This wooden desk dates back to the mid-19th century. It was first used at the Fincastle Presbyterian School, which is still standing across from Breckinridge Elementary School on private property. K.B. Stoner, Jr. (1895-1967) and R.D. Stoner (1898-1980) used this desk at their home at 202 Carper Street in Fincastle after it was no longer needed in the school house.
K.B. took the desk to Eagle Rock where he lived with his wife, Bessie. After K.B.’s death, the desk was given to Robert Stoner and used at Santillane. Then it was given to his daughter, Catharine “Kaki” Peaslee. Her relatives, Ed and Betty Holt, recently donated this desk to the Botetourt Museum of History and Culture. It is displayed next to other educational artifacts upstairs.
Interestingly, the property owned by the Museum at 26 E Main Street in Fincastle was once owned by the Rev. G. Gray, who was Botetourt’s first School Superintendent in 1872.
~ Botetourt County Museum of History & Culture
