By Lisa Coburn
The Greenbrier Historical Society is inviting the community to take part in two exciting and educational events this May, offering something for both trivia lovers and history enthusiasts alike.
Kicking off the month on May 1 from 6 to 8 p.m., the organization will host a lively Tavern Trivia Night with a special American Revolution theme. Come test your knowledge of the American Revolution in celebration of America’s 250th birthday. This fun-filled evening is designed to bring friends, families, and community members together for a relaxed atmosphere and a bit of friendly competition, with prizes awarded to top participants.
Then, on Sunday, May 3, at 4 p.m., history will take on new life at Carnegie Hall in Lewisburg as the Greenbrier Historical Society welcomes historian Sarah McCartney for a presentation titled, “Resolutions and Reality: Life in the Revolutionary-Era Greenbrier Valley.” The event is free and open to the public, offering a chance to explore a chapter of American history that is both foundational and deeply local.
For many, the story of the American Revolution begins in places like Boston or Philadelphia. But as archaeologist and historian Dr. Kim Arbogast McBride, vice president of the Greenbrier Historical Society and chair of its America 250 Committee, explains, the revolutionary spirit was just as present and just as personal on the Virginia frontier.
“These resolutions were intended to be a conveyance of the sentiments of the backcountry settlers,” McBride said. “They wanted to put down on paper how they felt, their willingness to give up their lives for what they saw as violations of their rights of liberty.”
McCartney’s talk centers on the powerful language of the 1775 backcountry resolutions, particularly those from Fincastle and Botetourt counties. Unlike earlier colonial protests focused on trade and taxation, these declarations carried a stark and deeply human message: a readiness to fight and die for liberty. One line, drawn from the Botetourt Resolution, captures that intensity: “The original purchase was blood, and mine shall seal the surrender.”
The Botetourt Resolution holds special significance for the Greenbrier Valley. In 1775, the region that would later become Greenbrier County fell within the vast boundaries of Botetourt County, a sprawling frontier jurisdiction that stretched across what is now southwestern Virginia and parts of southern West Virginia.
The men who signed the Botetourt Resolution were not distant political figures but settlers, landholders and community leaders living on the edge of that frontier, people whose daily lives were shaped by the same rugged landscape and uncertainties that defined early Greenbrier Valley history. Their declaration of loyalty to the patriot cause and their willingness to defend their rights with their lives reflected not abstract ideology but lived reality. For residents of the Greenbrier Valley, these resolutions are more than historical documents; they are part of a shared regional story, rooted in the same ground beneath their feet.
According to McBride, that shift in tone reflects the lived experience of frontier settlers. Long before independence was declared, communities in the Greenbrier Valley were already navigating conflict, uncertainty and survival. Years of tension, stretching back to the 1763 Proclamation Line that restricted western settlement, had fostered deep frustration. By 1775, that frustration had hardened into resolve.
That resolve, however, played out differently here than in the more familiar Revolutionary narratives.
That reality meant frontier communities were often left to defend themselves. Forts like Donnelly’s Fort and Arbuckle’s Fort became critical sites of protection and memory, places where survival and resistance were part of daily life. Archaeological work at these locations continues to uncover tangible connections to that past. During excavations at Arbuckle’s Fort, McBride and her team discovered a small glass amulet designed to imprint the word “liberty.”
“When you look at it, it says the word backwards,” she said. “But if you imprint it in wax, it reads ‘liberty.’ Finding that alongside a 1776 quote from Matthew Arbuckle, saying he would give his life for liberty, was just incredible.”
Moments like these reveal how deeply the ideals of the Revolution were woven into everyday life on the frontier, not as distant political philosophy but as something immediate and personal.
McCartney brings a unique perspective to this history. A historian who teaches at the College of William & Mary, she has spent years studying the region, including extensive research based on the Matthews Store ledgers, rare surviving records from the early 1770s that document daily life in the Greenbrier Valley. Her work illuminates not only the economic and political realities of the time but also the often overlooked roles of women and local communities in shaping early American society.
“She’s very familiar with the Greenbrier Valley,” McBride said, “both through her own family roots and through studying these important records.”
That connection between past and present is part of what makes this event especially meaningful for local audiences. The history McCartney will explore is not distant. It is embedded in the landscape, in family stories and in the region’s identity.
“Knowing the facts of the history gives me a greater sense of connection and rootedness,” McBride said. “It enhances my quality of life here.”
It also underscores something easily overlooked: the freedoms often taken for granted today were neither inevitable nor easily won.
“People actually fought for these freedoms,” she added. “The history was not predetermined.”
As the nation marks the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, the Greenbrier Historical Society is using the moment not only to commemorate but to reconnect the community with its own past. In an age when local knowledge risks fading, events like this serve as both education and preservation.
“This knowledge is not getting passed down the way it used to,” McBride said. “People don’t sit and talk about history like they once did.”
On May 3, that conversation resumes, inviting attendees to listen, reflect and reconnect with the stories that continue to shape the region.
