Volume 21, No. 1 Institute for Public Affairs West Virginia University Morgantown, WV Winter/Spring 2004

Public Affairs ReporterThe West Virginia

In this Issue:

Planning for the Future: An Introduction to Land UsePolicy Options for West Virginia

Richard A. Brisbin, Jr. and Susan Hunter

The Early History of Central West Virginia

Robert Jay Dilger

Coming Soon:

WV WORKS 2003: Perspectives of Former Recipients Who HaveExhausted Their 60 Months of Program Eligibility

The Early History of the Northern Ohio Valley

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The first native settlers in Central West Virginia (Braxton,Calhoun, Clay, Gilmer, Lewis, Nicholas, Roane, Upshur, andWebster counties) were the Mound Builders, also known asthe Adena people. Remnants of their civilization have beenfound throughout West Virginia, with many artifacts found inthe Northern Panhandle, especially in Marshall County.

A more thorough discussion of West Virginia’s first nativesettlers was presented in the Fall 2002 issue of The WestVirginia Public Affairs Reporter and can be read on-line at:http://www.polsci.wvu.edu/ipa/par/Report19_4.pdf. Here is abrief overview of that history:• Several thousand Hurons occupied present-day West

Virginia during the late 1500s and early 1600s.• During the 1600s, the Iroquois Confederacy (then con-

sisting of the Mohawk, Onondaga, Cayuga, Oneida, andSeneca tribes) drove the Hurons from the state and usedit primarily as a hunting ground.

• During the early 1700s, the Shawnee, Mingo, Delaware,and other Indian tribes also used present-day WestVirginia as a hunting ground. West Virginia’s PotomacHighlands was inhabited by the Tuscarora. They eventu-ally migrated northward to New York and, in 1712,became the sixth nation to formally be admitted to theIroquois Confederacy. The Cherokee Nation claimedsouthern West Virginia.

• In 1744, Virginia officials purchased the Iroquois title ofownership to West Virginia in the Treaty of Lancaster.

• The Delaware, Mingo, and Shawnee sided with the Frenchduring the French and Indian War (1755-1763). TheIroquois Confederacy officially remained neutral, butmany in the Iroquois Confederacy allied with the French.

• When the French and Indian War concluded, England’sKing George III feared that more tension between NativeAmericans and settlers was inevitable. In an attempt toavert further bloodshed, he issued the Proclamation of1763, prohibiting settlement west of the Allegheny Moun-tains. The Proclamation was, for the most part, ignored.

• During the summer of 1763, Ottawa Chief Pontiac led raidson key British forts in the Great Lakes region. ShawneeChief Keigh-tugh-qua, also known as Cornstalk, ledsimilar raids on western Virginia settlements. The upris-ings ended on August 6, 1763, when British forces, underthe command of Colonel Henry Bouquet, defeatedDelaware and Shawnee forces at Bushy Run in westernPennsylvania.

• In 1768, the Iroquois Confederacy (often called the SixNations) and the Cherokee signed the Treaty of HardLabour and the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, relinquishing theirclaims on the territory between the Ohio River and theAlleghenies to the British.

• In April 1774, the Yellow Creek Massacre took place nearWheeling. Among the dead were Mingo Chief Logan’sbrother and pregnant sister. Violence then escalated intoLord Dunmore’s War.

• On October 10, 1774, Colonel Andrew Lewis and approxi-mately 1,000 men defeated 1,200 Indian warriors led byShawnee Chief Cornstalk at the Battle of Point Pleasant,leading to the end of Lord Dunmore’s War.

• The Mingo and Shawnee allied with the British during theAmerican Revolutionary War (1776-1783). One of themore notable battles occurred in 1777 when a war partyof 350 Wyandot, Shawnee, and Mingo warriors, armedby the British, attacked Fort Henry, near present-dayWheeling. Nearly half of the Americans manning the fortwere killed in the three-day assault. Following the war,the Mingo and Shawnee, once more allied with the losingside, returned to their homes in Ohio. As the number ofsettlers in the region increased, both the Mingo and theShawnee moved further inland, leaving western Virginiato the white settlers.

Highlights of Braxton County’s Early HistoryBraxton County was created by an act of the Virginia Gen-

eral Assembly on January 15, 1836 from parts of Lewis,Kanawha and Nicholas counties. At that time, there were2,371 people residing in the county. It was named in honorof Carter Braxton (1736-1797), a noted Virginia statesman.

Carter Braxton was born on September 10, 1736. Hisfather, George Braxton, was a wealthy planter who left hisestate in Newington to Carter following his death, whichoccurred shortly after Carter’s gradation from William andMary College. In 1755, at the age of nineteen, Carter mar-ried Judith Robinson, a wealthy heiress. They had two daugh-ters before her untimely death in 1757. In 1760, he marriedElizabeth Corbin, the daughter of a British Colonel. They livedin elegant splendor on his plantation and had sixteen chil-dren, ten surviving infancy. Also, in 1760, he was appointedto represent King William County in the Virginia House ofBurgesses. He served in the Virginia House of Burgessesuntil the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War in 1776.During his service in the legislature he joined the “radicals”by supporting Virginia’s sole right to tax inhabitants. Whenthe House of Burgesses was dissolved in 1774, he joinedthe patriot’s Committee of Safety in Virginia, and representedhis county in the Virginia Convention. In 1775, followingPeyton Randolph’s sudden death, he was selected to fillRandolph’s seat in the Continental Congress. He served inthe Congress for two years, was one of the signers of theU.S. Declaration of Independence, and then returned to theHouse of Burgesses. During the Revolutionary War, heloaned £10,000 sterling to support the revolutionary cause,and sponsored several shipping ventures during the con-flict. Unfortunately, nearly every one of the ships he had afinancial interest in was either captured or sunk by the Brit-ish, causing him to fall into debt. He was forced to sell off

The Early History of Central West Virginia

Robert Jay Dilger

Robert Jay Dilger is Director of West Virginia University’s Institute forPublic Affairs and Professor in the Eberly College of Arts and Science’sDepartment of Political Science. This is the fifth of a nine-part series ofarticles providing an introduction to the early history of West Virginia’scounties.

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many of his valuables and, finally, he was forced to sell hisestate. In 1786, he moved to Richmond. He died from a strokeon October 10, 1797.

Braxton County’s European Pioneers and SettlersThe first land survey in the county took place in 1784 on

behalf of John Allison, who had a warrant on 11,000 acres ofland in the area. Adam O’Brien, an Indian scout and notedhunter, was part of the survey party. John Sutton of Alexan-dria, Virginia, purchased 7,000 acres of Allison’s land. Hisson, John D. Sutton, explored the area in 1798 and discov-ered an abandoned cabin on the land. He never found outwho had built the cabin.

The county’s first permanent white settlers were the Car-penter family, including brothers Jeremiah, Benjamin, Jesse,and Amos, and their mother. They arrived in 1789 or 1790and built cabins near Centralia, along the Holly River.According to local folklore, Benjamin Carpenter and his wifewere killed by two Indians passing through the area. Sup-posedly, the Indians found some wooden chips cut by anaxe floating downstream. Recognizing this as a sign of whitesettlers, they headed upstream to investigate and found theCarpenter settlement.

In 1800, Jeremiah Carpenter and Henry Mace settled nearpresent-day Sutton. In 1807, Colonel John Haymond movedfrom Harrison County and settled near the Falls of the LittleKanawha. Three brothers, Benjamin, Daniel, and JohnConrad, settled three miles south of him. Also in that year,Nicholas Gibson and Asa Squires moved into the county. In1810, John D. Sutton moved to the present site of Sutton,then known as Newville.

Important Events in Braxton County duringthe 1700s

Braxton County was, reportedly, the site of the famousBulltown Indian massacre in 1765. At the conclusion of theFrench and Indian War (1755-1763), the French ceded theirNorth American possessions to the British. Many of the Indi-ans that sided with the French returned to their homes. How-ever, some Indians continued to view the British as a threatto their sovereignty and refused to end the hostilities. Amongthem was Captain Bull, son of Teddyuscung, the last chief-tain of the Delaware tribe. In 1763, Captain Bull led approxi-mately 600 Delaware Indians on a series of attacks on settle-ments and forts in upstate New York as part of Chief Pontiac’sRebellion against British forts and interests in the Great Lakesregion. In March 1764, Captain Bull and twenty-eight otherDelaware Indians were captured and sent to New York Cityin chains. That summer, Captain Bull was given the choiceof being hanged or released on the condition that he movewest of the Alleghenies and never return to New York. Heleft New York with about forty other Delaware Indians andarrived at Frederick Ice’s settlement on the Cheat River inwestern Virginia late that summer. They stayed there untilthe fall and then moved up the Monongahela River andcamped at present-day Fairmont. In the Spring of 1765, theymoved to present-day Weston, camped for awhile, and thenmoved to present-day Bulltown.

Captain Bull was regarded by most of the settlers in theregion as friendly, but, in 1772, there were a series of Indianattacks in western Virginia and some settlers suspected that

he was providing information to and harboring unfriendlyIndians. In June 1772, German immigrant Peter Stroud’sseven children and wife were murdered, presumably by In-dians, in the vicinity of Bulltown (some accounts place themurder in present-day Webster County). Peter Stroud wasaway at the time of the murders. There are several conflict-ing accounts of what happened next. The most mentionedaccount is that Peter’s brother, Adam Stroud, discovered thebodies, and after burying them, found a trail left by the mur-derers. The trail led in the general direction of Bulltown. Pe-ter then headed for Hacker’s Creek where he met with sev-eral other settlers, including Jesse Hughes, William White,John Cutright, and William Hacker. They agreed to join himin an attack on Bulltown. They ambushed the Indians in thevillage, killed them all, including the women and children,and threw their bodies into the nearby Little Kanawha River.News of the Bulltown Massacre spread across the westernfrontier and set off a series of incidents between the Indiansand settlers.

Several historians have questioned the veracity of thevarious accounts of the Bulltown Massacre, especially theability of a small number of settlers to kill over forty Indians(some accounts place the number of Indians killed at morethan 100) without any casualties of their own. Moreover, laterreports suggest that Captain Bull and his Indian compan-ions may have already moved from the area at the time ofthe Massacre. Nevertheless, the story of the Bulltown Mas-sacre has become a part of West Virginia and Braxton Countyfolklore.

Important Events in Braxton County during the1800s and early 1900s

Union troops, under the command of a Lieutenant Dawson,occupied Sutton during the early months of the Civil War,but left on December 29, 1861 when Captain John Sprigg,who lived just north of Sutton, led about 100 Confederatesoldiers to a hill overlooking the town. Convinced that hewas outnumbered, Lieutenant Dawson evacuated the town.Captain Sprigg then took some of his men to chase the re-treating northern troops, leaving Captain Jack Tuning incharge of the remaining soldiers. He, and his brothers Aland Fred, who were also from the area, reportedly tried toextort money from the townspeople. When they refused topay, the Tunings set fire to a frame house. As the fire spreadto other buildings in the town, John Camden, a local hotelproprietor and southern sympathizer, pleaded with the Tun-ing brothers to stop the fire, but they refused. Finally, whenSprigg returned to town he ordered his men to put out thefire, but by that time most of the town had already burnt tothe ground. A few days later, the Confederate forces left thearea after discovering that 400 Union troops had leftSummersville and were marching on their position. Spriggand Tuning quarreled over strategy and divided their forces.Sprigg’s men were later defeated in a skirmish near Cowen.Tuning’s forces continued to attack Union troops and north-ern supporters for the next two years. The Union Army laterplaced a bounty on the Tuning brothers. Al and Fred Tuningwere gunned down and killed in 1864.

Braxton County was also the site of the Battle at Bulltownon October 13, 1863. About 400 Union soldiers under thecommand of Captain William Mattingly (one accountsuggests that he led a force of just 124) held a relatively

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well-fortified position on a hill located on the MosesCunningham farm overlooking Bulltown. Approximately 600Confederate forces, commanded by Colonel W. L. Jackson,approached the town from the southeast through WebsterCounty. Colonel Jackson split his force into two at Falls Mill,about three miles southeast of Bulltown, in an attempt tolaunch a synchronized two-pronged, surprise attack on theUnion position. A Major Kessler took half of the commandand swung around to the right to position himself for an at-tack on the hill from the northeast. Colonel Jackson took theremaining troops to the left and positioned his troops on highground opposite the Union Army’s position. The plan was tobegin the attack before dawn, but after the firing of a can-non. Unfortunately for the Confederate Army, part of MajorKessler’s command moved before the signal, at around 4a.m., and alerted the Union Army to the Confederate pres-ence. The battle continued in intervals until late in the after-noon. Unable to dislodge the Union Army, the Confederateforce retreated toward the southwest and later to PocahontasCounty. During the battle, seven Confederate soldiers werekilled and four were wounded. None of the Union soldierswere killed, and they suffered only two wounded, althoughone of their wounded was Captain Mattingly, who was shotin the lower leg.

After the war, Braxton County’s economy began to grow,with most of the growth due to the presence of tanneries,brick manufacturers, pottery manufacturers, grain mills, andthe smelting of iron ore. Also, the timber industry was animportant source of employment in the county. In 1892, arailroad extending from Clarksburg in Harrison County toSutton, and then on to Richwood in Nicholas County wasbuilt. The railroad line helped the county’s economy continueto grow by providing it a means of shipping goods to andfrom northern West Virginia.

In 1904, Braxton County’s resurgence continued when theCoal and Coke Railroad, which ran from Charleston to Elkinsin Randolph County, added a branch from Gassaway toSutton. Previously, the only way to ship goods to Charlestonwas by boat.

The Braxton County SeatThe first meeting of the Braxton County court took place

on April 11, 1836, at the home of John D. Sutton in Sutton.The Honorable Edwin S. Duncan presided. William Newlonwas appointed Clerk pro tempore of the Court (County Clerk).On May 24, 1836, Andrew Sterett, Asa Squires, David Given,John C. Haymond, and John B. Byrne were appointed countycommissioners. Felix Sutton was Braxton County’s first sur-veyor and Francis C. Bogg, its first sheriff.

Sutton, the county seat, was chartered as a town by anact of the Virginia General Assembly on January 27, 1826.Originally located in Nicholas County, it had been known asNewville and later as Suttonville. As mentioned previously,John D. Sutton moved there in 1810. His brother Andrewarrived in 1812 and John’s son, Benjamin, arrived shortlyafterward. William and Robert Jackson built the town’s firstmill and sold groceries carried in on horseback fromClarksburg. The town’s name was changed to Sutton onMarch 1, 1837, and it was incorporated on February 20, 1860.

Highlights of Calhoun County’s Early HistoryCalhoun County was created by an act of the Virginia

General Assembly on March 5, 1856, from Gilmer County.At that time, the county had less than 2,500 residents.

Calhoun County was named in honor of John CaldwellCalhoun (1782-1850), a famous South Carolina statesmanwho championed state’s rights. He was born in Abbeville dis-trict, South Carolina, on March 18, 1782. His father was afarmer in the state’s Piedmont area (high lands) and a slaveowner. John Calhoun was self-educated as a youngster andentered Yale in 1801. He graduated from Yale with honors in1804, attended law school in Litchfield, Connecticut, and wasadmitted to the South Carolina bar in 1807. He was electedto the South Carolina state legislature in 1808, serving from1809 to 1811. In 1811, he married a wealthy cousin, FlorideBonneau Calhoun. Also, that year he was elected to repre-sent South Carolina in the U.S. House of Representativesand served there until 1817, when he was named JamesMonroe’s Secretary of War (1817-1825). During his congres-sional career, Calhoun championed what became known asthe “American System” – a combination of protective tariffsto protect domestic industries from foreign competition, in-creased funding for internal transportation projects, and anational bank to regulate the value of money. In 1824, hewas elected Vice-President of the United States and servedin John Quincy Adams’s administration. He was re-electedin 1828 and served in Andrew Jackson’s administration. Bythat time, he had revised his position on the tariff and formu-lated his famous doctrine of nullification, arguing that statescould use their sovereign rights to nullify acts of congress.In November 1832, a special convention in South Carolinadeclared the tariff null and void within the state. Jacksonsupported the tariff, placing Calhoun in an awkward situa-tion. Calhoun resigned as Vice-President and enteredthe U.S. Senate to defend South Carolina’s rights. He servedin the Senate from 1832 to 1843. In 1844, he joined JohnTyler’s administration as Secretary of State (1844-1845) andled the effort to annex Texas into the Union. In 1845, hereturned to the Senate and served there until his deathon March 31, 1850.

Calhoun County’s European Pioneersand Settlers

In 1770, George Washington was surveying in the vicinityof Calhoun County. He reported in his journal a chance meet-ing with a Mr. Ennis. Most historians credit Ennis as CalhounCounty’s first English settler. Washington also noted meet-ing several ginseng traders that visited the area regularly.Later that year, six men, including William White, ThomasDrennen, Paul Shaver, and John Cutright, passed throughthe county as they scouted for Indians along the Ohio,Kanawha, and Little Kanawha Rivers. In 1772, WilliamLowther, Jesse Hughes, and Elias Hughes journeyed fromthe West Fork Valley into the Little Kanawha Valley, gener-ally following the Hughes River, named for the two brothers.George Washington also received reports during the 1780sfrom Captain Thomas Swearengen, Captain John Hardin,and Zackquill Morgan of their explorations of present-dayCalhoun County.

Abraham Thomas was probably the first, permanent, set-tler in present-day Calhoun County. In 1774, he was granted

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four hundred acres in the county and built a cabin on hisland along the banks of the Little Kanawha River. Other earlysettlers included Michael Stump (1804), Phillip Starcher, Sr.(1810), and James Mayse (1814).

Important Events in Calhoun County duringthe 1800s

Robert Clifford is the first recorded teacher in CalhounCounty. In 1818, he taught twelve students in a cave nearAnnamoriah.

During the Civil War, most of the county’s residents sidedwith the Confederacy. When Union forces entered the countyin 1861, many of the local residents joined the MocassinRangers, a para-military organization led by George Downs,Daniel Dusky, Peter Saurburn, Perry Conley, and his friend,Nancy Hart, known locally as the “Lady Guerilla.” The Rang-ers engaged in a number of skirmishes with the Union forces,including battles in November 1861 in and around Grantsvilleand in May 6, 1862, at Arnoldsburg.

The Calhoun County SeatThe first meeting of the Calhoun County court was held

on April 14, 1856, at the home of Joseph W. Burson (laterkilled at the Battle of Arnoldsburg). His home was located atthe mouth of Pine Creek, on the Little Kanawha River. Thefirst members of the court were: Harrison R. Ferrel, JoshuaS. Knight, Miram Ferrel, Daniel Duskey, George Lynch, Jr.,and William A. Brennon.

In September 1856, the justices of the county court metat a house near the residence of Peregrine Hays inArnoldsburg. In the meantime, the act creating the countyspecified that the county’s residents were to determine if thepermanent county seat was to be located at Pine Bottom,the mouth of Yellow Creek, or at the “neck of the Big Bend.”In November 1856, the county’s voters choose the site atthe mouth of Yellow Creek. However, the county justices didnot get along, and two county courts emerged, one consist-ing of the leading citizens from Arnoldsburg, and the otherfrom Pine Bottom. A unified county court was established atYellow Creek, the current site of Brooksville, on September15, 1857. The following year, the county seat moved back toArnoldsburg and the county court acquired land from Per-egrine Hays to build a county courthouse.

In 1862, Union forces under the command of Thomas M.Harris captured Arnoldsburg and placed Peregrine Haysunder arrest as a political prisoner. The state legislature thenmoved the county seat to Grantsville. It was originally settledby Eli Riddle during the 1820s, but the land was owned bySimon and Ruth Stump when it was platted in 1866. Theynamed the town in honor of General Ulysses Simpson Grant,General of the Union Army during the Civil War and later the18th President of the United States (1869-1877). The townwas incorporated in 1896.

Once the Civil War concluded, the citizens of Arnoldsburgdemanded that the county seat be returned to them. In 1869,a fire of mysterious origin destroyed the courthouse underconstruction in Grantsville before it was occupied. Soon af-ter, the state legislature ordered the county to move the countyseat back to Arnoldsburg. The county court met inArnoldsburg on August 26, 1869, but then met at Grantsvillein September, and then back in Arnoldsburg in November.

An election was held in October 1869 to settle the issue.The voters selected Grantsville as the county seat. The lead-ing citizens of Arnoldsburg then contested the election. Theirappeal failed. In 1898, the leading citizens of Arnoldsburgclaimed that the courthouse at Grantsville was unsafe andattempted to get the county seat changed once again.Another election was held, and the county’s voters, 935-925,decided to keep the county seat in Grantsville.

Highlights of Clay County’s Early HistoryClay County was created by an act of the Virginia Gen-

eral Assembly on March 29, 1858. It was created from partsof Braxton and Nicholas counties.

Clay County was named in honor of Senator Henry Clay(1777-1852). Born in Hanover County, Virginia, on April 12,1777, his parents moved him to Kentucky as a young boy.He later led the Whig political party, and representedKentucky in the U.S. Senate for many years (1806-1807,1810-1811, 1831-1842, 1849-1852), and in the U.S. Houseof Representatives (1811-1821, 1823-1825). He was electedSpeaker of the U.S. House of Representatives in 1811 andserved in that capacity until 1814, and again in 1815-1820,and in 1823-1825. He also served as U.S. Secretary of Statefrom 1825-1829, authored the famous “Compromise of 1850,”which sought to avoid the Civil War, ran unsuccessfully forPresident three times (1824, 1832 and 1844), and is widelyregarded as one of the greatest legislators in Americanpolitical history. He advocated funding for internal improve-ments, including the extension of the National Road to Wheel-ing. When that road was completed in 1818, Wheelingbecame a major trading center and rest stop for pioneersheading west. He died on June 29, 1852.

Clay County’s European Pioneers and SettlersPhilip Hammond is believed to be the first European to

set foot in present-day Clay County. He was a courier sentfrom Point Pleasant (in Mason County) to Fort Donaldson(in Greenbrier County) after the decisive Battle of Point Pleas-ant in 1774. That battle led to the end of Lord Dunmore’sWar with the Shawnee Indians, led by Chief Cornstalk.

Adam O’Brien was another early Englishman to roam theClay County area. He reportedly had two wives, one inpresent-day Braxton County and the other in present-dayClay County. Another early visitor was William Strange. Arenowned hunter of fox, buffalo, and bear, he reportedlybecame lost, or disabled, in the forest, and died at the foot ofa large beech tree in 1792 or 1793. Several years later hisskeleton, gun, and other personal remains were found.Carved on the tree was the passage “Strange is my nameand strange the ground, and strange that I cannot be found.”Strange Creek, West Virginia, was named in his honor.

Sinnett Triplett may have been the first permanentEnglish settler in the county. He arrived around 1812 or 1813and camped near present-day Clay. He was soon joined byDavid McCalgin (or McOlgin). The two men became lifelongfriends. A few years later, Triplett married and moved away,but, a few years after that, returned to the area.

Jacob Summers built a cabin along the Elk River in 1813.A veteran of the War of 1812, he married a Miss Davis andthey had fourteen children. He then had another seven chil-dren with his second wife, Eleanor Conrad. Most of Jacob

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Summers’s progeny remained in the county and, for manyyears, Summers was the most common name in Clay County.

Important Events in Clay County duringthe 1800s

The county’s first newspaper, the Clay County Star,began publishing in 1883. William D. Gould was the editor,and it was printed at the Clay County Court House.

The opening of the Charleston, Clendenin, Clay and SuttonRailway in 1895 opened up Clay County for further economicdevelopment. Until then, the primary means of transporta-tion in the county was rafting along the Elk River. After therailroad opened, the number of rafts traveling the Elk Riverfell dramatically. However, rafts were still being used to trans-port people and goods on the Elk River as late as 1927.

The Elk River Coal and Lumber Company was organizedin 1904 and soon became the county’s largest employer. InJune 1919, the first cars made their way to Calhoun County.The owners were entrepreneurs who visited remote areasand charged local residents ten cents a ride (soon increasedto twenty-five cents a ride). They reportedly made $126in two nights and a day before heading south towardsCharleston.

The Clay County SeatThe act creating Clay County declared that the county

seat was to be located on the McCalgin (or McOlgin) farm,near the mouth of Buffalo Creek. The area was then knownas Marshall. The earliest settlers in the area were ColonelW. E. R. Byrne, A. J. Stephenson, Ellis Myer, ClabournePierson, and T.B. Stephenson. The local citizens generallyreferred to the town as Clay Court House, because the court-house was the town’s main reason for existing, and was thetown’s primary source of social and economic interaction.On October 10, 1863, the state legislature changed the town’sname to Henry, honoring Henry Clay. In 1927, the town’sname was changed to Clay.

The first county court was held at the residence of JusticeWilliam G. Fitzwaters on July 12, 1858. Mr. Fitzwalters,Jonathon Riffle, Josah Hamrick, Norval Shannon, JohnJones, John Sands, William Ewing, Levi Rogers and CharlesDuffield were named Justices of the Peace. After setting thedates for electing the county government’s officials and fu-ture court meetings, the county court adjourned. The firstpublic elections were held on the fourth Tuesday of May in1859. At that time, there were 293 registered voters in thecounty. Jacob Salisbury was elected county clerk, ClayburnPierson was elected county surveyor, and ChristopherCampbell was elected sheriff. Norval Shannon was later alsonamed superintendent of schools.

Highlights of Gilmer County’s Early HistoryGilmer County was created by an act of the Virginia Gen-

eral Assembly on February 3, 1845, from parts of Lewis andKanawha counties. It was named in honor of Thomas WalkerGilmer (1802-1844).

Thomas Walker Gilmer was born on April 6, 1802, inAlbemarle County, Virginia. He studied law and was anattorney in Charlottesville. He represented Albemarle Countyin the Virginia General Assembly from 1829-36 and 1838-

39, and served as Speaker of the Assembly in 1838 and1839. He was elected Governor of Virginia in 1840. A yearlater, he resigned the governorship following his election tothe U.S. House of Representatives. On February 14, 1844,he was appointed Secretary of the Navy by President Taylor.Unfortunately, on February 28, 1844, just two weeks afterhis appointment, he was killed when a cannon on board theAmerican war ship Princeton exploded. The accidentoccurred while the ship was cruising on the Potomac Rivernear Mount Vernon. Abel Parker Upshur, Secretary of Stateand Upshur County’s namesake, was also killed in theexplosion. President Tyler was also present for the testing ofthe new gun, but he survived the explosion.

Gilmer County’s European Pioneers and SettlersIndian scouts William Lowther and Jesse and Elias Hughes

were the first Englishmen to set foot in present-day GilmerCounty. They explored the area during the autumn of 1772.

Jacob Bush is believed to be the first English settler in thecounty. He arrived around 1800. Michael Stump and his sonsarrived in 1806. Peter McCune explored the area shortlyafter the end of the American Revolutionary War with hisfather-in-law, Adam O’Brien. In 1810, he moved his family tothe county. He built a cabin at the mouth of Leading Creek.

Several families moved into the county following the Warof 1812, including the families of George H. Beall, TownsendBeall, Joseph Bennett, Alexander McQuian, and JamesFarnsworth. They had received land grants in the county inexchange for their service during the war. In 1816, CaptainWilliam Stalnaker received a grant of 30,000 acres in thecounty for his service during the War of 1812. He estab-lished a tobacco plantation near the mouth of Mill Seat Run.In 1820, he constructed the first brick home in the county.Adam Heckert, another early pioneer settler in the county,also constructed a brick home that year – creating a long-standing argument over who had the first brick home in thecounty. Captain Stalnaker later constructed another brickmansion on his property for his son, Salethiel. On March 24,1845, it served as the meeting place for the first session ofthe Gilmer County court. By that time, a large number offamilies lived in the area and it had become known as DeKalb,named by William Stalnaker in honor of his hero Johann,Baron de Kalb, the Marquis de Lafayette’s mentor andcompanion.

Important Events in Gilmer County duringthe 1800s

Samuel L. Hays moved into the county in 1833, living inwhat was then known as Hays City, near Glenville. He servedin the Virginia General Assembly and was elected to a singleterm in the U.S. House of Representatives (1841-1842). Dur-ing his tenure in the state legislature, he was instrumental ingetting the Parkersburg/Stauton turnpike routed throughGilmer County. The turnpike was essential to the county’seconomic growth. He later served as a Justice of the Peaceand, in 1845, was a member of the first Gilmer County court.His son, Peregrine Hays, also served in the state legislature(for both Virginia and West Virginia) and, in 1851, becameGilmer County’s first elected sheriff.

In 1845, southern sympathizers within Gilmer County’sMethodist Church broke away from the Methodist Church

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and formed the Methodist Church South. They constructedtheir own church, called Job Temple, in 1860. In 1979, it be-came Gilmer County’s first site to be placed on the NationalRegister of Historic Places.

In 1861, Colonel Currence Conrad, the delegate repre-senting Gilmer, Calhoun, and Wirt counties in the Virginiasecession convention, voted for Virginia to remain in theUnion. Upon making his vote, Conrad promptly left Richmondfor his home in western Virginia fearing that he might belynched for voting against the Ordinance for Secession.

During the Civil War, Gilmer County’s government basi-cally ceased to function as various para-military groupsroamed the county. Although there was some northern sup-port in the county, many of the county’s residents sided withthe Confederacy. Abraham Lincoln did not receive a singlevote in Glenville during the presidential election of 1860.

On February 19, 1872, the West Virginia legislatureauthorized the establishment of the “Glenville Branch of theState Normal School of West Virginia.” The school beganoperations on January 14, 1873, with T. Marcellus Marshallserving as its principal. In 1931, the school’s name waschanged to Glenville State Teachers College, and, in 1943,to Glenville State College.

In 1885, the West Virginia state song, “The West VirginiaHills,” was composed by New Jersey’s Mrs. Ellen King. Shewrote the song, originally written as a poem, while she wasvisiting her father, Captain Stephen S. Ruddell, in Glenville.The poem was published in the local newspaper and wasnoticed by Mr. N. E. Engle, a resident of Loydsville, BraxtonCounty. He converted the poem into a song, adding choruslines and accompanying music.

The Gilmer County SeatThe first session of the Gilmer County court was held on

March 24, 1845, in Salathiel Stalnaker’s home in DeKalb,about nine miles south of Glenville. At the meeting, the fif-teen Justices in attendance could not agree on a candidatefor county clerk. They elected James Camp, Jr., to the posi-tion on a temporary basis until the issue could be resolved.Michael Stump was elected county surveyor. As prescribedby law, the Justices recommended three men to the Gover-nor to serve as the county’s first sheriff. Benjamin Riddlesubsequently received the appointment.

The state legislature had mandated that a county-wideelection be held to determine the county seat. The Stalnakerfamily, located in DeKalb, was the most prominent in GilmerCounty at that time and expected the voters to select DeKalbthe county seat, especially after Salathiel Stalnaker donatedland for the county prison. However, William H. Ball, C. B.Conrad, and Samuel Hays owned property near “The Ford”and lobbied the voters to select it as the county seat, notingthat it lay along a state road, making it easier to reach thanDeKalb. A majority of the county’s sixty-six voters selectedThe Ford (Glenville) over DeKalb as the county seat.

Glenville had previously been known as Stewart’s Creek,Hartford, and “The Ford.” It was called “The Ford” becausethe old State Road from Weston to Charleston crossed theLittle Kanawha River there. Samuel L. Hays laid out the townon the land of William H. Ball in 1845. It was named Glen-dale by Colonel C. B. Conrad because of the town’s locationin a glen. William Howell was the first known settler in thetown. He built a grist mill there in 1812.

At first, the Stalnaker family, and those allied with it, re-fused to accept Glenville as the county seat. Several countygovernment officials, including James Camp, the county clerk,refused to attend government meetings in Glenville. The fol-lowing year, all members of the county court finally agreedto meet at Thomas Marshall’s home in Glenville. One of thefirst orders of business was to select a site for the construc-tion of the court house, jail, and clerk’s office. However, thedeed to the land of the proposed site for the county court-house in Glenville was contested. After much discussion, itwas agreed to hold the county court, once again, at the homeof Salathiel Stalnaker in DeKalb. The court moved there onFebruary 23, 1846. In the meantime, the legal issues con-cerning the Glenville site for the court house were resolved.On April 28, 1846, the county court was moved to WilliamBall’s home in Glenville, where it continued to meet until thecourthouse in Glenville was completed in 1850. Once it wasestablished that Glenville was to be the county seat ofgovernment, DeKalb began to decline.

Highlights of Lewis County’s Early HistoryLewis County was created from parts of Harrison County

by an act of the Virginia General Assembly on December 18,1816. The county was named in honor of Colonel CharlesLewis (1733-1774), who was killed at the decisive Battle ofPoint Pleasant in 1774. His dying words were “Push on boys.Don’t mind me.” He was second in command at the time,serving under his older brother, General Andrew Lewis.

The Battle of Point Pleasant was considered a precursorof the American Revolutionary War and was a turning pointin the war against the Indian uprising in western Virginia.During the battle, one-half of General Lewis’s commissionedofficers, including his brother Charles, were killed, as wereseventy-five noncommissioned soldiers. Another one hun-dred and forty soldiers were wounded. The actual number ofIndians engaged or killed in the battle is not known, but in-cluded warriors from the Shawnee, Delaware, Mingo, Wyan-dotte, and Cayuga tribes, lead by their respective chiefs andby Cornstalk, Sachem of the Shawnees and King of the NorthConfederacy. The all-day battle was ferocious, with the battleline reportedly extending more than a mile. First-handaccounts of the battle indicate that rifle fire and hand-to-handcombat lasted throughout the day. By the end of the day, theIndians retreated into Ohio with Lewis’s men in pursuit. Nowon the defensive, and following the arrival of additional troopsunder the command of Virginia Governor John Murray, fourthEarl of Dunmore, the Indians agreed to a peace treaty,ending what had become known as Lord Dunmore’s War.

Lewis County’s European Pioneers and SettlersWilliam Hacker, Thomas Hughes, Jesse Hughes, John

Radcliff, William Radcliff, and John Brown were the first En-glishmen to set foot in present-day Lewis County. They ex-plored the area in 1769. Later that year, John Hacker built acabin just to the south of the present-day Berlin. He is cred-ited as Lewis County’s first permanent European settler. Johnand William Radcliff built cabins not far from Hacker’s cabinin 1770. Their settlement, later known as Hacker’s Creek,almost failed from the start. After constructing cabins andplanting corn and other crops, the three men returned to theSouth Branch settlements to get their families. While they

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were away, buffalo ate all of the crops they had planted. For-tunately, there was plenty of wild game available and thesettlement survived and more than doubled in size annuallyas immigrants moved in from the east. Other early perma-nent settlers in the county included Jesse Hughes, JohnWhendy, Francis Tibbs and Daniel Veach.

Important Events in Lewis Countyduring the 1800s

Lewis County was enlarged on February 4, 1818, addingland east of the Buckhannon River. At that time, the countyconstituted 1,754 square miles, including present-day LewisCounty as well as nearly all of Upshur, Gilmer, and Braxtoncounties, and parts of Barbour, Webster, Doddridge, Ritchie,and Calhoun counties.

Most of Lewis County’s residents sided with the Unionduring the Civil War, with pockets of Confederate support,primarily in the county’s southern portion. Union forces con-trolled the county for most of the war. However, in August1862, General A. G. Jenkins led a force of more than fivehundred Confederate soldiers and para-military sympathiz-ers on a raid into central West Virginia. They arrived in Westonon August 31, 1862, and left that evening after securing sup-plies from the town’s stores. Several other skirmishes tookplace between Union and Confederate forces within thecounty, but the county was spared the more widespreaddamage and fighting that occurred in neighboring BraxtonCounty.

One of the first acts of the newly formed West Virginiastate legislature was to change the name of the recently com-pleted Trans-Alleghany Lunatic Asylum in Weston to the WestVirginia Hospital for the Insane. It began operations in 1864with nine patients. Later renamed Weston Hospital, it con-tinued to provide care for the mentally impaired until it closedin 1994.

On November 1, 1880, railroad service betweenClarksburg and Weston began, opening up the area forfurther economic development, especially for the lumberindustry.

In August 1893, the Lewis County Oil and Gas Companywas formed. It bought 3,500 acres of land within Lewis Countyand dug its first test well in late 1897, just below Weston.Several other oil companies also moved to the area, andmany of them struck oil. Local land values soared. The big-gest oil strike occurred at the Copely well No. 1, on SandFork, on September 22, 1900. It produced several thousandbarrels of oil per day and was the largest well drilled in theAppalachian Mountains for many years. In 1902, LewisCounty’s oil production peaked. At that time, Lewis Countyproduced more oil than any other county in the state.

On July 26, 1913, the first street car service opened forbusiness in Jane Lew and Weston. The service enabled JaneLew and Weston’s residents to reach the main line of theBaltimore and Ohio railroad, located in Clarksburg, in justunder an hour and a half.

The Lewis County SeatThe first meeting of the county court was held on March

16, 1817, at the home of the Reverend Peter Davis atWestfield, about five miles north of the current site of Weston.The meeting was conducted by nineteen Justices of the

Peace, each appointed by then-Governor James P. Preston.Philip Reger was sworn in as the county’s first sheriff. DanielStringer was elected county clerk and George Bush was rec-ommended to the Governor for appointment as county sur-veyor. The court’s next meeting took place at Mrs. WilliamNewlon’s home (also reported as Mrs. Newton) on April 11,1818. At that meeting, it was decided to locate the countycourt at the farm of Henry Flesher, near the mouth of StoneCoal, and that the place be called Preston, in honor of Gov-ernor Preston.

In 1819, the area’s residents decided to change the town’sname following the creation of Preston County. They wereconcerned that people unfamiliar with the town might mis-take it as Preston County’s seat. Colonel John McWhorterand John Bozarth represented the area in the House of Del-egates and introduced a bill that changed the town’s nameto Fleshersville, honoring Henry Flesher, believed to be thefirst settler in the area. He had arrived in the area in 1784.However, many local residents objected to the new namebecause Mr. Flesher had sold the property on which the townwas built, moved to the east side of the river, and reportedlyrefused to have anything to do with the new town. At theurging of the town’s leading citizens, the following year thestate legislature renamed the town Weston. Weston was in-corporated by the West Virginia state legislature in 1913.

Highlights of Roane County’s Early HistoryRoane County was created by an act of the Virginia

General Assembly on March 11, 1856 from parts of Gilmer,Jackson and Kanawha counties. It was named in honor ofJudge Spencer Roane (1762-1822).

Spencer Roane was born in Essex County, Virginia, onApril 4, 1762. In 1777, he began studies at William and MaryCollege and later studied the law. After establishing his lawpractice he entered the Virginia House of Delegates, and, in1784, became a member of the council of state. He soonresigned that office and resumed the practice of law, andwas elected to the state legislature again. In 1789, he wasappointed a judge of the Virginia general court and, in 1794,a judge of the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. He servedin that office until his death in 1822. He was widely consid-ered one of the most able jurists in the state and nation,often writing political commentaries for the state’s leadingnewspapers. In 1819, he served on the commission thathelped to establish the University of Virginia. A lifelongadvocate of state’s rights, he died on September 4, 1822.His wife, Anne, was the daughter of Patrick Henry, his son,William H. Roane, served in the United States Senate, andhis nephew, Thomas Ritchie, was one of the nation’s lead-ing publishers and Ritchie County’s namesake.

Local folklore indicates that the county was named forJudge Roane because of an act of kindness. According tothe story, when he was a young boy John P. Thomasson’swagon became stuck in the mud. Judge Roane helped himfree the wagon. Thomasson never forgot the kindness anddecades later, when petitioning to form the new countybefore the Virginia General Assembly, he recommended thatthe county be named in Judge Roane’s honor.

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Roane County’s European Pioneers and SettlersJesse Hughes, of present-day Lewis County, is credited

as the first Englishman to set foot in present-day RoaneCounty. In 1772, he led a small party, including WilliamLowther and Elias Hughes, into the Little Kanawha Valleyand is believed to have passed through the county. He toldmany of his relatives that the area would make a fine home.Several of his and his wife, Grace (Tanner) Hughes, rela-tives and children became Roane County’s earliest settlers.

In 1812, Samuel Tanner and his wife, Sudna CarpenterTanner, became Roane County’s first settlers when they con-structed a rudimentary shelter inside a cave in present-daySpencer. The following year, they built a log cabin. In 1814,several of their relatives moved to the Spring Creek area,just a few miles south of the Tanner homestead. Four of thesefamilies’ last names were recorded: Tanner, Carpenter, Millerand Runnion. John Greathouse, Samuel Tanner’s cousin,arrived the following year. In 1816, the Spring Creek areabecame known as Tanner’s Cross Roads because two pathsbisected the area.

Around 1816, several families moved to the Reedy area,then known as Three Forks. By 1823, the following pioneersand their families resided in the Reedy area: Patrick Board,Robert Blosser, a Mr. Cain, a Mr. Roach, David and ThomasSeaman, and Charles Stewart.

Important Events in Roane County duringthe 1800s

In 1853, the Gilmer (or Glenville), Ripley, and Ohio Turn-pike opened between New California (Spencer) and Ripley.The construction of wagon roads played an important role inopening up the county for economic development and settle-ment.

Most of Roane County’s residents sided with the Confed-eracy during the Civil War. Peregrine Hays, former sheriff ofGilmer and Calhoun counties, led the “Moccasin Rangers,”a band of para-military soldiers for the Confederacy, in aseries of raids against Union forces in the Roane Countyarea throughout the war. Earlier, he played an important rolein Roane County’s formation.

In 1893, Spencer State Hospital, the state’s secondhospital for the care of the insane, opened for business inSpencer and continued in operation until 1989. At the time ofits construction, it was known as the longest continuous brickbuilding in the nation (it was one-quarter of a mile in length).The Hospital’s 184 acres of land were purchased fromWilliam R. Goff in 1888 for $9,200. The following year,Mr. Goff, using the proceeds from the land sale, and severalother investors formed the county’s first bank, the Bank ofSpencer.

The Roane County SeatAlbert Gallatin explored present-day Roane County in

1785 and subsequently claimed over 50,000 acres of landin the area, including present-day Spencer. Indian hostilitiesand the lack of transportation in the area prevented its de-velopment and Gallatin turned his attention to his farm inthen-Fayette County and to politics. He later rose to nationalprominence as Thomas Jefferson’s Secretary of the Trea-sury and James Madison’s Ambassador to France.

As mentioned earlier, Samuel Tanner and his wife, Sudna,were Spencer’s first residents. They arrived in 1812, alongwith a man named Jonathan Wolf(e), who lived with them.Their daughter, Elizabeth, was born that year, reportedly whilethey still lived in the cave. Several years later, as more set-ters arrived, the area became known as Tanner’s Cross Road,and later as Cassville. In 1849, Raleigh (Rollo) Butcher,intending to go to California to search for gold, arrived inCassville and decided to stay, building a large frame houseand opening a popular tavern. The area became known asNew California, because it was the place where Butcherstopped on his way west. Some local residents resented thename, seeing it as a way of poking fun at Mr. Butcher andlocal residents. When the petition to form a new county wasbeing circulated, Henry Hughes, a prominent lawyer in thetown, also circulated a petition to change the town’s name.

The first meeting of the Roane County court was held atthe home of M. Benson Armstrong on April 7, 1856, in NewCalifornia. The county’s eleven Justices of the Peace electedJohn W. Cain presiding Judge, and J. Marcellus McWhortercounty clerk. Later, Thomas Ferrell became the county’s firstsheriff. The county’s voters then selected New Californiaover Robert Luney’s Farm as the county seat. In 1858, thetown was chartered by the Virginia General Assembly andrenamed Spencer, presumably in honor of Judge SpencerRoane, although some historians argue that it may have alsobeen named in honor one of the town’s first school teachers,John S. Spencer. The town was incorporated on February20, 1867.

Highlights of Upshur County’s Early HistoryUpshur County was created by an act of the Virginia

General Assembly on March 26, 1851, from parts of Barbour,Lewis and Randolph counties. The county was named inhonor of Abel Parker Upshur (1790-1843).

Abel Parker Upshur was born on June 17, 1790, inNorthampton County, Virginia. In 1807, he was expelled fromthe College of New Jersey (Princeton University) for partici-pating in a student rebellion. He then entered Yale Univer-sity. He left Yale before graduating and studied the law inRichmond under the tutelage of William West. In 1810, hewas admitted to the bar in Richmond. He practiced law inRichmond for ten years before moving back to Northampton.He served as a member of the Virginia General Assembly(1812-1813, 1820-1826), a judge in Virginia General Court(1826-1841), and a member of the Virginia ConstitutionalConvention of 1829-1830. He was a staunch supporter ofstates’ rights and was pro-slavery. He later served as Presi-dent John Tyler’s Secretary of the Navy (1841-1843)and Secretary of State (1843). He was accidentally killed onFebruary 28, 1843, when a cannon exploded on board thesteamer Princeton on the Potomac River near Mount Vernon,Virginia. Thomas Walker Gilmer, the Secretary of the Navyand namesake of Gilmer County, was also killed in theexplosion. President Tyler was present, but survived theexplosion.

Upshur County’s European Pioneers and SettlersSamuel and John Pringle were the first Englishmen to set

foot in present-day Upshur County. They deserted their postat Fort Pitt (Pittsburgh) in 1761 and arrived in present-day

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Upshur County in 1762, during the final days of the Frenchand Indian War. They lived in the county for about three years,just a short distance from present-day Buckhannon, alongthe Buckhannon River. Oral histories suggest that they livedfor a time in the hallow stump of a giant sycamore tree. Withtheir ammunition nearly exhausted, John Pringle returned tothe South Branch River settlements for supplies around 1765.While there, he discovered that the war had ended and thatthey were no longer wanted men. He returned to UpshurCounty to inform his brother of the good news. They thenmoved back to the South Branch River settlements. In 1769,Samuel Pringle, his wife Charity (Cutright) Pringle, and sev-eral other families returned to the Buckhannon area. Amongthe new settlers were John and Elizabeth Jackson and theirsons, George and Edward Jackson, Thomas Hughes, andJohn Cutright.

Important Events in Upshur County during the1700s and 1800s

The first school in present-day Upshur County was estab-lished in 1779. A Mr. Haddox taught class in a primitive logcabin two miles south of present-day Buckhannon. He waspaid $16 per month and provided free board.

When Harrison County was formed in 1784, it includedpresent-day Upshur County. The first session of HarrisonCounty’s court was held at George Jackson’s home nearpresent-day Buckhannon.

On September 3, 1804, John Jackson was appointed thefirst postmaster at the county’s first post office in Buckhannon.

Although there was some support for the Confederatecause within the county, including the formation of the UpshurGrays, most of the county’s residents sided with the Unionduring the Civil War. In June and July 1861, Buckhannonbecame an important staging area for the Union Army bothas it prepared for the important Battle of Philippi that tookplace on June 3, 1861, in Barbour County, and in its attemptto cut off the Confederate Army’s retreat following its defeatat Philippi. At any given time that summer, several thousandUnion troops were camped in and around Buckhannon.

For most of the war, the Union Army maintained control ofcentral West Virginia. However, there were many skirmishesin the region throughout the war. For example, in August andSeptember 1862, approximately 550 Confederate troopsunder the command of General Albert G. Jenkins marchedthrough central West Virginia, capturing several hundred pris-oners, destroying Union supplies, and destroying publicrecords. On August 30, 1862, his troops engaged about 200Union troops commanded by a Captain Marsh on the out-skirts of Buckhannon. The Union forces were routed (morethan a dozen Union soldiers were killed during the battle andabout twenty more were taken prisoner). Captain Marsh wasamong those taken prisoner. The Confederate troops thenentered the city and, according to General Jenkins’s journal,destroyed everything of value. The following day, the Con-federate troops left the town and headed for Weston. Con-federate troops also recaptured the town on April 28, 1863.

West Virginia Wesleyan College was founded in 1890 indowntown Buckhannon by the West Virginia Annual Confer-ence of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Originally knownas the West Virginia Conference Seminary, by the time of its

first graduating class in 1905 it was called Wesleyan Univer-sity of West Virginia. The name was changed to WestVirginia Wesleyan College in 1906.

The Upshur County SeatBuckhannon was incorporated by the Virginia General

Assembly on January 15, 1816. At that time, the land wasowned by Robert Patton, Jr. He purchased the land fromElizabeth Cummins Jackson in 1809 for $3,000. JosephDavis, Jacob Lorentz, Phillip Reger, John Jackson, Jr., JohnReger, Benjamin Reeder, and John McWhorter were namedtrustees for the town. A few years later, Mr. Patton sold hislands to Joseph Ward, who in turn, in 1821, transferred it toDaniel Farnsworth, who came to Buckhannon from StatenIsland, New York. In 1822, he constructed the first new homein the town following its incorporation.

There is some disagreement concerning the origin of thecity’s name. Most accounts indicate that the city was namedfor a Delaware Indian chief named Buck-on-ge-ha-non whoonce hunted in the area. Other accounts suggest that it wasnamed for the Buckhannon River, which was named for JohnBuchannon, a clergyman who explored the area during the1780s.

The first session of the Upshur County court was heldon June 17, 1851, at Andrew Poundstone’s home inBuckhannon. Adam Spitler, Simon Rohrbough, GeorgeBastable, James T. Hardman, Jacob Lorentz, Daniel Bennett,K. Hopkins, George Clark and John W. Marple servedas Justices of the Peace. Mifflin Lorentz was elected clerkand John Reger was recommended to the governor forappointment as county sheriff. Stewart Bennett was chosencommissioner of revenue.

Highlights of Webster County’s Early HistoryWebster County was created by an act of the Virginia

General Assembly on January 10, 1860, from parts ofBraxton, Nicholas, and Randolph counties. Because of itsisolation and the lack of main roads connecting it to othersettlements, Webster County was one of the last counties inthe state to be settled. At the time of its formation in 1860,the county’s population was just 1,730.

The county was named in honor of Daniel Webster (1782-1852), famous orator and long-time member of Congressfrom New England. He was born on January 18, 1782, inSalisbury, New Hampshire. He was educated at Exeter andPhillips Andover Academies and graduated from DartmouthCollege in 1801. He studied the law and was admitted to thebar in 1805. He represented New Hampshire in theU.S. House of Representatives (1813-1817) and moved toBoston in 1816. He then represented Massachusetts in theU.S. House of Representatives (1823-1827), and in the U.S.Senate (1827-1841). He served as President John Tyler’sSecretary of State (1841-1843), returned to the U.S. Senate(1845-1850), and then served, once again, as U.S. Secre-tary of State from 1850 until his death on October 24, 1852.He was also a noted jurist who, early in his career, madethe winning arguments in the landmark case McCullochvs. Maryland (1819) that provided the federal governmentall implied powers deemed “necessary and proper” to carryout its duties.

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Webster County’s European Pioneersand Settlers

Peter and Adam Stroud, German immigrants, were thefirst European settlers in present-day Webster County. Theysettled near present-day Camden-on-Gauley in 1769. Peterunintentionally built his cabin near a branch of the ShawneeIndians’ hunting trail. In 1772 or 1773 (most accounts indi-cate June 1772) a band of Shawnee Indians came acrosshis cabin while he was away, and killed his wife and sevenchildren. The Indians then set the cabin on fire. Adam Stroudsaw the smoke from his brother’s burning cabin rising acrossthe Gauley River and, with his eldest son, investigated. Thetrail left by the murderers led in the general direction ofBulltown, home of Captain Bull, a Delaware Indian Chief,and other Indian families, located in present-day BraxtonCounty. Adam Stroud recruited several other settlers to joinhim in an attack on the Indian settlement, leading to thefamous Bulltown Massacre (see Braxton County history).News of Captain Bull’s death spread across the western fron-tier and set off a series of serious incidents between theIndians and the English settlers. As hostilities increased,Adam Stroud moved to Hampshire County. It was anothertwenty years before anyone else tried to settle in the county.

In 1797, Arthur McClure moved to Upper Glade. He wasfollowed by William E. Dodrill, known as “English Bill.” Hesettled along the Birch River in 1799. Colonel Isaac Gregorywas one of the earliest and most prominent settlers in thecounty. He built a two-story log cabin just above Beaver Runon a hill overlooking the Gauley River in 1800. He later servedtwo terms as the Nicholas County Sheriff and served in theAmerican Army during the War of 1812. Isaac Duifieldarrived in the county around 1803 and was followed byseveral families who arrived around 1810, including the fami-lies of Tunice Muckelwain (or McElwain), James Dyer,William, Benjamin, and David Hamrick, and John Miller.

Important Events in Webster Countyduring the 1800s

The county’s first post office was established at Fork Lickin 1852, with John Hall serving as postmaster. It is believedthat John Hall and a Mr. Skidmore drilled the first salt sul-phur well in the county, known as “Old Spring.” It was laterowned by Colonel John T. McGraw, who drilled the well to adepth of 169 feet. The sulphur springs made Webster Springsa popular summer tourist attraction during the 1890s andearly 1900s.

The act creating the county determined that the first meet-ing of the Webster County court was to be held on March 1,1860, at Addison McLaughlin’s home, in present-day WebsterSprings (Addison). By the time the meeting took place,Addison McLaughlin had deeded his home to his son, DuncanMcLaughlin. As a result, the first session of the WebsterCounty court took place at Duncan McLaughlin’s home inFort Lick (Webster Springs - Addison). Samuel Given,Thomas Cogar, William Given, and Thomas Reynolds wereappointed county commissioners to, among other duties,select a permanent site for the county seat. They selected asite above the Salt Sulphur spring in present-day WebsterSprings. In May 1860, Walter Cool was elected Sheriff, AlbertJ. Baughman was elected county clerk, and Bernard Mollohan

was elected county surveyor. Also, twelve Justices of thePeace were elected, with Thomas M. Reynolds elected bythem to serve as the presiding judge.

The Webster County SeatWebster Springs was incorporated in 1892. The act cre-

ating the county in 1869 specified that the county seat wasto be called Addison, in honor of Addison McLaughlin, whohad donated the land where the county courthouse was tobe built. However, the town was called “Fort Lick” by theinhabitants, in reference to the salt springs located at thefork of the Back Fork River and the Elk River. Early settlersmade salt from the “lick” and many others claimed that thesalt had medicinal qualities. The Virginia General Assemblytried to enforce its earlier action on March 21, 1873, by de-claring that the town’s legal name was Addison. When thetown was incorporated in 1892, the Virginia General Assem-bly once again gave the town the legal name of Addison.Legally, the town is still named Addison, but has long beenknown by its post office name, Webster Springs. The town’sfirst permanent settler was Polly Arthur, who arrived in 1860.

In 1868, Webster Springs had only five residences, a postoffice, a school, and a tavern (owned by Peter Cogar). Theother residents of the town were the families of JamesWoodzell, Ike Cool, Pat Duffy, George Wolverton, and Mar-tin Lowe. The town’s population grew very slowly, primarilybecause of the lack of good roads to other settlements.

References

Braxton County“Ernie Carpenter: Tales of the Elk River Country.” Goldenseal

(Summer 1986): 112.

Norman, Don. 2003. “Bulltown.” Internet article. Accessed on-line at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~hcpd/norman/BULLTOWN.

Rice, Otis K. 1985. West Virginia: A History. Lexington, KY: TheUniversity of Kentucky Press.

Sutton, John Davison. 1919. History of Braxton County andCentral West Virginia. Parsons, WV: McClain PrintingCompany.

Vinci, John, Editor. 2003. “Biography of Carter Braxton.”Colonial Hall: A Look at America’s Founders. Accessed on-line at: http://www.colonialhall.com/braxton/braxton.asp.

West Virginia Writer’s Project. 1940. Of Stars and Bars.Charleston, WV: West Virginia Writer’s Project.

West Virginia Writer’s Project. 1941. Sutton…On_The_Elk,1798_1941. Charleston, WV: West Virginia Writers Project.

Williams, John Alexander. 1993. West Virginia: A History forBeginners. Charleston, WV: Appalachian Editions.

Calhoun CountyCalhoun County Centennial, 1856-1956. 1956. Grantsville, WV:

Calhoun County Centennial Corporation.

Calhoun County Historical and Genealogical Society. 1989.History of Calhoun County, West Virginia. Waynesville, NC:Walsworth Publishing Company.

Calhoun County Historical and Genealogical Society. 1982.Calhoun County in the Civil War. Grantsville, WV: CalhounCounty Historical and Genealogical Society.

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Clay CountyClay County History Book Committee, 1989. History of Clay

County, West Virginia, Clay, WV: Clay County History BookCommittee.

Woofer, Perry W. no date. The History of Clay County.No publisher.

Gilmer CountyBicentennial Biographies, Gilmer County, West Virginia. 1976.

Glenville, WV: Gilmer County Historical Society.Dewees, Colonel Daniel S. 1904. Recollections of a Life Time.

Parkersburg, WV: Glober Printing and Binding Company.Gainer, Rosemary Layman. 1991. Civil War in Gilmer County

West Virginia. Grantsville, WV: Red Clay Press.Gilmer County Historical Society. 1994. History of Gilmer

County, West Virginia, 1845-1989. Waynesville, NC:Walsworth Publishing Company.

Gilmer: The Birth of a County. 1940. Charleston, WV: WestVirginia Writer’s Project.

Lewis CountyAdkins, Frank S., Jr. 1983. Editor. Stonewall Jackson Lake,

West Fork River, Lewis County, West Virginia: Architecture,History, Oral History, and Reconstructed Domains.Pittsburgh,PA: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Pittsburgh District.

Cook, Roy Bird. 1924. Lewis County in the Civil War.Charleston, WV: Jarrett Printing Company.

Gilchrist, Joy L. 1995. They Started It All: A Guide to Hacker’sCreek Historic Sites. Jane Lew, WV: Hacker’s Creek PioneerDescendants.

Gilchrist, Joy L. and Gilchrist, Charles H. 1993. Lewis CountyWest Virginia: A Pictorial History of Old Lewis County, theCrossroads of Central West Virginia. Virginia Beach, VA: TheDonning Company Publishers.

Smith, Edward Conrad. 1920. A History of Lewis County, WestVirginia. Weston, WV: Edward Conrad Smith.

Roane CountyBishop, William, H. 1927. History of Roane County, West

Virginia. Spencer, WV: Willaim H. Bishop.Mylott, James P. 1984. A Measure of Prosperity: A History of

Roane County. Charleston, WV: Mountain State Press.Sergent, Robert L., Editor. 1990. Roane County West Virginia

Family History, 1989. Waynesville, N.C.: WalsworthPublishing Company.

Upshur CountyBrooks, Morgan M. 1934. Pioneer Settlers of the Buckhannon

Valley. Master’s Thesis. West Virginia Wesleyan College.Buckhannon, West Virginia.

Cutright, William Bernard. 1977. The History of Upshur County,West Virginia: From its Earliest Exploration and Settlement tothe Present Time. Parsons, West Virginia: McClainPrinting Company (orig. pub. 1907).

Gilchrist, Joy. 2003. “The Pringle Brothers and the SycamoreTree.” Internet article. Accessed at: http://www.hackerscreek.com/pringle.htm.

Hardesty, H. H. 1883. Hardesty’s Historical and GeographicalEncyclopedia: Special History of the Virginias. NY: H. H.

Hardesty and Company Publishers. Excerpt, “Upshur County,West Virginia.” Accessed on-line at: http://www.conjure.com/GENE/FARNS/hardesty.html. Site maintained by RowanFairgrove.

Hornbeck, Betty. 1967. Upshur Brothers of the Blue and theGray. Parsons, WV: McClain Printing Company.

Phillips, Brad. 1984. The History of Atlas, West Virginia, andVicinity: Upshur County, 1700s to 1984. Parsons, WestVirginia: McClain Printing Company.

Tenney, Noel, Editor. 1993. All About Upshur County: ABibliography and Resource Guide to the Published andUnpublished Materials About Upshur County, West Virginia.Buckhannon, West Virginia: Upshur County HistoricalSociety.

Webster CountyMiller, Sampson Newton. 1969. Annals of Webster County, West

Virginia Before and Since Reorganization, 1860. Orlando, FL:Golden Rule Press.

Thompson, R. L. 1942. Webster County History - Folklore.Webster Springs, WV: Star Printers.

Webster County Historical Society, Inc. 1994. Heritage ofWebster County, West Virginia. Upper Glade, WV: WebsterCounty Historical Society.

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What’s New at the Institute for Public Affairs:

• The Fall 2003 Session of the West Virginia University Local Government Leadership Academy took place onSeptember 26-27 at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Charleston. Over 100 West Virginia local government officialsattended the session. Pictures of the session can be viewed at: http://www.polsci.wvu.edu/ipa/academy.htm.

• The Interdisciplinary Research Task Force on Welfare Reform is working on a survey of West Virginians whohave exhausted their welfare eligibility. The research is being funded by a grant from the West VirginiaDepartment of Health and Human Resources.

• The Interdisciplinary Research Task Force on Welfare Reform’s book, Welfare Reform in West Virginia, hasbeen accepted for publication by West Virginia University Press. The book will be released in late spring 2004.