Driven by Drink?

Robert Wimer, retired editorial page editor of The News & Advance, will discuss how drinking, violence and the saloons in the small village of Amherst led to the Village becoming an incorporated Town in 1910. The Amherst incident in June 1902 of Judge Clarence J. Campbell horsewhipping Rev. Charles H. Crawford (a Baptist preacher and superintendent of the Virginia Anti-Saloon League) on the Court House steps would thrust the spotlight on the small village (around 650 residents) and county seat in area newspapers but also in The New York Times and The Washington Post. The Times sensational headline read “Judge Cowhides Minister” (riding crops were called cowhides in the day). Incorporation led to regulation of the saloons and billiard halls, hiring a town sergeant at $15 a month, carrying concealed weapons meant a fine of not less than $25 and no more than $100, and an Ordinance called “Peace, Good Order and Morals” where obscene language and drawings meant a fine of $10 per conviction. Businesses were required to have a license -- attorney, dentist, merchant license cost between $5 - $10, while a saloon or billiard hall license was $100. In addition billiard halls had an additional tax of $50 per billiard table. This program is made possible by The Greater Lynchburg Community Trust and The Town of Amherst. The program is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served following the presentation.