GMS History The History of Greenbrier Military School | Page 25

building had to be reconstructed, resulting in the fine new Activities
Building. A new library wing was started that summer, along with the
complete remodeling of the kitchen, new faculty apartments, and a new
shower room for D Company.
The kitchen was modernized to bring it into compliance with current
health regulations. Brothers Bob and Dick Phelan were hired as manager
and chef, respectively. Meals at Greenbrier took on the more professional
air of fine hotel dining. Remnants of the earlier country life were removed.
Gardens still flourished, but the smokehouse was a thing of the past—along
with nine “moldy” hams that were found hanging there. “But what did the
Phelans know about cherished country hams?” asked horrified family
members and long-time kitchen staff, upon discovering the hams were
gone. “They were from Michigan” (Howard).
The school owned or leased several farmlands in the nearby
countryside. At one time, tenant farmers were under rigid contracts with the
Moores. In 1917, for instance, farmer Joe Hayes signed up to work the
“Mason farm” for one year. H.B. and D.T. Moore agreed to pay Mr. Hayes
$1.25 a day for ten hours a day including Sundays for seven months of the
year; Hayes did not have to farm December through April. The dwelling
house and garden plot were provided rent-free, and Hayes had the right to
keep free of charge “one cow, three hogs (rings to be kept in the hogs’
noses), and fifty chickens.” The farmer needed to furnish grain for his own
chickens and for fattening his own hogs. Hayes was allowed to use one of
the farm horses “for light work such as coming to town and church” when
the horse was not being used by the Moores and “in their opinion it is not
detrimental to the horse used (Moore personal papers).” Wheat and hay
crops were grown in fields far away from the GMS campus. When it came
time to harvest these crops, various school workers and farmers would do
the long day’s (or maybe two days) work of threshing. Miss Willie fired up
the GMS kitchen to make dinner for the workers, and family members in
cars and the school truck delivered the food.
The Moore farmers-turned-schoolmasters kept a firm hand on the
land and the use and care of their crops and animals. H.B. stayed active in
both the Aberdeen-Angus and the Holstein Cattle Breeders Associations
(Benjamin), and he was a founder and director of the West Virginia State
Fair. All the Moores were active in the Old Stone Church. Because he
served on committees and went to so many church meetings, D.T. was
nicknamed “Mr. Presbyterian.” He never missed a Rotary Club meeting in
more than fifty years.
H.B. was active in real estate deals that involved the town and
Greenbrier College property. In 1943 the Moore brothers and others sold
ownership shares in the Greenbrier College Syndicate to Greenbrier
College, and in March 1949 agreed to complete the sale of all their interests