Rappahannock County

Newton and Emily Susan (nee Corbin) Nicholson

Home along Hannah run in Nicholson Hollow in Rappahannock County. Newton Nicholson purchased the 32 acre tract of land on which the house was located in 1902 and the house was likely built shortly after that date. It was destroyed by fire in 2000, along with the remains of an adjacent log barn. Newton was a son of Hiram and Louisa Nicholson, Hiram was a son of Jesse Nicholson who was a son of Aaron and Nancy Nicholson (this is the ‘other’ Aaron Nicholson who had land in the Hannah Run part of Nicholson Hollow in the early 19th century, not the Aaron Nicholson of upper Nicholson Hollow who is the one libeled by George Freeman Pollock and the one everyone remembers). This Aaron was a son of John and Anne Nicholson who were the first Nicholsons to enter the hollow.

Photo by Audrey Horning

Finnell Corbin

This is the site of what is probably the most over-used image from Arthur Rothstein, which is the one of Finnell Corbin on his porch. Finnell was the first to move up into Corbin Hollow, purchasing a 25 acre plot of land. This was land originally cleared by Jefferson Jenkins then sold by Jenkins to Hamilton Sisk, Hamilton’s Sisk’s daughter Jane sold to Finnell Corbin. Unfortunately, the transaction was not officially recorded because Jenkins had never established legal title to the land. It’s my belief that Finnell Corbin may have move up into Corbin Hollow because of the proximity to Skyland and to wage employment. His children subsequently built homes in the hollow and worked at Skyland, and were exploited by Pollock in his efforts to encourage the removal of mountain residents by parading their poverty (for which he bore some responsibility).

Photo by Audrey Horning

Old Truck

Concrete Water Trough

Bolem Cemetery

Chimney

Reference for the image in the header

Rothstein, A., photographer. (1935) Fennel Corbin. Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. United States Shenandoah National Park Virginia, 1935. Oct. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2017758873/.