GMS History The History of Greenbrier Military School | Page 7

The Acquisition of Land
The four-acre property along modern Lee Street, which housed Lee
Military Academy and later the Greenbrier Presbyterial School, changed
hands over the years. The Moore brothers bought the property in November
1920 and on April 29, 1922, signed the deed giving title of Greenbrier
Military School, a corporation, to them and their wives. According to deed
records, the Moore brothers conveyed four acres of land to Clarence M.
McMurray on Dec. 14, 1921 (Deed Book #100, p. 1). This land, promised to
the husband of Priscilla Moore for the low price of $1000, was on the park
side of Lee Street near the home of D.T. and Emma B. Moore. When
Clarence suggested to his brother-in-law H.B. that he might prefer land on
Greenbrier Road, H.B. grew angry that Clarence was refusing the prime
land that H.B. had chosen for him. When H.B. asked Clarence how much
land he wanted, Clarence answered one acre. Houston, all of about five feet
two, said he would step off one acre wherever Clarence wanted it. Now
Clarence was over six feet tall, so he feared that H.B.’s steps would not give
him as much land as if Clarence had walked them off himself. But H.B.’s
temper took hold and he angrily walked off what turned out to be a good bit
more than one acre of land for his brother-in-law. Clarence also got the
property for free (McMurray).
The Moores continued to buy property and gradually increased the
holdings of Greenbrier Military School. As the land was consolidated,
GMS property stretched from Greenbrier Road, down Greenbrier Avenue,
across Route 219 along Jefferson Street, from the present Robert C. Byrd
Clinic up through Crowfields. All of North Lee Street was GMS.
A family member once joked, “What did these old country farmers
know about running a military school?” (Howard). The answer is that they
knew a lot. The Moore brothers may have been from the country, and they
loved farming, but they were also smart and well educated. Presbyterian to
the core, every member of the large Moore family had a superlative work
ethic. Their hearts and souls went into the building of Greenbrier Military
School. The Moore family was GMS.
THE MOORE FAMILY
The First Generation
The Moores came from Mingo in Randolph County, West Virginia.
William John Moore married Ida Ella Burger from Bath County, Virginia,
in 1874. They had eight healthy children, all born in Mingo Flats except for
the youngest, who was born in Mossy Creek. Minnie, the eldest, was born
in 1875; she married young and spent the rest of her life as Mrs. W.L.
Reeves on a small farm in Mossy Creek, Virginia. Alvin L., born in 1877,
lived less than a year. Houston Burger was born in 1879, David Tay in
1881, Ethel Kate (also called Katherine) in 1883, Joseph Marion in 1885,