"Thou Shalt Not"

by William W. Stepp

The production of the book that this web site is based upon, "The Stepp Family Chronicles," necessitated many miles of travel by many of the research team. In addition to research per se, I wanted not only find my roots--my echoes--but I wanted to see the places themselves-- to be there-- to walk where my people had walked and to see what they had seen. Although curious about my ancestors, during the years of my "work-a-day" life, I had never had time to do anything about it. Upon retirement, that time became available-- and the effort commenced.

Now, several years after the initial spark was ignited, I must say that the findings herein related have satisfied my curiosity to a great extent, excited and thrilled me, and most important of all, have reinforced the love and respect I have always had for those men and women who have borne my name before me and who were responsible for my being here today.

In recent years, I have walked upon the land of my Father's Father: Washington County, Tennessee. I stood where he stood and where his wife, Nancy, stood. I have studied and admired the beautiful Smokey Mountains of Tennessee as they surely had done. I have walked upon the land that gave birth to my grandfather and where his father and his father before him lived-- in the northern part of Rockingham County, Virginia. I know that I have walked upon the roads and trails of their "work-a-day" world and where they lived and worked and worried. I have learned their names and the names of those who came after them. From records researched, I have shared with them in their good times and I have grieved with them in their bad times. Each time I gazed upon their beautiful Massanutten Mountain Range, I seemed to hear the same message and the echoes seemed to say "Yes, this is where we were and we are glad you came."

Dozens of books have been written about this great historical county of Rockingham, nestled in the beautiful Valley of the Shenandoah in Virginia. The general area has witnessed segments of every war in our history up to and through our tragic Civil War. The area produced the soldiers of the famous "Page Grays" (of Page and surrounding counties in Virginia) of the Army of the Confederate States of America. The area produced the ancestors of Abraham Lincoln and some of the greatest warriors of the Army of the Confederacy who led their people through the tragic years 1860-1865. It was their Nation, their Virginia, and their Valley of the Shenandoah and for that they gave their very last and full measure of devotion.

After many years of reading and study of this magnificent Valley County and its neighbors, my overriding thought was "how dare anyone ever forget." Bible helped too-- and it came out this way-- "Thou shalt not destroy the memory or the land marks of thy Fathers, for they are a part of you."