Most local merchants are familiar with the sight of this pleasant-faced lady as she walks down Main Street (assisted by her cane) to keep a weekly appoinment at the beauty parlor over Bruce's Drugstore, though many are probably not aware of the important role Janie Caldwell played in numerous Scottsville lives.

For thirty-seven years, Janie was a first-grade teacher and most of those years were spent teaching in the old Scottsville School.  A number of the town's well-known citizens were Janie's students: Lindsay Dorrier, Town Attorney; Scott Ward of A. Scott Ward Realty, and Mary Curtis Ott, the organist for Scottsville Methodist Church, to name a few. The list goes on.

According to Janie, the accomplishments of her students are her reward for years of service as a dedicated teacher.

Her own education began in a two-room schoolhouse that was located where the Scottsville Library now sits.  Sadly, that building was struck by lightning and burned to the ground.  After completing her grade school years and high school in the old Scottsville School.  Janie graduated in 1933.  She later entered Harrisonburg State Teachers College and obtained a BS degree.  One of her college roommates, she recounts was one Martha Kent - who later married a young man by the name of Tom Bruce (of Bruce's Drugstore family).

Though her teaching career began in a community nearby, Janie eventually came back to teach first grade, in the same Scottsville classroom where she met as a child.

Pot-bellied stoves heated rooms in the school at that time, and Janie and another young teacher were required to keep the fires going by refueling them with coal.  Though they worked hard to keep the schoolrooms attractive, Jamie remembers that it wasn't easy.  The children loved to play in the coal bin out back and would come in after recess covered in coal dust, leaving a sooty trail of handprints and footprints behind them.

A special library corner was set aside in the school for reading, and, Janie, realizing how important it would be to their future to have good reading skills, encouraged the children to take advantage of it.  Being a first grade teacher often meant being a substitute mother to children who were not happy about being away from home.  One of her tiny students cried every day for weeks, and Janie says she had no choice but to hold the child on her lap to keep her from crying and disrupting the class.  Whenever Janie sees this former student, now a grown woman, they share a good laugh over the memory.

Janie retired in 1972 from her teaching position but holds many fond memories of watching her students grow, mature, and become leaders in the community.

A special part of her life was her marriage to "gentleman farmer," Ray Caldwell.  They were married in 1946 and shared fifty-three wonderful years together before Ray passed away in 1999.

Ray and his family moved to Scottsville from Danville, Virginia, when he was a child.  They purchased a farm on the outskirts of town that adjoined a farm owned by Dr. Cary Moon's father.  Ray was fond of saying to Janie, "Just think if I had not come to Scottsville, I would not have met you."

An avid gardener, Mr. Caldwell loved sharing his abundant produce with folks in the community.  He maintained a beautiful weed-free petunia bed beside the house that always seemed to nod a pleasant "hello" when you passed.  A friendly man with a twinkle in his eye and a ready smile, Ray contributed generously to the town of Scottsville.

The couple traveled extensively during their fifty-three years of marriage, visiting Germany, Switzerland, and Austria.  They also took numerous cruises to such beautiful and pristine places as the Alaska coastline.  Occasionally they would leave behind the cold Virginia winter and head south to winter in the Florida sun.

Though there is no doubt that the loss of her husband has given Janie some lonely times, she is blessed with a wealth of friends and family who visit often.  Today Janie keeps active in the community attending get-togethers every Wednesday at the Scottsville Senior Center, where she often participates in various activities and shows.  She enjoys reading, music, and day-trips with friends and family.

A long-time member of the Scottsville Methodist Church, Janie has been lifting her voice in song with the choir there for many years.  Though recently a bad fall forced her into temporary retirement, Janie is looking forward to getting back in the "sing" of it.

It has given Janie great pleasure to help support the restoration of the Victory Hall Theatre, where she and Mr. Caldwell often attended movies and shows together and at times participated in some of the Chautauqua shows themselves.  (The Chautauqua Production Company was based out of New York and produced live plays in the Victory Hall Theatre at one time, using local residents in their productions.)

This is one teacher, who not only taught her students to prepare for the future, but learned the lesson herself as well.  Regardless of several injurious falls in the last few years, Janie remains undaunted and still cleans her own house and cooks.  Homecoming at Scottsville United Methodist Church would not be the same without one of her delicious pecan pies.

A testimony to clean living and taking care of yourself, Janie has a great outlook on life and is happy to share her recipe for good day-to-day living:  "Smile and laugh a lot, always look at the sunny side of life."

It's a lesson that seems to have worked quite well for her.

Copyright © 2020 by Scottsville Museum

Top Image Located On:  Scottsville Scotty, 1957; Published by the Publication Club, Scottsville High School, Scottsville, VA.

Second Image Located On:  Scottsville Scotty, 1951; Published by the Publication Club, Scottsville High School, Scottsville, VA.

Third Image Located On:  Scottsville Scotty, 1952; Published by the Publication Club, Scottsville High School, Scottsville, VA.

Fourth Image Located On:  2011 Obituary published on Thacker Brothers Funeral Home; see:  https://www.thackerbrothers.com/obituary/Janie-Caldwell

References:
1.  Certificate of Birth, Janie Frances Seay, 21 Sep. 1915, Fluvanna Co., VA; Virginia Department of Health, Richmond, Virginia; Virginia, Births, 1864-2016.
2.  Certificate of Marriage, Ray Wilson Caldwell and Janie Frances Seay, 28 June, 1946; Albemarle County VA. Virginia Department of Health; Richmond, VA; Virginia Marriages, 1836-2014, Roll: 101168873.
3.  Find A Grave Index, Janie Frances Caldwell, 1915-2011; see: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/88726129/janie-frances-caldwell .
4.  "The Teacher's Reward" by Patricia Annie Wyker, Scottsville Monthly, circa 2000; Valley Publishing Co., Palmyra, VA.
5.  Minutes of Scottsville Town Council Working Session, 13 August. 2012, re contributions by Ray and Janie Caldwell and plan to use some of that donation on the Streetscape brick corner treatment at Valley and Main Streets, Scottsville.
6.  "Capital Campaign for The Center at Belvedere, Charlottesville, VA", p. 11, as of July 1, 2019, lists gifts in excess of $100,000 by Estate of Mrs. Janie Caldwell.
7.  Scottsville High School Scotty, 1951, 1952, 1953, and 1960. Courtesy of Scottsville Museum.
8.  Obituary of Janie Frances Caldwell, 2011, Thacker Brothers Funeral Home; see Https://www.thackerbrothers.com/Janie-Caldwell .