Lincolns of Virginia" and in 1957, "Twenty-five chapters on the Shenandoah Valley" and "History of the Civil War."

Authority on Lincolns

"My interest in the Lincolns of Rockingham dates from 1903," Dr. Wayland recalled In his 1958 interview with Dr. May. "In that year I met the late Mrs. John D. Pennybacker and her daughter Kate at their home on Linville Creek. They turned over to me various old deeds, wills, letters, patents, plats of land surveys, account books, and other papers which had been handed down from Colonial times in the Lincoln and related families.

"From that dav I began collecting information about the Lincolns In Rockingham. In 1920 the idea of writing a book about them came to me, but I did not get around to doing so until 25 years later. Because of his knowledge of the Lincolns, he conducted three noted Lincoln writers, Hamlin Garland, Ida M. Tarbell and Carl Sandburg, over the Lincoln homestead.

Dr. Wayland was a writer of verse as well as of history. Among those works were "Whispers of the Hills," "Old Virginia" and "Shenandoah," the latter two having been set to music by the late Will H. Ruebush of Dayton.

Raven Society Member

Dr. May noted that "Dr. Wayland's long, and arduous life of scholarship has brought him much honor and respect." He was a charter member of the Raven Society at the University of Virginia and a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He was a founder of the Rockingham Historical Society, an honorary member of tne Virginia Historical Society, and a life member of the Kansas State Historical Society. He also was an active participant in the Shenandoah Valley Civil War Round Table and the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Civil War Commission.

In December of 1959, Shenandoah Valley, Inc., recognizing Dr. Wayland's long service to the Valley, honored him with the presentation of a plaque citing his distinguished service. The State Highway Commission honored him several years ago by naming the old Port Republic Road the Wayland Highway.

During his long and active life, Dr. Wayland kept a diary or "everyday book," as he called it. This diary had grown to more than 30 volumes of over 300 pages each by 1957.

Dr. Wayland was a founder and first president of the Rockingham Historical Society. He was the editor of the Rockingham Recorder published by the society. He had scores of manuscripts ready for future editions.

History Museum Goal

Dr. Wayland had one great ambition: to see an historical museum established by Rockingham and Harrisonburg. President Russell L. Stultz, of the society, said last night the achievement of that goal is grower closer and suggested that such an institution be named for Dr. Wayland.

Noting the passing of Dr. Wayland, Mr. Stultz commented:

"Our entire community has been saddened by the sudden passing of Dr. Wayland, one of its most illustrious and esteemed residents. His long, useful and fruitful life was dedicated to recording the historical annals and traditions of his native Valley and state.

"Through his exhaustive, tireless and persevering research and writings he achieved justly deserved recognition as one of Virginia's most distinguished historians.

"Modest, unassuming and retiring in manner. Dr. Wayland has left a rich legacy of high ideals and unselfish devotion to the people and land he served. The founder and early president of our society greatly benefited from his sound guidance and counsel and was a major influence upon its endeavors down through the years."