Pine Mountain Settlement School
Series 09: BIOGRAPHY – Staff
Fitzhugh Lane: Staff member during the very early years of School
TAGS: Fitzhugh Lane, Pine Mountain Settlement School staff, steam-operated sawmills, Katherine Pettit, Ethel de Long Zande
FITZHUGH LANE Staff
When Katherine Pettit and Ethel de Long came to Pine Mountain to establish the School they also enticed the young Fitzhugh Lane to come along with them. He was accomplished in work with timber and milling, something that they would immediately be faced with solving as they structured the built environment of the School.
Fitzhugh Lane came with many other talents as well, not the least of which were his skills at gardening and farming. He was also known and appreciated for his tenacious attitude toward work.
The following account is of the struggle to bring a full steam-operated sawmill across the treacherous slopes of Pine Mountain and down into the School. The efforts of Fitzhugh, who negotiated the move, can only be seen as miraculous today when one looks at the obstacles he overcame to meet the requests of Pettit and de Long.
Perhaps because of those unrelenting requests, Fitzhugh did not stay long at Pine Mountain but took his ample talents elsewhere. But, there is no question that he left a noble and lasting legacy at the School.
GALLERY: Fitzhugh Lane
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