Myers' history of West Virginia

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Myers'

History of

West Virginia

[In Two Jolumes)

VOLUME I.

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Iriii NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY

8S:Z\7l

ASTOR, LENOX AND
TILDEN FOUNDATIONS
R 1919

History of West Virginia

TO THE PUBLIC:

There arc several reasons w hy this book was written.

Firstly — There is no single \olume or set of volumes
which contains an up-to-date history of XVest \'irginia.
Lewis' History is the nearest approach. It is a good one.
and fairly supplies the purpose for which it was intended,
namely : a text book for use in the public schools ; but the
information it contains is in such abbreviated form and omits
so many subjects that are really of such historical impor-
tance as to emphasize the need of a book of more extensive
detail and covering a wider scope of information for the use
of the general reading public.

Secondly — There was need of a book which would re\ ive
and help perpetuate the memory of some almost forgotten
heroes and heroines who oi)ene(I and made easier the wa}'
for the succeeding generations of people.

Thirdly — There was need of a record winch would bring
forth to the minds of the present and succeeding generations
some general idea of the manners and customs of the early
settlers and the hardships endured and dangers encountered
by them.

Fourthl}- — There was need of a butjk which should bring
to light some unwritten history and a new version of some
things already chronicled ; and

Lastly — l^he attainment of these objects at a minimum
cost to the reader.

As this book failed to a]i]X'ar within the time announced
several months ago, an ex])lanation of the delay is due the
public :

About eighteen months ago the author arranged with a
certain pubhshing house for the pubUcation of this book, but,
owing to a re-organization of the plant's working force and
the subsequent delay caused thereby, arrangements were
made for the transfer of the work to The Wheeling News
Lithograph Company.

It was the original intention to incorporate the contents
of the book in a single volume; but, by reason of additional
new matter which it was deemed important should be in-
cluded in the book, the work grew to such large proportions
that it was necessary to make it in two volumes, thereby
still further delaying the work and entailing considerable
additional expense to the author.

As for literary merit or excellency of diction in the make-
up of this work, the author makes no claim.

The book is a compilation of information gleaned from
a large number of historical works, old newspaper files, re-
sponsible magazines, correspondence and personal interviews,
which has required a number of years in preparation.

To all who have in any way contributed to the success
of this publication, the writer extends his most sincere thanks.

Trusting that this earnest efifort to contribute something
to the public good may not prove in vain, I submit these
volumes for your generous and impartial consideration.

Very respectfully yours,

S. MYERS.

New Martinsville, W. Va., August 1st. 1915.

CHAPTER I.

AMERICA ANTERIOR TO COLUMBUS.
PRE-HISTORIC RACES.

When man was first created, God said to him : "Be
fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue
it." He spoke in a literal sense ; and, although, perhaps
thousands of years elapsed before the seed of Adam found
lodgment in what is called the "New World", the Great
Creator had planned it in the beginning".

As to the origin and annals of the races which inhabited
America previous to the European invasion, we are in the
dark. At first it was generally believed that the red men
were the aboriginal denizens of this country ; but this idea
has since been proven erroneous. The mounds, ruined cities,
pottery and other remains since found in all parts of the land,
concerning which the Indians were in total ignorance, and
which showed a state of civilization far in advance of theirs,
were proof that a great people had existed in the remote past,
who had flourished and disappeared without leaving any trace
whereby they could be accounted for or identified.

Alexander S. Withers, in his book entitled "Chronicles
of Border Warfare", says, "It is highly probable that the con-
tinent of America was known to the ancient Carthaginians,
and that it was the great island Atlantis, of which mention
is made by Plato, who represents it as larger than Asia and
Africa. The Carthaginians were a maritime people, and it
is known that they extended their discoveries beyond the
narrow sphere which had hitherto limited the enterprise of
the mariner. And although Plato represents Atlantis as
having been swallowed up by an earthquake, and all know-
ledge of the new continent, if any such ever existed, was
entirely lost; still, it is by no means impossible that it had
been visited by some of the inhabitants of the old world prior
to its discovery by Columbus in 1492."

Scarcely less mysterious are the red-men whom we found

History of West Virginia

here. Having no written language or history, their know-
ledge of their own past was confined to vague traditions.
Hawthorn says : "They were few in numbers, barbarous in
condition, untamable in nature ; they built no cities and prac-
ticed no industries; their women planted maize and performed
all menial labors; their men hunted and fought. Before we
came they fought one another ; our coming did not unite them
against a common enemy ; it only gave each of them one
enemy the more. After an intercourse of four hundred years,
we know as little of them as we did at first ; we have neither
educated, absorbed nor exterminated them. The fashion of
their faces, and some other indications, seem to point to a
northern-Asiatic ancestry ; but they cannot tell us even so
much as we can guess. There have been among them, now
and again, men of commanding abilities in war and negotia-
tion ; but cheir influence upon their people has not lasted be-
yond their own lives. Amid the roar and fever of these latter
ages, they stand silent, useless, and apathetic. They belong
to our history only in so far as their savage and treacherous
hostility contributed to harden the fortitude of our earlier
settlers, and to weld them into a united people."

Hawthorn's conception of the early Indian tribes may, in
the main, be correct; but we know that the conditions of the
red man of today Math reference to his relationship with the
whites, are entirely different from that which prevailed in
earlier times. Much of the warlike proclivity of the Indians
was superinduced by some of our so-called civilized white
people introducing among them the devilish "fire water", a
thing which the better class of Indians themselves detested,
and over which they deplored. Of this and other evils intro-
duced among the redmen by the whites, we have ample evi-
dence as shown by the records in the archives of Pennsyl-
vania and other states, notwithstanding the almost unanimous
silence of historians on this point. This matter will be more
fully discussed in another chapter.

An early writer — a Mr. Adair — seems to have made a
very close study of the Indian tribes o'f America. He believes
they are descendants of the Hebrews, and in support of his
claim, gives the following reasons :

History of West Virginia

"Their worship of Jehovah. By a strict, permanent,
divine precept, the Hebrew nation Avas ordered to worship at
Jerusalem, Jehovah the true and Hving God, who by the
Indians, is styled 'Yohewah', to signify 'Sir, Lord, Master',
applying to mere earthly potentates, without the least signifi-
cation or relation to that great and awful name, which de-
scribes the divine presence.

''2nd — Their notions of a theocracy. Agreeably to the
theocracy or divine government of Israel, the Indians think
the deity to be the immediate head of the state. All the
nations of Indians have a great deal of religious pride, and
an inexpressible contempt for the white people.

"In their war orations they used to call us the accursed
people, but flatter themselves with the name of beloved people,
because their supposed ancestors were, as they affirm, under
the immediate government of the Deity, who was present
with them in a peculiar manner, and directed them by
Prophets, while the rest of the world were aliens to the cove-
nant.

"3rd — When the old Archimagus, or an}- of their Magi,
is persuading the people at their religious solemnities, to a
strict observance of the old beloved or divine speech, he
always calls them the beloved or holy people, agreeable to
the Hebrew epithet, ammi (my people) during the theocracy
of Israel.

"It is this opinion that God has chosen them out of the
rest of mankind, as his peculiar people, which inspires the
red Americans with that steady hatred against all the world
except themselves, and renders them hated and despised
by all.

"4th — Their manner of counting time. The Indians
count time after the manner of the Hebrews. They divide
the year into Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. They
number their years from any of these four periods, for they
have no name for a year, and they sub-divide these and count
the year by lunar months, like the Israelites, who counted
time by moons as their name sufficiently testifies. The num-
ber and regular periods of the religious feasts among the
Indians is a good historical proof that they counted by and

History of West Virginia

observed a weekly sabbath, long after their arrival in America.
They began the year at the appearance of the first new moon,
at the vernal equinox, according to the ecclesiastical year of
Moses.

"5th — Till the seventy years' captivity commenced, the
Israelites had only numerical names for their months, except
Abib, and Ethanim, the former signifying a green ear of corn,
the latter robust or valiant. B)^ the first name the Indians,
as an explicative, term their passover, which the trading
people call the green corn dance.

"6th — Their prophets or high priests. In conformity to,
or after the manner of the Jews, the Indians have their
prophets, high priests, and others of a religious order. As
the Jews have a sanctum sanctorum, so have all the Indian
nations. There they deposit their consecrated vessels — ncne
of the laity daring to approach that sacred place. The Ind'an
tradition says that their forefathers were possessed of an
extraordinary divine spirit by which they foretold future
events ; and that this was transmitted to their offspring pro-
vided they obeyed the sacred laws annexed, to-wit : Ishtoola
is the name of all their priestly order and their pontifical
office descends by inheritance to the eldest. There are traces
of agreement, though chiefly lost, in their pontifical dress.

"Before the Indian Archimagus officiates in making the
supposed holy fire for the yearly atonement of sin, the Sagan
clothes him with a white ephod, which is a waistcoat without
sleeves. In resemblance of the Urim and Thummin the
American archimagus wears a breast-plate made of a white
conch shell, with two holes in middle of it, through which he
pulls ends of an otter skin strap and fastens a buckhorn white
button to the outside of each, as if in imitation of the precious
stones of the Urim."

In remarking upon this statement of Mr. Adair, Faber,
a learned divine of the Church of England, has said that
Ishtoola (the name, according to Adair, of the Indian priests)
is most probably a corruption of Ish-da-Eloch, a man of God
(the term used by the Shunemilish woman in speaking of
Elisha), and that Sagan is the very name by which the
Hebrews called the deputy of the High Priest who supplied

History of West Virginia

his office and who performed the functions of it in the absence
of the high priest, or when any accident had disabled him
from officiating in person.

7th — Their festivals, fasts and religious rites. The cere-
monies of the Indians in their religious worship are more
after the Mosaic institutions than of Pagan imitation. This
could not be the fact if a majority of the old nations were of
heathenish descent. They are utter strangers to all the ges-
tures practiced by the Pagans in their religious rites. They
have likewise an appellative, which with them is the mys-
terious, essential name of God ; the tetragrammation, which
they never use in common speech. They are very particular
of the time and place, when and where they mention it, and
this is always done in a very solemn manner. It is known
that the Jews had so great and sacrad regard for the . , .
divine name as scarcely ever to mention it, except when the
high priest went into the sanctuary for the expiation of sins.

Mr. Adair likewise says that the American Indians, like
the Hebrews, have an ark in which are kept various holy
vessels, and which is never suffered to rest on the bare ground.
"On hilly ground, where stones are plenty, they always place
it on them, but on level land it is made to rest on short pegs.
They have also a faith in the power and holiness of their ark,
as strong as the Israelites had in theirs. It is too sacred and
dangerous to be touched by anyone except the chieftain and
his waiter.

"The leader virtually acts the part of a priest of war pro-
tempore, in imitation of the Israelites fighting under the divine
military banner."

Among their other religious rites the Indians, according
to Adair, cut out the sinewy part of the thigh, in commemora-
tion, as he says, of the angel wrestling with Jacob.

8th — Their abstinences from unclean things. "Eagles of
every kind are esteemed b}^ the Indians to be unclean food ;
as also ravens, crows, bats, buzzards, and every species of owl.
They believe that swallowing gnats, flies and the like always
breeds sickness. To this, that divine sarcasm alludes, 'swal-
lowing a camel and straining at a gnat'."

Their purifications for their priests, and for ha\ing

History of West Virginia

touched a dead bod}^ or other unclean things, according to Mr.
Adair, are quite Levitical. He acknowledges, however, that
they have no traces of circumcision ; but he supposes that
they lost this rite in their wanderings, as it ceased among the
Hebrews during the forty years in the wilderness.

9th — Their cities of refuge. "The Israelites had cities of
refuge for those who killed persons unawares. According to
the same particular divine laM^ of mercy, each of the Indian
nations has a house or town of refuge, which is a sure asylum
to protect a manslayer, or the unfortunate captive, if they can
but once enter it."

In almost every nation they have peacable towns, called
ancient holy, or white towns. These seem to have been towns
of refuge, for it is not in the memory of man that ever human
blood was shed in them, although they often force persons
from thence and put them to death elsewhere.

10th — ^Their purifications and ceremonies preparatory to
going to battle :

"Before the Indians go to war, they have many prepara-
tory ceremonies of purification and fasting like what is
recorded of the Israelites."

11th — Their raising seed to a deceased brother :
"The surviving brother, by the Mosaic law, was to raise
seed to a deceased brother, who left a widow childless. The
Indian custom looks the very same way, but in this, as in
their law of blood, the eldest brother can redeem."

With those and m^any arguments of a like kind, has Mr.
Adair endeavored to support the conjecture, that the Ameriqan
Indians are lineally descended from, the Israelites, and gravely
asks of those who may dissent from his opinion of their origin
and descent, to inform him how they came here, and by what
means they found the long chain of rites and customs so
similar to those of the Hebrews, and dissimilar to the rites
and customs of the pagan world.

Many years ago, a provincial officer sojourned some time
with the Indians, and visited twelve different nations of them.
It was his opinion that they were of Chinese and Tartar ex-
traction, judging by their manners and customs ; and he pre-
dicted that in some future era, it would be shown to a cer-

History of West Virginia

tainty that in some of the wars between the Chinese and
Tartars, a part of the inhabitants of the northern provinces
were driven from their country and took refuge in some of
the numerous islands and from thence found their way to
America at different periods of time.

As bearing on the above subject, it is particularly inter-
esting to read the following news item, printed in Wheeling
Sunday News, under date of September 8th, 1912:

"An image of an unmistakable Chinaman, moulded in
clay, has been found at San Miguel Amantia buried beneath
the ruins of three Mexican civilizations.

"This discovery is believed by high archaeological author-
ities to prove the interesting theory that the ancient civiliza-
tion of Mexico preceding that of the Aztecs was of Chinese or
Mongolian origin. This explanation would unravel the mys-
tery of the wonderful Maya ruins of Yucatan and other parts
of Mexico.

"The clay Chinaman, with oblique eye-slits, padded coat,
flowing trousers and slippers — a Chinaman in everything ex-
cept the queue, which is lacking.

"The Chinese, it must be remembered, did not adopt the .
queue until they had been conquered by the Tartar horde
from the north.

"Thirty feet under the ground, at San Miguel Amantia,
nineteen miles from the City of Mexico, the image was un-
covered in the ruins of a buried tomb by Professor William
Niven, of Mexico City.

"It is about seven inches in length, and where the arms
are broken the clay of which the image was made shows red
and friable in the center.

"Outside, however, this clay has metamorphosed to stone
so that it can be chipped with a hammer only with the great-
est difficulty. It is about three and one-half inches in width
across the chest and one and one-half inches in thickness
through the abdomen. In the ears are huge rings, similar to
those worn by the Chinese to this day, and on the head is a
skull cap with a tiny button in the center, almost exactly like
the caps of the Mandarins of the empire which has so lately
become a republic.

8 History of West Virginia

"The coat, which is loose and of the type still worn by
the Chinese, is shown fastened with a frog and a button, while
on the breast is a circular plate or ornament, evidently once
covered with a thin layer of beaten gold, but worn bare by
contact with the earth for unknown centuries. Each arm is
broken off close to the shoulder, and the opening of the entire
tomb, or room, nearly thirty feet square, in which the image
was found, has failed to discover the missing hands.

"This Chinese image was not made by the Aztecs. It
had been buried in the earth before the Aztecs set foot on the
plateau. The Aztecs were newcomers in Mexico's history,
the bloodthirsty conquerors of the great civilized, organized
races of America's Egypt, who ravaged with fire and sword
the cities built by the Toltecs, the Olmecs and the Mayas. It
is probably true that the Aztecs built little, if anj?^, of the
massive palaces and temples whose ruins mark all parts of
Mexico. They took them by force of arms from the builders.

"When Herman Cortez asked of Montezuma, his captive,
^Who built that huge temple?' Montezuma replied, 'Las
Toltecas,' and Bernal Diaz, historian of the conquest, named
. the tribe which had preceded the Aztecs in the Valley of
Mexico, the Toltecs. But, in the Nahuati tongue, which was
the language of the Aztecs, and which is still spoken in some
of the villages' of remote Mexico, 'toltecas' means a builder, a
mason, nothing more, and Montezuma knew as little of the
race which made the Calendar Stone, which worked out its
own system of astronomy and time, and w'hich moved its tem-
ples, as did the Spanish invaders — and archaeologists of today
knew very little more until Professor Niven uncovered the
Chinaman.

"Mr. Niven, who has been delving in the burial tom^bs
and temples of Mexico for thirty years, declares that the first
people of Mexico came from China, by way of Behring Straits.
Ramon Mena, the foremost living archaeologist of Mexico,
who has spent twenty years in the ruins of Mexico's dead
races, supports him without qualification. There is another
school of archaeology, whose members insist that the abo-
rigines of Mexico came from the east, by way of a land con-

History of West Virginia

nection across the lower end of the Gulf of Mexico, to what
is now the northward-pointing peninsula of Yucatan.

"Now comes the curious Chinaman, buried for at least
fifteen hundred years, possibly more, to prove to the world
that the Mongol. was known in Mexico when the Wise Men
followed the star to Bethlehem. The image is not an idol ;
nine-tenths of the figurines which are called idols in Mexico
were, indeed, never intended as objects of worship. It is an
ornament for the house of some prehistoric noble, probably
the same man whose crumbling skull, shell money, jade orna-
ments and flower vases were found scattered round the
Chinese image.

" 'This image,' says Professor Niven, 'proves with indis-
putable evidence that the people who lived in the Valley of
Mexico ten or fifteen centuries ago knew and were familiar
with the Mongol type. The ruin in which I found it was in
the remains of the third civilization in the pit which I had dug
at San Miguel Amantia, near Tialnepantla, nineteen miles
from the National Palace in Mexico City. The first civiliza-
tion, marked by a cement floor and the walls of concrete
buildings, I found at a depth of eight feet. Eleven feet below
it was the second civilization, of about the same grade of
development as the first, and, thirty feet and three inches from
the surface of the ground I came on a bedchamber, or a tomb,
I do not know which, in a third stratum of ruins, which con-
tained the finest artefacts I have ever seen in Mexico.

" T am inclined to think the room, which was thirty feet
square, its walls made of concrete and crushed down to within
about a foot of their bases, was a tomb. In the centre, on a
raised rectangular platform, also of concrete, lay the skull and
some of the bones of the skeleton of a man, who could not
have been more than five feet in height. His arms were very
long, reaching almost to his knees, and his skull was of a
decidedly Mongoloid type. Around his neck had been a string
of green jade beads, another link which binds Mexico to China,
for real jade has never been found in Mexico in a natural state.

" 'Lying beside the body was a string of five hundred and
ninety-seven pieces of shell. I say string, but the buckskin
thong which had once borne them was long since rotted to

10 History of West Virginia

dust, and the wampum, or money, lay as it had fallen from
the string. With this money lay the greatest find of all — •
the little Chinaman. It is the first find of the kind ever found
in Mexico, though Mongoloid types persist in sufficient num-
bers among the Indians of all Mexico to convince any one, it
seems to me, that the Indian blood of the country came
originally from Asia.

" 'Near the skeleton, but off the platform, lay a flower
vase, about fifteen inches in height, undoubtedly filled with
xochitl, the yellow sacred flower of practically all the ancient
races of this country. Undoubtedly the tomb, or room, is a
part of the ruin of a large city, and I have secured the aid of
the National Museum, to whom the Chinese image will be
presented, to clear away the thirty feet of earth a sufficient
distance around the shaft I have dug to show what lies be-
neath.

" 'It must be remembered that this was not a god, nor
an idol, but an ornament, the image of some person, his por-
trait done in clay by some prehistoric sculptor. Thousands of
images of men, women and animals, and a very few of chil-
dren, are found in all ancient graves in this country. They
were made for preservation in houses, and to be buried with
the dead, and I believe this was the image of the man whose
skeleton lay on the platform in this buried room. How long
was he buried? How long is required for the elements to
deposit thirty feet of earth on a level surface ! Making a
rough guess, without figuring the rates of deposition of the
different classes of earth which make up ^this blanket, I
should say not less than fifteen centuries, possibly more.

" 'San Miguel Amantia, where I found the three buried
cities, is a level plain thirty miles long by ten miles wide.
There is no trace of any cataclysm which might have buried
the cities deeply and suddenly. Earth was deposited slowly
over the first city ; then the second was built on top of that
ten or eleven feet of earth. Then came another period of cen-
turies of deposition and the third city was built. Above this
upper ruin Nature laid another blanket of earth, and on the
surface today cattle graze, while miserable brush huts dot the
fields above buried palaces of stone and concrete.

History of West Virginia 11

" 'The little stone Chinaman furnishes exactly the link
for which we have been searching. He says without speaking
that the most ancient tribes of Mexico were off-shoots of the
Mongoloid.' "

CHAPTER II.

AMERICA'S DESTINY— HER PAST AND FUTURE.

Regardless of what we know or do not know concerning
the origin of the first settlers on American soil, God, in His
infinite wisdom and power, appears to be carrying out His
purposes by a wonderful system of evolution, wherein the
inferior ultimately gives place to the superior, and right pre-
vails over wrong, notwithstanding all of Satan's persistent
opposition.

Hawthorn says : "The American nation is the embodi-
ment and vehicle of a Divine purpose to emancipate and
enlighten the human race. Man is entering upon a new career
of spiritual freedom; he is to enjoy a hitherto unprecedented
condition of political, social and moral liberty — as distin-
guished from license, which, in truth, is slavery.

"The stage for this grand evolution was fixed in the
Western Continent, and the pioneers who went thither were
inspired with the desire to escape from the thralldom of the
past, and to nourish their souls with that pure and exquisite
freedom which can afford to ignore the ease of the body, and
all temporal luxuries, for the sake of that elixir of immor-
tality. It is what differentiates Americans from all other '
peoples ; it is Avhat makes Americans out of emigrants ; it is
what draws the masses of Europe hither, and makes thein^
rulers fear and hate us.

"Some sort of recognition of the American Idea and of
the American destiny, affords the only proper ground for
American patriotism. We talk of the size of our country,
its wealth and prosperity, of its enlightenment, but if these
things be all that we have to be proud of, we have little.
They are in truth but outward signs of a far more precious
possession within. We are the pioneers of the NEW DAY,
or we are nothing worth talking about. We are at the
threshold of our career. Our record thus far is full of faults.

History of West Virginia 13

and presents not a few deformities, due to our human frailties
and limitations; but our general direction has been onward
and tipward."

This thought of Hawthorn's — so beautifully expressed —
is well founded. We have evidence of its truth on every hand.
Yet, in America, we have not a monopoly of goodness, nor
have other nations a monopoly on wickedness. We have some
of both.

In human life, these two forces — good and evil — are con-
stantly at war with each other. Good represents the warp
and woof of our moral fabric. Evil is the moth that is ever
striving to consume it. Can we question which will prevail?

Considering th^ countless number of people who have
landed on our shores within the last four hundred years, from
all parts of the globe, would it not be strange if some of them
or their ofif-spring would not prove to be undesirable citizens?
And since we have such, we must work persistently and con-
sistently to eradicate evil and evil tendencies' by a system of
good government and education.

Progress is, in the very nature of things, a result of former
failures or something uncompleted. We reckon progress by
comparison with previous conditions. If previous conditions
have not been improved upon then there has been no improve-
ment. This is self-evident.

Then it logically follows that, in order to reach the goal of
an enterprise, it is necessary for us to take a retrospective
view and see wherein we or others have failed and the cause
thereof. Having adopted the good points and rejected the
bad ones, we are then armed with a sword of light that will
penetrate the darkest places and protect us from the pitfalls
that lurk therein to ensnare the unwary traveler.

Therefore, let us go back a way and see if we cannot
learn truths we never heard before. We are told of the many
good qualities possessed by our ancestors ; their bravery on
the battle field ; the heroic mother trying to protect her babe
from the savage's tomahawk, and of the man)^ trials and hard-
ships endured by the early settlers; but our historians fail to
tell us of the real cause of much of the savage cruelty.. Let

14 History of West Virginia

us have the truth. Read the following article, written by
George P. Donahoo, in the "Red Man" :

"The Aborigines were, in the main, sedentary in their
habits. They were not migratory. The same tribe occupied
the same habitat for almost countless generations. They
were, as a rule, at peace with each other. War, when it was
engaged in, was not particularly destructive of lives. The
weapons used in the tactics employed precluded any very
great destructiveness of life.

"Then came the white man. The use of gunpowder by
the Iroquois gave that aggressive confederation a tremendous
power over the weaker tribes of the interior. War became a
destructive scourge to a degree absolutely unknown before.
As these tribes, driven back by the Iroquois, pressed upon
the hunting grounds and the villages of the tribes in the in-
terior, they in turn were brought in contact with tribes still
more remote. War became common. Not only did the use of
gunpowder and European arms cause this condition of unrest
and warfare, but, in addition, the Indian trade in furs and
peltries became the cause of a condition which had not pre-
viously existed.

"The Indian who had previously hunted in order to sup-
ply his family with food and clothing, now hunted in order
that he might sell the fruits of the hunt to the white man for
gunpowder, such trinkets as pleased him, and rum. Thus
armed with the gun, which he had bought from the white
trader, and with his brain afire with the cheap rum which he
had obtained from the same source, the noble red man of the
forests and prairies became a fiend incarnate. He quarreled
with his brother red man and killed him. He quarreled with
the trader who made him drunk in order to cheat him out of
his furs and peltries and his lands, and then he went home to
his wigwam to brood over his v/rongs, with his brain on fire
and his nerves throbbing because of the vile, decoction he had
drunken, he took down his gun, went out to hunt the trader
who had cheated him, found him and killed him. Then there
would be an uprising of the frontiersmen, who went forth to
hunt Indians — no matter what Indians. They found 'Indians'

History of West Virginia 15

and killed them, scalped them, burned their villages, and then
there would be another so-called 'Indian War'.

"The pathetic picture of what the red man was, and what
the white man made of him, as early as 1683, is given in a
letter of William Penn. He says: 'The natives are proper
and shapely, very swift, their language lofty. They speak
little, but fervently and with elegancy, though the Dutch and
Swede and English have by brandy and rum almost debaucht
them all.' (Arch, of Pa., Vol. 1, p. 69). At the treaty with
the Conestoga, in 1717, when the Indians were asked if they
had any complaints to make, they replied that they 'had
nothing to complain of, but that some bad, straggling people
brought too much rum amongst them and debauched their
young men.'

First Murder Caused by Rum,

"It is worthy of note that the first murder of a white man
by a red man on the waters of La Belle river, near Pittsburg,
was caused by a drunken brawl in which an Indian trader
was killed.

"In 1738 a petition was sent to the governor from this
same region, asking him to see that 'there is no rum or strong
liquors brought into our towns' for the space of four years.
This document was signed by Peter Chartier and many of
the chiefs on the Ohio. They reported that they had spilled
'forty gallons of rum' in the streets of the village. (Ibid, 549).
This is perhaps the earliest precedent which Special Officer
Johnson has for this method of making use of rum.

Complaints of the Indians.

"One of the chief reasons of the alienation of the Dela-
ware and Shawnee at this period was the debauchery of the
rum traffic, against which they had objected from the time of
the entrance of the Shawnee into the province. As early as
1710, one of their chiefs made complaint against a certain
Sylvester Garland, who had taken 150 gallons of rum into the
villages on the Susquehanna, and then after having made
drunken the Indians, abused them. (Col. Rec. Pa., Vol. II,
39.)

16 History of West Virginia

"Again, in 1704, the Indians at Conestoga made complaint
of 'the great quantities of rum, continually brought to their
town, insomuch that they were ruined by it, having nothing
left, but have laid out all, even their clothes, for rum'. (Ibid,
141.) Again, in 1796, the}'^ complained 'because their hunters,
on their return from their hunts, were met by these rum
traders, and were made drunk before they got home to their
wives, and were so imposed on and cheated by the traders of
the fruits of all their labors'. (Ibid, 248.)

Complaint to Governor Gookin.

"In 1710 this same complain was made to Governor
Gookin, because the young men of the various villages on the
Susquehanna, upon returning from their hunting expeditions,
were met by the traders who made them 'drunk with rum, and
then cheat them out of their skins, and if some method be not
taken to prevent it, they must be forced to remove themselves
or starve, their dependence being entirely upon their peltry.'
(Ibid, 211.) They made complaint again in 1715 and 1718.

"Then commenced the migration of the Delaware and
Shawnee to the Ohio, which was caused chiefly by the wise,
old men, who wished to get the young men away from the
debauchery of the rum traffic. But it was in vain ; the rum
trader followed the Delaware and Shawnee over the ridges of
the Alleghanies to the Ohio, where the same scenes of debauch-
ery and cheating were enacted. When Conrad Weiser went to
Loganstown, on the first official mission of the English
speaking race to the Indians beyond the mountains, one of
the principal subjects spoken of by the Indian chiefs at the
council was the rum traffic. Before Weiser made this difficult
journey, Allumapees, the Delaware chief, had complained to
the provincial authorities of the great quantities of rum being
carried into the villages on the Ohio.

"Shikellamy, the Iroquois deputy at Shamokin, then the
chief Indian settlement in the province, had also made com-
plaint concerning the sale of rum. When Weiser was at the
council with the Cayugas, in June, 1748, the English messen-
gers offered the chiefs a cask of rum, which was returned with

History of West Virginia 17

this statement: 'We have drunk too much of your rum
already, which has occasioned our destruction ; we will,
therefore, for the future, beware of it.' (Col. Rec. Pa., V. 285.)

Braddock's Army Slaughtered by Rum.

"When the army of General Braddock was laboriously
cutting its way over the mountain ranges from Fort Cumber-
land to Fort Duquesne, in 1775, he was going to face a great
body of Delaware and Shawnee warriers, who had been
driven from the Susquehanna to their place of refuge on the
Ohio, and who had been alienated from the English, chiefly
because of the debauchery of the Indian trader.

"Braddock's fearful slaughter on the banks of the Monon-
gahela in 1775 was due far more to rum than to any lack of
ability on the part of Braddock himself. It may be safely said
that had not the debauchery of the rum traffic driven the
Delawares and the Shawnees to the Ohio, away from their
friends, the English, Braddock would have marched into a
deserted Fort Duquesne in 1775, just as Forbes did in 1758.

Horrors of Border Warfare.

"The 'history of rum' in the period following Braddock's
defeat is simply a history of the fearful years of blood-shed
and suffering which followed.

"After Pontiac's conspiracy, the period of settlement of
the western country is simply the history of one act of cruelty
after another. The fearful raids, border wars, murders and
cruelties of this period are simply a series of crimes having
their origin in whiskey bottle. To read the accounts of the
conditions under which the Indian trade was conducted on
the Susquehanna in 1701, and on the Ohio in 1755, is simply
to read the conditions of the Indian trade on the frontiers of
English settlement as it moves westward to the Pacific.

"The pathway of Anglo-Saxon civilization on the Ameri-
can continent has been a clearly marked trail, strewn with
whiskey bottles. It reaches from the Delaware to the utter-
most point in Alaska. When the United States bought
Alaska from Russia, there at once commenced the debauchery

18 History of West Virginia

of the native tribes by rum, or rather by the vile substitute
called 'hootzenoo', which threatened to entirely destroy the
native Indians. The use of this decoction of molasses, and
the introduction of the loathsome disease of the soldiers,
threatened the complete extermination of one of the native
Alaskan tribes.

"I. C. Dennis, Deputy Collector of Fort Wrangel, says :
'Soldiers and Indian women were frequently seen having a
drunken spree, immorality being the watchword. Then, for a
change, Indians have been known to make liquor and sell it
to soldiers by the glass at ten cents a drink. I have frequently
seen soldiers go to the Indian ranch for their morning drink
of 'hootzenoo'. Our Indians here are not a band of cut-
throats and pirates that require bayonets and brass guns to
keep them in subjection.' (U. S. Report on Alaska, 1879, 154.)

Plea of Toy-ah-att.

"One of the chiefs of these Indians at Fort Wrangel,
whose name was Toy-ah-att, said in a speech :

" 'We ask that we be civilized, Christianized and educated.
Give us a chance and we will show the world that we can
become peaceable citizens and good Christians. An effort has
already been made by Christian friends to better our condi-
tion, and may God bless them in their work. Many of you
have Indian women living with you. I ask you to send them
to school, and church, where they may learn to become good
women. Don't, my brothers, let them go to the dance houses,
for there they will learn to be bad and to drink whiskey. If
you will assist us in doing good, and quit selling whiskey, we
will soon make Fort Wrangel a quiet place, and the stricken
Indians will become a happy people.' (Ibid, 160-161.)

"Such a speech as that from a 'heathen' man should bring
the blush of shame to our cheeks. The Delaware welcomed
the white man to the shores of his beautiful river, the Stickeen
welcomed the white man to Alaska, and the white man showed
his appreciation of the red man's hospitality by making him
a drunkard and his wife and daughter debauched prostitutes."

The foregoing article certainly points out a very bad
state of affairs, but we all know that practically the same con-

History of West Virginia 19

ditions exist today, only on a much larger scale. The saloon-
keeper, armed with a license, now supplants the "Indian
trader". His place of operation, wherever he can obtain a
license ; his customer, any person with the price of a drink and
who will spend it for that purpose ; his victims, God only
knows how many. The prisons, infirmaries and graveyards
are full of them, while untold thousands are but awaiting their
turn.

And what is the CAUSE for this? AVARICE— a con-
suming greed for gold.

It is said that "money is the root of all evil", but this is
not true. The evil comes only when it is improperly obtained,
or improperly used. When obtained legitimately and used for
a good purpose, it is a blessing; but when it is obtained
through unfair means, or spent for an evil purpose, it becomes
a curse.

As with people, so with nations. It was avarice that
prompted the mother country to burden the colonists with an
unjust taxation; it was avarice that introduced slavery in this
country, and it was not until thousands of precious lives were
sacrificed that these evils were overcome.

But, let it not be understood that the writer means to say
that avarice is a characteristic of Americans, not that they are
moral perverts, or unpatriotic. Far be it from that. America,
like all countries, has a considerable number of bad "inhabit-
ants" whom we should not dignify with the name citizen, but
these, fortunately, are very much in the minority, and their
increase is not keeping pace with the healthy growth of the
country.

The average citizen of the United States is a "representa-
tive" citizen. He is qualified to represent the people in any
honorable capacity, and does truly represent them. This is
what makes our country great. He is honest, intelligent,
broad and liberal-minded ; kindly disposed ; lovable, and ]H)s-
sesses all the qualities that go to make a real, live Christian.
He is intensely patriotic ; he loves the stars and stripes, and
swears by the Constitution. He is conservative in State and
National aflfairs, and is inclined to arbitration rather than to
arms ; yet, if "in the course of human events, it becomes neces-

20 History of West Virginia

sary" for him to shoulder the musket to protect his country's
flag, he will be found fighting near ''Old Glory". Or, again,
"if in the course of human events, it becomes necessary" to
even change some clause in the Constitution itself, which, to
him may appear to have outlived its usefulness, he will delib-
erately but surely exercise his right of franchise and vote out
the offending clause and fill up the gap with a nevv' or amended
law which shall supply the requirements of a "nation that
leads in progress".

America's Destiny is Safe in Hands Like These.

"Man's fate is wrought in the loom of years.

To pattern traced by an unseen hand;
The shuttle flies and the weaver sighs.

For the work is slow and tragic and grand.
Some shuttles are filled with golden thread.

For the few great souls who march in the van ;
But most are filled with the thread used for

The warp and woof of the average man.

"And not till the loom stands, stop'd and still
And the busy shuttles no longer fly.
Shall God his hidden design reveal.

And explain to us all the reason why
The av'rage man is needed as much

In the wonderful world He has planned.
As the man in majesty fashioned

- By the shuttles filled with the golden strand.

"For isn't it so in want and in woe,

When fate has left us no hope and no plan ;
Then we welcome the counsel and aid

Of the old fashioned average man?
Wearing the grime of shop or of mine.

He does his life w^ork as well as he can ;
Some da}^ God will bless him and crown him

The honest, true-hearted, AVERAGE man."
(By Stuart F. Reed, Sec'y State West Va.)

CHAPTER III.

EXPLORATIONS IN AMERICA BY FRENCH AND
ENGLISH — THEIR BASE OF CONTEN-
TION FOR OWNERSHIP.

As most of the difficulties experienced by the early
settlers of what is now West Virginia grew out of the con-
tending claims of England and France for supremacy in this
country, it might be well to here give a general outline of
the discoveries and settlements made by each of these
pov^ers. In doing this, the writer quotes freely from "With-
er's Border Warfare", as others have done.

In March, 1496, a commission was granted by Henry VII,
king of England, to John Cabot and his three sons, empower-
ing them to sail under the English flag in search of "new
discoveries, and in the event of their success, to take posses-
sion, in the name of the King of England, of the countries
thus discovered and not inhabited by Christian people".
This expedition was not carried out. "But in May, 1498,
Cabot, with his son, Sebastian, embarked on a voyage to
attain the desired object, and succeeded in his design so far
as to effect a discovery of North America, and, although he
sailed along the coast from Labrador to Virginia, yet it does
not appear that he made any attempt either at settlement or
conquest." It was on the strength of this discovery the
English based their claims to that part of America, and they
therefore subsequently took possession of it.

In the year 1558, letters patent were issued by Queen
Elizabeth empowering Sir Humphrey Gilbert to "discover
and take possession of such remote; heathen and barbarous
lands as were not actually possessed by any Christian prince
or people".

Two expeditions, conducted by this gentleman, ter-
minated unfavorably. Nothing was done by him towards the
accomplishment of the objects in view, more than the taking

22 History of West Virginia

possession of the island of New Foundland, in the name of
the English Queen.

In the month of April, 1584, Sir Walter Raleigh, by
authority of a similar patent, dispatched two vessels under
command of Amidas and Barlow, "for the purpose of visiting
and obtaining such a knowledge of the country which he pro-
posed to colonize as would facilitate the attainment of his
object". In their vo3''age they approached the North Ameri-
can continent towards the Gulf of Florida, and sailing north-
wardly, touched at an island situate on the inlet into Pamlico
sound, in North Carolina, which island they named Wokocon,
and proceeding from thence they reached Roanoke, near the
mouth of Albemarle sound. Remaining here a short time and
after having obtained from the Indians such information as
they could give concerning the country, Amidas and Barlow
returned to England.

In 1585, Sir Walter Raleigh again fitted out seven ships,
the command of which he gave to Richard Greenville. These
vessels were provisioned for a settlement. Greenville touched
at the islands of Wokocon and Roanoke, which had been
previously visited by Barlow and Amidas. After leaving one
hundred and eight of his passengers on Roanoke Island, he
returned to England.

"These colonists, after having remained about twelve
months and explored the adjacent country, became so dis-
couraged and exhausted by fatigue and famine that they
abandoned the country. Sir Richard Greenville, returning
shortly afterwards to America, and not being able to find
them, and at a loss to conjecture their fate, left in the
island another small party of settlers and again set sail for
England."

Queen Elizabeth was so well pleased with the flattering
description given of the country by those who had visited it
that she gave it the name of Virginia, "as a memorial that it
had been discovered in the reign of a virgin Queen".

After several ineffectual attempts to colonize North
America, a permanent settlement was finally established at
Jamestown, Va., in 1607, by one hundred and five men M^ho
left England in December of the previous year on a small

History of West Virginia 23

vessel and two barks under command of Captain Newport.
These vessels w^cre driven into Chesapeake bay, and, being
unable to land at Cape Henry, "they sailed up the Powhattan
(since called the James) river, and on the 13th of May, 1607,
debarked on the north side of the river at a place to which
they gave the name of Jamestown". The whites occupied
the country from this time on, subject to the crown of Great
Britain, until the Revolutionary War.

In 1609 a new charter was issued to "the treasurer and
company of the adventurers of the City of London for the
first colony of Virginia in absolute property, the lands extend-
ing from Point Comfort along the sea coast two hundred
miles to the northward, and from the same point along the
sea coast two hundred miles to the southward, and up into
the land throughout from sea to sea, west and northwest, and
also all islands lying within one hundred miles of the coast
of both seas of the precinct aforesaid". Her boundaries were
later reduced to the present limits of Virginia and West
Virginia, owing to conflicting charters granted other corpora-
tions, and "to the suicidal liberality of Virginia herself", as
historian Withers declares.

Admiral Champlain, commanding a French fleet, arrived
in the St. Lawrence and founded the City of Quebec in 1608.
Notwithstanding a Spanish sailor had previously entered
the St. Lawrence and established a port at the mouth of
Grand river, and its proximity to the English colonies, neither
of those powers seriously contested the right of France to its
possession. "Yet it was frequently the theatre of war, and as
early as 1629 was subdued by England. By the treaty of St.
Germains in 1632, it was restored to France, as was also the
then province of Acadie, now known as Nova Scotia. There
is no doubt but that this latter province was, by priority of
settlement, the property of France, but its principal town
having been repeatedly reduced to possession by the English,
it was ceded to them by the treaty of LUrecht, in 1713."

France, Spain and England each claimed the country
bordering the Mississippi river and its tributary streams.
"The claims of England (based on the discovery by the Cabots
of the eastern shore of the United States) included all the

24 History o£ West Virginia

country between the parallels of latitude within which the
Atlantic shore was explored, extending westwardly to the
Pacific Ocean, a zone athwart the continent between the thir-
tieth and forty-eighth degrees of north latitude."

"From the facility with which the French gained the
good will and friendly alliance of the natives in Canada by
inter-marrying with and assimilating themselves to the habits
and inclinations of these children of the forest, an intimacy
arose which induced the Indians to impart freely to the
French their knowledge of the interior country.

"Among other things, information was communicated to
them of the fact that farther on there was a river of great
size and immense length, which pursued a course opposite to
that of the St. Lawrence, and emptied itself into an unknown
sea. It was conjectured that it must necessarily flow into the
Gulf of Mexico, or the South Sea ; and in 1673 Marquette and
Joliet, — French missionaries, — together with five others, com-
menced a journey from Quebec to ascertain the fact and
examine the country bordering its shores.

"From Lake Michigan they proceeded up the Fox river
nearly to its source ; thence to Wisconsin, down it to the
Mississippi, in which river the}^ sailed as far as to about the
thirty-third degree of north latitude. From this point they
returned through the Illinois country to Canada.

"At the period of this discovery, M. de La Salle, a
Frenchman of enterprise, courage and talents but without
fortune, was commandant of Fort Frontignac. Pleased with
the description given by Marquette and Joliet of the country
which they had visited, he formed the determination of exam-
ining it himself, and for this purpose left Canada in the close
of the summer of 1679, in company with Father Luis Henne-
pin and some others. On the Illinois he erected Fort Creve-
couer, where he remained during the winter, and instructing
Father Hennepin, in his absence, to ascend the Mississippi to
its sources, returned to Canada. M. de La Salle subsequently
visited this country and, establishing the villages of Cahokia
and Kaskaskia, left them under the command of M. de Tonti ;
and, going back to Canada, proceeded from thence to France

History of West Virginia 25

to procure the co-operation of the ministry in effecting a
settlement of the valley of the Mississippi."

M. de La Salle's mission to France was successful. "He
succeeded in impressing on the minds of the French ministry
the great benefits which would result from its colonization,
and was the first to suggest the propriety of connecting the
settlements on the Mississippi with those in Canada by a cor-
don of forts, a measure which was subsequently attempted to
be carried into effect.

"With the aid afforded him by the government of France,
he was enabled to prepare an expedition to accomplish his
object; and, sailing in 1684 for the mouth of the Mississippi,
steered too far westward and landed in the province (now
State) of Texas, and on the banks of the River Guadaloupe.
Every exertion which a brave and prudent man could make
to effect the security of his little colony and conduct them to
the settlement in Illinois was fruitlessly made by him. In
reward for all his toil and care he was basely assassinated,
the remnant of the party whom he was conducting through
the wilderness finally reached the Arkansas, where was a
settlement of French emigrants from Canada. The colonists
left by him at the Bay of St. Bernard were mostly murdered
by the natives, the remainder were carried away by the Span-
iards in 1689."

For some tiine after this, attempts on the part of the
French to colonize the Mississippi near the Gulf of Mexico
were fruitless.

That portion of the southern part of the United States of
which the present site of New Orleans formed the center of
settlements continued in the possession of France until 1763,
when, by the treaty of Paris, she ceded to Great Britain,
together with Canada, her possessions east of the Mississippi
river, excepting the "island of New Orleans". The latter and
her territory on the west bank of the Mississippi were trans-
ferred to Spain.

It is generally conceded that on the basis of priority of
discovery, the title of Spain to the southern part of what is
now the United States, including a large part of the Missis-
sippi valley, was as good as that of either England or France.

26 History o£ West Virginia

Juan Ponce de Leon, a Spaniard, discovered and gave
name to Florida in 1512, five years after the discovery of the
Pacific by Balboa. He was killed by the Indians in a second
visit to Florida, in 1521.

In 1518, Francisco Gary cruised along the whole Gulf
coast, passing the mouth of the Mississippi river, — the "Miche
Sepe", or Father of Waters, of the Indians. In 1520, Lucas
Vasquez de Allyon sailed from Cuba "in quest of a land
called Chicora, north of Florida, said to possess a sacred
stream whose waters had the miraculous virtue of those of
Fortune of Youth."

In 1528, Pamphilo de Narvaez made an effort to take
possession of this land, but met with such vigorous opposition
by the Indians that but a mere handful of his six hundred men
escaped with him to the coast, from whence they sought to
escape in five hurriedly constructed craft, four of which were
lost in storms on the Gulf; the survivors landing, sought to
cross the continent to the province of Sonora, already colo-
nized by Spaniards. Four of the party were captured by the
Indians, but later escaped to the Spanish settlement.

Hernando (Ferdinand) De Soto, a Spaniard, then gov-
ernor of Cuba, sailed from Havana with a fleet of nine
vessels and a force of six or seven hundred men on the 18th
of May, 1539, and cast anchor in Tampa Ba\^ on the 30th of
the same month. After landing, he and his men at once pro-
ceeded through the country. Their mission, judging from
their acts, seemed to be one of murder and plunder. After
roaming about the country for a time, committing acts of
depredation, they finally arrived at a large village called
Mavilla, close to the site of the modern Mobile, in Alabama
in the autumn of 1540, their numbers greatly reduced. Here
the natives were gathered in considerable force, and it soon
became evident that an attempt would be made to "exact
vengeance for the Jong course of oppression of which the
white (Spaniards) intruders had been guilty in their two
years' wanderings". Intending to take possession of Mavilla
in his usual high-handed manner, De Soto and a few of his
men entered the palisades forming its defences. Here a "dis-
pute" ensued between a minor chief and one of the Spaniards,

History of West Virginia 27

and the latter struck the chief with his cutlass, and a general
fight ensued, in which much property and many lives were
lost. After burning the village, De Soto and the remnant of
his men proceeded northward, arriving at a small village, be-
longing to the Chickasaw Indians, in the State of Mississippi,
in the month of December. "In the beginning of Spring the
usual arbitrary proceedings were resorted to by De Soto for
procuring porters to carry his baggage on his next trip, and
this led to a second terrible fight, in which the Spaniards were

worsted and narrowly escaped extermination."

With the few followers that now remained, De Soto pro-
ceeded in a northwesterly direction, and, crossing the State
of Mississippi, arrived, in May, on the banks of "the mighty
river from which it takes its name, in about N. lat. 35°. Here,
building barges capable of carrying their horses, the Span-
iards crossed the river, and immediately opened hostilities
with the Indians on the other side. They proceeded north-
ward, constantly harassed by the natives, until they reached
the region of the present State of Missouri, whose "inhabit-
ants took them for children of the Sun and brought out their
blind to be restored to sight. After some missionary labors
with these Indians, De Soto proceeded westward, and en-
camped for the winter about the site of Little Rock, Arkansas,
after having reached the highlands of southwest Missouri,
near the White river".

Though worn by continual wanderings and warfare, and
deprived by death of his chief helper, Juan Ortiz, De Soto
now endeavored to win over the Indians by claiming super-
natural powers and declaring himself immortal ; but it was
too late to inaugurate a new policy. The spot selected for
encampment proved to be unhealthful ; the white men began
to succumb to disease ; scouts sent out to explore the neigh-
borhood for a more favorable situation brought back reports
of howling wildernesses, impenetrable woods, and, worst of
all, bands of Indians creeping up from every side to hem in
and destroy the little knot of white men. "Thus driven to
bay, De Soto, who was now himself either attacked by disease
or broken down by all he had undergone, determined at last
to die like a man, and, calling the survivors of his once gallant

28 History of West Virginia

company about him, he asked pardon for the evils he had
brought upon those who had trusted in him, and named Luis
Moscoso de Alvaredo as his successor."

On the following day. May 21, 1542, the unfortunate man
died, and his successor, Alvaredo, "fearing an onslaught from
the natives should the death of De Soto, who claimed immor-
tality, be discovered", had the body wrapped in cloths made
heavy by sand, and dropped from a boat in the Mississippi
river during the midnight hour. The Indians, missing the
"Child of the Sun", made inquiries concerning his where-
abouts, and were informed that he had departed for a tem-
porary sojourn in Heaven and would return soon. During
this expected return, the camp was broken up as quietly as
possible, and Alvaredo led his people westward, hoping, as
Cabeca had done before him, to reach the Pacific coast. But,
after long months of wandering in pathless prairies, they
finally retraced their steps to the Mississippi. Remaining here
about six months, they constructed a number of boats, in
which they entered on the 2d of July, 1543, and after a voyage
of seventeen days between banks lined with hostile Indians,
"who plied them unceasingly with their poisoned arrows,
brought a few haggard, half-naked survivors to the longed-
for gulf. Fifty days later, after a weary cruise along the
rugged coasts* of what is now Louisiana and Texas, a party,
still further reduced, landed at the Spanish settlement of
Panuco, in Mexico, where they were received as men risen
from the dead".

The foregoing information concerning explorations by
the Spaniards was taken principally from "The Great Repub-
lic", Vol. I.

The following is taken from Withers's "Border Warfare",
concerning the struggle between the whites and Indians for
supremacy in America, and is well worth repeating:

"Thus, it is said, were different parts of this continent
discovered ; and by virtue of the settlements thus effected by
those three great powers of Europe, the greater portion of
it was claimed as belonging to them, respectively, in utter
disregard of the rights of the Aborigines. And while the
historian records the colonization of America as an event

History of West Virginia 29

tending to ameliorate the condition of Europe, and as having
extended the blessings of civil and religious liberty, human-
ity must drop a tear of regret, that it has likewise forced
the natives of the new, and the inhabitants of the old, to
drink so deeply from the cup of bitterness.

"The cruelties which have been exercised on the Aboir-
gines of America, the wrong and outrage heaped on them
from the days of Montezuma and Guatimozin to the present
period, while they excite sympathy for their sufferings,
should extenuate, if not justify, the bloody deeds which re-
venge prompted the untutored savages to commit. Driven
as they were from the lands of which they were the rightful
proprietors — yielding to encroachments 'til forced to appre-
hend their utter annihilation, witnessing the destruction of
their villages, the prostration of their towns, and sacking of
cities adorned with splendid magnificence — who can feel sur-
prised at any attempt which they might make to rid the
country of its invaders?

"Who but must applaud the spirit which prompted them,
when they beheld their prince a captive, the blood of their
nobles staining the earth with its crimson dye, and the gods
of their adoration scoffed and derided, to aim at the destruc-
tion of their oppressors?

"When Mexico, 'with her tiara of proud towers,' became
the theatre in which foreigners were to revel in rapine and in
murder, who can be astonished that the valley of Atumba
resounded with the cry of 'Victory or Death'? And yet,
resistance on their part served as a pretext for a war of exter-
mination, waged too with a ferocity from the recollection of
which the human mind involuntarily revolts, and with a suc-
cess which has forever blotted from the book of national
existence once powerful and happy tribes."

CHAPTER IV.

THE FOUNDING OF VIRGINIA.

As a biographical sketch would be incomplete without,
at least, a brief reference to the parents of the subject, so
would the history of Vv^est Virginia be incomplete without
giving at least a brief outline of the history of the Mother
State — Virginia.

On the 10th of April, 1606, King James I granted to
the "Virginia Company of London", a corporation composed
of men of his kingdom, "Letters Patent or License to make
habitation, plantation, and to deduce a colony of sundry of
our people into that part of America, commonly called
Virginia, . . . and do therefore, for us, our heirs, and
successors, grant and agree, that Sir Thomas Gates, Sir
George Somers, Richard Hackluyt, and Edward-Maria Wing-
field, adventurers of and for our City of London, and all such
others as are, or shall be joined unto them of that colony,
shall be called the First Colony ; and they may begin their
said first plantation and habitation at any place upon said
coast of Virginia, or America, where they shall think fit and
convenient, between the four and thirty and one and forty
degrees of latitude ; and they shall have all lands . .
from the said first seat of their plantation and habitation by
the space of fifty miles of English statute measure, all along
the said coast of Virginia, or America, towards the west and
southwest as the coast lyeth, with all the islands within one
hundred miles, directly over against the sea coast
from the said place of the first plantation and habitation for
the space of fifty like English miles, all alongst the said coast
of Virginia and America, towards the east and northeast, or
towards the north as the coast lyeth, together with all the
islands within one hundred miles directly over against the
said sea coast . . . from the same, fifty miles every
way, on the sea coast, directty into the main land by the

History of West Virginia 31

space of one hundred like English miles; and shall and may
inhabit and remain there ; and shall and may also build and
fortify within any the same, for the better safeguard and de-
fense according to their better discretion".

(Henning's "Statutes at Large, Vol. I., pp. 57, 58.)
What is now West Virginia was not included in the
above; but this was afterwards done by the sixth section of
second Charter granted to the Virginia Company of London,
bearing date May 23, 1609, when the boundary of the Virginia
Colony was so enlarged as to include "all those lands, coun-
tries, and territories situate, lying, and being, in that part of
America called Virginia, from the point of land called Cape
or Point Comfort, all along the sea coast to the northward
two hundred miles ; and from the said point of Cape Comfort,
all along the sea coast to the southward two hundred miles,
and all that space and circuit of land, lying from the sea
coast of the precinct aforesaid, up into the land throughout
from sea to sea west and northwest", — that was, from the
Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans. The zone within this grant
being four hundred miles wide, of course included the present
State of West Virginia.

(Henning's "Statutes at Large" of Virginia, Vol. I, p. 88.)

The Virginia Company of London had as the object of its
creation the founding of an English Colony on the Atlantic
coast of Virginia. Three small vessels, no one of which would
now be thought worthy to attempt the passage of the Atlantic,
were secured by the company, and lay at anchor on the
Thames, at Blackwell, in Middlesex county, three miles above
London. They were the "Susan Constant", of one hundred
and twenty tons burden, commanded by Captain Christopher
Newport; the "Godspeed", of forty tons. Captain Bartholo-
mew Gosnold ; and the "Discovery", a pinnace of twenty tons.
The little fleet left Blackwell, December 6th, 1606, having on
board colonists to the number of one hundred and seven, who
bade adieu to the shores of the Old World, to find a home in
the wilds of the New. January 1, 1607, buffeted by con-
trary winds, the vessels cast anchor at the "DoAvns". on the
south coast of England, where they were detained for six
weeks. Then the storms abated, and again the sails were

32 History of West Virginia

spread and the little fleet stood out to sea. On April 26th, the
entrance to Chesapeake Bay was reached, and to the points on
either side the colonists gave the names of Charles and
Henry, in honor of the sons of King James. Further within
the bay, upon another projection, they bestowed the name of
Point Comfort, because of the comfortable anchorage they
found there. Then Captain Newport, the acting admiral of
the little fleet, steered the vessels up a majestic river, which
they called the James, in honor of their beloved sovereign.
The voyage was continued for fifty miles, when a landing
was made on the north bank, where, on the 13th day of May,
1607, these Middlesex county men laid the foundation of
Jamestown, the OLDEST PERMANENT ENGLISH SET-
TLEMENT IN NORTH AMERICA. Hers, on the banks
of the James, had landed the men who were destined to light
a lamp of liberty which all the tyranny of after ages could
not extinguish. It was here that representatives, elected by
the people of eleven boroughs, assembled, and on the 30th
day of June, 1619, organized the House of Burgesses — the
first representative legislative body in the New World. •

From Jamestown, as the population was increased by
the arrival of colonists from over-sea, the settlements werg
made at other points along the great river ; whence they
spread, as the years sped b}^, over the Tide-Water Region,
and thence into the Piedmont Region, even to the eastern
base of the Blue Ridge. So rapidly did the population in-
crease that in 1671 — but sixty-four years after the settlement
at Jamestown — there were forty thousand English-speaking
people in Virginia. (West Va. Archives and History.)

The instructions for the colony that settled at James-
town in 1607 had been placed by. the king in a sealed box, on
opening which it was found that seven men were appointed
a governing council, among them Gosnold, Newport, and the
celebrated Captain John Smith, who was a member of the
expedition. Most of the colony were gentlemen who hoped
to find gold at once and make their fortune, and no attempt
at agriculture was made. A terrible summer followed. The
position chosen for security against the Indians proved un-
healthful, and more than half the colony was swept away by

History of West Virginia 33

a pestilence. Only the friendly aid of the Indians saved the
rest from death by starvation. Meanwhile, Captain Smith
was prevented from taking his place in the council by the
action of his enemies, and was arrested on false accusations.
For several months he lay under a cloud. But, boldly defying
the malice of his enemies, he cleared himself of their charges
and resumed his place in the council. By the autumn the sole
control of the colony fell into the hands of Smith, the presi-
dent finding the duty beyond his ability. The behavior of
Smith in this capacity is well told in Campbell's "History of
the Colony and Ancient Dominion in Virginia", from which
we extract some passages, with the caution to the reader that
the story of Smith's adventures among the Indians is told by
himself, and that his reputation for veracity is not a high one.
At the approach of winter the rivers of Virginia abounded
with wild fowl, and the English now were well supplied with
bread, peas, persimmons, fish, and game. But this plenty did
not last long, for what Smith carefully provided the colonists
carelessly wasted. The idlers at Jamestown, including some
of the council, now began to mutter complaints against Smith
for not having discovered the source of the Chickahominy, it
being supposed that the South Sea, or Pacific Ocean, lay not
far distant, and that a communication with it would be found
by some river running from the northwest. The Chicka-
hominy flowed in that direction, and hence the solicitude of
these Jamestown cosmographers to trace that river to its
head. To allay this dissatisfaction of the council, Smith made
another voyage up that river, and proceeded until it became
necessary, in order to pass, to cut away a large tree which
had fallen across the stream. When at last Me barge could
advance no farther, he returned eight miles and moored her
in a wide bay out of danger, and leaving orders to his men
not to venture on shore until his return, accompanied by two
of his men and two Indian guides, and leaving seven men in
the barge, he went still higher up in a canoe to the distance
of twenty miles. In a short time after he had parted from
the barge the men left in her went ashore, and one of them,
George Cassen, was surprised and killed. Smith, in the mean-
time, not suspecting this disaster, reached the marshy ground

34 History of West Virginia

towards the head of the river, "the slashes", and went out
with his gun to provide food for the party, and took with
him one of the Indians. During his excursion his two men,
Robinson and Emry, were slain, and he himself was attacked
by a number of Indians, two of whom he killed with a pistol.
He protected himself from their arrows by making a shield
of his guide, binding him fast by the arm with one of his
garters. Many arrows pierced his clothes, and some slightly
wounded him. Endeavoring to reach the canoe, and walking
backward with his eyes still fixed on his pursuers, he sank to
his waist in an oozy creek, and his savage with him. Never-
theless, the Indians were afraid to approach until, being now
half dead with cold, he threw away his arms, when they drew
him forth, and led him to the fire where his two companions
were lying dead. Here the Indians chafed his limbs, and,
having restored the vital heat. Smith inquired for their chief,
and they pointed him to Opechancanough, the great chief of
Pamaunkee. Smith presented him a mariner's compass ; the
vibrations of the mysterious needle astonished the untutored
sons of the forest. In a short time they bound the prisoner
to a tree, and were about to slay him, when Opechancanough
holding up the compass, they all laid down their bows and
arrows. Then marching in Indian file, they led the captive,
guarded by fifteen men, about six miles, to Orapakes, a hunt-
ing tov/n in the upper part of the Chickahominy swamp, and
about twelve miles northeast from the falls of James River
(Richmond). At this town, consisting of thirty or forty
houses, built like arbors and covered with mats, the Women
and children came forth to meet them, staring in amazement
at Smith. Opechancanough and his followers performed
their military exercises, and joined the war dance. Smith was
confined in a long house under a guard, and an enormous
quantity of bread and venison was set before him, as if to
fatten him for sacrifice, or because they supposed that a
superior being required a proportionately larger supply of
food. An Indian who had received some toys from Smith at
Jamestown now, in turn, brought him a warm garment of
fur — a pleasing instance of gratitude, a sentiment often found
even in the breast of a savage. Another Indian, whose son

History of West Virginia 35

had been mortally wounded by Smith, made an attempt to
kill him in revenge, and was only prevented by the intercep-
tion of his guards.

(Smith then sent a written message to Jamestown, and
received a reply, the Indians being astonished on perceiving
that "paper could talk". The captive was next taken to
Pamaunkee, the residence of the chief.)

Finally, the captive was taken to Werowocomoco, proba-
bly signifying chief place of council, a favorite seat of Pow-
hatan, on the York river, then called the Pamaunkee or
Pamunkey. They found the chief in his rude palace, reclining
before the fire, on a sort of throne, resembling a bedstead,
covered with mats, his head adorned with feathers and his
neck with beads, and wearing a long robe of raccoon-skins.
At his head sat a young female, and another at his feet; while
on each side of the wigwam sat men in rows, on mats, and
behind them as many young women, their heads and shoul-
ders painted red, some with their heads decorated with the
snowy down of birds, and all with strings of white beads
falling over their shoulders. On Smith's entrance they all
raised a terrific yell. The queen of Appomattock brought
him water to wash, and another a bunch of feathers for
a towel. After feasting him, a long consultation was held.
That ended, two large stones were brought, and the one
laid upon the other, before Powhatan ; then as many
as could lay hold, seizing Smith, dragged him to the stones,
and, laying his head on them, snatched up their war clubs,
and, brandishing them in the air, were about to slay him,
when Pocahontas, Powhatan's favorite daughter, a girl of
only twelve or thirteen years of age, finding all her entreaties
unavailing, i\e\v, and, at the hazard of her life, clasped the
captive's head in her arms, and laid her own upon his. The
stern heart of Powhatan was touched ; he relented, and con-
sented that Smith might live. Two days afterwards Smith
was permitted by Powhatan to return to Jamestown, on con-
dition of sending him two great guns and a grindstone.

Smith now treated his Indian guides kindly, atid, show-
ing Rawhunt, a favorite servant of Powhatan, two pieces of

36 History of West Virginia

cannon and a grindstone, gave him leave to carry them home
to his master.

At the time of Smith's return to Jamestown, he found
the number of the colonists reduced to forty. Of the one
hundred original settlers, seventy-eight are classified as fol-
lows : fifty-four gentlemen, four carpenters, twelve laborers,
a blacksmith, a sailor, a barber, a bricklayer, a mason, a
tailor, a drummer, and a "chirurgeon".

Of the "gentlemen", the greater part were indolent, disso-
lute reprobates, of good families ; and they found themselves
not in a golden El Dorado, as they had fondly anticipated,
but in a remote wilderness, encompassed by want, exposure,
fatigue, disease, and danger.

The arrival of Newport at this time with stores and a
number of additional settlers, being part of the first supply
sent out from England by the treasurer and council, was joy-
fully welcomed.

Pocahontas, with her tawney train of attendants, fre-
quently visited Jamestown with presents of bread and venison
and raccoons, sent by Powhatan for Smith and Newport.
However, the improvident traffic allowed between Newport's
mariners and the natives soon extremely enhanced the price
of provisions, and the too protracted detention of his vessel
made great inroads upon the public store.

(The events described were followed by a visit to Pow-
hatan, and the accidental burning of Jamestown, which took
place on their return. Other troubles succeeded.)

The stock of provisions running low, the colonists at
Jamestown were reduced to a diet of meal and water, and
this, together with their exposure to cold after the loss of
their habitations, cut off upwards of one-half of them. Their
condition was made still worse by a rage for gold that now
seized them. ''There was no talk, no hope, no work, but dig
gold, wash gold, refine gold, load gold." Smith, not indulging
in these empty dreams of imaginary wealth, laughed at their
infatuation in loading "such a drunken ship with gilded
dust".

Captain Newport, after a delay of three months and a
half, being now ready to sail for England, the planters, having

History of West Virginia 37

no use for parliaments, place^, petitions, admirals, recorders,
interpreters, chronologers, courts of plea, nor justices of the
peace, sent Master Wingfield and Captain- Archer home with
him, so that they, who had engrossed all those titles to them-
selves, might seek some better place of employment. New-
port carried with him twenty turkeys, which had been pre-
sented to him by Powhatan, who had demanded and received
twenty swords in return for them. This fowl, peculiar to
America, had been many years before carried to England by
some of the early discoverers of North America.

After Newport's departure, Ratcliffe, the president, lived
in ease, peculating on the public store. The spring now
approaching. Smith and Scrivener undertook to rebuild
Jamestown, repair the palisades, fell trees, prepare the fields,
plant, and erect another church. While thus engaged they
were joyfully surprised by the arrival of the Phoenix, com-
manded by Captain Nelson, who had left England with
Newport about the end of the year 1607, and, after coming
within sight of Cape Henry, had been driven off to the West
Indies. He brought with him the remainder of the first sup-
ply, which comprised one hundred and twenty settlers.
Having found provisions in the West Indies, and having
economically husbanded his own, he imparted them gener-
ously to the colony, so that now there was accumulated a
store sufficient for half a year.

Pocahontas, in beauty of feature, expression, and form,
far surpassed any of the other natives, and in intelligence and
spirit "was the nonpareil of her country". Powhatan, hearing
that some of his people were kept prisoners at Jamestown,
(some of the Indians having been locked up by Smith for
some attempted theft), sent her, with Rawhunt (who was as
remarkable for his personal deformity, but shrewd and
crafty), with presents of a deer and some bread, to sue for
their ransom. Smith released the prisoners, and Pocahontas
was dismissed with presents. Thus the scheme of Powhatan
to destroy the English with their own swords was happily
frustrated.

(On the 2nd of June, 1608, vSmith left Jamestown with
the purpose of exploring Chesapeake Bay. During this jour-

38 History of West Virginia'

ney he discovered the Potomac and sailed up it to the head
of navigation. He continued his explorations, and during
the summer, "with a few men, in a small barge, in his several
voyages of discovery he traversed a distance of not less than
three thousand miles". In September, 1608, he accepted the
office of president, which he had formerly declined.)

Smith, the president, now set the colonists to work; some
to make glass, others to prepare tar, pitch, and soap-ashes;
while he, in person, conducted thirty of them five miles below
the fort to cut down trees and saw plank. Two of this lumber
party happened to be young gentlemen who had arrived in
the last supply. Smith sharing labor and hardship in common
with the rest, these woodmen, at first, became apparently
reconciled to the novel task, and seemed to listen with pleas-
ure to the crashing thunder of the falling trees ; but when the
axes began to blister their unaccustomed hands, they grew
profane, and their frequent loud oaths echoed in the woods.
Smith, taking measures to have the oaths of each one num-
bered, in the evening, for each offence, poured a can of water
down the offender's sleeve ; and this curious discipline, or
water cure, was so effectual that after it was administered an
oath would scarcely be heard in a week. Smith found that
thirty or forty gentlemen who volunteered to work could do
more in a day than one hundred that worked by compulsion ;
but, he adds, that twenty good workmen would have been
better than the whole of them put together.

(Further troubles with the Indians succeeded, and only
the energy of the governor defeated the murderous schemes
of Opechancanough.)

At Jamestown the provisions at the public store had
been spoiled by exposure to the rain of the previous summer,
or eaten by rats and worms. The colonists had been living
there in indolence, and a large part of their implements and
arms had been trafficked away to the Indians. Smith under-
took to remedy these disorders by discipline and labor, re-
lieved by pastimes and recreations ; and he established it as a
rule that he who would not work should not eat. The whole
government of the colony was noAv, in effect, devolved upon
him. Captain Wynne being the only other surviving coun-

History of West Virginia 39

cillor, and the president having two votes. Shortly after
Smith's return from a hunting trip, he met the chief of
Paspahegh near Jamestown, and had a recontre with him.
This athletic savage attempting to shoot him, he closed and
grappled, when, by main strength, the chief forced him into
the river to drown him. They struggled long in the water,
until Smith, grasping the savage by the throat, well nigh
strangled him, and, drawing his sword, was about to cut off
his head, when he begged for his life so piteously that Smith
spared him, and led him prisoner to Jamestown, where he
put him in chains. He was daily visited by his wives and
children, and people who brought presents to ransom him.
At last he made his escape. Captain Wynne and Lieutenant
Percy were dispatched, with a party of fifty, to recapture him,
failing in which they burned the chief's cabin and carried
away his canoes. Smith now going out to "try his conclu-
sions with the savages", slew some and made some prisoners,
burned their cabins, and took their canoes and fishing-weirs.
Shortly afterwards the president, passing through Paspahegh
on his way to the Chickahominy, was assaulted by the
Indians ; but, upon his firing, and their discovering who he
was, they threw down their arms and sued for peace.
Kaning, a young warrior, who spoke in their behalf, in justi-
fying the escape of their chief from imprisonment at James-
town, said, "The fishes swim, the fowls fly, and the very beasts
strive to escape the snare, and live." Smith's vigorous meas-
ures, together with some accidental circumstances, so dis-
mayed the savages that from this time to the end of his
administration they gave no fvirther trouble.

(In 1609 an addition to the colony of five hundred men
and women was sent out, Avith stores and provisions, in a
fleet of nine vessels.)

Upon the appearance of this fleet near Jamestown, Smith,
not expecting such a supply, took them to be Spaniards, and
prepared to encounter them, and the Indians readily offered
their assistance. The colony had already, before the arrival
of the fleet, been threatened with anarchy, owing to intelli-
gence of the premature repeal of the charter, brought out by
Captain Argall, and the new settlers had now no sooner

40 History of West Virginia

landed than they gave rise to new confusion and disorder.
The factious leaders, although they brought no commissions
with them, insisted on the abrogation of the existing charter,
rejected the authority of Smith, whom they hated and feared,
and undertook to usurp the government. ' Their capricious
folly equalled their insolence ; to-day the old commission
must rule, to-morrow the new, the next day neither, — thus, by
continual change, plunging all things into anarchy.

Smith, filled with disgust, would cheertully have em-
barked for England, but, seeing little prospect of the arrival
of the new commission (which was in the possession of Gates
on the island of Bermuda), he resolved to put an end to the
incessant plots and machinations. The ringleaders, Ratcliffe,
Archer, and others, he arrested ; to cut off another source of
disturbance, he gave permission to Percy, who was in feeble
health, to embark for England, of which, however, he did not
avail himself. West, with one hundred and twenty picked
men, was detached to the falls of James river, and Martin,
with nearly the same number, to Nansemond. Smith's presi-
dency having expired about this time, he was succeeded by
Martin, who, conscious of his incompetency, immediately re-
signed it to Smith. Martin, at Nansemond, seized the chief
and, capturing the town, occupied it with his detachment ;
but, owing to the want of judgment or of vigilance, he suf-
fered himself to be surprised by the savages, who slew many
of his party, rescued the chief, and carried off their corn.
Martin not long after returned to Jamestown, leaving his de-
tachment to shift for themselves.

Smith, going up the river to West's settlement at the
falls, found the English planted in a place not only subject
to the river's inundation, but "surrounded by many intolerable
inconveniences". To remedy these, by a messenger he pro-
posed to purchase from Powhatan his seat of that name, a
little lower down the river. The settlers scornfully rejected
the scheme, and became so mutinous that Smith landed among
them and arrested the chief malcontents. But, overpowered
by numbers, being supported by only five men, he was forced
to retire on board of a vessel lying in the river. The Indians
daily supplied him with provisions, in requital for which the

History of West Virginia 41

English plundered their corn, robbed their cultivated ground,
beat them, broke into their cabins, and made them prisoners.
They complained to Captain Smith that the men whom he
had sent there as their protectors "were worse than their old
enemies, the Monacans". Smith, embarking, had no sooner
set sail for Jamestown than many of West's party were slain
by the savages.

It so happened that before Smith's vessel had dropped a
mile and a half down the river she ran aground, whereupon,
making a virtue of necessity, he summoned the mutineers to
a parley, and they, now seized with a panic on account of the
assault of a mere handful of Indians, submitted themselves to
his mercy. He again arrested the ringleaders, and established
the rest of the party at Powhatan, in the Indian palisade fort,
which was so well fortified by poles and logs as to defy all
the savages in Virginia. Dry cabins were found there, and
nearly two hundred acres of ground ready to be planted, and
it was called Nonsuch, as being at once the strongest and
most delightful place in the country. Nonsuch was the name
of a royal residence in England.

When Smith was now on the eve of his departure, the
arrival of West again threw all things back into confusion.
Nonsuch was abandoned, and all hands returned to the Falls,
and Smith, finding all his efforts abortive, embarked in a boat
for Jamestown. During the voyage he was terribly wounded,
while asleep, by the accidental explosion of a bag of gun-
powder, and in the paroxysm of pain he leaped into the river,
and was nearly drowned before he could be rescued. Arriving
at Jamestown in this helpless condition, he was again assailed
by faction and mutiny, and one of his enemies even presented
a cocked pistol at him in his bed ; but the hand wanted the
nerve to execute what the heart was base enough to design.

Ratcliffe, Archer, and their confederates laid plans to
usurp the government of the colony, whereupon Smith's faith-
ful soldiers, fired with indignation at conduct so infamous,
begged for permission to strike off their heads; but this he
refused. He refused also to surrender the presidency to Percy.
For this wSmith is censured by the historian Stith, although he
knew that Pcrcv was in too feeble health to control a mu-

42 History of West Virginia

tinous colony. Anarchy being triumphant, Smith probably
deemed it useless to appoint a governor over a mob. He at
last, about Michaelmas, 1609, embarked for England, after a
stay of a little more than two years in Virginia, to which he
never returned. Here, then, closes the career of Captain John
Smith in Virginia, "the father of the colony," and a hero, like
Bayard, "without fear and without reproach."

Soon after Smith's departure, Sir Thomas Gates arrived,
but without supplies, and as the only escape from starvation
he took the surviving colonists on his ships and set sail for
Newfoundland, Fortunately when they reached the mouth of
the river they met Lord Delaware, who had been sent out as
governor of the colony, with supplies and emigrants. The
colonists were induced to return, and order and contentment
were soon regained under the wise management of the new
governor. Shortly afterwards seven hundred more men
arrived, and the land, which had been held in common, was
divided among the colonists, much to the advancement of
agriculture. In 1613 occurred the marriage of John Rolfe, a
young Englishman, with Pocahontas, the daughter of Pow-
hatan, an event which improved the relations between the
colonists and the Indians. Pocahontas was taken to England
in 1616, and died in 1617, leaving one son, from whom de-
scended some of the most respectable families in Virginia.
In 1613 Captain Argall sailed from Virginia for the purpose
of protecting the English fishermen on the coast of Maine.
He broke up a settlement which the French had made on
Mt. Desert Island, near the Penobscot, reduced the French
settlement at Port Royal, in Acadia, and entered the harbor
of New York, where he compelled the Dutch traders to
acknowledge the sovereignty of England. The effect of the
last two operations, however, continued only till the dis-
appearance of his ship. In 1615 the colonists went eagerly
into tobacco culture, which soon became a mania; the culture
of corn and other grain being so neglected as to threaten
renewed scarcity. In 1617 it is said that the yards, the mar-
ket square, and the very streets of Jamestown were full of
the plants of the new article of commerce, to which the soil
and climate of Virginia proved well adapted. In 1617 Captain

History of West Virginia 43

Argall was made governor, and at once established a system
of strict military rule which, in time, became almost a reign
of terror. He was removed in 1619, and Sir George Yeardly
sent out, under whose administration the colony flourished.
In 1619 a representative body was organized, antl met in
Jamestown, where it adopted a colonial constitution. I'his
was the first legislative action in America, and the first stej)
towards American liberty.

In the following year (1620) the germ of a civil war was
inoculated into the Virginians by a Dutch man-of-war sailing
up the James and landing twenty negroes, who were "quickly
sold to the colonists". At about the same time "a happier
introduction than this of African slavery was eft'ected, in the
sending over of ninety young (white) women, who were sold
to the colonists — as wives; the price paid for each being one
hundred and twenty pounds of tobacco. Sixty others were
soon after sent, and the price rose to one hundred and fifty
pounds of tobacco".

But the Virginians were now to pass through a danger
as threatening as that of the "starving time". The death of
Powhatan had removed their best friend among the Indians.
The rapid increase of the colonists, and the spread of their
settlements, alarmed the savages, who, in 1622, formed a con-
spiracy to destro}^ the whole colony. The story of this thrill-
ing event is taken from Howe's "History of Virginia".

Since the marriage of Pocahontas with John Rolfe, the
Indians had preserved the most peaceful relations with the
settlers, and hopes were entertained that permanent friendship
would be established between them. The dominion of Pow-
hatan had descended to his brother Opitchapan, a feeble and
decrepit chieftain, who was neither dreaded by the whites nor
respected by his own subjects. But there was one mind
among the natives which now exercised all the sway of
superior genius and courage. Opechancanough has hereto-
fore been mentioned. It is doubtful whether he was in any
manner related to Powhatan, though he is often spoken of as
his brother. Among the Indians and some of the whites pre-
vailed a belief that he came from a tribe far in the southwest,
perhaps from the interior of Mexico. But in talents and influ-

44 History of West Virginia

ence he was now the ruhng power among the savages. Pro-
found in dissimulation, cruel by nature and habit, patient of
suffering, skilled in every species of treachery, and possessed
of a ready eloquence, always at his command, he soon gained
over the minds of his inferiors an ascendency as resistless as
it was dangerous.

The English became careless and unsuspecting. Believ-
ing the natives to be their friends, they admitted them freely
to their houses, sometimes supplied them with arms, employed
them in hunting and fishing for their families, and in all
respects treated them as faithful allies. As habits of industry
and steady labor gained ground, the colonists relaxed their
martial discipline. The plough was a more useful implement
than the musket, and the' sword had given place to the hoe
and pickaxe. Seduced by the present tranquillity, and by the
fertile soil found in belts of land upon all the rivers running
into the bay, they had extended their settlements until they
were now nearly eighty in number and spread m scattered
plantations over a space of several hundred miles. They were
lulled into complete security by the demeanor of the natives,
and those who were most zealous for religion were beginning
to hope that the seeds of the truth were taking root in many
untutored minds, and would, after a season, produce fruits of
joy and peace. Some were not thus sanguine ; and among
those who looked with suspicion upon the Indians we mark
the name of Jonas Stockam, a minister, who has left on record
an open acknowledgment of his distrust. His strong com-
mon sense, his knowledge of human nature, and his observa-
tions upon the natives around him, all confirmed his belief
that they were yet highly dangerous, and that until their
priests and "ancients" were destroyed no hope of their con-
version need be entertained. But his warnings, and slight
proofs of enmity in the savages, were alike disregarded. The
colonists remained immersed in unruffled security.

In the meantime Opechancanough was preparing the
actors in his infernal drama. Either in person or by his emis-
saries, he visited all the tribes composing the confederacy
over which Powhatan had held dominion. He roused them
to revenge ; represented their wrongs ; wrought their passions

History of West Virginia 45

to intensity by mingled promises of blood and of rapine ;
pointed to the defenceless state of the colonists, and estab-
lished a complete organization for the work of death. The
savages of Virginia were now embodied for their fatal pur-
pose, and awaited but the signal from their leader to fall upon
the unsuspecting colonists.

On Friday, the 22d day of March, 1622, the tragedy began.
So perfect was the confidence of the settlers that they loaned
the savages their boats to cross the river for their deadly
purpose ; many of them even came in to take the morning
meal with the whites, and brought deer, turkeys, fish, and
fruits, which they offered for sale in the usual manner. But
at mid-day the scene of blood was opened. Instantly, and as
if by magic, the savages appeared at every point, and fell upon
their victims with the weapons which first presented them-
selves. Neither age nor sex was spared. The tender infant
was snatched from the mother to be butchered before her
eyes ; wives were left weltering in blood in the presence of
their husbands ; men, helpless from age, or wholly without
defense, were stricken down ere they could see the foe who
assailed them. In one morning three hundred and forty-nine
settlers were slain upon the several plantations. The mur-
derers were lashed into frenzied excitement by their own
passions ; and, not content with the work of death, they
mutilated the corpses in a manner so revolting that the orig-
inal recorders of this massacre shrink from the task of de-
scribing them.

It is remarkable that wherever resistance was made to
these fiends it was entirely successful. Too cruel to be brave,
they fled from the first vigorous onset; and had the colonists
received one hour's warning, no life would have been lost that
was not dearly atoned for. An old soldier who had served
under Smith, although surrounded by Indians and severely
wounded, clove the skull of one assailant ^\'ith a single stroke
of an axe, and the rest instantly took to flight. A Mr.
Baldwin, whose wife was lyinit^ before his eyes profusely
bleeding from many wounds, by one well-directed discharge
drove a crowd of murderers from his house. Several small
parties of settlers obtained a few muskets from a ship that

46 History of West Virginia

happened to be lying in a stream near the plantations, and
with these they routed the savages in every direction and dis-
persed them in great confusion.

(Jamestown was saved through information given by a
young Indian convert. Preparations for defence were hastily
made, and the savages did not venture an assault.)

The immediate effects of this blow upon the colony were
most disastrous. Horror and consternation pervaded every
mind ; nearly one-fourth of their whole number had, in a
single hour, been stricken down. The rest weie hastily drawn
together around Jamestov/n. Distant plantations were aban-
doned, and in a short time eighty settlements were reduced to
six. Some few bold spirits (and among them a woman) re-
fused to obey the order, and remained in their country seats,
among their servants, mounting cannon at weak points, and
preparing to meet the treacherous foe with becoming courage.
But they were compelled by law to abandon their stronghold
and to unite their resources in the common fund. A terrible
reaction in the feelings of the colonists immediately took
place. A war ensued, in which the fiercest impulses that man
can feel were called into being. No truce was ever declared.
The Indians were shot down wherever overtaken. When
seed time approached, hostilities declined from absolute ne-
cessity. The colonists looked upon the Indians as their
hereditary foes, and the unhappy natives never spoke of the
"long knives" without fear and execration.

(During the immediately succeeding period no events of
any marked importance occurred in Virginia. In 1624 the
London Company was dissolved, and Virginia became a
ROYAL GOVERNMENT. But the rights of trial by jury
and of a representative Assembly, M^hich had been granted
by the company, were retained, and all succeeding colonies
claimed the same, so that from the formation of the colonial
Assembly of Virginia we may date the beginning of the
EVOLUTION of American liberty. In 1643 another Indian
massacre took place, instigated by the same implacable chief.)

The Indians were now inveterate enemies. Peace was
never thought of. Successive enactments of the Assembly
made it a solemn duty to fall upon the natives at stated

History of West Virginia 47

periods of the year, and heavy penalties were visited upon all
who traded with them or in any way provided them with arms
and ammunition. The whites were steadily increasing both
in moral and physical strength ; the Indians were rapidly
wasting away before the breath of civilization. A few incur-
sions,— a few convulsive efforts, always attended by heavy
loss to themselves, — one final struggle, — these will complete
their history in eastern Virginia.

The illegal grants favored by Sir John Hervey had pro-
voked the natives into active hostility. They saw their
hunting grounds successfully swept away by a power which
they were unable to resist, and all the passions of the savage
arose to demand revenge. Among the natives there still lived
a hero who had proved himself a formidable adversary even
when encountered by European skill. Opechancanough had
attained the hundredth year of his life; declining years had
bowed a form once eminent in stature and manly strength.
Incessant toil and watchfulness had wasted his flesh and left
him gaunt and withered, like the forest-tree stripped of its
foliage by the frosts of winter. His eyes had l^JSt their bright-
ness, and so heavily did the hand of age press upon him that
his eyelids drooped from weakness and he required the aid of
an attendant to raise them that he might see objects around
him. Yet within this tottering and wasted body burned a soul
which seemed to have lost none of its original energy. A
quenchless fire incited him to hostility against the settlers.
He yet wielded great influence among the members of the
Powhatan confederacy; and by his wisdom, his example, and
the veneration felt for his age, he aroused the savages to
another effort at general massacre.

The obscurity concerning the best records which remain
of this period has rendered doubtful the precise time at which
this fatal irruption occurred ; yet the most probable period
would sceni to be the close of the year 1643. The Indians
were drawn together with great secrecy and skill, and were
instructed to fall upon the colonists at the same time, and to
spare none who could be safely butchered. Five hundred
victims sank beneath their attack. The a5:sault was most
violent and fatal upon the upper waters of tlie Pamunkey and

48 History of West Virginia

the York, where the settlers were yet thin in number and but
imperfectly armed. But in every place where resistance was
possible the savages were routed with loss, and driven back in
dismay to their fastnesses in the forest.

Sir William Berkeley instantly placed himself at the head
of a chosen body, composed of every twentieth man able to
bear arms, and marched to the scene of devastation. Finding
the savages dispersed, and all organized resistance at an end,
he followed them with a troop of cavalry.'

The aged chief had taken refuge in the neighborhood of
his seat at Pamunkey ; his strength was too much enfeebled
for vigorous flight ; his limbs refused to bear him, and his
dull vision rendered him easy prey. He was overtaken by
the pursuers, and carried in triumph back to Jamestown.

Finding the very soul of Indian enmity now within his
power, the governor had determined to send him to England
as a royal captive, to be detained in honorable custody until
death should close his earthly career. But a death of violence
awaited him. A brutal wretch, urged on by desire to revenge
injuries to the whites which had long been forgotten, advanced
with his musket behind the unhappy chieftain and shot him
through the back. '

The wound once given was mortal. Opechancanough lin-
gered a few days in agony; yet to the last moment of his life
he retained his majesty and sternness of demeanor. A crowd
of idle beings collected around him to sate their unfeeling
curiosity with a view of his person and his conduct. Hearing
the noise, the dying 'Indian feebly motioned to his attendants
to raise his eyelids, that he might learn the cause of this
tumult. A flash of wounded pride and of just indignation, for
a moment, revived his waning strength. He sent for the gov-
ernor, and addressed to him that keen reproa*-!:! which has so
well, merited preservation: "Had I taken Sir William Berke-
ley prisoner, I would not have exposed him as a show to my
people." In a short time he expired.

After the death of this warrior, the ce]>>ibrated confed-
eracy of Powhatan was immediately dissolved. It was with-
out a head, and the members fell away and speedily lost all
tendency to cohesion. The Indians had learned, by fatal

History of West Virginia 49

experience, that they contended in vain with the whites. They
have faded away and gradually disappeared, never more to
return.
*********

Captain John Smith was born in England in 1579, and
was therefore only twenty-eight years of age when he em-
barked with Gosnold. Yet he had already fought in the
Netherlands, starved in France, and been made a galley-
slave by the Moslem. He had been shipwrecked at one time,
thrown overboard at another, and robbed at a third. Thrice
had he met and slain Turkish champions in the lists; and he
had traversed the steppes of Russia with only a handful of
grain for food. He was not a man of university education ;
the only schooling he had had was in the free schools of
Alford and Louth, before his fifteenth year; his father was a
tenant farmer in Lincolnshire, and though John was appren-
ticed to a trade, he ran away while a mere stripling, and
shifted for himself ever after. An adventurer, therefore, in
the fullest sense of the word, he was. . . . But there
was sterling pith in him, a dauntless and humane soul, and
inexhaustible ability and resource. Such a man could not fail
to possess imagination, and imagination and self-esteem
combined conduce to highly-colored narrative; but that Smith
was a liar is an unwarranted assumption, which will not be
tolerated here. . . . While Smith never again returned
to Jamestown, he in 1614 once more sailed westward with
two ships on a trading and exploring enterprise, which was
successful. He examined and mapped the northern coast,
already seen by Gosnold, and bestowed upon the country the
name of New England. ... He took his map and his
description of New England and personally canvassed all
likely persons with a view to fitting out a new expedition.
In 1617, aided perhaps by the interest which Pocahontas had
aroused in London, he was promised a fleet of twenty vessels,
and the title of Admiral of New England was bestowed upon
him. Admiral he remained till his death ; but the fleet he Avas
to command never put forth to sea. A ship more famous than
any he had captained was to sail for New England in 1620,
and land the Pilgrims on Plymouth Rock. Smith's career

50 History of West Virginia

was over, though he was but thirty-eight years old, and had
fifteen years of Ufe still before him. He died in London in
1632.

Pocahontas's life had vicissitudes such as seldom befell
an Indian maiden. Some time between the Smith episode of
1607, and the year 1612, she married one of her father's tribu-
tary chiefs, and went to live with him on his reservation.
There she was in some manner kidnapped by one Samuel
Argall, and held for ransom. The ransom was paid, but
Pocahontas was not sent back;. and the following year she
was married to John Rolfe, a Jamestown colonist, and bap-
tised as Rebecca. He took her to London, where she was a
nine days' wonder; and they had a son, whose blood still
flows in not a few American veins today. If she was ten years
old in 1607, she must have been no more than twenty at the
time of her death in Gravesend, near London. But her place
in American history is secure, as well as in the hearts of all
good Americans. She was the heroine of the first American
romance; and she is said to have been as beautiful as all
heroines should rightly be. (Julian Hawthorne.)

Much more will be said about Virginia in future chapters,
but we will bid adieu to many of the characters who have
figured so prominently in the early history of our country.
Peace be to their ashes, and may their souls be now partaking
of the Eternal Happiness that knows neither sorrow, strife
nor death.

CHAPTER V.

EXPLORATION AND EARLY SETTLEMENTS IN

WEST VIRGINIA.

As stated elsewhere, West Virginia was embraced in
the second charter granted to the Virginia Company of
London, May 23rd, 1609. She was, therefore, a part of
Virginia from 1609 to 1863 — a period of 254 years; and
throughout this length of time they had one common interest
in the literature of those States.

We have already recorded a few of the most important
matters that occurred in Virginia previous to the events
leading up to the French and Indian war. In this and future
chapters, covering the period before the birth of West Vir-
ginia, we shall consider, so far as her (West Virginia's)
interests lie, the following events, in the order named :
DISCOVERY, EXPLORATION, and EARLY SETTLE-
MENTS in West Virginia; the FRENCH and INDIAN
WAR; LORD DUNMORE'S WAR; the REVOLUTION-
ARY WAR; the LATER INDIAN WARS; THE WHIS-
KEY INSURRECTION, and THE WAR WITH MEXICO.

The first white people to traverse what is now West
Virginia were hunters and trappers from the east and an
occasional Indian trader from the upper country who came
down the Ohio river to trade with the red men on the Ohio
side. Our forests abounded with wild game and the streams
teemed with fish. It was an ideal country for the sportsman.
In traveling over the hills and mountains and up and down
the valleys they could not but see the futurf possibilities of
the country for farming and other kindred purposes. They
also noted the value of the navigable streams for transpor-
tation facilities, as well the beautiful sites for future towns
and cities ; for these men, though woodsmen, were not blind
to all these advantages, as results have long since proven. So
when these men returned to civilization, they were not slow

52 History of West Virginia

to extol the wonderful country they had beheld in their
travels beyond the mountains; and ere long small parties of
the most adventurous persons commenced to wend their way
o'er tortuous trails to the new El Dorado ; and in time our
Little Mountain State became the home of the English, the
German, the Welshman, the Irishman, and the Dutchman,
"men representing the old Teutonic and Celtic peoples — men
whose ancestors had helped to make history on the battle
fields of Europe — some of them on that of Hastings. Trans-
planted from the Old World to the New, their descendents — ■
those who became frontiersmen in western Virginia — lost
none of the heroism, valor and bravery of their forefathers."

Previous to 1664 hardy pioneers had extended the domain
of civilization even to the eastern base of the Blue Ridge ;
but of the region beyond that "Rocky Barrier" nothing what-
ever was known, for the most daring adventurer had not, as
yet, penetrated its vast solitudes. But the exploration and.
conquest of the wilderness was the mission of determined
spirits, and the time was near at hand when white .men should
traverse this hitherto unknown region and return to tell the
story of its wonderful resources.

The following brief but comprehensive information rela-
tive to the first explorations of western Virginia is taken
from the Third Biennial Report State Department Arch, and
Hist. W. Va. This will be followed by the names of some
of the earliest settlers and their respective places of settle-
ment, from the same source of information :

The first West Virginia river discovered by white men
was called New River, its upper course having been discov-
ered in 1641 by Walter Austin, Rice Hoe, Joseph Johnson,
and Walter Chiles. It was a new river, one flowing north-
west, in an opposite direction from those east of the moun-
tains— hence the name New River. The Ohio river, which
forms the western boundary of West Virginia, was discovered
by Robert Cavalier La Salle — the most eminent French
explorer of the New World. It was in the year 1663 that
Europeans first heard of the Ohio river, and this information
came from the Indians to Dallier, a French missionary in
Canada. It was reported to be almost as large as the St.

History of West Virginia 53

Lawrence. This information inspired the adventurous spirit
of La Salle with a desire to behold the great river. Accord-
ingly, with Indian guides, he began his journey via Lake
Onondagua, now in New York. In October, 1669, he reached
the Allegheny river, which he descended to its confluence
with the Monongahela, and thence continued down the Ohio
as far as the Falls — now Louisville, Kentucky. He was the
first European on the Ohio river, and the first that saw the
western part of West Virginia.

It is probable that the first white men who saw any pari
of the eastern portion of the State of West Virginia were
those composing the party under John Lederer, a German
explorer in the service of Sir William Berkeley, Colonial
Governor of Virginia. In company with Captain Collett, nine
Englishmen and five Indians, he, on August 30, 1670, set out
from York River and proceeded by way of the Rappahannock,
near the present city of Fredericksburg; thence to the mouth
of the Rapidan River ; thence along the north side of the
Rappahannock to the base of the Blue Ridge ; and thence
to the summit of the mountain barrier, from which, at a
point south of the present Harper's Ferry, the explorers
looked down upon and across the Lower Shenandoah Valley —
now included in the counties of Jefferson and Berkeley — a
first view of the old part of West Virginia.

The first English-speaking men within the present limits
of West Virginia were those composing the exploring expe-
dition under Captain Thomas Batts. These, in addition to
himself, were Robert Fallam, Thomas Wood, Jack Neasam,
and Per-e-cu-te, the latter a great man of Appomattox Indians.
The party, acting under authority of a commission granted
fourteen years before by the House of Burgesses — the Colo-
nial legislative body of Virginia — to Major Abraham Wood :
"For ye finding out the ebbing and flowing of ye waters on
ye other side the Mountains, in order to ye Discovery of ye
South Sea," left Appomattox town, near the site of the pres-
ent city of Petersburg, Virginia, on Friday, September 1,
1671, and toiling onward to the westward, crossed the' blue
Ridge, thence over what is now known as Peter's Mountain ,
and thence through the present West Virginia counties of

54 History of West Virginia

Monroe, Summers and Fayette, until the 16th of September,
when they "had a sight of a curious river like the Appo-
mattox River in Virginia, and the Thames at Chelsea, in
England, and broad as that river at Wapping, but it had a
fall that made a great noise." The party had reached the
Great Falls of the Great Kanawha river, distant ninety-six
miles from the Ohio. Here, on the 17th, they took formal
possession of the region and proclaimed the King in these
words : "Long live King Charles ye 2d, King of England,
Scotland, Ireland and Virginia, and all the territory thereunto
belonging; Defender of ye Faith, etc." Guns were fired, and,
with a pair of marking-irons, they marked trees; 1st, "C. R."
(Charles Rex I), for his Sacred Majesty; 2d, "W. B.", for the
Governor (Sir Wilham Berkeley) ; 3d, "A. W.", for Major
Abraham Wood (promoter of the expedition) ; another for
Per-e-cu-te (who said he would turn Englishman) ; and also
another tree for each of the company. Then the homeward
journey began and all arrived at the Falls of the Appomattox
river on the first day of October, except Thomas Wood, who
died on the expedieitn.

In 1716 Governor Alexander Spottswood resolved to
learn more of the Mountain Region of West Virginia. He
accordingly equipped a party of thirty horsemen, and, heading
it in person, left Williamsburg, the Colonial Capital, June
20th, that year. Day after day the journey continued until
the Blue Ridge was reached and crossed by ^way of Swift
Run Gap. Descending to the river, now the Shenandoah, the
party bestowed upon it the name "Euphrates". It was crossed
and recrossed ; then a night was spent upon its banks; then
the return journey began, and from the Blue Ridge the
adventurers, looking westward, beheld in the distance the
lofty peaks of the Great North Mountain, in what is now
Pendleton county. West Virginia. On arriving at Williams-
burg, the Governor established the "Trans-Montane Order
or Knights of the Golden Horse-shoe," giving to each of
those who accompanied him a miniature horse-shoe, some of
whkh were set with valuable stones, and all bearing the
; iscription, "Sic juvat transcendere montes — rThus he swears
to cross the mountains."

History of West Virginia 55

About the year 1725 John A'an Meter, a representative
of an old Knickerbocker family early seated on the Hudson,
traversed the valley of the South Branch of the Potomac —
the Wap-pa-tom-i-ca of the Indians. He was an Indian
trader, making his headquarters with the Delawares, on the
Susquehanna. Thence he made journeys far to the south-
ward, to trade with the Cherokees and Catawbas. It was
he who first told the story of the wonderful fertility of the
land in the Lower Shenandoah and South Branch Valleys.

First White Settlers in West Virginia.

The first white man to find a home in West Virginia
was Morgan, Ap. Morgan, who in 1726 reared a cabin on
the site of the present village of Bunker Hill in Mill Creek
District, Berkeley County. The next year a number of
Germans from the Valley of the Susquehanna in Pennsyl-
vania crossed the Potomac at what has been known for more
than a hundred years as the old "Pack-Horse Ford", and
about a mile above, on the, southern bank of that river,
founded a village which they named New Mecklenberg, in
memory of their early home in the Fatherland, and such it
continued to be called until changed to Shepherdstown by an
Act of the House of Burgesses in 1762. In 1734 Richard
Morgan obtained a grant for a tract of land in the vicinity
of New Mecklenberg, and there made his home. Among
those who came at the same time and settled along the Upper
Potomac in what is now the northern part of the West Vir-
ginia counties of Berkeley and Jefferson were Robert Harper
(at Harper's Ferry), William Stroop, Thomas and William
Forester, Israel Friend, Thomas Shepherd, Thomas Swear-
inger. Van Swearinger, James Formann, Edward Lucas,
Jacob Hite, James Lemon, Richard Mercer, Edward Mercer,
Jacob Van Meter, Robert Stockton, Robert Buckles, John
Taylor, Samuel Taylor and John Wright. In 1735 the first
settlement was made on the South Branch of the Potomac
by four families of the names of Coburn, Howard, Walker,
and Rutledge. The next year Isaac Van Meter, Peter Casey
and numbers of others found homes -in the valley of that

56 History of West Virginia

river in what is now Hampshire and Hardy Counties; and
within the next few years, cabin homes dotted the valleys of
the Opequon, the Great and Little Cacapon Rivers, and that
of Lost River and Back and Patterson Creeks.

Thus far the early West Virginia settlements had been
confined to the region drained by the upper tributaries of the
Potomac river. Now, we turn to notice the first pioneer of
West Virginia in the valley of the Greenbrier river. In 1749
the Greenbrier Land Company was organized. It consisted
of twelve members or stockholders, among whom were its
President, Hon John Robinson, the Treasurer of the Colony
of Virginia, and long the Speaker of the House of Burgesses;
Thomas Nelson, for thirty years the Secretary of the Council
of State ; and John Lewis, the founder of Staunton, and two
of his sons, William and Charles. This company was granted
the right by the Governor and the Council to survey and take
up a tract of land containing one hundred thousand acres of
land, lying and being on Greenbrier river, and now in the
West Virginia counties of Pocahontas, Greenbrier and Mon-
roe. Four years were allowed to make surveys and pay rights
for the same. Andrew Lewis (afterward General Andrew
Lewis of the Revolution) was appointed surveyor and agent
for the company, and, in execution of his commission, he in
1754 and prior thereto surveyed and sold small parcels of this
land to sundry persons, Mdao hastened to settle thereon. Col.
John Stuart, the historian of the Greenbrier Valley, sa3^s that
"previously to the year 1755 Andrew Lewis had completed
surveys for the quantities aggregating more than fifty thou-
sand acres. When Andrew Lewis came to the Greenbrier
River in 1740, he found Stephen Sewell and Jacob Marlin,
both of whom had fixed their abode at the mouth of Knopp's
creek on the site of the present town of Marlinton, in Poca-
hontas County. (Recorded in Deed Book No. 1, in the County
Clerk's Office, Greenbrier County, West Virginia.)

Dr. Thomas Walker with five companions, two of whom
were Ambrose Powell and Colby Chew, when returning from
a tour of exploration in the Kentucky wilderness, crossed the
New River at the mouth of the Greenbrier, June 28th, 1750,
and then journeyed up the latter stream. July 6th ensuing

History of West Virginia 57

they were at the mouth of Anthony's Creek, now in Greenbrier
County, where Dr. Walker wrote in his journal : "There are
some inhabitants on the branches of Greenbrier, but we
missed their plantations." Evidently there was a very con-
siderable population in the Greenbrier Valley prior to the
year 1755.

On February 23, 1756, Captain Teaque sent to the Lords
of Trade, London, a "List of Tithables" in Virginia which
he had prepared under the direction of the Government.
Upon this, as a basis, he estimated the population of Virginia
to be 173,316 whites and 120,000 negroes. Taking his esti-
mate for Hampshire County, and estimating for that part of
West Virginia then included in Frederick ^nd Augusta Coun-
ties, we may conclude that in West Virginia at that date
there were about 11,000 whites and 400 blacks. If an irregu-
lar or broken line be drawn from the Blue Ridge through
Harper's Ferry and Charles Town in Jefferson County;
Martinsburg, in Berkeley County; Berkeley Springs, in Hardy
County; Petersburg, in Grant County; Upper Tract and
Franklin, in Pendleton County; Clover Lick, in Pocahontas
County ; and thence through Monroe County to Peter's
Mountain, it will pass centrally through the region in which
resided at that time the pioneer settlers of West Virginia, as
shown by contemporary documents.

In Tygart's Valley.

"About 1753 the first cabins on the waters of the Monon-
gahela, within West Virginia, were built. The location was
in what is now Randolph County. Robert Files built his
cabin at the mouth of a creek which now bears his name,
and the place is now occupied by the town of Beverly. David
Tygart's cabin stood three miles above Beverly, and Tygart's
River bears his name. These men brought their families
from the South Branch. The Valley of the Monongahela for
five years after that time was Avithout an inhabitant south
of Pennsylvania. In 1758 a few settlers came with Thomas
Decker and located at Morgantown. Decker's Creek still
bears his name. The colonj^ was soon destroyed by Indians.
Thus ended the second effort to colonize west of the moun-

58 History of West Virginia

tains ; and for the ten succeeding years it is not known that
any attempt at settling the country was made.

■ "In 1763 the King of England issued a proclamation
forbidding all persons to take possession of lands west of the
Alleghanies, in Virginia, until the land should be purchased
from the Indians. Why such a proclamation was made is
not known, as no Indian tribe owned or occupied any por-
tion of West Virginia at that time ; and no part of it was
ever bought of the Indians who had any right to sell it, —
unless it be conceded they held a prior right to occupancy by
virtue of their long use of it as a hunting ground.

"A considerable part of it had already been granted to
companies or individuals. Governor Fauqueir, of Virginia,
issued three proclamations warning settlers west of the
mountains to withdraw from the land, but this was useless,
as there probably were no settlers at that time between the
Alleghanies and the Ohio River."^ — (Fast and Maxwell.)

In 1761 William Childers, John and Samuel Pringle and
Joseph Linsey deserted as soldiers from Fort Pitt, and
ascended the Monongahela River as far as the mouth of
George's Creek (the site afterwards selected by Albert
Gallatin for the town of Geneva). After remaining here for
a time, and not liking the place, they crossed over to the head
of the Youghioghany, where, encamping in the glades, they
remained one year. One day, while out hunting, Samuel
Pringle discovered a path which he had reasons to believe
led to the inhabited part of Virginia. On his return to camp,
he disclosed his discovery to his comrades. Shortly after-
wards they ascertained to their sorrow that the path led to
a settlement on Loony's Creek, then the most remote west-
ern settlement. While stopping here Childers and Linsey
were apprehended as deserters, but the Pringles escaped to
their camp in the glades, where they remained until some time
in 1764.

About this time the Pringles seem to have been employed
by a Mr. Simpson, a trapper who had come there in search of
furs. Here, owing to the constant intrusion by other hunters,
and the growing popularity of the glades as a hunting ground,
and fearful of meeting with the fate of their former com-

History ot West Virginia 59

panions, they pursuaded their employer to move farther west.
In journeying- through the wilderness, and after having
crossed Cheat River, a dispute arose between the Pringles
and Simpson, and they separated. Simpson crossed the
Valley River near the mouth of Pleasant Creek, and passing
on to the head of another water course gave it the name of
Simpson's Creek. From there he proceeded westward, finally
arriving at a stream which he called Elk. Going on down
this stream to its mouth, he erected his camp, at which place
he remained for about one year. While there he saw nothing
of the Pringles or any other human beings. He then went
to the South Branch to dispose of his furs and skins. He
returned to his Camp at the mouth of the Elk and remained
there until permanent settlements were made in its vicinity.

After separating from Simpson, the Pringles proceeded
up the Valley River as far as the mouth of Buckhan#On
River. They ascended the latter to the mouth of a stream
now called Turkey Run, in what is now Upshur County.
Here they took up their abode in a large, hollow sycamore
tree, on the farm lately owned by one Webster Dix. Of this
historical tree L. V. McWhorter, of Berlin, West Virginia, is
quoted as saying in a letter to Reuben Gold Thwaites, late of
Madison, Wis, in his commentary on Withers's "Border
Warfare": "The aged sycamore now (1894) occupying the
site is the third generation — the grandchild — of that which
housed the Pringles. It stands on the farm of Webster Dix,
who assures me that it shall not be destroyed. According to
Withers, the stump of the tree occupied by the Pringles was
still standing in 1830.

In 1767 John left his brother to go to a trading post on
the Shenandoah for supplies. After many hardships endured
by both, John returned, with the information that peace had
been declared between the Indians and French. They there-
upon decided to temporarily vacate their tree home and pro-
ceed to the settlements on South Branch for the purpose of
prevailing on a few others to come and settle on Buckhannon
River in the vicinity of the place which they had learned to
love so well. In this worthy enterprise they seem to have
been successful, for it is recorded that in the next year (1768)

60 History of West Virginia

several persons accompanied Samuel Pringle to his old home
in the wilderness, and that they liked the country so well
that the following spring still others were persuaded to "re-
pair thither, with the view of cultivating as much corn as
would serve their families the first year after their emigra-
tion. And having examined the country, for the purpose of
selecting the most desirable situations, some of them pro-
ceeded to improve the spots of their choice." John Hacker
was one of the first to locate on Turkey Run. He was born
near Winchester, Virginia, January 1st, 1743, and died at
his home on Hacker's Creek, April 20, 1821. He figured
prominently in the Indian wars of his region. He also
served in Col. G. R. Clark's Illinois campaign of 1778. John
Jackson and his two sons, George and Edward, settled at the
mouth of Turkey Run. Alexander and Thomas Sleeth found
homes near Jackson's, on what was later known as the
Forenash plantation. Others who came about this time,
namely, William Hacker, Thomas and Jesse Hughes, John
and William Radcliff and John Brown, seem to have devoted
their time to hunting. Of course they were useful in this
way, as they provided the farmers with plenty of wild meat.
On one of their hunting trips they discovered and gave name
to Stone Coal Creek. Descending this stream they "came to
its confluence with a river, which they then called, and has
since been known as the West Fork." Under the guidance
of Samuel Pringle, other emigrants arrived, among whom
were John and Benjamin Outright, who located on Buckhan-
non River, and Henry Rule, who settled just above the mouth
of Fink's Run. It seems that the first land deal between indi-
viduals in the Buckhannon country occurred between Sam.uel
Pringle and John Hacker, wherein it "was agreed that if Prin-
gle would clear as much land on a creek which had been
recently discovered by the hunters as he had on Buckhannon,
-they would exchange places. Complying with this condition,
Pringle took possession of the farm on Buckhannon, and
Hacker of the land improved by Pringle on the creek, which
was hence called Hacker's Creek." About this time John and
William Radcliff likewise settled on this stream.

While the pioneers were on a visit to their families on

History of West Virginia 61

the South Branch, at the close of the working season, in 1769,
a lot of buffaloes destroyed the crops in the new settlement,
which delayed the removal of their families until the follow-
ing winter of 1770. Shortly after this event, Capt. James
Booth and John Thomas located on what is ncfw Booth's
Creek.

In 1768 Jacob Van Meter, John Swan, Thomas Hughes
and some others settled on the west side of the ]\Ionongahela,
near the mouth of Muddy Creek, where Carmichaeltown now
stands. "Both Van Meter and Swan afterwards served under
Col. G. R. Clark — at least, in the Kaskaskia campaign ; Swan
commanded a company in Clark's Shawnee campaign of 1780,
and Van Meter in that of 1782. The latter moved to Ken-
tucky and settled in Hardin County in that State in 1798" —
(Draper.)

In the same year that the above named persons settled at
the mouth of Muddy Creek, the place which had formerly
been occupied by Decker and his unfortunate associates,
where Morgantown is now situated, was again settled by a
party of emigrants, among whom was David Morgan, wlio
afterwards became noted as an Indian fighter, some of whose
adventures will be recorded in another chapter.

In 1769 Colonel Ebenezer Zane, accompanied by his
brothers, Silas and Jonathan, and some other persons, came
to the Ohio River from their homes on the South Branch of
the Potomac River, and proceeded to locate for themselves
new homes. "The Zanes were descendants of a Mr. Zane
who accompanied William Penn to his province in Pennsyl-
vania Having made himself obnoxious to the

Society of Friends (of which he was a member) by marrying
without the pale of that society, he moved to Virginia and
settled on the South Branch, at the point where Moorefield,
in Hardy County, West Virginia, now stands. One of his
sons (Isaac) was taken by the Indians when he was only nine
years old and carried into captivity to Mad River, Ohio. He
became reconciled to Indian life, married a squaw, became a
chief, and lived the remainder of his life with the red men,
but never waged war with the whites. It is said his descend-
ants still live in Ohio." — (Thwaite's Commentaries.)

62 History of West Virginia

Colonel Zane selected for his future home an eminence
above the mouth of Wheeling Creek, nearly in the center of
the present City of Wheeling. Silas located on Wheeling
Creek, where Col. Moses Shepherd afterwards resided, and
Jonathan fived with his brother Ebenezer. Several others
who had accompanied the Zanes to their new home likewise
remamed with the Colonel, in the capacit/^of laborers. After
having prepared places for the reception of their families,
they returned to their former homes on the South Branch
to prepare for moving to their new settlement on the Ohio.
In the ensuing year, accompanied by Col. David Shepherd,
John Wetzel and the McCulloughs, the Zanes again repaired
to their wilderness homes. Other settlements followed short-
ly afterwards, at dififerent points, both above and below
Wheeling. George Leflier, John Doddridge, Benjamin Biggs,
Daniel Greathouse, Joshua Baker and Andrew Swearingen
were the first to locate above Wheeling.

According to Thwaite, John Doddridge settled in Wash-
ington County, Pennsylvania, on the Ohio River, a few miles
east of the Pennsylvania-West Virginia line, in 1773. Joseph
Doddridge, the celebrated antiquarian, and the author of
"Notes On the Settlements and Indian Wars," etc., was his
son. Greathouse and Baker became unpopular in the com-
munity by reason of their connection with the massacre of
Chief Logan's family in 1774. Lef!ler and Biggs figured
prominently in border warfare.

In 1770 Joseph Tomlinson, from near Fort Cumberland,
came to the flats of Grave Creek, accompanied by his brother
Samuel. Being pleased with the country, he decided to locate
there, and at once erected a cabin, into which he moved his
family in the spring of 1773, some delay having been occa-
sioned by his apprehension of trouble with the Indians. His
cabin was located a short distance north of where the Balti-
more and Ohio Railroad station is situated in the City of
Moundsville. Mr. Joseph Tomlinson was the great-grand-
father of Circuit Judge Charles C. Newman, of Wheeling.
He died May 30th, 1825, aged 80 3^ears, and was buried in
Moundsville cemetery.

In 1772 the Tygart's Valley region, comprising some

History of West Virginia 63

twenty-five or thirty miles of rich bottom hind, was taken up
by a party from Greenbrier, among whom were the names
Hadden, Stalnaker, Connelly, Whiteman, Warwick, Nelson,
Riffle and Westfall. "The latter of these found and interred
the bones of File's family, which had lain bleaching in the
sun, after their murder by the Indians in 1754." About the
same time (1772) Capt. James Parsons, of the South Branch,
located on Horse Shoe Bottom, on Cheat River; and Robert
Cunningham, Henry Fink, John Gofif and John Minear set-
tled near by. In the same year Robert Butler, William
Morgan and some others settled on Dunkard Bottom.

In the same year the following persons settled in and
near the present site of Clarksburg: Thomas Nutter, Sotha
Hickman, Samuel Beard, Andrew Cottrail, Daniel Davisson,
Samuel Cottrail, Obadiah Davisson and John Nutter. About
this time emigration to the Buckhannon and Hacker's Creek
settlements had increased so heavily that there was almost a
famine in those sections, and 1773 was for a long time re-
membered as the "starving year". It is said that had it not
been for the heroic efforts of William Lowther, the results
from the scarcity might have been more serious. But he
proved to be the "Joseph in Egypt", and the people were
tided over until a more bountiful season. The writer believes
that this worthy subject is entitled to more than a passing
notice, and takes the liberty to quote the following interesting
biographical sketch from Withers's "Chronicles of Border
Warfare" :

"William Lowther was the son of Robert, and came with
his father to the Hacker's Creek settlement in 1772. He soon
became one of the most conspicuous men in that section of the
country ; while his private virtues and public actions endeared
him to every individual of the community. During the war
of 1774 he was the most active and efficient defender of that
vicinity against the insidious attacks of the savage foe ; and
there were very few, if any, scouting parties proceeding from
thence, by which the Indians were killed or otherwise much
annoyed, but were commanded by him.

"He was the first justice of the peace in the district of
West Augusta — the first sheriff in the county of Harrison

64 History of West Virginia

and Wood, and once a delegate to the General Assembly of
the States. His military merits carried him through the sub-
ordinate grades to the rank of colonel. Despising the pomp
and pageantry of office, he accepted it for the good of the
community, and was trul}^ an effective man. Esteemed, be-
loved by all, he might have exerted his influence over others
to the advancement of his individual interest; but he sought
the advancement of the general weal, not a personal or family
aggrandizement. His example might teach others that offices
were created for the public good, not for private emoluments.
If aspirants for office at the present day were to regard its
perquisites less, and their fitness for the discharge of its duties
more, the country would enjoy a greater portion of happiness
and prosperity, and a sure foundation for the permanence of
these be laid, in the more disinterested character of her coun-
sellors, and their consequently increased devotion to her
interests."

These comprise the principal settlements in what is now
West Virginia prior to the year 1774. From this time on-
ward people from the north, south and east came in by
hundreds. Former homes, encircled by the comforts of
civilization, were readily exchanged for homes in the virgin
forests of a wild and strange land, where wild game and
savage men were known to trod. The objects for the attain-'
ment of which they voluntarily placed themselves in this
situation, and which nerved them to undertake the risks and
hardships which they could not but foresee lay in wait for
them, were almost as various as their individual characters.
As a general thing they were men of poor circumstances,
unable to pay for land in the neighborhoods from which they
came, and they were not content to longer remain the tenants
of others. The new country afforded them an opportunity to
acquire homes for. the mere "taking up". Most of them were
satisfied with small farms. A few others, however, availed
themselves of the right of pre-emption of large tracts, and
some of these became rich, — as wealth was then known. The
excellent transportation facilities offered by the Ohio River
were a great inducement to the more enterprising, far-seeing
spirits ; the wide, fertile bottoms along its course and its tribu-

History of West Virginia 65

taries; the beautiful sites for towns and cities — these all
appealed to the business sense. The natural result was that
the Ohio and its navigable tributaries soon outstripped, with
few exceptions, all other settlements in population and im-
provements, as well as intellectual and moral qualifications.
Segregate human beings from a civilized community and
place them in a wild country, isolated from all things tending
to perpetuate civilization, and they will naturally partake of
the less exacting social reguirements of their surroundings.
But, place these same people where the environments tend
upward instead of downward in the social scale, and they will
soon average up with their neighbors in intelligence and
progress. Environment, indeed, has much to do with the con-
ditions of people.

Withers says : "The infantile state of all countries exhib-
its, in a greater or less degree, a prevalence of barbarism.
The planting of colonies, or the formation of establishments
in new countries, is ever attended with circumstances unpro-
pitious to refinement. The force with which these circum-
stances act will be increased or diminished in proportion to
the remoteness or proximity of those new establishments to
older societies, in which the arts and sciences are cultivated,
and to the facility of communication between them. Man is,
at all times, the creature of circumstances. Cut off from an
intercourse with his fellow men, and divested of the conven-
iences of life, he will readily relapse into a state of nature, —
placed in contiguity with the barbarous and the vicious, his
manners will become rude, his morals perverted, — brought
into collision with the sanguinary and revengeful, his own
conduct will eventually be distinguished by bloody and vin-
dictive deeds.

"Such was really the situation of those who made the
first establishments in. North Western Virginia. And when
it is considered that they were, mostly, men from the humble
walks of life, comparatively illiterate and unrefined, without
civil or religious institutions, and with a love of liberty bor-
dering on the extreme— their more enlightened descendants
can not but feel surprise that their dereliction from propriety
had not been greater, their virtue less."

66 History of West Virginia

In almost all the settlements there were individuals who
had a greater attachment for hunting" than for farming, and
this class sometimes followed their inclinations to the exclu-
sion of all other pursuits. Yet nearly all the men in the settle-
ments did more or less hunting, especially in the fur season,
as furs and skins for a time represented their chief commodity
in trade. Then, too, there was something peculiarly attract-
ive about life in the forests, in spite of its hardships • and
dangers, especially after a season in the clearings or confine-
ment in a fort. To make a successful hunter one must have a
good eye and a steady nerve ; he must be versed in woodcraft
and possess a thorough knowledge of the characteristics of
the game he seeks. The knowledge which enabled the hunter
to approach, unperceived, the watchful deer in his lair, en-
abled him likewise to circumvent the Indian in his ambush.

In each settlement there existed a unison of feeling.
Petty strife and ambition for personal preferment were prac-
tically unknown. Their interests were mutual. Their en-
vironment made them so. This condition made them as
brothers. A show of liberality was not made for the sake
of remuneration, nor an act of kindness done for the purpose
of reaping a reward in return. A favor done was genuine, —
it had no "strings to it". No tolls exacted — no interest
charged. They were kind for kindness' sake ; and sought no
other recompense than the reward of an approving conscience.

So, if our forefathers did not measure up to our standard
of morals, they possessed many virtues which we might, with
profit, emulate in this enlightened age; and the writer would
ask the reader, as he reads of bloody deeds in following chap-
ters in which the whites were sometimes compelled, by force
of circumstances, to wage a war of retaliation and extermina-
tion among the unfortunate Indians, to bear in mind the fact
that foreign nations, and a few bad white men in this country,
were the instigators of a condition over which the true settler
had no control, yet had to bear the brunt of savage ferocity.
The Indian, as a rule, regarded all white men alike. If one
dirty white man ill-treated one Indian, the whole Indian tribe
held all the white people responsible for the act. So, many
an innocent person was made to suffer for the faults of others.

History of West Virginia 67

The following is a copy of a very interesting memoran-
dum taken from the records in the county clerk's ofhce at
Lewisburg, county seat of Greenbrier County. It was written
by (Captain) John Stuart, July 15th, 1798:

Memorandum — 1798 — July 15.
(By John Stuart.)

"The inhabitants of every county and place are desirous
to encjuire after the first founders, and in order to gratify
the curious or such who may hereafter incline to be informed
of the origin of the settlements made in Greenbrier, I leave
this Memorandum for their satisfaction, being the only
person at this time alive acquainted with the circumstances
of its discovery and manner of settling. — ^Born in Augusta
County, and the particulars of this place often related to me
by the first adventurers, I can relate with certainty that our
river was first discovered about the year 1749 by the white
people ; some say Jacob Marlin was the first person who dis-
covered it, others that a man of unsound mind, whose name I
do not now remember, had wandered from Frederick County
through the mountains, and on his return reported he had
seen a river running westward,— supposed to be Greenbrier
River. However, Jacob Marlin and Stephen Sneil were the
first settlers at the mouth of Knapp's Creek, above what is
now called the Little Levels on the land still bearing the
name of Marlins. These two men lived there in a kind pf
hermitage, having no families, but frequently differing in
sentiment which ended in rage. Marlin kept possession of
the cabin, while Sneil took up his abode in the trunk of a
large tree at a small distance, and, thus living more independ-
ently, their animosities Avould abate, and sociability ensued.
Not long after they had made their settlement on the river,
the county was explored by the late Gen. Andrew Lewis, at
that time a noted and famous woodsman, on whose report an
order of Council was soon obtained granting one hundred
thousand acres of lands on Greenbrier to the Hon'l John
Robinson (Treasurer of Virginia) to the number of twelve,
including old Col. John Lewis and his two sons, William and

68 History of West Virginia

Charles, with condition of setthng the lands with inhabitants,
and certain emoluments of three pounds per hundred acres
to themselves. But the war breaking out between England
and France in the year 1755 and the Indians being excited
by the French to make war on the back inhabitants of Vir-
ginia, all who were then settled on Greenbrier were obliged to
retreat to older settlements for safety, amongst whom was
Jacob Marlin, but Sneil fell a sacrifice to the enemy. This
was ended in 1762 and then some people returned and settled
in Greenbrier again, amongst whom was Archibald Clen-
dennen, whose residence was on the lands now claimed by
John Savis by virtue of an intermarriage with his daughter,
and lying two miles west of Lewisburg. The Indians, break-
ing out again in 1763, came up the Kanawha in a large body
to the number of sixty, and coming to the house of Frederick
Sea, on Muddy Creek, were kindly entertained by him and
Felty Yolkcom, who not suspecting their hostile design, were
suddenly killed and their families with many others made
prisoners ; then proceeding over the mountain to Archibald
Clendennen's, who, like Sea and Yolkcom, entertained them
until they put him to death, his family with a number of
others living with him being all made prisoners or killed, not
any one escaping except Conrad Yolkcom, who, doubting
the design of the Indians when they came to Clendennen's,
took his horse out under the pretense of hobbling him at some
distance from the house ; soon after some guns were fired at
the house and a loud cry raised by the people, whereupon
Yolkcom, taking the alarm, rode off as far as where court
house now stands, and there beginning to ruminate whether
he might not be mistaken in his apprehension, concluded to
return and know the truth, but just as he came to the corner
of Clendennen's fence, some Indians placed there presented
their guns and attempted to shoot him, but their guns all
missing fire (he thinks at least ten), he immediately fled to
Jackson's River, alarming the people as he went ; but few
were willing to believe him. The Indians pursued after him
and all that fell in their way were slain until they went on
Carr's Creek, now in Rockbridge County. So much were
people in those days intimidated by an attack of the Indians

History of West Virginia 69

that they were suffered to retreat with all their booty, and
more prisoners than there were Indians in their party,

"I will here relate a narrative of Archibald- Clendennen's
wife being prisoner with her young child as they were passing
over Keeney's Knob from Muddy Creek, a part of the Indians
being in front with the remainder behind and the prisoners
in the center. Mrs. Clendennen handed her child to another
woman to carry and she slipped to one side and hid herself
in a bush, but the Indians soon missing her, one of them
observed he would soon bring the cow to the calf, and taking
the child caused it to cry very loud, but the mother not
appearing he took the infant and beat its brains out against
a tree; then throwing it down in the road, all the people and
horses that were in the rear passed over it until it was trod
to pieces. Many more cruelties were committed, too hard to
be related and too many to be contained in this Memorandum.

"Thus was Greenbrier once more depopulated for six
years, but a peace being concluded with Indians in 1765 and
the lands on the western waters with certain boundary being
purchased at a Treaty at Fort Stanwix by Andrew Lewis and
Thomas Walker, commissioners appointed by the Govern-
ment, the people again returned to settle in Greenbrier in
1769 and I myself was amongst the first of those last adven-
turers, being at that time about nineteen years of age, with
W. Robert McClenachan, another very young man. Our de-
sign was to secure lands and encourage a settlement in the
county, but the Indians breaking out again in 1774, Colonel
Lewis was ordered by the Earl of Dunmore (then Governor
of Virginia) to march against them with fifteen hundred
volunteer militia, which army marched from Camp Union
(now Lewisburg) the 11th day of September, 1774, two com-
panies of the said army being raised in Greenbrier and com-
manded by Capt. Robert McClenachan and myself. We were
met by the Indians on the 10th day of October at the mouth
of the Kanawha and a very obstinate engagement ensued ;
the Indians were defeated, though with the loss of sevent3^-five
officers and soldiers; amongst the slain was Col. Charles
Lewis, who commanded the Augusta militia, and my friend
Capt. Robert McClenachan.

70 History of West Virginia

"Col. Andrew Lewis pursued his victory, crossing the
Ohio, until we were in sight of some Indian town on the
waters of Scioto, where we were met by the Earl of Dunmore,
who commanded an army in person and had made his route
by the way of Fort Pitt. The Governor capitulating with
the Indians, Colonel Lewis was ordered to retreat, and the
next year hostilities commenced between the British and
Americans at Boston in New England. And I have since
been informed by Colonel Lewis that the Earl of Dun-
more (the King's Governor) knew of the attack to be
made upon us at the mouth of Kanawha, and hoped our de-
struction ; this secret was communicated to him by indis-
putable authority.

"Independence being declared by America the 4th day
of July, 1776, and the people assuming the reigns of govern-
ment, a county was granted to the people of Greenbrier
under the Commonwealth in May, 1778, and a court was first
held at my house on the 3rd Tuesday in said month.

"Not long after which we were invaded again by the
Indians, who had taken part with the British, and on the 28th
day of the same month Col. Andrew Donnally's house was
attacked about eight miles from Lewisburg by two hundred
Indians. These Indians were pursued from the mouth of the
Kanawha by two scouts from that garrison, to-wit: Phil Ham-
mon and John Prior, and passing the Indians at the Meadows,
they gave intelligence to Colonel Donnally of their approach,
who instantly collected about twenty men and the next
morning sustained the attack of the enemy until he was
relieved about two o'clock by sixty men from Lewisburg. I
was one of the number and we got into the house unhurt,
being favored by a field of rye which grew close to the house,
the Indians being all on the opposite side of the house. Four
men were killed before we got in and about sixteen Indians.
Indians lay dead in the yard before the door; some of these
were taken off in the night, but we scalped nine the next
morning. This was the last time the Indians invaded Green-
brier in any large party.

"Peace with the British followed in 1781 and then the
people of this county began to make some iceble efforts to

History of West Virginia 71

regulate their society, and to open roads for wagons through
the mountain, which by many had been thought imprac-
ticable, no wagon at that time having approached nearer than
the Warmsprings. On petition the Assembly granted a law
empowering the Court to levy a certain annual sum in com-
mutables from the inhabitants for the purpose of opening a
road from the Court House to the Warmsprings. A conven-
ience so necessary for the importation of salt and other neces-
saries of lumber, as well as conveying our hemp and other
heavy wares to market, would readily be expected to receive
the approbation of every one, but such is the perverse dispo-
sition of some men unwilling that any should share advan-
tages in preference to themselves that this laudable measure
was opposed by Mr. William Hutchison, who had first repre-
sented the county in General Assembl}'' — on this occasion,
without the privity of the people, went at his own expense to
Richmond and by his insinuations to some of the members
with unfair representations of the law for two years, but the
following year, Col. Thomas Adams, who visited this county,
satisfied with the impropriety of Hutchison's representation
had the suspension repealed and full powers were allowed to
the Court to levy money for the purpose aforesaid ; and bj
this means a wagon road was opened from the Court House
to the Warmsprings. The paper money emitted for main-
taining our war against the British became totally depre-
ciated and there was not a sufficient quantity of Specie in
circulation to enable the people to pay the revenue tax
assessed upon the citizens of this county, wherefore we fell
in arrears to the public for four years ; but the Assembly again
taking our remote situation under consideration graciously
granted the sum of five thousand pounds of our said arrears
to be applied to the purpose of opening a road from Lewis-
burg to the Kanawha River.

"The people, grateful for such indulgences, willingly
embraced the opportunity of such an offer and every person
liable for arrears of tax agreed to perform labor equivalent
on the road, and the people being formed into districts with
each a superintendent, the road was completed in the space of
two months in the year 1786, and there was a communica-

72 History o£ West Virginia

tion by wagons to the navigable waters of the Kanawha first
effected and which will probably be found the nighest and
best conveyance from the Eastern to the Western Country
that will ever be known. May I here hazard a conjecture that
has often occurred to me since I inhabited this place, that
nature has designed this part of the world a peaceable retreat
for some of her favorite children, where pure morals will be
preserved by separating them from other societies at so
respectful a distance by ridges and mountains, and I sincerely
wish time may prove my conjecture rational and true. From
the springs of salt water discoverable along our river, banks
of iron ore, mines pregnant with saltpeter, and forests of
sugar trees so amply provided and so easily acquired, I have
no doubt but the future inhabitants of this county will surely
avail themselves of such singular advantages greatly to their
comfort and satisfaction and render them a grateful and
happy people.

"It will be remembered that Lewisburg was first settled
by Capt. Mathew Arbuckle after the town was laid ofif in the
year 1780 and took its name in honor of the family of the
Lewises, in consequence of their holding a large claim in the
Greenbrier grant. Captain Arbuckle was killed the following
year in a storm of wind by the falling of a tree on the branch
leading from the turns of the waters of Anthony's Creek to
Jackson's River. He was distinguished for his bravery,
especially in the battle with the Indians at Point Pleasant.

"JOHN STUART."

?«, *A,

Reoresentatives from Western Virginia on their way to Rich-
mond in the early days.

CHAPTER VI.

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE EARLY
PIONEERS IN WEST VIRGINIA.

The author of the "History of the Pan Handle" quotes
the following splendid pen picture of manners and customs
of the early settlers of West Virginia by Dr. Doddridge, a
writer of considerable note on border history :

"A correct and detailed view of the origin of societies
and their progress from one condition ... to another
is interesting, even when received through the dusky medium
of history, oft times but poorly and partially written. But
when this retrospect of things past and gone is drawn from
the recollection of experience, the impression which it makes
upon the heart must be of the most vivid and lasting kind.

"The following history of the state of society, manners
and customs of our forefathers has been drawn from the
latter source, and is given to the world with the knowledge
that many of my contemporaries are still living, who, as
well as myself, have witnessed all the scenes and events herein
described, and whose memories will speedily detect and
expose any errors it may contain.

"The municipal as well as ecclesiastical institutions of
society, whether good or bad, in consequence of their con-
tinued use give a corresponding cast to the public character
of the society whose conduct they direct, the more so, be-
cause, in the lapse of time, the observance of them becomes
a matter of conscience.

"These observations apply with full force to that influ-
ence of our early land laws, which allow four hundred acres,
and no more, to a settlement right. Many of our first settlers
seemed to regard this amount of the surface of the earth as
the allotment of Divine Providence for one family, and to
believe that any attempt to get more would be sinful. Most
of them, therefore, contented themselves with that amount,
although they might have evaded the law, which allowed

History of West Virginia 75

but one settlement-right to any one individual, by taking out
the title papers in the name of others, to be afterwards trans-
ferred to them, as if by purchase. Some few indeed pursued
this course, but it was held in detestation.

"The people had become so accustomed to the mode of
'getting land for taking it up', that for a long time it was
generally believed that the land on the west side of the Ohio
would ultimately be disposed of in that way. Hence, almost
the whole tract of country between the Ohio and Muskingum
was parcelled out in tomahawk improvements, but these were
not satisfied with a single four-hundred-acre tract. Many of
them owned a great number of tracts of the best land, and
thus in imagination were as 'wealthy as a South Sea dream'.
Some of these land jobbers did not content themselves with
marking trees at the usual height with the initials of their
names, but climbed up the large beech trees, and cut the let-
ters in their bark, from twenty to forty feet from the ground.
To enable them to identify these trees at a future period, they
made marks on other trees around as references.

"The settlement of a new country, in the immediate
neighborhood of an old one, is not attended with much diffi-
culty, because supplies can be readily obtained from the
latter; but the settlement of a country very remote from any
civilized region is quite a dififerent thing, because at the outset
food, raiment, and the implements of husbandry are only
obtained in small supplies, and with great difficulty. The
task of making new establishments in a remote wilderness
in a time of profound peace, is sufficiently difficult; but when,
in addition to all the unavoidable hardships attendant on this
business, those resulting from an extensive and furious war-
fare with savages are superadded, toil, privations and suffer-
ings are then carried to the full extent of the capacity to
endure them.

"Such was the wretched condition of our forefathers in
making their settlements here. To all their difficulties and
privations the Indian war was a weighty addition. This
destructive warfare they were compelled to sustain almost
single-handed, because the Revolutionary contest gave full

76 History of West Virginia

employment for the military streng-th and resources on the
east side of the mountains.

"The following history of the poverty, labors, sufferings,
manners and customs of our forefathers will appear like a
collection of 'tales of olden times', without any garnish of
language to spoil the original portraits by giving them shades
of coloring which they did not possess.

"I shall follow the order of things as they occurred
during the period of time embraced in these narratives, be-
ginning with those rude accommodations with which our first
adventurers into this country furnished themselves at the
commencement of their establishment. It will be a homely
narrative, yet valuable on the ground of its being real history.
In this chapter it is my design to give a brief account of the
house-hold furniture and articles of diet which were used by
the first inhabitants of our country ; a description of their
cabins and half-faced camps, and their manner of building
them will be found elsewhere.

"The furniture of the table, for several years after the
settlement of this country, consisted of a few pewter dishes,
plates and spoons, but mostly of wooden bowls, trenchers and
noggins. If these last were scarce, gourds and hard-shelled
squashes made up the deficiency. The iron pots, knives and
forks were brought from the east, with the salt and iron, or,
pack horses.

"These articles of furniture corresponded very well with
the articles of diet. 'Hog and hominy' were proverbial for the
dish of which they were the component parts. Johnny-cake
and pone were, at the outset of the settlement of the country,
the only form of bread in use for breakfast and dinner. At
supper, milk and mush was the standard dish. When milk
was not plenty, which was often the case owing to the
scarcity of cattle, or the want of proper pasture for them, the
substantial dish of hominy had to supply the place of them.
Mush was frequently eaten with sweetened water, molasses,
bear's oil, or the gravy of fried meat.

"In our whole display of furniture, the delft, china and
silver were unknown. It did not then, as now, require con-
tributions from the four quarters of the globe to furnish the

History of West Virginia 77

breakfast table, viz : the silver from Mexico, the tea from
China and the delft and porcelain from Europe or Asia.

"Yet our homely fare and unsightly cabins and furniture
produced a hardy race, ^vho planted the first footsteps of
civilization in the immense regions of the West. Inured to
hardships, bravery and labor, from their early youth, they
sustained with manly fortitude the fatigue of the chase, the
campaign and scout, and with strong arms 'turned the wilder-
ness into fruitful fields', and have left to their descendants
the rich inheritance of an immense empire blessed with peace
and wealth and prosperity.

"The introduction of delf was considered by many of the
back-woods people as a culpable innovation. It was too easily
broken, and the plates of that ware dulled their scalping and
clasp knives ; tea ware was too small for men — they might do
for women and children. Tea and cofifee were only slops
which, in the adage of the day, 'did not stick by the ribs'.
The idea then prevalent was that they were only designed
for people of quality, who did not labor, or for the rich.

"A genuine backwoodsman would have thought himself
disgraced by showing a fondness for such 'slops'. Indeed,
many of them have to this day very little respect for them.

"But, passing from the furniture, diet, etc., of our ances-
tors, we come now to speak of their dress, which will be found
singular and interesting enough to many of the present day
and generation. Some of our fashionables would scarcely be
able to recognize in the picture, so faithfully and graphically
drawn by our venerable historian, the persons of their grand-
sires and dames.

"On the frontier, and particularly among those who were
much in the habit of hunting and going on scouts and cam-
paigns, the dress of the men was partly Indian and partly
that of civilized nations.

"The hunting shirt was universally worn. This was a
kind of loose frock, reaching half-way down the thighs. Avith
large sleeves, open before, and so wide as to lap over a foot
or more when belted. The cape was large and sometimes
fringed with a ravelled piece of cloth of a different color from
that of the hunting shirt itself. The bosom of this dress

78 History of West Virginia

served as a wallet to hold bread, cakes, jerk, tow for wiping
the barrel of the rifle, or any other necessary for the hunter
or warrior. The belt, which was always tied behind, answered
several purposes, besides that of holding the dress together.
In cold weather, the mittens, and sometimes the bullet-bag,
occupied the front part of it. To the right side was supended
the tomahawk, and to the left the scalping-knife, in its leath-
ern sheath. The hunting shirt was generally made of linsey,
sometimes of coarse linen, and a few of dressed deer skins.
The last were very cold and uncomfortable in wet weather.
The shirt and jacket were of the common fashion. A pair of
drawers or breeches and leggins were the dress of the thighs
and legs, a pair of moccasins . answered for their feet much
better than shoes. These were made of dressed deer-skins.
They were mostly of a single piece, with a gathering seam
along the top of the foot, and another from the bottom of the
heel, without gathers, as high or a little higher than the ankle
joint. Flaps were left on each side, to reach some distance
up the legs. These were nicely adapted to the ankles and
lower part of the leg b}^ thongs of a deer-skin, so that no
dust, gravel or snow could get within the moccasin.

"In cold weather the moccasins were well stuffed with
deer's hair or dry leaves, so as to keep the feet comfortably
warm ; but in wet weather it was usually said that wearing
them was 'a decent way of going barefooted' ; and such was
the fact, owing to the spongy texture of the leather of which
they were made.

"Owing to this defective covering- of the feet more than
to any other circumstance the greater number of our hunters
and warriors were afflicted with rheumatism in their limbs.
Of this disease they were all apprehensive in cold or wet
weather, and, therefore, always slept with their feet to the
fire to prevent or cure it as well as they could. This practice
unquestionably had a very salutary effect, and prevented
many of them from becoming confirmed cripples in early life.

"In the latter years of the Indian war, our young men
became more enamored with the Indian dress. The drawers
were laid aside and the leggins made longer so as to reach
the upper part of the thigh. The Indian breech-cloth was

History of West Virginia 79

adopted. This was a piece of linen or cloth nearly a yard
long, and eight or nine inches broad. This was passed under
the belt, before and behind, leaving the ends for flaps hanging
before and behind over the belt. These flaps were sometimes
ornamented with some coarse kind of embroidery work. To
the same belt which secured the breech-cloth, strings, which
supported, the long leggins, were attached. When .this belt,
as was often the case, passed over the hunting shirt, the upper
part of the thighs and part of the hips were naked.

"The young warrior, instead of being abashed by this
nudity, was proud of the Indian dress. In some few instances
I have seen them go into places of public worship in this
dress. Their appearance, however, did not add much to the
devotion of the young ladies.

"The linsey coats and bedgowns, Avhich were the uni-
versal dress of our women in early times, would make a
strange figure at this day.

"The writers should say to the ladies of our present day,
your ancestors knew nothing of the ruffles, leghorns, curls,
combs, rings, and other jewels with which their fair daughters
now decorate themselves. Such things were not then to be
had. Many of the younger part of them were pretty well
grown before they ever saw the inside of a storeroom, or ever
knew there was such a thing, unless by hear-sa}', and indeed
scarcely that.

"Instead of the toilet, they had to handle the distaff or
shuttle, and sickle or weeding-hoe, contented if they could
obtain their linsey clothing, and cover their heads with a sun-
bonnet made of six or seven hundred linen.

THE FORT.

"The reader will understand by this term not only a
place of defense, but the residence of a small number of
families belonging to the same neighborhood. As the Indian
mode of warfare was an indiscriminate slaughter of all ages
and sexes, it was as requisite to provide for the safety of the
women and children as for that of the men.

"The fort consisted of cabins, block-houses and stock-
ades. A range of cabins commonly formed one side, at least,

80 History of West Virginia

of the fort. Divisions or partitions of logs separated the
cabins from each other. The walls of the outside were ten
or twelve feet high, the slope of the roof being turned wholly
inward. Very few of these cabins had puncheon floors, the
greater part were earthen.

"The block-houses were built at the angles of the fort.
They projected about two feet beyond the outer walls of the
cabins and stockades. Their upper stories were about
eighteen inches every way larger in dimensions than the
under one, leaving an open at the commencement of the
second story to prevent the enemy from making a lodgment
under their walls.

"In some forts, instead of block-houses, the angles of the
fort were furnished with bastions. A large folding gate,
made of thick slabs, nearest the spring, closed the fort. The
stockades, bastions, cabins and block-house walls were fur-
nished with port holes at proper heights and distances. The
whole of the outside was made completely bullet-proof.

"It may be truly said that 'necessity is the mother of
invention', for the whole of this work was made without the
aid of a single nail or spike of iron, and for this reason — such
things were not to be had.

"In some places, less exposed, a single block-house with
a cabin or two constituted the whole fort.

"Such places of refuge may appear very trifling to those
who have been in the habit of seeing the formidable military
garrisons of Europe and America, but they answered the
purpose, as the Indians had no artillery. They seldom
attacked and scarcely ever took one of them.

"The families belonging to these forts were so attached
to their own cabins on their farms that they seldom moved
into their fort in the spring until compelled by some alarm,
as they called it; that is, when it was announced by some
murder that the Indians were in the settlement.

HUNTING.

"This was an important part of the employment of the
early settlers of this country. For some years the M^oods
supplied them with the greater amount of their subsistence;

History of West Virginia 81

and ^vith regard to some families at certain times, the whole
of it, for it was no uncommon thing for families to live several
months without a mouthful of bread. It frequently hap])ened
that there was no breakfast until it was obtained from the
woods. Fur constituted the people's money. They had
nothing else to give in exchange for rifles, salt, and iron, on
the other side of the mountains.

"The fall and early part of winter was the season for
hunting the deer, and the whole of the winter, including part
of the spring, for bears and fur-skinned animals. It was a
customary saying that fur is good during every month in
the name of which the letter R occurs.

"As soon as the leaves were pretty well down, and the
weather became rainy, accompanied with light snows, these
men, after acting the part of husbandmen, so far as the state
of warfare permitted them to do so, soon came to feel that
they were hunters. They became uneasy at home. Every-
thing about them became disagreeable. The house was too
warm ; the feather-bed too soft ; and even the good wife was
not thought, for the time being, a proper companion. The
mind of the hunter was wholly occupied with the camp and
chase.

"Hunting was not a mere ramble in pursuit of game, in
which there was nothing of skill and calculation ; on the con-
trary, the hunter, before he set out in the morning, was
informed by the state of the weather in what situation he
might reasonably expect to meet with his game ; w^hether on
the bottoms, sides, or tops of the hills. In stormy weather
the deer always seeks the most sheltered places and the lee-
ward sides of the hills. In rainy weather, when there is not
much wind, they keep in the open woods, on the high ground.

"In every situation it was requisite for the hunter to
ascertain the course of the wind, so as to get the leeward of
the game. This he effected by putting his finger in his mouth,
and holding it there until it became warm, then holding it
above his head; the side Avhich first became cold showed
which way the wind blew.

"As it was requisite, too. for the hunter to know the
cardinal points, he had only to observe the trees to ascertain

82 History of West Virginia

them. The bark of an aged tree is thicker and much rougher
on the north side than on the south side. The same thing
may be said of the moss, it is much thicker and stronger on
the north than on the south side of the trees.

"The whole business of the hunter consisted of a suc-
cession of intrigues. From morning till night he was on the
alert to gain the wind of his game and approach them without
being discovered. If he succeeded in killing a deer, he
skinned it, and hung it up out of the reach of wolves, and
immediately resumed the chase till the close of the evening,
when he bent his course toward his camp ; when arrived
there, he kindled up his fire and, together with his fellow
hunter, cooked his supper. The supper finished, the adven-
tures of the day furnished the tales for the evening. The
spike buck, the two and three pronged buck, the doe and the
barren doe figured through their anecdotes to great advantage.

THE WEDDING.

"For a long time after the first settlement of this country,
the inhabitants in general married young. There was no dis-
tinction of rank and very little of fortune. On this account
the first impressions of love resulted in marriage ; and a family
establishment cost but a little labor and nothing else.

"A description of a wedding from the beginning to the
end will serve to show the manners of our forefathers, and
mark the grade of civilization which had succeeded to their
rude state of society in the course of a few years.

"In the first years of the settlement of the country a
wedding engaged the attention of a whole neighborhood, and
the frolic was anticipated by old and young with eager
expectation. This is not to be wondered at, when it is told
that a wedding was almost the only gathering which was not
accompanied with the 'labor of reaping, log-rolling, building
a cabin, or planning some scout or campaign'.

"On the morning of the wedding day the groom and his
attendants assembled at the house of the father for the pur-
pose of reaching the home of his bride by noon, which was
the usual time for celebrating the nuptials, which for certain
reasons must take place before dinner.

History of West Virginia 83

"Let the reader imagine an assemblage of people, without
a store, tailor or mantua-maker within a hundred miles, and
an assemblage of horses without a blacksmith or saddler
within an equal distance. The gentlemen dressed in shoe-
packs,' moccasins, leather breeches, leggins, linsey hunting
shirts, and all home made. The ladies dressed in linsey petti-
coats or linen bed gowns, coarse shoes, stockings, handker-
chiefs and buckskin gloves, if any. If there were any buckles,
rings, buttons or ruffles, they were the relic of olden times,
family pieces from parents or grand-parents. The horses
were caparisoned with old saddles, or bridles or halters and
pack-saddles, wdth a bag or blanket thrown over them ; a rope
or string as often constituted the girth as a piece of leather.

"The march, in double file, was often interrupted by the
narrowness and obstructions of our horse-paths, as they were
called, for we had no roads; and these difficulties were often
increased, sometimes by the good and sometimes by the ill
will of neighbors, by felling trees and tying grapevines across
the way. Sometimes an ambuscade was formed by the way-
side, and an unexpected discharge of several guns took place,
so as to cover the wedding company with smoke. Let the
reader imagine the scene which followed this discharge ; the
sudden spring of the horses, the shrieks of the girls, and the
chivalrous bustle of their partners to save them from falling.
Sometimes, in spite of all that could be done to prevent it,
some were thrown to the ground. If a wrist, elbow or ankle
happened to be sprained, it was tied with a handkerchief and
little more was thought or said about it.

"The ceremony of the marriage preceded the dinner,
which was a substantial back-woods feast of beef, pork, fowls
and sometimes veni'son and bear meat, roasted and boiled,
with plenty of potatoes, cabbage, and other vegetables.
During the dinner the greatest hilarity always prevailed,
although the table might be a large slab of timber, hewed
out with a broad axe, supported by four sticks set in auger
holes ; and the furniture, sometimes old pewter dishes and
plates ; the rest wooden bowls and trenchers ; a few pewter
spoons, much battered about the edges, were to be seen at
some tables. The rest were made of horns. If knives were

84 History of West Virginia

scarce, the deficiency was made up by the scalping knives,
which were carried in sheaths suspended from the belt of the
hunting shirt. Every man carried one of them.

"After dinner the dancing commenced and generally
lasted till the next morning. The figures of the dances were
three and four-handed reels, or square sets of jigs. The
commencement was always a square four, which was followed
by what was called 'jigging it off'; that is, two of the four
would single out for a jig, and were followed by the remain-
ing couple. The jigs were often accompanied with what was
called 'cutting out' ; that is, when either of the parties became
tired of the dance, on intimation the place was supplied by
some of the company without any interruption to the dance.
In this way a dance was often continued till the musician was
heartily tired of his situation. Toward the latter part of the
night, if any of the company, through weariness, attempted
to conceal themselves for the purpose of sleeping, they were
hunted up, paraded on the floor, and the fiddler ordered to
play 'Hang out till tomorrow morning'.

"About nine or ten o'clock a deputation of the young
ladies stole away the bride and put her to bed. In doing this
it frequently happened that they had to ascend a ladder
instead of a flight of stairs, leading from the dining and ball
room to the loft, the floor of which was made of clapboards
lying loose. This ascent, one might think, would put the
bride and her attendants to the blush ; but as the foot of the
ladder was commonly behind the door, which was purposely
opened for the occasion, and its rounds at the inner ends were
well hung with hunting shirts, dresses and other articles of
clothing, the candles being on the opposite side of the house,
the exit of the bride was noticed but by few. This done, a
deputation of young men in like manner stole off the groom
and placed him snugly by the side of his bride. The dance still
continued ; and if the seats happened to be scarce, which was
often the case, every young man, when not engaged in the
dance, was obliged to offer his lap as a seat for one of the
girls, and the offer was sure to be accepted. In the midst of
this hilarity the bride and groom werie not forgotten. Pretty
late in the night some one would remind the company that

History of West Virginia 85

the new couple must stand in need of something to cat, and
enough bread, beef, pork and cabbage would S(jmctimes be
sent up to afford a good meal for half a dozen hungry men.
The young couple were compelled to cat and drink more or
less of whatever was offered.

"But to return. It oftened happened that some neighbors
or relatives, not being asked to the wedding, took offence, and
the mode of revenge adopted by them on such occasions was
that of cutting off the manes, foretops, and tails of the horses
of the wedding company.

"On returning to the infare, the order of procession was
the same as before. The feasting and dancing often lasted
several days, at the end of which time the whole company
were so exhausted with loss of sleep that several days' rest
was required to fit them to return to their ordinary labors.

"Should I be asked why I have presented this unpleasant
portrait of the rude manners of our forefathers, I in turn
would ask the reader : 'Why are you pleased with the his-
tories of the blood and carnage of battle? Why are you de-
lighted with the fiction of poetry, the novel and romance? I
have related the truth, and only truth, strange as it may seem.
I have depicted a state of society and manners which are fast
vanishing from the memory of man, with a view to giving
the youth of our country a knowledge of the advantages of
civilization, and to giving contentment to the aged by pre-
venting them from saying 'that former times were better
than the present'.

HOUSE WARMING.

"I will proceed to state the usual manner of settling a
young couple in the world. A spot was selected on a piece
of land belonging to one of the parents for their habitation.
A day was appointed short! \' after the marriage for com-
mencing the work of building their cabin.

"The materials for the cabin were mostly prepared on the
first day, and sometimes the foundation laid in the evening.
The second day was allotted for the raising. The cabin being
finished, the ceremony of house warming took place before
the young couple were permitted to move into it.

86 ' History of West Virginia

"The house warming was a dance of a whole night's
continuance, made up of the relatives of the bride and groom
and their neighbors. On the day following, the young couple
took possession of their new premises.

"We desire now to say a few words about the sports of
the pioneer. These were such as might be expected among
a people who, owing to the circumstances, as well as educa-
tion, set higher value on physical than mental endowments,
and on skill in hunting and bravery in war than any polite
accomplishment or the fine arts.

"Many of the sports of the early settlers of this country
were imitative of the exercises and stratagems of hunting and
war. Boys were taught the use of the bow and arrow at an
early age ; but, although they acquired considerable adroit-
ness in the use of them, so as to kill a bird or squirrel, yet it
appears to me that in the hands of the white people the bow
and arrow could never be depended upon for warfare or hunt-
ing, unless made and managed in a different manner from any
specimen I have ever seen.

"One important pastime of our boys was that of imitating
the noise of every bird and beast in the woods. This faculty
was not merely a pastime, but a very necessary part of educa-
tion, on account of its utility under certain circumstances.
Imitating the gobbling and other sounds of the wild turkey
often brought those keen-eyed and ever-watchful tenants of
the forest within the reach of the rifle. The bleating of the
fawn brought its dam to her death in the same way. The
hunter often collected a company of mopish owls to the trees
about his camp, and amused himself with their hoarse scream-
ing. His howl would raise and obtain response from a pack
of wolves, so as to inform him of their whereabouts as well
as to guard him against their depredations.

"This imitative faculty was sometimes requisite as a
measure of precaution in war. The Indians, when scattered
about in a neighborhood, often called together by imitating
turkeys by day and wolves or owls by night. In similar situ-
ations our people did the same. I have often witnessed the
consternation of a whole neighborhood in consequence of the
screeching owls. An early and correct use of this imitative

History of West Virginia 87

faculty was considered as an indication that its possessor
would become in due time a good hunter and a valiant war-
rior.

"Throwing the tomahawk was another boyish sport, in
which many acquired considerable skill. The tomahawk,
with its handle of a certain length, will make a given number
of turns within a certain distance; say in five steps, it will
strike with the edge, the handle downward ; at the distance
of seven and a half, it will strike with the edge, the handle
upwards, and so on. A little experience enabled the boy to
measure the distance with his eye, when walking through the
woods, and strike a tree with his tomahawds: in any w^ay he
chose.

"The athletic sports of running, jumping and wrestling
were the pastimes of boys in common with men. A well
grown boy, at the age of twelve or thirteen years, was fur-
nished with a small rifle and shot punch. He then became a
fort soldier, and had his port hole assigned him. Hunting
squirrels, turkeys and raccoons soon made him expert in the
use of his gun.

"Dramatic narrations, chiefly concerning Jack and the
Giant, furnished our young people with another source of
amusement during their leisure hours. Many of these tales
were lengthy and embraced a considerable range of incident.
Jack, always the hero of the story, after encountering many
difficulties, and performing many great achievements, came
ofif conqueror of the Giant. Many of these stories were tales
of knight-errantry, in which some captive virgin was released
from captivity and restored to her lover.

"These dramatic narrations concerning Jack and the
Giant bore a strong resemblance to the poems of Ossian, the
story of Cyclops and Ulysses in the Odyssey of Homer, and
the tale of Giant and Great-heart in the Pilgirm's Progress ;
they were so arranged as to the different incidents of the
narration that they were easily committed to memory. They
certainly have been handed do\\-n from generarions from time
immemorial. 'Civilization has indeed banished the use of
those tales of romantic heroism; 1)ut what then? It has sub-
stituted in their place the novel and romance.'

88 History of West Virginia

"Singing was another, but not very common amusement
among our first settlers. Their tunes were rude enough, to
be sure. Robin Hood furnished a number of our songs : the
balance were mostly tragic. These last were denominated
'love songs about murder'. As to cards, dice, backgammon
and other games of chance, we knew nothing about them.
These are amongst the blessed gifts of civilization.

EARLY TRIALS AND HARDSHIPS.

"My reader," says Mr. Doddridge, "will naturally ask
where were their mills for grinding grain? Where their tan-
neries for making leather? Where their smith-shops for
making and repairing their farming utensils? Who were
their carpenters, tailors, cabinet workmen, shoemakers and
weavers? The answer is, Those manufacturers did not exist,
nor had they any tradesmen who were professedly such.

"Every family were under the necessity of doing every-
thing for themselves as well as they could. The hominy
block and hand mills were in use in most of our houses. The
first was made of a large block of wood about three feet long,
with an excavation burned in one end, wide at the top, and
narrow at the bottom, so that the action of the pestle on the
bottom threw the corn up the sides towards the top of it,
from whence it continually fell down into the center. In
consequence of this movement, the whole mass of the grain
was pretty equally subjected to the strokes of the pestle. In
the fall of the year, while the Indian corn was soft, the block
and pestle did very well for making meal for Johnny cake
and mush, but were rather slow when the corn became hard.

"The sweep was sometimes used to lessen the toil of
pounding grain into meal. This Avas a pole of some springy,
elastic wood, thirty feet long or more; the butt end was
placed under the side of the house, or a large stump. This
pole was supported by two forks, placed about one-third of its
length from the butt end, so as to elevate the small end about
fifteen feet from the ground ; to this was attached, by a large
mortise, a piece of sapling, about five or six inches in diameter,
and eight or ten feet long. The lower end of this was shaped
so as to answer for a pestle. A pin of wood was put through

History of West Virginia 89

it at a proper height, so that two persons could get at the
sweep at once. Ti i simple machine very much lessened the
labor and expedited the work. I remember that when a boy
I put up an excellent sweep at m}' father's. It was made of a
sugar tree sapling. It was kept going almost constantly from
morning until night by our neighbors for several weeks. In
the Greenbrier country, where they had a number of saltpetre
caves, the first settlers made plenty of excellent gunpowder by
means of those sweeps and mortars.

"A machine, still more simple than the mortar and pestle,
was vised for making meal, while the corn was too soft to be
beaten. It was called a grater. This was a half circular piece
of tin, perforated with a punch from the concave side, and
rubbed on the rough edges of the holes, while the meal fell
through them on the board or block to which the grater was
nailed, which, being in a slanting direction, discharged the
meal into a cloth or bowl placed for its reception. (Note : The
grater — as above described — is still in use by many families
in West Virginia, and perhaps in other States, in the fall be-
fore the corn has become sufficiently hardened and seasoned
for the mill ; and the author and his family avail themselves
of this crude, but convenient, method of procuring new corn
meal during the short period that corn remains in a suitable
condition for grating; and those who have never eaten mush
or pone made from new corn meal thus obtained have missed
much indeed.)

"The hand mill was later than the mortar and grater. It
was made of two circular stones, the lower of which was
called the bed-stone, the upper one the runner. These were
placed in a hoop, with a spout for discharging the meal. A
staff was let into a hole in the u])per surface of the runner,
near the outer edge, and its upper end through a hole in a
board fastened to a joist, so that two persons could be em-
ployed in turning the mill at the same time. The grain was
put into the opening in the runner by hand. These mills are
still in use in Palestine, the ancient country of the Jews. To
a mill of this sort our Savior alluded when, with reference to
the destruction of Jerusalem, he said, 'Two women shall be
grinding at a mill, the one shall be taken and the other left'.

90 History of West Virginia

This mill is much preferable to that used at the present time
in Upper Egypt for making the dhoura bread. It is a smooth
stone, placed on an inclined plane, upon which the grain is
spread, which is made into meal by rubbing another stone up
and down upon it. Our first water mills were of that descrip-
tion denominated tub-mills. It consists of a perpendicular
shaft, to the lower end of which a horizontal wheel about four
or five feet in diameter is attached ; the upper end passes
through the bed-stone, and carries the runner after the man-
ner of a 'brundlehead'. These mills were built with very
little expense, and many of them answered the purpose very
well. Instead of bolting cloths, sifters were in general use.
They were made of deer skins, in the state of parchment,
stretched over a hoop, and perforated with a hot wire.

"Our clothing was all of domestic manufacture. We had
no other resource for clothing, and this indeed was a poor
one. The crops of flax often failed, and sheep were destroyed
by the wolves. Linsey, which is made of flax and wool^ — the
former the chain, and the latter the filling — was the warmest
and most substantial cloth we could make. Almost every
house contained a loom, and almost every woman was a
weaver. (Although the flax breaker and hackle, the spinning
wheel and loom, would today seem very crude implements
for the manufacture of cloth, the finished product was superior
in durability to any linen or woolen goods on the market to-
day. The writer's mother was an expert weaver, and as re-
cently as thirty-five years ago he wore clothing made by her
own hands from cloth of her manufacture. Many of these
old looms are still in existence, but few, if any, are in use,
except for the weaving of rag carpets.) — S. M.

"Every family tanned their own leather. The tan-vat
was a large trough sunk to the upper edge in the ground. A
quantity of bark was easily obtained in clearing and fencing
land. This, after drying, was brought in, and in wet days
was shaved and pounded on a block of wood with an axe or
mallet. Ashes were used in place of lime for taking off the
hair. Bear's oil, hog's lard and tallow answered the place of
fish oil. The leather, to be sure, was coarse ; but it was sub-
stantially good. The operation of currying was performed

History of West Virginia 91

by a drawing knife with its edges turned, after the manner
of a currying knife. The blacking for the leather was made
of soot and hog's lard. Almost every family contained its
own tailors and shoemakers. Those who could not make
shoes could make shoe-packs. These, like moccasins, were
made of a single piece of leather, with the exception of a
tongue piece on the top of the foot. This was made two
inches broad and circular at the lower end. To this the main
piece of leather was sewed with a gathering stitch. The seam
behind was like that of the moccasin. To the shoe-pack a
sole was sometimes added. The women did the tailor work.
They could all cut out and make hunting shirts, leggins and
drawers.

"The state of society which existed in our country at an
early period of its settlement is well calculated to call into
action native mechanical genius. With the few tools which
they brought with them into the country, they certainly per-
formed wonders. Their plows, harrows with wooden teeth,
and sleds were in many instances well made. Some made
wagons with wheels sawn from gum trees, which answered
their purpose very well. Their cooper ware, which compre-
hended everything for holding milk and water, was generally
well executed. The cedar ware, by having alternately a white
and red stave, Avas then thought beautiful ; many of their
puncheon floors were made very neat, their joints close, and
the top even and smooth. Their looms, although heavy, did
very well, the workmanship in many cases being nearly, if not
quite, equal to similar handiwork of today.

"Wild animals roamed the forests at will. \^enison and
bear meat afforded the principal diet for many of the early
settlers. But the bears and wolves often caused much annoy-
ance and loss of property. The bear was the natural enemy
of the hog, and the wolf was equally destructive of the sheep."

Note : William Glover, grand father of the writer of this
book, about the year 1875 related a story of his adventure
with a bear when he was a small boy, about the year 1820.
The story, as I remember it, ran about as follows :

"We lived near what is now the eastern apjiroach to
Glover's Gap tunnel, near the present boundary line between

92 History of West Virginia

Marion and Wetzel counties. Our log cabin stood in a small
clearing, surrounded by a dense forest. Bears, wolves and
other wild animals were quite plentiful. Near the cabin, in a
small ravine, there was a large spring, where mother was
accustomed to do our washing. On one summer day, while
thus engaged, her attention was attracted by a very emphatic
signal of distress on the part of some hogs that were running
at large in the woods near by. My brothers and I — there
were some half dozen of us, most of whom were small 'tads',
in home-spun shirts and bare legs — were playing 'Injun' not
far away, when mother called us to go and ascertain what was
wrong with the hogs. With our rudely constructed bows and
arrows and war clubs, we started in the direction from whence
the noise came, tearing through the brush and shouting like
little savages. On reaching the scene of trouble, we found
an old sow with her back broken; her little pigs were darting
around, here and there, in a frightened way ; while a large
black bear was making off up the hill with a little porker in
his mouth. It was easy to see that we had the bluff on Mr.
Bruin, and we boldly followed, calling him all sorts of ugly
names for daring to steal one of our hogs. But, finally, when
nearing the top of the hill, the bear stopped and looked
around. We immediately did the same, and hit only the high
places on the return home. As long as the bear was headed
the other way, we all made believe that we were very brave —
'heap big Injun — but when the bear stopped and faced about,
we all suddenly became very home sick, and were not long in
getting there."

The description of "A Pioneer Wedding", by the Hon.
George Wesley Atkinson, in his "History of Kanawha
County", is such a graphic portrayal of life among the good
old West Virginia pioneer that the writer can not well refrain
from reproducing it here. Indeed, the events depicted are
nearly on a parallel with scenes that came under my own
personal observation in my boyhood days, in certain rural
districts in Marion County, back in the sixties. Of course
these conditions have long since given way before the ad-
vancement of education and the general march of progress ;
but whether that whole-souled, unadulterated hospitality, so

History of West Virginia 93

characteristic of our forefathers, lias kept pace with other
virtues, I will let the reader answer according to his own view.

A PIONEER WEDDING.

(By George Wesley Atkinson, in "History of Kanawha

County".)

Every nation has its customs, and every age has its
peculiar whims of fashion, dress and style. The wealthy citi-
zens of the great cities kill the "fatted calf", wine flows freely,
and they have grand balls, and bridal tours which, in many
cases, "take in" all places of note and importance in both
hemispheres ; but the poorer classes, of course, can not indulge
in such extravagance when their sons and daughters are
united in holy wedlock. It is their custom, however, to have
all the fun they can on such occasions, and they seldom fail to
enjoy themselves hugely.

It is my purpose, in this chapter, to give a pen picture,
as best I can, of a wedding on the Kanawha before Charleston
was a city, and before you and I were born.

The parson lived fully eighty miles away. Mountains,
creeks, and rivers intervened. The wind blew a gale, and the
snow fell thick and fast. The messenger called at his cabin
and informed him of his mission. The parson hesitated, but
the messenger told him that he must not falter; that there was
no other minister nearer than Hacker's Lick; that the young
couple were bent upon a marital union, and would, of course,
listen to no excuse ; that the entire settlement were preparing
for the occasion, and the hearts of many would bleed if he
disappointed them. The old parson, who had ridden thou-
sands of miles, through rain and ice, to meet his appointments
as an itinerant minister of the Gospel, and had never failed,
while in health, to be on time, after a lengthy consultation
with his wife at last consented to go. He saddled his horses
and in company with the guide, and his wife, who always
accompanied him upon such occasions, he started westward
to the settlement on the Kanawha.

Passing over the adventures and the sufferings which
were then consequent upon a ride of eighty miles through a

94 History of West Virginia

trackless wilderness, I find them at the settlement the evening
before the day appointed for the riiarriage. The parson was
the first minister who had ever left a foot-print in the sands of
this frontier settlement, and there was no little excitement
over his arrival. They rode up to the door of the parents of
the young lady who was to be united in marriage, and their
presence was announced by a number of little tow-haired
urchins, from a fifteen or twenty pounder in size up to a round
hundred or more avovirdupois, in the following fearless arid
undismayed manner :

"Mother ! mother ! hyur's the circuit rider and his wife,
and they're nothin' but people like us, either. He's a big fat
.man like Uncle Bill, and she's big too, and has got on a black
straw hat with a turkey tail all along the side on it ! Oh, Kate,
you ought to jist see his nose. It's longer nor Uncle John's
and as crooked as the gourd handle, and turns down at the end
like pap's off ox's horn, that one what ain't broke off, you
know !"

"Hush ! children, hush !" shouted a womanly voice from
the rear shed of the cabin, "keep quiet now and behave your-
selves like good boys and girls. Billy, you take 'Watch' and
hiss him on the black spring rooster, but don't make much
noise. Nance, you quit rockin' the baby, and sweep the dirt
off'n the ha'th. Jane, you quit churnin' and drive out that
good-for-nothin' dog. Jim, shove that shoe bench under the
bed, and wipe the water off'n them cheers for the preacher
and his woman to set on, and don't fool about it nuther. Be
quick to handle yourself!"

By this time the matron had reached the front door, and,
opening it, confronted the parson and his wife.

"Come in," said she, "and make yourselves at home. We
ain't very well fixed for keepin' company, but you are wel-
come to the best we've got. Come in. Set up to the fire.
'Most froze, ain't you? I know you are. The old man, he's
up the holler feedin' the hogs and water'n the calves, but he'll
be along presently, and will put up your horses. We've got
plenty, sich as it is, and you're welcome to it. Now make
yourselves at home," and she left the room.

In a short time she returned, dressed in another gown,

History of West Virginia 95

and, wiping the perspiration from her face with a tow-lin^n
apron, continued:

"Well, parson, we've hearn of you afore, but it's the fust
time any of us ever seed you in these parts; and this is your
woman? I'm reel glad to see her, too," and she gave another
shake of the hand. "We was afeerd she wouldn't come, as it
w^as so fur and so cold and rough. You must excuse my
looks, I hain't had no time to comb my head since yisterday
mornin'. Work, you know, must be done fust, and fixin'
up afterwards, 'specially when there's a weddin' on hands.
Shoo, there! Sammy, drive them ducks out'n the kitchen.
Sail, you take the woman's fixin's and hang 'em on the rack.
Set right up to the fire and warm yourselves, and make your-
selves feel as though you was jist right at home. W^e don't
keer for style down hyur. We're plain home people." The
old lady then subsided, and the parson and his good wife had
a moment's rest.

By this time the barking of the dog and the yells of the
boys evidenced the fact that there was a serious time among
the chickens. The "black rooster" had been executed in short
order, and his bulky carcass was thrown lifeless on the kitchen
floor. Sally picked him up and dropped him into a large
kettle of boiling water, and proceeded to remove his feathers
instanter. The disturbance in the poultry yard gradually
quieted down, until not even the musical quacking of an inde-
pendent duck could be heard; and a few minutes later the old
fat hound who had taken an innocent part in the chase had
fallen asleep in the corner, and was beginning to enjoy his
systematic snoring, when the front door opened and two or
three tow-headed boys entered, and, before they could close
the door, a large cur pushed his shaggy form into the room
and made a direct drive for the fire. The matron, observing
the presence of the intruder, reached for the poker and "went
for him". "Watch" howled piteously and struck a "bee line"
for the kitchen, and as he had no time to work his rudder or
measure distance, he ran into the churn, upsetting it ; and
bearing slightly to the north-east, he collided with the kettle
of scalded rooster, and in like manner turned it in promis-
cuous order upon the puncheon floor. At this juncture the

96 History of West Virginia

situation was somewhat serious in that pioneer household.
The preacher had been an eye witness to the unfortunate
occurrence, and that was what was the matter. If it had only
been kept from his ministerial gaze no one would have cared.
Well, it was no use to "cry over spilt milk", so the matron
came promptly to the rescue.

"Get the wooden ladle, Nan, and dip up the milk, and
don't scrape no dirt up neither. Keep the scrapin's for the
pigs. Be nice about it, daughter, because the preacher's hyur,
and we read in the good book that 'cleanliness is next to God-
liness', and besides, you are to be spliced to-morrow. Kill
that dog if he sticks his head inside this house ag'in. Keep
the children out of mischief, and hurry on the supper, for I
know that the parson and his woman are well nigh starved,
as they hain't had nuthin' to eat since they crossed Sewell
mountain early this mornin'. Push things, Nancy, and show
'em you're the smartest gal in the settlement, kase I know
you are."

"Oh, mother, please shut up. I'll do everything right,
and more, too," said the unpretentious bride-elect.

Well, supper came, and, although very hungry, the par-
son and his wife partook of that meal cautiously and thought-
fully. They had witnessed some things on that evening in
the culinary department of that household which had a ten-
dency to weaken the demands of the inner man ; and yet noth-
ing extraordinary at all had transpired. Customs vary in
every locality. The parson, though an old itinerant minister,
had not yet fully completed his education. He had not yet
fully mastered the field of the itinerancy, or the simple fact
of the upsetting of the churn would not in the least have
troubled his appetite. Pioneers would call him fastidious, and
they would not misapply the term. "A man in Rome should
do as Romans do," but our parson and his wife had not quite
attained that degree of perfection in the study of human
peculiarities which would enable them to put this principle
into practice. Had the demands of the inner man been less
exacting, in all probability no supper would Kave been eaten
by the parson and his wife that night. They ate, however,
and ate heartily.

Night came, and the parson, being weary, after reading

History of West Virginia 97

the scriptures, singing, and prayer, desired to retire. One of
the boys lighted a pine torch, and bidding the parties to fol-
low, started for the second story of the cabin by means of a
step-ladder in the chimney corner. The parson hesitated, but
in response to cries of "Come on", he went, followed by his
wife. Saying nothing of a bruised forehead, which he received
by colliding with a girder of the building, and a narrow
escape from a fall to the room below, occasioned by the giving
way of one of the boards in the floor, they succeded in laying
themselves down to rest in a raccoon skin bed with straw
underneath. Five of the family slept in the same room, and
all of them snored as musically as the low, hoarse rattle that
emanates from the throttle of a rusty steam-valve. The par-
son dreamed, slept, prayed, and listened, in about the order
named, and how he longed for the dawn of day!

Morning came, and they arose. The wind was calm, and
the sun smiled upon the grand hills which surrounded this
pioneer home. Nature was rejoicing, and so were the family,
for it was but a few hours until the oldest daughter and sister
was to be united in wedlock with a young man of the neigh-
borhood, whose rifle never missed fire, and who had never
lowered his arm in a contest with the savages.

The hour for the marriage had arrived. The crowd had
assembled. The bride was attired in a flannel gown striped
with red and blue, and around her shoulders was neatly
thrown a white, blue, and red woolen scarf, knit from moun-
tain spun yarn. She was elegantly dressed, and was fresh
as a morning-glory and white as a lily. She was the symbol
of beauty and elegance. Her hair was fixed up a la frontiere,
with rooster feathers through and through. She was a fresh-
blown wild rose from the mountains of the Great Kanawha.

The bridegroom came at an early hour. He was dressed
in buckskin pants, calf-skin vest, tanned with the hair on, and
wore a blue jeans hunting-shirt and beaded moccasins. He
was a stalwart young man. His shoulders were broad, and
his chest full and rounded. He M^as fleet of foot, and when
he pulled the trigger of his rifle something always fell.

The house was filled, a score or more stood outside the
doors and windows, and all were anxiously waiting for the
old parson "to tie the knot". The bridegroom took his posi-

98 History of West Virginia

tion on the floor, and called to Nancy to come on. She was
in the back shed of the cabin, and failed to respond to the
call of her lover. The old gentleman, however, soon brought
her to the front, and the parson began the ceremony ; and
when he reached the place where the question is asked, "If any
person present can show any just cause why this couple
should not be joined together, etc., let him now speak, or else
forever hold his peace," there was a pause. The silence was
profound. •

" 'Twas as the general pulse of life stood still."

But the silence was soon broken. A tall, good looking
young man over in the far corner of the room, in a very
excited tone, exclaimed :

"I have an objection!"

The parson asked him to state his objection.

He replied : "Sir, I want her myself !"

The parson decided that his point was tiot well taken,
and proceeded with the ceremony. After he had gone
through it, and pronounced them man and wife, he ordered
the young man to salute his bride, and her to salute her
husband, which they did with an earnest embrace and a
hearty kiss. Then followed the congratulations of the crowd,
who approached the couple, one by one, shook hands with
both of them, and the men and women, kissed the bride ; after
which, in like order, they withdrew from the building.

The parson, after breakfast of bear meat, venison, corn-
cake, and hominy, received for his services a promiscuous
package of all kinds of fur skins, wrapped neatly around
several pounds of tobacco, which was not only considered a
luxury, but in those days was a legal tender also.

The old parson and his wife took their trophies and left
for their home beyond the Sewells, and the party, led by the
newly married couple, went to dancing, which they kept up,
without intermission, for three days and nights.

The foregoing description of a frontier marriage will not
apply, altogether, to every family of that day, but on the
whole it is not overdrawn or exaggerated. Times and styles
change as well as men, and a rehearsal of old history often
appears quite ridiculous and unreasonable, yet such things
have literally occurred. I was not present at the wedding

History of West Virginia 99

described, nor was any one who is noAv living, but tradition
has given us a well preserved record of how people were mar-
ried a hundred years ago in this beautiful valley, which was
then seldom traversed by any other than a savage race, and
it is my privilege and pleasure to put it in print and hand it
down to posterity.

CHAPTER VII.

THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR— 1754 TO 1763.
(From West Virginia Archives and History.)

From the coming of the first white settlers to West
Virginia to the year 1754 — a period of nearly thirty years —
the white men and Indians dwelt together in peace and har-
mony. The Shawnees had their wigwams at "Old Town,"
Maryland, opposite the mouth of the South Branch of the
Potomac; at the "Indian Old Fields," now in Hardy County,
in the valley of that river; and at the "Shawnee Springs,"
now Winchester, in Frederick County, Virginia. "But,"
says Kercheval, "in the year 1753, emissaries from the West-
ern Indians came among the (Shenandoah) Valley Indians,
inviting them to cross the Alleghany Mountains ; and in the
Spring of 1754 they suddenly and unexpectedly moved off
and immediately left the valley." This movement was evi-
dently made under the influence of the French. Both France
and England had been engaged but recently in the War of
the Austrian Succession, and the truce secured by the terms
of the treaty, of Aix-la-Chapelle afforded to both an oppor-
tunity to push their schemes of colonization into the Ohio
Valley — a region which both claimed but neither possessed.
But the final struggle for territorial supremacy in America
was at hand. "The country west of the Great Mountains is
the center of the British Dominions," wrote Lord Hillsbor-
ough. The English occupied the point at the "Forks of the
Ohio" — now Pittsburgh — and began the erection of a fort.
The French came down the Allegheny River, dispossessed
them and completed the fort, calling it Fort Duquesne. In
1755 the English General, Edward Braddock, with the 44th
and 48th Royal Infantry Regiments, came to Virginia, and,
having been joined by a large force of provincial trp'ops,
marched against Fort Duquesne; but when within ten miles
thereof, his army was shot down by the French and Indians

History of West Virginia 101

on the fatal field of Monongaliela. Then began a war of
extermination — a border war carried on against the West
Virginia settlements. This continued for seven long years,
in all of which the French and Indians, or the latter alone,
carried death and desolation all along the frontier of civiliza-
tion. The West Virginia pioneers nevertheless stood their
ground, and, aided by companies of rangers from the older
Virginia settlements, warred successfully against their bar-
barian enemies until the close of the war in 1763.

The depredations of the French and Indians upon the
white settlements during the years of this war w^ere particu-
larly fatal on the frontier settlements of West Virginia.
They destroyed the settlement of Foyle and Tygart on
Tygart's Valley River ; that of the Eckarleys at Dunkard's
Bottom on Cheat River; and that at the mouth of Decker's
Creek on the Monongaliela. Then scalping parties overran
all the region drained by the upper tributaries of the Potomac
and Greenbrier Rivers ; and then carried death and desola-
tion eastward to Jackson's River and to the Lower Shenan-
doah Valley. Everywhere dark mysterious clouds of malig-
nant spirits hung upon the horizon, threatening every moment
to overwhelm and exterminate the half-protected pioneers in
their wilderness homes, and there was scarcely a settlement
in all the region from the Potomac to the New River that
did not experience some of the fatal effects of the terrible
storm of savage warfare which raged so fiercely around them.
Then there were battlefields on the soil of West Virginia.
The battle of Great Cacapon River was fought in what is
now Bloomery Magisterial District, in Han.pshire County,
April 18th, 1756, between a detachment of one hundred men
of Colonel Washington's regiment, under Capt. John Mercer,
on one §ide, and a body of French and Indians on the other.
The battle of Lost River was fought in the Spring of 1756
in what is now^ Lost River IMagisterial District, Hardy
Cou'nty, between West Virginia frontiersmen under Capt.
Jeremiah Smith and a body of fifty Indians commanded by a
French officer. The battle of the Trough was fought in 1756
in what is now Moorefield Magisterial District, Hardy
County, between a body of seventy Indians, allies of the
French, and a Virginia garrison from Fort Pleasant near by.

102 History of West Virginia

The massacre at Fort Seybert occurred in May, 1758, in what
is now Bethel Magisterial District, Pendleton County, on the
South Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac, twelve
miles east of the present town of Franklin ; the Fort was
attacked by Shawnee Indians, under the celebrated chief,
Killbuck; the garrison surrendered and all were massacred,
save one.

Expedition of General Edward Braddock — March of the

British Army Through the Eastern Part of

West Virginia.

The year 1754 closed with the French in complete pos-
session of the Ohio Valley. But a war was in progress which,
in its results, was to change the geography of a continent
and exert a powerful influence in moulding the destiny of
nations. Both nations — France and England — speedily mus-
tered veteran regiments fresh from the battlefields of the
Old World and transferred them to the wilds of the New.
In mid-winter, 1755, Gen. Edward Braddock, a British
general, sailed from the harbor of Cork, Ireland, with two
regiments destined for Virginia. February 20th the ships
which bore them across the Atlantic arrived in Chesapeake
Bay and proceeded up the Potomac River to Alexandria,
where all were disembarked preparatory to the march
through the wilderness, the object being the recovery of Fort
Duquesne at the forks of the Ohio — now Pittsburgh. The
troops which came with Braddock were the 44th and 48th
Royal Infantry Regiments, commanded by Sir Peter Halket
and Col. Thomas Dunbar. Sir John St. Clair was the
Quartermaster-General and Lieut. Robert Orme was the
Chief Aid to the General. From Alexandria the army moved
up the Potomac, passing the site of the present City of
Washington, and proceeded to Fredericktown, Maryland. Its
progress from there to Wills' Creek, now Cumberland, the
metropolis of western Maryland, is a subject of intense inter-
est to every student of West Virginia history. This is because
a large part of the distance marched between these points
was through what is now the eastern part of the State. In

History of West Virginia 103

this connection the following from the Journal of Lieutenant
Orme is of special interest:

"As no road had been made to Wills' Creek on the
Maryland side of the Potomac, the 48th Regiment was
obliged to cross that river at Congogee (now Conococheague
Creek, Washington County, Maryland,) and to fall into the
Virginia Road near Winchester. The General ordered a
bridge to be built over the Antietam (Creek), which being
finished and provision laid on the road. Colonel Dunbar
marched with his regiment, the 48th, from Fredericktown,
Maryland, on the 28th day of April, and about this time the
bridge over the Opecoon in Virginia, now in Berkeley County,
West Virginia, was finished for the passage of the artillery,
and floats were built on all the rivers and creeks."

On the 29th of April the 48th Regiment, under Colonel
Dunbar, took up its line of march from Frederick, Mary-
land, to the mouth of Conococheague Creek, now in Wash-
ington County, that State ; thence across and up the Opequon
River to the vicinity of Winchester, in Frederick County ;
thence westward and north-westward over the mountains to
the "Forks of Cacapon", in Hampshire County, now West
Virginia ; and thence to the mouth of Little Cacapon, where
the army crossed the Potomac and was in Maryland again.
The following description of the progress of the army
through eastern West Virginia is quoted from what is known
as the "Seaman's Journal." which \A'as doubtless written by
Lieutenant Spcndelowe, of the detachment of Marines sent
by Commodore Keppel, of the British fleet, A\ith Rraddock
on his expedition to the Ohio :

"April 29th. 1755: ^^> began our marcli (from Freder-
icktown) at 6, but found much difficulty in loading our bag-
gage, so that we left several things behind us, particularly
the men's hammocks. A\'e arrived at 3 o'clock at one ^\'alk-
er's, 18 miles from Frederick, and encamped there on good
ground ; this day we passed the !^outh Ridge (South Moun-
tain) or Shenandah (Shenandoah) Mountains, very easy in
the ascent. We saw plenty of hares, deer, and partridges.
This place is wanting of all refreshments.

"On the 30th : — At 6, we marched in our wav to Conoco-

104 History of West Virginia

chieg, where we arrived at 2 o'clock, 16 miles from Walker's i
this is a fine situation, close to the Potomac. We found the
Artillery Stores going by water to Wills' Creek, and left two
of our men here.

''May 1st : — At 5, we went with our people, and began
ferrying the Army &c. into Virginia, which we completed b}^
10 o'clock, and marched in our way to one John Evens,*
where we arrived at 3 o'clock — 17 miles from Connecocheig,
and 20 from Winchester. We got some provisions and forage
here. The roads now begin to be very indifferent.

"On the 2nd ; — As it is customary in the Army to halt a
day after 3 days' march we halted today to rest the Army.

"On the 3rd : — Marched at 5 in our way to one Widow
Barringer's, 18 miles from Evans : this day was so excessively
hot that several officers and many men could not get on till the
evening, but the body got to their ground at 3 o'clock. This
is 5 miles from Winchester, a fine station if properly cleared.

"On the 14th : — Marched at 5 in our way to one Potts — 9
miles from the Widow's — where we arrived at 10 o'clock.
The road this day was bad ; we got some wild turkeys here :
in the night it came to blow hard at N. W.

"On the 5th : — Marched at 5 in our way to one Henry
Enoch's*, being 16 miles from Potts, where we arrived at 2
o'clock. The road this day lay over prodigious mountains, and
between the same we crossed over a run of water 20 times
in 3 miles' distance. After going 15 miles we came to a river
called Kahapetin (Cacapon), where our men ferried the Army

(*The John Evans here mentioned was the builder and
defender of Fort Evans, a stockade, which was situated
about two miles from the site of the present town of Martins-
burg, in Berkeley County. It was partially erected in 1755,
and completed the following year. Scarcely was it ready for
occupancy when the French and Indians made an incursion
into the vicinity, and the people, among them the founders
of Martinsburg, found refuge in this fort. Then it was
besieged, but the heroism of those within saved the fort from
destruction, and themselves from massacre. — Kercheval's
"History of the Shenandoah Valley".)

History of West Virginia 105

over and got to our ground, where we found a company of
Peter Halket's encamped. f

"On the 6th : — We halted this day to refresh the Army.

"On the 7th : — We marched at 5 in our way to one Cox's
(Probably Friend Cox, whom Washington mentions in his
report of survey, April 25th, 1750, while in the employ of
Lord Fairfax), 12 miles from Enoch's. This morning was
very cold, but by 10 o'clock it was very hot. We crossed
another run of water 19 times in 2 miles, and got to our
ground at 2 o'clock, and encamped close to the Potomac. (On
Virginia side. — V. A. L.)

"On the 8th : — We began to ferry the Army over tlie
river into Maryland, which was completed at 10, and then we
marched on our way to one Jackson's, 8 miles from Cox's.
At noon it rained very hard and continued so till 2 o'clock,
when we got to our ground and encamped on the banks of
the Potomac. A fine situation, with a good deal of clear
ground about it."

April 30th, Braddock left Fredericktown with his stafif
and a body-guard of light horses. Before leaving Alexandria,
he had purchased from Gov. Horatio Sharpe, of Maryland, a
chariot, one of the cumbersome carriages of that day, and
made his journey through eastern West Virginia with a
degree of style far better suited to the streets of London
than the roadway through the forests of Berkeley County and
over the Hampshire hills at that time. He arrived at Wills'
Creek — Fort Cumberland, — where he found in camp six com-
panies of the 44th Regiment, nine companies of Virginia
Rangers, and independent companies from North Carolina,
South Carolina, New York and Maryland.

(*Henry Enoch resided in the "Forks of Cacapon" as
early as 1750. He was one of Washington's chain carriers,
when surveying land for John Parker in Little Cacapon
River, April 26th, 1750.— V. A. Lewis, in W. Va. Archives
and History.)

(fThe Company belonged to the 44th Rcgt., which
marched over the same route in advance of the 48th. — ^V.
A. L.)

106 History of West Virginia

From Cumberland the army began the march to Fort
Duquesne, and it was the evening of the 8th of July when the
columns, for the second time, reached the Monongahela River
at a point ten miles distant from that fortress. On the next
day a crossing was effected and once more the ranks were
formed on the level plain before them. The order of march
was given, but scarcely were the columns in motion when a
deadly fire was poured in upon them. It came from a body
of eight hundred French and Indians concealed in the dense
forest, and this was continued until of the twelve hundred
men who crossed the Monongahela that morning sixty-seven
officers and seven hundred and fourteen privates were either
killed or wounded. Braddock was among the latter, and four
days later he died, his name evermore to be associated with
defeat. The remainder of the army returned to Fort Cum-
berland, and thence the West Virginians and Virginians pro-
ceeded to their homes and to Philadelphia.

The Battle on the Monongahela — Braddock's Defeat.

As previously stated. Gen. Edward Braddock, a British
General, sailed from the harbor of Cork, Ireland, with two
regiments destined for Virginia; and on February 20th, 1755,
the ships which bore them across the Atlantic arrived in
Chesapeake Bay, and proceeded up the Potomac River to
Alexandria, where all were disembarked preparatory to the
march through the wilderness, the object being the recovery
of Fort Duquesne — now Pittsburgh, Penna.

Before proceeding with a description of the great battle,
it might be appropriate to here give a brief explanation of
the events leading up to this point.

As elsewhere stated, both France and England aspired
for supremacy in the Ohio Valley. In order to counteract
the movements of the French in the construction of trading
posts in territory claimed by England, the latter country
gave to the Ohio Company (an organization of Englishmen
and Virginians) liberty to locate and hold in their own right
600,000 acres of land within the disputed territory. Pursuant
to this grant, the Company proceeded to establish trading

History of West Virginia 107

posts among the Indians near the Ohio. Following this move-
ment the French seized and made prisoners of many of the
English and A^irginia traders ; and, by use of troops stationed
at convenient points, succeeded in opening a communication
from Presq Isle to the Ohio River. The Ohio Company then
sent a party of men to erect a stockade where Pittsburgh
now stands, a mo\-cmcnt recommended by General Wash-
ington. This party was accompanied by a detachment of
militia which had been ordered out by the governor ; but
before this was completed they were driven ofif by the French,
who immediately took possession of the place and erected
thereon Fort Duquesne.

Preparatory to the movement against Fort Duquesne by
Braddock, the English government had communicated certain
instructions to Governor Dinwiddie, among which was an
order to place the colonial militia on the footing of independ-
ent companies. The result of this was the reduction of
Washington to a captaincy, which he refused and thereupon
resigned. Braddock, however, offered him a place on his
staff, which Washington accepted, the order of his appoint
ment being announced at Fort Cumberland May 10th.

We will now proceed with our story as related by De
Hass in "Indian Wars in Western Virginia":

On the 20th of April the whole force, embracing about
twenty-five hundred men, moved from Alexandria, and in
due time reached Wills' Creek, where a fort had been erected
by Colonel Innes, and named Cumberland in honor of the
distinguished duke. Here the army was unfortunately de-
layed for nearly a month by the Virginia contractors failing
to furnish the required number of horses and wagons.

At length, through the efforts and personal influence of
Franklin, the Postmaster-General of the Colonies, they were
supplied by some Pennsylvania farmers. But this was only
the commencement of their difficulties. The mountain wil-
derness presented obstacles that for a time seemed to defy
the energy and capacity of the European general. During 'the
first three days' march, the army advanced but nine miles.
In many places they were compelled to double their teams in

108 History of West Virginia

front, and often, in climbing the mountain sides, their hne
was extended to four miles in length.

On the seventh day they had reached the Little Meadows,
where Washington advised that the heavy artillery should
be left, together with -the wagons, and that the baggage, &c.,
be taken on pack horses. To this suggestion Braddock at
last reluctantly assented. Twelve hundred men, with twelve
pieces of cannon, were chosen as the advance corps. This
was headed by Braddock in person, assisted by Sir Peter
Halket as Brigadier-General, Colonels Gage and Burton and
Major Sparks. Washington, who was too ill to travel, was
left with Colonel Dunbar and the balance of the army.

On the 8th of July, after a march of nineteen days,
which could have been accomplished in nine had it not been
for the "fastidiousness and presumption of the commander-
in-chief", who, instead of pushing on with vigor, "halted to
level every mole-hill and bridge every rivulet", the division
reached a point near the mouth of Crooked Run and the
Monongahela.

On the morning of the 9th Colonel Washington rejoined
the division under Braddock, whom he found in high spirits,
and firm in the conviction that within a few hours "he would
victoriously enter the walls of Fort Duquesne".

The men were in fine discipline, and as the noontide sun
of mid-summer fell upon their burnished arms and brilliant
uniforms, there was displayed one of the finest spectacles, as
Washington afterward declared, he had ever beheld. Every
man was neatly dressed and marched with as much precision
as though he had been on parade at Woolwich. The glitter
of the bayonets and the "flash of warlike steel contrasted
strangely with the deep and peaceful verdure of the forest
shade". On the right of the army calmly flowed the Monon-
gahela, imaging upon its bosom the doomed host; while, on
the left, rose up the green old mountain, the sides of which
had never before echoed to the tramp of soldiery or to the
strains of martial music.

"How brilliant that morning, but how melancholy that
evening."

Before proceeding farther it may be necessary to describe

History of West Virginia 109

the ground now so celebrated at Braddock's Field. It is a
small bottom, embracing but a few acres, bounded on the
west by the river and on the east by a bluff} bank, through
which runs a deep ravine, and over which at the time of the
battle and for many years afterward grew •hea\'y trees,
matted brambles, vines, grass, etc. Upon this bluff lay con-
cealed the Indian and French forces. By one o'clock the
entire division had crossed the river: Colonel Gates, with
three hundred regulars, followed by another body of two
hundred, led the achance. The commander-in-chief, sup-
ported by the main column of the army, next crossed. The
whole of the advance party remained on the bottom until the
rest of the division crossed, and herein was the great error.
Had the three hundred or five hundred men under Colonel
Gates advanced and drawn the enemy's fire, thus giving the
seven hundred men in reserve an opportunity to rout the foe
with ball and bayonet, the result of that bloody conflict might
have been very different.

The General, having arranged his plans, ordered a move-
ment of the division under Colonel ' Gates, while he would
bring up in person the residue of the army. The gallant
Colonel moved forward with his men, and whilst in the act
of passing through the ravine already noticed, a deadly and
terrible fire was opened upon them by an invisible foe.

To the brave grenadiers, who had stood fire on the plains
of Europe, amid tempests of cannon balls, cutting down whole
platoons of their comrades, this new species of warfare was
perfectly appalling ; and, unable longer to breast the girdle
of fire which enveloped them, they gave way in confusion,
involving the whole army in distress, dismay and disorder.

In such a dilemma, with hundreds of his men falling at
every discharge, his ranks converted into a wild and reckless
multitude, unable to rally and too proud to retreat, Braddock
obstinately refused to allow the provincial troops to fight the
Indians in their own way. (At this point Washington, seeing
the ineffectiveness of the British method of fighting Indians,
"besought Braddock to allow him to take three hundred men
and fight the Indians after their own fashion, which proposi-
tion so much offended Braddock that he cursed Washington

110 History of West Virginia

and threatened to run him through with his sword".) But,
Braddock, with a madness incomprehensible, did his utmost
to form the men into platoons and wheel them into close
columns. The result was horrible and the sacrifices of life
without a parallel at that time in Indian warfare. The Vir-
ginia regiments, unable to keep together, spread through the
surrounding wood, and by this means did all the execution
that was effected. Every man fought for himself, and, rush-
ing to the trees from behind which gleamed the flash of the
rifle, the brave Virginian often bayoneted the savage at his
post. This perilous enterprise, however, was attended with
terrible sacrifice. Out of three full companies but thirty micn
were left. Truly has it been said, "they behaved like men and
died like soldiers". Of Captain Poison's company one only
escaped. In that of Captain Peyronny every officer from the
Captain down was sacrificed.

Of those engaged in this fearful conflict, and who were so
fortunate as to escape, were many who afterwards became
distinguished in the military and civil annals of Virginia.
Of this number were the Lewises, Matthewses, Grants,
Fields, etc.

This appalling scene lasted three hours, during which
the army stood exposed to the steady fire of a concealed but
most deadly foe, and men fell on every hand like grass before
the sweep of the scythe.

Finally, Braddock, after having five horses killed under
him, fell mortally wounded by the avenging hand of an out-
raged American, named Thomas Faucett (or Fawcett) in
retaliation for the murder of his brother, Joseph Faucett,
who, contrary to Braddock's orders, had sought the protec-
tion of a tree during the fight with the Indians. As Braddock
fell, all order gave way, and what remained of that so lately
proud army rushed heedlessly into the river, abandoning all
to the fury of the savages and French. Artillery, ammuni-
tion, baggage, including the camp chest of Braddock, which
contained, it is said, $375,000 in gold, all fell into the hands
of the victorious enemy.

The retreating army rushed wildly forward and did not
stop until coming up to the rear division. So appalled were

History of West Virginia 1 1 1

the latter at the terrible disaster that the entire army retreated
with disgraceful precipitancy to Fort Cumberland. This, ac-
cording to Smollett, "was the most extraordinary victory ever
obtained, and the farthest flight ever made".

It was the most disastrous defeat ever sustained by any
European army in America. Sixty-three officers and seven
hundred and fourteen privates were killed or dangerously
wounded. There is, perhaps, no instance upon record where
so great a proportion of officers were killed. Out of the
eighty-six composing the regiment, but twenty-three escaped
unhurt. Their brilliant uniforms seemed sure marks for the
deadly aim of the savage.

On that disastrous day the military genius of Washington
showed forth with much of that splendor which afterwards
made him so illustrious. Two aids of Braddock had fallen,
and, therefore, upon Washington alone devolved the duty of
distributing orders. "Men were falling thick and fast, yet
regardless of danger, he spurred on his steed, galloping here
and there through the field of blood. At length his horse sank
under him ; a second was procured, and, pressing amid the
throng, he sent his calm and resolute voice among the fright-
ened ranks, but without avail. A second horse fell beneath
him, and he leaped to the saddle of a third, while the bullets
rained like hail-stones about him." Four passed through his
coat without inflicting the slightest wound, showing clearly
that a stronger hand than that of man's protected the body at
which they had been aimed. An eye-witness says he expected
every moment to see him fall, as his duty exposed him to the
most imminent danger. An Indian warrior was often after-
wards heard to say that Washington was not born to be shot,
as he had fired seventeen times at his person without success.

The courage, energy, bravery and skill displayed by
Washington on this occasion marked him as possessed of the
highest order of military 'talent. Just from a bed of sickness,
yet forgetting his infirmities, he pushed through the panic-
stricken crowd, and his bright sword could be seen pointing
in every direction as he distributed the orders of liis com-
mander.

At last, when

112 History of West Virginia

>!j * ^ (<_

Hapless Braddock met his destined fall,"

the noble Virginia aid, with his provincial troops, who had
been held in so much contempt by the haughty and pre-
sumptuous general, covered the retreat, and saved the rem-
nant of the army from annihilation.

At the fall of Braddock, Washington, with Captain
Stuart of the Virginia Guards, hastened to his relief, and bore
him from the field of his inglorious defeat, in the sash which
had decorated his person. Braddock was taken to Dunbar's
camp, on the summit of Laurel Hill, where he breathed his
last on the evening of the fourth day after the battle. His
body was interred in the center of the road, and the entire
army marched over the spot in order that the remains of the
unfortunate general might not be desecrated by savage hands.
Tradition still designates the place of his burial. It is about
nine miles east of Uniontown, and one hundred yards north
of the National Road.

The only words General Braddock was heard to utter
after his fall were, "Is it possible — all is over!" What a
volume of agony did those simple words express. Alas, such
is glorious war !

General Braddock was a man of undoubted bravery, but
imprudent, arrogant, headstrong and austere. He was a rigid
disciplinarian, and could maneuvre twenty thousand men on
the plains of Europe equal to any officer of his age ; but per-
haps the worst man 'the British government could have
selected for leading an army against the savage of America.
The Walpole Letters, in speaking of him, say he had been
Governor of Gibraltar ; that he was poor and prodigal as
well as brutal — "a. very Iroquois in disposition." Also, that
he had been engaged in a duel with Mr. Gamley, and an amour
with Mrs. Upton.

Before leaving England, the Duke of Cumberland warned
him against surprise from the savages. Dr. Franklin also
had a conversation with him in Virginia, and strongly advised
him to guard against ambuscades, at the same time acquaint-
ing him with the mode of warfare peculiar to the Indians.
Braddock treated it all as no obstacle, talked of making short
work of it, swore he could take Fort Duquesne in a day, then

History of West Virginia 113

proceed up the Allegheny and destroy all the French posts
between the Ohio and Canada, &c. It was this spirit of
arrogance, hauteur and overweening confidence that brought
about his disastrous defeat on the Monongahela. Had he
taken the advice of Washington, Franklin, or Sir Peter
Halket, and guarded against surprise, his name might not
have gone down to posterity connected with the most inglo-
rious defeat in the annals of modern warfare, and his bones
not have filled a mountain grave in the unbroken solitude of
America.

Thus ended the expedition of General Braddock, cer-
tainly one of the most unfortunate ever undertaken in the
west.

After the retreat of the army, the savages, unwilling to
follow the French in pursuit, fell upon the field and preyed
on the rich plunder which lay before them. The wounded
and slain were robbed of everything, and the naked bodies
left a prey to the fierce beasts of the wood. In 1758, after
General Forbes had taken Fort Duquesne, it was resolved to
search up the remains of Braddock's army, and bury the
bones. This was partly carried out at the time, but many
years afterwards (June, 1781), a second and more successful
attempt was made. George Roush, John Barr and John
Rhodenhamer, engaged as scouts, gathered and carted several
loads of human bones and deposited them in a hole dug for
the purpose. Our informant, who was one of the party, says
the place of sepulture was directly on the battlefield. For
nearly one hundred years after the battle was fought, farmers
still occasionally plowed up some relic of melancholy interest.
During the summer of 1850 workmen engaged in grading the
track for a railroad threw up numerous bones, bullets and
other relics of the noted battle.

The number of French and Indians actually engaged has
never been fully ascertained, but variously estimated at from
four to eight hundred. Col. James Smith, who was a captive
at the time in Fort Duquesne, says the number did not exceed
four hundred.

114 History of West Virginia

(There are many other incidents in connection with this
unhappy expedition, of more or less importance, which we
could relate, but forbear from doing so from lack of space. —
Author.)

We take the following- from the Wheeling Register of
October 16, 1913:

BRADDOCK'S MONUMENT.

At Uniontown, Pa., yesterday a memorial park was dedi-
cated and a monument to Major-General Edward Braddock
was unveiled. The incident no doubt will cause many persons
to take their histories from dusty shelves and "read up" on
the military hero who is thus honored.

It has been a century and a half since the English com-
mander led his red-coated regulars and their provincial com-
rades into fatal ambush in the attempt to wrest from French
hands control of the headwaters of the Ohio River. The
fight for Fort Duquesne is referred to by a writer in the New
York Sun, in comparison with the present industrial war cen-
tered in Pittsburgh, acorn and oak. The French and Indian
war was a training school for the Revolution which followed
more than twenty years later. Washington campaigned with
Braddock, and Morgan, Stark and Israel Putnam, all later to
win glory in the struggle of the colonies, participated in the
earlv war.

CHAPTER VIII.

FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR— CONTINUED.
Attack Upon Fort Duquesne — Its Surrender — Peace Declared.

After the disastrous ending of Braddock's campaign, the
Indians crossed the mountains into the unprotected settle-
ments of Virginia and Pennsylvania, spreading destruction
on the way. They spared neither men, women nor children
nor property wherever found. Some of the settlers aban-
doned their homes and sought safety beyond the Blue Ridge.
Those who remained (from force of circumstances, or other-
wise) were subject to savage cruelty, and many forfeited
their lives. In Ai)ril, 1756, Washington wrote as follows
from Winchester :

"The Blue Ridge is now our frontier, no men being left
in this county (Frederick) except a few who keep close with
a number of women and children in forts .... The
supplicating tears of the women and moving petitions of the
men melt me with such extreme sorrow that I solemnly de-
clare, if I know my own mind, I could offer myself a willing
sacrifice to the butchering enemy, provided that would con-
tribute to the people's ease."

As it would be useless to follow up the marauding Indian
bands while the French were allowed to hold their position
at the head of the Ohio, Washington recommended to the
Assembly that an army be sent against Fort Duquesne.
After Braddock's defeat on the Monongahcla, F,ngland made
no move to drive off the French and Indians until the year
1758. In this year William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, assumed
control of the English government. He was a man of noble
character, strong mind and great ability, and possessed the
full confidence of the nation. The colonists were now in-
spired with new hope. They Avere assured that help was
forthcoming. He called upon the different governments to

116 History of West Virginia

raise as many men as possible; promised to send over all the
necessary munitions of war and to pay liberally all enlisted
soldiers. Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Nev\^
Hampshire and others each contributed a goodly number of
men, and sixteen hundred men were equipped by Virginia
and sent to the field under Washington.

It was determined that three expeditions should be sent
out. The first against Louisburg, the second against Ticon-
deroga and Crown Point, and the third against Fort
Duquesne. The first consisted of 14,000 men, twenty ships
and eighteen frigates; the second, to consist of 16,000 men,
failed to materialize. The third, or western expedition, was
under command of Gen. John Forbes. The army consisted
of about nine thousand men, including British regulars and
provincials from Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, Penn-
sylvania and the southern counties of Delaware. The Vir-
ginia, North Carolina and Alaryland troops were ordered to
rendezvous at Winchester, the Pennsylvanians, under Colonel
Boquet, assembled at Raystown (now Bedford), at which
point they were joined b}^ the British regulars from Philadel-
phia.

Owing to sickness. General Forbes was compelled to stop
at Carlisle, but about the middle of September, 1758, he
continued the march to Bedford, where he met the provincial
troops under Colonel Washington. From here they pro-
ceeded to Loyalhanna, where Colonel Boquet erected a fort.

Major Grant, with 800 men, was sent forward on a sort
of reconnoitering expedition to ascertain the conditions at
Fort Duquesne, and to secure such information as might be
useful in an attack upon that fortification. But it appears
that he thought himself able to take the fort, for with fifes
blowing and drums beating, he marched boldly towards the
stockades early on the morning of September 21st. If such
were his hopes, they were soon to be dispelled ; for, upon
seeing the approach of Grant and his men, the French and
Indians swarmed out of the fort in such great numbers and
made such an unexpected onslaught that the invaders were
literally swept ofif their feet ; and it was with much difficulty

History of West Virginia 117

that the French officers succeeded in preventing the savages
from murdering the prisoners.

A detachment under Major Lewis, acting as rear guard,
hearing the sound of battle, rushed to Grant's reUef, leaving
fifty Virginians under Captain Bullet to protect the baggage.
But the addition of Lewis's men was without avail against
so large a force, and those who were able to do so sought
safety in flight, while Majors Grant and Lewis were both
taken prisoners.

Captain Bullet, observing the hasty flight of Lewis's and
Grant's men before their savage pursuers, ordered his men to
lower their arms, and waited until the Indians, who, thinking
the party were ready to surrender, approached within a few
steps, when, giving the signal, a deadly volley was poured
upon the foe, followed by a rush with the bayonet so sud-
denly and vigorously that the enemy gave way and retreated
in the utmost dismay and confusion. Captain Bullet and
what remained of the party then retreated to the camp of
Colonel Boquet.

General Forbes reached Loyalhanna on November 1st
and shortly afterwards proceeded to Fort Dequesne. Before
arriving there, he received information that the French had
abandoned the fort upon hearing of the approach of a large
force of British and provincial soldiers. Forbes, however,
proceeded with his men to Fort Duquesne, and, finding the
place abandoned, as was reported, placed a slow match to the
magazines, and departed \\ith his men down the Ohio River
by water, landing at Turtle Creek about midnight. Return-
ing to the "fort" on November 25th, 1758, the English took
peaceable possession of what remained of the former strong-
hold, and on its ruins rose Fort Pitt. And now on this his-
torical site and for miles around is spread the thriving City
of Pittsburgh.

The fall of Duquesne ended the struggle between England
and France in the Ohio Valley.

Niagara, Crown Point, Ticonderoga and Quebec gave
up to British supremacy in 1759, followed by the surrender
of Montreal, Detroit and all Canada, September 8th, 1760.

118 History of West Virginia

The treaty of Fontainbleau followed, November, 1762, which
formally terminated the war between France and England.

Supplementary to other claims of France to West Vir-
ginia territory already alluded to in a previous chapter, the
following extracts from West Virginia Archives and History
will be of interest : •

Following the granting of over half a million acres of
land west of the Alleghanies to the Ohio Company by the
English Crown, France sent an expedition to bury leaden
plates at the mouth of the principal tributaries to the Ohio
River. These bore inscriptions asserting the claims of
France to the Ohio Valley. The engraving was the work of
Paul de Brosse, an artist of Canada, with the exception of a
blank which was to be filled with the name of the place of
interment. The expedition for this purpose was organized
by the Marquis de la Gallissoniere, then the Governor-General
of Canada. It consisted of eight subaltern officers, six cadets,
an armorer, twenty soldiers, one hundred and eighty Cana-
dians, thirty Iroquois Indians, twenty-five Abenaka Indians,
and Father Bonnecamps, who called himself the Jesuit Mathe-
matician, the whole in command of Capt. Bionville de Celoron.
His journal is in the archives of the Department de la Marine,
in Paris. Much of it has been published in this country. For
our fullest knowledge of it we are indebted to the historical
writings of Orsamus H. Marshall.

Supplied with six leaden plates to be deposited along the
Ohio, the expedition left La Chine, on the St. Lawrence,
above Montreal, June 15th, 1749, and arrived at Niagara Falls
on the 6th of July. On the 20tli it was on the Allegheny
River near the present town of Warren, Pa., where, on the
south bank of that river, opposite the mouth of Connewango
Creek, the first plate was buried. August 3rd the second one
was interred on the same river "four leagues below the mouth
of French Creek".

The voyage was continued down the Allegheny and then
on the Ohio, and the movements of the expedition now be-
come of the deepest interest to every student of West Vir-
ginia history. On the 13th of August it reached the mouth
of Wheeling Creek, called in De Celeron's journal the

History of West Virginia 119

Kanourouara, where landing was effected and the officers
went on shore, where they stood, the first Europeans on the
site of the City of Wheeling. There they buried the third
plate. The blank on it was filled as follows : "Enterre a
I'entree de la riviere, et sur la rive Septentrionale de Kanouon-
ara, qui se decharge a Test de la riviere Oyo." Translation :
"Buried at the mouth and on the north bank of the River
Kanououara, which empties into the easterly side of the Ohio
River." This plate has never been found. Neither Celoron
nor Bonnecamps gives such a description of the locality as
to warrant a positive identification of the place of burial.
That it was at the mouth of the present Wheeling Creek and
on its north bank is certain. This was on the apex of the
angle or triangular upper point at the confluence of the creek
with the Ohio. It has been suggested thiit it may lie beneath
the approach, or northern end, of the present Baltimore &
Ohio • Railroad bridge. If it has not disappeared by the
caving of the banks, it still remains where it has lain for 164
years, and, inscribed in her language, is now a silent, unseen
and unheard witness to the efforts of France to hold posses-
sion of the Ohio Valley — and of West Virginia as part of it.
Hastening onward down the Ohio, stopping only long
enough to bury the fourth plate at the mouth of the Mus-
kingum River, the expedition arrived at the mouth of the
Great Kanawha River on the 18th of August, and the bateaux
and canoes were driven ashore by a violent rainstorm. Here,
on the site of the present town of Point Pleasant, Mason
County, W^est A'irginia, these Frenchmen established an
encampment. It was a great day in the early history of the
State — in that of the whole Ohio Valley. September 17,
1671 — seventy-eight years before — Capt. Thomas Batts. with
his party of \"irginia explorers, acting under a commission
from the House of Burgesses, arrived at the Falls of the Great
Kanawha and took formal possession of the region drained
by that river in the name of the English King. On a tree
hard by they painted a crown, under which the letters C. R. — •
Charles Rex — and then shouted, "Long live Charles the
Second, by the Grace of God King, of England, Scotland,
France, Ireland, Virginia, and the territories thereunto be-

120 History of West Virginia

longing." Now the French on that August day — at the mouth
of that same river — the Great Kanawha — proclaimed in a loud
voice, "Vive le Roi" — Long live Louis XV — and possession
was now taken of the country in the name of the King ot
France.

The bank of this river flowing in from the southeast, and
draining an extensive region, was chosen for the deposit of
the fifth plate. Only a brief record of the ceremony is given.
Celeron's account of the interment of the plate is as follows :
"Enteree au pied d'un orme, sur la rive "meridionale de 1^ Oye,
et la rive orientale de Chinondaista, le 18 Aout, 1749." Trans-
lation : "Buried at the foot of an elm on the south bank of the
Chinondaista, the 18th day of August, 1749."

The Royal Arms were affixed to a neighboring tree, and a
Proces Verbal was drawn up and signed as a memorial of the
ceremony, and witnessed by the officers present. This docu-
ment was in the following form: "L'an, 1749, nous Celoron,
chevalier de I'ordre Royal et militaire de St. Louis, Capitaine
Commandant un detachment envoye par les ordres de M. le
Marquis de Galissonniere, Commandant General et Canada,
dans la belle Riviere accompanye des principaux officiers de
notre detachment, avons enterre — (here was inserted the place
of deposit) — une plaque de plomb, et fait, attacher dans le
meme lieu, a un arbre, les Armes du Roi. En foy de quoi,
nous avone dresse et signe, avec M. M. les officiers, le present
Proces Verbal a notre camp, le (day of month) 1749." Trans-
lation: "In the year 1749, we, Celoron, chevalier of the Royal
and Military Order of St. Louis, commander of a detachment
sent by order of the Marquis of Gallissoniere, Governor Gen-
eral of Canada to the Ohio, in the presence of the principal
officers of our detachment, have buried (here insert name of
place of deposit) a leaden plate, and in the same place have
affixed to a tree the Arms of the King. In testimony whereof
we have drawn up and signed, with the officers, the Proces
Verbal, at our camp (day of the month) 1749."

Inclement weather — rain storms — detained the expedi-
tion two days at the mouth of the Great Kanawha; then the
voyage doAvn the Ohio was resumed and the sixth and last
plate was interred on the point formed by the confluence of

History of West Virginia 121

the Great Miami with the Ohio. Thence all returned to
Canada.

The copy of the inscription on the plate buried at the
mouth of the Great Kanawha is omitted in Celoron's Journal,
but, fortunately, the discovery of the plate in March, 1846,
leaves no doubt as to what it was. There it had lain for
ninety-seven years. Then a small boy, a son of John Beale,
Esq., observed it projecting from the bank of the Kanawha,
a few feet below the surface. Its historic value was recog-
nized by the citizens and it was carefully preserved. It
passed into i-he oossession of Hon. James M. Laidley, a 'ucm-
ber of the General Assembly of Virginia, from Kanawha
County, who, in 1850, carried it to Richmond, where it at-
tracted great attention from historical students. It was later
placed in the cabinet of the Historical Society. This plate,
like all the others in size, was eleven inches lc5ng, seven and
one-half inches wide and one-eighth in thickness. At the time
it was found, Dr. Willis De Haas was preparing the manu-
script of his "History of the Earl}^ Settlements and Indian
Wars of Western Virginia", which was published in 1851.
He secured for this work an impression of the plate then
attracting wide attention, and the fac simile herein presented
is a photographic reproduction from that work. The follow-
ing is a translation of the inscription which it bears.

Translation.

"In the year 1749, reign of Louis XV., King of France,
we Celoron, Commandant of a detachment sent by Monsieur
the Marquis de la Galissoniere, Commandant General of New
France, to re-establish tranquillity in some Indian villages of
these cantons, have buried this plate at the mouth of the
Chinidashhichetha, the 18th August, near the River Ohio,
otherwise Beautiful River, as a monument of renewal of pos-
sessions which we have taken of the said River Ohio and of
all those which fall into it, and of all the lands on both sides
as far as the sources of said rivers; the same as were enjoyed,
or ought to have been enjoyed, by the preceding Kings of
France, and that they have maintained it by their arms and
by treaties, especially by those of Ryswick, Utrecht, and
Aix-la-Chapelle."

CHAPTER IX.

LORD DUNMORE'S WAR — BUILDING OF FORT
FINCASTLE — MCDONALD'S EXPEDITION
AGAINST THE OHIO INDIANS-
BATTLE OF POINT
PLEASANT.

In the 3^ear 1774, John Murray, Earl of Dunmore, was
the Governor of the Colony of Virginia; hence Dunmore's
War was a designation applied to a series of bloody deeds
engaged in by the Virginia frontiersmen and the warriors
of the Indian Confederacy of the Ohio Wilderness that year.

At this time Berkeley County, formed in 1772, included
its present area with that of the whole of Jefferson and a
part of that of Morgan. Hampshire County not only had
its present extent, but a portion of Morgan and all of the
Counties of Hardy, Grant and Mineral. Augusta County
then stretched away from the Blue Ridge to the Ohio, and
to the upper valley of that river, even, as was asserted, be-
yond Fort Pitt. ("In the war of 1754 doubt had existed as to
which colony the fork of the Ohio was situated in, and the
Old Dominion having been forward in the defense of the
contested territory, while her northern neighbor had been
very backward in doing anything in its favor, the Virginians
felt a certain claim upon the 'Key of the West'. This feeling
showed itself before 1763, and by 1773 appears to have
attained a very decided character. Early in 1774, Lord
Dunmore and his nephew. Dr. John Connolly, who had lived
at Fort Pitt, and was an intriguing and ambitious 3^oung man,-
determined, by strong measures, to assert the claims of
Virginia upon Pittsburgh and its vicinity. The Governor
despatched Connolly, with a captain's commission and with
power to take possession of the countr}'- upon the Mononga-
hela, in the name of the King. He issued the proclamation to
the people, in the neighborhood of Redstone and Pittsburgh,

History of West Virginia . 123

calling" upon them to meet upon the 24th and 25th of January,
1774, in order to be embodied as Virginia militia. Arthur St.
Clair, who then represented the proprietors of Pennsylvania
in the west, was at Pittsburgh at the time, and arrested
Connolly before the meeting took place. Connolly, soon after,
was for a short time released by the sheriff, upon the promise
to return to the law's custody, which promise he broke how-
ever; and, having collected a band of followers, on the 2Sth
day of March came again to Pittsburgh, still asserting the
claim of Virginia to the government. Then commenced a
series of contests, outrages and complaints. The upshot of
the matter was this, that Connolly, in Lord Dunmore's name,
and by his authority, took and kept possession of Fort Pitt ;
and as it had been dismantled and nearly destroyed by royal
order, rebuilt it and named it Fort Dunmore.

At the time of issuing his proclamation, he wrote to the
settlers along the Ohio that the Shawnees were not to be
trusted ; that they had declared open hostility to the whites ;
and he (Connolly) desired all to be in readiness to redress
any grievances that would occur. One of these circulars was
addressed to Capt. Michael Cresap, then at or near Wheeling.
A few days previous to the date of Connolly's letter (April
21) a canoe loaded with goods for the Shawnese towns, the
property of a Pittsburgh merchant named Butler, had been
attacked by three Cherokee Indians, about sixty miles above,
and one of the whites killed. This, of course, caused consid-
erable sensation in the neighborhood of Wheeling. The
people, too, aroused by the false cry of Connolly, became
greatly excited ; and when, a few days after, it was reported
that a boat containing Indians was coming down the river, a
resolution was at once taken to attack them. Several men,
one of whom it is alleged was Captain Cresap, started u]) the
river, and, firing upon the canoe, killed two Indians, whom
they scalped. On the following day several canoes contain-
ing Indians were discovered a short distance above the island.
Pursuit was immediately given; and that night, while the
Indians were encamped near the mouth of Captina Creek,
twenty miles below Wheeling, the whites attacked them,
killing one and wounding several of the company. These

124 History of West Virginia

were clearly the exciting causes of the war of 1774. It is
true, however, as already stated, the magazine was charged,
and needed but the match to produce instantaneous explosion.
THAT match was fired by the murderer's torch at Captina
and Yellow Creek." — De Haas.)

The part of this country lying west of Hampshire was
known as the "District of West Augusta", its boundaries
being then undefined. Botetourt County, created in 1769
from the southern portion of Augusta County, likewise ex-
tended from the Blue Ridge across West Virginia to the
Ohio River; the line separating it from Augusta County,
extending north fifty-five degrees west, and crossing Green-
brier River at the southern end of the Marlin Mountains,
terminated on the Ohio River, near the present village of
Belleville, now in Wood County, West Virginia. Thus all
that part of West Virginia lying between the said line and
the Great Kanawha River was included in Botetourt County.
Fincastle County, organized in 1772 from the southern part
of Botetourt, also extended westward from the Blue Ridge
to the Ohio, and included within its limits all of W^est Vir-
ginia lying between the Great Kanawha and Big Sandy
Rivers. At this time there were probably twenty thousand
white people living in what is now W^est Virginia.

In the ten years intervening between the close of the
French and Indian War in 1763, and the year 1774 — that of
Lord Dunmore's War — there was comparative peace and
quiet along the Western Frontier; and for this reason, this
period has been called the "Halcyon Decade of the Eighteenth
Century." But hostilities began in the spring of 1774, and a
savage warfare, with all its horrors, was waged upon the de-
fenseless settlements of the W^estern Border. Messengers
bore tidings of this to Williamsburg, the old Colonial Capital
of Virginia, and the House of Burgesses — the legislative body
of the Colony — directed Lord Dunmore to prosecute a war
against the Indian nations of the Ohio W^ilderness. As a
preliminary movement to this, he ordered Major Angus
McDonald to proceed with four hundred men, from the Lower
Shenandoah Valley, by way of Wheeling, against the Waka-

History of West Virginia 125

tomika and other Indian towns in the Aluskinguni \ alley,
northwest of the Ohio. — (W. Va. Arch, and History.)

At the time of the arri\al of Maj. Angus McDonald at
Wheeling, in July, 1774, it appears that the fort at that ])lace
had not yet been completed. The establishment was called
Fort Fincastle. It was planned by Col. George Rogers Clark,
who was present with a ])arty under Captain Cresap in
Wheeling, in April, 1774, and constructed unrler the su])er-
vision of Ebenezer Zane and John Caldwell, two of the prin-
cipal men of the settlement. But it appears that the com])le-
tion of the building of the fort was largely effected through
the efforts of one Capt. William Crawford, with the aid of
about two hundred men who had been recruited at Fort Pitt
by Dr. John Connolly (the commander of the latter place)
and turned over to him (Crawford) with instructions to pro-
ceed to Wheeling and "complete the building of the fort".

Yet, as previously indicated, the fort was not completed
until in July, as history says: "In July, Maj. Angus McDonald
arrived in Wheeling and took command, and, under the joint
direction of himself and Capt. William Crawford, with the
aid of the large force under their command, the fort was soon
completed."

The fort was located immediately on the left bank of
the Ohio River (looking south), about a quarter of a mile
above the mouth of Wheeling Creek, and at a much less dis-
tance from the foot of the immense hill that rises with unusual
boldness from the inner margin of the bottom land. Just
beyond the louer line of pickets the high bench of ground
on M^hich the fort was erected terminates ; and after an abrupt
descent of about thirty feet another level commences, which
stretches along with uniform grade to the creek. Much of
this bottom, particularly that portion next to the river, \\ as
cleared, fenced and cultivated in corn. Between the fort and
base of the hill the forest- had likewise been cleared away,
and here stood some twenty-five or thirty humble log (h\ell-
ing houses, thrown together in the form of a village, which,
though of little importance then, was the germ of one of the
fairest cities that now grace the Little Mountain State. The
fort was built on open ground, and covered a space of about

126 History of West Virginia

three-quarters of an acre. In shape it was a parallelogram,
having a block house at each corner, with lines of stout pickets
about eight feet high extending from one block house to
another. Within the enclosure were a store house, barrack-
rooms, garrison wells, and a number of cabins for the use of
families ; the principal entrance was through a gateway on
the eastern side of the village. It served as a place of refuge
for the settlers during the war which followed, and which
w^s terminated, as far as a treaty could effect the purpose, in
the fall of the year, by Lord Dunmore at Camp Charlotte. —
("History of the Pan-Handle.")

Having completed the fort at Wheeling, Captain Craw-
ford was placed in charge of the garrison, while the conduct
of an expedition against the Indians in Ohio was committed
to Major McDonald. On the 26th of July the latter left
Wheeling with about four hundred men, and reached the
mouth of Fish Creek, on the eastern side of the Oliio, where
the present village of Woodland, in Marshall County, now
is. Here they crossed the Ohio River and proceeded against
the Shawnese towns on the Muskingum, destroying Waka-
tomica, near what is now Dresden, Ohio. The army also
destroyed a number of other Indian villages, and was the first
effective blow struck by the Virginia troops in the Dunmore
War.

According to "History of the Pan-Handle", Lord Dun-
more himself had already begun to move in his projected
campaign. Leaving Williamsburg, Virginia, then the seat of
government, July 10th, 1774, he proceeded to different places,
gathering troops and completing his preparations for the
expedition. In the latter part of August he marched with his
forces to Fort Pitt. He arrived at Wheeling September 30th.
The strongth of Dunmore's forces is given in Valentine
Crawford's letter to Washington, written from the Wheeling
fort the day after his arrival, and which is quoted, as follows :

"Fort Fincastle, Oct. 1st, 1774.
"His Lordship arrived here yesterday with about twelve
hundred men, seven hundred of whom came by water with
his Lordship, and five hundred came under my brother,
William., by land, with bullocks, etc."

History of West Virginia 127

To the frontier settlement the advent of so large a body
of troops, some of whom were British regulars, and all com-
manded by the royal governor, was an event of no ordinary
importance.

The consternation and alarm which followed the expecta-
tion of an inroad of the savages had already given place to
a strong and determined feeling, not only to defend their
homes and families from hostile incursion, but, also, by
aggressive measures against the foe, insure themselves
against future molestation. And, now, when the forces
embodied by the authority of the colony for the defenses and
protection of the border appeared in their midst, marshalled
in all "the pomp and circumstances of war", the interest and
excitement occasioned by their presence can readily be
imagined.

"The debarkation of the troops — their imposing and
martial array — the brilliant uniforms of the regulars con-
trasting with the homely hunting shirts of the provincial
militia — the stirring music of fife and drum, and the glitter
of their burnished arms flashing in the September sun as they
marched from the landing to their quarters in the fort, all
united to stir the pulse of hardy mountaineer and bright-
eyed maiden gazing on the gallant display. Even the Fort
donned her holiday attire in honor of the royal governor,
and floated from her ramparts the red-cross banner of Saint
George — that proud and gorgeous ensign of Old England.

An amusing anecdote in connection with this event is
still preserved among local traditions : When Lord Dun-
more landed at the river from his barge, and marched up to
the Fort preceded by his bodyguard of Scotch Highlanders,
with their bonneted chieftains —

"All plaidcd and plumed in their tartan array" —

the martial strains of the bagpipes waking the morning
echoes - — a lively frontier damsel, catching sight of their
novel dress, ran nearly breathless to her mother, exclaiming.
"Come, mother, come and see the handsome men dressed in
petticoats and bonnets !"

128 History of West Virginia

"Lord Dunmore immediately sent Major Crawford — •
recently promoted — forward with five hundred men and fifty
pack horses and two hundred bullocks to meet Colonel Lewis,
who was coming by way of the Kanawha. After completing
his preparations for the expedition, he followed in a few days
thereafter with the rest of the forces by river."

The Battle at Point Pleasant.— Fought October 10, 1774.
(From Howe's History of Virginia.)

The army destined for this expedition was composed of
volunteers and militia, chiefly from the counties west of the
Blue Ridge, and consisted of two divisions. The northern
division, comprehending the troops collected in Frederick,
Dunmore (noAv Shenandoah), and the adjacent counties, was
to be commanded by Lord Dunmore in person ; and the
southern, comprising the different companies raised in Bote-
tourt, Augusta, and the adjoining counties east of the Blue
Ridge, was to be led by Gen. Andrew Lewis. These two
divisions, proceeding by different routes, were to form a
junction at the mouth of the Big Kanawha, and from thence
penetrate the country northwest of the Ohio River, as far
as the season would permit of their going, and destroy all
the Indian towns and villages which they could reach.

About the 1st of September, the troops placed under the
command of General Lewis rendezvoused at Camp Union
(now Lewisburg), and consisted of two regiments, com-
manded by Col. William Fleming, of Botetourt, and Col.
Charles Lewis, of Augusta, containing about four hundred
men each.

At Camp Union they were joined by an independent
company under Col. John Field of Culpepper, a company
from Bedford under Captain Buford, and two from the
Holstein settlement (now Washington County) under Cap-
tains Evan Shelby and Harbert. These three latter com-
panies were part of the force to be led on by Colonel Christian,
who was likewise to join the two main divisions of the army
at Point Pleasant, so soon as the other companies of his
regiment could be assembled. The force under General

History of West Virginia 129

Lewis, having- been thus augmented to eleven hundred men,
commenced its march for the mouth of the Kanawha on the
11th of September, 1774.

From Camp Union to the point proposed for the junction
of the northern and southern divisions of the army, a dis-
tance of one hundred and sixty miles, the intermediate country
was a trackless forest, so rugged and mountainous as to ren-
der the progress of the army at once tedious and laborious.
Under the guidance of Capt. Matthew Arbuckle, they suc-
ceeded, however, in reaching the Ohio River, after a march
of nineteen days, and fixed their encampment on the point of
land immediately between that river and the Big Kanawha.
The provisions and ammunition, transported on pack-horses,
and the beeves in droves, arrived after.

When the southern division arrived at Point Pleasant,
Governor Dunmore, with the forces under his command, had
not reached there ; and unable to account for his failure to
form the preconcerted junction at that place, it was deemed
advisable to await that event; as by so doing a better oppor-
tunity would be afforded to Colonel Christian of coming up
with that portion of the army which was then with him.
Meanwhile General Lewis, desiring to learn the cause of the
delay of the northern division, dispatched runners by land in
the direction of Fort Pitt, to obtain tidings of Lord Dunmore,
to be communicated to him immediately. In their absence,
however, advices were received from his lordship that he had
determined on proceeding across the country directly to the
Shawnee towns ; and ordering General Lewis to cross the
river, march forward, and form a junction with him near them.
These advices were received on the 9th of October (the day
preceding the battle), and preparations were immdiately be-
gun for the transportation of the troops over the Ohio River.

Early on the morning of Monday, the lOfn of that month,
two soldiers left the camp and proceeded up the Ohio River
in quest of deer. When they had progressed about two miles
they unexpectedly came in sight of a large number of Indians
rising from their encampment, and who, discovering the two
hunters, fired upon them and killed one ; the other escaped
unhurt, and running briskly to the camp, communicated the

130 History of West Virginia

intelligence "that he had seen a body of the enemy, covering
four acres of ground, as closely as they could stand by the
side of each other".

The main part of the army was immediately ordered out
under Colonels Charles Lewis and William Fleming; and,
having formed into two lines, they proceeded about four
hundred yards, when they met the Indians, and the action
commenced.

At the first onset, Col. Charles Lewis having fallen and
Colonel Fleming having been wounded, both lines gave way
and were retreating briskly towards the camp, when they
were met by a reinforcement under Colonel Field, and rallied.
The engagement then became general, and was sustained with
the most obstinate fury on both sides. The Indians perceiv-
ing the "tug of war" had come, and determined on affording
the colonial army no chance of escape, if victory should de-
clare for them, formed a line extending across the point, from
the Ohio to the Kanawha, and protected in front by logs and
fallen timber. In this situation they maintained the contest
with unabated vigor from sunrise till towards the close of
evening, bravely and successfully resisting every charge which
was made on them and withstanding the impetuosity of every
onset with the most invincible firmness, until a fortunate
movement on the part of the Virginia troops decided the day.

Some short distance above the entrance of the Kanawha
River into the Ohio, there is a stream called Crooked Creek,
emptying into the former of these (see diagram on last page
of this chapter) from the northeast, whose banks are tolerably
high and were then covered with a thick and luxuriant growth
of weeds.

Seeing the impracticability of dislodging the Indians by
the most vigorous attack, and sensible of the great danger
which must arise to his army if the contest were not decided
before night. General Lewis detached three companies which
were commanded by Captains Isaac Shelby, George Matthews
and John Stuart, with orders to proceed up the Kanawha
River and Crooked Creek, under cover of the banks and
weeds, till they should pass some distance beyond the enemy,
when they were to emerge from their covert, march down-

History of West Virginia 131

ward towards the point, and attack the Indians in their rear.

The manoetn-re thus planned by General Lewis was
promptly executed, and gave a decided victory to the Colonial
army. The Indians, finding themselves suddenly and unex-
pectedly encompassed between two armies, and not doubting
but that in their rear was the looked-for reinforcement under
Colonel Christian, soon gave way, and about sundown com-
menced a precipitate retreat across the Ohio, to their towns
on the Scioto. The victory, indeed, was decisive, and many
advantages were obtained by it ; but they were not cheaply
bought. The Virginia army sustained in this engagement
a loss of seventy-five killed and one hundred and forty
wounded — about one-fifth of the entire number of troops.

Among the slain were Colonels Lewis and Field ; Captains
Buford, Morrow, Wood, Sundifif, Wilson, and Robert McClan-
ahan, and Lieutenants Allen, Goldsby and Dillon, with some
other subalterns. The loss of the enemy could not be ascer-
tained. On the morning after the action, Colonel Christian,
who had arrived after the battle was ended, marched his men
over the battle ground and found twenty-one of the Indians
lying dead where they had attempted to conceal themselves
under some old logs and brush.

From the great facility with which the Indians either
carry oiT or conceal their dead, it is always difficult to ascer-
tain the number of their slain ; and hence arises, in some
measure, the disparity between their known loss and that
sustained by their opponents in battle. Other reasons for this
disparity are to be found in their peculiar mode of warfare,
and in the fact that they rarely continue a contest when it
has to be maintained with the loss of their warriors. It
would not be easy otherwise to account for the circumstance
that even when signally vanquished the list of their slain docs
not, frequently, appear more than half as great as that of their
victors. In this particular instance, many of the dead were
certainly thrown into the river.

Nor could the number of the enemy engaged be ever
ascertained. Their army is known to have been composed
of warriors from the different nations north of the Ohio, and
to have comprised the flower of the Shawnee, Delaware,

132 History of West Virginia

Mingo, Wyandotte, and Cayuga tribes, led on by men whose
names were not unknown to fame, and at the head of whom
was Cornstalk, sachem of the Shawnees, and king of the
northern confederacy.

This distinguished chief and consummate warrior proved
himself on that day to be justly entitled to the prominent
station he occupied. His plan of alternate retreat and attack
was well conceived, and occasioned the principal loss sus-
tained by the whites. If at any time his warriors were be-
lieved to waver, his voice could be heard above the din of
arms, exclaiming, in his native tongue: "Be strong! be
strong !" and when one near him, by trepidation and reluct-
ance to proceed to the charge, evinced a dastardly disposi-
tion, fearing the example might have a pernicious influence,
with one blow of his tomahawk he severed his skull. It was,
perhaps, a solitary instance in which terror predominated.
Never did men exhibit a more conclusive evidence of bravery
in making a charge, and fortitude in withstanding an onset,
than did these undisciplined soldiers of the fcicst in the field
at Point Pleasant. Such, too, was the good conduct of those
who composed the army of Virginia on that occasion, and
such the noble bravery of many, that high expectations were
entertained of their future distinction. Nor were these ex-
pectations disappointed. In the various scenes through
which they subsequently passed, the pledge of after eminence
then given was fully redeemed, and the names of Shelby,
Campbell, Matthews, Fleming, Moore, and others, their com-
patriots in arms on the memorable 10th of October, 1774, have
been inscribed in brilliant characters on the roll of fame.

As Historian Howe appears to have relied wholly upon
Withers's version of the events immediately following the
battle at Point Pleasant, and as a few events as related by
Withers do not correspond entirely with the facts as later
ascertained by a more thorough investigation, the writer will
here introduce commentaries by Thwaites, which present a
clearer understanding of some things heretofore in doubt:

For several days after the battle of Point Pleasant,
Lewis was busy in burying the dead, caring for the wounded.

History of West Virginia 133

collecting the scattered cattle, and building a store house and
small stockade fort.

Early on the morning of October 13th, messengers who
had been sent on to Dunmore, advising him of the battle, re-
turned with orders to Lewis to march at once with all his
available force against the Shawnee towns, and when within
twenty-five miles of Chillicothe to write to his lordship. The
next day the last rear guard, with the remaining beeves,
arrived from the mouth of the Elk, and while work on the
defenses at the Point was hurried, preparations were made
for the march. By evening of the 17th, Lewis, with 1,150 men
in good condition, had crossed the Ohio and gone into camp
on the north side. Each man had ten days' supply of flour, a
half pound of powder, and a pound and a half of bullets;
while to each company was assigned a pack-horse for the
tents. Point Pleasant was left in command of Colonel
Fleming (who had been severely wounded in the battle),
Captains Dickinson, Lockridge, Herbert, and Slaughter, and
278 men, few of whom were fit for service. On the 18th,
Lewis, with Captain Arbuckle as guide, advanced towards
the Shawnee towns, eighty miles distant in a straight line
and probably a hundred and twenty-five by the circuitous
trails. The army marched about eleven miles a day, fre-
quently seeing hostile parties, but engaging none. Reaching
the Salt Licks near the head of the south branch of Salt Creek
(in the present Lick Township, Jackson County, O.), they
descended that valley to the Scioto, and thence to a prairie
on Kinnikinnick (now Kilkenny) Creek, where was the freshly
•deserted Indian village referred to in Withers's narrative.
This was thirteen miles south of Chillicothe (now Westfall).
Here they were met, early on the 24th, by a messenger from
his Lordship, ordering them to halt, as a treaty was nearly
■concluded at Camp Charlotte. But Lewis's army had been
fired on that morning, and the place was untenable for a
■camp in a hostile country, so he concluded to seek better
ground. A few hours later another messenger came, again
peremptorily ordering a halt, as the Shawnees had practically
come to terms. Lewis now concluded to join tlie northern
■division in force, at Camp Charlotte, not liking to have the

134 History of West Virginia

two armies separated in the face of a treacherous enemy ; but
his guide mistook the trail, and took one leading directly to
the Grenadier Squaw's Town. Lewis camped that night on the
west bank of Congo Creek, two miles above its mouth, and five
and a quarter miles from Chillicothe, with the Indian town
half-way between. The Shawnees were now getting alarmed
and angered, and Dunmore himself, accompanied by the Dela-
ware chief White Eyes, a trader, John Gibson, and fifty volun-
teers, rode over in hot haste that evening to stop Lewis and
reprimand him. His Lordship was mollified by Lewis's expla-
nations, but the latter's men, and, indeed, Dunmore's, were
furious over being stopped when within sight of their hated
quarry, and tradition has it that it was necessary to treble
the guards during the night to prevent Dunmore and White
Eyes from being killed. The following morning (the 25th)
his Lordship met and courteously thanked Lewis's officers for
their valiant services ; but said that now the Shawnees had
acceded to his wishes, the further presence of the southern
division might engender bad blood. Thus dismissed, Lewis
led his army back to Point Pleasant, which was reached on
the 28th. He left there a garrison of fifty men under Captain
Russell, and then by companies the volunteers marched
through the wilderness to their respective homes, where they
disbanded early in November.

"This battle," says Colonel Stuart, in his historical
memoir, "was, in fact, the beginning of the Revolutionary
War, that obtained for our country the liberty and independ-
ence enjoyed by the United States — and a good presage of
future success ; for it is well known that the Indians were
influenced by the British to commence the war to terrify and
confound the people, before the}^ commenced hostilities them-
selves the following year at Lexington. It was thought by
British politicians that to incite an Tndian war would pre-
vent a combination of the Colonies for opposing parliamentary
measures to tax the Americans.' The blood, therefore, spilt
in this memorable battle will long be remembered by the good
people of Virginia and the United States with gratitude."

The route of Lewis's army from "Camp Union", now

History of West Virginia 135

Lewisburg, in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, to Point
Pleasant is described by Historian Atwater as follows:

"The route of Lewis's army lay wholly through a track-
less forest. His supplies were transported on pack-horses,
which were clambering about among the tall cliffs or winding
their way through the dangerous defiles, ascending or de-
scending the lofty summits of the Alleghany Mountains. The
country, at that time, in its aspect was one of the most ro-
mantic and wild in the whole Union. Its natural features are
majestic and grand. Among these lofty summits and deep
ravines, Nature operates on a scale of grandeui", simplicity and
sublimity scarcely ever equalled in any other region and never
surpassed in the world. The march was more painful and
difBcult than Hannibal's over the Alps."

Referring to the scenery on the way, Bancroft says : "At
that time there was not even a track over the rugged moun-
tains, but the gallant young woodsmen who formed the
party moved expeditiously with their pack-horses and droves
of cattle through the home of the wolf, the deer and the
panther. x\fter a fortnight's struggle, they left behind them
the last rocky hill-tops, and passing between the gigantic
growth of primeval forests, in which, in the autumnal season,
the golden hues of the linden, the sugar tree and the hickory
contrasted with the glistening green of the laurel, the crimson
of the sumac, and the shadows of the somber hemlock, they
descended to where the Elk, united with the Kanawha, widens
into a plain."

The late lamented Mrgil A. Lewis gives the following
interesting description of the route traversed by these heroes :

"Onward pressed these heroic men, determined to forever
drive the savage power from the southern banks of the
Ohio. They forced their way through the lonely mountains ;
Keeney's Knob, now in Summers County, four thousand feet
high, stood out against the southern sky ; from the lofty
elevations in what is now Fayette County they gazed upon
the silvery course of New River, which, rolling like a destiny,
rushed on through the realms of solitude and shade; Big and
Little Sewell Mountains were passed ; down into a rocky gorge,
where the town of Ansted in the last named county stands,

136 History of West Virginia

over another mountain crest, down Rich Creek, and down
Kelley's Creek, until they encamped at its mouth, where the
town of Cedar Grove, on the Great Kanawha River and in
Kanawha County, now stands. On the first of October they
had reached the mouth of Elk River and on the site of
Charleston, the present capital of the State, were felling
gigantic poplars and making canoes in which to transport
some of their baggage to the mouth of the Great Kanawha.
Then they crossed the Elk, continued their march down the
north side of the Kanawha, through what is now Putnam
and Mason Counties, to the Ohio."

Monument at Point Pleasant : A Brief History of Its Erection.

Death of Cornstalk.

The following information, taken from "West Virginia
Archives and History," relative to the erection of the monu-
ment at Point Pleasant in honor of the heroes who died on
the battlefield at that place, will be of interest to many of
our readers :

On the first day of April, 1860, the General Assembly of
Virginia passed an act providing that Mrs. John S. Lewis,
Miss Ellen Steenberger, Miss L. D. Smith and others be
appointed a body politic and corporate with authority to
purchase land and erect a monument on the Battlefield of
Point Pleasant; but owing to the civil war soon coming on
(during which time West Virginia was formed), the matter
was dropped until the Centennial Celebration at Point Pleas-
ant on October 10th, 1874, at which event the question of the
erection of a suitable monument was again discussed. The
matter was brought before the West Virginia Legislature,
and on the 25th of February, 1875, that body passed an act
making "an appropriation of $3,500 to aid in the purchase
of land and the erection of a monument in commemoration
of the Battle of Point Pleasant", the act being approved by
Governor John J. Jacobs, Feb. 25, 1875.

In the meantime, the committee of ladies who had been
appointed in 1860 for the purpose of soliciting subscriptions
had, during the turmoil of civil strife, succeeded in raising a

History of West Virginia 137

"Monument Fund", which, in 1909, amounted to the sum of
$2,107.84, including interest.

On the 29th of March, 1901, His Excellency, Governor
A. B. White, by authority of an act of the Legislature passed
on the 7th of February, 1901, appointed the following named
gentlemen as trustees to take charge of funds and push the
work through to completion : Virgil A. Lewis, of Mason
City ; Charles C. Bowyer, of Point Pleasant ; and John P.
Austin, of Redmond, all of Mason County. On the 25th of
May, 1901, an organization was effected by electing John P.
Austin, president, Virgil A. L6wis, secretary, and Charles C.
Bowyer, treasurer.

The trustees proceeded to business as fast as circum-
stances would permit. They selected as the location for the
monument a piece of ground "at the apex of the angle formed
by the confluence of the two rivers — the Ohio and the Great
Kanawha — on which the Virginian army was encamped at
the beginning of the battle, and where its honored dead, who
fell in the struggle, were buried. This is high land and con-
tains about two and a half acres. This land was purchased
from Thomas J. Darst, J. H. Stone and others, J. D. ]\lcCul-
lough, Nancy A. Varian, and R. A. Comstock, and the title
was vested in the State of West Virginia.

The trustees, still being short of the necessary amount
of funds, in February, 1902, "where the entire State's dele-
gation in Congress expressed, not only a willingness, but a
desire, to do all they could in the matter of securing an appro-
priation of $10,000 to aid in the erection of a monument on
the battlefield of Point Pleasant", and this amount was duly
appropriated. The enterprise, therefore, became a State and
National one.

The trustees were now in a position to proceed with
the erection of the monument. After some delay, occasioned
by certain red-tape requirements of the War Department at
Washington, work was begun on the foundation May 11th,
1909, and the structure was completed at 11 :10 a. m., Monday,
August 22nd. 1909.
■ "It is twenty-two feet square at the base, eighty-two feet

138 History of West Virginia

high, and contains one hundred and fifty-two granite blocks, —
the whole weighing one hundred and forty-three tons.

"The statue, facing east, standing eight feet high, and
weighing two tons, is cut of Westerly granite, by the Smith
Granite Company, of Westerly, Rhode Island. The bronze
panels and bas-relief were cast by Albert Russell & Sons
Company, of Newburyport, Mass. ; the historical data thereon
having been compiled by Virgil A. Lewis, State Historian
and Archivist, in compliance with an order of the trustees."

The unveiling and dedication of the monument took
place on Saturday, October 9th, 1909. Next to the battle
itself, this was considered the most important event that ever
took place in Point Pleasant. It was estimated by State
Historian Virgil A. Lewis, who was present and took par-
ticular note, that there were not less than fifteen thousand
people present. Jt was no ordinary occasion for which this
great assemblage met. It was to confer long neglected
honors due departed heroes : men who struck the first vital
blow for American freedom and independence. It was,
therefore, a National affair in which all liberty-loving people
were interested (whether conscious of it or not) ; and those
who were present to do homage to those departed spirits
enjoyed a privilege — the recollection of which should ever
bring a feeling of deep reverence and stimulate and strengthen
any lagging patriotism.

The ceremony of dedication was performed by officers of
the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and
Accepted Masons, as follows :

Emmet M. Showalter, Grand Master.

Neil Robinson, P. G. M., as Deputy Grand Master.

John Hamilton, P. G. M., as Senior Grand Warden.

John Dunbar Baines, Junior Grand Warden.

John M. McConihay, G. L., as Grand Treasurer.

H. R. Howard, P. G. M., Grand Secretary.

Rev. J. Howard Gibbons, Grand Chaplain.

George W. Atkinson, P. G. M., as Grand Orator.

George Thornburg, P. G. M., as Senior Grand Deacon.

John H. Hutchinson, as Junior Grand Deacon.

Virgil A. Lewis, as Principal Grand Arch.

History of West Virginia 139

P. B. Buxton, as Grand Pursuivant.

T. W. Ford, as Grand Steward.

John Thornburg, as Grand Steward.

John M. ColHns, P. G. M., as Grand Marshal.

R. ]\I. Baird, as Grand Tiler.

There was also a large number of the fraternity from all
over the State. The meeting of the Order was held at the
Masonic Hall, at Point Pleasant, at 9:30 a. m. After the
announcement of the purpose for which they were assembled,
the Grand Lodge, under the escort of the Knights Templar
of Franklin Commandery of Point Pleasant, of Kanawha
Commandery of Charleston, of Huntington Commandery of
Huntington, and of Rose Commandery of Gallipolis, Ohio,
awaited the movement of the procession then forming.

Following is a description of the line of march, as
recorded in "Archives and History of West Virginia," by
Virgil A. Lewis :

"The procession, one of the largest ever seen in the State,
formed at 9 :30 a. m., at the corner of Viand and Sixth streets,
and proceeded north on \"iand street to Fourteenth ; west on
Fourteenth to Ohio ; south on Ohio to Twelfth ; west on
Twelfth to Alain to Tu-enda-wee Park, the site of the monu-
ment. The success of the parade was due in part to everyone
who participated in it or who in any manner contributed to
this, one of the most magnificent pageants ever witnessed in
the State of West Virginia. It consisted of three divisions,
formed as follows :

"The First Division.

"This moved at the head of the procession, under the
immediate direction of Col. John P. R. B. .Smith, the Grand
Marshal of the day ; with him being one of his assistants,
Andrew L. Boggess, and J. L. Boggess, color-bearer. The
Point Pleasant Brass Band moved at the head of this division.
Then came long lines of Blue Lodge Masons, followed by
marching columns of Knights Templar in brilliant uniforms,
followed by the officers of the Grand Lodge of West \^irginia
in carriages. It was an imposing scene.

140 History of West Virginia

"The Second Division.

"This division moved closely upon the rear of the first ;
at its head was Prof. Peter Higgins Steenbergen, Assistant
Marshal, with Lesley P. Neale as his aid, and Robert Liter
as color-bearer. Then came the children of the public schools
of Point Pleasant, in charge of Mrs. Mary Margaret Bryan,
instructor of music in these schools. This was one of the
most imposing and inspiring scenes of the whole parade. The
children were so arranged that by the wearing of their caps
and capes of red, white and blue, they made the stars and
stripes of a living, breathing, moving American flag, a sight
so inspiring as to call forth cheers and exclamations from
the thousands of spectators along the line of march. Those
of the teachers in the public schools who not only assisted
Mrs. Bryan with the drilling of the pupils, but marched with
them in the parade, and thus did much to contribute to its
success, were : Misses Bertha Steinbach, Eva Hughes, Anna
Pauline Lewis, Elizabeth Hogg, Nora Somerville, Carrie
Mcintosh, Mary Work, Roma Gibbs, Ella Howard, and Juha
Ryan. Marching with the teachers and children were Capt.
William H. Howard, President of the Board of Education,
and Mr. Carlisle Whaley ; the only other member of the Board,
Mr. John W. C. Heslop, not participating in this march be-
cause of his part in the Masonic exercises. Following imme-
diately after this 'American Flag of School Children' came a
highly decorated wagon carrying, among others, the thirteen
little boys who were to unveil the monument, they represent-
ing the thirteen American Colonies, and being also descend-
ants of the men who participated in the Battle of Point
Pleasant. At their head was little Charles Cameton Lewis,
son of Mr. C. C. Lewis, of Point Pleasant, West Virginia;
John Dickinson Lewis, son of Mr. Charles Cameron Lewis,
of Charleston, W. Va. ; Chancellor Bowyer, son of Mr. Frank
Bowyer, of Winfield, Putnam County, W. Va. ; Alfred Stone
Lewis, son of Hon. Virgil A. Lewis, of Mason, Mason
County, W. Va. ; Henderson Hampton Miller, son of Dr.
Joseph Lyons Miller, of Thomas, Tucker County, W. Va. ;
Loraine Sterrett. son of Mr. Charles Sterrett, of Beech Hill,

History of West Virginia 141

Mason County, W. Va. ; Neale Blackwood, son of Mr. C. K.
Blackwood, of Point Pleasant, W. Va. ; Robert Cameron
Thompson, son of Mr. William Rootes Thompson, of Hunt-
ington, W. Va. ; Herbert Thomas Henderson, son of James
Henderson, of Five Mile, Mason County, W. Va. ; William
Hogg, son of Hon. Charles Edgar Hogg, of Morgantown,
W. Va. ; Perry Simpson Poffenberger, son of Judge George
Pofifenbarger, of Point Pleasant, W. Va. ; John Daniel vSteen-
berger, son of Prof. Peter Higgins Steenberger, of Point
Pleasant, W. Va. ; and John Griffith Freelinghuysen Smith,
son of Mr. Homer Smith, of Point Pleasant, W. Va.

"Nothing could have been more appropriate than that
these children should participate in the unveiling of the monu-
ment. On the front seat of this wagon sat little Miss
Elizabeth Sehon McCoach, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John M.
McCoach, of Huntington, West Virginia, and Charles Lewis
Pomeroy, son of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Pomeroy, of that city,
both of whose ancestors participated in the battle of Point
Pleasant. Then came members of the Charles Lewis Chapter
of the Daughters of the American Revolution, of Point
Pleasant, W. Va. ; among them were Mrs. John Daniel McCul-
lough. Misses Lillie Lee Hogg, and Lena Lorena Roseberry,
of Point Pleasant ; Mrs. Lucy Sehon Roseberry, of Point
Pleasant; Mrs. Lucy Sehon McCoach, of Huntington, West
Virginia. Then came the members of civic societies, followed
by municipal officials.

The Third Division.

"This division was headed by Edward Barto Jones,
Assistant Marshal, aided by Hon. John Park Austin and
Floyd Sterrett, with Trix Couch as color-bearer. In front
of this division was the Uniform Rank of Knights of Pythias,
marching with the drill step of the Regular Army, and in
their splendid uniform presented an imposing appearance-
one of the best features of the parade. Mounted on horseback
next came Hon. William E. Glasscock, Governor of West
Virginia, with the following named officers of his staff, and
officers of the National Guard, viz :

142 History of West Virginia

Brig.-Gen. Noyes S. Burlew, Adjutant-General and Chief
of Staff.

Brig.-Gen. Edward C. O'Toole, Commissary-General.

Brig.-Gen. Clarke Hamilton, Chief of Ordnance.

Colonels — Aides-de-Camp John Cummins, H. L. Carp-
specken, S. M. Smith, C. N. Briscoe, W. C. Lloyd, Enoch
Carver, Charles Bealle, Peter A. Simpson, Vernon E. Johnson,
and A. C. Mclntire ; and members of the National Guard, de-
tailed for duty with the Governor's staff; viz: — Capt. James I.
Pratt, Second Inft. ; and Capt. John C. Bond, Pay. Dept.

"These were followed by United States Senator Nathan
Bay Scott, and Congressmen William P. Hubbard of the First
District and Hon. James A. Hughes of the Fifth District,
accompanied by the State Officers, Hon. Stuart F. Reed,
Secretary of State; Hon. E. Lesley Long, Treasurer of State;
and Hon. Maurice P. Shawkey, State Superintendent of Free
Schools. Immediately thereafter, in carriages, were Judges
Ira E. Robinson, Luther Judson Williams, and George Polfen-
barger, of the Supreme Court of Appeals. Following these
were Mrs. William E. Glasscoclc, wife of the Governor,
accompanied by the wives of the Staff Officers ; and, in auto-
mobiles, Hon. William Seymour, Edwards, escorting Mrs.
James A. Hughes and daughter, and the wives of the Judges
of the Supreme Court of Appeals; then came, in carriages, Ex-
Gov. William A. MacCorkle, William E. Chilton, ex-Secretary
of State, with Hon. Wesley Mollohan and Judge W. S. Laid-
ley, with other distinguished invited guests, followed by citi-
zens and visitors in carriages and automobiles and on horse-
back, the whole making an imposing parade extending along
ten squares in the town.

"Arriving at the monument the vast concourse of people
covered Tu-enda-wee Park, and packed the adjacent streets.
Minute guns were fired by the cannoneers, Thomas Mason
and Wilbur Roberts, of Mason City, W. Va. The day was
an ideal one ; overhead was the clearest of skies ; the sun shone
brilliantly ; then came mildly tempered zephyrs, the whole
rendering the scene a most delightful one. The school chil-
dren— hundreds of voices — sang

History of West Virginia 14v5

*jMy Country 'tis of Thee

Sweet Land of Liberty ■
Of thee I sing.'

"Thousands of voices joined in singing this patriotic an-
them.

"Following the unveiling of the monument and the im-
pressive ceremonies in connection therewith, addresses were
made from a platform erected at the base of the monument.
Mayor John L. Whitten presided. The first speaker, and the
chief orator of the day, was Governor William E. Glasscock,
who began his oration by saying: 'A knowledge of our past
history can do us no good unless it suggests to us something
from which we can profit' — a sentence which should become
proverbial. Other speakers were Hon. Nathan B. Scott, ex-
Governor William A. MacCorkle, Hon. W^illiam E. Chilton,
Hon. William P. Hubbard, Hon. James A. Hughes, Hon. John
S. Darst, Hon. Stuart F. Reed, and Mrs. Liva Simpson Pof-
fenbarger.

"The real memorial address was Sunday, the 10th of
October, the anniversary of the battle. On this day Judge
George Wesley Atkinson delivered an address, resplendent
with rhetorical flourish and literary excellence. In this he
discussed the history of the great battle from the standpoint
of the historian, together with its results as they affected the
subsequent history of the nation *********_

"The scenes and events of that day will be remembered
by all who witnessed them as long as they live ; and those who
come after them will read of them with much interest. Mean-
while the towering monument, dedicated and unveiled that
day, will stand through centuries to come as a silent witness
of the appreciation of the generation which reared it — of the
heroism and bravery of the men who, on that day of battle,
broke the savage power at the mouth of the Great Kanawha
river."

144 History of West Virginia

"An hundred years have breathed their changeful breath

Upon this field of glory and of death ;
A century of change, yet round me still,

The self-same valley, plain, and glen and hill.
Where all day long the sound of battle rolled,

Where all day long the fearful and the bold
Behind their slender bulwarks, stern and pale.

Stood face to face, the white man and the red,
Their cause the same, the same their gory bed.

The same great rivers meet and mingle here,

That on' that day of doubt, and dread and fear
Flowed calmly on, unheedful of the strife.

The sound of battle and the wreck of life.
Now sweet the sunlight falls upon the dell

Where heroes fought and brave Charles Lewis fell.
Today when rains have swollen the river's tide.

The rich soil crumbles from the water's side;
There white and ghastly, bedded in the clay,-

The bones of those who fell that autumn day;
And ere they sink beneath the Ohio's wave.

The sunlight, for a while, gleams on the grave
Of sires of noble sons, and sons of noble sires,

A nation's incense. All her altar fires
Can scarce repay the labor of that day.

From dewy dawn, till sunlight fled away.

A nation's song, through all the coming time

Can scarce give language to thy thoughts, sublime.
As standing there beside the crimson'd rills

You thought of dear ones far across the hills.
Of West Augusta homes, Avhere warm and bright

The firelight gleamed on household gods at night.
And dawn awoke each weary, weary day

When bright eyes, waiting, watched the western way
For forms those eyes might never, never greet ;

For forms then stark in death, where two great rivers
meet."

(By Harry Maxwell Smythe, in "Moundsville Reporter."
Written at Point Pleasant during great flood in Ohio River,
August, 1875).

History of West Virginia

145

All

Plan of the Battle of Point Pleasant, Showing the Present

Location of the Ohio River Railroad and the Kanawha

& Michigan Railroad With Reference to Same.

"A" represents small pond and ravine where the action
commenced, and where Colonel Charles Lewis was mortally
wounded. From this place, at right angles to the Ohio, to
Crooked Creek, both armies, early in the action, were extended
through the woods. After a while the Indian line extended
farther down on the creek.

"B," the court house.

"C," Cornstalk's grave. He was originally buried near
the Kanawha ; but subsequently his remains were disinterred,
and removed to their present resting place.

"D," position of the fort built after the battle. All the
officers who fell in the battle were buried at or near this spot,
at what was known as the Point Lot.

CHAPTER X.

THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.

Resolution of Thanks to Lord Dunmore. A Change of Senti-
ment— Lord Dunmore's Abdication of Office as Governor
of Virginia. Unrest of American Colonists — Patrick
Henry — A Letter from Washington — Capture of Ticon-
deroga — Battle of Bunker Hill — Equipment of Virginia
Troops — Declaration of Bill of Rights — Declaration of
Independence.

Following the treaty of Camp Charlotte, the convention
sitting at Richmond, desiring to give the Earl of Dunmore an
expression of their approval of his success in the recent west-
ern campaign, on March 25, 1775, passed the following reso-
lution :

■ ''RESOLVED, unanimously, that the most cor-
dial thanks of the people of the Colony are a tribute
justly due to our worthy Governor, Lord Dunmore,
for his truly noble, wise, and spirited conduct on the
late expedition against our Indian enemy; a conduct
which at once evinces his excellency's attention to
the true interests of this colony, and a zeal in the
executive department, which no dangers can divert,
or difficulties hinder, from achieving the most im-
portant services to the people who have the happi-
ness to live under his administration."

A vote of thanks was also passed to the officers and
soldiers of the expedition. (See Amer. Arch. Vol. 2, p. 179,
301.)

These cordial feelings, however, appear to have been of
short duration, for the bad feelings toward the mother country
were soon awakened from their temporary dormancy which
finally resulted in Dunmore's hasty abdication of the office of

History of West Virginia 147

governor. The storm was now fast gathering, presaged by
the rumbhng thunders and lowering clouds of unrest through-
out the American colonies. The colonists had long since tired
of British rule. They realized the dangers of their position —
the savages on one side and the scarlet coats on the other —
but this did not dampen the ardor of their patriotism, and
"When, through the slow medium of communication with
Williamsburg, came the news of how Patrick Henry had elec-
trified the Assembly by his warning that as 'Caesar had his
Brutus, so might the British king find a retribution for his
oppressions,' and responding defiantly to the cries of treason,
Tf that be treason, make the most of it,' their own hearts
caught the generous glow% and they resolved, if die they
must, to die freemen and in defense of the rights they had
purchased with toil and blood."

The colonists made common cause against the repugnant
stamp and tea tax, the navigation and trade laws, etc. So
when the act was passed to close the port of Boston on June
1st, 1774, in retaliation of the ill feelings engendered by the
"Boston Tea Party," the House of Burgesses resolved that the
first of June — the day on which the operation of the Port Bill
was to commence — be set apart by the members as a day of
fasting, humiliation and prayer, in order "devoutly to implore
the divine interposition to avert the heavy calamity which
threatened destruction to their civil rights, and the evil of a
civil war ; and to give them one heart and one mind firmly to
oppose, by all just and proper means, every injury to Ameri-
can rights." (Graham's Colonial History U. S.)

Thinking to head off any further measures on the part of
the Americans antagonistic toward the arbitrary decrees of
an enraged parent country, the royal governor dissolved the
Assembly on the 26th of May. But this act was too late. A
close observance of fasting and prayer was maintained
throughout the commonwealth and "seemed to strengthen the
spirit of resistance to the oppressive measures of the British
authorities."

The following extract, from a letter to Washington from
Valentine Crawford, October 1st, 1774, fairly shows the state

148 History of West Virginia

of public feeling at that time ; describing Dunmore's arrival
at Wheeling:

"In order that we may be able to assist you in
relieving the poor distressed Bostonians, if the report
here be true that General Gage has bombarded the
city of Boston, ***«***_ This is a most alarming
circumstance and calls for every friend of this country
to exert himself at this time in its cause."

In March, 1775, the Virginia Assembly openly discussed
the probabilities of war and the necessity of preparing for
defense. Some members favored postponing these prepara-
tions, in the hope of securing a peaceable adjustment of their
difficulties, but Patrick Henry, with much earnest eloquence,
contended for immediate action, claiming that hesitation was
fatal. Said he : "There is no longer any room for hope. We
must FIGHT — An appeal to arms, and to the God of Hosts, is
all that is left us. Gentlemen may cry 'Peace ! Peace !' but
there is no peace — the war is actually begun — the next gale
that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash
of resounding arms."

Scarcely had these utterances been made when the sounds
of battle were heard. The plains of Lexington and Concord
witnessed the first blood shed in the struggle for American
Independence, on the 19th of April, and the spirit of resist-
ance and revolution spread rapidly to the remotest borders
of the land.

"In Virginia the march of the revolution w^as accelerated
by the intemperate measures of Lord Dunmore, the governor.
Having, by a sudden and clandestine operation, removed a
portion of the public stores during the night from Williams-
burg on board of armed vessels, and finding his conduct
sharply arraigned by the provincial convention, he retorted
to their censure and condemned all their proceedings in a pro-
clamation, which concluded with the usual formula, 'God Save
the King.' They replied to him by a proclamation which
concluded with 'God save the liberties of America,' and Pat-
rick Henry marched against him at the head of a detachment
of the provincial militia. Lord Dunmore, who at first solemn-

History of West Virginia 149

ly swore that if any violence were offered himself he would
proclaim liberty to all the negro slaves in the province, and
lay Williamsburg in ashes, finding that his menace inflamed
the public rage instead of inspiring fear, was obliged to pro-
cure a respite from the approaching danger by granting a bill
of exchange for the pecuniary value of the stores which had
been removed, but soon again, involving himself by his vio-
lence in a quarrel (from which the utmost prudence could
hardly have kept him free) with the popular party, he fled
hastily from Williamsburg with his family on the 8th of June,
took refuge on board the Fowey, a British man-of-war, and
thus practically abdicated his functions. An interregnum en-
sued, but a delegated convention, in view of the public safety,
assumed such legislative and executive control as was neces-
sary for the defense and protection of the colony in all her
interests."

Meantime, events of the most serious character and
fraught with the gravest consequences were occurring in the
•east. The second congress convened at Philadelphia on the
10th day of May, and on the same day Col. Ethan Allen with
a small force of Vermont militia, known as "Green Mountain
Boys," surprised and captured the British fortress of Ticon-
deroga with her garrison and equipment, and also that of
Crown Point; both important defenses of Lake Champlain.
This sudden assumption of aggressive warfare, the gallantry
and success of the enterprise, together with Allen's character-
istic demand for the surrender "in the name of the Great
Jehovah and the Continental Congress," stirred the popular
feeling to a blaze throughout the whole country. These suc-
cesses were followed, on the 17th day of June, by the battle
of Bunker Hill, in which a detachment of a thousand pro-
vincials, under Col. Prescott, supported by Putnam and War-
ren, twice repulsed, with great loss, the attack of a greatly
superior force of British regulars, commanded by Howe in
person, and only fell back, on the third attack, from lack of
ammunition. This gallant and noble struggle, showing how
well a rude and undisciplined force could meet the trained
veterans of the vaunted British army, gave the liveliest satis-
faction to their expectant fellow countrymen, and determined

150 History of West Virginia

them, if such determination were necessary, to take no step
backward in the good cause of the country's rights. Recog-
nizing the imminence of war, the necessity of thorough mi
tary organization followed, and Congress at once took meas-
ures for embodying the troops of the provinces into a con-
tinental army.

On the 15th of June, they unanimously elected George
Washington commander-in-chief of the American forces — a
choice which all subsequent time has justified as one of singu-
lar wisdom and good fortune.

The Virginia Convention took prompt and vigorous
measures for recruiting and equipping their quota of troops.
By the middle of July two regiments were raised and provision
made for seven more. The nine regiments were soon equip-
ped "the Virginia line," thence forward throughout the war
were engaged in many sanguinary fields, and maintained an
honored and honorable fame. Among other acts of the As-
sembly was one passed July 17th, 1775, "for the better pro-
tection of the inhabitants on the frontiers of this colony * * * *.
Be it further ordained by the authority aforesaid. That there
shall be appointed and raised, exclusive of the regiments be-
fore mentioned, two companies, consisting each of one captain,
three lieutenants, one ensign, four sergeants, two drummers
and two fifers, and one hundred men rank and file, to be
stationed at Pittsburgh ; also one other company, consisting
of a lieutenant and twenty-five privates, to be stationed at Fort
Fincastle, at the mouth of Wheehng creek, etc."

During this time, the inhabitants of the frontier were com-
paratively free from molestation b}'- the Indians, and were not
only deeply interested in the events which had been trans-
piring in the East, but gave a hearty support to all the meas-
ures adopted to secure and defend the liberties of the colonies.

By the opening of the new year it began to be under-
stood that having drawn the sword the issue of the fight must
be utter subjugation or a separate national existence. The
feeling was so manifest at the Virginia convention that on the
6th day of May, 1776, they passed the declaration known as
the Bill of Rights, and on the 15th day of May, 1776, with
suitable preamble.

History of West Virginia 151

"Resolved nnaniniously, That the delegates appointed to
represent this colony in the General Congress be instructed
to propose to that respectable body to declare the United
Colonies free and independent States, absolved from all alle-
giance to, or dependence upon, the crown of Great Britain ;
and that they give the assent of this colony to such declara-
tion, etc."

On the 29th of June, 1776, they formally adopted a con-
stitution, or form of government, which abrogated British
rule and established a government of the people for the State
of Virginia. The same day Patrick Henry was elected Gov-
ernor of the State.

By these various acts the people were fully committed to
the Revolution finally inaugurated by the passage of the
Declaration of Independence by Congress, which was pro-
mulgated formally on the 4th of July, 1776. (Extracts from
"History of the Pan Handle.")

About the same time the Declaration of Independence
was declared, the name of Fort Fincastle, at Wheeling, was
changed to Fort Henry, in honor of Patrick Henry, the new
Governor of Virginia, and has ever since been known by that
name.

The fort was erected on an elevation on what is now
known as Main Street Hill, the site being marked with a
tablet, erected by the State, bearing the following inscription :

"By Authority of the State of West Virginia
To Commemorate the Siege of Fort Henry,
September 11, 1782. the Last Battle of the
American Revolution, This Tablet Is Placed Here.
"T. M. GARVIN,
"W. W. JACKSON,
"S. H. GRANN,

"Committee."

The "monument" stands on the outer edge of the side-
walk, in front of the building now occupied by The 'Great
Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., near the corner of Eleventh and
]\Tain streets. It is a very small affair to be dignified with

152 History of West Virginia

the name of monument, considering the important event it is
intended to commemorate, being a stone only 32 inches long,
12 inches wide at the base and 16 inches at the top — 20 inches
on the outer side and 8 inches on the side facing the walk — ■
the top sloping inward.

CHAPTER XI.

REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
Battle at Fort Henry, Wheeling, W. Va.

On the first of September, 1782, John Lynn (a celebrated
spy and the same who had been with Captain Foreman at
the time of the fatal ambuscade at Grave Creek), being
engaged in watching the warriors' paths, northwest of the
Ohio, discovered a war party marching with great expedition
for Wheeling, and hastening to warn the inhabitants of the
danger which threatened them, swam the river and reached
the village just in advance of the appearance of the invaders.

The fort was at this time without any regular garrison,
and depended exclusively on those who sought its protection.

The brief space of time which elapsed between alarm
by Lynn and the arrival of the Indians permitted only those
who were immediately present to avail themselves of the fort's
security, and when the attack began there were not more than
twenty men to oppose the assault. The dwelling house oi
Col. Ebenezer Zane, about one hundred and twenty feet from
the fort, contained the military supplies which had been fur-
nished by the government of Virginia ; and as it was admira-
bly situated as an out-post from which to annoy the savages
in their onsets, he resolved on maintaining possession of it,
as well to aid in the defense of the fort as for the preserva-
tion of the ammunition.

George Green, Andrew Scott, Miss McCullough. Molh"
Scott, Mrs. Zane, and Sam and his wife Kate (negro slaves
of Colonel Zane) were all who remained with Ebenezer in the
house during the siege.

Capt. Silas Zane commanded in the fort.

The enemy consisted of 238 Shawnee and Delaware
Indians and 40 British soldiers, known as "Queen's Rangers",
under the command of a Captain Bradt. They approached

154 History of West Virginia

under the British colors. Before firing on the fort they
demanded its surrender. Response was made by the firing
of several shots at the standard which they bore ; and the
enemy rushed to the assault. A well directed and brisk fire,
opened upon them from Colonel Zane's house and the fort,
soon drove them back. Again they rushed forward, and
again they were repulsed.

The number of arms in the house and fort, and the
great exertions of the women in moulding bullets, loading
guns and handing them to the men, enabled them to fire so
briskly, yet so effectively, as to cause the enemy to recoil
from every charge. The darkness of night soon suspended
their attacks and afforded a temporar}^ repose to the besieged.
Yet were the assailants not wholly inactive. Having suffered
severely by the galling fire poured upon them from the house,
they determined on reducing it to ashes. For this purpose,
when all was quietness and silence, a savage, with a fire-brand
in his hand, crawled to the kitchen, and raising himself from
the ground, waving the torch to and' fro to re-kindle its flame,
was about to apply it to the building when a shot forced him
to drop the torch and hobble away, howling. The vigilance
of Sam had detected the Indian in time to thwart his purpose.

On the return of light, the savages and scarlet coats were
seen yet surrounding the fort, engaged in making such prepa-
. rations as they were confident would insure a successful
assault.

Soon after the firing of the preceding da}^ had subsided, a
small boat from Fort Pitt, on the way to the Ohio Falls with
cannon balls for the use of the troops at the latter point, put
to shore at Wheeling ; and the man who had charge, although
discovered and slightly wounded by the savages, reached the
postern and was admitted to the fort. The boat, of course,
fell into the hands of the enemy, who resolved on using the
balls on board for the demolishing of the fortress.

To this end they procured a hollow log', and binding it
closely with chains taken from a shop near by, charged it
with powder and ball. All being ready, a light was applied ;
a dreadful explosion ensued ; their cannon burst — its slivers
flew in every direction ; and instead of tearing down the fort,

History of West Virginia 155

as they had anticipated, resulted in injury only to themselves.
Several Indians were killed, and many wounded, and all were
dismayed by the event. History does not record that any of
the British soldiers were participants in this foolish under-
taking; but it is to be presumed that their knowledge of
explosives would be sufficient to warn them of the danger of
an experiment of this kind, and tfiat they were careful not to
expose themselves during its operation. In all probability
they regarded the event as a good joke upon their savage
companions-in-arms ; for it is known that the British, with
their past experience wdth the French and Indians, possessed
no great love for the savages — regarding them only as tools
for their present selfish purposes.

Those not seriously injured soon recovered from their
shock and resumed the assault with redoubled energy. Still
they were received with a fire so constant and deadly that
they were again forced to retire.

When Lynn gave the alarm that an army was approach-
ing, the fort having been for some time unoccupied by a garri-
son and Colonel Zane's house being used as a magazine, those
who retired into the fortification had to take with them a
supply of ammunition for its defense. The supply of powder,
deemed ample at the time, was now nearly exhausted. It
was, therefore, lucky for the whites that the savages had
retired at this particular time. Realizing the great importance
of replenishing their stock from Colonel Zane's house, it was
proposed that one of their fleetest men should endeavor to
reach the house, obtain a keg of powder and return with it to
the fort. This was necessarily a very hazardous undertaking,
but many promptly offered their services. Among those who
volunteered to go was Elizabeth, the younger sister of Colonel
Zane. She was then young, active and athletic, with precip-
itancy to dare danger, and fortitude to sustain her in the
midst of it. Disdaining to weigh the hazard of her own life
against the risk of others, when told that a man would en-
counter less danger by reason of his greater flectness, she
replied, "And should he fall, his loss will be more severely
felt. You have not one man to spare: — a woman will not be
missed in the defense of the fort." Her services were accepted.

'A'

' - -•- *■. -r

.r>

rf

\

'■■'a ,; ■■ ■■; *• -

" — -__

ELIZABETH ZANE

From an Old Portrait of the Heroine

— Used by Special Permission of Miss Carrie Zane.

Miss Zane — later Mrs. Clark — was buried in old Walnut Grove
Cemetery in Martins Ferry, Ohio. A movement is now on foot for
the erection of an appropriate monument at her grave by the U. S.
Government.

History of West Virginia 157

Divesting- herself of some of her garments that might impede
her progress, she stood prepared for the hazardous adventure ;
and when the gate was opened, she bounded forth with the
buoyancy of hope and in the confidence of success. In amaze-
ment, the Indians beheld her spring forward ; and only ex-
claiming, "a squaw, a squaw," no attempt was made to
interrupt her progress. Arrived at the door, she proclaimed
her errand. Colonel Zane fastened a table-cloth around her
waist, and emptying into it a keg of powder, again she ven-
tured forth. The Indians were no longer passive. Ball after
ball passed whistling by, but she reached the gate and entered
the fort in safety. This heroine had but recently returned
from Philadelphia, where she had received her education, and
was wholly unused to such scenes as were daily occurring on
the frontier. She afterwards became the wife of a Mr.
McGlanlin, whose death occurred some time afterwards, and
she married a Mr. Clark. She was yet living somewhere in
Ohio in 1831.

Another instance of heroic daring deserves to be recorded
here. When the news of the fight at Wheeling reached Shep-
herd's Fort, a party was dispatched from the latter place to aid
the Wheeling garrison. Upon arriving in view, it was found
that the attempt would be hopeless and unavailing, and the
detachment consequently prepared to return. Francis Duke
(son-in-law to Col. Shepherd) was unwilling to turn his back
on a people in such great need of assistance as he knew the
besieged must be, and declared his intention of endeavoring
to reach the fort, that he might help in its defense. It was
useless to try to dissuade him from the attempt ; he knew its
danger, but he also knew their weakness, and putting spurs
to his horse, rode briskly forward, calling aloud, "open the
gate, — open the gate." He was seen from the fort, and the
gate was open ior his entrance, but he did not live to reach it.
Pierced by the bullets of the savages, he fell, to the sorrow of
the whites. Such noble daring deserved a better fate.

During that night and the next day, the Indians still main-
tained the siege, and made frequent attempts to take the fort
by storm ; but they were invariably repulsed by the deadly
fire of the garrison and the few persons in Col. Zane's house.

158 History of West Virginia

On the third night, despairing of success, the enemy raised
the siege, and leaving about one hundred warriors to scout
and lay waste the country, the remainder of the army re-
treated across the Ohio and encamped at the Indian Spring,
five miles from the river. Their loss in the various assaults
upon the fort could not be ascertained, but was doubtless
very heavy. Of the garrison, none were killed and only two
wounded ; the heroic Francis Duke was the only white who
fell during the siege. The gallantry displayed by all, both
men and women, in the defense of the fort, cannot be too
highly commended ; but to the caution and good conduct of
those few brave individuals who occupied Col. Zane's home
its preservation has been mainly attributed.

This was the last battle of the Revolutionary War. It
will, therefore, be seen that the first and last guns in the war
for independence were fired on the bank of the Ohio, within
West Virginia, as the battle at Point Pleasant was the first of
the Revolution. This last statement is based on the fact that
Lord Dunmore, colonial governor of Virginia, was in collusion
was the English government and its agents in this country,
and aided and abetted that country in various ways, such as
instigating and perpetuating the enmity of the Indians against
the colonists, — at the same time persuading the savages to
believe that the British government was friendly to their in-
terests. Dunmore's actions throughout the 1774 campaign
and thereafter (although so shrewdly disguised at this time
as not to be discerned by the Assembly) were such as to excite
the suspicions of the military officers and soldiers. His pre-
vious knowledge of the coming battle at Point Pleasant, and
his failure to join Lewis's forces at that point as was pre-
viously agreed upon, and the sudden haste of the northern
division of the arm}^ through the Ohio country; the "treaty"
at Camp Charlotte AFTER his Indian friends had been "Hcked
to a frazzle" at Point Pleasant by General Lewis and his brave
men — his subsequent actions on his return to Williamsburg —
all these circumstances and many more furnish conclusive
evidence that the first battle of the Revolution was indeed
fought at Point Pleasant.

CHAPTER XII.

Names, Locations, and Date of Establishment of Forts in

West Virginia.

Fort Ashby.

A stockade. It stood on the east bank of Patterson's
Creek on the site of the present village of Alaska, formerly
Frankfort, in Frankfort District, Mineral County. Erected
by Lieutenant John Bacon, under orders from Colonel Wash-
ington, in 1755.

Fort Buttermilk.

A stockade. Situated on the South Branch of the Poto-
mac, about three miles above the present town of Moorefield,
in South Fork District, Hardy County. Erected by Captain
Thomas Waggener under orders from Colonel Washington
in 1756.

Fort Capon.

A small stockade fort. Stood at the "Forks of Capdn"
in the Great Cacapon Valley, in Bloomery District, Hampshire
County. Erected prior to 1757.

Fort Cox.

A stockade. Situated on the lower point of land on the
Potomac at the mouth of Little Cacapon river. Erected prior
to 1750. Here "George Washington, on April 25th, 1750,
sur\'eyed a tract of 240 acres of land for Friend Cox." Friend
Cox was therefore, probably, the builder of the fort.

Fort Edwards.

A stockade, situated on or near the site of the present
village of Capon Bridge, in Bloomery District. Hampshire

160 History of West Virginia

County. On November 11, 1749, George Washington sur-
veyed for David Edwards at Capon Bridge, 412 acres of land,
and in the following spring surveyed 400 acres, adjoining
David Edwards, for Thomas Edwards ,and also another tract,
adjoining David and Thomas, for Joseph Edwards. It will
therefore be seen that the fort was probably built in or about
1749, by the Shepherds.

Fort Evans.

A stockade fort, situated two miles south of Martinsburg,
in Arden District, Berkeley County. Erected by John Evans
in 1755-1756.

Fort Furman.

A stockade, situated on the South Branch of the Potomac,
about one mile above Hanging Rock, and three miles north of
Romney, in Springfield District, Hampshire County. Erected
at the beginning of the French and Indian War, by William
Furman.

Fort George.

A small stockade, located on the east bank of the South
Branch of the Potomac nearly opposite the present town of
Petersburg, in Milroy District, Grant County. Erected about
the year 1754, presumably by Jacob Welton and his brothers.

Fort Hedges.

A small stockade fort on the west side of Back Creek, on
the road now leading from Martinsburg to Berkeley Springs,
in Hedges District, Berkeley County.

Fort Hopewell.

This was situated on the South Branch of the Potomac,
the exact location is not known. Erected some time before
the year 1754.

Fort McKenzie.

This fort was located on the South Branch of the Potomac.
Exact place of location not known. Probably erected by Cap-
tain Robert McKenzie some time prior to the 5^ear 1757.

History of West Virginia 161

Fort Maidstone.

This was a stockade fort, situated on the bluff on the
lower point at the mouth of Great Cacapon River, now in
Bath District, Morgan County. No record of name of builder.
Supposed to have been erected prior to 1756, as Washington's
papers referred to this fort in that year.

Fort Neally.

Fort Neally was a small stockade fort on Opequon River,
now in Opequon District, Berkeley County. Erected prior to
1756, as the fort was attacked by Indians in that year. Name
of builder not known.

Fort Ohio.

A stockade fort, was erected by Job Pearsall on the pres-
ent site of Romney, in Hampshire County. Probably erected
prior to 1754, as it is recorded that "Major Washington spent
the night at this fort on April 19, 1754."

Fort Peterson.

A small stockade fort, situated on the South Branch of
the Potomac, two miles above the mouth of the North Branch,
in Milroy District, Grant County. Erected about 1756.
Erected by order of Governor Dinwiddie.

Fort Pleasant.

A strong structure, having cabins, palisades, and block-
houses. It was erected by Thomas Waggener, under orders
of Colonel Washington, in 1756, on the "Indian Old Fields"
about a mile and a half above the "Trough" on the South
Branch of the Potomac, in Moorefield District, Hardy County.
One of the block houses was still standing in 1830. It was
sometimes called Fort Van Meter, and at other times was
known as "Town Fort." Round about, this fort were the
scenes of many Indian depredations.

162 History of West Virginia

Fort Riddle.

This was a small stockade fort on Lost River, in Lost
River District, Hardy County. Near it a fierce and bloody
battle was fought between a body of fifty Indians and a com-
pany of Virginia frontiersmen under Capt. Jeremiah Smith.

Fort Sellers.

A small stockade on the east side of Patterson's Creek at
the mouth thereof, in Franklin District, Mineral County.
"Here George Washington surveyed lands for Elias Sellers,
April 1, 1748." This fort was erected by Colonel Washington.

Fort Seybert.

A strong fort having cabins, palisades, and block houses.
It stood on the South Fork of the South Branch of the Poto-
mac, twelve miles northeast of Franklin, in Bethel District,
Pendleton County. Indians attacked this fort iii April, 1758,
killing many of the occupants, after their surrender.

Fort Upper Tract.

A stockade fort, erected under directions of Col. Wash-
ington, in 1756. It stood a short distance west of the South
Branch of the Potomac at what is now known as "Upper
Tract," in Mill Run District, Pendleton County.

Fort Warden.

Fort Warden was a small stockade fort in the vicinity of
the present town of Wardensville, in Capon District, Hardy
County. Erected by William Warden prior to 1749. The
builder and a Mr. Taff were murdered by the Indians, and
the fort burnt, in 1758.

Fort Williams.

This was a stockade fort, situated on the South Branch
of the Potomac, two miles below Hanging Rock, in Spring-
field District, Hampshire County.

History of West Virginia 163

Fort Arbuckle.

A small stockade fort erected by Capt. Mathew Arbuckle,
at the mouth of Mill Creek, a stream falling into Muddy
Creek four miles from its mouth, in Blue Sulphur District,
Greenbrier County.

Fort Baker.

Sometimes referred to as "Baker's Station," and some-
times mentioned as Fort Cresap. It was erected in 1732, and
stood at the head of Cresap's Bottom, in Meade District,
Marshall County. Built by John Baker and his neighbors.
It was a stockade fort, with block houses joined by palisades.

Fort Baldwin.

This was a blockhouse which stood on the site of the
present village of Blacksville, in Clay District, Monongalia
County. It was the most western fort in that county. "The
valley of Dunkard's Creek, in which it was located, was the
scene of many a barbarian incident of the border wars."

Fort Beech Bottom.

This was a small stockade fort which stood on the east
bank of the Ohio River, twelve miles above \Yheeling, in Buf-
falo District, Brooke County.

Fort Beeler.

Fort Beeler was a stockade fort which stood upon the
site of the present town of Cameron, in Cameron District,
Marshall County. It was erected by Colonel Joseph Beeler,
who had secured title to a large tract of land in this vicinity.
It was known as "Beeler's Station." Colonel Beeler repre-
sented to the national authorities that, because of the almost
constant presence of Indians about the "Station," it was im-
possible for him to defend it longer, and in 1781 a garrison of
53 men under Capt. Jeremiah Long was stationed there. This
made it possible for white men to hold possession of the region
round about.

164 History of West Virginia

Fort Belleville.

This was a strong fort. It stood on the site of the pres-
ent village of Belleville, in Harris District, Wood County. It
was erected in the autumn of the year 1785 and spring of 1786,
by Captain Joseph Wood and ten men hired in Pittsburgh as
laborers for the year. The first building was 20 x 40 feet, two
stories high, with port holes in the walls for musketry. The
four block-houses were erected to include this building, at the
corners of an oblong square, between which were erected
several small cabins, the whole connected by palisades ten
feet high, so as to make a regular stockaded fort 100 x 300 feet,
sufficient to accommodate from 100 to 150 persons. At each
end were strong gates for the admission of cattle. On the
river side was a small gate, or sally-port, through which the
inmates passed in getting water or in going to and from their
canoes. Five or six cabins stood on the river bank just below
the fort, but these were abandoned in times of threatened
hostilities. Several of the tragedies and dramas of Indian
warfare were enacted around the walls of this fort and on the
hills in its vicinity.

Fort Bowling.

This was a small fort in the Pan Handle above Wheeling,
its exact location not being ascertained, but doubtless known
locally.

Fort Buckhannon.

A small fort situated near the site of the present town of
Buckhannon, in Upshur County. Erected prior to the year
1781. See "Indian Massacres" in another chapter.

Fort Burris.

This was a small fort located on the "Flats," on the east
side of the Monongahela River, in Morgan District, Monon-
galia County. Its exact location not knoAvn.

History of West Virginia 165

Fort Bush.

Fort Bush was situated on the west side of Buckhannon
River, a short distance above the mouth of Turkey Run, in
Upsbur County. The first settler on the spot was John Hack-
er, who came here in 1769. The Indians were very trouble-
some in this neighborhood, as will be shown elsewhere.

Fort Butler.

This was a small fort which stood at the mouth of Roar-
ing Creek, on the east side of Cheat River, in Portland District,
Preston County. Erected about the year 1774.

Fort Chapman.

This was a blockhouse erected by the Chapmans — George
and William — who came to the vicinity of New Cumberland,
Hancock County, in 1784-85.

Fort Clark.

This was a small stockade consisting of four cabins placed
•close together, and protected by a palisade wall ten feet high.
It was situated on Pleasant Hill, in Union District, Marshall
County. - Its builder and defender was Henry Clark, who
came here in 1771. (See "Indian Massacres").

Fort Cobun.

A small stockade fort erected by Jonathan Cobun in 1779,
near Dorsey's Knob, on Cobun's Creek, in iMorgan District,
Monongalia County. An historical spot.

Fort Cook.

This fort, a strong one, was situated on Indian Creek,
three miles from its mouth, in Red Sulphur District, Monroe
Count3^ It was an oblong structure with cabins joined by
palisades and block-houses at the corners, and covered one
and one half acres of ground. Indian massacres in this
vicinity.

166 History of West Virginia

Fort Coon.

This was a small fort, situated on the West Fork River,
in Harrison County. (See "Indian Massacres.")

Fort Cooper.

Fort Cooper was a block-house, erected by Leonard
Cooper in 1792. It stood on the north bank of the Great Ka-
nawha River, eight miles from its mouth, in what is now
Cooper District, Mason County.

Fort Culbertson.

This was a stockade fort erected in 1774 by Captain (after-
wards General) James Robertson, of Tennessee, acting under
orders from William Preston, County Lieutenant of old Fin-
castle County. It stood on the site of the settlements made
by Andrew Culbertson in 1753, in Culbertson's Bottom — now
Crump's Bottom — on New River, in Pipestem District, Sum-
mers County.

Fort Currence.

A small fort situated one-half mile east of the present
site of the village of Crickard, in Huttonsville District, Ran-
dolph County. It was erected in 1774 by the joint labors of
neighboring settlers for mutual protection. It has been called
"Fort Casino" by some writers.

Fort Dinwiddie.

This was a fort of considerable size, situated on the pres-
ent site of the village of Stewartstown, in Union District,
Monongalia County. Its proprietor appears to have been
Jacob Rogers, and for this reason the fort was sometimes
called Fort Rogers, or Rogers's Fort.

Fort Donnally.

This fort was situated near the present town of Frank-
ford, ten miles north of Lewisburg, in Falling Spring Dis-

History of West Virginia 167

trict, Greenbrier County. It was erected by Colonel Andrew
Donnally in 1771, while the locality was still in Botetourt
County. It has an interesting history.

Fort Edgington.

This fort was situated near the mouth of Harmon's Creek,
nearly opposite Steubenville, Ohio, in Cross Creek District,
Brooke County, W. Va.

Fort Edwards.

This was a small fort situated five miles south of Boothes-
ville, in Boothe's Creek District, Taylor County.

Fort Flinn.

This was a small stockade fort situated on the bank of
the Ohio River on the upper point at the mouth of Lee Creek,
in Harris District, Wood County. It occupied a site in what
was known to the first settlers as the "Indian Clearing," a
tract of about twenty acres. It was erected in 1785 by a band
of adventurers from the vicinity of Wheeling, but originally
from the Valley of the Susquehanna River. Thomas and
Jacob Flinn, brothers, aided by Jacob and John Parchment
and John Barnett, were the builders. It was sometimes
spoken of as "Flinn's Station." Hither came the settlers who
were afterwards among the founders of the town that grew
up around the walls of Fort Belleville, a short distance below,
one of them being Malcom Coleman, who was killed by the
Indians on Mill Creek, in Jackson County.

Fort Friend.

This fort was erected by Jonas Friend at Maxwell's
Ferrv, on Leading Creek, in Leadville District. Randolph
County. Indians visited this vicinity in 1781. and nearly de-
stroyed the whole settlement. (See "Indian Massacres.")

168 History of West Virginia

Fort Hadden.

This was a strong fort on the point of high ground on ,
the west side of Tygart's Valley River, at the mouth of Elk-
water Creek, in Huttonsville District, Randolph County. (See
"Indian Massacres.)

Fort Harbert.

This was a block-house, situated on Tenmile Creek, in
Harrison County. (See "Indian Massacres.")

Fort Harrison.

This was a stockade fort situated on the west side of the
Monongahela River, at the source of Crooked Run, in Cass
District, Monongalia County. It was erected by Richard Har-
rison, who came from Eastern Virginia. It consisted of a two-
story, hewed log-house, 20x30 feet, with a large yard enclosed
by a wall of strong palisades. Within this yard was a well,
and just outside was a spring. The former has been filled, but
the latter flows on just as it did when the fort hard by was the
scene of Indian hostilities.

Fort Henry (Formerly Fort Fincastle).

This fortress was situated on the high bluft* on Main
street. Wheeling, and was erected in 1774, and called Fort Fin-
castle, in honor of Lord Dunmore, one of whose titles of dig-
nity was that of Viscount Fincastle. It was a small structure
at first, but was enlarged in 1777 and the name changed to
Fort Henry in honor of Patrick Henry. As thus changed it
was a parallelogram, having its greatest length along the river,
the stockade being formed of square palisades of white oak,
closely fitted, together, and about seventeen feet high. This
was supported by bastions, with port holes for rifles and mus-
ketry above and below, and sentry boxes at the corners ; it
was thus well adapted for resisting a savage force, however
powerful. It enclosed about half an acre of ground. AVithin
this space was the commandant's house, a two-story structure.

History of West Virginia 169

and a store house of one story in the center (both very strong),
with barracks for the garrison ; during this year a well was
dug and several cabins and families were arranged along the
western wall.

Fort Holliday.

This fort was situated on the site of the present town of
Holliday's Cove, in Butler District, Hancock County. It was
erected in 1776 and greatly strengthened the next year. At
that time Patrick Henry, then Governor of Virginia, sent to
Colonel Andrew Swearingen a quantity of ammunition, which
was stored here. At the time of the first siege of Fort Henry
(1777) runners hastened to Fort Holliday for aid. Then it
was that Colonel Swearingen, with fourteen men, departed
for the beleagured fort, and ere the siege was raised all ar-
rived and rendered efficient aid.

Fort Jackson.

This fort was situated on Tenmile Creek in Sardis Dis-
trict, Harrison County, and was a rendezvous for the settlers
and their families in that neighborhood. It was erected in the
year 1774. In the valley of this creek were enacted some of
the horrible scenes of the border war. (See "Indian Mas-
sacres.")

Fort Eckley.

A small fort situated on the Little Levels in Academy
District, Pocahontas County. It was erected about the year
1772. It was sometimes later called Fort Day.

Fort Kelly.

A fort known in border annals as "Kelly's Station." It
was situated on the site of the present town of Cedar Grove,
on the right bank of the Great Kanawha River, twenty miles
above Charleston, at the mouth of Kelly's Creek, in Cabin Dis-
trict, Kanawha County. It was built by Captain William
Morris, who came to the spot in 1774. It derived its name

170 History o£ West Virginia

from Walter Kelly, who was killed at that place in 1772. It
was long a prominent place, being the shipping point for the
people who crossed the momitains in the early settlement of
the Great Kanawha Valley and of the State of Kentucky. For
many years after the fort fell into decay the place was known
as the "Boat Yards."

Fort Kerns.

This was a stockade fort. It was situated on the east
side of the Monongahela River, on the high land just across
the mouth of Decker's Creek, in Morgan District, Monongalia
County. It was one of the largest forts in that region, and for
many years the gathering place for the families of the Monon-
gahela in times of danger. Its builder and defender was
Michael Kerns, a native of Holland, who wedded Susan
Weatherhold, of Westmoreland County, Pa., and came to the
site of Morgantown in 1772. He erected the first mill in Mon-
ongaHa County, and was long the proprietor of a boat yard
at the mouth of Decker's Creek, now Morgantown.

Fort Lee.

This fort, named in honor of Governor Lee of Virginia,
was situated on the site of the present city of Charleston, the
capital of the State. It was erected in the summer of 1788
by half of a company of Rangers from Greenbrier County sent
to protect the inhabitants of the Great Kanawha Valley from
' the incursions of Indians. George Clendenin, who was County
Lieutenant of Greenbrier County at the time, and who directed
the work of construction, writing Governor Edmund Ran-
dolph under date of June 9, 1788, said: "We built a very
strong fort and finding it impossible to keep the place with
the few men that were in service, I thought it expedient to
order the remainder of the Ranging Company into service."
Within the next seven years much interesting frontier history
was made there. June 11, 1793, Col. John Steele, United
States Inspector of Western Defenses, inspected Captain
Hugh Caperton's Company of Greenbrier Rangers stationed
at Fort Lee.

History of West Virginia 171

Fort Liberty.

This fort was a block-house situated on the site of the
present town of West Liberty, in West Liberty District, Ohio
County. This was the first seat of justice of that county, and
for this reason this block-house is frequently referred to b\
early writers as the "Court House Fort."

Fort Link.

This block-house was erected by Jonathan Link in 1780.
It was located on Middle Wheeling Creek, near the present
town of Triadelphia, in district of that name, in Ohio County.

Fort Martin (New Martinsville).

This was a block-house. It was erected some time prior
to 1780, on the site of the present town of New Martinsville,
the county seat of Wetzel County. The fort stood on the
bank of the Ohio River, about where the residence of Charles
W. Barrick is now located, and a short distance north of the
M. E. Church. It does not appear to have been regularly gar-
risoned, but rather used as an abode for its builder — a Mr.
Martin.

Fort Martin (Monongalia County).

This fort was situated on the west side of the Mononga-
hela River, on Crooked Run, in Cass District, Monongalia
County. It was erected about the year 1773 by Charles Mar-
tin, who came from Eastern Virginia. In June, 1779, while
most of the men were at work in the fields, a lot of Indians
attacked the fort, killing James Stewart, James Smalley and
Peter Crouse, and took John Shriver and his wife, two sons
of Stewart, two sons of Smalley and a son of Crouse prisoners
and carried them into captivity. This Charles Martin was
great-grandfather of Hon. S. R. Martin, who now (1913) re-
sides in New Martinsville, West Virginia. His first wife was
a daughter of Lord Fairfax. In 1768 he was granted four
hundred acres of land in ]\Tonongalia County. The above
mentioned fort was located on this farm.

172 History of West Virginia

Fort Martin (Marshall County).

This was a stockade on the Ohio River, at the mouth of
Fish Creek, in Frankhn District, Marshall County. It was
erected by Presley Martin sometime prior to 1793.

Fort Minear.

This fort was situated on the east side of Cheat River, 011
the site of the present town of St. George, in St. George Dis-
trict, Tucker County. It was built by John Minear in 1776,
assisted by a body of emigrants who accompanied him here
and who afterwards became the fotmders of St. George. (See
"Indian Massacres.")

Fort Morgan.

This was a small stockade fort erected about 1772. It was
situated on the site of the present town of Morgantown, Mon-
ongalia County.

Fort Morris (Preston County).

An early fort, a stockade, enclosing a number of houses
or cabins on a small tract of land — about one acre — on Hog
Run, a branch or tributary of Sandy Creek, now in Grant Dis-
trict, Preston County. It was built by Richard Morris in 1774.

Fort Morris (Kanawha County).

This was a stockade fort standing on the south bank of
the Great Kanawha River, opposite the mouth of Campbell's
Creek, now in Louden District, Kanawha County. It was
erected by Captain John Morris in 1774. The Captain was a
brother of Colonel William Morris, who commanded Fort
Kelly, fifteen miles further up the river.

History of West Virginia 173

Fort Neal.

This was sometimes called "Neal's Station." It was
located on the upper point at the mouth of a small run, on the
south bank of the Little Kanawha River, one mile from its
mouth, and nearly opposite Parkersburg. The people in this
vicinity suffered a great deal at the hands of the Indians, as
will be related elsewhere.

Fort Nutter.

This was a stockade fort situated on the east bank of Elk
Creek, now within the corporate limits of Clarksburg, Harri-
son County. Its builders and defenders were Thomas, John,
Matthew and Christopher Nutter, brothers, who came to this
vicinity in 1772. It afforded protection to the inhabitants on
the West Fork of the Monongahela from its source to its con-
fluence with the Tygart's Valley River, at what is now Fair-
mont ; and to those who lived on Buckhannon River and
Hacker's Creek, as well as to those of the immediate locality.
When the Hacker's Creek settlement was broken up by the
savages in 1779 the settlers who escaped took refuge in this
fort, where they aided in resisting the foe and in maintaining
possession of the country. There were many tragedies and
dramas enacted in this vicinity, some of which we will relate
in a future chapter.

Fort Pawpaw.

This was a small fort situated on Paw^paw Creek, in Ma-
rion Count3^ Captain John Evans, of the Rangers, -vvas
located here for a while, and was later transferred to Fort
Henry at Wheeling.

Fort Pierpoint.

This fort was erected in 1769 by John Pierpoint. It was
located in what is now Union District, in Monongalia County,
about . . miles from Morgantown and one mile from Easton.

174 History of West Virginia

Fort Powers.

Was situated on Simpson's Creek, in Harrison County.
It is supposed to have been erected by John Powers in 1771.
We shall hear more of this fort in future chapters.

Fort Prickett.

This was a stockade fort erected in 1774. It was situated
at the mouth of Prickett's Creek, on the east side of the Mo-
nong"ahela River, five miles below Fairmont, Marion Count .
In early years of the Revolution it afforded protection to z'
the settlers in that part of the Monongahela Valley. Read
the interesting story of David Morgan's adventure with the
Indians in the vicinity of this fort.

Fort Randolph.

A fort was located on the site of the present town of Point
Pleasant, Mason County. It was erected immediately follow-
ing the great battle at that point between the whites, led by
Lewis, and the reds, led by Cornstalk. Here the one hundred
and forty wounded Virginians stayed until they were able to
return to their homes. The stpckade was afterwards found
to be too frail for practical use in such an exposed locality,
and Captain Russell, in November, 1774, built a larger and
better structure, which the builder named Fort Blair. It stood
on the apex of the upper angle formed by the confluence of
the Great Kanawha and Ohio Rivers. This fort appears to
have been destroyed within less than two years after its com-
pletion. Captain Arbuckle came down from Pittsburgh, ac-
companied by Virginia forces, in May, 1776, and erected, on
the site of Fort Blair, a large stockade with block houses and
cabins. It Avas named Fort Randolph in honor of Peyton Ran-
dolph,' a member of the Continental Congress, who had died
the year before. On the 8th of January, 1777, the Continental
Congress passed an act authorizing the Governor of Virginia
to garrison this fort with a compan}^ of one hundred men,
commanded by "one captain, two lieutenants, one ensign, and

History of West Virginia 175

the usual number of inferior non-commissioned officers," for
the protection of the western frontier of A'irginia against
Indian incursion, the Continental government to defray the
expense. "April 9th ensuing it was resolved that the men en-
listed to garrison Fort Randolph should not be called for any
service without their consent. Captain Arbuckle continued
in command throughout the year 1777, and was, therefore,
there when the barbarous murder of Cornstalk, the Shawnee
chief, occurred. He risked his life to prevent it, but without
avail." Captain Arbuckle was succeeded in command here
by Captain William McKee, of Rockbridge County, at the
close of the year. Early the following year (1778) Lieutenant
Moore and several of his men lost their lives in an Indian
ambuscade near the fort. Again in May of the same year a
large body of Indians laid siege to the fort and it was under
fire for a week, after which the siege was raised and the
Indians departed, driving away with all the cattle from the
fort. The life of Fort Randolph, like its predecessors, was of
short duration, for it appears to have been destroyed (proba-
bly by the Indians) shortly after its abandonment in 1779.
About 1785 another fort was erected at Point Pleasant. "It
was on the Ohio River bank, fifty rods from where its prede-
cessors, Fort Blair and Fort Randolph, had stood."

Fort Rice (Brooke County).

This was a rectangular stockade having a block-house at
one of its corners and several cabins within the enclosure. It
was situated on Buffalo Creek, by the course of the stream
twelve or fifteen miles from its mouth, near where Bethany
College now stands, in Brooke County. It was erected by
Abraham and Daniel Rice, and it afforded protection to twelve
families in times of hostilities. In September, 1782, a desper-
ate attack was made upon it by one hundred Indians, who
were dispatched to attack it after the siege of Fort Henry
had been raised. This action at Fort Rice is among the most
remarkable of the border wars. The reds attempted to storm
the fort, and while there were but six people in the fort, they
killed three Indians and w^ounded others the first fire. The

176 History of West Virginia

siege lasted twelve hours, then the Indians departed. George
Felebaum was killed in the beginning of the battle ; the other
five members of the heroic band in the fort were unhurt.
They were Jacob Miller, George Lefler, Peter Fullenweider,
Daniel Rice and Jacob Lefler, Jr.

Fort Richards.

A strong fort on the west bank of the West Fork River,
in the vicinity of the mouth of Sycamore Creek, now in Union
District, Harrison County. Here Jacob Richards was granted
400 acres of land in 1771. He, with the assistance of Arnold,
Paul, Isaac, and Conrad Richards, his relatives, erected and
occupied this fort, within whose walls many of the pioneers
and their families found refuge in time of danger.

Fort Robinson,

A block-house. It stood opposite the foot of Six Mile
Island in the Ohio River, now in Robinson District, Mason
County. It was built by Capt. Isaac Robinson in 1794. Mr.
Robinson, when a small boy, had been captured by the
Indians, with whom he lived for twelve years.

Fort Savannah.

This fort was situated on the Big Levels, on the site of
the present town of Lewisburg, in Greenbrier County. Prob-
ably built by Capt. Andrew Lewis in 1755.

Fort Shepherd.

This was a strong stockade fort erected in 1755, and
situated at the Forks of Wheeling Creek, now in Triadelphia
District, Ohio County. It was erected by David Shepherd,
afterwards county lieutenant of that county. This fort was
destroyed by Indians after its evacuation by the whites in
September, 1777, and was rebuilt in 1786, and four years later
it was re-constructed. "This time the palisade walls were

History of West Virginia 177

built of sycamore plank three inches thick, twelve feet long,
the ends fitted in rabbeted posts, one plank resting upon
another. There were bastions at the corners and ])ort holes
along the walls." (See "Battle at Fort Henry.")

Fort Statler.

A stockade fort, situated on Dunkard Creek, now in Clay
District, Monongalia County. It was erected about 1770 by
John Statler (sometimes called Stradler). This fort, like
many others in West A'irginia at that period, was the scene
of bloody tragedies.

Fort Stewart.

This was a block-house erected in 1773 by John Stewart.
It stood on a ridge between two small ravines, on Stewart's
Run, about one mile from its source and two miles from
Georgetown, in Monongalia County.

Fort Stuart.

This fort was erected by Capt. John Stuart about 1769.
It was situated in what is now Fort Spring District, Green-
brier County, near Fort Spring Depot, on Chesapeake and
Ohio Railroad. He and a gentleman by the name of Robert
McClennahen came to this' place from the Shenandoah Valley
in 1769, and both commanded companies of Greenbrier men
in General Lewis's army in Dunmore's \\''ar. McClennahan
was killed in the battle at Point Pleasant. October 10, 1774.
The first court in Greenbrier County was held in this fort,
and John Stuart was its clerk.

Fort Tackett.

This Avas a small stockade. It was situated on the Great
Kanawha River, one-half mile below the mouth of Coal River.
Kanawha County. It was built by LeAvis Tackett, who was
supposed to have been the first settler between the mouth of

178 History of West Virginia

the Elk and the Ohio Rivers. It was erected sometime pre-
vious to the year 1788. It was destroyed by the Indians
January 5th, 1788, at which time and place Chris. Tackett was
killed, John McElheny and wife, with Betsey Tackett,
Samuel Tackett and a small boy were taken prisoners. John
Young and wife escaped.

Fort Tomlinson.

This was a stockade fort. It was situated just north of
the present Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Station, on the east
side of that road, in what is now the City of Mounds ville.
Its builder was Joseph Tomlinson, great-grandfather of Judge
Charles Newman, of Wheeling, W. Va. The writer is in-
formed that a descendent of Tomlinson's now occupies a
building on the site of the old fort, which, by the way, is
located within fifty yards of the late residence of Judge
Newman. Tomlinson and a party of his neighbors came to
the Grave Creek Flats — now Moundsville — in 1770. Two
years later he brought his family from Maryland and com-
menced laying the foundation for the present beautiful city.
The fort was erected in the spring of 1773. In 1777 the in-
mates, on learning of the approach of the Indians that had
besieged Fort Henry, evacuated this fort and hastened to
Wheeling. Joseph Tomlinson took his family to the mouth
of Pike's Run, on the Monongahela River, where they re-
mained until 1784. On their return to Moundsville in that
year, they found Fort Tomlinson a heap of ashes, having been
burned' by the Indians. It was rebuilt and thereafter served
as a place of refuge until the Indian wars were ended. Some
interesting episodes that occurred in and about this place will
be related in another chapter.

Fort Van Meter.

This was a stockade fort,' situated on the north side of
Short Creek, about five miles from its confluence with the
Ohio River, in Ohio County. It was erected in 1774, at the
beginning of Dunmore's War. During many consecutive

History of West Virginia 179

summers the inhabitants found refuge within its walls. It is
said that the first court of Ohio County was held in this fort.
It was commanded by Maj. Samuel McCullough until his
death by the Indians on the 30th of July, 1782, while he and
his brother John were reconnoitering to ascertain if Indians
were near. His brother escaped to the fort. This fort was the
scene of much trouble with the savages.

Fort Warwick.

Fort Warwick was a small fort situated in what is now
Huttonsville District, Randolph County. It was erected by
James Warwick and was among the early places of defense
in Tygart's Valley. Near it resided John White, who was
killed at Point Pleasant, and his brother William, whose
death is connected with one of the tragedies enacted near Fort
Buckhannon. (See "Indian Massacres.")

Fort Wells.

Fort Wells was a small stockade fort erected in the spring
of 1773 by Richard Wells. It stood on the dividing ridge
between the waters of Cross Creek and Harmon's Creek, in
Brooke County. Its commandant was a Quaker, and in con-
sequence of his kindness to the Indians, they never molested
him or his people. It was unfortunate for our forefathers as
well as for the Indians that the former were not all Quakers.

Fort West.

The settlement on Hacker's Creek, as stated elsewhere,
was one of the earliest west of the Alleghanies. John and
Thomas Hacker and Alexander West, with several others,
came here in 1770 and settled on the banks of that stream, in
what is now Lewis County. They erected a fort on West's land.
Perhaps there was not another settlement in the State that
suflfered more from Indian depredations than did this one.
The savages were especially bad during the years of 1778 and
1779, and the people were forced to seek safety in flight when

180 History of West Virginia

Fort West was burned by the Indians. A few of the inhabit-
ants returned to their lands in 1780, and constructed another
fort a short distance from the one that had been destroyed,
and they named it Beech Fort, because of its timbers being
all beech logs. The Indians afterwards returned, but the peo-
ple "held the fort", and no more abandoned their settlement.

Fort Westfall (Randolph County).

This was a stockade within which M'as a large house. It
stood one-fourth mile south of where Beverly now stands. It
was erected by Jacob Westfall in 1774. The Indians caused
some trouble in this vicinity.

Fort Wetzel.

Fort Wetzel was a stockade fort situated on Wheeling
Creek, now in Sand Hill District, Marshall County. The
builders and defenders were John Wetzel and his five sons —
Martin, Lewis, Jacob, George and John — the most noted
Indian fighters that ever dwelt on the West Virginia frontier.
Stories of their adventures with the Indians and some of their
personal history will be found in this book.

Fort Wilson.

This fort was situated one-half mile above the mouth of
Chenoweth's Creek, about four miles north of Beverly, on
the east side of Tygart's Valley River, Randolph County. Its
builder and defender was Benjamin Wilson. He has con-
tributed considerable information concerning the early history
of the region in which he resided. There were twenty-two
families in his fort in May, 1782. Some interesting stories
will- be found in this book concerning adventures with Indians
in this vicinity.

Fort Woods.

A stockade fort. It was erected about 1773 by Capt.
Michael Woods, and is situated on Rich Creek, four miles

History of West Virginia 181

cast of Peterstovvu, in Monroe County. The Captain on "May
29, 1774, furnished Col. Wilham Preston with a roll of men
fit for military duty in the region in which his fort was
located. This list has been preserved and is a highly interest-
ing document, these men being West Virginia pioneers of
that time. Much history was made in this vicinity. Septem-
ber 3, 1774, Maj. \\'illiam Christian, with his battalion of
Fincastle County men from the Holston and Watauga settle-
ments, on the march to join Colonel Lewis's army at Camp
Union, encamped within a few miles of Fort Woods, to which
he sent eight hundred pounds of flour for the use of the men
assembled there. Captain Woods, with fourteen volunteers
from this fort, joined the company of Capt. James Roberson
of Christian's battalion, and with it was in the thickest of the
fight at Point Pleasant. In 1781, Captain ^\'ood mustered a
number of men for service with Gen. George Rogers Clark in
Illinois, and they were ready to march thither at the time of
the Indian incursion on Indian Creek, in March of that year.
They pursued the Indians, killing some of them and recovered
the white prisoners, among them being the Meeks family from
the mouth of Indian Creek. These men, destined for the
Illinois expedition, were commanded by a Lieutenant W^oods.
presumably a son of Capt. Michael \\^oods."

The greater jmrt of the foregoing information in this
chapter was taken from "West Mrginia Archives and His-
tory", published in 1906.

This is given, principally, for the purpose of aiding to a
better understanding of what is to follow in future cha])ters.
At the same time, the simple description of tht forts them-
selves mav be of interest to some of our readers.

CHAPTER XIII.

MURDER OF CORNSTALK, THE GREAT INDIAN

CHIEF.

(Written by Col. John Stuart.)

"In the year 1777, the Indians, being urged by British
agents, became very troublesome to frontier settlers, mani-
festing much appearance of hostilities, when the Cornstalk
warrior, with the Redhawk, paid a visit to the garrison at
Point Pleasant. He made no secret of the disposition of the
Indians ; declaring that, on his own part, he was opposed to
joining the war on the side of the British, but that all the
Nation, except himself and his own tribe, were determined to
engage in it; and that, of course, he and his tribe would have
to run with the stream (as he expressed it). On this, Captain
Arbuckle thought proper to detain him, the Redhawk, and
another fellow, as hostages, to prevent the Nation from join-
ing the British.

"In the course of that summer our Government had
ordered an army to be raised, of volunteers, to serve under
the command of General Hand, who was to have collected a
number of troops at Fort Pitt, with them to descend the
river to Point Pleasant, there to meet a reinforcement of
volunteers expected to be raised in Augusta and Botetourt
Counties, and then proceed to the Shawnee towns and chastise
them so as to compel them to neutrality. Hand did not suc-
ceed in the collection of troops at Fort Pitt; and but three or
four companies were raised in Augusta and Botetourt, which
were under the command of Col. George Skillern, who ordered
me to use my endeavors to raise all the volunteers I could get
in Greenbrier for that service. The people had begun to see
the difficulties attendant on a state of war and long campaigns
carried through the wilderness, and but a few were willing to

History of West Virginia 183

engage in such service. But as the settlements which we cov-
ered, though less exposed to the depredations of the Indians,
had showed their willingness to aid in the proposed plan to
chastise the Indians, and had raised three companies, I was
very desirous of doing all I could to promote the business and
aid the service. I used the utmost endeavors, and proposed
to the militia officers to volunteer ourselves, which would be
an encouragement to others, and by such means to raise all
the men who could be got. The chief of the officers in Green-
brier agreed to the proposal, and we cast lots who should
command the company. The lot fell on Andrew Hamilton
for captain, and William Renic, lieutenant. We collected in
all about forty, and joined Colonel Skillern's party on their
way to Point Pleasant.

"When we arrived, there was no account of General Hand
or his army, and little or no provision made to support our
troops, other than what we had taken with us down the
Kanawha. We found, too, that the garrison was unable to
spare us any supplies, having nearly exhausted, when we got
there, what had been provided for themselves. But we con-
cluded to wait there as long as we could for the arrival of
General Hand, or some account from him. During the time
of our stay two young men, of the names of Hamilton and
Gilmore, went over the Kanawha one day to hunt for deer ;
on their way to camp, some Indians had concealed themselves
on the bank among the weeds, to view our encampment ; and
as Gilmore came along past them, they fired on him and killed
him on the bank.

"Captain Arbuckle and myself were standing on the oppo-
site bank when the gun was fired ; and while wc were won-
dering who it could be shooting, contrary to orders, or what
they were doing over the river, we saw Hamilton run down
the bank, who called out that Gilmore was killed. Gilmore
was one of the company of Captain Hall, of that part of the
country now Rockbridge County. The captain was a relation
of Gilmore's, whose family and friends were chiefly cut off by
the Indians in the year 1763, when Greenbrier was cut off.
Hall's men instantly jumped in a canoe and went to the relief

184 History of West Virginia

of Hamilton, who was standing in momentary expectation of
being put to death.

"They brought the corpse of Gilmore down the bank,
covered with blood and scalped, and put him into the canoe.
As they were crossing the river, I observed to Captain
Arbuckle that the people would be for killing the hostages,
as soon as the canoe would land. He supposed that they
would not offer to commit so great a violence upon the inno-
cent, who were in nowise accessory to the murder of Gilmore.
But the canoe had scarcely touched the shore until the cry
was raised, 'Let us kill the Indians at the fort' ; and every man,
with his gun in his hand, came up the bank pale with rage
Captain Hall was at their head, and leader. Captain Arbuckle
and I met them, and endeavored to dissuade them from so
unjustifiable an action; but they cocked their guns, threatened
us with instant death if we did not desist, rushed by us into
the fort, and put the Indians to death.

"On the preceding day, Cornstalk's son, Elinipsico, had
come from the Nation to see his father, and to know if he
was well, or alive. When he came to the river opposite the
fort, he hallooed. His father was at that instant in the act
of delineating a map of the country and the waters between
the Shawnee towns and the Mississippi, at our request, with
chalk upon the floor. He immediately recognized the voice
of his son, got up, went out and answered him. The young
fellow crossed over, and they embraced each other in the most
tender and affectionate manner. The interpreter's wife, who
had been a prisoner among the Indians and had recently left
them, on hearing the uproar the next day and hearing the men
threatening that they would kill the Indians, for whom she
retained much afifection, ran to their cabin and informed them
that the people were just coming to kill them ; and that, be-
cause the Indians who had killed Gilmore ^ad come with
Elinipsico the day before. He utterly denied it; declared that
he knew nothing of them, and trembled exceedingly. His
father encouraged him not to be afraid, for that the Great
Man above had sent him there to be killed and die with him.
As the men advanced to the door, Cornstalk rose up and met
them; they fired upon him, and seven or eight bullets went

History of West Virginia 185

through him. So fell the great Cornstalk warrior — whose
name was bestowed upon him by the consent of the Nation,
as their great strength and support. His son was shot dead
as he sat upon a stool. The Redhawk made an attempt to go
up the chimney, but was shot down. The other Indian was
shamefully mangled, and I grieved to see |;iim so long in the
agonies of death.

"Cornstalk, from personal appearance and many brave
acts, was undoubtedly a hero. Had he been spared to live,
I believe he would have been friendly to the American cause ;
for nothing could induce him to make the visit to the garrison
at the critical time he did but to communicate to them the
temper and dis])Osition of the Indians, and their design of
taking j)art with the British. On the day he was killed we
held a council, at which he was present. His countenance
was dejected ; and he made a speech, all of which seemed to in-
dicate an honest and manly disposition. He acknowledged that
he expected that he and his party would have to 'run with the
stream', for that all the Indians on the lakes and northwardly
were joining the British. He said that when he returned to
the Shawnee towns after the battle at the Point, he called a
council of the Nation to consult what was to be done, and
upbraided them for their folly in not suffering him to make
peace on the evening before the battle. '\Miat,' said he, 'will
you do now? The Big Knife is coming upon us, and we shall
all be killed. Now^ you must fight, or we are done.' But no
one made an answer. He said, 'Then let us kill our ^\•omcn
and children and and fight till we die.' But none would
answer. At length he rose and struck his tomahawk in the
post in the center of the town house: 'I'll go,' said he. 'and
make peace'; and then the warriors all grunted out. 'Ough,
ough, ough,' and runners were instantly dispatched to the
Governor's army to solicit a peace, and the interposition of
the Governor on their behalf.

"When he made his speech in council with us, he seemed
to be impressed with an awful premonition of his aj-ii^roaching
fate ; for he repeatedly said, 'When T was a young man and
went to war, I thought that might be the last time and 1
would return no more. Now I am here among vou : vou max

186 History of West Virginia

kill me if you please ; I can die but once ; and it is all one to
me, now or another time.' This declaration concluded every
sentence of his speech. He was killed about one hour after
our council."

Ex-Governor Atkinson — commenting on the above mur-
der, in his "History of Kanawha County," — says : "Thus
closed the life of perhaps the greatest Indian chief and warrior
that ever lived in America. He feared death less than he
feared the white man. He met his fate calmly, and died like a
patriot. His murder was a disgrace to the men who com-
mitted the awful crime, and left a blot upon the history of our
country which time nor change can ever erase."

The remains of Cornstalk were interred in what is now
the courthouse yard at Point Pleasant. A nice monument
now marks his resting place. -

"Where is my home, my forest home,

The proud land of my sires?
Where stands the wigwam of my pride.

Where gleamed the council fires?
Where are my kindred's hallowed graves,

My friends so light and free?
Gone, gone forever from my sight !

"Great Spirit, can it be !"

Murder of Adam Stroud and Captain Bull and Their Families.

Captain Bull, a Delaware chief, once lived with his tribe
on Unadilla River, an eastern branch of the Susquehanna, the
village where he resided being then known as Oghkwago, in,
Boone County, New York.

In 1763, he took an active part in Pontiac's conspiracy,
and in the following spring Sir William Johnson, English
Indian agent of New York, sent out a party of whites and
friendly Indians to capture him ; and after a sharp struggle.
Bull and some of his followers were taken and conveyed to
New York City, where they were detained as prisoners for a
time and were then discharged. Bull and five families of his
relatives came to West Virginia and settled on the Little
Kanawha River, in Braxton County, at a salt spring about one
and a quarter miles below the present Bulltown P. O. They
proved to be very friendly with the whites on Buckhannon

History of West Virginia 187

and Hacker's Creek, — frequently visiting and hunting with
them.

Adam Stroud (a German) and his family lived on Elk
River a few miles south of the Bulltown Indians. During his
absence one day in June, 1772, some Shawnese Indians visited
his home and murdered his wife and seven children, plundered
the house and drove off the cattle.

The trail of the murderers led towards the Bulltown habi-
tation. A party of five men, consisting of William White,
William Hacker, John Cartright, and two others — one of
whom (it was claimed by Cartright on his death-bed) was
Jesse Hughes — started out in pursuit, and believing, or pre-
tending to believe, that the Bulltown Indians were the guilty
persons, they fell upon and murdered every man, woman and
child, and threw their bodies into the river.

It seems that while preparations were being made for the.
pursuit of the Indians, it was intimated probably Captain Bull
and his men were the responsible persons, but this belief was
not entertained by many of the whites in that community, and
the pursuers were requested not to molest the friendly
Indians, but the advice fell upon deaf ears. At first the whites
denied having molested Captain Bull's party, but later on
some member of the gang confessed the deed, but declared
they had found in the Indians' possession clothes and other
things belonging to Stroud's family.

It can not be truthfully denied that there were many
savage-hearted men among the white settlers, whose deeds
were sometimes equally as terrible as those ever perpetrated
by the Indians. The trouble was, some whites seemed to look
upon the Indian as no better than a snake, and consequently
considered him legitimate prey wherever found. Environ-
ment, of course, had something to do with this feeling, and
we of today are not in a position to know just how we would
act were we situated precisely as were those whom we, from
our present point of view, must condemn. However, these
cases were the exception — not tlic rule. We doubt not the
patience of our early settlers, regardless of their humane feel-
ings, was often sorely tried, — and after all, it would seem
strange if there were not a few of them who would occasion-
ally overstep the bounds of discretion.

CHAPTER XIV.

MURDER OF THE MORAVIAN INDIANS BY THE

WHITES — THE GREATEST CRIME EVER

PERPETRATED IN THE ANNALS

OF BORDER WARFARE.

(From Wils De Hass's "History of Border Warfare in West

irgmia .)

This is a chapter in our history which Ave would fain drop,
and draw over it the curtain of obHvion, did not our duty
require us to speak in deference to a higher obhgation. The
murder of the Christian or Moravian Indians was one of the
most atrocious affairs in the settlement of the wert. It is a
reproach upon the character of the country, and a living
stigma upon the memory of every man known to have been
engaged in the diabolical transaction. It is but justice, how^-
ever, that those who protested against the enormity should
he exonerated from blame.

The Moravian Indians consisted chiefly of the Delawares,
wath a few" Mohicans. These simple-minded children of the
forest had become converted to Christianity through the zeal
and influence of Moravian Missionaries. Their homes em-
braced the villages of Gnad'^nhutten, Schonbrunn, Salem and
Lichtenau.

For ten years they had lived in peace and quietness. The
karsh savage had been softened by the mild influence of
Christianity ; peace, content and happiness smiled upon him
from year to year, and blessed him with their joys. But, alas,
the destroyer came, and blotted this fair field of Christian
labor utterly from existence.

The Moravian Indians early became objects of suspid^^
to both the whites and surrounding savages. The latter, be-
cause they had given up the customs of their race ; and by the
former, on account of their supposed protection to, or harbor-

History of West Virginia 189

ing of, hostile Indians. Their towns lay immediately on the
track from Sandusky to the nearest point on the Ohio ; and
while passing to and fro, the hostile parties would compel
their Christian brethren to furnish provisions. Thus situated,
as it were, between two fires, it is not surprising that they
should have fallen a sacrifice to one or the other. During the
whole of our Revolutionary struggle, the Moravian Indians
remained neutral, or if they took any part, it was in favor of
the whites, advising them of the approach of hostile Indians,
etc. Yet, notwithstanding all their former friendliness, they
fell under the displeasure of the border settlers, who suspected
them of aiding and abetting the savages whose depredations
upon the frontier had caused so much terror and misery
throughout western A'irginia and Pennsylvania. To add to
this feeling, early in February, 1782, a party of Indians from
Sandusky penetrated the settlements and committed numer-
ous depredations. Of the families that fell beneath the mur-
derous stroke of these savages was that of David Wallace,
consisting of himself, wife and six children, and a man named
Carpenter. Of these all were killed, except the latter, whom
they took prisoner. The early date of this visitation induced
the people at once to believe that the depredators had wintered
with the Moravians, and the excited settlers uttered vengeance
against those who were supposed to have harbored them. An
expedition was at once determined vipon, and about the first
of March a body of eighty or ninety men, chiefly from the
Monongahela, rendezvoused at the Old Mingo towns, on
Mingo Bottom, now Jefiferson County, Ohio. Each man fur-
nished himself with his own arms, ammunition and provisions.
Many of them had horses. The second day's march Inought
them within one mile of the middle Moravian town, and they
encamped for the night. In the morning the men were
divided into two equal parties, one of which was to cross the
river about a mile above the town, their videttes having re-
ported that there were Indians on both sides of the river.
The other party was divided into three divisions, one of. which
was to take a circuit in the woods and reach the river a little
distance below the middle of the town, and the third at its
upper end.

190 History of West Virginia

The victims received warning- of their danger, but took
no measure to escape, believing they had nothing to fear from
the Americans, but supposed the only quarter from which they
had grounds for apprehending injury was from those Indians
who were the enemies of the Americans.

When the party designed to make the attack on .the west
side had reached the river, they found no craft to take them
over; but something like a canoe was seen on the opposite
bank. The river was high with some floating ice. A young
man by the name of Slaughter swam the river, and brought
over, not a canoe, but a trough, designed for holding sugar
water. This trough could carry but two men at a time. In
order to expedite their passage, a number of men stripped ofl^
their clothes, put them into the trough, together with their
guns, and swam by its sides, holding its edges with their
hands. When about sixteen had crossed the river, their senti-
nels, who had been posted in advance, discovered an Indian,
whose name was Shabosh, whom they shot and scalped. By
this time, about sixteen men had got over the river, and sup-
posing that the firing of the guns which killed Shabosh would
lead to an instant discovery, they sent word to the party de-
signed to attack the town on the east side of the river to
move on instantly, which they did.

In the meantime, the small party which had crossed the
river marched with all speed to the main town on the west
side of the river. Here they found a large company of Indians
gathering the corn, which they had left in their fields the pre-
ceding fall, when they removed to Sandusky. On the arrival
of the men at the town, they professed peace and good will to
the Moravians, and informed them that they had come to
take them to Fort Pitt for their safet3^ The Indians surren-
dered, delivered up their arms, even their hatchets, on being
promised that everything should be restored to them on their
arrival at Pittsburgh. The murderers then went to Salem,
and persuaded the Indians there to go with them to Gnaden-
hutten, the inhabitants of which, in the meantime, had been
attacked and driven together, and bound without resistance ;
and when those from Salem were about entering the town,
they were likewise deprived of their arms and bound.

History of West Virginia 191

The prisoners being thus secured, a council of war was
held to decide their fate. The officers, unwilling to take on
themselves the whole responsibility of the awful decision,
agreed to refer the question to the whole number of the men.
The men were accordingly drawn up in line. The command-
ant of the party, Col. David Williamson, then put the ques-
tion to them in form : Whether the Moravian Indians should
be taken prisoners to Pittsburgh, or put to death ; and re-
quested all those who were in favor of saving their lives
should step out of the line, and form a second rank. On this
sixteen, some say eighteen, stepped out of rank, and formed
themselves into a second line. But, alas ! this line of mercy
was far too short for that of vengeance.

Most of those opposed to this diaboHcal resolution pro-
tested in the name of high Heaven against the atrocious act.
and called God to witness that they w^ere innocent of the
blood of those inoffensive people ; yet the majority remained
unmoved, and some of them were even in favor of burning
them alive. But it was at length decided that they should
be scalped in cold blood, and the Indians were told to prepare
for their fate, that, as they were Christians, they might die
in A CHRISTIAN MANNER. x\fter the first burst of
horror was over, they patiently suft'ered themselves to be led
into buildings, in one of which the men, and in the other, the
women and children were confined, like sheep for slaughter.
They passed the night in praying, asking pardon from each
other for any offences they had committed, and singing hymns
of praise to God. (O, what a pity that the God of Hosts did
not send down upon the beastly murderers who were impa-
tiently waiting for sun rise to appear that they might glut
their craven propensities for gore upon an innocent people,
a bolt of fire to consume them, and set their prisoners free!)

From the time they had been placed in the guard-house
the unfortunate prisoners foresaw their fate, and commenced
singing, and praying, and exhorting one another to place their
faith in the Savior of men.

The particulars of this catastrophe were too horrid to
relate. When morning arrived, the murderers selected two
houses, which they correctly named slaughter-houses — one

192 History of West Virginia

for the women and children. The victims were then bound,
two and two together, and led into the slaughter-houses,
where they were scalped and murdered.

The number of the slain, as reported by the men on their
return from the campaign, was eighty-seven or eighty-nine,
but the Moravian account, which no doubt is correct, makes
the number ninety-six. Of these, sixty-two were grown per-
sons, one-third of M'hom were women, the remaining thirty-
four were children. All these, with a few exceptions, M^ere
killed in the houses.

A few men who were supposed to be warriors were tied
and taken some distance from the slaughter-houses to be
tomahawked.

Of the whole number of the Indians at Gnadenhutten and
Salem, only two made their escape. These were two lads
of fourteen or fifteen years of age. One of them escaped on
the night previous to the massacre, and concealed himself in
the cellar of the house to M^hich the women and children were
brought next da}^ to be murdered, M^hose blood he saw run-
ning in streams through the floor. On the following night he
left the cellar, into which, fortunately, no one came, and got
into the woods. The other youth received one blow upon his
head, and was left for dead.

The Indians of the upper town were apprised of their
danger in due time to make their escape, two of them having
found the mangled body of Shabosh. Providentially, they all
made their escape, although they might have been easily
overtaken by the party, if they had undertaken their pursuit
A division of the men were ordered to go to Schonbrunn, but
finding the place deserted, they took what plunder they could
find and returned to their companions without looking farther
after the Indians.

After the work of death had been finished and the plunder
secured, all the buildings in the town were set on fire, includ-
ing the slaughter-houses. A rapid retreat of these white-
livered cowards to the settlement concluded this deplorable
campaign. It was, certainly, one of the most horrible affairs
ever undertaken in this country, and is revolting to every

History of West Virginia 193

feeling of the HUMAN heart. It must stand a record of in-
famy as long as time lasts.

Doddridge, whose views, in part, we have embodied in a
portion of this account, says :

"In justice to the memory of Colonel Williams, I have to
say that although at that time ver}' young, I was personally
accjuainted with him, and from my recollection of his conver-
sation, I say with confidence that he was a brave man, but
not cruel. He would kill an enemy in battle, and fight like a
soldier, but not murder a prisoner. Had he possessed the
authority of a superior officer in a regular army, I do not be-
lieve that a single Moravian Indian would have lost his life ;
but he possessed no such authority. He was only a militia
officer, who could advise, but not command'. His only fault
was that of too easy a compliance with popular opinion and
popular prejudice. On this account his memory has been
loaded with unmerited reproach. Should it be asked what
sort of people composed the band of murderers of these un-
fortunate people, I would answer : They were not miscreants
or vagabonds ; many of them were men of the first standing
in the country. Many of them had recently lost relations by
the hands of the savages, and were burning for revenge. They
cared little upon whom they wreaked their vengeance, so they
were Indians.

"When attacked by our people, although they might have
defended themselves, they did not. They never fired a single
shot. They were prisoners and had been promised protection.
Every dictate of justice and humanity required that their lives
should be spared. The complaint of their villages being 'half-
way houses for the warriors' was at an end, as they had been
removed to Sandusky the fall before. It was therefore an
atrocious and unqualified murder. But by whom committed?
By a majority of the campaign? For the honor of my country,
I hope that I may safely answer this question in the negative.
It was one of those convulsions of the moral state of society
in which the voice of justice and humanity is silenced by the
clamor and violence of a lawless minority, ^^ery few of our
men imbrued their hands in the blood of the Moravians. Ev^n
those who had not voted for saving their lives retired from

194 History of West Virginia

the scene of slaughter with horror and disgust. Why then did
they not give their votes in their favor? The fear of pubhc
indignation restrained them from doing so. They thought
well, but had not heroism enough to express their opinion.
Those who did so deserve honorable mention for their intre-
pidity. So far as it may hereafter be in my power, this honor
shall be done them, while the names of the murderers shall not
stain the pages of history, from my pen at least."

When we compare this act of extreme cruelty and barbar-
ism with the general reputation of the early pioneers of West
Virginia for true bravery and noble character, w^e can not but
conclude that those sixteen or eighteen men who so nobly
"formed the second line" were the only ones present on that
fatal spot who truly represented the average pioneer. We
can not conceive the possibility of the present Christian citi-
zens of our Little Mountain State being offspring of mur-
derers' of innocent men, women and children.

The great majority of our historians steer clear of expo-
sitions of such scenes as we have just described, but a history
that gives but one side of a question is necessarily out of
plumb — lop-sided — and can not be depended upon. Let the
bitter go with the sweet. The truth wrongs no one. If the
bridge is down, the watchman will not be doing his duty if
he displays the white flag of safety. Deception is never right,
but is often dangerous.

CHAPTER XV.

INDIAN WARS AND MASSACRES IN
WEST VIRGINIA.

Attack on Fort Seybert (or Sivert).

Fort Seybert (sometimes called Sivert) stood on the
South Pork of the South Branch of the Potomac River,
twelve miles northeast of Franklin, in Bethel District, Pen-
dleton County. It was a strong- fort, having cabins, palisades,
and block-houses. It was besieged by Indians April 28, 1758.
Following is a history of the unhappy event:

"In this fort the inhabitants of what was then called the
"Upper Tract" all sought shelter from the tempest of savage
ferocity; and at the time the Indians appeared before it there
were contained within its walls between thirty and forty
persons of both sexes and of different ages. Among them
was a Mr. Dyer (the father of Colonel Dyer, late of Pendleton
County) and his family. On the morning of the fatal day,
Colonel Dyer and his sister left the fort for the accomplish-
ment of some object, and although no Indians had been seen
there for some time, yet they did not proceed far before they
came in view of a party of forty or fifty Shawnees going
directly towards the fort. Alarmed for their own safety as
well as for the safety of their friends, the brother and sister
endeavored by hasty flight to reach the gate and gain admit-
tance into the garrison ; but before they could effect- this they
were overtaken and made captives.

"The Indians rushed immediately to the fort and com-
menced a furious assault on it. Captain Seybert prevailed
(not without much opposition) on the besieged to forbear
firing until he should endeavor to negotiate with and buy off
the enemy. With this end in view, and under the protection
of a flag, he went out and soon succeeded in making the
wished-for arrangements. When he returned, the gates were

196 History of West Virginia

thrown open and the enemy admitted. No sooner had the
money and other articles stipulated to be given been handed
over to the Indians than a most bloody tragedy was begun
to be acted. Arranging the inmates of the fort in two rows,
with a space of about ten feet between them, two Indians
were selected, who taking each his station at the head of a
row, Avith their tomahawks most cruelly murdered almosu
every white person in the fort ; some few whom caprice, or
some other cause, induced them to spare, were carried into
captivity, — such articles as could be well carried away were
taken off b}^ the Indians ; the remainder was consumed, with
the fort, by fire.

Note : Among those carried off into captivity was James
Dyer, then fourteen years old. Two years later he escaped
from his captors when in the Scioto Valley and returned
home. A son of his. Col. Zebulon D^^er, was long Clerk of
the Court of Pendleton County. The Indians burned the
fort, but it was rebuilt by order of the Colonial Assembly.
The attack was made on this fort the day after the massacre
at Fort Upper Tract and at Upper Tract, Pendleton County,
in which Captain Dunlap and twenty-two others were killed.
The inhabitants in the neighborhood who succeeded in escap-
ing here sought shelter at Fort Seybert, where the next day
the greater part of them were killed, as above recorded. — S. M.

Battle of the Trough — Capture of Mrs. Neff: Her Escape to
Fort Pleasant — Pursuit of the Indians — The Fight.

As a preliiiiinary to what is to follow, it might be well
to give a brief description of Fort Pleasant.

It was a strong fort, having cabins, palisades, and block-
houses. Its location was on the "Indian Old Fields", about
a mile and a half above the "Trough" on the South Branch
of the Potomac, in Hardy County. It Vv^as sometimes called
Fort Van Meter, and after the founding of Moorefield, was
often referred to as the "Town Fort". It was erected by
Thomas Waggener in 1756 under orders of Col. George
Washington.

About the year 1755 the Indians, while invading the

History of West Virginia 197

South Branch, captured a Mrs. Neff, whom they left with an
old Indian while they reconnoitered Fort Pleasant nearby.

What followed is described by De Hass in his "Indian
Wars" :

"At a late hour in the night Airs. Neff, disco\ering- that
her guard was pretty soundly asleep, ran oft". The old fellow
very soon awoke, fired oft" his gun, and raised a }ell. Airs.
Neft" succeeded in reaching Fort Pleasant, and gave notice
where the enemy were encamped. A small part}' the same
evening came from another fort, a few miles above, and
joined their friends in Fort Pleasant. After the escape of
Mrs. Neft", the Indians collected into a deep glen, near the
fort. Early the next morning sixteen men, well mounted and
armed, left the fort with a view to attack the Indians. They
soon discovered their encampment by the smoke of their fire.
The whites divided themselves into two parties, intending
to enclose the Indians, but urifortunateh'. a small dog which
followed them, starting a rabbit, alarmed the Indians, upon
which they cautiously moved oft", passed between the parties
of white men unobser\'ed, took a position between them and
their horses, and opened a most destructive fire. The whites
returned the fire with great lirmness and bravery, and a des-
perate and bloody conflict ensued. Seven of the whites fell
dead and four were wounded. The others retreated to the
fort. Three Indians fell in this battle and several were
wounded. The victors secured the white men's horses and
took them oft". This was called the battle of the Trough."

An old gentleman named Van Meter witnessed the fight
from the top of a ridge, and then made his way to tlic fort.

Battle With the Shawnees Near Edward's Fort.

Fort Edward stood on or near the site of the present
village of Capon Bridge, Hampshire County.

In May, 1757, a body of Shawnees, under command of
their celebrated chief. Kill-buck, crossed the Alleghanics and
committed various acts of depredation. According to \\'ith-
ers, "some thirty or fort}' of this party appeared in the neigh-
l)orhood of Edward's fort and killed two men at a mill, whom

198 History of West Virginia

they scalped, and then made off, taking with them a quantity
of meal. Information having been conveyed to the fort, forty
men, under Captain Mercer, started in pursuit of the murder-
ers. The Indians, expecting this, concealed themselves be-
neath a bank and awaited the approach of the whites. As a
decoy, they had strewn along the path some meal taken from
the mill. Mercer's party discovering this, supposed the
Indians were making a speedy retreat, and, not apprised of
their strength, moved on at a brisk step, until the whole party
were drawn immediately over the line of the Indians beneath
the bank, when the latter opened a most destructive fire upon
them, sixteen falling dead at the first discharge. The others,
attempting to save themselves by flight, were pursued and
slaughtered in every direction, until, out of the forty, but six
escaped to the fort. One poor fellow, who ran up the side
of the mountain, was fired upon by an Indian ; the ball pene-
trated just above his heel, ranged up his leg, shivered the
bones, and lodged a little below his knee ; he slipped under
the lap of a fallen tree and there hid himself, and lay in that
situation for two days and nights before he was discovered
by his friends. It was that length of time before the people
of the fort would venture out to collect and bury the dead.
This wounded man recovered and lived many years after.

Sometime afterwards, the Indians, in much greater force,
and aided, it was believed, by several whites, determined to
carry this fort by storm. The garrison had been considerably
reinforced ; among others, by the late Gen. Daniel Morgan,
then a young man. The Indians made the assault with great
boldness ; but on this occasion they met with a sad reverse of
fortune. The garrison sallied out, and a desperate battle
ensued. The assailants were defeated with great slaughter,
while the whites lost comparatively but few men.

During the year 1758 the savages again appeared east of
the mountains, where they did considerable damage. A party
of about fifty Indians arrived in the vicinity of Mill Creek,
about nine miles south of Woodstock. On the alarm being
given, the neighbors took refuge in the home of George
Painter. Late in the afternoon they were attacked. Mr.
Painter sought safety in flight and was killed. They also

History of West Virginia 199

killed four infant children. Then, after setting fire to the
house, the savages moved off with forty-eight prisoners,
among whom was Mrs. Painter, live of her daughters and one
of her sons ; a Mrs. Smith and several of her children, among
them a lad of twelve or thirteen years, "fine, well-grown boy,
and remarkably fleshy".

Two of Painter's sons and a young man named Jacob
Myers escaped. They gave the alarm at both Powell's and
Keller's forts, some distance away; and early the next morn-
ing a small party set out f6r the scene of trouble, reaching
Mr. Painter's early in the day ; but on learning of the strength
of the Indians, they refused to go farther, as they were too
weak in numbers to chance a battle with the Indians.

The following is taken verbatim from De Hass's "Border
Wars", which will illustrate two particular characteristics of
the Indian at the time of which we write, namely : His
capacity for cruelty on the one hand, and his power of fascina-
tion on the other :

"After six days' travel they reached their villages, and
held a council, when it was determined to sacrifice their help-
less pFisoner, Jacob Fisher. They first ordered him to collect
a quantity of dry wood. The poor little fellow shuddered,
burst into tears, and told his father they intended to burn him.
His father replied, T hope not;' and advised him to obey.
When he had collected a sufficient quantity of wood to answer
their purpose, they cleared and smoothed a ring around a
sapling, to which they tied him by the hand, then formed a
trail of wood around the tree, and set it on fire. The poor
boy was then compelled to run around in this ring of fire until
he came in contact with the flame, whilst his infernal torment-
ors were drinking, singing, and dancing (another illustration
of the effects of booze) around him with 'horrid joy.' This
was continued for several hours; during which time tlie
wretches became beastly drunk, and as they fell to the ground,
their squaws would keep u]) the fire. With long sharp poles,
they pierced the body of their victim whenever he flagged,
until the poor and helpless boy fell and expired with the most
excruciating torments, whilst his father and brothers were
compelled to be witnesses of the heart-rending tragedy.

200 History of West Virginia

"After an absence of about three years, Mrs. Painter, with
her son and two daughters, returned ; as did also Mrs. Smith,
who had the honor, if it could be so deemed, of presenting her
husband with an Indian son, by a distinguished chief. Smith
received his wife, and never maltreated her on this account ;
but he had a most bitter aversion to the young chief. The boy
grew up to manhood, and exhibited the appearance and dispo-
sition of his sire. Attempts were made to educate him, but
without success. He enlisted in the army of the Revolution
as a common soldier, and never returned. Fisher and his sur-
viving sons, with several others, returned home. Three of
Mr. Painter's daughters remained with the Indians ; one of
whom, after many years' captivity, returned. The others mar-
ried and spent their lives with their swarthy companions.

"In connection with this, we may state that a most re-
markable feature of the Indian life was the peculiar power of
fascination which it exercised over those subjected to its in-
fluence. Other instances are upon record which show that
this attachment to the allurements of savage life was often
astonishing. The following will serve as an illustration :

"About the year 1758 a man by the name of John Stone,
near what is called the White House, in the Hawksbill settle-
ment, was killed by the Indians. Stone's wife, with her infant
child and a son about seven or eight years old, and George
Grandstaff, a youth sixteen years old, were taken prisoners.
On the South Branch Mountain, the Indians murdered Mrs.
Stone and her infant, but they took the boy and Grandstaff to
their towns. Grandstaff remained about three years a pris-
oner. The boy Stone grew up with the Indians, came home,
and after obtaining possession of his father's property, sold it,
got the money, returned to the Indians and was never heard
of again."

Bingaman's Adventure With Indians Near Petersburg, Hardy

County.

In 1758, a man named Bingaman lived in his cabin, re-
mote from any neighbors, near the present village of Peters-
burg, Hard)^ County. In the fall of this year a party of eight

History of West Virginia 201

Indians arrixed at liis cabin late at night, \\liilc the- fainil}-
were asleep. Before Bingaman was aware of their presence,
the savages had forced an entrance into his house. ]Mrs.
Bingaman, the younger, was shot but not fatall}-. After get-
ting his parents, wife and child under the bed, Bingaman pre-
pared for battle. He called for the hired man, who was up
stairs, to come down and assist him, but the fellow refused to
come down. The room was dark, and having discharged his
gun, Bingaman commenced beating about at random with his
hea\"y rifle. In this manner he fought with the desperation of
a giant, and terribly did his blows fall upon the enemy. One
after another he beat down before him, until finalh , of the
eight but one remained, and he fled in terror from the house,
and escaped to tell his tribe that he had met with a man who
^as a "perfect devil." Bingaman had actually killed seven of
the Indians in single-handed combat.

Other Indian Depredations on the South Branch.

(From De Hass's "Border Wars.")

In the year 1764. a party of eighteen Delawares crossed
the mountains. Furman's Fort was about one mile above
Hanging Rock, on the South Branch. \\'illiam Furman and
Nimrod Ashby (builders of the fort) had gone out from the
fort to watch a deer lick in the Jersey mountains. The In-
dians discovered and killed them both, and passed on into the
county of Frederick, where they divided into two parties.
One party of eight moved on to Cedar Creek settlement ; the
other of ten attacked the people in the neighborhood of the
present residence of ]\Iaj. John White. On this place a stock-
ade was erected. The people in the neighborhood had taken
the alarm, and were on their way to this fort, when assaulted
by these Indians. They killed David Jones and his wife, also
some of Mrs. Thomas's family, and carried off one of the
daughters. An old man, named Lloyd, and his wife, and sev-
eral of his children, were killed. Esther Lloyd, their daughter,
about thirteen years old. received three tomahawk wounds in
the head, was scalped, and left lying, supposed to be dead.

202 History of West Virginia

Henry Clouser and two of his sons were killed, and his wife
and four of his daughters taken. The youngest daughter was
about two years old ; and as she impeded the mother's travel-
ing, they killed it on the way. Mrs. Thomas was taken to the
"Wappatomaka;" but the river being pretty full, and deep
fording, they encamped near Furman's fort for the night. The
next morning a party of white men fired off their guns at the
fort, which alarmed the Indians, and they hurried across the
river, assisting all the female prisoners, except Mrs. Thomas,
who being quite stout, was left to struggle for herself. The
current, however, proved too strong for her, and she floated
down the river — but lodged against a rock, upon which she
crawled, and saved herself from drowning.

The other party of eight Indians committed several mur-
ders on Cedar Creek. It is probable that this party killed a,
Mr. Lyle, a Mr. Butler, and some others. Mr. Ellis Thomas,
the husband of the woman whose story has just been given,
was killed the preceding harvest. The party of eight Indians
took ofif two female prisoners, but were pursued by some
white men, overtaken in the South Branch mountain, fired
upon, and one of the Indians killed. The others fled, leaving
their guns, prisoners and plunder.

In 1765 two Indians were seen lurking near Mill Creek.
Matthias Painter, John Painter, and William Moore armed
themselves, and went in pursuit. They had not proceeded
far before they approached a large fallen pine, with a very
bushy top. As they neared it, Matthias Painter observed,
"We had better look sharp; it is quite likely the Indians are
concealed under the tops of this tree." He had scarcely utter-
ed the words before one of them rose up and fired. The ball
grazed the temple of John Painter. Moore and Painter fired
at the same instant; one of their balls passed through the
Indian's body, and he fell, as the37^ supposed, dead enough.
The other fellow fled. The white men pursued him some
distance ; but the fugitive was too fleet for them. Finding
they could not overhaul him, they gave up the chase and re-
turned to the pine tree ; but to their astonishment, the sup-
posed dead Indian had moved off with both guns and a large
pack of skins. They pursued his trail, and when he found

History of West Virginia 203

they were gaining uix)n him, he got into a sink hole, and as
soon as they approached, commenced firing at them. He had
poured out a quantity of powder on dry leaves, filled his mouth
with bullets, and using a musket which was a self-primer, he
was enabled to load and fire with astonishing quickness, lie
thus fired at least thirty times before the}^ could get a chance
to dispatch him. At last Mr. Moore got an opportunit}', and
shot him through the head. Moore and Painter had many
disputes as to which gave the fellow the first wound. Painter,
at length, yielded, and Moore got the premium allowed by law
for Indian scalps.

The fugitive who made his escape unfortunately met with
a young woman on horse-back, named Sethon, whom he tore
from her horse, and forced ofif with him. This occurred near
the present town of New Market, and after traveling about
twenty miles it is supposed the captive broke down from
fatigue, and the savage monster beat her to death with a
heavv pine-knot. Her screams were heard by some people
who lived upwards of a mile away from this scene of horror,
and who next day, on going to the place to ascertain the cause,
found her stripped and weltering in blood.

Indian Depredations on the Monongahela River,

"1777, the year of the three sevens, sometimes called
'bloodv year,' is full of painful incidents to hundreds of fami-
lies in North-Western Virginia." says De Hass, in Border
Wars. 'Tt was. indeed, the most terrible year the early set-
tlers ever experienced. Dark, mysterious clouds of malignant
spirits hung upon tlic horizon, threatening every moment to
overwhelm and exterminate the half-protected pioneer in his
wilderness home. At length the storm broke over them, and
there was scarcely a settlement in the great \'a11ey of the
West that did not experience its fatal and terrible ei'fect. Thf^
fury of the savages during this year seemed to have no bounds.
The wretched inhabitants were massacred with every con-
ceivable cruelty. Men, women and children were chosen ob-
jects of their revenge, and scarcely a .settlement west of the
Alleghanies escaped their visits and their fury. The alarm

204 History of West Virginia

became great, and terror seemed to seize.upon the entire popu-
lation. Block-houses were hastily thrown up, and many who
could moved their families to Redstone and other points on
the Monongahela River; but still, there were hundreds left to
endure all the anticipated horrors of an Indian invasion."

The Indians separated into what were termed "scalping
parties," and penetrated the country at various points. One
of their first acts along the Monongahela River was to visit
the house of a Mr. Grigsly, on West Fork, and carry off his
wife and two children. Mr. Grigsly was absent at the time ;
but returning soon after, and missing his family, suspected the
true cause, although no injury had been done to either the
house or furniture. Securing the services of some of his
neighbors, pursuit was immediately given. Keeping the trail
about six miles, the horror-stricken husband came suddenly
upon the gncstly forms of his murdered wife and child. The
savages, finding Mrs. Grigsly unable to travel on account of
her delicate condition, most inhumanly tomahawked her, to-
gether with her youngest child.

The almost frantic husband and parent, burning for re-
venge, rushed on with a few select men, but the savages, sus-
pecting a pursuit, divided into small parties, and so effectually
covered their trail that all efforts to trace them were unsuc-
cessful, and the pursuit had to be given up. This was but the
commencement of such scenes of blood along the Mononga-
hela River.

A short time after this occurrence, a Miss Coons, whose
father erected Coons's I^ort on the West Fork River, now in
Harrison Count}^ went into the field to turn some hemp which
lay near the fort. While there engaged, two young me::,
Thomas Cunningham and Enoch James, approached, and after
a short conversation, went on. They had not gone far before
the report of a gun was heard, and on looking round they saw
two Indians standing near Miss Coons, one of whom was in
the act of scalping his unfortunate victim. Pursuit was im-
mediately given, but the savages eluded every eft'ort to trace
them. One of the young men fired at the retreating murder-
■ers, but without success.

"Western Pennsylvania suffered in common this year with

History of West Virginia 205

Western Mrginia. Scalping parties overran tlic settlements
along the lower Monongahela and its tributaries. The settle-
ments within the region now embraced in Washington, Alle-
gheny, and Westmoreland counties suffered severely. As it
was known that the Indians who committed these depreda-
tions crossed the Allegheny River, it was determined to erect
a fort on that stream, supposing that the presence of a small
garrison would have the effect to check the movements of the
enemy in that quarter. Accordingly, Colonel William Craw-
ford, whose melancholy fate a few years later thrilled the.
whole country with horror, visited the Allegheny for the pur-
pose of selecting a proper location for the proposed fort. He
decided to place it near the mouth of Puckety Creek, about
seventeen miles above Pittsburgh. The fort was immediately
built, and called Crawford, in honor of its projector. Several
others were erected about this time along the Loyalhanna,
Kiskiminitas, Cheat, Ten-mile, Pigeon Creek, etc. The eff'ect
of the erection of this fort may have been to force the Indians
lower down, and such was doubtless the fact. Large parties
of them found their way to points along the Ohio River, on the
West Virginia border, and their operations were very aggres-
sive, particularly in Wheeling and vicinity. The whole com-
bined force of the W^estern Confederation of Indians seemed
directed against this particular section, with the exception of
small parties that occasionally crossed over to the upper Mon-
ongahela, Cheat, West Fork, and Tygart's Valley Rivers, or
their tributaries." (Withers).

Indians Attack the Brains and Powells on Snowy Creek, in

Preston County.

On April 11th. 1778, five Indians came to a house on
Snowy Creek, in Preston County, in which lived James Brain
and Richard Powell, and remained in ambush during the
night, close around it. In the early morning, the appearance
of some ten or twelve men, coming from the house with guns,
for the purpose of amusing themselves in shooting at a mark,
deterred the Indians from making their meditated attack. The
men seen by them were travelers, who had associated for

206 History of West Virginia

mutual security, and who, after a morning's repast, resumed
their journey unknown to the savages. When Mr. Brain and
the sons of Mr. Powell went to their day's work, being en-
gaged in carrying clap-boards for covering a cabin, at some
distance from the house, they were soon heard by the Indians,
who, despairing of succeeding in an attack on the house,
changed their position, and concealed themselves by the side
of the path, along which those engaged at work had to go.
Mr. Brain and one of his sons being at a little distance in front
of them, they fired and Brain fell. He was tomahawked and
scalped, while another of the party followed and caught the
son as he was attempting to escape by flight. Three other
boys were then some distance behind and out of sight, and
hearing the report of the gun which killed Brain, for an in-
stant supposed that it proceeded from the rifle of some hunter,
in quest of deer. They were soon satisfied that this supposi-
tion was unfounded. Three Indians came running toward
them, bearing their guns in one hand, and tomahawks in the
other. One of the boys, stupified by terror, and unable to stir
from the spot, was immediately made prisoner. Another, the
son of Powell, was also soon caught ; but the third, finding
himself out of sight of his pursuers, ran to one side and con-
cealed himself in a bunch of alders, where he remained until
the Indians passed the spot where he la}^, when he arose, and
taking a different direction, ran with all his speed and effected
an escape. The little prisoners were then brought together ;
and one of Mr. Powell's sons, being discovered to have but one
eye, was stripped naked and slain and then scalped. The little
Powell who had escaped from the savages, being forced to go
a direction opposite to the house, proceeded to a station about
eight miles off, and there informed the people of what had
been done.

Thereupon a party of men hurriedly equipped themselves
and proceeded to the scene of action, but the Indians had de-
parted. One of their little captives, Benjamin. Brain, being
asked by them "how many men were at the house," replied,
"twelve." In answer to another question regarding the dis-
tance to the nearest fort, he informed them it was two miles.
Yet he well knew that there was no fort nearer than eight

History of West Virginia 207

miles, and that there was not a man at the house, Mr. Powell
being from home and the twelve men having departed before
his father had gone out to work. His object, of course, was
to save his mother and the other women and children from
captivity or death, by inducing the Indians to believe that it
would be extremely dangerous to venture near the house; and
this ruse worked, as the savages departed in great haste, tak-
ing with them their two little prisoners, Benjamin and Isaac
Brain. So quietly had all these events transpired that Mrs.
Brain did not learn of the fate of her husband until the return
of the little boy with the men from the fort. She no doubt
heard the shots, but this was of so frequent occurrence as to
occasion no suspicion of danger.

Capture of Leonard Schoolcraft in Buckhannon Settlement.

In the early part of May, 1778, a party of Indians came
into the Buckhannon settlement and made prisoner of Leonard
Schoolcraft, a youth of about sixteen (probably son of John
Schoolcraft, members of whose family were later murdered or
captured by the Indians, as related elsewhere), who had been
sent from the fort on some business. When he arrived at the
Indian town in Ohio, arrangements were made for his running"
the gauntlet. He was told tliat he might defend himself
against the blows of the young Indians, who were to pursue
him to the council house. Being active and athletic, he
availed himself of the privilege, so as to save himself from
the beating which he would otherwise have received, and laid
about him with well-timed blows, frequently knocking down
those who came near to him — much to the amusement of the
warriors. The young fellow arrived at the council house
without any serious effects from his race, and by reason of this
performance, he was adopted into the family of one of the
warriors. Here young Schoolcraft found some other prison-
ers, among whom were the two Brain boys, Benjamin and
Isaac. Later on they all three effected their escape from their
captors, recrossing the Ohio River near where New IMartins-
ville now stands ; thence up Big Fishing Creek, in \\''etzel
County, crossing over the dividing ridge between ^^''etzel and

208 History of West Virginia

Marion Counties, thence down Buffalo Creek to where Fair-
mont now stands. Here the boys ran onto an encampment
of hunters from the Buckhannon settlement. Young School-
craft Joined the hunters, while the Brain boys proceeded on
their return home by way of the Tygart's Valley River and
Three Fork Creek. .

Withers does not account for these boys after their ar-
rival at the Indian towns in Ohio. But tradition has it as
above stated, which may be the correct version.

Death of Captain Booth and Capture of Nathaniel Cochran on

Booth's Creek, 1778.

On the 16th day of June, 1778, Captain James Booth and
Nathaniel Cochran were at work in a field on Booth's Creek,
near where the little village of Briertown now stands. They
were surprised by a part}^ of Indians, who fired upon them,
killing Booth, and slightly wounding Cochran, who betook
himself to flight, hoping to get beyond the range of the sav-
ages' guns and escape ; in this he did not succeed, for he was
overtaken, made prisoner and carried into the Indian towns.

The death of Captain Booth was mournfully regretted by
the settlers, for he was a man of great energy, good education,
and possessed extraordinary talents. He was probably the
most prominent man in the settlement and his death was felt
to be a very great loss.

Cochran was afterwards taken by the Indians from their
towns in Ohio to Detroit, where he was sold and remained a
captive for a long period. While at Detroit he made an at-
tempt to escape,' and would have succeeded had he not un-
fortunately taken a path which led him directly to the old
Maumee towns, where he was recaptured, and after being de-
tained for a time, was sent back to Detroit. After enduring
many hardships and suffering many privations, being traded
backward and forward among the Indians of that section and
Canada, he was finally exchanged and found his way home.
A youth of scarcely eighteen when taken by the Indians, he
returned a man of thirty-five. He was afterwards a Captain
of the militia, and lived to a ripe old age. Five of his children

History of West Virginia 209

were still living in 1880. They were William Cochran, the
oldest, aged 91, who lived at Worthington; James, father of
Nathaniel Cochran of Fairmont, who lived in Jackson County ;
John, who lived near the mouth of Booth's Creek; Mrs. Han-
nah Brown, and Mrs. Polly Bowman, who lived near Booth's
Creek. — (Dunnington's History of Marion County).

Two or three days after the killing of Capt. Booth, the
same party of Indians met Benjamin Shinn, William Grundy
and Benjamin W^ashburn returning" from the head of Booth's
Creek, and Grundy fell a victim to the savages. Going on
farther, the Indians saw a boy about sixteen years old standing
in the path leading from Simpson's to Booth's Creek, mending
his saddle girth. They fired at him, and the ball passed di-
rectly through him, killing both him and his horse. — (From
Dunnington's History of Marion County).

Adventure of David Morgan and His Children, 1778.

These inroads made by the Indians led the inhabitants,
in 1778, to make greater preparations for security than ever
before, fearing that when winter was over, hostilities would
be again renewed. Many of the settlements received acces-
sions to their number from the immigrants who were constant-
ly arriving, and the population graduall}^ increased until it was
evident that the time was rapidly appearing when the progress
of civilization would be so great that the uncivilized must give
way before it, for every settler lessened the dangers of frontier
life as he increased its power to repel it.

Their troubles were not yet over, however, for early in the
year 1779 the settlers were alarmed by circumstances which
led to the belief that Indians were lurking in the neighborhood.
The inhabitants around Prickett's Fort especially became
alarmed and entered the fort ; yet their fears seemed ground-
less, for days passed and no signs of the Indians were seen.
A sense of security began to take possession of them ; but as
spring was rapidly approaching — the season when the savages
usually commenced their depredations — they continued to
make the fort their place of abode at night, but attended to
their farm duties during the day. Among those who sought

210 History of West Virginia

refuge in Prickett's Fort was David Morgan, who at the time
was upward of 70 years of age. About the first of April, being
uiiwell himself, he sent his two children — Stephen, a youth of
sixteen (afterwards the father of the late Hons. William S.
and Charles Morgan), and Sarah, a girl of fourteen — to feed
the cattle on his farm, which was on the opposite side of the
river, about a mile distant. Unknown to their father, who
supposed they would return immediately, the children took
with them bread and meat for a lunch, and resolved to spend
the day on the farm, preparing the ground for water melons.
Accordingly, after feeding the stock, Stephen set himself to
work, his sister helping him in various ways, and occasionally
going to the cabin, a short distance west of where they were,
to wet some linen she was bleaching. After the children left
the house, Morgan, whose illness increased, went to bed, and
falling asleep, dreamed that he saw Sarah and Stephen walk-
ing about the yard of the fort, scalped. This dream, which
under ordinar}'- circumstances would not tend to produce a
comfortable feeling in the mind of the dreamer, caused Morgan
no little apprehension when on awaking he found the children
were still absent. Taking with him his gun, he immediately
set out for the farm to see what detained them.

Impressed with the fear that he w^ould find his horrible
dream realized, he ascended a slight eminence which over-
looked the field where the children were, and w^as overjoyed
to see them safe, talking busily as they worked. Unknown to
them, he sat down to rest on an old log, commanding a full
view of them and the cabin. He had been there but a short
time when, happening to look towards the house, he saw two
Indians stealing from it towards the children. Fearing a sud-
den alarm would deprive them of their self-possession and
unfit them for escape, Morgan retained his seat upon the log,
and in a low voice, with as careless a manner as he could
assume, told them of their danger and said, ''run for the fort.''
The children instantly started and the Indians with hideous
yells, immediately pursued them. At this moment Morgan
made ^himself known and the Indians, giving up the chase,
sheltered themselves from his bullets behind trees. Believing
that discretion is the better part of valor, and not wishing to

History of West Virginia ' 211

fight against such odds, Morgan then attempted to place him-
self out of danger by flight, but age and infirmity prevented his
making much headway, and he soon realized that he would be
speedily overtaken by the Indians, who were following in hot
pursuit. Resolved to die game, he suddenly wheeled and made
ready to fire at them, but seeing the motion they instantly
sprang behind trees, and Morgan, wishing to save himself in
the same manner, got behind a sugar sapling, but finding it
insufficient for protection, he quitted it for a large oak a short
distance farther on. One of the Indians then took possession
of the sapling he had just left, but seeing it could not shelter
him, threw himself down behind a log which lay at the root
of the tree. This also was not suflicient to cover him, and
Morgan, seeing him exposed, fired at him. The ball took
effect and the savage, rolling over on his back, stabbed him-
self twice. Having thus rid himself of one of his pursuers, Mor-
gan again took to flight, the surviving Indian close upon liini.
There were now no trees to shield him, and the Indian could
readily overtake him, and his gun being unloaded, he had no
means of defense. The race had continued for about ten yards,
when, looking over his shoulder, Morgan observed the Indian
almost upon him with gun raised. Morgan watched closely
the Indian's finger upon the trigger, and as he pressed it
sprang to one side, letting the ball whiz harmlessly by. See-
ing that a hand-to-hand encounter was inevitable, Morgan
then aimed a blow with his gun at his adversary, who in turn
hurled his tomahawk at him, cutting oft" three fingers from
his left hand and knocking the weapon from his grasp. They
then closed, and Morgan, being a good wrestler, in spite of
his years, succeeded in throwing the Indian. He was not
strong enough to maintain his position, however, for the
Indian was soon on top of him, and with a yell of triumph
began feeling for his knife with which to dispatch him. For-
tunately for Morgan, the savage, while in the house, had seen
a woman's apron, and pleased with its color, had taken and
bound it around his waist above the knife; this hindered him
from getting at the knife quickl}-, and while he continued
fumbling for it Morgan succeeded in getting one of the
Indian's fingers in his mouth. Finally the Indian found his

212 History of West Virginia

knife, grasping it near the blade, while Morgan caught hold
of the extremity of the handle, and as the redskin drew it from
its scabbard the old man closed his teeth on the finger he
held with terrible force, causing the savage involuntarily to
relax his grasp. Morgan quickly drew the knife through his
hand and in an instant plunged it into his body; then, feeling
the Indian sink lifeless back in his arms, he loosed his grasp
and started for the fort. Meantime, Sarah, unable to keep
pace with her brother, who by this time had reached the fort,
followed in his footsteps until he came to the river, where he
had plunged in and swam across. She was making her way
to the canoe when her father overtook her and they crossed
to the fort together.

The above incident took place on that part of Morgan's
plantation which is a short distance northeast of the residence
of the late George P. Morgan. David's cabin stood near
where the burying ground of the Morgan family is now sit-
uated, and his body, with those of his family, rests within the
inclosure. — (From Dunnington's History of Marion County.)

Death of John Owens and John Juggins. Escape of Owen
Owens and Son of John Owens.

About two months after David Morgan's adventure with
the Indians, John Owens, Owen Owens, and John Juggins
were on their way to a cornfield, on Booth's Creek, when they
were fired upon by Indians; John Owens and John Juggins
were killed, but Owen Owens escaped. A son of John Owens
who had been sent to the pasture for the horses to use in
plowing, heard the report of the guns, and not realizing that
anything was wrong, came riding along on one horse and
leading another. The Indians saw him first, and began firing
at him, but fortunately none of the shots took effect, and the
boy made his escape.

Death of John Ice and James Snodgrass.

In the fall of 1786, John Ice and James Snodgrass came
over into what is now Wetzel County, to hunt buffalo. When

History of West Virginia 213

they arrived at the hunting grounds, they turned their horses
loose to graze while they searched for their game. Upon
their return late in the evening, their horses were missing.
They started on the horses' trail, not suspecting the presence
•of Indians in that neighborhood. They had not proceeded
far when they were fired upon from ambush, and some In-
dians rushed out and scalped them. No white man saw the
act, but a searching party shortly afterwards had no difficulty
in reading the signs. The remains of these unfortunate men
were badly torn by the wolves when found. This tragedy oc-
•curred on the head waters of Fishing Creek.

The foregoing was not the only scene of Indian murders
in Wetzel County, as the following from the "History of Wet-
zel County," by John C. McEldowney, Jr.. will show:

The Story of Crow's Run.

In the early spring of 1782, a squad of men started out
from Fort Henry on a hunting expedition. Among them was
a man by the name of Crow, of whom our story relates. They
traveled onward until they reached the mouth of what is now
Big Fishing Creek, which stream em])ties into the (3hio Ri\cr
at New Martinsville. They followed the creek until they
reached the mouth of a run putting into Big Fishing Creek,
twelve miles from New Martinsville. Here they encamped
for the night. The next day they went in search of game,
which was then plentiful in that neighborhood, with three
men in one company and two in another. Crow being one of
the two. After hunting all day, at sunset the two came to-
ward camp carrying the game they had shot, and on reaching
the camp Crow's companion started out to get some wood
with which, to build a fire. The man had scarcely started
when a band of Indians surrounded the camp, and Crow, real-
izing his danger, started to run, when a volley of shots was
poured into him, killing him instantly. His companion, on
hearing the shots, started toward camp, but seeing the In-
dians, he turned and fled, never stopping until he had reached
i:he company of the three whom he met coming towards the

214 History of West Virginia

camp, at the mouth of what is now Crow's Run. The Indians,
becoming alarmed at their approach, immediately retreated.

The whites returned to camp, where they found Crow
lying dead near the creek, with his head partially in the
water. They picked him up and placed him in a hollow S3^ca-
more tree and covered the body to protect it from the wolves
until they could return and give the remains proper burial.
Going to Wheeling, they secured reinforcements and return-
ing to the scene of the tragedy in four days the}'^ buried Crow's
body under a sycamore tree, using walnut logs for his coffin,
and inscribed on the tree, "]. J. Crow, 1782." This tree stood
until about the year 1875, when it was blown down by the
wind. It was from this incident that Crow's Run received
its name.

The Murder of Edward Doolin at New Martinsville.

(From McEldowney's History of Wetzel County).

The earliest white settler along the Ohio River, in Wetzel
Count}'', was Edward Doolin, who came here about the year
1780 and made a settlement near Doolin's Spring, one mile
from the mouth of Big Fishing Creek, on lands now owned by
the heirs of Philip Witten. He there built two cabins, one
for himself and wife and the other for his negro slave. He
owned a large survey of lands lying on both sides of the
stream, which still bears his name; lines of his survey are well
established, and have been familiar to the courts of Wetzel
County in divers suits of ejectment.

He had broken the solitude of the vast wilderness ; he was
visited by a tribe of Delaware Indians, who came at night and
took away his negro slave into captivit}^ and returning at day-
break, and finding Doolin in his front yard, shot and scalped
him. His wife, who was in the cabin lying abed with a new-
born babe beside her, was not molested. Mrs. Doolin was a
woman of remarkable beauty, and the savages, fearing it might
prove fatal to compel her to accompany them in her delicate
state of health, urged her to remain there for a few days until
she entirely recovered, promising to return and take her with

History of West Virginia 215

them to be the wife of their great chief. This alluring pros-
pect, however, did not seem to charm the white beauty into
lingering there.

At that time a blockhouse stood near the present residence
of Eliza Martin (now the residence of Charles W. Barrick —
S. M.), in the limits of the present town of New Martinsville.
Its solitary inmate, when these occurrences took place, was a
man named Martin, who heard the report of the firing in the
early morning, in the direction of Doolin's clearing. He made
a reconnoisance and found the body of Doolin lying in
front of his cabin. Entering the house he wrapped Mrs.
Doolin in blankets and, taking the infant in his arms, assisted
her to the blockhouse, where he placed the widow and orphan
in a canoe and transported them up the Ohio to the mouth of
Captina Creek. He then returned with some men, and they
buried the body of Doolin in the spot known as Witten's
Garden, where the grave is still to be seen. And every spring
the Easter flowers bloom over the dust of Edward Doolin —
the first white settler of Wetzel, and one of the few white men
killed by the Indians within her borders.

Mrs. Doolin lived near the settlement until her daughter
had grown to be a girl of ten. She then married and went to
Kentucky, where her daughter, after she had grown to be a
young lady, married one Daniel Boone, a descendant of the
noted Indian scout of the same name.

Mrs. Doolin sold this land to the Martins, McEldownieys
and Wittens.

Note : The deed from Doolin's heir to Philip Witten con-
tains a reservation clause, setting aside a certain portion of
ground around the grave for its protection, but the spot is now
being used as a part of the garden, and save a bunch of lilies
that persist in coming up at the place in spring time, there is
nothing to mark the resting place of the first citizen of what is
now New Martinsville. The question of the erection of a suit-
able monument in memory of the departed pioneer has been
raised from time to time, but as yet no definite action has been
taken. S. M.

216

History of West Virginia

Story of the Drygoos (or Draygoos), or the Two Half-Indians.

A few days subsequent to the killing of James Snodgrass
and John Ice on Fishing Creek, in what is now Wetzel County,
in the autumn of 1786, a party of Indians came to Buffalo
Creek, and meeting Mrs. Dragoo and her son in a field gather-
ing beans, took them prisoners, and supposing that their de-
tention would induce others to look for them, waylaid the
path leading from the house. According to expectation, un-
easy at their continued absence, Jacob Straight and Nicholas
Wood went to ascertain the cause. As they approached the
Indians fired and Wood fell.. Straight, taking to flight, was
soon overtaken. Mrs. Straight and her daughter, hearing the

The house shown in the background of this picture occupies a
slightly elevated spot of ground about sixty feet from the noted
Doolin Sprin?. It was here where Edward Doolin erected the first
log cabin within the present corporate limits of New Martinsville,
and where he was killed by the Indians, as related elsewhere in this
book.

Mrs. Lou Heidelson, the present owner of the premises, is repre-
sented standing at the foot of Doolin's grave, and the author at the
head. In the spring time a bunch of lilies come up at the head of
the grave. This is all there is to mark the resting place of the first
settler of New Martinsville, W. Va.

History of West Virginia 217

firing and seeing the savages in pursuit of Mv. Straight, bo-
took themselves also in flight, but were discovered by some
of the Indians, who immediately ran after them. The daughter
concealed herself in a thicket and escaped. Her mother
sought concealment under a large shelving rock, and was not
afterwards discovered, although those in pursuit of her hus-
band passed near and overtook him not far off. Indeed she
was at that time so close as to hear Mr. Straight say, when
overtaken, "Don't kill me and I will go with you," and the
savage replying, "Will you go with me?" she heard the fatal
blow which depri\-ed her husband of his life.

Mrs. Dragoo being infirm and unable to travel to their
towns, was murdered on the way. Her son (a lad of seven)
remained with the Indians upwards of twenty years. He mar-
ried a squaw, by whom he had four children, two of whom he
brotight home with him when he forsook the Indians.

In connection with the foregoing events it might be inter-
esting to give the following facts as related by Mrs. Malinda
Anderson, late of Jacksonburg, Wetzel County, and a grand-
daughter of the above mentioned Mrs. Dragoo, who was
killed by the Indians. Mrs. Anderson received her informa-
tion from her mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Hays, who, with her
husband, John Hays, came to what is now Jacksonburg in
1805 from Prickett's fort. Mr. Hays and his wife were born
in 1748, and were at that fortification at the time the above
events occurred, and consequently were familiar wnth all the
circumstances of that unhappy afifair. Mrs. Hays was eleven
years old at the time of her mother's (Mrs. Dragoo's) death.
The story is as follows :

"It was in a fort situated on Clinton's Run, Monongalia
Count)^ known as Prickett's Fort. The Drygoo family were
some of its occupants. There was a garden about half a mile
from the fort, and Mrs. Dragoo and her son Charles, who was
but four years old, went to the garden to pick beans, when
the Indians came upon them unawares and made them prison-
ers before giving them time to call for help. They tied Mrs.
Drygoo to a tree near the fort, but not in sight, and returned
to the garden to see if they cotdd catch some more in tlie same
wav. In a little while Mrs. Havs (my mother) and her sister

218 History of West Virginia

came out of the fort and started toward the garden to help
their mother (my grandmother, Mrs. Drygoo) pick beans, and
as they neared the garden started to call for their mother, but
she did not answer. Fortunately they got scared at some-
thing (not the Indians) and started toward the fort at full
speed, and on reaching it informed the occupants that their
mother, Mrs. Drygoo, and their brother, Charles Drygoo,
started out in the garden some time ago to pick beans and that
they were not in the garden now. The men immediately sus-
pected that which was correct and soon raised a company
under Captain David Morgan and went in pursuit. The
Indians, seeing that they had been discovered, beat a hasty
retreat. They untied Mrs. Drygoo and put her on a pony,
which was very wild, and made ofif with great speed. After
traveling for about ten miles the pony she was on 'umped a
run. The calf of one of her legs was torn open, having caught
on a sharp limb of a tree. They stopped and bandaged the
wound up the best they could, after which they continued the
journey, but the bandage did no good, and she became very
weak from loss of. blood. The Indians, seeing that it was de-
laying their journey, decided to kill her. When they began
to untie her from the pony Charles began to cry and a big
Indian picked him up and said, 'Don't cry;' that they would
not kill his mother, but she could not travel and that he could
be his boy after this. They killed and scalped her near the
place known as Betsey's Run, on the North Fork of Fishing
Creek, in Grant District, Wetzel County — the run being
named after her — 'Betsey,' for EHzabeth. After performing
this brutal act they made ofif with Charles into Ohio (crossing
the river where New Martinsville now is) to the Indian towns,
where he lived with them until he was twenty-seven years old.
While with the Indians he was one of them, and while very
young married an Indian maiden, and from her he had four
children, two boys and two girls."

"At the Morgan treaty at the mouth of Little Muskingum
James Hays was one of the men under Levi Morgan, and in-
quired of the Indians as to the whereabouts of his brother,
Charles Drygoo, on which he was informed that he was dead,
but that he had some children. He asked for them and he was

History of West Virginia IVJ

given the two boys. He brought them to where Jacksonburg
now stands, where they hved and died in the cabin built by
James Hays in 1805. There are a number of people in Wetzel
County who are proud to say'Liiat the blood of Charles Drygoo
and his Indian squaw flow^s in their veins."

Murder of the Schoolcraft Family in Buckhannon Settlement.

In the fall of 1779 several families in the Buckhannon set-
tlement left the fort and returned to their homes, under the
belief that thv season had advanced too far for the Indians
again to come among them. But they were sorely disap-
pointed. The men being all assembled at the fort for the pur-
pose of electing a Captain, some Indians made an attack upon
the famil' of John Schoolcraft and killed the w^omen and eight
children — two little boys alone were taken prisoners. A small
girl who had been tomahawked and scalped lived several days
afterward.

Indians Attack Samuel Cottrail's at Clarksburg.

The, last mischief that was done this fall was perpetrated
at the house of Samuel Cottrail near where Clarksburg now
stands. During the night considerable fear was excited, both
at Cottrail's and at Sotha Hickman's, on the opposite side
of Elk Creek, by the continued barking of the dogs, that
Indiatis were lurking near, and in consequence of this appre-
hension Cottrail, on going to bed, secured w^ell the door and
directed that no one should stir out in the morning until it
was ascertained that there was no danger threatening. A
while before day, Cottrail being asleep, Moses Coleman, a\1io
lived with him, got u]), shelled some corn and giving a few
ears to Cottrail's nephew \\ith directions to feed the pigs
around the yard, went to the hand mill in an outhouse and
commenced grinding. The little boy, being squatted down
shelling the corn to the pigs, found himself suddenly drawn on
his back and an Indian standing oxer him, ordering him to lie
there. The savage then turned towards the house in which
Coleman was, fired, and as Coleman fell the Indian ran u]) to

220 History of West Virginia

scalp him. Thinking- this a favorable time for him to reach
the dwelling house, the little boy sprang to his feet and run-
ning to the door it was opened and he admitted. Scarcely was
it closed after him when one of the Indians, with his toma-
hawk, endeavored to break it open. Cottrail fired through the
door at him and he went oft'. In order to see if others were
about and to have a better opportunity of shooting with effect,
Cottrail ascended the loft and, looking through a crevice, saw
the Indians hurrying away through the field and at too great
a distance for him to shoot with the expectation of injuring
them. Yet he continued to fire and halloo, to give, notice of
■danger to those who lived near him.

The Indians Invade the Tygart's Valley in 1780.

The severity of the following winter put a temporary stop
to savage inroads, and gave to the inhabitants an interval of
quiet and repose. Hostilities were, however, resinned upon
the first appearance of spring, and acts of murder and devasta-
tion, which had been suspended for a time, were begun to be
committed, with a firm determination on the part of the In-
dians to exterminate the inhabitants of the western country,
of which West Virginia was a part. To effect this object an
expedition was gotten up between the British commandant at
Detroit and the Indian chiefs northwest of the Ohio River,
to be carried on b}^ their united forces against Kentucky, while
an Indian army alone was to penetrate West Virginia, then
k:nown as North Western Virginia, and spread desolation over
its surface. The army destined to operate against Kentucky
was to consist of six hundred Indians and Canadians, to be
commanded by Colonel Byard (a British officer) and furnished
with every implement of warfare known at that time, from
the tomahawk to the cannon.

Luckily for West Virginia, the scattered and isolated
location of its inhabitants and the lack of roads and transpor-
tation facilities operated, in a measure, in their favor. How-
ever, the whites in this section were not exempt from invasion.
Small parties of savages would avail themselves of unguarded

History of West Virginia 221

moments and kill and phnulcr whenever opportunities offered
without too great personal danger.

In the early part of March. 1780, Thomas Lacy discovered
Indian signs near the u])i)cr part of Tygart's A'allcy River,
near where Elkins now stands, and becoming alarmed, hur-
riedly made his way to Hadden's Fort at the mouth of Elk-
water Creek, in what is now Randolph Count}-, and related
what he had seen. Ilis story was not believed. However, as
a matter of precaution, as Jacob and AMlliam Warwick and
some other men from Green])ricr were about leaving the fort
on their return home, it was decided that a com])any of men
should accompany them part of the way. In s])ite of their
previous warning, they were traveling in a careless, unguarded
way, when they were suddenly attacked by some Indians lying
in ambush near the place where Thomas Lacy had seen mocca-
sin tracks the day before. The men on horseback escaped,
but those on foot M^ere not so lucky. The Indians being sta-
tioned on both sides of the path, the footmen made a rush for
the river, and in climbing the steep bank on the opposite side
John McLain, James Ralston and John Nelson were killed,
and James Crouch, though badly hurt, succeeded in eluding
the savages and returned to the fort the following day.

The Attack on the Bozarth Home on Dunkard Creek, 1778.

The alarm which had caused the people in the neighbor-
hood of Prickett's Fort to mo\x into it for safety induced two
or three others on Dunkard Creek to collect at the house of
Mr. Bozarth, tliinking the)"- would be more exempt from dan-
ger when together than remaining at their several homes.
About the first of March, 1778, when only Mrs. Bozarth and
two men were in the house, the children, who had been out at
play, came running into the yard, exclaiming that tliere were
"ugly red men coming." LTpon hearing this, one of the two
men in the house, going to the door to see if Indians really
were approaching, received a glancing shot in his breast,
which caused him to fall back. The Indian who had shot him
sprang immediately after, and grappling with the other white
man, was quickly thrown on the bed. His antagonist having

222 History of West Virginia

no weapon with which to do him any injury, called to Mrs.
Bozarth for his knife. Not finding one at hand, she seized an
ax and at one blow let out the brains of the prostrate savage.
At that instant a second Indian entered the door and shot dead
the man engaged with his companion on the bed. Mrs.
Bozarth turned on him, and with a well directed blow let out
his entrails and caused him to bawl out for help. Upon this
others of his party who had been engaged with the children
in the yard came to his relief. The first who thrust his head
in at the door had it cleft by the ax of Mrs. Bozarth and fell
lifeless on the ground. Another, catching hold of his wounded,
bawling companion, drew him out of the house, when Mrs.
Bozarth, with the aid of the white man who had been first shot
and was then somewhat recovered, succeeded in closing and
making fast the door. The children in the yard were all killed,
but the heroism and exertion of Mrs. Bozarth and the wounded
white man enabled them to resist the repeated attempts of the
Indians to force open the door and to maintain possession of
the house until they were relieved b)^ a party from the neigh-
boring settlement.

The Killing of Nathaniel Davisson on Ten Mile, in

Harrison County.

In September, 1778, Nathaniel Davisson and his brother,
being on a hunting trip up Ten Mile, in Harrison County, left
their camp early on the morning of the day on which they in-
tended to return home, and naming an hour at which they
would be back, proceeded through the woods in different di-
rections. At the appointed time Josiah went to the camp, and
after waiting there in vain for the arrival of his brother, and
becoming uneasy lest some unlucky accident had befallen him,
he set out in search of him. Unable to see or hear anything
of him, he returned home and prevailed on several of his
neighbors to aid in endeavoring to ascertain his fate. Their
search was, likewise, unavailing, but in the following March
he was found by John Read, who was hunting in the neighbor-
hood. He had been shot and scalped; and notwithstanding
he had lain out nearly six months, yet he was but little torn
by wild beasts and was easily recognized.

History of West Virginia 223

The Killing of Lieutenant John White on Tygart's Valley.

In October, 1779, a party of Indians lying in ambush near
the road, in Tygart's Valley, fired several shots at Lieutenant
John White, riding by, wounding the horse and causing the
rider to be thrown. Being left on foot and on open ground,
he was soon shot, tomahawked and scalped. As soon as this
event was made known Captain Benjamin Wilson, with his
usual promptitude and energy, raised a company of volunteers
and proceeded to the Indian crossing at the mouth of Little
Kanawha (where Parkersburg now" stands). Here he re-
mained three days, with a view to intercept the retreat of the
savages. They, however, returned by another route and his
scheme of cutting them off while crossing the river failed.

Another Attack by the Indians at Martin's Fort, in
Monongalia County.

In the month of June, 1778, at Martin's Fort, on Crooked
Run, another murderous scene was enacted by the savages.
The greater part of the men having gone forth early to their
farms, and those who remained being unapprehensive of imme-
diate danger and consecjuently supine and careless, the fort
was necessarily easily accessible, and the vigilance of the sav-
ages who were lying hid around it, discovering its exposed
and weakened situation, seized the favorable moment to at-
tack those who were without. The women Avere engaged in
milking the cows outside the gate, and the men who had been
left behind were loitering around. The Indians rushed for-
ward and killed and made prisoners of ten of them. James
Stewart, James Small and Peter Crouse were the only persons
who fell, and John Shriver and his wdfe, two sons of Stewart,
tw^o sons of Smally and a son of Crouse were carried into cap-
tivity. According to their statement upon their return there
were thirteen Indians in the party which surprised them, and
emboldened by success, instead of retreating with their prison-
ers, remained near the fort until night, when they put the cap-
tives in a waste house near, under the custody of two of the
savages, while the remaining eleven went to see if they could

224

History of West Virginia

not succeed in forcing an entrance at the gate. But the dis-
aster of the morning had taught the inhabitants the necessity
of greater watchfulness. The dogs were shut out at night,
and the approach of the Indians exciting them to bark freely,
gave notice of impending danger in time for them to avert it.
Thus being frustrated, the savages proceeded to their towns
with the prisoners.

''^^/r7}/77^p7rr77n^^

^///////'7/^

mmmMiM/mmmiMimf^si^^^/fSMm

Site of Files' Cabin at Beverly, former county seat of Randolph
County. The Files family is supposed to have been buried where the
present railroad is shown.

CHAPTER XVI.

INDIAN WARS AND MASSACRES.— Continued.

Attack on the Thomas Family on Booth's Creek.

Early in March, 1780, a party of Indians invaded the set-
tlements on the upper branches of the Monongahela River, and
on the night of the 5th of that month came to the house of
Captain John Thomas, near Booth's Creek. Unapprehensive
of danger, with his wife and seven children around him en-
gaged in their accustomed evening devotions, they were sur-
prised by the forced entrance of a party of savages, who mur-
dered all the members of the family except one little boy,
whom they took prisoner. Stopping at the home of Captain
Thomas was a young woman by the name of Elizabeth Jug-
gins, whose father had been killed by Indians the previous
year, as related elsewhere. On the first appearance of the
Indians she crawled under a bed and escaped the observation
of the savages. After setting fire to the house the Indians
departed. Seeing the flames, Miss Juggins crawled from her
hiding place and escaped to the woods, and in the early morn-
ing spread the alarm.

Removal from Booth's Creek to Simpson's Creek.
Pursuit of the Indians.

After the murder of John Thomas and his family the set-
tlement on Booth's Creek was forsaken and its inhabitants
went to Simpson's Creek for greater security. In the spring
John Owens procured the assistance of some }oung men about
Simpson's Creek and proceeded to Booth's Creek for the jnir-
pose of threshing some wheat at his farm there. \^T^ilc on a
stack throwing down sheaves several guns were fired at him
by a party of twelve Indians concealed not far oft. Owens

226 History of West Virginia

jumped from the stack, and the men caught up their guns, but
thought best to go to Simpson's Creek for assistance before
venturing in pursuit of the savages. On their return to
Booth's Creek the Indians had left, taking with them the
horses left by Owens. The men, however, found the trail
and followed it until night. Early in the morning, crossing
the West Fork at Shinnston, they went on in pursuit and came
within sight of their camp, and seeing some of the savages
lying near their fire, fired at them, but, as was believed, with-
out effect. The Indians again took to flight, and as they were
hastening on one of them suddenly wheeled and fired upon
his pursuers. The ball passed through the hunting shirt of
one of the men, and Benjamin Coplin returning the shot, an
Indian was seen suddenly to spring into a laurel thicket. Not
supposing that Cophn's ball had taken effect, they followed
the other savages some distance further, and as they returned
got the horses and plunder left at the camp. Some time after-
wards a gun was found in the thicket into which the Indian
sprang, and it was then believed that Coplin's shot had done
execution.

Murder of Settlers on Crooked Run.

In the same 3^ear (1781) Indians made their appearance
on Crooked Run, in Monongalia County. Thomas Pindall
having been one day at Harrison's Fort, at a time when a
great part of the neighborhood had gone thither for safety,
prevailed on three young men (Harrison, Crawford and
Wright) to return and spend the night with him. Some time
after they retired for the night some of the women heard a
sound resembling the whistle on a charger (a powder meas-
ure), and insisted on their going directly to the fort. The
men heard nothing, and thinking there was no danger, refused
to move before morning. When morning came there M^as
nothing to indicate grounds for alarm. Mr. Pindall walked
to the woods to catch a horse, and the young men went to a
run nearby to perform their morning ablutions, leaving the
women remaining in bed. While the men were thus engaged
three guns were fired at them and Crawford and Wright were

History of West Virginia 227

killed. Harrison fled in safety to the fort. The women,
alarmed at the shooting, sprang out of bed and proceeded
towards the fort, pursued by the Indians. ]\Irs. Pindall was
overtaken and killed, l>ul Rachel Pindall, her sister-in-law,
escaped to the fort.

The Indians Invade Tygart's Valley, Leaving Ruin, Death
and Destruction in Their Wake.

In April, 1780, as some men were returning to Cheat River
from Clarksburg (where they had been to obtain certificates
of settlement rights to their lands from the commissioners ap-
pointed to adjust land claims in the surrounding counties),
they, after haAing crossed Tygart's Valley River, encountered
a large party of Indians, and John Minear, Daniel Cameron
and a Mr. Cooper were killed; the others effected their escape
with difficulty.

The savages then moved on towards Cheat River, but
meeting with James Brown and Stephen Radclift' and not be-
ing able to kill or take them, they changed their course, and
passing over Leading Creek (in Tygart's A'alley) nearly de-
stroyed the whole settlement. They there killed Alexander
Roney, Mrs. Dougherty, Mrs. Hornbeck and her cliildren,
Mrs. Bufifington and her children and many others and made
prisoners of Mrs. Roney and her son and Daniel Dougherty.
Jonathan Buffington and Benjamin Hornbeck succeeded in
making their escape and carried the sad news to Friend's and
Wilson's forts. Colonel Wilson immediately raised a coni-
jjany of men and proceeding to Leading Creek, found the set-
tlement without inhabitants and the houses nearly all burned.
He then pursued the savages, but not coming uj) with them
as soon as expected, the men became fearful for the safety of
their own families, and they returned to their homes the fol-
lowing day.

When the land claimants, who had been the first to en-
counter this party of Indians, escaped from them, they fled
back to Clarksburg and gave the alarm. This was quickly
communicated to the other settlements and spies were sent
out to watch for the enemy. By some of these the savages

228 History of West Virginia

were discovered on the AVest Fork near the mouth of Isaac's
Creek, and intelligence of it immediately carried to the forts.
Colonel Lowther collected a company of men, and going in
pursuit came in view of their encampment a while before
night, on a branch of Hughes' River, on what is now known
as Indian Creek.

Jesse and Elias Hughes — active, intrepid and vigilant men
— were left to watch the movements of the savages, while the
remainder retired a short distance to refresh themselves and
to prepare to attack them in the morning.

Before day Colonel Lowther arranged his men in order
of attack, and when it became light, on the preconcerted signal
being given, a general fire Avas poured in upon them. Five
of the savages fell dead and the others fled, leaving at their
fires all their shot bags and plunder and all their guns except
one. Upon going to their camp it was found that one of the
prisoners (a son of Alexander Roney, who had been killed in
the Leading Creek massacre) was among the slain. Every
care had been taken to guard against such an occurrence, and
he was the only one of the captives who had sustained any
injury from the fire of the whites.

As soon as the fire was opened upon the Indians Mrs.
Roney (one of the prisoners) ran toward the M^hites, rejoicing
at the prospects of deliverance, and exclaiming, "I am Alex-
ander Roney's wife of the Valley and not a bad-looking little
woman, either, if I were well dressed." The poor woman,
ignorant of the fact that her son had just been killed, and for-
getting for the moment the recent loss of her husband, seemed
intent only on her own escape from the savages.

Another of the captives, Daniel Dougherty, being tied
down and unable to move, was discovered by the whites as
they rushed toward the camp. Fearing that he might be one
of the enemy and do them some injury if they advanced, one
of the men, stopping, demanded who he was. Benumbed with
cold and discomposed by the sudden firing of the whites, he
could not render his Irish dialect intelligible to them. The
white raised his gun and directed it towards him, calling aloud,
"If you don't make known who you are I'll blow the hull top
of yer pesky head ofl^." Fear supplying him with energy.

History of West Virginia 229

Dougherty exclaimed, "Loord Jasus, an" am 1 to be kilt be
me own paple at lasht ?"

At this moment Colonel Lowther mterfercd and Daniel's
life was saved.

In consequence of information received from the prison-
ers who were rescued, to the effect that a large party of
Indians was expected hourly to come up, Colonel Lowther
deemed it prudent not to go in pursuit of those who had fled,
and collecting the plunder which the savages had left, catch-
ing the horses which they had stolen, and having buried young
Roney, the party set out on its return homeward — highly
gratified at the success which crowned their exertions to
punish their untiring foe.

Attack on West's Fort, and Removal of People to Buckhan-

non — Adventure of Jeremiah Curl, Henry Fink and

Others — Pursuit of the Indians by the Whites,

and the Running Fight and the Recapture

of Horses and Other Stolen Property.

West's Fort, on Hacker's Creek, was visited by savages
early in 1778.

The frequent incursions of the Indians into this settle-
ment had caused the inhabitants to desert their homes the
next year, and shelter themselves in places of greater security ;
and being unwilling to give up the improvements which they
had already made and commence anew in the woods, some
few families returned to it during the winter, and on the
approach of spring moved into the fort. They had not long
been here before the Indians made their appearance, and con-
tinued to invest the fort for some time. Too weak to sally
out and give them battle, and not knowing when to expect
relief, the inhabitants were almost reduced to despair, when
Jesse Hughes resolved, at his own hazard, to try to obtain
assistance to drive off the enemy. Leaving the fort at night,
he broke their sentinels and ran with speed to the Buckhannon
Fort. Here he prevailed on a party of the men to accompany
him to West's Fort and relieve those who had been so long
■confined there. They arrived before da}-, and it \\as thought

230 History o£ West Virginia

advisable to abandon the place once more and remove to
Buckhannon. On their way, the Indians used every artifice
to separate the party, so as to gain an advantageous oppor-
tunity of attacking them; but in vain. They exercised so
much caution, and kept so well together, that every stratagem
was frustrated and they all reached the fort in safety.

Two days after this, as Jeremiah Curl, Henry Fink and
Edmond West, who were old men, and Alexander West,
Peter Cutright and Simon Schoolcraft were returning to the
fort with some of their neighbors' property, they were fired
upon by the Indians, who were lying concealed along a run
bank. Curl was sHghtly wounded under the chin, but disdain-
ing to fly without making a stand, he called to his companions
"Stand your ground, for we are able to whip them". At this
instant, a lusty warrior drew a tomahawk from his belt and
rushed toward him. Nothing daunted by the danger which
seemed to threaten him. Curl raised his gun ; but the powder
being damped by the blood from his wound, it did not fire.
He instantly picked up West's gun (which he had been carry-
ing to reHeve West of part of his burden) and discharging it
at his assailant, brought him to the ground.

The whites being by this time rid of their incumbrances,
the Indians retreated in two parties and pursued different
routes, not however, without being pursued. Alexander West,
being swift of foot, soon came near enough to fire and brought
down a second, but having only wounded him, and seeing the
Indians spring behind trees, he could not advance to finish
him ; nor could he again shoot at him, the flint having fallen
out when he first fired.

Jackson (who was hunting sheep not far off), hearing
the report of the guns, ran towards the spot, and being in
sight of the Indian when West shot, saw him fall and after-
wards recover and hobble off. Simon Schoolcraft, following
after West, came to him just after Jackson, with his gun
cocked ; and asking where the Indians were, was advised by
Jackson to get behind a tree, or they would soon let him
know where they were. Instantly the report of a gun was
heard, and Schoolcraft let fall his arm. The ball passed
through it, and striking a steel tobacco box in his waist-

History of West Virginia 231

coat pocket, did him no further injury. Cutright, when
West fired at one of the Indians, saw another of them drop
behind a log, and changing his position, espied him where the
log was a little raised from the earth. With steady nerve he
drew upon him. The moaning cry of the savage, as he sprang
from the ground and moved hastily away, convinced them that
the shot had taken effect. The rest of the Indians continued
behind trees, until they observed a reinforcement coming up
to the aid of the whites, and they fled with the utmost precipi-
tancy. Night soon coming on, those who followed them had
to give over the pursuit. A company of fifteen men early next
morning went to the battle ground, and taking the trail of
the Indians and pursuing it some distance, came to where
they had some horses (which they had stolen after the skir-
mish) hobbled out at a fork of Hacker's Creek. They then
found the plunder which the savages had taken from neigh-
boring houses, and supposing that their wounded warriors
were near, the whites commenced looking for them, when a
gun was fired at them by an Indian concealed in a laurel
thicket, which wounded John Cutright. The whites then
caught the stolen horses and returned with them and the
plunder to the fort.

For some time after this there was nothing occurring to
indicate the presence of Indians in the Buckhannon settle-
ment, and some of those who were in the fort, hoping that they
would not be again visited by them this season, determined
on returning to their homes.

Austin Schoolcraft was one of these, and being engaged
in removing some of his property from the fort, as he and his
niece were passing through a swamp on their way to his house,
they were shot by some Indians. Mr. Schoolcraft was killed
and his niece taken prisoner.

Murder of the Mclntires and Pursuit of the Indians

by the Whites.

A short distance above Worthington, near the mouth of
Bingamon Creek, occurred the last of the Indian depredations
in that vicinity.

232 History of West Virginia

In May, 1791, as John Mclntire and his wife were return-
ing from a visit, they passed through the yard of Uriah
Ashcraft. A few minutes afterwards, Mr. Ashcraft was
startled by the growling of one of the dogs, and stepped to
the door to see what had aroused him. He had scarcely
reached the entrance when he espied an Indian on the outside.
Closing the door, he ascended the stairs and attempted three
times to fire from a window at the redskin, but his gun
snapped. He then observed that there were other Indians
close at hand, and he raised a loud shout for help, hoping that
friends in the vicinity might hear him and come to his relief.
The Indians presently retreated, and shortly afterwards three
brothers of Mclntire came up. Ashcraft explained the situa-
tion, and the four set out to follow the trail of the savages.
About a mile off they found the body of John Mclntire, whom
the Indians had overtaken, tomahawked, scalped and stripped ;
and concluding that Mrs. Mclntire, whom they knew to have
been with her husband, was taken prisoner, they sent to
Clarksburg for assistance to follow the murderers and recover
the captive. A company of eleven men, led by Col. John
Haymond and Col. George Jackson, started shortly after-
wards in pursuit of the Indians, and followed the trail to
Middle Island Creek, where it appeared fresh. Colonel Jack-
son proposed that six men should be chosen who would strip
as light as they could and go ahead of the horses. William
Haymond, of Palatine, who was one of the number, in a letter
to Luther Haymond, fift}^ years afterwards, thus gave an ac-
count of what followed :

"George Jackson, Benjamin Robinson, N. Carpenter,
John Haymond, John Herbert and myself (the sixth) were
those chosen. We stripped ourselves as light as we could,
tied handkerchiefs around our heads, and proceeded as fast
as we could. The Indians appeared to travel very carelessly,
and as it was in May, and the weeds were young and tender,
we could follow a man very easily.

"Arriving on a high bank, Jackson turned around and
said, 'Where do you think they have gone?' With that he
jumped down the bank, and we proceeded down on the beach
a short distance, when suddenly we were fired upon b}^ one

History of West Virginia 233

of the Indians. We started in a run and had gone ten or
fifteen yards when the other three fired. John Harbert and
brother John caught sight of them first running up the hill and
fired at theni.^ Robinson and myself ran and jumped upon
the bank, when the Indians left their knapsacks, and I fired
the third shot, the savages then being about fifty yards dis-
tant. The Indian I shot bled considerably, and we trailed him
for about a quarter of a mile, where he cut a stick, which we
supposed w^as to stop the blood.

"We followed him for about a mile, but the men thought
it dangerous to go farther, thinking he had his gun with him,
and would hide and kill one of us, and we returned. The
other Indians we did not follow, but on arriving at the place
of attack found all their knapsacks, a shot pouch, four hatch-
ets and all their plunder, including the woman's scalp. I have
since heard that one of the Cunninghams, who Avas a prisoner
with the Indians at that time, on his return said an Indian
came home and said he had been with three other Indians on
Muddy River (West Fork) and killed a man and a woman ;
that they were followed; that they fired on the white men;
and that the white men fired on them and w^ounded three, one
of whom died after crossing the second ridge at a run. (We
were then on the second ridge and near the second run.) If
this account be true, and the Indians we followed the same,
we must have shot well."

On the return of the whites, the body of Mrs. Mclntire
was found near where that of her husband had been. (Dun-
nington.)

The First Siege at Fort Henry at Wheeling, West Va.

We will now call the attention of our readers to events
transpiring along the Ohio River. The history of the second
siege of Fort Henry in the month of September, 1782, has
already been recorded elsewhere. A brief history of the first
siege will now be given.

In the month of August, 1777, — in which year the interior
settlements were so tmmercifully harassed by the savages, —
it was rumored that the Indians, in great numbers, meditated

234 History of West Virginia

an attack on Fort Henry; and as a precautionary measure,

scouting parties were kept out to watch the movem'"*"ts ...

the enemy: while the settlers in the ' ' *'-^ •' "'' , ,

; 1 ^ ^u- ^ f T Mr. Ashcraft was

sistmsf of about thirty ramihes, so' .orniC , j .

^u T A- :■ ■ ^u I u ^-'^f. and stepped to

ihe Indians, noticing that ihci ' "^"rff /• , / - ^

watched by the whites, abandoned ii ^^ourses of travel,

and divided as they approached the / /c., into small distinct

parties, and struck out along new lines for the Ohio. Thus

they succeeded in reaching Bogg's Island -two miles below

the fort — and there consolidated their force, cr ,sed the river

and proceeded directly to the creek bottom, under cover of

night, and completed their plans for the movement in the

morning; having completely fooled Capt. Joseph Ogle, who,

on August 31st, had been sent at the head of severe men to

scout along the usual routes followed by the Indians, and who

returned with the report of "no immediate cause for danger".

The Indian army, it is said, consisted of about 350
Mingoes, Shawnees and W3^andotts under command of Simon
Girty.

Some of our later day writers claim that Girty was not
present on this occasion ; that he was then at Fort Pitt ; that
he did not leave Fort Pitt until five months after this battle
was fought, notwithstanding there were persons present who
claimed they were personally acquainted with him, and had
talked with him before and during the battle. But whether
Girty, or some other white man, commanded the Indians on
this occasion, it does not matter ; and as this leader should have
a name befitting his unenviable position, the name of Girty
seems particularly appropriate, when it is understood what
sort of a man the latter really was. So, for the lack of a better
name, we shall call him Girty and let it go at that.

The Indians were formed in two lines across the bottom,
which was cleared and partly in corn and partly in tall weeds,
which effectually concealed them. Six Indians were then
stationed close to the path which led from the fort. Shortly
after daybreak, on September 1st, a negro man came running
to the fort, with the information that he and a white man
named Boyd (who had been sent out by Dr. McMechen to
get a horse) had just been fired at by some Indians below the

History of West Virginia 235

fort, and that Boyd had been killed. Capt. Samuel Mason,

who had brought his company to the fort on the previous

brother'john cTugi..'. --^^ fourteen men to drive the enemy

fired at them.- RoW: \ strength of the savages. When

^u- hank. wher. ; ^ ^^"'^y ^^^^ ^^ ^^^"^- Immediately

after this, inc n army rushed from cover and

attacked Mason ana is 'ittle band. Out of the fifteen, only
Mason and two of his men, Hugh McConnell and Thomas
Glenn, escaped. W^^liam Shepherd, son of Col. David Shep-
herd, was over^-^ken and killed near the present Market House
in Wheeling. Upon being informed as to Captain Mason's
unfortunate predicament, Captain Ogle, with his dozen ex-
perienced scouts, hurried to the scene of conflict for the pur-
pose of "'^sisting Mason and his men; but the result of the
expedition was as disastrous as the other, for all were killed
but Captain Ogle, Sergeant Jacob Ogle, and Martin Wetzel.

Immediately following this terrible slaughter of brave
men, this army of savages, with reeking scalps 'just torn from
the heads of the whites who had gone out to meet them in
battle, presented themselves in front of the fort and demanded
a surrender.

"The api)earance of the enemy, as they approached, was
most formidable," says DcHass. "They advanced in two
separate columns, with drum, fife, and British colors.

"As the Indians advanced, a few scattering shots were
fired at them from the fort, without, however, doing nnicli
execution. Girty, having brought up his forces, proceeded to
dispose of them as follow: The right flank was brought
around the base of the hill and distributed among the several
cabins convenient to the fort. The left was ordered to defile
beneath the river bank, close under the fort.

"Thus disposed, Girty presented himself to the window of
a cabin, holding forth a white flag, and offering conditions of
peace. He read the proclamation of Hamilton, Governor of
Canada, and in a stentorian voice demanded the surrender of
the fort, oft"ering, in case they complied, protection ; but if they
refused, immediate and indiscriminate massacre.

"Girty referred, in a boasting manner, to the great force
at his command ; and called u]ion them, as loyal subjects, to

236 History of West Virginia

give up in obedience to the demand of the king's agent, and
that not one of them should be injured.

"Although the whole number of men in the fort did not
exceed ten or a dozen, still there was no disposition to yield ;
but, on the contrary, a fixed determination to defy the rene-
gade, and all the power of King George.

"Girty having finished his harangue, Colonel David Shep-
herd, the commandant, promptly and in the most gallant and
effective manner, replied, 'Sir, we have consulted our wives
and children, and all have resolved — men, women and children
— sooner to perish at their posts than place themselves under
the protection of a savage army with YOU at its head ; or
abjure the cause of liberty and the colonies.' The outlaw
attempted to reply, but a shot from the fort put a stop to any
further harangue.

"A darker hour had scarcely ever obscured the hopes of
the west. Death was all around that little fortress, and hope-
less despair seemed to press upon its inmates ; but still they
could not and would not give up. Duty, patriotism, pride,
independence, safety, all required they should not surrender,
and forswear the cause of freedom.

"Unable to intimidate them, and finding the besieged proof
against the vile promises, the chagrined and discomfited Girty
disappeared from the cabin, but in a few minutes was seen
approaching with a large body of Indians, and instantly a tre-
mendous rush was made upon the fort. They attempted to
force the gates, and test the strength of the pickets by muscu-
lar effort. Failing to make any impression, Girty drew off
the men a few yards, and commenced a general fire upon the
:ort holes.

"Thus continued the attack during most of the day and
part of the night, but without any sensible effect. About
noon, a temporary withdrawal of the enemy took place. Dur-
ing the cessation, active preparations were carried on within
the fort to resist a further attack. Each person was assigned
some particular duty. Of the women, some were required to
run bullets, while others were to cool the guns, load and hand
them to the men, etc. Some of them, indeed, insisted upon
doing duty by the side of the men, and two actually took their

History of West Virginia 237

position at the port holes, deaHng death to man}- a dusky
warrior.

"About three o'clock, the Indians returned* to the attack
with redoubled fury. They distributed themseh'es among the
cabins, behind fallen trees, etc. The number thus disposed of
amounted to perhaps one-half the actual force of the enemy.
The remainder advanced along the base of the hill south of the
fort, and commenced a vigorous fire upon that part of the
stockade. This was a cunningly devised scheme, as it drew
most of the inmates to that quarter. Immediately a rush was
made from the cabins, led on by Girty in person, and a most
determined effort made to force the entrance. The attempt
was made with heavy timber, but failed, with the loss of many
of their boldest warriors.

"Several similar attempts were made during the after-
noon, but all alike failed. Maddened and chagrined by re-
peated disappointment and ill-success, the savages withdrew
to their covert until night-fall. Day at length closed ; dark-
ness deepened over the waters, and almost the stillness of
death reigned around. About nine o'clock, the savages re-
appeared, making night hideous with their yells, and the heav-
ens lurid with their discharge of musketry.

"The lights in the fort having been extinguished, the in-
mates had the advantage of those without, and many a stal-
wart savage fell before the steady aim of experienced frontiers-
men.

"Repeated attempts were made during the night to storm
the fort, and to fire it, but all failed through the vigilance of
those within.

"At length the night of horror passed and day dawned
upon the scene, but to bring a renewal of the attack. This,
however, did not last long, and despairing of success, the sav-
ages prepared to leave. They fired most of the buildings,
killed the cattle, and were about departing, when a relief party
of fourteen men, under Colonel Andrew Swearingen, from
Holliday's fort, twenty-four miles above, landed in a pirogue,
and undiscovered by the Indians, gained entrance to the fort.

"Shortly afterwards. Major Samuel McCollough, at the
head of forty mounted men, from Short Creek, made his ap-

238 History of West Virginia

pearance in front of the fort, the gates of which were joyfully
thrown open. Simultaneously with the appearance of INIc-
Collough's men, re-appeared the enemy, and a rush was made
to cut off the entrance of the party. All, however, succeeded
in getting in except the gallant Major, who, anxious for the
safety of his men, held back until his own chance was entirely
cut off. Finding himself surrounded by savages, he rode at
xuii speed in the direction of the hill.

"The enemy, with exulting yells, followed close in pursuit,
not doubting they would capture one upon whom, of all men,
they preferred to wreak their vengeance.

"Greatly disappointed at the escape of the gallant Major,
and knowing the hopelessness of attempting to maintain the
siege against such increased number, the Indians fired a few
additional shots at the fort and then moved rapidly oft' in a
body for their own country.

'Tt has been conjectured that the enemy lost on this oc-
casion from forty to fifty in killed and wounded. The loss of
the whites has been already stated. Not a single person was
killed within the fort, and but one slightly wounded."

An account of McCollough's leap over the precipice and
his escape from the Indians will be given in another chapter.

Ambuscade of Capt. William Foreman and His Men at Grave

Creek Narrows, in Marshall County,

September 27, 1777.

(By Wills De Hass, in Border Wars.)

By far the most disastrous ambuscade in the settlement
of the west was that at the head of Grave Creek narrows, now
Marshall County, Virginia (West Virginia), September 27,
1777.

In the fall of that year, when it became known that the
Indian Nations northwest of the Ohio would become the allies
of Great Britain, a call for troops was made on the West Vir-
ginia frontiersmen for the purpose of protecting the frontier
settlements. Major George Skillern raised two companies in
Botetourt County, which, with forty Greenbrier County men
under Captain William Renick, marched to Point Pleasant;
and Capt. William Foreman, of Hampshire County, collected

History of West Virginia 239

a company of men in the South Branch Valley and proceeded
to Wheeling, arriving at Fort Henry September 15.

On Sunday morning, September 26th, Captain William
Foreman with twenty-four men, Capt. Ogle with ten men, and
Capt. Linn with nine men, started from Fort Henry on a
scout. Their intention was to cross the Ohio at a point where
Moundsville now stands and thence proceed on down the river
to Captina, a distance of about eight miles; but upon arriving
at Tomlinson's fort and finding the same abandoned by the
whites and sacked by the Indians, and no canoes to be had,
the party remained there over night, and the next morning
started to return to Wheeling. Capt. Linn, being fearful of
an ambuscade, marched with his men along the hill crest ; but
Ogle and Foreman, having no such apprehensions, kept to the
trail along the river bottom. Thus they proceeded until they
reached the upper end of McMechen's narrows — now followed
by the Ohio River Railroad — where some of the party dis-
covered in the path some Lidian trinkets, beads, etc. With a
natural curiosity, but unthoughtful of a possible ambush, the
men gathered about those who picked up what proved to be
articles of decoy, and while examining them with the eager
curiosity of so many children — all being grouped together in
a compact form — two lines of Indians along the path, one
above and the other below, and a large body of them, at once
arose from covert and opened fire upon the unsuspecting party,
with fatal effect. The river hill rises at this point with great
abruptness, presenting an almost insurmountable barrier.
Still, those of the party who escaped the first discharge at-
tempted to climb up the precipice. But the savages pursued
and killed several. At the first fire, Captain Foreman and
most of his party, including his two sons, fell dead. The exact
loss was never known, 1)ut it is supposed to have been about
twenty-one, including the Captain. Of those who escaped up
the hill were Robert Harkness and John Collins. In addition
to Captain Foreman, the following named persons are said to
have been killed in this' ambuscade : Edward Peterson. Benja-
min Powell, Hambleton Foreman, James Greene, John \Mlson,
Jacob Ogle, Jacob Pew, Isaac Harris, Robert McGrew, Elisha
Shivers (or Shriver), Henry Riser, Bartholomew Vine}^ An-

240 History of West Virginia

thony Miller, John Vincent, Solomon Jones, William P2ngle,
Nathan Foreman, Abraham Powell, Samuel Lowry, and
Samuel Johnston.

On the day following this sad affair. Col. Shepherd, Col.
Zane, Andrew Poe, Martin Wetzel, and some others went
down and buried the dead in one common grave, near the
scene of the murder. Here their remains reposed until June
1st, 1875, when, by an order of the county court of Marshall
County, their bones were taken up and transferred to the
Moundsville cemetery, near the entrance facing the city, and
not far from the present Camp grounds. A stone slab about
five feet high and eighteen inches wide, bearing the following
inscription, marks the resting place of these pioneer soldiers :

THIS
Humble Stone

is erected

to the memory

of

Captain Foreman

and

twenty-one of his men,

who were slain by a band of

ruthless savages (the allies of

a civilized nation of Europe),

on the 26th day of September, 1777.

"So sleep the brave who sink to rest

By all their country's wishes blest."

This monument was originally

erected above the narrows on the

Ohio river four miles above

Moundsville, on the ground

where the fatal action occurred,

and the remains of Capt. Foreman and his

fallen men were placed here June 1st, 1875,

by Capt. P. B. Catlett, under the

order of the County Court of ■

Marshall County.

CHAPTER XVII.

CHAPTER XVII.

INDIAN WARS AND MASSACRES— Continued.

Murder of Inhabitants at Harbert's Fort.

The failure of the Indians to capture Fort Henry in Scj)-
tember, 1777, and their desire to wreak their vengeance on the
inhabitants less favored b}^ the protection of strong forts,
prompted them to strike the frontier, at points below and
thence proceed against the settlements in the interior. At
that time, the entire frontier between Wheeling and Point
Pleasant, a distance of one hundred and seventy miles, was
unprotected, with the exceptions of a few small, inefficient
stations at Grave's Creek, Baker's, etc. These offered no
serious impediment to the progress of the savages, and thus,
practically unmolested, they struck back to the heart of the
mountain settlements. A few of the attacks made by the
Indians on the Monongahela, Tygart's Valley, West Fork, and
Cheat River settlements have already been recorded, but sev-
eral important incidents were omitted, and these we will now
take up in their regular order as they occurred.

"In 1878, the inhabitants of the upper Monongahela, not
unmindful of the indications that had reached them, com-
menced busily preparing for the anticipated attack. Harbert's
block house, on Ten Mile Creek, in Harrison County, was con-
sidered a safe and convenient resort, and thither those living
in that quarter took shelter. Notwithstanding these pruden-
tial steps, they unhappily sufifered themselves to be lulled into
false security. The weather being fine, the children were al-
lowed to play outside of the block-house. Suddenly one of
them discovered Indians, and, running in, gave the alarm.
John Murphy stepped to the door to see if danger really ap-
proached, when one of the Indians, turning the corner of the

242 History of West Virginia

house, fired at him. The ball took effect, and Murphy fell
into the house. The Indian, springing in, was grappled by
Harbert and thrown to the floor. A shot from without
wounded Harbert, yet he continued to maintain his advantage
over the prostrate savage, striking him as effectually as he
could with his tomahawk, when another gun was fired from
without, the ball passing through his head. His antagonist
then slipped out at the door, badly wounded in the encounter.

"Just after the first Indian entered, an active young war-
rior, holding a tomahawk with a long spike at the end, came
in. Edward Cunningham instantly drew up his gun, but it
flashed, and they closed_in doubtful strife. Both were active
and athletic; and sensible of the high prize for which they
contended, each put forth his strength and strained every
nerve to gain the ascendancy. For a while, the issue seemed
doubtful. At length, by great exertion, Cunningham wrench-
ed the tomahawk from the hand of the Indian and buried the
spike end to the handle in his back. Mrs. Cunningham closed
the contest. Seeing her husband struggling with the savage,
she struck the latter with an ax. The edge wounding his face
severely, he loosened his hold and made his way out of the
house.

"The third Indian who had entered before the door was
closed, presented an appearance almost as frightful as the
object he had in view. He wore a cap made of the unshorn
front of a buft'alo, with the ears and horns still attached, and
hanging loosely about his head, which gave him a most hid-
eous appearance ; and on entering the room, this frightful
monster aimed a blow with his tomahawk at Miss Reece,
which alighted on her head, inflicting a severe wound. The
mother, seeing the uplifted weapon about to descend on her
daughter, seized the monster by the horns ; but his false head
coming off, she did not succeed in changing the direction of
the weapon. The father then caught hold of him ; but far
inferior in strength, he was thrown on the floor and would
have been killed, but for the interference of Cunningham, who,
having succeeded in clearing the house of one Indian, wheeled
and struck his tomahawk into the head of the other.

"During all this time the door was kept secured by the

History of West Virginia 243

women, the Indians from ^vithout endeavoring several times
to force it and would at one time have succeeded; but just as
it was yielding, the Indian who had been wounded by Cun-
ningham and his wife squeezed out, causing a moriientar}- re-
laxation of their efforts, and enabled the women again to
close it.

"The savages on the outside, in tlie meantime, were busily
engaged in securing such of the children as could travel and
murdering in the most inhuman and revolting manner all who
could not. Despairing of being able to do further mischief,
they moved oft".

"One white adult only was killed, and four or five
wounded. Of the children, eight or ten were killed and car-
ried oft". The Indians lost one killed, and had two badly
wounded.

Appearance of the Indians Near West's Fort.

"Shortly after the attack at Fort Hacker, mentioned here-
tofore, three women ventured forth from West's fort to gather
greens in an adjacent field. One of these was a Mrs. Freeman,
another Mrs. Hacker, but the name of the third is not now
known. While thus engaged they were attacked by four
Indians and all would probably have been killed had not their
screams brought the men to their rescue. Three of the sav-
ages immediately retreated, but the fourth, who carried a long
staft" with a spear on its end, rand up and thrust it through
the body of the unfortunate Mrs. Freeman. The savage then
scalped his victim before the men could drive him oft".

"Some persons at a distance from the fort, hearing the
screams, rushed forward. Of this number were Jesse Hughes
and John Ashcraft, who ran for the fort together, and as they
approached, Hughes discovered two Indians standing with
their faces towards the fort, and looking very attentively at
the movements of the whites. Changing their course they
reached the fort in safety. Hughes immediately grasped his
rifle and bounded out in pursuit, followed by some half dozen
others. Before reaching the place where the two Indians
had been seen, a signal resembling the howl of a wolf

244 History of West Virginia

was heard, which Hughes immediately answered, and he
moved rapidly on in the direction whence it proceeded. In a
short time the howl was again given and a second time
answered. Running to the brow of a hill and cautiously
looking around, Hughes and his companions saw two Indians
coming towards them. Hughes fired and one of them fell.
The other sought safety in flight and by running through the
thickets finally escaped."

The Indians Appear Near Coburn and Stradler's Forts.

In the fall of the year 1778 a large party of Indians
appeared near Coburn's fort, on .Coburn's Creek, in Monon-
galia County, and attacked a company of whites returning
from a field. John Woodfin and Jacob Miller were both killed
and scalped.

"The same Indians next made their appearance on Bun-
ker's Creek, near Stradler's fort. Here, as on Coburn Creek,
they lay in ambush on the roadside, awaiting the return of
the men who were engaged at work in some of the neighbor-
ing fields. Towards evening the men came, carrying with
them some hogs which they had killed for the use of the fort
people, and on approaching where the Indians lay concealed,
were fired upon and several fell. Those who escaped injury
from the first fire returned the shot, and a severe action ensued.
But so many of the whites had been killed before the savages
exposed themselves to view that the remainder were unable
long to sustain the unequal contest. Overpowered by num-
bers, the few who were still unhurt fled precipitately to the
fort, leaving eighteen of their companions dead in the road.
These were scalped and mangled by the Indians in a most
shocking manner, and lay some time before the men in the
fort ventured out to bury them.

Attack on Fort Randolph at Point Pleasant, West Virginia.

Early in June, 1778, a few Indians made their appearance
in the vicinity of Fort Randolph (Point Pleasant), and after
vainly manoeuvring to draw out an attacking party from the
garrison, disappeared, when suddenly a large body of savages

History of West Virginia 245

arose from their covert and demanded a surrender of the fort
on pain of insfant destruction.

"Captain McKee, the commandant, asked until morning
for consideration. During the night the besieged made good
use of the darkness by carrying water into the fort and put-
ting all things in readiness for a regular siege.

"In the morning Captain McKee replied that the demand
for a surrender could not be complied with. The Indians
(they were mostly Shawnees) then said they had come ex-
pressly for the purpose of avenging the death of their great
chief, Cornstalk; that the fort should be reduced, and every
soul massacred. The attack was commenced with great fury
and continued, with but little intermission, for several days.
Finding they could make no sensible impression, the enemy
withdrew and proceeded up the Kanawha, evidently with the
intention of attacking the Greenbrier settlements. No recent
demonstration of hostility having been made in that quarter.
Captain McKee justly became alarmed for the issue unless
information of their approach could be conveyed to the settle-
ments. Two soldiers were immediately sent in pursuit, but
being discovered, were fired upon, and they returned to the
fort. Two others then volunteered, Philip Hammon and
John Pryor. An Indian squaw present decorated them
in true savage style, so that the native warriors could
scarcely have told them from genuine Shawnees. Thus
efuipped, the intrepid hunters left Fort Randolph, and
■over hill and dale they sped onward, until finally they
reached the settlements. The people were alarmed, and
€re night closed in the whole neighborhood were col-
lected at the residence of Col. Andrew Donally, which was
a large, substantial, hewn-log dwelling, protected by pickets,
and answered very well for a place of defense. It stood about
ten miles north of the present town of Lewisburg. Every-
thing was put in readiness for an attack. A strict watch was
kept through the night, but no enemy appeared. The second
■day passed off in like manner. That night most of the men
went to the second story, having slept none for nearly forty-
eight hours. In the latter part of the night they became
-drowsy, and when daylight appeared all were in a profound

246 History of West Virginia

sleep. Only three men were on the lower floor — Hammon and
the white and black servants of Colonel Donally. At day-
break the white servant opened the door, that he might
bring in some firewood, and had gone but a few steps from
the house when he was shot down. The Indians now sprang
from their concealment on the edge of the rye field near the
house, and rushing in a body, attempted to enter the door.
Hammon and the black servant, Dick, made an effort to secure
it, but the Indians commenced chopping with their toma-
hawks, and had actually cut through the door, when Dick,,
fearing they might succeed in gaining their purpose, left
Hammon at his post, and seizing a musket which stood near,
loaded with heavy slugs, discharged it through the opening
among the Indians. The savages now fell back, and the door
was secured. Some of the savages crawled under the floor
and were endeavoring to force their way up ; Hammon and
Dick, with one or two men from the loft who had been aroused
by the firing, quietly awaited the Indians in their effort.
Presently, one of them showing his head through the open-
ing, Hammon aimed a blow with his tomahawk, and killed
him. A second was killed in the same way, and the rest
escaped.

"In the meantime, all the men in the loft were up, and
pouring upon the enemy a most destructive fire, drove them
off under cover of the woods. The attack was kept up during
most of the day, but at such a distance as to do but little
harm. One man was killed by a ball passing through an
interstice in the wall. On the alarm being given by Hammon
and his companion, a messenger was sent to the station at
Lewisburg (this messenger was -John Prickett, and he was
killed on the morning of the attack). By the activity of Col.
Samuel Lewis and Col. John Stuart, a force of sixty-six armed
men was ready to march on the third morning. To avoid an
ambush, they left the direct road, and taking a circuitous
route, arrived opposite the fort, turned across, and passing
through a r3^e field, entered in safety. Giving up all hope after
the accession of so large a force, the savages withdrew, and
moved off in the direction of the Ohio. Seventeen of them
were found dead in the 3^ard."

History of West Virginia 247

Capture of John Wetzel and Frederick Erlewyne.

In the spring of 1785, the Indians captured John Wetzel,
Jr., and Frederick Erlewyne, the former sixteen years of age
and the latter a year or two younger. The boys had gone
from Shepherd's fort, at the Forks of Wheeling Creek, in Ohio
County, for the puri)ose of catching horses. One of the stray
animals was a mare, with a young colt, belonging to Wetzel's
sister, and she offered the foal to John as a reward for finding
the mare. While on this service they were captured by a party
of four Indians, who, having come across the horses, had
seized and secured them in a thicket, expecting the bells would
attract the notice of their owners, so they could kill them.
The horse was ever a favorite object of plunder with the
savage, as not only facilitating his own escape from pursuit,
but also assisting him in carrying off the spoil. The boys,
hearing the well-known tinkle of the bells, approached the
spot where the Indians lay concealed, congratulating them-
selves on their good luck in so readily finding the strays, when
they were immediately seized by the savages. John, in at-
tempting to escape, was shot through the- wrist. His com-
panion hesitating to go with the Indian and beginning to cry,
they dispatched him wdth the tomahawk. John, who had once
before been taken prisoner and escaped, made light of it, and
went along cheerfully with his wounded arm.

The party struck the Ohio River early the following
morning at a point near the mouth of Grave Creek, just below
Moundsville. Here they found some hogs, and killing one of
them, put it into a canoe they had stolen. Three of the Indians
took possession of the canoe with their prisoner, while the
other was busied in swimming the horses across the riVer. It
so happened that Isaac Williams (a son-in-law of Mr. Toni-
linson), Hambleton Kerr, and Jacob, a Dutchman, had come
down that morning from Wheeling to look after the cattle,
etc., left at the deserted settlement (Mr. Tomlinson having
moved his family to Wheeling fort). WHien near the mouth
of Little Grave Creek, a mile above, they heard the rc])ort of
a rifle. "Dod rot 'em," exclaimed Mr. Williams, "a Kentuck
boat has landed at the creek, and they are shooting my hogs."

248 History of West Virginia

Quickening their pace, in a few minutes they were within a
short distance of the creek, when they heard the loud snort
of a horse. Kerr being in the prime of hfe, and younger than
Mr. Wilhams, was several rods ahead, and reached the bank
first. As he looked into the creek, he saw three Indians
standing in a canoe ; one was in the stern, one in the bow, and
the other in the middle. At the feet of the latter lay four rifles
and a dead hog; while a fourth Indian was swimming a horse
a few rods from shore. The one in the stern had his paddle
in the edge of the water in the act of turning and shoving the
canoe from the mouth of the creek into the river. Before they
were aware of his presence, Kerr drew up and shot the Indian
that was in the stern, who instantly fell into the water. The
crack of his rifle had scarcely ceased when Mr. Williams came
up and shot the one in the bow, who also fell overboard. Kerr
dropped his own rifle, and seizing that of the Dutchman, shot
the remaining Indian. He fell over into the water, but still
held on to the side of the canoe with one hand. So amazed was
the last Indian at the fall of his companions that he never
offered to lift one of the rifles which lay at his feet, in self-
defense, but acted like one bereft of his senses. By this time
the canoe, impelled by the impetus given to it by the first
Indian, had reached the current of the river, and was some
rods below the mouth of the creek. Kerr instantly reloaded
his gun, and seeing another man lying in the bottom of the
canoe, raised his rifle to his face as in the act of firing, when
the other cried out, "Don't shoot, I am a white man \"

Kerr told him to knock loose the Indian's hand from the
side of the canoe and paddle to the shore. In reply he said
his arm was broken and he could not. The current, however,
set it near some rocks not far from land, on which he jumped
and waded out. Kerr now aimed his rifle at the Indian on
horseback, who by this time had reached the middle of the
river. The shot struck near him, splashing the water on his
naked skin. The Indian, seeing the fate of his companions,
with the utmost bravery slipped from the horse and swam
for the canoe, in which were the rifles of the four warriors.
This was an act of necessity, as well as of daring, for he well
knew he could not reach home without the means of killing

History of West Virginia 249

game. He soon gained possession of the canoe, unmolested,
crossed with the arms to his own side of the Ohio, mounted the
captive horse, which had swam to the Indian shore, and with a
yell of defiance escaped into the woods. The canoe was turned
adrift to spite his enemies and was taken up near Maysville
with the dead hog still in it, the cause of all their misfortunes.

The Bevans Murder at Clark's Fort in Marshall County,

West Virginia.

Fort Clark was a small stockade fort, consisting of four
cabins placed together, and protected by a palisade wall ten
feet high. It was situated on Pleasant Hill, in Union District,
Marshall County. It was located on a farm since owned by
John Allen. Among others resorting at this fort was a family
by name of Bevans, embracing six members in all, parents,
two sons and two daughters. One day in July, 1787, these
four children visited their farm, which was about one mile
from the fort, for the purpose of pulling flax. While sitting
on the fence looking at the flax, they were fired upon by the
Indians. The younger brother, whose name was Cornelius,
was the only one to escape. The others were all killed.

The Johnson Boys' Adventure With Indians.

The following letter of Mr. Henry Johnson to Wills De
Hass relative to the adventures of the Johnson boys with
Indians is very interesting, coming, as it does, from one of the
actors in a border drama :

Antioch, Monroe County, Ohio,

January 18th, 1851.
Dear Sir:

Yours of the 8th instant has just come to hand, and I with
pleasure sit down to answer your request, which is a state-
ment of my adventure with the Indians. I will give the nar-
rative as found in my sketch book. I was born in Westmore-
land County, Pennsylvania, February 4th, 1777. When I was
about eight years old, my father, James Johnson, having a
large family to provide for, sold his farm, with the expecta-

250 History of West Virginia

tion of acquiring larger possessions further west. Thus he
was stimulated to encounter the perils of a pioneer life. He
crossed the Ohio River and bought some improvements on
what was called Beach Bottom Flats, two and a half miles
from the river and three or four miles above the mouth of
Short Creek, with the expectation of holding by improvement
right under the Virginia claim. Soon after we reached there,
the Indians became troublesome ; they stole horses and killed
a number of persons in our neighborhood. When I was be-
tween eleven and twelve years old, in the month of October,
1788, I was taken prisoner by the Indians, with my brother
John, who was about eighteen months older than I. The cir-
cumstances were as follows : On Saturday evening we were
out with an older brother and came home late in the evening.
The next morning one of us had lost a hat, and about the
middle of the day we thought that perhaps we had left it
where we had been at work, about three-fourths of a mile from
the house. We went to the place and found the hat, and sat
down on a log by the roadside and commenced cracking nuts.
In a short time we saw two men coming towards us from the
house. By their dress, we supposed they were two of our
neighbors, James Perdue and J. Russell.' We paid but little
attention to them, until they came quite near to us, when we
saw our mistake ; they were black. To escape by flight was
impossible, had we been disposed to tr}^ We sat still until
they came up. One of them said, "How do, brodder?" My
brother asked them if they were Indians, and they answe'red in
the affirmative, and said we must go with them. One of them
had a blue buck-skin, which he gave my brother to carry, and
without further ceremony we took up the line of march for
the wilderness, not knowing whether we should ever return
to our cheerful home ; and not having much love for our com-
manding officers, of course we obeyed orders rather tardily.
The mode of march was thus — one of the Indians walked
about ten steps before, the other about ten behind us. After
traveling some distance we halted in a deep hollow and sat
down. They took our their knives and whet them, and talked
some time in the Indian tongue, which we could not under-
stand. My brother and I sat eight or ten steps from them.

History of West Virginia 251

and talked about killing them that night and making our
escape. I thought, from their looks and actions, that they
were going to kill us; and, strange to say, 1 felt no alarm. I
thought that I would rather die than go with them. The most
of my trouble was, that my father and mother would be fret-
ting after us — not knowing what had become of us. I ex-
pressed my thoughts to John, who went and began to talk
with them. He said that father was cross to him and made
him work hard, and that he did not like hard work ; that he
would rather be a hunter and live in the woods. This seemed
to please them ; for they put up their knives, and talked more
lively and pleasantly. We became very familiar and many
questions passed between us ; all parties were very inquisitive.
They asked my brother which way home was several times,
and he would tell them the contrary way every time, although
he knew the way very well. This would make them laugh ;
they thought we were lost, and that we knew no better. They
conducted us over the Short Creek hills in search of horses,
but found none ; so we continued on foot until night, when
we halted in a hollow, about three miles from Carpenter's fort
and about four miles from the place where they first took us;
our route being somewhat circuitous, we made slow progress.
As night began to close in, I became fretful, ^ly brother en-
couraged me by whispering that we would kill them that
night. After they had selected the place of our encampment,
one of them scouted around, whilst the other struck fire,
w^hich was done by stop])ing the touch-hole of his gun and
flashing powder in the pan. After the Indian got the fire kin-
dled, he reprimed the gun and went to an old stump to get
some tinder-wood, and while he was thus em]:)loyed my
brother took the gun, cocked it, and was about to shoot the
Indian : alarmed lest the other might l^e close by, I remon-
strated, and taking hold of the gun, ]~)revented him shooting;
at the same time 1 begged him to Avait till night, and I \vould
help him kill them both. Tlu' other Indian came back about
dark, when we took our supper, such as it was, — some corn
parched on the coals and some roast i)ork. We then sat and
talked for some time. They seemed to be acquainted with the
whole border settlement, from Marietta to Beaver, and could

252 History of West Virginia

number every fort and block-house, and asked my brother how
many fighting men were in each place, and how many guns.
In some places my brother said there were a good many more
guns than there were fighting men. They asked what use
were these guns. He said the women could load while the
men fired. But how did these guns get there? My brother
said when the war was over with Great Britain, the soldiers
that were enlisted during the war were discharged, and they
left a great many of their guns at the stations. They asked
my brother who owned that black horse that wore a bell. He
answered, father. They then said the Indians could never
catch that horse. We then went to bed on the naked ground,
to rest and study out the best mode of attack. They put us
between them, that they might be better able to guard us.
After a while one of the Indians, supposing we were asleep,
got up and stretched himself on the other side of the fire and
soon began to snore. John, who had been watching every,
motion, found they were sound asleep. He whispered to me
to get up, which we did as cautiously as possible. John took
the gun with which the Indian had struck fire, cocked it, and
placed it in the direction of the head of one of the Indians.
He then took a tomahawk and drew it over the head of the
other Indian. I pulled the trigger, and he struck at the same
instant; the blow falUng too far back on the neck only stunned
the Indian. He attempted to spring to his feet, uttering most
hideous yells, but my brother repeated the blows with such
effect that the conflict became terrible, and somewhat doubt-
ful. The Indian, however, was forced to yield to the blows
he received on his head, and in a short time he lay quiet at our
feet. The one that was shot never moved ; and fearing there
were others close by, we hurried off, and took nothing with
-us but the gun I shot with. They had told us we would see
Indians about to-morrow, so we thought there was a camp of
Indians close by; and fearing the report of the gun, the Indian
hallooing, and my caUing to John, might bring them upon us,
we took our course towards the river, and on going about
three-fourths of a mile, came to a path which led to Carpen-
ter's fort. My brother here hung up his hat, that he might
know where to take off to find the camp. We got to the fort

History of West Virginia 25.>

a little before daybreak. Wc related our ad\cnturc and tlie
next day a small party went out with my brother and found
the Indian that was tomahawked, on the ground ; the other
had crawled oft", and was not found until some time after. He
was shot through close by the ear. Having concluded this
narrative, I will give a description of the two Indians. They
were of the Delaware tribe, and one of them a chief. He wore
the badges of his office — the wampum belt, three half-moons,
and a silver plate on his breast ; bands of silver on both arms ;
and his ears cut round and ornamented with silver; the hair
on the top of his head was done up with silver wire. The
other Indian seemed to be kind of a waiter. He was rather
under size, a plain man. He wore a fine beaver hat, with a
hole shot through the crown. My brother asked him about
the hat. He said he killed a captain and got his hat. My
brother asked him if he had killed many of the whites and he
answered, a good many. He then asked him if the big Indian
had killed many of the whites, and he answered, a great many,
and that he was a great captain — chief.

(Signed) HENRY JOHNSON.

Captivity of Mrs. Glass Near Wellsburg.

(By Wills De Hass, in "Border Wars".)

Early on the morning of the 27th of Alarcli (1788), two
Indians appeared on the premises of Mr. Glass, residing a few
miles back of the present town of Wellsburg (Brooke County).
At the time Mrs. Glass was alone in the house, \vith the
exception of an infant and a small black girl. Mrs. Glass was
spinning, and had sent her negro woman to the woods ior
sugar water. In a few moments she returned, screaming at
the top of her voice, "Indians! Indians!" Mrs. Glass jumped
up, and running, first to the window, then to the door,
attempted to escape. But an Indian met her and presented
his gun; Mrs. Glass caught hold of the muzzle, turned it aside,
and begged him not to kill her. The other Indian, in the
meantime, caught the negro woman and brought her into the
house. They then opened a chest and took out a small box

254 History of West Virginia

and some articles of clothing and without doing any further
damage departed with their prisoners. After proceeding
about a mile and a half, they halted and held a consultation,
as she supposed, to kill the children. This she understood to
be the subject by their gestures. To one of the Indians, who
could speak English, she held out her little boy and begged
them not to kill him, as he would make a fine chief after
awhile. The Indian made a motion for her to walk on with
her child. The other Indian then struck the negro child with
the pipe end of his tomahawk, which knocked it down, and
then by a blow with the edge across the back of the neck dis-
patched it.

About four o'clock in the evening they reached the river,
a mile above the creek, and carried a canoe, which had been
thrown up in some driftwood, into the river. They got into
this canoe and worked it down to the mouth of Rush Run, a
distance of about five miles. They pulled the canoe into the
mouth of the stream as far as they could ; going up the run
about a mile, they encamped for the night. The Indians gave
the prisoners all their own clothes for covering, and one of
them added his own blanket. Shortly before daylight the
Indians got up and put another blanket over them. The black
woman complained much on account of the loss of her child,
and they threatened, if she did not desist, to kill her.

At sunrise they commenced the march up a very steep
hill, and at two o'clock halted on Short Creek, about twenty
miles from the place whence they set out in the morning. The
spot had been an encampment shortly before, as well as a
place of deposit of plunder which they had recently taken from
the house of a Mr. Van Meter, whose family had been killed.
The plunder was deposited in a sycamore tree. They had
tapped some sugar trees when there before, and now kindled
a fire and put on a brass kettle, with a turkey, which they had
killed on the way, to boil in sugar water.

Mr. Glass was working with a hired man in a field about
a quarter of a mile from the house when his wife and family
were taken, but knew nothing of the event until noon. After
searching about the place and going to several houses in quest
of his family, he went to Wells's fort, collected ten men, and

History of West Virginia 255

that night lodged in a cabin on the bottom on which the town
of Wellsburg now stands.

Next morning they discovered the place where the
Indians had taken the canoe from the drift, and their tracks
at the place of embarkation. Mr. Glass could distinguish the
track of his wife by the print of the high heel of her shoe.
They crossed the river and went down on the other side, until
they came near the mouth of Rush Run ; but discovering no
tracks of the Indians, most of the men concluded that they
would go to the mouth of the Muskingum, by water, and there-
fore wished to turn back. Mr. Glass begged of them to go as
far as the mouth of Short Creek, which was only two or three
miles. To this they agreed. When they got to the mouth of
Rush Run they found the canoe of the Indians. This was
identified by a proof which goes to show the presence of mind
of Mrs. Glass. While passing down the river one of the
Indians threw into the water several papers which he had
taken out of Mr. Glass's trunk; some of these she carefully
picked up, and under pretense of giving them to the child.
dropped them into the bottom of the canoe. These left no
doubt. The trail of the Indians and their prisoners u]) the
run to their camp, and then up the river hill, was soon dis-
covered.

About an hour after the Indians had halted, Mr. Glass
and his men came in sight of their camp. The object then
was to save the lives of the prisoners, by attacking the Indians
so unerxpectedly as not to allow time to kill them. \\'ith this
view, they crept along until they got within one Inmdred
yards of the camp. Fortunately, Mrs. Glass's little son had
gone to a sugar tree, but not being able to get the water, his
mother had stepped out to get some for him. 1'he negro
woman w^as sitting some distance from the two Indians, who
were looking attentively at a scarlet jacket which they had
taken some time before. On a sudden they dropi^ed the
jacket, and turned their eyes towards the men, who, su])pos-
ing they were discovered, immediately discharged several
guns, and rushed ui)on them, at full speed, with an Indian
yell. One of the Indians, it was supposed, was wounded the
first fire, as he fell and dropped his gun and shot pouch. After

256 History of West Virginia

running" about one hundred yards, a second shot was fired
after him by Major McGuire, which brought him to his hands
and knees ; but there was no time for pursuit, as the Indians
had informed Mrs. Glass that there was another encampment
close by. They therefore returned witli all speed and reached
Beech Bottom fort that night.

The other Indian, at the first fire, ran a short distance be-
yond Mrs. Glass, so that she was in a right line between him
and the white men ; here he halted for a moment, to put on his
shot pouch, which Mr. Glass mistook for an attempt to kill his
wife with a tomahawk.

This artful manoeuvre no doubt saved the life of the sav-
age, as his pursuers could not shoot at him without risking
the life of the woman.

Mrs. Glass subsequently married a Mr. Brown, and was
long a resident of Brooke County.

Massacre of Jolly's Family Near Wheeling.

"Among the early settlers in the neighborhood of Wheel-
ing was Daniel Jolly. His improvement was on the hill, about
three miles from the mouth of the creek. The land was later
owned by a Mr. McEnall, and the site of Jolh^'s cabin is still
pointed out not far from the road wdiich crosses the hill from
the old toll-gate to the river. The family of Jolly consisted
of himself, wife and four children, with one grandchild.

On the 8th of June (1791), a small party of Indians, who
had secreted themselves behind some gooseberry bushes in
the garden, fired upon the family, killing Mrs. Jolly instantly
and wounding a son, daughter and grandson. Her eldest son,
John, had just reached the house from the corn-field, and was
in the act of wiping the perspiration from his brow with the
sleeve of his shirt as the ball struck him in the mouth. He
fell, badly wounded, and the next instant the savages M^ere
tomahawking him. Killing and scalping the other wounded
ones, and taking prisoner one son and a nephew of Mr. Jolly,
named Joseph McCune, they pillaged, then fired the house
and made a rapid retreat. Joseph McCune was killed after
proceeding a short distance because he could not travel fast.

History of West Virginia 257

as he suffered from phthisic. Mrs. Jolly was standing in the
door at the moment she was shot, looking in the direction of
the spring, to which she had sent one of her children. The
boy at the spring, whose name was James, escaped, also
another member of the family in the field. A daughter, Mary,
was absent at her uncle Joseph McCune's, who lived on the
ridge about five miles from the forks of Wheeling Creek. Mr.
Jolly had gone on a journey to the Monongahela to receive a
payment for some property which he had sold previous to
moving out.

The boy made prisoner remained in captivity seven years,
and was then regained by his brother at Pensacola. He was
discovered trading at Nashville ; and on being questioned, the
facts of his captivity were elicited, whereupon a gentleman
wrote to Colonel Zane, who communicated the intelligence to
the boy's father. These particulars were derived by De Hass
from Mrs. Cruger, Mr. Mclntire and a Mr. Darby, late of
Wheeling.

Death of Captain Van Buskirk, 1791.

"Early in June of this year occurred the last conflict on
the upper Ohio, between an organized party of Virginians
(West Virginians) and Indians. In consequence of the num-
erous depredations on the settlements now embraced in Brooke
and Hancock Counties, it was determined to summarily chas-
tise these marauders ; and accordingly, a party of men organ-
ized under the command of Captain Lawson Van Buskirk, an
ofificer of tried courage and acknowledged efficiency. A party
of Indians had committed sundry acts of violence, and it was
believed they would endeavor to cross the Ohio on their re-
treat, at some point near Mingo Bottom (about four miles
below where Steubenville now stands). The party of Cap-
tain Van Buskirk consisted of about forty experienced fron-
tiersmen, some of whom were veteran Indian hunters. The
number of the enemy was known to be about thirty. The
whites crossed the river below the mouth of Cross Creek and
marched up the bottom, looking cautiously for the enemy's
trail. They had discovered it along the run, but missing it.

258 History of West Virginia

they concluded to take the ridge, hoping thus to cross it. De-
scending the ridge, and just as the}^ gained the river, the In-
dians fired upon them, killing Captain Van Buskirk and
wounding John Aidy. The eneni}^ were concealed in a ravine
amidst a dense cluster of paw-paw bushes. The whites march-
ed in single file, headed by their captain, whose exposed situa-
tion will account for the fact that he was wounded with thir-
teen balls. The ambush quartered on their flank and they
were totally unsuspicious of it. The plan of the Indians was
to permit the whites to advance in numbers along the line
before firing upon them. This was done ; but instead of each
selecting his man, every gun was directed at the captain, who
fell, with THIRTEEN bullet holes in his body. The whites
and Indians instantly treed, and the contest lasted more than
an hour. The Indians, however, were defeated, and retreated
toward the Muskingum, with the loss of several killed, while
the Virginians, with the exception of their captain, had none
killed and but three wounded.

"Captain Van Buskirk's wife was killed just eleven
months previous to the death of her husband. They lived
about three miles from West Liberty. She had been taken
prisoner by the Indians and on the march towards the river
her ankle was sprained so that she could not walk without
pain. The Indians, therefore, put her to death on the hill just
above where Wellsburg now stands. Her body was found by
a pursuing party the next day." (Border Wars).

The Tush Murder.

George Tush and family resided on Wheeling Creek,
about twelve miles from the Ohio River, on a farm after-
wards owned by Albert Davis. The family consisted of Tush,
his wife and five children.

On the evening of Saturday, September 6th, 1794, as
George Tush was in the act of feeding some hogs near the
cabin, he was fired upon by three Indians, one of the balls
taking efifect in his shoulder blade. Being crazed by pain and
fear, instead of making for the house, where he might be of
some service to the family, he ran in the direction of the woods

History of West Virginia 259

and escaped; while three of his children were killed and a
fourth left for dead, and Mrs. Tush taken captive. One of
the children, though tomahawked and scalped, recovered and
afterwards became the wife of George Goodrich, residing near
Shelbyville, la.

"Tush, in his fright, ran some distance, and jumped from
a ledge of rocks fifteen feet in height. This so disabled him
that he could not get to Jacob Wetzel's house, which was just
across the creek, until late that night. He was taken to
Wheeling' a day or two after, and there remained until his
wound was healed."

Some years after this event, George Tush, while out
hunting, found what he recognized to be the remains of his
wife. The Indians had probably killed her on account of her
delicate condition, evidence of which was found with the
remains.

Attack on Mr. Armstrong at Blennerhassett's Island, in Wood

County.

A man by the name of Armstrong purchased a tract of
land near Blennerhassett's Island, in Wood County, where he
erected a residence and mill, moving his family to that place
from Belpre, Ohio, in the spring of 1794. The family con-
sisted of himself, wife, and seven children. Shortly after
their change of residence they were attacked by a band of
Indians. In the morning, Mr. Armstrong, hearing what he
took to be a turkey call, took his gun and dog and proceeded in
the direction in which he heard the "gobbling." One of the
sons who was taken prisoner and afterward escaped relates
what followed :

"After proceeding a short distance, either from the dog
or some other circumstance, Armstrong became alarmed, re-
treated to the house and barred the door. The Indians pur-
sued and endeavored to get the door open, but failing on the
first attempt, they took a rail to effect their purpose. While
they were endeavoring to gain entrance, Mr. Armstrong snap-
ped his gun in an attempt to shoot, but it did not go off; he
then ascended to the loft and removing some boards from the

260 . History of West Virginia

roof, escaped through the opening-, while the Indians were
breaking down the door. The alarm was given to the stock-
ade in upper Belpre, and a party went over. They met Mr.
Armstrong and the two eldest sons, who had been in the mill.
Mrs. Armstrong they found dead on the outside of the cabin.
It appeared as if she had attempted to escape from the roof,
as her husband did; but being a heavy woman, had probably
fallen and broken her leg. Two children were dead and a
little girl was still alive, but insensible, though when disturbed
she would say, 'What's that?' Mrs. Armstrong and two
children were scalped ; one child about two years old was not.
Two sons who were in the cabin were taken prisoners and
carried to the Indian towns, where they remained until the
close of the war, when their elder brothers brought them from
the Indian countrv."

CHAPTER XVIII.

Biographic Sketches and Personal Adventure.

Human events are, of course, dependent upon human
action. Yet the deed, rather than the actor, is uppermost in
our minds. We love to read of heroic performances, but the
average historian is prone to laud the deed, without much
apparent thought for the performer as an individual having an
existence separate and apart from his fellows. He is satisfied
to place all heroes in a common niche, without regard to in-
dividuality, and — forget them, if not their deeds.

This is not as it should be. A hero deserves a better fate,
for the plain reason that the act was within the individual and
therefore a part of him, and when we neglect one, we discredit
the other. Of course, it would not be possible to write the
life history, or even a brief part, of all those who are entitled
to honorable mention for the parts they have taken in life's
drama. But, in the hero world, as in other realms, some
characters stand out more prominently than others, and it is
to this class we especially allude.

The memories of our pioneer fathers are passing away ;
and while a few of our writers of pioneer history have given
us brief sketches of biography and personal adventure, later
day historians — ^especially writers of our school histories — are
gradually dropping the curtain over these scenes and charac-
ters ; and as time goes on the few old musty volumes which
still remain are practically the only written evidence we have,
and unless some action be taken to perpetuate these records,
the memory of our forefathers, as well as their individual at-
tainments, will become but a legend, and be finally buried in
deep oblivion.

AMiat can possess more interest to the people of our Little
Mountain State than a narrative of the toils, struggles and
adventures of men, "whose unshod feet tracked in blood the

262 History of West Virginia

snows of our hills, mountains and valleys; whose single hand
combats with fierce and relentless savages are unsurpassed in
the annals of border warfare?" If we be interested in their
deeds of heroism, why not be interested in the characters
themselves? Is it enough to say that "John Smith sacrificed
his life to save his friends?" Haven't we a natural desire to
know more about "John Smith ?" VVe think so, and the writer
is going to satisfy that desire so far as the limits of this book
will reasonably permit.

Lewis Wetzel.

LEWIS WETZEL! Who, in West Virginia, has not
heard of that name? For years it was a house-hold word in
the homes of the pioneers west of the Alleghanies, especially
along the Ohio Valley. We have recorded many adventures
of the whites with Indians in which Wetzel had no part, but
we have purposely withheld for this chapter a number of ad-
ventures with the savages in which he was often the chief, if
not the sole, actor.

As a scout he had no superiors and but few equals. He
was the Boone of West Virginia, and his memory will be ever
cherished in the minds of the descendants of our ancestors,
who reckoned on his splendid prowess in the defense of their
wilderness homes. And, though a taker of Indian scalps, the
name of Lewis Wetzel should, and will, be perpetuated. on the
pages of West Virginia history.

AVe can offer no more fitting eulogy of the man than is
given by that noted writer of border history — Wills De Hass
■ — which we herewith reproduce, in part, together with a brief
biographic sketch of the subject, along with a few narratives
of his adventures :

"Lewis Wetzel was regarded b}^ many of the settlers in
the neighborhood of Wheeling as the right arm of their de-
fense. His presence was considered as a tower of strength
to the infant settlements and an object of terror to the fierce
and restless savages who prowled about and depredated upon
our frontier homes. The memory of Wetzel should be em-
balmed in the hearts of the people of Western Virginia ; for

History of West Virginia 263

his efforts in defense of their forefathers were without a
parallel in border warfare. Among the foremost and most
devoted, he plunged into the fearful strife which a bloody and
relentless foe waged against the feeble colonists. He threw
into the common treasury a soul as heroic, as adventurous, as
full of energy, and exhaustless of resources, as ever animated
the human breast. Bold, wary and active, he stood without
an equal in the pursuit to which he had committed himself,
mind and body. No man on the western frontier was more
dreaded by the enemy, and none did more to beat him back
into the heart of the forest and reclaim the expanseless do-
main which we now enjoy. Unfortunately for the memory
of Wetzel, no reliable account of him has ever been published.
The present generation know little of his personal history,
save as gathered from the exaggerated pages of romance, or
the scarcely less painted traditions of the day. By many he
is regarded as having been very little better than a semi-
savage ; a man whose disposition was that of the enraged
tiger and whose only propensity was for blood. Our informa-
tion warrants us in stating that these conceptions are all
false. Lewis Wetzel was never known to inflict unwonted
cruelty upon women and children, as has been charged upon
him ; and he never was found to torture or mutilate his victim,
as many of the traditions would indicate. He was revengeful,
because he had suffered deep injury at the hands of that race,
and woe to the Indian warrior who crossed his path. Lewis
Wetzel was literally a man without fear. He was brave as a
lion, cunning as a fox, 'daring where daring was the wiser
part — prudent when discretion was valor's better self.' He
seemed to possess, in a remarkable degree, that intuitive
knowledge which can alone constitute a good and efificicnt
hunter, added to which he was sagacious, prompt to act, and
always aiming to render his actions efficient. Such was Lewis
Wetzel, the celebrated Indian hunter of West Virginia."

John Wetzel, the father of Lewis, was one of the first
settlers on Wheeling Creek. He had five sons and two
daughters, whose names were respectively, Martin, Lewis,
Jacob, John, George, Susan, and Christina.

The elder Wetzel spent much of his time in locating lands,

264 History of West Virginia

hunting and fishing. His neighbors frequently admonished
him against exposing himself thus to the enemy; but disre-
garding their advice, and laughing at their fears, he continued
to widen the range of his excursions, until finally he fell a
victim to the active vigilance of the tawny foe. He was killed
near Captina, in 1787, on his return from Middle Island Creek
(now in Pleasants County), under the following circum-
stances : Himself and companion were in a canoe, paddling
slowly near the shore, when they were hailed by a party of
Indians and ordered to land. This they, of course, refused,
when immediately they were fired upon and Wetzel shot
through the body. Feeling himself mortally wounded, he
directed his companion to lie down in the canoe, while he
(Wetzel) so long as his strength remained, would paddle the
frail vessel beyond reach of the savages. In this way he
saved the life of his friend, while his own was ebbing fast.
He died soon after reaching the shore, at Baker's Station, (at
the head of Cresap's Bottom, in Meade District, Marshall
County) and his humble grave can still be seen near the site
of the primitive fortress. The author, anxious to ascertain
with undoubted certainty the date of Wetzel's death and learn-
ing from a rehable source that the place of his burial was
indicated by a stone inscribed with the initials and year,
visited the spot in the summer of 1849. With great difficulty
he found the place and identified the grave of the elder Wetzel.
A rough stone marks the spot, bearing in rude, but perfectly
distinct characters, "J. W., 1787."

At the time of his father's death Lewis was about
twenty-three years of age, and in common with his brothers,
or those who were old enough, swore sleepless vengeance
against the "whole Indian race.

Terribly did he and they carry that resolution into effect.
From that time forward, they were devoted to the wood ; and
an Indian, whether in peace of war, by night or by day, was a
doomed man in the presence of either. The name of Wetzel
sent a thrill of horror through the heart of the stoutest savage,
before whom a more terrible image could not be conjured up
than one of those relentless "long knives." But to the per-
sonal history of Lewis.

History of West Virginia

265

OHIO ^/m

Scene one mile below Powhatan Station, in Marshall County,
W. Va., where John Wetzel, who was killed by the Indians, was buried.

A — Old burial ground.

B — John Wetzel's grave.

C—Where beech tree marked "J- W., 1887," stood.

D — Where Baker's fort stood.

E— Ohio River Railroad bridge No. 198.

About 10 years ago some hunters, while excavating for a ground
hog in a muskrat hole, which penetrated the grave of -Wetzel, un-
earthed what was supposed to have been the remains of a coffin, but
no bones were discovered. At the same time and place was found a
crudely constructed, hand-made axe, supposed to have been the prop-
erty of Wetzel.

Mr. Abram Dennis, a resident of Powhatan Station, was present
at the time, and he informed the writer that the axe was delivered
to him, and he turned it over to the Moundsville Echo, where it may
now be seen on exhibition. On February 18, 1915, Mr. Munsey Cross,
an old citizen of Powhatan, accompanied the writer to this spot and
pointed out the places shown in this illustration. — S. M.

266 History of West Virginia

The first event worthy of record in the Hfe of our hero
occurred when he was about fourteen years of age. The In-
dians had not been very troublesome in the immediate vicinity
of his father's, and no great apprehension was felt, as it was
during a season of comparative quietude. On the occasion
referred to, Lewis had just stepped from his father's door and
was looking at his brother Jacob playing, when suddenly turn-
ing toward the corn-crib, he saw a gun pointing around the
corner. Quick as thought, he jumped back, but not in time to
escape the ball ; it took effect upon the breastbone, carrying
away a small portion and cutting a fearful wound athwart the
chest. In an instant two athletic warriors sprang from be-
hind the crib, and quietly making prisoners of the lads, bore
them off without being discovered. On the second day they
reached the Ohio River, and crossing the mouth of McMech-
en's Creek, gained the big lick, about twenty miles from the
river. During the whole of this painful march, Lewis suffered
severely from his wound, but bore up with true courage,
knowing if he complained the tomahawk would be his doom.
That night, on lying down, the Indians, contrary to their cus-
tom, failed to tie their prisoners. Lewis now resolved to
escape ; and in the course of an hour or two, satisfying himself
that the Indians were asleep, touched Jacob, and both arose
without disturbing their captors. Lewis, leading the way,
pushed into the woods. Finding, however, that he could not
travel without moccasins, he returned to camp and soon came
back with two pair, which, having fitted on, Lewis said, "Now
I must go back for father's gun." Securing this, the two boys
started in the direction of home. Finding the path, they trav-
eled on briskly for some time ; but hearing a noise, listened,
and ascertained the Indians were in pursuit. The lads stepped
aside, as the pursuers came up, and then again moved on.
Soon they heard the Indians return, and by the same plan
effectually eluded them. Before daylight, they were again
followed by two on horse-back, but resorting to a similar ex-
pedient, readily escaped detection.

On the following day, about eleven o'clock, the boys
reached the Ohio, at a point opposite Zane's Island. Lashing

History of West Virginia 26/

together two logs, they crossed over and were once more with
their friends.

As this sketch will not allow us to notice in full his var-
ious youthful exploits, we will pass over a series of years, and
take up the thread of narrative at such points in our hero's
perilous career as we may deem most interesting to the read-
ers at large. Reaching the years of manhood, this remarkable
person spent most of his time in the woods. He' was truly
a genuine child of the forest and seemed to worship the grand
old trees with more than Pagan devotion. To him the wilder-
ness was full of charms, but the enjoyment of these was not
without great personal danger. A dark, insidious foe prowled
upon his track and closely watched every opportunity to way-
lay and destroy him. Wetzel roamed abroad, delighted with
every fresh grove, hill, dale, and rippling stream. To him the
swelling of the breeze, "the repose of the leaf, the mysterious
(juiet of the shade, the chant of birds, the whoop of the savage,
and the long, melancholy howl of the wolf," were sights and
sounds which stirred his most lively sensibilities. Rising
from his couch of leaves, by the side of some moss-covered
log, the lone hunter made his hurried meal and then moved on,
careless of fatigue, until night again closed around him. Such
was the woodman's life ; such the fascinations which bound
him to the wilderness.

Shortly after Crawford's defeat, a man named Thomas
Mills, in escaping from that unfortunate expedition, reached
the Indian Spring, about nine miles from Wheeling, on the
present National road, w^here he was compelled to leave his
horse and proceed to \^^heeling on foot. Thence he went to
A'an ]\Ieter's fort (on the north side of Short Creek, about five
miles from its confluence with the Ohio River, now in Ohio
County) and after a day or tw^o's rest, induced Lewis Wetzel
to go with him to the spring for his horse. Lewis cautioned
him against the danger, but ]\Iills was determined and the
two started. Approaching the spring, they discovered the
horse tied to a tree, and Wetzel at once comprehended their
danger. Mills walked up to unfasten the animal, when in-
stantl}- a discharge of rifles followed and the unfortunate man
fell, mortallv wounded. Wetzel now turned, and knowing

268 History of West Virginia

his only escape was in flight, plunged through the enemy and
bounded off at the very extent of his speed. Four fleet In-
dians followed in rapid pursuit, whooping in proud exultation
at the prospect of soon overhauling their intended victim.
After a chase of half a mile, one of the most active savages
approached so close that Wetzel was afraid he might throw
his tomahawk, and instantly wheeling, shot the fellovv' dead in
his tracks.- In early youth Lewis had acquired the habit of
loading his gun while at a full run, and now he felt the great
advantage of it. Keeping in advance of his pursuers du:
another half mile, a second Indian came up and upon Lewis
turning to fire, the savage caught the end of his gun and for
a time the contest was doubtful. At one moment the Indian,
by his great strength and dexterity, brought Wetzel to his
knees and had nearly wrenched the rifle from the hands of liis
antagonist, when Lewis, by a renewed effort, drew the weapon
from the grasp of the savage, and thrusting the muzzle against
the side of his neck, pulled the trigger, killing him instantly.

The two other Indians by this time had nearly overtaken
him, but leaping forward he kept ahead until his unerring-
rifle was a third time loaded. Anxious to have done with that
kind of sport, he slackened his pace and even stopped once or
twice to give his pursuers an opportunity to face him. Every
time, however, he looked around the Indians treed, unwilling
any longer to encounter his destructive weapon. After run-
ning a mile or so further in this manner he reached an open
piece of ground, and as he wheeled suddenly the foremost
Indian jumped behind a tree, but the tree not screening his
body, Wetzel fired and dangerously wounded him. The re-
maining Indian made an immediate retreat, yelling as he went,
^'Not catch dat man, him gun always loaded."

In the summer of 1786, the Indians having become trou-
blesome in the neighborhood of Wheeling, particularly in the
Short Creek settlement, and a party having killed a man near
Mingo bottom, it was determined to send an expedition after
the retreating enem.y of suflicient force to chastise them most
effectually. One hundred dollars were offered to the man
who would bring in the first Indian scalp. Major McMechen,
living at Beech bottom, headed the expedition, and Lewis Wet-

History of West Virginia 269

zel was one of his men. They crossed the river on the 5th of
August and proceeded by a rapid march to the Aluskingum.
The expedition numbered about twenty men, and an advance
of five were detailed to reconnoitre. This party reported to
the commander that they had discovered the camp of the en-
emy, but that it was far too numerous to think of making an
attack. A consultation was thereupon held, and an immediate
retreat determined on. During the conference our hero sat
upon a log, with his gun carelessly resting across his knees.
The moment it was resolved to retreat most of the party
started in disordered haste, but the commander, observing
Wetzel still sitting on the log, turned to inquire if he was not
going along. "No," was his sullen reply; 'T came out to hunt
Indians, and now that they are found I am not going home,
like a fool, with my fingers in m}^ mouth. I am determined
to take an Indian scalp or lose my own." All arguments were
unavailing, and there they were compelled to leave him — a
lone man, in a desolate wilderness, surrounded by an enemy
vigilant, cruel, blood-thirsty and of horrid barbarity, with no
friend but his rifle and no guide but the sure index which an
all-wise Providence has deep-set in the heavens above. Once
by himself, and looking around to feel satisfied that they were
all gone, he gathered his blanket about him, adjusted his toma-
hawk and scalping knife, shouldered his rifle and moved oft' in
an opposite direction, hoping that a small party of Indians
might be met with. Keeping away from the larger streams,
he strolled on cautiously, peering into every dell and suspicious
covert, and keenly sensitive to the least sound of a suspicious
character. Nothing, however, crossed his path that day. The
night being dark and chilly, it was necessar}' to have a fire,
but to show a light in the midst of his enemy would be to in-
vite certain destruction. To avoid this he constructed a small
coal-pit out of bark, dried leaves, etc., and covering these with
loose earth, encircled the pit with his legs, and then completed
the whole by covering his head with the blanket. In this
manner he would produce a temperature equal, as he expressed
it, to that of a "stove room." This was certainly an original
and ingenious mode of getting up a fire without at the same
time endangering himself by a light.

270 History of West Virginia

During most of the following day he roamed through the
forest without noticing any "signs" of Indians. At length
smoke was discovered, and going in the direction of it he found
a camp, but tenantless. It contained two blankets and a small
kettle, which Wetzel at once knew belonged to two Indians,
who were doubtless out hunting. ■

Concealing himself in the matted undergrowth, he pa-
tiently awaited the return of the occupants. About sunset
one of the Indians came in and made up the fire and went to
cooking his supper. Shortly after the other came in ; they
then ate their supper and began to sing and amuse themselves
by telling comic stories, at which they would burst into roars
of laughter. Singing and telling amusing stories was the com-
mon practice of the white and red men when lying in their
hunting camps (provided there "was no reason to believe ene-
mies were near). These poor fellows, when enjoying them-
selves in the utmost glee, little dreamed that Lewis AA^etzel was
so close. About 9 or 10 o'clock one of the Indians wrapped his
blanket around him, shouldered his rifle, took a chunk of fire
in his hand and left the camp, doubtless with the intention of
going to watch a deer lick. The fire and smoke would serve
to keep off the gnats and mosquitos. It is a remarkable fact
that deer are not alarmed at seeing fire, from the circumstance
of meeting it so frequently in the fall and winter seasons, when
t*he leaves and grass are dry and the woods on fire. The ab-
sence of the Indian was a cause of vexation and disappoint-
ment to Wetzel, whose trap was so happily set that he con-
sidered his game secure. He still indulged the hope that the
Indian would return to camp before day, but in this he was
disappointed. There are birds in the woods which commence
chirping just before the break of day and, like the cock, give
notice to the woodman that light will soon appear. Levvis
heard the wooded songsters begin to chatter and determined
to delay no longer the work of death for the return of the
other Indian.

He walked to the camp with a noiseless step and found
his victim buried in profound sleep, lying upon one side. He
drew his tomahawk and Avith one stroke the Indian was
silenced forever. After scalping him Lewis started for home.

History of West Virginia 271

Under the same circumstances the Indian would have served
Lewis the same.

A most fatal decoy on the frontier was the turkey-call.
On several different occasions men from the fort at Wheeling
had gone across the hill in quest of a turkey whose plaintive
cries had elicited their attention, and on more than one occa-
sion the men never returned. Wetzel suspected the cause,
and determined to satisfy himself. On the east side of the
creek hill, and at a point elevated at least sixty feet above the
water, there is a capacious cavern, the entrance to which at
that time was almost obscured by a heavy growth of vines
and foliage. Into this the alluring savage would crawl, and
could there have an extensive view of the hill front on the
opposite side. From that cavern issued the decoy of death to
more than one incautious soldier and settler.

\\'etzel knew of the existence and exact locality of the
cave, and accordingly started out before day, and by a circuit-
ous route reached the spot from the rear. Posting himself so
as to command a view of the opening, he waited patiently for
the expected cry. Directly the twisted tuft of an Indian war-
rior slowly rose in the mouth of the cave, and looking cau-
tiously about sent forth the long, shrill, peculiar "cry," and
immediately sank back out of view. LewHs screened himself
in his position, cocked his gun, and anxiously awaited the re-
appearance of the head. In a few minutes up rose the tuft,
Lewis drew a fine aim at the polished head, and the next in-
stant the brains of the Indian were scattered about the cave.
That turkey troubled the inhabitants no longer, and tradition
does not say whether or not the place was ever after similarly
occupied.

A singular custom with this daring borderer was to take
a fall hunt into the Indian country. Ecjuipping himself, he
set out and i^enetrated to the Muskingum and fell upon a camp
of four Indians. Hesitating a moment whether to attack a
party so much his superior in numerical strength, he deter-
mined to make the attem])t. At the hour of midnight, when
naught was heard but the long, dismal howl of the wolf, he
moved cautiously from his covert, and gliding through the
darkness, stealthily approached the camp, supporting his rifle

272 History of West Virginia

in one hand and a tomahawk in the other. A dim flicker from
the camp-fire faintly revealed the forms of the sleepers, wrap-
ped in that profound slumber which, to part of them, was to
know no waking. There they lay, with their dark faces turned
up to the night-sky, in the deep solitude of the wilderness,
little dreaming that their most relentless enemy was hovering
over them. Quietly resting his gun against a tree, he un-
sheathed his knife, and with an intrepidity that could never
be surpassed, stepped boldly forward and a moment later one
of the Indians was taking his eternal sleep ; another one went
the way of the first, followed quickly by a third. The fourth
Indian, being awakened by the sound, darted into the forest
and escaped, although Wetzel pursued him some distance.
Returning to camp, he scalped his victims and then left for
home. This achievement stamped him as one of the most dar-
ing and, at the same time, successful hunters of his da3^ The
distance to and from the scene of this adventure could not
have been less than one hundred and seventy miles.

During one of his scouts, in the neighborhood of Wheel-
ing, Wetzel took shelter on a stormy evening in a deserted
cabin on the bottom, not far from the late residence of Hamil-
ton Woods. Gathering a few broken boards he prepared a
place on the loft to sleep. Scarcely had he got himself ad-
justed for a nap when six Indians entered and, striking a fire,
commenced preparing their homely meal. Wetzel watched
their movements closely, with drawn knife, determined, the
moment he was discovered, to leap into their midst and in the
confusion endeavor to escape. Fortunately they did not see
him and soon after supper the whole six fell asleep. Wetzel
now crawled down and hid himself behind a log at a con-
venient distance from the door of the cabin. At early dawn
a tall savage stepped from the door, and stretching up both
hands in a long, hearty yawn, seemed to draw in new life from
the pure, invigorating atmosphere. In an instant Wetzel had
his finger upon the trigger and the next moment there was a
dead Indian. Lewis then bounded away and in a little while
was beyond pursuit.

When about twenty-five years of age Lewis entered the
service of General Harmar, commanding at Marietta, Ohio.

History of West Virginia . 17^

His new duties growing distasteful, he took leave of absence
and visited his friends in the neighborhood of \\'heeling.
Shortly afterwards, however, he returned to duty, and was
chiefly employed in the capacity of scout. It was whilst thus
engaged that an affair occurred which changed the whole cur-
rent of his life. Of the Indians who visited Marietta was one
of some celebrity, known by the name of George Washington.
He was a large, fine-looking savage and of much influence in
his tribe. The time of which we write was one of compara-
tive peace, and General Harma'r was particularly anxious to
preserve the good feelings then existing between the whites
and the Indians. Wetzel, during one of his scouts, met this
Indian and shot him. The reader will understand that all
Indians looked alike to Wetzel. They had killed his father
and many of his relations and friends. He knew that the
Indians, in spite of their peace proposals, had him marked as
their victim the first opportunity; that their pretended peace
movement was either a subterfuge to lull the pioneers into a
feeling of security, in order to take an advantage of them, or
else they were prompted to take such steps through fear. He
knew that the Indians had no love for the whites, and- that
some of them were even then crossing the Ohio into West
Virginia on the pretense of hunting "game" — but what kind?
"Wetzel admitted without hesitation that he had shot the
Indian. As he did not wish to be hanged like a dog, he re-
quested the general to give him up to the Indians, as there
was a large number of them present. 'He might place them
all in a circle, with their scalping knives and tomahawks —
and give him a tomahawk and place him in the midst of the
circle, and then let him and the Indians fight it out in the best
way they could.' The general told him that he was an officer
appointed by the law. by which he must be governed. As the
law did not authorize him to make such a compromise, he
could not grant his request. After a few days longer confine-
ment he again sent for the general to come to sec him. He
did so, and Wetzel said 'he had never been confined, and could
not live much longer if he was not permitted some room to
walk about.' The general ordered the officer on guard to
knock oft" the iron fetters, but to leave on his hand-cuft"s. and

274 History of West Virginia

permit him to walk about on the point at the mouth of the
Muskingum; but to be sure to keep a close watch upon him.
As soon as they were outside of the fort gate Lewis began to
caper about like a wild colt broken loose from the stall. He
would start and run a few yards, as if he were about making
his escape, then turn around and join the guard. The next
start he would run farther and then stop. In this way he
amused the guards for some time, at every start running a
little farther. At length he called forth all his strength, reso-
lution and activity and determined on freedom or an early
grave. He gave a sudden spring forward and bounded off at
the top of his speed for the shelter of his beloved woods. His
movement was so quick and so unexpected that the guard were
taken by surprise, and he got nearly a hundred yards away
before they recovered from their astonishment. They fired,
but all missed ; they followed in pursuit, but he soon left them
out of sight. As he was M^ell acquainted with the country, he
made for a dense thicket, about two or three miles from the
fort. In the midst of this thicket he found a tree which had
fallen across a log, where the brush was very close. Under
this tree he squeezed his body. The bushes were so thickly
matted that he could not be discovered unless his pursuers
examined very closely.

"As soon as his escape was announced General Harmar
started the soldiers and Indians in pursuit. After he had lain
about two hours in his place of concealment two Indians came
into the thicket and stood on the same log under which he lay
concealed ; his heart beat so violently he was afraid they would
hear it thumping. He could hear them hallooing in every
direction, as they hunted through the brush. At length, as
the day wore away, Lewis found himself alone in the friendly
thicket. But what should he do? His hands were fastened
with iron cuffs and bolts, and he knew of no friend on the
same side of the Ohio to whom he could appl}^ for assistance.
He had a friend who had recently put up a cabin on the
West Virginia side of the Ohio River, who, he had no doubt,
would lend him any assistance in his power. With the most
gloomy foreboding of the future, a httle after nightfall he left
the thicket and made his way to the Ohio River. He came to

History of West Virginia 275

the river about three or four miles below the fort. He took
this circuit, as he expected guards would be set at every point
where he could find a canoe. How to get across the river was
the all-important question. He could not make a raft with his
hands bound. He was an excellent swimmer, but was fearful
he could not swim the Ohio with his heavy iron handcuffs.
After pausing some time he determined to make the attempt.
Nothing worse than death could happen ; and he would prefer
drowning to again falling into the hands of Harmar and his
Indians. Like the illustrious Caesar in the storm, he would
trust the event to fortune ; and he plunged into the river.
He swam the greater part of the distance on his back and
reached the West Virginia shore in safety, but so much ex-
hausted that he had to lie on the beach some time before he
was able to rise. He went to the cabin of his friend, where
he was received with rapture. A file and hammer soon re-
leased him from his iron handcuffs."

Information having reached General Harmar of Wetzel's
whereabouts, he sent a party of men in a canoe to take him.
As the boat neared the West Virginia shore Wetzel, with his
friend and several other men, posted themselves on the bank
and threatened to shoot the first man who landed. Unwilling
to venture farther, the party returned, and Lewis made his
way homeward, having been furnished by his kind friend with
gun, ammunition, tomahawk, blanket, etc.

Exasperated at the escape of Wetzel, General Harmar
oft'ered a large reward for his apprehension, and at the same
time despatched a file of men to the neighborhood of Wheel-
ing, with orders to take him dead or alive. The detachment
was under the command of a Captain Kingsbury, who, hear-
ing that Wetzel was to be at Mingo Bottom on a certain day,
marched thither to execute his orders. We will let an eye-
witness finish the story:

"A company of men could as easily have drawn old Horny
out of the bottomless pit as take Lewis Wetzel by force from
the neighborhood of the Mingo Bottom. On the day that
Captain Kingsbury arrived there was a shooting match at my
father's and Lewis was there. As soon as the object of
Captain Kingsbury was ascertained it was resolved to ambush

276 History of West Virginia

the captain's barge and kill him and his company. Happii}',
Major McMechen was present to prevent this catastrophe,
and prevailed on Wetzel and his friends to suspend the attack
till he would pay Captain Kingsbury a visit and perhaps he
w^ould prevail with him to return without making an attempt
to take Wetzel. With a great deal of reluctance they agreed
to suspend the attack till Major McMechen should return.
The resentment and fury of AA'etzel and his friends was boil-
ing and blowing like the steam from a scape-pipe of a steam-
boat.

" 'A pretty affair, this,' said they, 'to hang a man for kill-
ing an Indian when they are killing some of our people almost
every day.' Major McMechen informed Captain Kingsbury
of the force and fury of the people, and asstired him that if
he persisted in the attempt to seize Wetzel he would have all
the settlers in the country upon him ; that nothing could save
him and his company from a massacre but a speedy return.
The Captain took his advice and forthwith returned to Fort
Harmar. AVetzel considered the affair now as finally ad-
justed."

In this, however, he was mistaken. His roving disposi-
tion never permitted him to remain long in one place. Soon
after the transaction just recorded he descended the river to
Limestone (Maysville), and while there engaged in his harm-
less frolicking an avaricious fellow named Loller, a lieutenant
in the army, going down the river with a company of soldiers
to Fort Washington, landed at Maysville and found Wetzel
sitting in a tavern. Loller returned to his boat, procured some
soldiers, seized Wetzel and dragged him aboard of the boat,
and without a moment's delay pushed off, and that night de-
livered him to General Harmar at Fort Washington, where
he again had to undergo the ignominy of having his hands and
feet bound with irons. "The noise of Wetzel's capture — and
captured, too, for only killing an Indian — spread through the
country like wild-fire. The passions of the frontiersmen were
aroused up to the highest pitch of fury. Petitions for his re-
lease were sent from the most influential men to the General
from ever}^ quarter where the story had been heard. The
General at first paid but little attention to these; at length,

History of West Virginia 277

however, the settlements along the Ohio and some of the back
counties were preparing to embody in military array to release
him by force of arms. General Harmar, seeing the storm that
was ai)proaching, had Wetz-el's irons knocked off and set him
at liberty.

"Wetzel was once more a free man. He returned to his
friends, and was caressed by young and old, with undimin-
ished respect. The vast number of scalps which he had taken
pro\ed his invincible courage as well as his prowess in war;
the suft'erings and persecutions by which he had been pursued
by General Harmar secured for him the sympathy of the
frontiersmen. The higher he was esteemed, the lower sank
the character of General Harmar with the fiery spirits of the
frontier."

Had Harmar possessed a tithe of the courage, skill and
indomitable energy of Wetzel the gallant soldiers under his
command in the memorable and disastrous campaign against
the ]\Iiamis might have shared a very different fate.

Shortly after his return from Kentucky a relation from
Dunkard Creek invited Lewis home with him. The invita-
tion was accepted, and the two leisurely wended their way
along, hunting and sporting as they traveled. On reaching
the home of the young man, what should they see, instead of
the hospitable roof, but a pile of smoking ruins. Wetzel in-
stantly examined the trail and found that the marauders were
three Indians and one white man, and that they had taken one
prisoner. Iliat captive proved to be the betrothed of the
young man, whom nothing could restrain from pushing on in
immediate pursuit. Placing himself under the direction of
Wetzel, the two strode on, hoping to overliaul the enemy be-
fore they crossed the Ohio. It was found, after proceeding
a short distance, that the savages had taken great care to
obliterate their trail, but the keen discernment of Wetzel once
on the track and there need not be much difficulty. He knew
that they \\ould make for the river by the most expeditious
route, and tlierefore, disregarding the trail, he pushed on, so
as to head them at the crossing-place. After an hour's liard
tra\'el the}' struck the path which tlic deer had made and

278 History of West Virginia

which their sagacity had taught them to carry over knolls in
order to avoid the great curves of ravines.

Wetzel followed the path because he knew it was almost
a direct line to the point at which he was aiming. Night com-
ing on, the tireless and determined hunters partook of a hur-
ried meal, then again pushed forward, guided b}^ the lamps
hung in the heavens above them, until towards midnight a
heavy cloud shut out their light and obscured the path. Early
on the following morning they resumed the chase, and de-
scending from the elevated ridge, along which they had been
passing for an hour or two, found themselves in a deep and
quiet valley, which looked as though human steps had never
before pressed its virgin soil. Traveling a short distance, they
discovered fresh footsteps in the soft sand, and upon close ex-
amination the eye of Wetzel's companion detected the im-
press of a small shoe with nailheads around the heel, which
he at once recognized as belonging to his affianced. Hour
after hour the pursuit was kept up ; now tracing the trail
across hills, over alluvial ground, and often detecting it where
the wily captors had taken to the beds of streams. Late in
the afternoon they found themselves approaching the Ohio,
and shortly after dark discovered, as they struck the river, the
camp of the enemy on the opposite side and just below the
mouth of Captina. Swimming the river, the two reconnoitered
the position of the camp and discovered the locality of the
captive. Wetzel proposed waiting until daylight before mak-
ing the attack, but the almost frantic lover was for immediate
action. Wetzel, however, would listen to no suggestion, and
thus they waited the break of day. At early dawn the savages
were up and preparing to leave, when Wetzel directed his
companion to take good aim at the white renegade, while he
would make sure work of one of the Indians. They fired at
the same moment, and with fatal efifect. Instantly the young
man rushed forward to release the captive, and Wetzel re-
loading pursued the two Indians, who had taken to the woods,
to ascertain the strength of the attacking party. Wetzel pur-
sued a short distance and then fired his rifle at random to
draw the Indians from their retreat. The trick succeeded, and
they made after him with uplifted tomahawks, yelling at the

History of West Virginia 279

top of their voices. The adroit hunter soon had his rifle
loaded and, wheeling suddenly, discharged its contents
through the body of his nearest pursuer. The other Indian
now rushed impetuously forward, thinking to dispatch his
enemy in a moment. Wetzel, however, kept dodging from
tree to tree and, being more lleet than the Indian, managed
to keep ahead until his unerring gun was again loaded, when,
turning, he fired, and the last of the party lay dead before
him."

Note. — The writer remembers hearing read, when he was
quite young (about forty years ago), an interesting novel,
entitled "Albert Maywood and Forest Rose," in which Lewis
Wetzel played a leading part. The story was based on the
foregoing narrative.

In Prison at New Orleans.

Soon after the occurrence just narrated ovir hero deter-
mined to visit the extreme south, and for that purpose engaged
on a flat-boat about leaving for New Orleans. Many months
elapsed before his friends heard anything of his whereabouts,
and then it was to learn that he was in close confinement at
New Orleans. The charge upon which he was confined for
nearly two years was that he had passed some counterfeit
money ; but this being disproved, it was then charged that he
had been guilty of gaining the affections of the wife of a
Spaniard. He was finally released by the intervention of our
government and reached home by way of Philadelphia, to
which city he had been sent from New Orleans. A gentleman
named Rodefer says he saw him immediately after his return,
and that his personal appearance had undergone great change
from his long confinement. He remained but two days on
Wheeling Creek after his return — one at his mother's and the
other at Captain Bonnett's (father of Mrs. Rodefer). Many
of the older citizens related to DeHass that they saw him dur-
ing this brief visit and conversed with him about the unfair
manner in which he had been treated in the Soutli. "Our
venerable friend, Jacob Keller, Esq., who now owns the old

280 History of West Virginia

Bennett farm, says he saw Wetzel and gathered many par-
ticulars concerning his imprisonment" (says DeHass).

"From the settlement he went to Wheeling, where he re-
mained a few days, and then left again for the South, vowing
vengeance against the person whom he believed to have been
the cause of his imprisonment. During his visit to Wheeling
he remained with George Cookis, a relative. Our informant
says she met him there, and heard Mrs. Gookis plague him
about getting married, and jocularly asked whether he ever
intended to take a wife. 'No,' he replied, 'there is no woman
in this world for me, but I expect there is one in heaven.'

""After an absence of many months, he again returned to
the neighborhood of Wheeling, but whether he avenged his
real or imaginar}^ wrongs upon the person of the Spaniard
alluded to, the biographer, at this time, has not the means of
saying. His propensity to roam the woods was still as great
as ever, and soon after his return an incident occurred which
showed that he had lost none of his cunning while undergoing
incarceration at New Orleans. Returning home from a hunt
north of the Ohio, somewhat fatigued and a little careless of
his movements, he suddenly espied an Indian in the very act
of raising his gun to fire. Both immediately sprang to trees,
and there they stood for an hour, each afraid of the other.
What was to be done? To remain there during the whole
da}^, for it was then early in the morning, was out of the ques-
tion. Now it was that the sagacity of Wetzel displa3^ed itself
over the child-like simplicity of the savage. Gautiously "ad-
justing his bear-skin cap to the end of his ram-rod, with the
slightest, most dubious and hesitating motion, as though
afraid to venture a glance, the cap protruded. An instant, a
crack, and off was torn the fatal cap by the sure ball of the
ever vigilant savage. Leaping from his retreat, Wetzel rapidly
advanced upon the astonished Indian, and ere the tomahawk
could be brought to its work of death the tawny foe sprang
convulsively into the air, then fell upon his face quite dead.

"Wetzel was universally regarded as one of the most effi-
cient scouts and woodmen of his day. He was often engaged
by parties who desired to hunt up and locate lands, but were
afraid of the Indians. Under the protection of Lewis Wetzel,

History of West Virginia 281

however, they felt safe, and thus he was frequently engaged
for months at a time. Of those who became largely interested
in western lands was John Madison, brother of James, after-
wards President Madison. He employed Wetzel to go with
him through the Kanawha region. During their expedition
they came upon a deserted hunter's camp, in which were con-
cealed some goods. Each of them helped himself to a blanket,
and that day in crossing the Little Kanawha River they were
fired upon b_\- a concealed party of Indians and Madison was
killed.

"General Clark, the companion of Lewis in the celebrated
tour across the Rocky Mountains, had heard much of Lewis
Wetzel in Kentucky, and determined to secure his services in
the perilous enterprise. A messenger was accordingly sent
for him, but he was reluctant to go. However, he finally con-
sented, and accompanied the party during the first three
months' travel, but then declined going any farther and re-
turned home. Shortly after this, he again left on a flat-boat,
and never returned. He visited a relative named Philip Sykes,
living about twenty miles in the interior from Natchez, and
there made his home until the summer of 1808, when he died."

"The personal appearance of this distinguished borderer,"
says DeHass, "was very remarkable. He was five feet ten
inches in height, very erect, broad across the shoulders, and
had an expansive chest and limbs denoting great muscular
strength. His complexion was very dark, and eyes of the
most intense blackness, wild, rolling, and piercing as the dag-
ger's point ; emitting, when excited, such fierce and withering
glances as to cause the stoutest adversary to quail beneath
their power. His hair was of raven jetness and very luxuriant,
reaching, when combed out, below his knees. This would
have been a rare scalp for the savages, and one for which they
would at an}-^ time have given a dozen of their best warriors.

"When Lewis Wetzel professed friendship he was as true
as the needle to the pole. He lo\-ed his friends and hated their
enemies. He was a rude, blunt man, of few words before com-
pany : but \vith his friends not only sociable, but an agreeable
com])anion. Such was Lewis Wetzel; his name and fame will
long survi\-e, ^vhen the achie\-ements of men \-astly his supe-

282 History of West Virginia

rior in rank and intellect, will slumber with the forgotten
past."

Reference has been made to Wetzel's high intuitive
powers, or instinct; also to his athletic attainments. The
writer has in his possession a letter from "Uncle" Presley
Martin of Reader, Wetzel County, West Virginia, under re-
cent date, which will emphasize the fact that Wetzel pos-
sessed these two great qualifications of a hunter in an abnor-
mal degree. The letter is, in part, as follows :

"My grandfather, John Martin, came to Wheeling with
his parents from New Jersey, in the early days. His father
is said to have been the first regular blacksmith to open up a
shop at that place.

"When my grandfather was a young lad he once took a
scout with Lew Wetzel down the Ohio River. When they
arrived at a point a short distance below where Proctor
Station, in Wetzel County, now stands, it was getting late in
the evening, and they began to look about them for a favor-
able place to camp for the night. Wetzel, as was his custom
before settling down for the night, took a circle around to see
that everything was safe, for the Indians occasionally crossed
over from Ohio into West Virginia. About the time Wetzel
rounded into the center a big 'coon jumped up against a tree,
and young Martin killed it. While they were feeling it and
remarking how fat it was and what a fine mess it would make,
Wetzel suddenly sprang up, with gun in hand, as though he
had been told, and said, 'Indians, Martin !' and taking another
circuit, he found fresh signs of Indians. Coming back with
this information, Wetzel said, 'Now, Martin, what are we
going to do, — stand our ground and take chances, or shall we
head for the fort at Wheeling?' After a hurried consultation,
it was decided to take the latter course — Wetzel not being
willing that young Martin should be unnecessarily exposed
to the very serious danger of an encounter with the. savages.
On their return, they had to cross Proctor Creek, near its
mouth. Being in a hurry, they did not wish to waste time
hunting for a fording place, so Lewis took a run and leaped
the stream at one bound, a distance of fully twenty feet ; but
that was a performance too great for young Martin and he

History of West Virginia 283

was compelled to swim, the water being too deep to wade.
Grandfather said afterwards, in relating this incident, that he
never before nor since had such a lively night's travel."

Andrew Poe and His Fight With "Big Foot".

(By Wills De Hass, in "Border Wars of West Virginia.")

A most formidable and fearful man was the vanquisher of
'Big Foot"'. Everybody has heard of the fight between the
huge Wyandotte chief and Poe, but unfortunately, the credit
has always been given the wrong man. Dr. Doddridge started
the error; and every writer upon western history for nearly
thirty years has insisted that ADAM Poe killed "Big Foot'".
Unwilling to strip the laurel from the brow of any man, but
pledged to do justice to all and give honor where honor is due,
it now devolves upon us to say that it was not ADAM, l)ut
ANDREW, Poe who accomplished the wonderful feat we are
about to record.

Of those who settled at an early day on the Ohio, near the
extreme upper corner of Virginia (West Virginia), were two
brothers, Andrew and Adam Poe. They were born near the
present town of Frederick, Md., and emigrated to the west in
1774. Adam was the older by some five years ; he lived to the
age of ninety-three, and died in 1840.

These brothers were "backwoodsmen" in every sense of
the word. They were shrewd, active and courageous, and
having fixed their abode on the frontier of civilization, deter-
mined to contest inch by inch with the savages their right to
the soil and their privilege to live. In appearance they were
tall, muscular and erect, with features indicating great
strength of character. Andrew, in general contour of his face,
difl^ered somewhat from his brother, while the freshness of his
color indicated a better degree of health than the sallow com-
plexion of the other. Both, however, were endowed with an
unusual degree of strength, and woe to the man who dared
engage in single combat with either. Early in the fall of 1781
there was an occurrence on the Ohio which stamped the char-
acter of one as a man of no ordinary make. The place of

284 History of West Virginia

combat was near the mouth of TomHnson's Run and about
two miles below Yellow Creek. A few months since we vis-
ited the spot and obtained from a member of the family the
particulars of that celebrated conflict, which we now give.

During the summer of 1781, the settlements in the region
indicated suffered not a little from Indian depredations. At
length it was ascertained that a party of six warriors had
crossed the river and committed sundry outrages ; among the
rest, killing a defenseless old man in his cabin. The people
became aroused, and it was at once determined to raise a force
and intercept the retreat of the savages. Eight determined
spirits at once volunteered, and placing themselves under
Capt. Andrew Poe, as he was then called, were ready for
action at five minutes' notice. Early on the following morn-
ing, they found the trail of the enemy and detected among
the foot-prints those of a celebrated chief called Big Foot,
who was distinguished for his daring, skill, eloquence, and
immense size. He stood, literally, like the tall man of Tarsus,
a head above his peers ; for he is said to have been nearly or
quite seven feet in height, and large in proportion. The feet
of this giant were so large as to gain for him the name of Big
Foot. Andrew Poe, delighted at the prospect of testing his
strength with so renowned a chief, urged the pursuit with
unabated zeal, until brought within a short distance of the
enemy.

For the last few miles the trail had led up the southern
bank of the Ohio, where the foot-prints in the sand were deep
and obvious, but when within a few hundred yards of the
point at which the Indians were in the habit of crossing, it
suddenly diverged from the stream and stretched along a
rocky ridge, forming an obtuse angle with its former direc-
tion. Here Andrew halted for a moment, and directed his
brother and the other young men to follow the trail with pre-
caution, while he still adhered to the river path, which led
through a cluster of willows directly to the point where he
supposed the enemy to lie. Having examined the priming of
his gun, he crept cautiously through the bushes until he had
a view of the point of embarkation. Here lay two canoes,
empty and apparently deserted. Being satisfied, however, that

History of West Virginia 285

the Indians were close at hand, he relaxed nothing of his
vigilance, and quickly gained a jutting clitt which hung over
the canoes. Hearing a low murmur below, he i^cered cau-
tiously over and beheld the object of his search. The gigantic
Big Foot lay below him, in the shade of the willows, and was
talking in a low, deep tone to another warrior, who seemed a
mere pigmy by his side. Andrew cautiously drew back and
cocked his gun. The mark was fair, the distance did not
exceed twenty feet, and his aim was unerring. Raising his
rifle slowly and cautiously, he took a steady aim at Big Foot's
breast, and drew the trigger. Flis gun flashed. Both Indians
sprang to their feet w^ith a deep interjection of surprise, and
for a single second all three stared upon one another.
This inactivity, however, was soon over. Andrew was too
much hampered by the bushes to retreat, and setting his life
upon the cast of the die, sprang over the bush which had
sheltered him, and summoning all his powers, leaped boldly
down the precipice and alighted upon the breast of Big Foot
with a shock which bore him to the earth. At the moment
of contact, Andrew had also thrown his right arm around the
neck of the smaller Indian, so that all three came to the earth
together.

At this moment a sharp firing was heard among the
bushes above, announcing that the other parties were engaged,
but the trio below were too busy to attend to anything but
themselves. Big Foot was for an instant stunned by the vio-
lence of the shock, and Andrew was enabled to keep them both
down. But the exertion necessary for that purpose was so
great that he had no leisure to use his knife. Big Foot quickly
recovered, and without attempting to rise, wrapped his long
arms around Andrew's body and pressed him to his breast
with the crushing force of a boa constrictor! Andrew, as we
have already remarked, was a powerful man, and had seldom
encountered his equal ; but never had he yet felt an embrace
like that of Big Foot. He relaxed his hold of the small Indian,
who sprang to his feet. Big Foot then ordered him to run
for his tomahawk, which lay within ten steps, and kill the
white man while he held him in his arms. Andrew, seeing
his danger, struggled manfully to extricate himself from the

286 History of West Virginia

folds of the giant, but in vain. The lesser Indian approached
with his uplifted tomahawk, but Andrew watched him closely,
and as he was about to strike, gave him a kick so sudden and
violent as to knock the tomahawk irom his hand and send
him staggering back into the water. Big Foot uttered an
exclamation in a tone of deep contempt at the failure of his
companion, and raising his voice to its highest pitch, thun-
dered out several words in the Indian tongue, which Andrevv
could not understand, but supposed to be a direction
for a second attack. The lesser Indian now again ap-
proached, carefully shunning Andrew's heels, and making
many motions with his tomahawk in order to deceive him as
to the point where the blow would fall. This lasted for
several seconds, until a thundering exclamation from Big Foot
compelled his companion to strike. Such was Andrew's dex-
terity and vigilance, however, that he managed to receive the
tomahawk in a glancing direction upon his wrist, wounding
him deeply, but not disabling him. He now made a sudden
and desperate effort to free himself from the arms of the giant,
and succeeded. Instantly snatching up a rifle (for the Indian
could not venture to shoot, for fear of hurting his companion),
he shot the lesser Indian through the body. But scarcely had
he done so, when Big Foot arose, and placing one hand upon
his shoulder and the other upon his leg, threw him violently
upon the ground. Before his antagonist could spring upon
him, he was again upon his feet, and stung with rage at the
idea of being handled so easily, he attacked his gigantic antag-
onist with a fury which, for a time, compensated for inferior-
ity of strength. It was now a fair fist fight betM^een them, for
in the hurry of the struggle neither had leisure to draw his
knife. Andrew's superior activity and experience as a pugilist
gave him great advantage. The Indian struck out awkwardly,
and finding himself rapidly dropping to the leeward, he closed
in with his antagonist and again hurled him to the ground.
They quickly rolled into the river and the struggle continued
with unabated fury, each attempting to drown the other. The
Indian being unused to such violent exertion, and having been
much injured by the first shock in his stomach, was unable
to exert the same powers which had given him such a supe-

History of West Virginia 287

riority at first — and Andrew, seizing him by the scalp lock, put
his head under water and held it there until the faint struggle
of the Indian induced him to believe that he was drowned,
when he relaxed his hold and attempted to draw his knife.
The Indian, however, to use Andrew's own expression, "had
only been possoming." He instantly regained his feet, and in
his turn, put his adversary under. In the struggle both were
carried out into the current beyond their depth and each was
compelled to relax his hold and swim for his life.

There was still one loaded rifle upon the shore and each
swam hard in order to reach it, but the Indian proved the more
expert swimmer, and Andrew seeing that he would be too late,
turned and swam out into the stream, intending to dive and
thus frustrate his enemy's intention. At this instant, Adam
having heard his brother was alone in a struggle with two
Indians and in great danger, ran up hastily to the edge of the
bank above, in order to assist him. Another white man fol-
lowed him closely, and seeing Andrew in the river, covered
with blood and swimming rapidly from shore, mistook him
for an Indian and fired upon him, wounding him dangerously
in the left shoulder. Andrew turned, and seeing his brother,
called loudly to him to "shoot the Indian upon the shore."
Adam's gun, however, was empty, having just been dis-
charged. Fortunately, Big Foot had also seized the gun with
which Andrew had shot the lesser Indian, so that both were
upon an equality. The contest now was who should beat load-
ing, the Indian exclaiming, "Who load first, shoot first !" Big
Foot got his powder down first, but in the excitement of
drawing the ramrod out it slipped through his fingers and fell
into the river. The noble savage now feeling that all was over,
faced his foe, pulled open the bosom of his shirt, and the next
instant received the ball of his adversary fair in his breast.
Adam, alarmed for his brother, who was scarcely able to swim,
threw down his gun and rushed into the river, in order to
bring him ashore — but Andrew, more intent upon securing
the scalp of Big Foot as a trophy than upon his own safety,
called loudly upon his brother to leave him alone and scalp
the big Indian, who was endeavoring to roll himself into the
water, from a romantic desire, peculiar to an Indian warrior,

288 History of West Virginia

of securing his scalp from the enemy. Adam, however, refused
to obey, and insisted upon saving the living before attending
to the dead. Big Foot, in the meantime, had succeeded in
reaching the deep water before he expired, and his body was
borne off by the waves without being stripped of the orna-
ment and pride of an Indian warrior.

The death of Big Foot was a severe blow to his tribe and
is said to have thrown them all into mourning. He was an
able and noble chief and often rendered signal service to the
whites by reclaiming prisoners from the stake and otherwise
averting the doom his tribe seemed determined to visit upon
their captives.

Poe recovered from his wounds, and lived until about
1831.

Andrew Poe was certainly an extraordinary man, and the
impress of his character is still visible in the region where he
lived. During his lifetime he was a most active and useful
man. He lived about one mile from Hookstown, Pennsyl-
vania, where many of his descendants still reside.

Colonel William Crawford.

(By Wills De Hass in Indian Wars).

The fate of this unfortunate officer has excited, and will
continue to excite so long as the history of the west shall be
read, the most painful interest and the liveliest sympathy.
We do not propose at this time to give a lengthy sketch of his
life and services, but simply to notice a few points in his
personal history.

Colonel Crawford was a native of Berkeley County, Vir-
ginia (West Virginia). He was born in 1732 — a year memor-
able as giving birth to Washington and Marion. He early
gave promise of much talent and energy of character. At the
age of twenty-six, he raised a company and joined Washing-
ton's regiment in the expedition of General Forbes against
Fort Duquesne. His fine military bearing at that time at-
tracted the attention and commanded the esteem of Wash-
ington. On the breaking out of the Revolution, by his own
indomitable energy he enrolled a regiment and received, in

History of West Virginia 289

consideration of his great personal effort, a colonel's commis-
sion in the Colonial army.

His lirst visit to the west was in 1767, and two years after,
he removed his family. The place selected for his home was
on the Youghioghany River, where the town of Connellsville,
Fayette County, Penna., now stands. His house was one of
the first in the valley of the Youghioghany, and it was always
open to those who thought proper to give him a call. His
hospitality and uniform kindness were subjects of general
remark. Of those who early shared the hospitalities of his
roof was Washington. We find in his journal of a tour to the
west in 1770, frequent reference to Col. Crawford, who proved
one of his most devoted friends.

He seems to have enjoyed himself greatly and passed the
time most pleasantly. A sister of the gallant Colonel com-
manded not a little of the distinguished guest's attention, and
were we disposed, now that time has flung his many-colored
veil over all, we could call upon fancy with her palette and
brush to paint a scene in that western cabin ; but our limits
forbid.

During this visit of Washington, he remained several
days and then, accompanied by Colonel Crawford, proceeded
to Fort Pitt, thence in company with others to the Great
Kanawha, and after a pretty thorough exploration, returned
to the Youghioghany. Most of the lands belonging to Wash-
ington in the west were located by Col. Crawford. We have
frequently heard the old surveyors along the Ohio say that
they often met with his "corners." Some of the earliest sur-
veys within the present limits of Brooke, Ohio and Marshall
Counties (now in West Virginia), were made by Colonel
Crawford. We sincerely regret the scarcity of material for
a suitable memoir of this meritorious but most unfortunate
officer. His papers and records were never preserved ; his
family beeame scattered ; ,"most of his contemporaries have
followed him to the land of spirits, and very little else than a
few brief stories remain to tell of his virtues and his fame."
Passing over many of his years of usefulness to the west, we
come to the fearful catastrophe. Colonel Crawford had fre-
quently led expeditions against the Indians, but on the occa-

290 History of West Virginia

sion of which we are about to speak, he at first absolutely
declined to go. It seemed as though he had a presentiment
of the fate which was to befall him. At length, however, he
yielded to the importunities of his friends and accompanied
the men to the place of rendezvous. It is even asserted that
after his selection as commander, he was reluctant to accept.
Having noticed elsewhere the progress of the army and its
disastrous defeat, it now alone remains to finish the sad story
by giving the particulars of the terrible death of its command-
ing officer. As these have been most faithfully narrated by
Dr. Knight, the fellow prisoner of Colonel Crawford and an
eye-witness to the whole terrible scene, we will now follow
his account. A retreat having been determined on, the whole
army moved o& in the silence of the night, hoping thereby to
avoid pursuit. But the ever vigilant enemy noticed the move-
ment, and instantly pursuit was given.

"\Ye had not got a quarter of a mile from the field of
action, when I heard Col. Crawford calling for his son John,
his son-in-law Major Harrison, Major Rose and William
Crawford, his nephews, upon which I came up and told him
I believed the3^Avere before us. He asked, 'Is that the Doc-
tor?' I told him it was. He then replied, that they were not
in front, and begged me not to leave him ; I promised him I
would not.

"We then waited, and continued calling for these men
till the troops had passed us. The Colonel told me his horse
had almost given out, that he could not keep up with the
troops, and wished some of his best friends to remain with
him ; he then exclaimed against the mihtia for riding ofif in
such an irregular manner and leaving some of the wounded
behind, contrary to his orders. Presently there came two
men riding after us, one of them an old man, the other a lad.
We inquired if they had seen any of the above persons and
they answered they had not. »

"By this time there was a very hot firing before us and,
as we judged, near where our main body must have been.
Our course was then nearly southwest, but changing it, we
went north about two miles, the two men remaining in com-
pany with us. Judging ourselves to be now out of the

History of West Virginia 291

enemy's lines, we took a due east course, taking care to keep
at the distance of fifteen or twenty yards apart, and directing
ourselves by the north star.

"About day-break Colonel Crawford's and the younger
man's horses gave out, and they left th^m. We pursued our
journey eastward, and about two o'clock fell in with Capt.
Biggs, who had carried Lieut. Ashly from the field of action,
who had been dangerously wounded. We then went on about
the space of an hour, when a heavy rain coming, we concluded
it best to encamp, as we were encumbered with the wounded
officer. A^"e then barked four or five trees, made an encamp-
ment and a fire, and remained there all night. Next morning
we again prosecuted our journey and having gone about three
miles found a deer which had been recently killed. The meat
was sliced from the bones and bundled up in the skin with a
tomahawk lying by it. We carried all with us, and in ad-
vancing about one mile farther espied the smoke of a fire.
We then gave the wounded officer into the charge of the
young man, desiring him to stay behind, whilst the Colonel,
the Captain and myself, walked up as cautiously as we could
toward the fire. When we came to it, we concluded, from
several circumstances, some of our people had encamped there
the preceding night. We then went about roasting the veni-
son, and when just about to march observed one of our men
coming upon our tracks. He seemed at first very shy, but
having called to him he came up and told us he was the
person who had killed the deer, but upon hearing us come
up was afraid of Indians, hid in a thicket, and made ofif. Upon
this we gave him some bread and roasted venison, proceeded
together on our journey, and about two o'clock came upon
the paths by which we had gone out. Capt. Biggs and myself
did not think it safe to keep the road, but the Colonel said the
Indians would not follow the troops farther than the plains,
which we were then considerably past. As the wounded of-
ficer rode Capt. Biggs's horse, I lent the Captain mine; the
Colonel and ni3^self went about one hundred yards in front,
the Captain and the wounded officer in the center, and the
two young men behind. After we had traveled about one
mile and a half, several Indians started up within fifteen or

292 History of West Virginia

twenty steps of the Colonel and me. As we first discovered
only three, I immediately got behind a large black oak, made
ready my piece and raised it up to take sight, when the
Colonel called to me twice not to fire ; upon that one of the
Indians ran up to the Colonel and took him by the hand. The
Colonel then told me to put down my gun, which I did. At
that instant one of them came up to me whom I had formerly
seen very often, calhng me Doctor, and took me by the hand.
They were DelaAvare Indians of the Wingenim tribe. Capt.
Biggs fired amongst them, but did no execution. They then
told us to call these people and make them come there, else
they would go and kill them, which the Colonel did, but they
four got off and escaped for that time. The Colonel and I
were then taken to the Indian camp, which was about half a
mile from the place where we were captured. On Sunday
evening, five Delawares who had posted themselves at some
distance farther on the road brought back to the camp, where
we lay, Capt. Biggs's and Lieut. Ashley's scalps, with an In-
dian scalp which Capt. Biggs had taken in the field of action ;
they also brought in Biggs's horse and mine ; they told us the
two other men got away from them.

"Monday morning, the tenth of June, we vv^ere paraded
to march to Sandusky, about thirty-three miles distant; they
had eleven prisoners of us and four scalps, the Indians being
seventeen in number.

"Colonel Crawford was very desirous to see a certain
Simon Girty, who lived among the Indians, and was on this
account permitted to go to town the same night, with two
warriors to guard him, having orders at the same time to pass
by the place where the Colonel had turned out his horse, that
they might, if possible, find him. The rest of us were taken
as far as the old town, which was within eight miles of the
new.

"Tuesday morning, the eleventh, Colonel Crawford was
brought out to us on purpose to be marched in with the other
prisoners. I asked the colonel if he had seen Mr. Girty. He
told me he had, and that Girty had promised to do everything
in his power for him, but that the Indians were very much en-
raged against the prisoners, particularly Captain Pipe, one of

History of West Virginia 293

the chiefs; he Hkewise told me that Girty had informed him
that his son-in-law, Colonel Harrison, and his nephew, Wil-
liam Crawford, were made prisoners by the Shawnees, but
had been pardoned. This Captain Pipe had come from the
towns about an hour before Colonel Crawford and had painted
all the prisoners' faces black.

"As he was painting me, he told me I should go to the
Shawnees' towns and see my friends. When the colonel ar-
rived he painted him black also, told him he was glad to see
him, and that he would have him shaved when he came to
see his friends at the Wyandotte town. When we marched,
the colonel and I were kept prisoners between Pipe and Wyn-
genin, the two Delaware chiefs, the other nine prisoners ware
sent forward with a party of Indians. As we went along we
saw four of the prisoners lying by the path tomahawked and
scalped ; some of them were at the distance of half a mile from
each other. WHien we arrived within half a mile of the place
where the colonel was executed, we overtook the five prisoners
that remained alive; the Indians had caused them to sit down
on the ground, as they did so, also the colonel and myself, at
some distance from them ; I was there given in charge of an
Indian fellow to be taken to the Shawnees' town.

"In the place where we were now made to sit down, there
was a number of squaws and boys, who fell on the five pris-
oners and tomahawked them. There was a certain John Mc-
Kinley amongst the prisoners, formerly an ofiicer in the 13th
Virginia Regiment, whose head an old squaw cut ofif and the
Indians kicked it about on the ground. The young Indian
fellows came often where the colonel and I were and dashed
the scalps in our faces. We were then conducted along to-
ward the place where the colonel was afterwards executed.
When we came within half a mile of it, Simon Girty met us,
with several Indians on horseback; he spoke to the colonel,
but I was about one hundred and fifty yards behind and could
not hear what passed between them.

"Almost every Indian we met struck us with sticks or
their fists. Gii'ty waited till I was brought up, and then
asked. 'Was that the doctor?' I answered him 'Yes,' and
went towards him, reaching out my hand; but hv 1)i(l me be-

294 History of West Virginia

gone, and called me a rascal; upon which the fellow

who had me in charge pulled me along. Girty rode up after
me and told me I was going to the Shawnees' towns.

"When we came to the fire, the colonel was stripped
naked, ordered to sit down by the lire, and then they beat him
with sticks and their fists. Presently after, I was treated in
the same manner. They then tied a rope to the foot of a post
about fifteen feet high, bound the colonel's hands behind his
back, and fastened the rope to the ligature between his wrists.
The rope was long enough either for him to sit down or walk
around the post once or twice and return the same way. The
colonel then called Girty, and asked if they intended to burn
him. Girty answered, 'Yes.' The colonel said he would take
it all patiently. Upon this. Captain Pipe, a Delaware chief,
made a speech to the Indians, consisting of about thirty or
forty men and sixty or seventy squaws and boys.

"When the speech was finished, they all yelled a hideous
and hearty assent to what had been said. The Indian men
then took up their guns and shot powder into the colonel's
bod}^ from his feet as far up as his neck. I think not less than
seventy loads were discharged upon his naked body. They
then crowded about him, and to the best of my observation,
cut off his ears ; when the throng had dispersed a little, I saw
the blood running from both sides of his head in consequence
thereof.

"The fire was about six or seven yards from the post to
which the colonel was tied ; it was made of small hickory poles,
burnt quite through in the middle, each end of the poles re-
maining about six feet in length. Three or four Indians, by
turns, would take up, individually, one of these burning pieces
of wood and apply it to his naked body, already b.urned black
with the powder. But enough of these harrowing details.
Suffice to say that after prolonged agonies the unfortunate
victim succumbed to the inevitable and the soul of Col. Craw-
ford escaped to a pale beyond savage cruelty. After his death
his body was consumed to ashes."

Colonel Crawford was about fifty j^ears of age when he
suffered at the stake. His son-in-law and nephew were exe-
cuted about the same time; John escaped. What became of

History of West Virginia 295

the other members of his family is not known to the vvrittT.
A daughter was raised b}' Colonel Shepherd of Wheeling
Creek, and married a Mr. Thornburg. At her marriage, tlie
Colonel gave her one hundred acres of land, lying near the
present town of Triadelphia.

Dr. John Knight, who related some of the foregoing de-
tails, was a surgeon in the expedition against the Indians in
Ohio. He, too, was sentenced to death, but after thrilling
adventures finally escaped.

Col. Ebenezer Zane.

Colonel Ebenezer Zane, whose family is of Danish origin,,
was born in Berkeley County, West Virginia, October 7th,
1747. The fore-parents early moved to France, thence to^
England, and towards the latter part of the seventeenth cen-
tury emigrated to America. One branch settled in New Jer-
sey, nearly opposite Philadelphia ; the other on the South
Branch of the Potomac River, in Virginia. The subject of
this sketch is from the latter branch. Having heard of the
beautiful Ohio Valley, and being desirous of looking" upon that
country himself, he. when about twenty-three years old, ac-
companied by his faithful dog, left his home on the South
Branch and on a certain morning in June, 1770, arrived at the
east bank of the Ohio River, just above the confluence of- the
river with Wheeling Creek, "and gazing upon the outspread
landscape of island, hill and river, his enraptured vision com-
prehended all, and more than realized his most extravagant ex-
pectations." Being a young man of good judgment and sa-
gacity, he readily comprehended the natural advantages of the
location for a settlement and the future possibilities of the
same becoming a great city. At this time, it is said, there was
not a permanent white habitation from the source to the mouth
of the Ohio River. Selecting a site, Zane erected a cabin and
after remaining one season on the Ohio he returned to the
South Branch. In the following spring he and his family, to-
gether with some friends, moved westward as far as Redstone,
where a part of the emigrants were left while Ebenezer. with
his brothers. Jonathan and I^ilas, and two or three others, pro-

296 History of West Virginia

ceeded on to what is now Wheeling, where they commenced
the necessary improvements for the reception of their famihes,
who, in due course of time, were brought to their new homes.
In 1773 quite a number of other settlers came from the South
Branch and further increased the population of what is now
the largest city in West Virginia.

Ebenezer Zane married Elizabeth McColloch, sister of the
daring McColloch brothers, of border warfare fame. She bore
him thirteen children: Catharine, Ann, Sarah, John, Samuel,
Hetty, Jesse, and Daniel, and five others whose names we do
not know.

"The clearing of Col. Zane embraced about ten acres,
comprehending that portion of the present city, of Wheeling
lying along Main and Market streets from the brow of the
hill to a point above where the Suspension Bridge crosses
over to the Island. It was girdled on every side by the dark
green forest, save on the west, where swept the beautiful river.

"Col. Zane's intercourse with the natives having been
marked by mildness, courtesy, and honorable dealing, his ham-
let escaped the fury of the savages and nothing occurred to
mar the pleasure of his western life until the fall of 1777, when
the attack was made on Fort Henry of which mention has
been made elsewhere. From time to time he received marks
of distinction from the Colonial, State and National govern-
ments. To these, however, he seems never to have aspired —
preferring the peace and quietude of his home to the pomp of
public positions. "He was as generous as brave; strictly hon-
orable to all men, and most jealous of his own rights. He
possessed, in an eminent degree, the constituents of a true
gentleman — the disposition to render unto all their due^-the
quick, delicate, accurate perception of others' rights and oth-
ers' claims. He was of a nervous temperament and hard to
restrain when excited ; a plain, blunt man, rude of speech but
true of heart, knowing nothing of formalities and caring about
little else than his family, his friends, and his country.

"The personal appearance of Colonel Zane M^as some-
what remarkable : dark complexion, piercing black eyes, huge
brows, and prominent nose. Not very tall, but uncommonly
active and athletic, he was a match for almost any man in

History of West Virginia 297

the settlement, and many are the incidents in wood and field
told of his prowess and his strength. He was a devoted
hunter and spent much of his time in the woods. But few
men could out-shoot, and fewer still out-run, him. In illus-
tration of his skill with the rifle, it is said that he once took
aim from the fort and shot an Indian on the island."

Colonel Zane's courage was further attested by his actions
during- the siege of the fort in the fall of 1782, related else-
where.

By an act of Congress, May, 1796, Colonel Zane, assisted
by his brother Jonathan and son-in-law John Mclntire, aided
by an Indian guide, Tomepomehala, whose knowledge of the
country enabled him to render valuable suggestions, erected
a public road, in the year 1797, from Wheeling to Maysville ;
in tonsideration for which service Colonel Zane was granted
the privilege "of locating military warrants upon three sec-
tions of land ; the first to be at the crossing of the Muskingum,
the second at Hock-hocking, and the third at Scioto." The
colonel thought of crossing the Muskingum at Duncan's Falls,
but foreseeing the great value of the hydraulic powder created
by the falls, determined to cross at the point where Zanesville
has since been established and thus secure this important
power. The second section was located where Lancaster now
stands, and the third on the east side of the Scioto opposite
Chillicothe. The first he gave, principally, to his two assist-
ants for services rendered. In addition to these fine posses-
sions, Colonel Zane acquired large bodies of land throughout
what is now West Virginia, by locating patents for those
persons whose fear of In^lians deterred them undertaking per-
sonally so hazardous an enterprise.

After a life full of adventure and vicissitude, the subject
of our sketch died of jaundice, in 1811, at the age of sixty-four.

Ebenezer Zane's Brothers.

(De Hass' Extracts from Withers' Border Wars.)

In the spring of 1771 Jonathan and Silas Zane visited the
west and'made explorations during the summer and fall of that
year. Jonathan was, perhaps, the most experienced hunter of

298 History of West Virginia

his day in the west. He was a man of great energy of char-
acter, resolution, and restless activity. He rendered, efficient
service to the settlements about Wheeling in the capacity of
sp3^ He was remarkable for earnestness of purpose and
energy and inflexibility of will, which often manifested itself
in a way truly astonishing. Few men shared more of the
confidence and more of the respect of his fellow men than
Jonathan Zane. He was one of the pilots in Crawford's ex-
pedition, and it is said, strongly admonished the unfortunate
commander against proceeding; as the enemy were very num-
erous and would certainly defeat him. He died in Wheeling,
at his residence, a short distance above the site of the old first
ward public school. He left large landed possessions, most
of which were shared b}^ his children. The late Mrs. Ezen-
ezer Martin, Mrs. Wood, and Mrs. Hildreth, of Belmont
County, Ohio, were children of his ; also the late Mrs. Daniel
Zane, of the island.

Of Colonel Zane's other brothers, Silas and Andrew, little
can be gathered of the personal history. The latter was killed
by the Indians while crossing the Scioto; Isaac was a some-
what more conspicuous character. He was taken captive
when but nine years old and carried to the Indian towns,
where, he afterwards stated, he remained fou-r years without
seeing a white man. He became thoroughly Indian in his
habits and appearance, and married the sister of a distin-
guished Wyandotte chief, by whom he raised a family of eight
children. He acquired, with his Indian bride, large landed
property, and became an important man in the confederacy.
But, notwithstanding all this, he remained true to the whites
and often was the means of communicating important in-
telligence which may have saved the settlements from most
bloody visitations. In consideration of those services, the
government granted him a patent for ten thousand acres of
land, on Mad River, where he lived and died.

Major Samuel MeColloch.

The greater portion of the following information regard-
ing the history of the McCollochs is taken from DeHass'
Indian Wars. This sketch relates principally to Samuel Mc-

History o£ West Virginia 299

Colloch, though, incidentally, other members of the family
will be mentioned in this chapter. There were two Major Mc-
Collochs — John and Samuel — and for a time it was erroneous
ly believed by many that John was the one who made the
famous leap over the precipice at Wheeling at the point now
known as McColloch's Leap. But DeHass has produced e\i-
dence which shows conclusixely that Samuel was the hero of
this episode. It might seem strange to us at this time that
there could be any question about the identity of persons so
well known as the McCollochs were in and about Wheeling.
But when we consider the fact that but few written memo-
randa were made by Hiq first settlers, and these were usually
of such vague natui 5 to often cause confusion, and that the
rest of our information has been handed down by word of
mouth from generation to generation, dependent upon fickle
memory, it is not strange that discrepancies occur here and
there in the annals of West A'irginia.

The McColloch family, we are told, was one of the earliest
that settled on Short Creek. There were originally three
brothers, Abraham, Samuel^ and John, and two sisters. Col-
onel Ebenezer Zane married Elizabeth, "whose life was a
model of gentleness, virtue and love. Of the brothers, no men
were more respected by their neighbors, or more dreaded by
the Indians. Abraham was the eldest, Samuel next, and John
the third." Samuel was a noted Indian scout and hunter and
in this capacity he had but few, if any, superiors. To such
scouts as Samuel McColloch, Lewis Wetzel, Ebenezer Zane,
Daniel Boone, and a few others of their kind, the early settle-
ments often owed their very existence, for these settlements
could not long have survived the frequent attacks of the sav-
ages had it not been for these faithful "watch dogs" of the
forests. But there was a large territory to guard ; the foe
were many, and comparatively few competent scouts. It can
not, therefore, be considered strange that the Indians some-
times slipped by unnoticed by these scouts, and the first notice
or warning the settlers had of their presence was the terrible
savage war-cry. As a mark of appreciation of his services,
Samuel McColloch was commissioned Major in 1775.

Reference has been made elsewhere in this book to the

300 History of West Virginia

part taken by our hero in the battle betwen the whites and the
savages at WheeUng, September 2nd, 1777.

It will be remembered that the Indians drove the gallant
Major to the summit of a lofty hill, which overhangs the pres-
ent city of Wheeling, now known as McColloch's Leap. Real-
izing that if he should not succeed in escaping his savage pur-
suers his fate would be sealed, he strained every muscle of his
noble steed to gain the summit and then escape along the brow
in direction of Van Meter's fort on Short Creek. Having
reached the top, he galloped ahead of his pursuers until he
reached the point of the hill near the late crossing of the old
Cumberland road. Here he encountered a large body of In-
dians who M^ere just returning from a plundering expedition
among the settlements.

This placed him in a very critical situation. Escape
seemed almost an impossibility^ either in the direction of Short
Creek or back to the bottom. The hill at this point is about
three hundred feet in height, and at that time was, in many
places, almost perpendicular. The savage horde was press-
ing upon the Major, determined upon his capture. To hesi-
tate longer meant capture and sure death at the stake. To
leap over the fearful precipice seemed equally fatal ; so quickly
adjusting himself in his saddle, grasping securely the bridle
with his left hand and supporting his rifle in the right, he
forced his horse to make the leap ! Down, down, they went,
crashing through timber and tumbling over rocks, while the
savages peered over the precipice, no doubt in hopeful expec-
tation that their bitter enemy had at last been killed. But to
their wonder and amazement, they saw the invulnerable Major
on his white steed, galloping across the bottom, safe from
pursuit !

Many other interesting stories of adventure are told of
the Major, but they are not sufficiently authentic to warrant
our repeating here.

"Towards the end of July, 1782, indications of Indians
having been noticed by some of the settlers. Major Samuel
McColloch and his brother John mounted their horses and left
Van Meter's fort to ascertain the correctness of the report.
Thev crossed Short Creek and continued in the direction of

McCOLLOCH'S LEAP

302 History of West Virginia

Wheeling, but inclined towards the river. They scouted
closely, but cautiously, and not discovering any such 'signs'
as had been stated, descended to the bottom at a point on the
farm owned by the late Alfred P. Woods, about two miles
above Wheeling. They then passed up the river to the mouth
of Short Creek, and thence up Girty's Point in the direction
of Van Meter's. (Note: Girty's Point is a short distance
from the Ohio River, and is the abrupt termination of one of
the elevated ridges. It derived its name from Girty, the white
renegade. It was his favorite route into the interior. The
path first made by the Indians is still in use by the people of
the neighborhood. — DeHass).

"Not discovering any indications of the enemy, the broth-
ers were riding leisurely along, on July 30th, 1782, and when
a short distance beyond the point a deadly discharge of rifles
took place, killing Major McColloch instantly. His brother
John escaped, but his horse was killed. Immediately mount-
ing that of his brother, he made off, to give the alarm. As
yet no enemy had been seen ; but turning in his saddle, after
riding fifty yards, he saw the path was filled with Indians and
one fellow in the act of scalping the unfortunate Major. Quick
as thought, the rifle of John was at his shoulder, and in an
instant more the savage was rolling in the agonies of death.
John escaped to the fort unhurt, w^th the exception of a slight
wound on his hip.

"On the following day, a party of men from Van Meter's
fort went out and gathered up the mutilated remains of Major
McColloch.

"Major John McColloch was, perhaps, quite as brave and
true as his brother. He did ample service in the cause of our
long struggle for independence, and a more devoted patriot,
could not be found. He filled many important posts of honor
and trust and was generally respected. The early records of
Ohio County show that he acted a conspicuous part on the
bench and otherwise.

"Major Samuel McColloch married a Miss Mitchell, and
had only enjoyed the wedded life six months at the time of
his death. His widow married Andrew Woods."

History of West Virginia 303

Isaac Williams.

(From the American Pioneer.)

Isaac \\ illiams was born in Chester County, Pennsyl-
vania, July 16th, 1737. While he was quite a young boy his
parents removed to Winchester, Va., then a frontier town.
Soon after this event his father died, and his mother married
a Mr. Buckley. When he was about eighteen years old the
colonial government employed him as a ranger, or spy, to
watch the movements of the Indians, for which his early
acquaintance with a hunter's life eminently htted him. In
this capacity he ser\ed in the ami}- under General Braddock.
He also formed one of the party who guarded the first convoy
of provisions to Fort Duquesne, after its surrender to General
Forbes in 1758. The stores were carried on i)ack-horses over
the rough mountain trails, exposed to the attack of the In-
dians, for which the deep ravines and narrow ridges of the
mountain ranges afforded every advantage.

After the peace made with the Indians in j765, by Col.
Bouquet, the country on the waters of the Monongahela be-
gan to be settled by the people east of the mountains. Among
the early emigrants to this region were the parents of Mr.
Williams, whom he conducted across the mountains in 1768,
but did not finally locate himself in the west till the following
year, when he settled on the waters of Bufl:"alo Creek, near the
present town of West Liberty. He accompanied Ebenezer
and Jonathan Zane when they explored and located the coun-
try about Wheeling in 1769. Previous to this period, however,
he made several hunting excursions to the waters of the Ohio.

In returning from one of these adventurous expeditions,
in company with two other men in the winter of 1767, the
following incident befell him :

Early in December, as they were crossing the glades of
the Alleghany Mountains, they were overtaken by a violent
snow storm. This is a stormy, cold region in winter, but on
the present occasion the snow fell to the depth of five or six
feet and put a stop to their further progress. It was followed
bv intenselv cold weather. While confined in this manner to

304 History o£ West Virginia

their camp, with a scanty supply of food and no chance of
procuring more by hunting, one of his companions took sick
and died, partly from disease and partly from having no food
but the tough, indigestible skins of their peltry, from which
the hair had been singed ofif at the camp fire and the skin boiled
in the kettle. Soon after the death of this man, his remaining
companion, from the difficulty of procuring fuel, became so
much frozen in the feet that he could render Mr. Williams no
further assistance. He contrived, however, to bury the dead
man in the snow. The feet of this man were so badly frosted
that he lost all his toes and a part of each foot, thus rendering
him entirely unable to travel for a period of nearly two
months. During this time, their food consisted of the rem-
nant of their skins and their drink of melted snow. The kind
heart of Mr. Wilhams would not allow him to leave his friend
in this suffering condition while he went to the nearest settle-
ment for aid, lest he should be attacked by wild beasts, or
perish for the want of sustenance. With a patience and forti-
tude that would have awarded him a civic crown in the best
days of the chivalric Romans, he remained with his helpless
friend until he was so far restored to health as to enable him
to accompany him in his return to his home. So much re-
duced was his own strength, from starvation and cold, that it
was many months before his usual health was restored.

In 1769 he became a resident of the western wilds and
made his home on the waters of Buffalo Creek. Here he
found himself in a wide field for the exercise of his daring
passion — hunting. From his boyhood he had displayed a
great >relish for a hunter's Hfe and in this employment he for
several years explored the recesses of the western wilds and
followed the water courses of the great valley to the mouth
of the Ohio ; and from thence along the shores of the Mississ-
ippi. As early as the year 1770 he trapped the beaver on the
tributaries of this river, and returned in safety with a rich
load of furs.

During the prime of his life he was occupied in hunting
and in making entries of lands. This was done by girdling
a few trees and planting a small patch of corn. This operation
entitled the person to four hundred acres of land. Entries of

History of West Virginia 305

this kind were very aptl}' called "tomahawk improvements."
An enterprising man could make a number of these in a season
and sell them to persons who, coming late into the county,
had not so good an opportunity to select prime lands as the
first adventurers. Mr. Williams sold many of these "rights"
for a few dollars, or the value of a rifle gun, which was then
thought a fair equivalent, of so little account was the land
then considered ; and besides, like other hunters of this day, he
thought wild lands of little value except as hunting ground.
There was, however, another advantage attached to these
simple claims : it gave the possessor the right of entering one
thousand acres of land adjoining the improvement, on condi-
tion of his paying a small sum per acre into the treasury of
the State of Virginia. These entries were denominated "pre-
emption rights," and many of the richest lands on the left
bank of the Ohio River are now held under these early titles.

As Virginia then claimed all the lands on the northwest
side of the Ohio, many similar entries were made at this early
daj^ on the right baiik and also on the rich alluvials of the
Muskingum as high up as the falls— one tract, a few miles
above Marietta, is still known as "Wiseman's Bottom," after
the man who made a "tomahawk entry" at that place. After
the cession of the lands or the territory northwest of the Ohio
River to the United States, these early claims were forfeited.

While occupied in these pursuits, Williams became ac-
quainted with Rebecca Martin, the daughter of Mr. Joseph
Tomlinson, of Grave Creek (now Moundsville), then a young
widow, and married her in October, 1775. Her former hus-
band, John Martin, had been a trader among the Indians, and
was killed on the Big Hockhocking in the year 1770. A man
by the name of Hartness, her uncle on her mother's side, was
killed with him at the same time by the Shawanese Indians.
As a striking" proof of the veneration of the Indians for Wil-
liam Penn and the people of his colony, two men from Penn-
sylvania who were with them were spared. The two killed
were from Virginia. The fact is referred to by Lord Dunmore
in his speech at the Indian treaty near Chillicothe in the year
1774. Mr. Williams accompanied Dunmore in this camj^aign,
and acted as a ranger until its close.

306 History of West Virginia

By this marriage, Mr. Williams became united to a wo-
man whose spirit was congenial to his own. She was born
the 14th of February, 1754, at Wills' Creek on the Potomac, in
Maryland, and had removed with her father's family to Grave
Creek in 1771. Since her residence in the western country
she had lived with her brothers, Samuel and Joseph Tomlin-
son, as their housekeeper, near the mouth of Grave Creek, and
for weeks together, while they were absent on tours of hunt-
ing, she was left entirely alone. She was now in her twenty-
first year ; full of life and activity, and as fearless of danger
as the man who had chosen her for his companion. One proof
of her courageous spirit is related by her niece, Mrs. Bukley.
In the spring of the year 1774 she made a visit to a sister, who
was married to a Mr. Baker, opposite the mouth of Yellow
Creek, on the Ohio River. It was soon after the time of the
massacre of Logan's relatives at Baker's Station. Having
finished her visit, she prepared to return home in a canoe by
herself, the traveling being chiefly done by water. The dis-
tance from her sister's to Grave Creek was about fifty miles.
She left there in the afternoon and paddled her light canoe
rapidly along until dark. Knowing that the moon would rise
at a certain hour she landed, and, fastening the slender craft
to the willows, she leaped on shore, and, lying down in a thick
clump of bushes, waited patiently the rising of the moon. As
soon as it had cleared the tops of the trees and began to shed
its cheerful rays over the dark bosom of the Ohio, she prepared
to embark. The water being shallow near the shore, she had
to wade a few paces before reaching the canoe, when, just in
the act of stepping on board, her naked foot rested on the cold,
dead body of an Indian, who had been killed a short time
before, and which, in the gloom of the night, she had not dis-
covered in landing. Without flinching or screaming, she step-
ped lightly into the canoe with the reflection she was thankful
he was not alive. Resuming the paddle she reached the mouth
of Grave Creek in safety early the next morning.

Walter Scott's Rebecca, the Jewess, was not more cele-
brated for her cures and skill in treating wounds than Rebecca
Williams amongst the honest borderers of the Ohio River.

About the year 1785, while living a short time at Wheel-

History of West Virginia 307

ing on account of Indian depredations, she, with the assistance
of Mrs. Zane, dressed the wounds of Thomas Mills, who was
wounded in fourteen places by rifle shots. He with three oth-
er men were spearing fish by torch light about a mile above
the garrison when they were fired upon by a party of In-
dians secreted on the shore. Mills stood in the bow of the
canoe holding a torch, and, as he was a fair mark, received
most of the shots. The others escaped unhurt. One arm
and one leg were broken, in addition to the flesh wounds. Had
he been in the regular service with plenty of surgeons he prob-
ably would have lost one or both limbs by amputation. But
this being out of the question here where no surgeons could
be procured, these women, with their fomentations and simple
applications of slippery elm bark, not only cured his wounds,
at the time deemed impossible, and restored him to health,
but saved both his limbs.

Their marriage was as unostentatious and as simple as the
manners and habits of the party. A travehng preacher hap-
pening to come into the settlement, as they sometimes did,
though rarely, they were married without any preparation of
nice dresses, bride cakes, or bride-maids — he standing up in a
hunting dress, and she in a short gown and petticoat of home-
spun, the common wear of the country.

In the summer of 1774, the year before her marriage, she
was one morning busily occupied in kindhng a fire preparatory
to the breakfast, with her back to the door, on her knees, pufif-
ing away at the coals. Hearing some one step cautiously on
the floor, she looked around and beheld a tall Indian close
to her side. He made a motion of silence to her, at the same
time shaking his tomahawk in a threatening manner if she
made any alarm. He, however, did not offer her harm; but
looking carefully around the cabin he espied her brother
Samuel's rifle hanging on the hooks over the fire place. This
he seized upon, and fearing the arrival of some of the men,
hastened his departure without any further damage. While
he was with her in the house she preserved her presence of
mind and betrayed no marks of fear; no sooner was he gone,
however, than she left the cabin and secreted herself in the
corn till her brother came in. Samuel was lame at the time.

308 History of West Virginia

but happened to be out of the way ; so that it is probable his
Hfe may have been saved from this circumstance. It was but
seldom that the Indians killed unresisting women or children
except in the excitement of an attack and when they had met
with opposition from the men.

In 1777, two years after their marriage, the depredations
and massacres of the Indians were so frequent that the settle-
ment of Grave Creek was broken up. It was the frontier
station and lower on the Ohio than an}?- other, above the
mouth of Big Kanawha. It was in this year that the Indians
made their great attack on the fort at Wheeling. Mr. Wil-
liams and his wife, with her father's family, Mr. Joseph Tom-
linson, moved on the Monongahela River above Redstone, old
fort. Here he remained until the spring of 1783, when he
returned with his wife and Mr. Tomlinson to their plantations
on Grave Creek. In the year 1785 he had to remove again
from his farm with the garrison at Wheeling.

It was some time in the spring of the succeeding year that
Mr. Williams, in company with Hamilton Carr and a Dutch-
man, had the adventure with the Indians at the mouth of
Grave Creek, in which three of the savages were killed and
John Wetzel, their prisoner, was rescued. This event is fully
recorded elsewhere in this book.

It has been recorded that Rebecca Martin, before her
marriage to Mr. Williams, acted as housekeeper for her broth-
ers for several 3'"ears. In consideration for which service,
Joseph and Samuel made an entry of four hundred acres of
land on the West Virginia shore of the Ohio River, directly
opposite the mouth of the Muskingum River, for their sister ;
girdling the trees, building a cabin, and planting and fencing
four acres of corn, on the high second bottom, in the spring of
the year 1773. They spent the summer on the spot, occupy-
ing their time with hunting during the growth of the crop.
In this time they had exhausted their small stock of salt and
breadstulT and Hved for two or three months altogether on
boiled turkeys, which were eaten without salt. So accustomed
had Samuel become to eating his meat without salt that it
was some time before he could again relish the taste of it.
The following winter the two brothers hunted on the Big

History of West Virginia 309

Kanawha. Some time in March, 1774, they reached the mouth
of the river on their return. They were detained here a few
days by a remarkably high freshet in the Ohio River, which
from certain fixed marks on Wheehng Creek, is supposed to
have been fully equal to that of February, 1832. The year
1774 was noted for the many Indian depredations. The re-
newed and oft repeated inroads of the Indians led Mr. Wil-
liams to turn his thoughts toward a more quiet retreat than
that at Grave Creek. Fort Harman at the mouth of Mus-
kingum (where Marietta now stands), having- been erected in
1786, and garrisoned by United States troops, he came to the
conclusion that he would now occupy the land belonging to his
wife and located by her brothers as before noted. This tract
contained four hundred acres, and embraced a large share of
rich alluvians. The piece opened by the Tomlinsons in 1773
had grown up with young saplings, but could be easily re-
claimed. Having previously visited the spot and put up log
cabins, he finally removed his family and effects thither the
26th day of March, 1787, being the year before the Ohio Com-
pany took possession of their purchase at the mouth of the
Muskingum.

Mr. Williams was a great hunter and trapper, but in later
years turned his attention especially to clearing and cultivat-
ing his farm. He was a very benevolent man and a highly
respected citizen. He died Sept. 25th, 1820. His daughter
and only child married a Mr. John Henderson, but died at the
age of twenty without issue.

George Washington, the Soldier and Statesman.

(By Wallace Wood, in "Modern Achievement".)

George Washington was born in Westmoreland County,
A^irginia, Feb. 22nd, 1732. Peter the Great had died seven
years before. The lives of Catherine II, Maria Theresa,
Frederick II, Josei^h II, and Louis XVI cover pretty nearly
the same period as Washington's. The same may be said of
the lives of Burke, Chatham, Warren Hastings, Clive, Robe-
spierre, and W^csley. The pedigree of the \A'^ashington family

310 History of West Virginia

is still somewhat obscure. They probably emigrated from the
north of England. The father of George was a well-to-do
man and at his death, in 1743, left his family a good estate
and other property. George started in life very poorly fur-
nished with school learning; had no Latin, no Greek, no
modern language but his mother tongue, and in that little
more than reading, writing, and arithmetic. He made some
acquaintance with geometry and its practical application in
surveying. In boyhood he was fond of athletic sports and of
mimic military exercises. Among his school fellows his char-
acter won respect, and appeal was made to him on matters in
dispute. After leaving school (1748) he followed up the study
of geometry and the practice of surveying, and after a short
engagement under Lord Fairfax, his kinsman by marriage,
was appointed public surveyor.

His duties were to explore the country and learn the life
of the people, for the^ purpose of dividing the'land into lots to
suit the requirements of continually incoming settlers. A
journal which he kept of his adventures on this expedition is
interesting, ag showing the kind of training which was pre-
paring him for the high destiny to which he was afterward
called. It was a life of privation and- peril, but at the same
time it was full of excitement. Naturally powerful of frame,
this adventurous life favored the development of activity and
strength. Three j^ears' experience gave him a iirmness of
muscle and vigor of physical energy which few men ever
attain at any age. With such a frame and after such experi-
ence, encountered voluntarih^, there was no danger either of
his being seduced by luxury or deterred by danger from what
he considered the path of duty. With the pleasures of society
and luxury and indolence within his reach, he sought for a
career weighted \vith hardship and privation. He believed
himself created to play a more manly part in life. As to
society, his private journal and even his letters show that he
was by no means insensible to the amenities of fashionable
life or the charms of feminine conversation. But to such a
disposition as his a life of ease and nothing else would have
been torture. Peril became his pleasure, and labor his indul-
gence. Hence it followed that he gained respect and adniira-

History of West Virginia 311

tion from all who knew him ; and herein wc sec the force of
his character.

His experience as a surveyor was, moreover, of great ad-
vantage to him as giving him a minute acquaintance with the
condition and character of the original settlers — especially of
the backwoodsmen who were among the earliest European
occupants of Washington's own section. These remarkable
people constituted the pioneer circle of the expanding colonies
and at this time formed a large proportion of the whole
southern colonial population. The strip of emigrant occu-
pancy stretching along the coast of the Atlantic consisted of
two distinct parts — one the mercantile and seafaring class,
occupying the narrow seaboard ; the other the exploring back-
woodsmen, invaders of the primeval forest. Among the latter
Washington spent most of the three years of his surveyor's
life. He learned intimately their habits and manners; and
when afterward he was called upon to enroll an army drafted
largely from this hardy and independent race, he was the only
leader thoroughly capable of commanding them.

In 1751 he was appointed adjutant general to one of the
military districts of Virginia. The death of his elder brother
in 1752 threw upon him large family responsibilities, and in
the next year he was chosen to execute a difficult mission to
the French commander, whose post w^as some five_^ or six hun-
dred miles distant. The memorable struggle was beginning
between the French and English for the possession of the
North American continent. In 1754 Washington was second
in command in the campaign against the French. In the fol-
lowing year, war haA'ing been declared, he served as a volun-
teer aid under General Braddock and showed a reckless
bravcrv at the battle on the Monongahela. In 1758, after hav-
ing succeeded in getting his militia organized as the lo}a]
forces were, he resigned his commission because there seemed
to be no hope of promotion for him in the royal army.

Washington married in January. 1759, and during the
next fifteen years occu])icd himself chiefly with the manage-
ment of his estate and other private aft^airs. For some years,
however, he was a member of the House of Representati\'es,
and one of the most punctual and business-like. In the dis-

312 History of West Virginia

putes with the mother countr}^ about taxation, while reso-
lutely controverting the right to tax, he earnestly deprecated
a rupture until he saw that it could only be avoided by the
sacrifice of principle. The first general Congress met in 1774
and Washington was one of its members, and in June, 1775,
he was named commander-in-chief. Formidable difficulties
confronted him. He had had no experience in handling large
bodies of men ; he had no material of war, nor means of get-
ting it, and there was no strong government to support him.
Hence, progress was slow and reverses were frequent. But
through all this his patience, his courage, his good sense and
sagacity, and his inflexible resolution carried him to ultimate
success. Boston was evacuated by the EngHsh troops in
March, 1776; on the fourth of July the same year was made
the Declaration of Independence. The battles of Long Island,
Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, Germantown, followed; the
French came to the aid of the Americans in 1778, and Phila-
delphia was evacuated. The struggle was virtually closed by
the fall of Yorktown and the capture of the English army
under Lord Cornwallis in October, 1781.

Success created new dangers and difficulties, against
which the commander-in-chief had strenuously to contend. At
length New York was evacuated, on November 25, 1783, and
on the fourth of December Washington spoke his grave fare-
well to his officers. Two days before Christmas he resigned
his commission and retired to his estate. Mount Vernon. In
1787 he was a member of the convention which prepared the
Constitution, and in 1789 entered upon office as first President
of the United States. There is something startling in the
juxtaposition, in the same year, 1789, of two such memorable
facts as these — the Constitution of the United States came
into operation, and the States-General met at Paris ; both new
beginnings, openings of courses leading to goals still un-
known. As President, Washington had troubles enough w^ith
his cabinet, which was sharply divided into Federalists and
anti-Federalists, the two parties headed respectively by Ham-
ilton and Jefferson. Foreign relations, too, were uneasy and
perplexing. Washington woul 1 fain check the growth of
bitter party spirit and avert fon ign war. He would willingly

History of West Virginia 313

have retired at the close of his tern, but lie could nut be spared
and was unanimously re-electci.

At length, having done a good life's work, he determined
in 1796 to cease from his labors, and issued (September) his
memorable farewell to his country. He witnessed the installa-
tion of his successor in the presidency, and then retired to his
home. In little more than two years the final summons came.
Washington died on December 14, 1799.

Jefferson's estimate of the first President is a splendid
tribute to a great leader. "His mind was great and powerful,
without being of the very first order; his penetration strong,
though not so acute as that of a Newton, Bacon, or Locke ;
and, as far as he saw, no judgment was ever sounder. It was
slow in operation, being little aided by invention or imagina-
tion, but sure in conclusion. Hence, the common remark of
his officers, of the advantage he derived from councils of war,
where, hearing all suggestions, he selected whatever was best ;
and certainly no general ever planned his battles more judi-
ciously. But if deranged during the course of the action, if
any member of his plan was dislocated by sudden circum-
stances, he was slow in a re-adjustment. The consequence
was, that he often failed in the field and rarely against an
enemy in station, as at Boston and York. He was incapable
of fear, meeting personal danger with the calmest unconcern.
Perhaps the strongest feature in his character was prudence,
never acting until every circumstance, every consideration
was maturely weighed, refraining if he saw a doubt, but when
once decided going through with his purpose, whatever obsta-
cles opposed. His integrity was most pure, his justice the
most inflexible, no motives of interest or consanguinity, of
friendship or hatrecf, being able to bias his decision. He was,
in every sense of the word, a wise, a good, and a great man.
His temper was naturally irritable and high-toned ; but relic-
tion and resolution had obtained a firm and habitual ascend-
ency over it. If ever, however, it broke forth, he was most
tremendous in his wrath. In his expenses he was honorable,
but exact ; liberal in contributions to whatever promised
utility, but frowning and unyielding in all visionar}^ projects
and all unworthv calls on his charitv. His heart was not

314 History of West Virginia

warm in its affections; but he exactly calculated every man's
value, and gave him a solid esteem proportionate to it. His
person was fine, his stature exactly what one could wish, his
deportment easy, erect, and noble, the best horseman of his
time, and the most graceful figure that could be seen on horse-
back. Although in the circle of his friends, where he might
be unreserved with safety, he took a free share in conversa-
tion, his colloquial talents were not above mediocrity, pos-
sessing neither copiousness of ideas nor fluency of words. In
public when called upon for sudden opinion, he was unready,
short and embarrassed. Yet he wrote readily, rather diffusely,
in an easy and correct style. This he acquired by conversa-
tion with the world, for his education was merely reading,
writing, and common arithmetic, to which he added surveying
at a later day. His time was employed in action chiefly, read-
ing little, and that only in agriculture and English histor3^
His correspondence became necessarily extensive, and with
journalizing his agricultural proceedings occupied most of his
leisure within doors. On the whole, his character was in mass
perfect, in nothing bad, in a few points indifferent, and it may
truly be said that never did nature and fortune combine more
perfectly to make a man great, and to place him in the same
constellation with whatever worthies have merited from man
an everlasting remembrance. For his was the singular destiny
and merit of leading the armies of his country successfully
through an arduous war for the establishment of its inde-
pendence; of conducting its councils through the birth of a
government new in its forms and principles, until it had set-
tled down into a quiet and orderly train ; and of scrupulously
obeying the laws through the whole of his career, civil and
militar}^, of which the histor}^ of the world furnishes no other
example."

Some extremists have regarded the liberator of the Amer-
ican colonies simply as a rebel against his king, which con-
ception causes the very patriotism which makes him great to
become the one unpardonable crime of his misguided career.
But the end to be achieved, its bearing upon the welfare of
mankind, must be final and substantial tests of the value of
any political revolution. Whatever may be the influence and

History of West Virginia 315

function of circumstances over the generality of mankind, it
is certain that in some individual cases the current of the
world's history is changed, whether for good or evil, by the
mental energy of a few individual men. It is, therefore, a
fact that George Washington was the controlling spirit of the
great revolution known as the American War of Independ-
ence. And it must be admitted by all candid and unbiased
judgments that the movement was one which under the cir-
cumstances could not honorably or even safely be avoided, and
that the War of Independence was both necessary and just.
In this light the character of Washington receives a luster
and his motives assume a dignity to which no mere provincial
insurgent could possibly be entitled, however pure his inten-
tions or profound his personal grievances. The grandeur of
the event, the vast importance of its issues, the momentous
results which success or failure must entail upon the whole
population of a mighty continent, have brought down upon
the scene a fierce light of scrutiny, in which the figure of the
calm, silent leader stands nevertheless without blemish. Fear-
less of any man's censure, his course was direct and unwaver-
ing, his integrity unsullied, his justice inflexible.

Wc know not whether to admire him most in the hour of
defeat or in the moment of victory ; for in every important
crisis the demand upon his greatest qualities as a leader was
always fully answered. With each new misfortune he rose
to a still higher sense of the great responsibility he had as-
sumed. When he had troops, he fought. When unable to
keep the field, he took an advantageous and threatening defen-
sive. When the hopes of the people were at their lowest ebb,
and his army had dwindled to a few ragged battalions, he
rolled the tide of war back again toward fortune by the most
brilliant and decisive series of combats and maneuvers that
the whole history of the war has recorded. So high was
Washington's bearing, so admirable his control of the most
diverse elements, so serenely did he look disaster, obloquy,
and sufifering in the face, that we can hardly think of him as
the predestined savior of his country. The time produced no
other man capable of confronting each new emergency witli
the same sublime constancv to the great end and aim of the

316 History of West Virginia

Revolution. The Congress was at one time ready to declare
him dictator. The army, grown desperate in its deep distress
and deeper disgust with the half measures of Congress, wished
to overturn the existing civil control under the lead of its
idolized chief. But in every dark hour Washington's star
shone out bright and unsullied by any taint of personal ambi-
tion, nor could any sense of personal wrong turn him a hair's
breadth from the path of duty. His was a great, a magnan-
imous soul. When the long conflict was over he laid down
the sword that had never been sheathed in dishonor. His old
companions in arms wept like children when he bade them
farewell. Compared with this, what was the tribute of senates
or the applause of the multitude? Indeed it may be said of
Washington that there is scarcely another great figure in his-
tory whose character and services have been estimated with
such unanimous, such high, approbation as his.

His mottoes were, "Deeds, not words," and "For God
and my country" ; and his adherence to these has merited the
everlasting verdict of history, "First in war, first in peace, and
first in the hearts of his countrymen."

"O ripples of Potomac's stream.

Break gently where the tread
Of thousands press the hallowed sod

Above our greatest dead;
Mount Vernon, Freedom's dearest shrine.

Guard well thy sacred trust,
Locked in thy loyal heart of hearts,

Yet keep the Patriot's dust.

"I see him glide among the huts

That dot the cheerless gorge—
The Joshua of a struggling band.

The Man of Valley Forge ;
Where'er he goes his smile illumes,

The shades that thickly lie.
And all who hear his words resolve

With him to do or die.

History of West Virginia 317

"The pilgrim comes from lands ensla\-ed,

Beyond the restless sea,
To meditate where sleeps the. man

Who taught men to be free ;
The glitter of the sword he drew

Makes bright the world today,
And hands unborn will crown its hilt

With laurel and with bay.

"He needs no granite shaft to tell

Of glorious actions done;
His monument? — the freest land

That lies beneath the sun !
Now with honest pride we seek

His name to honor evermore.
And remember him whose 'fame is far

Beyond Virginia's shore.'

"He is not thine, Mount Vernon, though
Upon thy sacred breast.
Wrapped in the mantle Glory weaves,

In peace he takes his rest ;
The voice of Libert}^ proclaims :

'He is my honored son'.
And Fame with lofty pride proclaims :
'The World's one Washington.' "

— T. C. Harbaugh.

The Washington Family in West Virginia.

More of the blood of the Washingtons flows today in the
veins of the residents of Charles Town, W. Ya., and \ioinity
than in any other community in the world and probably more
than in all the rest of the world together. In the present
generation there are great numbers of stahvart men living
thereabout who bear the name of Washington, and yet other
great numbers Avho are descendants of that first family
through their mothers, wlio have the characteristics though
not the name. The stranger dropping" into Charles Town is

318 History of West Virginia

likely to be impressed with certain peculiarities of its inhabit-
ants that seem familiar to him. There are to be seen upon
the streets numbers of men, tall, upstanding, stalwart, with a
certain dignity of bearing that one seems to have seen before.
He asks a passer-by the name of a certain man who has at-
tracted his attention and is informed that is Bushwick Wash-
ington. The same query brings forth the reply that another
straight and athletic-looking individual is Samuel Walter
Washington. It dawns upon him that these men have the
qualities that he has always associated with the father of his
country, that these are Washingtons of the old stock and that
they retain its traits. Scores of men of Charles Town may be
picked from the crowd by these peculiarities. They have left
their imprint upon the whole town.

An inquiry establishes the fact that the community is
overrun with the descendants of the family of Washington.
And why should it not be, for further questioning calls to your
mind the fact that three of the brothers of General Washing-
ton lived there, bred families, some of them wondrous large,
and that their descendants have Hved there and diffused the
blood until the whole countryside is possessed of it and
affected by it. In fact, the nearest descendants of the Wash-
ingtons of the generation of Revolutionary days have their
homes there today. If properly accredited one may even be
invited to call upon Richard Blackburn A¥ashington himself,
a venerable patriarch of 87 years, and the nearest living link
to the olden days.

History records the fact that George Washington, a strip
of a lad 16 years old, came into the northern neck of Virginii
in 1748 to survey a vast tract of land in the wilderness which
had been acquired by Lord Fairfax, the eccentric peer and idol
of the court who chose to isolate himself there because a
woman had denied him her favors.

The young surveyor lived there three years and ran his
lines in all directions. The lines he laid down were followed
by the roads that increasing civilization laid down and are a
record of his work that will last forever. In the court house
at Winchester are the original maps he drew, neat and precise
to a marked degree. But young George Washington carried

History of West Virginia 319

the news of the wonderful country to his old home in Tide-
water, Virginia, expatiating particularly to the members of
his family upon it. As a result Lawrence Washington, an
elder brother and a man of means, bought large tracts. Law-
rence, however, died shortly afterward and the other brothers
in dividing his property went to see the lands, fell in love with
the country and later came there to live, taking their families
with them, and there dwelt to the end of their days.

From tlic property of Charles Washington, the youngest
of the brothers, was laid out Charles Town, named after him.
Samuel, the eldest, a rollicking country scjuire who wedded
five times during his career, laid out the historic estate of
Harewood. George Avas also interested in the property and
activel}' in charge of the building of the old Harewood man-
sion. John Augustine throve and his descendants live today
in Charles Town. George became great in war and states-
manship, but returned at intervals as long as he lived to Hare-
wood, of which he was executor and guardian of his brother's
children after Samuel died. The estate he always regarded
as his summer home.

Richard Blackburn Washington, who is a grandson of
the generation of which the father of his country was a mem-
ber, is a descendant of John Augustine. His wife was a de-
scendant of Samuel, and because of this union of kindred blood
his four sons and two daughters have as much of the old strain
as had their parents and more tlian any other Washington
with one possible exception. Two sons and a daughter still
live with Richard Brockton in their fine modern home in
Charles Town. The sons have prospered and are leading men
in the community. The Washingtons direct the affairs of the
town, hold the leading county offices, are independent farm-
ers, country gentlemen, merchants, bankers. Some of them
have likewise prospered in other sections, a notable example
being George S. Washington, a commission merchant of
Philadelphia. The town is also the home of Lawrence Wash-
ington and his two sisters, descendants of John Augustine
and representing another branch of the family. Lawrence,
however, spends little of his time there, as he holds a position
with the Library of Congress and lives mostly in W^ashington.

320 History of West Virginia

Of the 5000 descendants of the brothers of the father of his
country it is claimed that Lawrence is the only individual
holding a government position.

Washingtons In England.

In the Church of All Saints at Great Brington, North-
ampton, England, lies buried one Lawrence Washington, who
died in 1616. This Lawrence Washington was the grandson
of the original Lawrence Washington, of Sulgrave, mayor of
Northampton and founder of the Northamptonshire family of
Washington, to whom the manor of Sulgrave was granted in
1538. Lawrence Washington, whose tombstone is in Great
Brington Church, had eight sons and nine daughters. Tm^o
of his sons, John and Lawrence, became, respectively. Sir
John and the Rev. Lawrence Washington, the latter the rec-
tor of Purleigh in Essex. The rector of Purleigh's eldest son,
John, grandson of Lawrence Washington, and great-grandson
of the original Lawrence Washington, emigrated to America
in 1657, and was the great-grandfather of George Washington.

On the tombstone of Lawrence Washington is the shield
bearing his arms, which is plainly seen, consisting of the five
pointed stars and the alternate stripes. It is difficult to believe
that the stars and stripes of the American flag were not de-
rived from this coat, as there is also a brass in the church
enameled showing the alternate red and white stripes.

In the hamlet of Little Brington is a small house built of
sandstone which gave shelter to various members of the
Washington family. It is known as Washington house and
was the refuge of the Washingtons of Sulgrave after the fall
of their fortunes. A stone over the door bears the inscription,
"The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh awa}^ Blessed be the
name of the Lord. Constructa 1606." Close to this house a
stone sundial has recentl}^ been discovered bearing the Wash-
ington arms and "R. W. 1617". The initials doubtless refer
to Robert Washington, who was buried in Brington Church
in 1622.

The old Washington manor house at Sulgrave is in a fine
state of preservation. The manor of Sulgrave was granted to

History of West Virginia 321

Lawrence Washington, the founder of the family, in 1538, on
the dissolution of the monasteries. Its most interesting feature
is the high gabled porch over which are the stars and stripes,
the family arms, embossed in plaster, which is now fast crum-
bling away — Louise E. Dew, Feb. 18, 1912.

General Andrew Lewis.

From a letter to Wills De Hass, in "Indian Wars".)

"John Lewis was a native and citizen of Ireland, descend-
ed from a famil}^ of Huguenots who took refuge in that king-
dom from the persecutions that followed the assassination of
Henry IV of France. His rank was that of an esquire, and
he inherited a handsome estate, which he increased by indus-
try and frugality until he became the lessee of a contiguous
property of considerable value. He married Margaret Lynn,
daughter of the laird of Loch Lynn, who was a descendant of
the chieftains of a once powerful clan in the Scottish High-
lands. By this marriage he had four sons, three of them,
Thomas, Andrew, and William, born in Ireland, and Charles,
the child of his old age, born a few months after their settle-
ment in their mountain home."

(Note : According to Historian Thwaites, John Lewis,
father of Gen. Andrew Lewis, was born in 1678, in County
Donegal, Ireland, and his marriage to Margaret Lynn oc-
curred about 1716; owing to some trouble with his tenancy
in 1729, he fled to Portugal, whence in 1731, after strange
adventures, he emigrated to America, where he was joined b}^
his family. He established himself in the Valley of Virginia,
two miles east of the present site of Staunton. His house was
of stone, built for defense, and in 1754 it successfully with-
stood an Indian siege. He was colonel of the Augusta County
militia as early as 1743, presiding justice in 1745, and high
sheriff in 1748. In 1751, then 73 years of age, he assisted his
son Andrew, then agent of the Lo3^al Company, to explore and
survey the latter's grant on Greenbrier Rixer. It was because
the old man became entangled in the thicket of greenbriers
that he gave this name to tlic stream. He died at his old fort

322 History of West Virginia

homestead February 1st, 1762, aged 84 years. He was a mem-
ber of the Episcopalian Church.)

"For many years after the settlement at Fort Lewis,
great amity and goodwill existed between the neighboring
Indians and the white settlers, whose numbers increased until
they became quite a formidable colony. It was then that the
jealousy of their red neighbors became aroused and a war broke
out, which, for cool though desperate courage and activity on
the part of the whites and ferocit}^, cunning and barbarity on
the part of the Indians, was never equalled in any age or
country. John Lewis was, by this time, well stricken in years,
but his four sons, who were grown up, were well qualified to
fill his place and to act the part of leaders to the gallant little
band who so nobly battled for the protection of their homes
and families .... Charles Lewis was the hero of many
a gallant exploit, which is still treasured in the memories of
the descendants of the border riflemen, and there are few
families among the Alleghanies where the name and deeds
of Charles Lewis are not familiar as household words. On
one occasion he was captured by the Indians while on a hunt-
ing excursion, and after traveling over two hundred miles
barefooted, his arms pinioned behind, and goaded by the
knives of his remorseless captors, he effected his escape.
While traveling along the bank of a precipice some twenty
feet in height, he suddenly, by a strong muscular exertion,
burst the cords which bound him, and plunged down the steep
into the bed of a mountain torrent. His persecutors hesi-
tated not to follow. In a race of several hundred yards,
Lewis had gained some few yards upon his pursuers, when,
upon leaping a fallen tree which lay across his course, his
strength suddenly failed and he fell prostrate among the
weeds which had grown up in great luxuriance around the
body of the tree. Three of the Indians sprang over the tree
within a few feet of where their prey lay concealed ; but with
a feeling of the most devout thankfulness to a kind and super-
intending Providence, he saw them one by one disappear in
the dark recesses of the forest. He now bethought himself
of rising from his uneas}^ bed, when lo ! a new enemy appeared,
in the shape of an enormous rattlesnake, which had thrown

History of West Virginia 323

itself into the deadly coil so near his face that its fangs were
within a few inches of his nose; and its enormous rattle, as it
waved to and fro, once rested upon his ear. A single con-
traction of the eyelid — a convulsive shudder — the relaxation
of a single muscle, and the deadly reptile would have sprung
upon him. In this situation he lay for several minutes, when
the reptile, probably supposing him dead, crawled over his
body and moved slowly away. 'I had_ eaten nothing,' said
Lewis to his companions, after his return, 'for many days ; I
had no firearms, and I ran the risk of dying with hunger ere
I could reach the settlement ; but rather would I have died
than made a meal of the generous beast.' During this war, an
attack was made upon the settlement of Fort Lewis, at a time
when the whole force of the settlement was out on active duty.
So great was the surprise that many of the women and chil-
dren were captured in sight of the fort, though far the greater
part escaped and concealed themselves in the woods. The
fort was occupied by John Lewis, then very old and infirm,
his wife, and two young women, who were so much alarmed
that they scarce moved from their seats upon the ground floor
of the fort. John Lewis, however, opened a port-hole, where
he stationed himself, firing at the savages, while Margaret
reloaded the guns. In this manner he sustained a siege of six
hours, during which he killed upwards of a score of savages,
when he was relieved by the appearance of his party.

"Thomas Lewis, the eldest son, labored under a defect
of vision, which disabled him as a marksman, and he was,
therefore, less efificient during the Indian wars than his broth-
ers. He was, however, a man of learning and sound judg-
ment, and represented the County of Augusta many years in
the House of Burgesses; was a member of the convention
which ratified the constitution of the United States and
formed the constitution of Virginia, and afterwards sat for
the County of Rockingham in the House of Delegates of Vir-
ginia. In 1765 he was in the House of Burgesses and voted
for Patrick Henry's celebrated resolutions. Thomas Lewis
had four sons actively participating in the war of the Revolu-
tion; the youngest of whom. Thomas, bore an ensigns com-
mission when but fourteen years of age.

324 History of West- Virginia

(Note : Withers, in writing of the expedition against the
Indians and Braddock's defeat on the JMonongahela, says there
was a company of riflemen in Braddocl-z's army on this occa-
sion from Augusta, commanded by CAPTAIN Samuel Lewis
(THE ELDEST SON OF JOHN LEWIS, who, with Mackey
and Sailing, had been foremost in settling that county —
Augusta), who was afterwards known as Col. Samuel Lewis
of Rockingham. Withers also says, that "in this company
were contained the five brothers of Capt. Lewis ; Andrew,
afterwards General Lewis of Botetourt ; Charles, afterwards
Colonel Lewis, who was likewise killed at Point Pleasant;
William, John and Thomas." It will be observed that the let-
ter to De Hass mentions only four sons, namely : Thomas,
Andrew, William and Charles, Thomas being the ELDEST
and Charles the youngest. Samuel is not mentioned. Dodd-
ridge, in commenting on Withers's version of the story of
Braddock's defeat, says that Captain Lewis was not with
Braddock's army on this occasion, and consequently took no
part in the battle.)

"Andrew, the second son of John Lewis and Margaret
Lynn, is the General Lewis who commanded at the battle of
Point Pleasant.

"Charles Lewis, the youngest of the sons of John Lewis,
fell at the head of his regiment, when leading on the attack
at Point Pleasant. Charles was esteemed the most skilful of
all the leaders of the border warfare, and was as much beloved
for his noble and amiable qualities as he was admired for his
military talents.

"William, the third son, was an active participator in the
border wars, and was an officer of the Revolutionary army,
in which one of his sons was killed and another maimed for
life. When the British force under Tarleton drove the legisla-
ture from Charlottesville to Staunton, the stillness of the
Sabbath eve was broken in the latter town b}^ the beat of the
drum and volunteers were called to prevent the passage of
the British through the mountains at Rockfish Gap. The elder
sons of William Lewis, who then resided at the old fort, were
absent with the northern army. Three sons, however, Avere
at home, whose ages were seventeen and thirteen years. Wil-

History of West Virginia 325

Ham Lewis was confined to his room by sickness, but his wife,
with the firmness of a Roman matron, called them to her, and
bade them fly to the defense of their native land. 'Go, my
children,' said she, 'I spare not my youngest, the comfort of
my declining" years. I devote you all to my country. Keep
back the foot of the invader from the soil of Augusta, or see
my face no more.' When this incident was related to Wash-
ington, shortly after its occurrence, he enthusiastically ex-
claimed. 'I^eave me but a banner to plant upon the mountains
of Augusta, and I will rally around me the men who will lift
our bleeding country from the dust, and set her free.'

"I have frequently heard, when a boy, an anecdote re-
lated by an old settler, somewhat to this effect: The white,
or wild clover, is of indigenous growth, and abounded on the
banks of the rivers, etc. The red was introduced by John
Lewis, and it was currently reported by their prophets and
believed by the Indians generally, that the blood of the red
men slain by the Lewises and their followers had dyed the
trefoil to its sanguine hue. The Indians, however, always
did the whites the justice to say that the red man was the
aggressor in their first quarrel, and that the white men of
Western Virginia had always evinced a disposition to treat
their red brethren with moderation and justice."

Washington entertained a very high regard for General
Lewis's ability as a military commander, and recommended
him to Congress for the appointment to the position of major-
general of the American arm}- and afterwards expressed his
disappointment in the appointment of Stephens instead. How-
ever, at Washington's solicitation, Lewis accepted the com-
mission of brigadier-general and shortly thereafter took com-
mand of a detachment stationed at Williamsburg. He was in
command of the Virginia troops in 1776. when Dunmore was
forced from Gwynn's Island.

"General Lewis resigned his command in 1780, to return
home, being seized ill with a fever. He died on his way, in
Bedford County, about forty miles from his home, on the
Roanoke, lamented by all acquainted with his meritorious
services and superior qualities."

CHAPTER XIX.

JOHN BROWN'S RAID AT HARPER'S FERRY.

In the year 1800 there was born at the Httle town of
Torrington, Connecticut, of a family which claimed Pilgrim
origin, a child named John Brown. When he was six years
old, his family removed to Ohio, where the boy learned the
tanner's and currier's trade ; and when he was a man grown,
he became a wool merchant. But misfortune pursued him in
all his efforts to make a living; while on the other hand he
bred a family of patriarchal dimensions. But he was an earn-
est though narrow thinker, and one who wished to carry his
thought into action ; he had been deeply impressed by the anti-
slavery teachings of "Garrison's Liberator", and emigrating
to Kansas in 1855, became active against the pro-slavery part
of the community. Sorrow, disappointment and hardship, as
well as the old Pilgrim strain in his blood, had made him a
fanatic; and the good and bad qualities of the type were
strongly accented in him.

In his conflicts with the slaveholders he was helped by
his sons, and saw more than one of them die ; on his part, he
slew without compunction, and would drag inoffensive per-
sons out of their beds and kill them, for no other crime than
holding opinions which he deemed damnable. At Ossawato-
mie he defeated with a small band a greatly superior force of
Missouri invaders ; and the exploits of this action gained him
the title of Ossawatomie Brown, by which he was afterward
known. He was a very formidable personage, inconvenient
to those who were in general sympathy with his anti-slavery
ideas, as well as terrible to his avowed enemies. He was pre-
pared for anything; and the arts of diplomacy were beneath
his contempt. Perhaps he was at this time hardly in his right
mind; there was abundant reason why he should not ha\e
been. Death by violence had struck doAvn those nearest to

History of West Virginia oil

him, and long brooding" o\ er the wrongs of the sla\e had
made him implacable to those whom he held responsible for
them. He was a tall, shaggy, impressive ligure ; a great Iieai»
of disordered hair piled upon his tall, narrow head; he had a
long tangled beard, and a bony, athletic frame. His eyes gazed
out sternly from beneath his rugged brows, and his manner
was grave and harsh. But there was in him indomitable cour-
age and the iron liber of the old Covenanters. His almost sav-
age manhood, however, was not destitute of its tender side,
which was noted and marked by his intimates and biograph-
ers ; but it may be said of him, as of others, that nothing in old
John Brown's troubled life so well became him as did the
closing scene of it.

In 1858 he had already conceived his grotesque plan of
emancipating the blacks single-handed, and by force. It is
needless to say that he despised politics and politicians, lie
had seen slavery talked against for many years and it was now
more strongly established than ever. He understood that the
moral reprobation with which the Nortli professed to regard
slavery was not strong enough to induce them to lift a hand
to crush it ; they would prate of the Union and the Constitu-
tion, but would take no action. But Brown was Avithheld by
no constitutional scruples; he had seen those he loved die, and
he had slain men in cold blood with his own hand ; and he
pictured to himself the slaves rising at his call, and massa-
cring their masters wholesale (though he denied at his trial
that he entertained such a thought), Avhile he himself led them
to the slaughter and gloried in it.

The slaves, he imagined, were ready to s|)ring up like
tigers at the signal, and he would be at the head of a million
hghters who, should the United States government side with
the South against them, would fight the government, too, and
conquer them, \\\\\\ the aid of the white abolitionists who
would also join him ; and a ncAv republic >\()tild be established
on the ashes of the present one, in ^\•h!ch wliites and blacks
would be ecjual, man for man, and before the \-,\\\ . In i)lanning
thus, Brown must have imagined that all negroes antl all other
white abolitionists were monomaniacs like himself, would hold
their lives chea])l\-, and fight to the deatli. And if on.'.' can

328 History of West Virginia

picture an army of John Brown's, it is not difficult to surmise
that all the resources of the mighty States might have been
insufficient to put it down. Fanatics — monomaniacs — men
who will literally die rather than yield — are more formidable
than many times their number of ordinary brave soldiers, no
matter how well disciplined and armed. Ordinary human
courage has its well defined limits ; and after ten men have
been killed out of a hundred, the ninety will generally retreat;
if twenty have been killed, the retreat becomes a flight. But
what should be done with a hundred men who would fight till
ninet}'^ of them were slain, and then still fight till not one was
left alive? With a million men of this stamp, it was not un-
reasonable to believe that Brovv^a might have conquered any
army or armies in the world; and were he to lose half his
million, or nine-tenths, or all of it, that would make no dif-
ference to him; he would have put an end to slavery. The
error Brown made, then, was not in theory, wild and almost
incredible though it was, but in the belief that his army, if he
could raise it, would resemble him. There happened not to be
a million John Browns available in the United States ; indeed,
so far as we know, there never was or would be but one. But
even that one was enough to shake the whole nation to its
center; and had he not lived and died, it is possible that slaves
would still be slaves today, notwithstanding there was an anti-
slavery feeling long years before John Brown w^as born.

Brown was a practical man in ordinary respects, and he
could reason out the details of his plan logically. The slaves
must have arms. It would not be possible to arm them all at
once ; but that was not necessary ; if he could put guns in the
hands of a few thousand of them, that would do for a begin-
ning ; when the army got to its work, it could obtain arms
from its enemies. There was an arsenal at Harper's Ferry, a
small village on the A'irginia side of the Potomac, at the point
where the river breaks asunder the barriers of the Alleghanies.
There was a little Virginia farmhouse near the village, Avhich
Brown rented, ostensibly for farming purposes; but little
work was done upon it ; only his farm wagon made frequent
visits to the railway station and returned with heavy cases,
which might have contained books or farming tools, but which

History of West Virginia 329

really were full of rifles. With the aid of these rifles, in the
hands of himself, his sons, and a few more, he meant to cap-
ture the arsenal ; and the rest would be easy. Messengers
should g"o forth to notify the slaves of the rendezvous ; as fast
as they came in they would receive the weapons ; and then
woe to the slaveholders ! It was such a vision as might have
risen before the mind of an opium eater, or perhaps a dime
novelist ; but only John Brown would have attempted actuall}'
to take it out of the region of insane notions and clothe it with
flesh and blood.

Brown's recruits came in slowly ; and by the time a dozen
or more had arrived, the old man felt he must strike.

\Vtih his sons, his army numbered eighteen all told. But
that, in one sense, was already more than enough ; for the
neighbors, though Brown had avoided all association Avith
them as much as possible — and he was not a man easy to ap-
proach at any time — were beginning to show curiosity as to
why eighteen farmers who never did any farming were living
in a small cottage out there in the wilds of the hills. They
must show what they were there for before it was asked, or it
would be too late.

Therefore, on the evening of Sunday, October 16, 1859,
John Brown took his gun and ordered his men to fall in.
Down to the village by the river they tramped, the eighteen
men who were to put an end to slavery.

On the way they met a negro, one of the race they were
going to save, and Brown bade him fall in and enjoy the dis-
tinction of being the first recruit of his country in the emanci-
pation army. The negro was no doubt a fool ; but he may
have had brains enough to make a rapid calculation of the
odds between this army and the power of the United States :
and he decided on the instant that the right thing for him to
do was to run. But here he showed his folly ; he had not cal-
culated on John Brown. The negro was a slave, and Brown
was ready to die for him ; but meanwhile he shot him down to
prevent him from hindering his emancipation. It was the first
blood shed in this war; and it indicated that Brown was de-
termined to rescue the victims of slaverv even if, in order to

330 History of West Virginia

do so, he was obliged to kill not only their tyrants, but them-
selves. He was what the English would call "thorough",

Sunday evening villagers, who have never seen a shot
fired in anger, are not hkely to put up much of a fight on so
brief warning; and Brown and his army succeeded in getting
into the arsenal without loss, except of the one recusant re-
cruit above mentioned, who was free, indeed, however ab-
ruptly. He was the only slave whom Brown succeeded in
freeing with his own hands.

But the first step in the great campaign was a success,
and Brown fortified himself in his narrow quarters and was
ready for a siege ; meanwhile he posted guards on the railway
bridge, and, not to be unprovided with all supplies which an
army should have, he captured a couple of prisoners.

When the train came along, he stopped it ; but presently
allowed it to continue on its way to the North, possibly im-
agining that it would come back filled with armed abolition-
ists. No other evidence is needed to prove that he had no
conception whatever of the position he occupied in the e3^es
of the entire law-abiding population of the United States. The
North was just as anxious to put a stop to him as the South
was ; even Wendell Phillips and Lloyd Garrison did not start
for Harper's Ferr3^ The inhabitants of that village, in addi-
tion to keeping up a desultory firing on the arsenal, had dis-
patched telegrams up and down the line, whose tenor indicated
that a vast slave rebellion had broken out, and that everybody
was going to be massacred out of hand ; and by the morning
of the 17th of October, soldiers Avere on their way to the seat
of war, not knowing how many hundred thousand desperate
revolutionists they would have to encounter. The nia5^or of
Harper's Ferry and a few other citizens had been killed or
wounded by the fire from the arsenal before the soldiers
arrived.

It was not until after dark that night that a soldier who
had seen war. Col. Robert E. Lee, with a detachment of
marines, appeared on the scene, and upon hearing that the
entire revolution, so far as was yet known, was cooped up in
that little arsenal, felt like the leader of fire-brigade which
rushes to extinguish the conflagration of a city and finds only

History of West Virginia ^^i

a burning match-box. Artiller}^ was not needed, he thought,
to reduce this fortification ; a scaling ladder applied as a bat-
tering ram would suffice. It was desirable to take this army
prisoners; and besides there were citizens of Harper's P^erry
inside there, whose lives must not be endangered. So the
marines, under his direction, advanced with the heavy ladder
and pounded in the door; and there knelt John Brown, a
ghastly spectacle, with six or seven wounds in his body, two
of his sons dead on the floor beside him, and eight other men
beside them. The war of emancipation was at an end; now
were to follow the consequences.

Brown and the other prisoners were jailed, and they were
tried and hanged with inspiring promptness. One can im-
agine what a red-handed ogre of iniquity Brown must haAc
appeared to the South. But. in fact the letting of blood, and
the refusal of a single slave to join his banner, had cleared the
brain of the old man, and he realized his mistake. Possibly,
too, he believed that his defeat and death would win for his
cause more than he himself could have hoped to gain. He did
not assume the airs of a martyr ; sensational to the last degree
though his exploit was, he was not in the least capable of
conscious scenic display. He maintained his rude dignity and
stoic courage until his life went out on the gallows.

Following are extracts taken from "The West A^irginia
Free Press" :

(By Col. T. W. Washington.)

"About 1 :30 o'clock on Monday morning, October 17th
(1859), I was aroused from my bed by having been called at
my chamber door. Thinking some friend had arrived from
Harper's Ferr}- on the night train and had walked up to my
house, I at once arose and opened the door, when, in front of
me, stood, somewhat in a circle, four armed men — three wit'
Sharps rifles, presented at my son, and the fourth holding in
his left hand a burning torch, and in his right a revolver.* * *

"This party who entered the house were Stevens, Cook.
Tidd and the other I understood to sav he was from C;ina(la.

332 History of West Virginia

Stevens was addressed by his party as Captain, and seemed to
be in command. * * *

"Stevens left me in charge of Cook, Tidd and the Canada
man, and (with two others who did not enter the house) pro-
ceeded to order my carriage and four-horse wagon to the front
of the house. On arriving at the steps I found my carriage in
front, and driven from the stable by Shields Green. * * ''^
I got in my phaeton and took a back seat, Cook by my side
and Tidd on the front seat by the side of my house servant,
who drove." (The party then proceeded to the residence of
Mr. J. H. Aldstadt, where they stopped, and leaving Cook in
charge of Mr. Washington, the rest broke open the door, and
took Mr. Aldstadt prisoner. From there they proceeded to
the Armory at Harper's Ferry — Mr. Washington in the phae-
ton and Mr. Aldstadt in a wagon.)

"After entering the Ferry, I supposed they would halt
at some house where they might have obtained a room or
rooms, but to my astonishment we drove directly to the
Armory gate, where Tidd said 'All's well', and was answered
by the guard 'All's well'. The gate was opened and in w^e
drove, when I was accosted by an elderly man, who said, 'You
will find a warm fire in here, sir,' pointing to the watch house.
On entering, I found some eight or ten persons, amongst them
Williams, the watchman of the railroad bridge, and some
others who recognized me. * * *

"About daylight many prisoners, chiefly residents of
Harper's Ferry, were brought in.

'During the morning hours of Monday Brown manifeste.l
an unusual degree of coolness ; he made no effort to conceal
or shield his person from outward attack.

"About mid-day, Brown entered the watch-house where
the prisoners were and selected one by one until hq, had num-
bered ten persons: L. W. Washington, J. H. Alstadt, I>ri.
Miles, A. M. Ball, J. E. P. Dangerfiefd, Terrance Byrne,
George Shope, Joseph Brua, Israel Russell, John Donahoc,
who were taken into the Engine House, where all rema^^^d
except Messrs. Brua and Russell, who had been permitted by
Brown to go out on missions of compromise. Why they were
not with us on the final charge I am not informed. Touring

History of West Virginia 333

the night on Monday, the prisoners were anxious that ouw'dc
firing- on the buikhng in which we were confined shoulrl >'. ..m;,
as friends and foes ahke would be exposed. Mr. Sair,;:oi
Strider came in with a flag of truce and manifested every dis-
position to render the prisoners every service of which he
was capable, and had some water furnished us. '■' * * The
first military officer who visited us was Captain Thomas Sinn,
commanding a company froiii Frederick City, ]\Id. He was
the means of introducing Colonels Maulsby and Shriver. wio
assured us that they would use every means in their power
to arrest the outside firing upon the Engine House during the
night. Colonel Shriver, at my request, had some water sent
in. * * * Captain Sinn, whose coolness on every occasion
of his visits to us I can not too highly recommend, came in~
the Engine House about daylight and said to Brown, 'The
Armory is entirely surrounded by soldiers and Colonel Lee of
the U. S. Army is here in command of the IMarines, and there
is no possibility of your escape ; I advise you to surrender.'
To which Mr. Brown replied, '1 have no leniency to expect if
I surrender and I choose to sell my life as dearly as possible.'
Colonel Lee sent J. E. B. Stuart, who said to Brown, 'Colonel
Lee demands that you surrender.' Brown declined and imme-
diately commenced his final preparations to receive the attack.
In less than three minutes after the demand by Lieutenant
Stuart the attack was made by the Marines."

Following from the "Baltimore American" :

"Shortly after 7 o'clock, on Tuesday morning, Lieuteant
J. E. B. Stuart of the First Cavalry, who was acting as aid
for Colonel Lee, advanced to parley with the besieged, Samuel
Strider, Esq., bearing a flag of truce. They were received at
the door by Captain Browm. Lieutenant Stuart demanded an
unconditional surrender, only promising them ]^rotection from
immediate violence, and trial by law. Captain Brown refused
all terms but those previously demanded, Avhich were sub-
stantially: 'That he should be permitted to march out with
his men and arms, taking their prisoners with them ; that they
should proceed unpursued to the second toll gate, when they
would free their prisoners. The soldiers were then at liberty

334 History of West Virginia

to pursue and they would fight if they could not escape.' Of
course this was refused and Lieutenant Stuart pressed upon
Brown his desperate position and urged a surrender. At this
moment the interest of the scene was intense. The volunteers
were arranged all around the building, cutting oft" escape in
every direction. The Alarines, divided in two squads, were
ready for a dash at the door. Finally, Lieutenant Stuart,
having exhausted all argument with the determined Captain
Brown, walked slowly from the door. Immediately the signal
for attack was given, and the Marines, headed by Colonel
Harris and Lieutenant Green, advanced in two lines on each
side of the door. Two powerful fellows sprang between the
lines and with heavy sledge hammers attempted to batter
down the door. The door swung and swayed, but appeared to
be secured with a rope, the spring of which deadened the
effect of the blows. Failing thus to obtain a breach, the
Marines were ordered to fall back, and twenty of them took
hold of a ladder some forty feet long, and advancing at a run,
brought it with tremendous force against the door. At the
second blow it gave way, one-half falling inward in a slant-
ing position. The Marines immediately advanced to the
breach. Major Russell and Lieutenant Green leading. A
Marine in the front fell and the firing from the interior was
rapid and sharp ; they fired with deliberate aim, and for the
moment the resistance was serious and desperate enough to
excite the spectators to something like a pitch of frenzy. The
next moment the Marines poured in, the firing ceased, and the
work was done, while the cheers rang from every side, the
general feeling being that the Marines had done their part
admirably."

After the battle an inventory was made of Brown's forces,
as follows :

"Captain John Brown and his two sons, Oliver and
Watson, both of whom are dead. They were 32 and 40 years
of age, and were from Essex County, New York. A. D.
Stevens, from Connecticut, age 27. He is wounded with two
balls in the head, one on the breast, and a bayonet wound. He
is a tall, athletic man, and of good appearance. Edward

History of West Virginia 335

Coppie, of Iowa, age 24 years, of fine appearance and striking
countenance. He is unhurt and is a prisoner. He met Brown
in Iowa and there enUsted last June. Albert Haslett, of Penn-
sylvania, escaped. William Leeman, of Michigan, dead.
Stewart Taylor, of Canada, dead. Charles Tidd, of Maine,
dead, ^^'illiam and Dolph Thompson, of New York, dead.
John Kagie, formerly of Virginia but late of Ohio, dead. Jerr}-
Anderson, of Indiana, dead. John E. Cooke, escaped. All of
these came A\-ith Brown from Chambersburg, Penna."

Examining Court.

"On Monday (October 25, 1859) last a Justices' Court
was con\ened for the purpose of examining into the cases of
John Brown, Aaron D. Stevens and Edwin Coppee, white per-
sons, and John Copeland and Shields Green, negroes, u])on
charges of conspiracy at Harper's Ferry. The Court was com-
posed of Braxton Davenport, Presiding Justice ; Thomas H.
Willis, Wm. F. Alexander, John J. T.ock and George ^^^.
Eichelberger.

"C. B. Harding, for the Commonwealth, assisted by
Andrew Hunter, Esq., for the prosecution. The prisoners not
having selected counsel, C. J. Faulkner and Lawson Botts,
Esqs., were appointed b_\' the Court for the defense. Brown
then arose and said : —

" 'Virginians, I did not ask for an_\- (juarter or to ha\e my
life spared. I have the Governor's assurance that I should
have a fair trial. I do not know the object of this examination.
I have applied for counsel from abroad, but I have not heard
from them. There are mitigating circumstances which might
be presented. If you seek my blood you can have it at any
moment without the mockery of a trial. If I am to be hurried
to execution, you can spare yourself the expense and trouble
of an examination and trial. I have made a free admission of
my acts and objects, and I hope not to be insulted as cowardly,
guilty Barbarians insult those who are in their power.'

"Mr. Faulkner stated to the court that he was always
ready to discharge any duty which the court assigned him.
The prisoners say that they consider this examination a mock-

336 History of West Virginia

ery of justice, and he would therefore prefer to be excused
from acting from that as well as for other reasons.

"Mr. Botts stated to the court that his position was not
one of his seeking, nor one that he felt authorized to retire
from. He would discharge his duty in the case.

"Brown then stated that he believed Mr. Botts was one
who had previously declined to act as his counsel. He cared
nothing about having cotuisel for his defense if he was to be
hurried to execution.

"Mr. Botts said he sent the prisoner word by the Sherifif
that he would defend him if appointed by the court.

"Mr. Hunter suggested that each of the prisoners be
asked if he desired Messrs. Faulkner and Botts to act as
their counsel.

"Brown responded that he left to them to exercise their
own pleasures. The other prisoners accepted their services.

"The following witnesses were then sworn and exam-
ined: Lewis W. Washington, A. M. Kitzmiller, A. M. Ball,
John H. Alstadt.

"Alex. Kelley testified to the shooting of Turner. At
this stage Stevens became prostrated from weakness; the
court sent him a glass of water and his physicians, Drs. G. F.
Mason and John A. Straith, had a mattress brought into court,
upon which Stevens was laid.

"Wm. Johnson testified as to the taking of Copeland.

"Andrew E. Kennedy testified as to the confessions of
Copeland.

"Joseph A. Brue was also examined generally.

"The evidence being closed and the counsel having sub-
mitted the case, the presiding Justice said :

" Tt is the opinion of the court that the prisoners should
be sent for further trial.'

"The prisoners were then taken to jail."

Circuit Court.

"Immediately after the adjournment of the Examining
Court, the Circuit Court was convened. The Grand Jury was
then assembled and witnesses taken before that body. On

History of West Virginia 337

Wednesday morning (October 26) the Grand Jury brought
in a true bill against Brown, Stevens, Coppee, Copeland and
Green. As the parties chose to be tried separately. Brown
was brought into court. After a lapse of several hours a jury
was obtained, and adjourned until today (Thursday, October
27th). Messrs. Botts and Green were appointed by the Judge
as counsel for Brown. Harding" and Hunter for the prosecu-
tion.

"The following gentlemen compose the jury:

"Isaac Dust, Jacob J. Miller, John C. McClure, VVm.
Rightsine, John C. Wiltshire, Joseph Myers, George W. Boyer,
George W. Tabb, Richard Timberlake, Thomas Watson, Jr.,
Thomas Osburn, and William A. Martin."

"Whilst the trial of Brown was progressing on Friday
(October 28) and all the testimony on the part of the prosecu-
tion had been completed, and after one or two witnesses had
been examined for the defense (some others not appearing).
Brown here arose from his mattress evidently excited. Start-
ing upon his feet he addressed the Court as follows:

" 'May it please the Court : I discover that notwithstand-
ing all the promises that I have received of a fair trial, nothing
like a fair trial is to be given me, as it would seem. I gave the
names, as soon as I could get them, of the persons I wished
to have called as witnesses, and was assured they should be
subpoenaed. I wrote down a memorandum to that effect,
saying where those parties were, but it appears that they have
not been summoned, so far as I can learn. And now I ask, if
I am to have anything at all deserving the name of the shadow
of a fair trial, that this proceeding be deferred until tomorrow
morning, for I have no counsel, as I have before stated, in
whom I feel that I can rely ; but I am in hopes that counsel
may arrive who will attend to seeing that I get the witnesses
who are necessary for my defense. I am unable myself to
attend to it. I have given all attention I could to it, but I am
unable to see or know about them, and can't even find out
their names, and I have nobody to do an errand for me, for my
money was taken from me when I was sacked and stabbed
and I have now not a dime. I had two hundred and fifty or
sixty dollars in gold and silver taken from my pockets, ar.d

338 History of West Virginia

now I have no possible means of getting anybody to go any
errand for me, and I have not been done for, nor have all the
witnesses been summoned. They are not within reach, and
are not here. I ask at least until tomorrow to have something
done. If not I am ready for anything that may turn up.'

"Brown then lay down again, drew his blanket over him
and closed his eyes and appeared to sink into a tranquil
slumber.

"Mr. Hoyt, of Boston, who had been sitting quietly all
day at the side of Mr. Botts, now arose, amid great sensation,
and addressed the Court as folloAvs :

" 'May it please the Court, I would add my voice to the
appeal of Captain Brown, although I have not consulted with
him, that a further hearing of the case be postponed until
morning. I wihl state the reason for the request. I was in-
formed and have reason to believe that Judge Tilden of Ohio
is on the way to Charles Town, and will undoubtedly arrive
at Harper's Ferry tonight at 7 o'clock. I have taken measures
to assure that gentleman's arrival at this place tonight if he
reaches the Ferry. For myself, I have come from Boston,
traveling night and day, to volunteer my services in the de-
fense of Captain Brown, but I can not take the responsibihty
of undertaking his defense, as now situated. The gentlemen
have defended Captain Brown in an honorable and dignified
manner in all respects so far as I know. But I cannot assume
the responsibility of defending him myself for man}^ reasons :
First, it would be ridiculous for me to do it. I have not read
the indictment through, have not, except so far as I have Hst-
ened to this case and heard the counsel this morning, got any
idea of the line of defense proposed. I have no knowledge of
the criminal code of Virginia and have had no time to examine
the questions arising in this defense, some of which are of
considerable importance, especially to the jurisdiction over the
Armory grounds. P'or all these reasons I ask a continuance
of the case till morning.'

"Mr. Botts — Tn justice to myself, I must state that on
being first assigned as counsel for Captain Brown, I conferred
with him and at his instance took down a list of witnesses he
desired subpoenaed. In his behalf, though late at night, I

History of West Virginia 339

called up the Sheriff and informed him that I wished subpoe-
nas issued early in the morning. This was done, and they are
here, Messrs. Phelps, \\'ill!ams. and Grist, \\lio have been ex-
amined.'

" 'Sheriff Campbell stated that the subpoenas were placed in
the hands of the officers with the request to serve them at
once, and they must have served them, as some of the wit-
nesses are here. The processes not returned may have been
sent by private hands, and failed to arrive.'

"Mr. Botts thought they had shown, and was confident
he spoke the public sentiment of the whole community when
he said, they wished Captain Brown to have a fair trial.

"Mr. Hunter. — T do not rise for the purpose of protract-
ing the argument or interrupting with the slightest impedi-
ment, in any way, the giving of a fair trial. A fair trial,
whether it was promised to Captain Brown or not, is guaran-
teed by our laws to every prisoner, and so far as I am con-
cerned I have studiously avoided suggesting anything to the
Court which would in the slightest degree interfere with it.
I beg leave to say, in reference to this application, that I sup-
pose the Court, even under these circumstances, will have to
be satisfied in some way though, through the counsel or other-
wise, that this testimony is material testimony.

" 'So far as any of the witnesses have been examined, the
evidence relates to the conduct of Brown in treating his pris-
oners with leniency, respect and courtesy, and this additional
matter, that his flags of truce — if you chose to regard them
so — were not respected by the citizens, but some of his men
were shot while bearing them. If the defense take this course,
we are parfectly willing to admit these facts in any form they
may desire. Unless the Court shall be satisfied with this tes-
timony— every particle of which I have no doubt is here that
could be got — is material in the defense. I submit that the
application for delay on that score ought not to be granted.
Some of these witnesses have been here and might have been
asked to remain.

" 'A host of witnesses on our side have been here, and
gone away, without being called to testify. I simply suggest
that it is due, in justice to the Commonwealth, which has some

340 History of West Virginia

rights as well as the prisoner, that information be given to
the Court showing that the additional testimony wanted is
relevant to the issue. The simple statement of counsel 1 do
not think would be sufficient.'

"Mr. Green arose to state that Mr. Botts and himself
would both now withdraw from the case, and could no longer
act in behalf of the prisoner, he having got up now and de-
clared here that he had no confidence in the counsel who have
been assigned him. 'Feehng conscious that I have done my
whole duty so far as I have been able, after this statement of
his I should feel myself an intruder upon his case were I to act
for him from this time forward. I have no disposition to take
the defense, but accepted the duty imposed upon me, and I do
not think under these circumstances, when I feel compelled to
withdraw from the case, that the Court would insist that I
should remain in such an unwelcome position.'

"Mr. Harding — 'We have been delayed from time to time
by similar applications in the expectation of the arrival of
counsel, until we now have reached a point of time when we
are ready to submit the case to the jury upon the evidence
and the law, when another application arises for a continu-
ance. The very witness that they now consider material, Mr.
Dangerfield, came here summoned by ourselves, but deeming
that we had testimony enough, we did not examine him.'

"The Court — 'The idea of waiting for counsel to study our
Code through, could not be admitted. As to the other ground,
I do not know whether the process has been executed or not,
as no return has been made.'

"Mr. Botts — T have endeavored to do my duty in this
matter, but I cannot see how, consistently with my own feel-
ings, I can remain any longer in the case, when the accused
whom I have been laboring to defend declares in open court
that he has no confidence in his counsel.

" T make this suggestion that I now retire from the case,
and the more specifically since there is now here a gentleman
from Boston who has come to volunteer his services for the
prisoner. I suggest to the Court to allow him this night for
preparation. My notes, my office and my services shall be at
his command. I will sit up with him all night to put him in

History of West Virginia 341

possession of all the law and facts in relation to this case. I
cannot do more ; and in the meantime the Sheriff can be
directed to have the other witnesses here tomorrow.'

"The Court would not compel the gentlemen to remain in
the case, and accordingly granted the request to postpone, and
at six o'clock adjourned till the next morning.

Saturday, October 29th — Court met at 10 o'clock. Judge
Parker announced that he had just received a note from the
new counsel of the prisoner requesting a short delay to enable
them to have a short interview with him. The arrival of H.
Griswold, Esq., from Cleveland, Ohio, to take part with
George H. Hoyt, Esq., of Boston, in the defense, has increased
the excitement.

At eleven o'clock the prisoner was brought into court.
Witnesses were then examined. After the close of the testi-
mony, a Mr. Chilton, for the prisoner, submitted a motion that
the prosecution in his case be compelled to elect one of the
counts in the indictment and abandon the others. The indict-
ment consists of four counts.

Mr. Harding could not see the force of the objections
made by the learned counsel on the other side. In regard to
the separate offenses being charged, these were but different
parts of one transaction.

Mr. Hunter followed on the same side. He replied to the
argument of Mr. Chilton, saying that the discretion of the
Court in compelling the prosecution to elect one count in the
indictment is only exercised where great embarrassment
would otherwise result to the prisoner. As applied to this
particular case, it involved this point, that notwithstanding
the transaction, as had been disclosed in the evidence, be one
transaction — a continued, closely connected series of acts,
which according to our apprehension of the law of the land,
invoKe the three great offenses of treason, conspiring with
and advising slaves to make insurrection, and perpetration of
murder. Yet in a cause of this character it is not only right,
but proper for the Court to ])ut the prosecution to election as
to one of the three, and bar us from the investigation of the
two others entirely, although they relate to facts involved in
■one grand fact.

342 History of West Virginia

Notwithstanding the multiphcity of duties devolved upon
the prosecution, yet we have found time to be guarded and
careful in regard to the mode of framing the indictment. It
is my work, and I propose to defend it as right and proper.
He then proceeded to quote Chitty's Criminal Law and Rob-
inson's Practice to prove that the discretion of the Court there
spoken of is only to be exercised in reference to the further-
ance of the great object in view — the attainment of justice.
Where the prisoner is not embarrassed in making his defense,
this discretion is not to be exercised by the Court, and no case
can be shown where it has been thus exercised, where the
whole ground of the indictment referred to one and the same
transaction. This very case in point would show the ab-
surdity of the principle if it were as broad as contended for
by his learned friend. As for the other point of objection, it
was too refined and subtle for his poor intellect.

Mr. Chilton responded. In order to ascertain what a party
is tried for we must go to the finding of the grand jury. II
the grand jury return an indictment charging the party with
murder, finding a true bill for that, and he should be indicted
for manslaughter or any other defense, the court would not
have jurisdiction to try him on that count in the indictment,
and the whole question turns on the construction of the sec-
tion of the statute which has been read, namely, whether or
not advising or conspiring with slaves to rebel is a separate
offense from conspiring with other persons to induce slaves
to rebel.

Mr. Chilton said he would reserve the motion as a basis
for a motion in arrest of judgment.

Mr. Griswold remarked that the position of all the present
counsel of the prisoner was one of very great embarrassment.
They had no disposition to interfere with the course of prac-
tice, but it was the desire of the defendant that this case
should be argued. He supposed that counsel could obtain
sufficient knowledge of the evidence previously taken by read-
ing the notes of it. But it was now nearly dark. He sup-
posed, if it was to be argued at all, the argument for the com-
monwealth would probably occup}^ the attention of the court
until the usual hour of adjournment, unless it was the inten-

History of West Virginia 343

tion to continue a late evening session. From what had here-
tofore transpired he felt a dcHcacy in making any request of
the court ; but knowing that the case was now ended, except
for mere argument, he (hd not know that it would be asking
too much for the court to adjourn after the opening argument
on behalf of the prosecution.

Mr. Hunter would cheerfully bear testimony to the un-
exceptionable manner in which the counsel who had just taken
his seat had conducted the examination of witnesses today.
It would afford him ^-ery great pleasure, in all ordinary cases,
to agree to the indulgence of such a request as the gentleman
had just made, and which was entirely natural. But he was
bound to remember, and respectfully to remind the court, that
this state of things, which places counsel in a somewhat em-
barrassing position in conducting the defense, is purely and
entirely the act of the prisoner. His counsel will not be re-
sponsible for it, the court is not responsible for it; but the
unfortunate prisoner is responsible for his own act in dismiss-
ing his faithful, skillful and zealous coimsel on yesterday after-
noon. He would simply add that not only were the jurors
kept away from their families by these delays, but there could
not be a female in this county who, wdiether with good cause
or not, was not trembling with anxiety and apprehension.
While, then, courtesy to the counsel and humanity to the pris-
oner should have due weight, yet the commonwealth has its
rights, the community has its rights, the jury have their
rights, and it was for his honor to weigh these in opposite
scales.

Mr. Chilton said their client desired that they should
argue their case. It was impossible for him to do so no\A', and
he could not allow himself to make an attempt at argviment
on a case about wliich he knew so little. If he were to get
uj) at all it would only be for the unworthy purpose of wasting
time. He had no such design, but having undertaken this
man's cause he very much desired to comply with his wishes.
He would be the last man in the \vorld to subject the jurors
to inconvenience unnecessarily ; but although the prisoner
may have been to blame, may have acted foolishly, may have
had an im])ropcr pur]iose in so doing, still he could not see

344 , History of West Virginia

that he should therefore be forced to have his case submitted
without argument. In a trial for life and death M^e should not
be precipitate.

The court here consulted with the jurors, who expressed
themselves as very anxious to get home. His honor said that
he was very desirous of trying this case precisely as he would
try any other, without any reference at all to outside feehng.

Mr. Hoyt remarked that he was physically incapable of
speaking tonight, even if fully prepared. He worked very
hard last night to get the law points until he fell unconscious
from his chair from exhaustion and fatigue. For the last five
days and nights he had only slept ten hours, and it seemed
to him that justice to the prisoner demanded the allowance of
a little time in a case so extraordinary in all its aspects as
this.

The court suggested that we might have the opening
argument for the prosecution tonight at any rate.

Mr. Harding would not like to open the argument now
unless the case would be finished tonight.

He was willing, however, to submit the case to the jury
without a single word, believing that they would do the pris-
oner justice. The prosecution had been met, not only on the
threshold, but at each and every step with obstructions to the
progress of the case. If the case was not to be closed tonight
he would like to ask the same indulgence given to the other
side, that he might collect the notes of evidence he had taken.

The court inquired what length of time defense would
require for argument on Monday morning. He could then de-
cide whether to grant the request or not.

After consultation Mr. Chilton stated there would be only
two speeches by himself and Mr. GrisAvold, not occupying
more than two and a half hours in all.

Mr. Hunter again entered an earnest protest against de-
lay. The court replied, "Then you can go on j^ourselves."

Mr. Harding then commenced the opening argument for
the Commonwealth, and spoke only for about fort}^ minutes.
He reviewed the testimony as elicited during the examination,
and dwelt for some time on the absurdity of the claim or ex-
pectation of the prisoner that he should have been treated ac-

History of West Virginia 345

cording to the rules of honorable warfare. He seemed to ha\c
lost sight of the fact that he was in command of a band of
murderers and thieves and had forfeited all title to protection
.of any kind.

The court adjourned at 5 o'clock to meet again on Mon-
day morning, when Mr. Chilton will deliver the opening-
speech for the prisoner.

The trial was brought to a conclusion on Monday (Octo-
ber 31st), the jury returning a verdict of guilty on all the
counts of the indictment, charging treason, insurrection and
murder. A motion for arrest of judgment was made by
brown's counsel and argued on Tuesday (November 1). On
Wednesday evening the Judge gave his opinion not sustain-
ing the application for the arrest of judgment, and proceeded
to pronounce sentence — death.

On the same day Edwin Coppee was brought to trial.
Messrs. Griswold and Hoyt for the prisoner. Harding and
Hunter for the commonwealth. The following persons com-
prise the jury :

Joseph E. Bell, Grandison T. Licklider, Wni. A. Marshall,
W'illiam P. Henson, James V. Moore, John Sn3'-der, John Cris-
well, Peter Bowers, Daniel Hefiflebower, Rezin Shugart, S. L.
Minghini, Wm. P. Easterday.

On Wednesday, November 2d, the jury brought in a ver-
dict of guilty in the first degree on all the counts.

Brown Sentenced — Coppee Found Guilty.

"Sentence of death was passed on Captain John Bro^^■n
last evening by Judge Richard Parker, and Friday, the 2d day
of December, 1859, fixed for his execution. The execution is
to be public, between the hours of nine o'clock A. M. and four
o'clock P. M. When he was asked if he had anything to say
why sentence should not be passed upon him, he spoke for
several minutes, adhering to the righteousness of his course.
He said that those acting with him did so voluntarily, some
of them without compensation. He bore testimony to the
truthfulness of most of the witnesses.

"The jury in the case of Coppee, after having retired for

346 History of West Virginia

a short time, brought in a verdict of guilty. As a motion for
arrest of judgment was made b}^ his counsel, sentence will not
be passed until that motion is disposed of.

"John E. Cooke was before an Examining Court yester-
day. He waived a trial by that body and was remanded to
jail." — "Virginia Free Press."

Charles Town, November 1st, 1859.

The court met at ten o'clock this morning, Judge Parker
on the bench, and Charles B. Harding, assisted by Andrew
Hunter, Esqrs., for the Commonwealth.

Edwin Coppee was brought in and placed at the bar for
trial on the charge of treason against the State, conspiring
and advising with slaves to rebel and wilful murder. He is
a small man, not over five feet five inches in height and weigh-
ing about 180 pounds. He has a stupid look, and is regarded
as the least intelligent of the whole party.

Messrs. Griswold of Ohio and Hoyt of Boston appeared
as counsel for the prisoners. The testimony was practically
the same as in other cases. Case adjourned over until to-
morrow.

Charles Town, Nov. 2d, 1859.

Messrs. Russell and Bennett of Boston reached here to-
day to act as counsel for prisoners. Captain Cook was brought
before the Magistrate's Court today, but Avaived an examina-
tion and was committed for trial. •

Coppee's trial was resumed, but no witnesses were called
for the defense.

Mr. Harding opened for the Commonwealth, and Messrs.
Hoj'^t and Griswold followed for the defendants, when Mr.
Hunter closed for the prosecution. The speeches were all
marked by ability. Mr. Griswold asked for several instruc-
tions to the jur)^, which were all granted by the Court, when
the jury retired. ■

Captain Brown's Speech to the Court.

"Captain Brown was then brought in, and the Court
House was immediately thronged. The court gave its decision,
on the motion for arrest of judgment, overruling the objec-

History of West Virginia 347

tion made. In regard to the objection that treason cannot be
committed against the State, the court ruled that wherever
allegiance is due treason may be committed. Alost of the
States have passed laws against treason. The objection as to
the form of the indictment rendered the Court also regarded as
insufficient.

The clerk now asked the prisoner if he had anything to
say why sentence should not be pronounced upon him.

Brown stood up and in a clear, distinct voice said :

" 'I have, may it please the Court, a few words to say.
In the first place I deny everything but what I have all along
admitted, of a design on my part to free slaves. I intended
certainly to make a clear thing of that matter, as I did last
winter when I went into Missouri and there took slaves with-
out the snapping of a gun on either side, moved them through
the country and finally left them in Canada. I designed to
have done the same thing again on a larger scale. That was
all I intended. I never did intend murder, or treason, or the
destruction of property, or to incite the slaves to rebellion, or
to make insurrection.

" T have another objection, and that is it is unjust that I
should suffer such a penalty. Had I interfered in the manner
which I admit, and which I admit had been fairly proved
(for I admire the truthfulness and candor of the greater por-
tion of the witnesses who testified in this case) — had I so
interfered in behalf of the rich and powerful-— the intelligent —
the so-called great, or in behalf of their friends, either father
or mother, brother or sister, wife or children, or an}^ other of
that class, and suffered and sacrificed what I have in this in-
terference— it would have been all right, and every man in
this court would have deemed it an act worthy of reward
rather than of punishment.

" 'This court acknowledges, too, as 1 sui)])ose. Aalidity of
the law of God. I see a book kissed here which I suppose to
be the Bible, or at least the New Testament. That teacher
me that all things "whatsoever I would men should do to m"
I should do even so to them." It teaches me further to "re-
member them that are in bonds as bonded with them." I
endeavored to act up to these instructions. -I say I am yet

348 History of West Virginia

too young to understand that God is any respecter of persons.
I believe that to have interfered as I have done in behalf of
his despised poor was no wrong, but right. Now, if it is
deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the further-
ance of the end of justice and mingle my blood further with
the blood of my children and with the blood of millions in
this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked,
cruel and unjust enactments, I submit. So let it be.

" 'Let me say one word further. I feel entirely satisfied
with the treatment I have received on my trial. Considering
all the circumstances it has been more generous than I ex-
pected, but I feel no consciousness of guilt. I have state L
from the first what were my intentions, and what were noi.
I never had any design against the life of any person, nor an.y
disposition to commit treason or excite the slaves to rebel or
make any general insurrection. I never encouraged any man
to do so, but always discouraged any idea of that kin I. !_.et
me say also in regard to the statements made by some of those
connected with me, I fear it has been stated by some of them
that I have induced them to join me. But the contrary is tru^ .
I do not say this to injure them, but as regretting their wt C'k-
ness. There is not one of them but joined me of his own
accord, and the greater part at their owm expense. A number
of them I never saw and never had a word of conversation
with till the day they came to me, and that was for the ] air-
pose I have stated. Now I have done.'

"While Brown was speaking perfect quiet prev^ailed.
When he had finished the court procteeded to pronounce sen-
tence."

Sentence of Brown. .

John Brown, you have been charged with three several
and distinct offenses of the deepest criminality— with the at-
tempt to subvert by force the institution of slavery as estab-
lished in this State; with advising slaves in rebellion against
the authority of their owners, and with the willful, deliberate
and premeditated murder of several of our citizens who, as
was their duty, opposed the execution of these unlawful pur-
poses, and for so doing were shot down by the party under

History of West Virginia 349

your command. For each of these offenses tlie law provides
the penalty of death, and now it only remains for me, as the
minister of the law, to pronounce judgment upon you. Not
a reasonable doubt can exist as to your guilt of each and every
one of these off'enses. Your own repeated admissions, and
all the other evidence in the case, fully sustain the verdict that
has been rendered. I deem it unnecessary to recapitulate any
portion of this evidence, for every part of it, that adduced b}'
yourself, as well as that introduced by the prosecution, con-
tributes to prove that you had come with your followers into
this county determined to carry into execution by force the
unlaw'ful purpose of liberating the Southern slaves.

You have been defended by counsel of marked ability, the
jury gave their patient attention to every argument addressed
to them in your behalf.

You have had the protection and the benefit of every prin-
ciple of law and of every privilege secured to persons accused
of crime and of every indulgence in making your defense that
could reasonably be extended to you, and yet you have been
found by an impartial jury of your countrymen to be guilty
of the offenses charged against you.

In mercy to our own people — to protect them against
similar invasions upon their rights — in mere}'' and by way of
warning to the infatuated men of other States Avho, like you,
may attempt to free our negroes by forcing weapons into their
hands, the judgment of the law must be enforced against 3'ou.
The execution of that judgment will be delayed a fully suffi-
cient time to enable you to apply to the Supreme Appellate
tribunal of the State for its decision upon the errors which are
alleged by you and your counsel in the proceedings against
you. This is a right secured to you by our law, and it is my
duty to see you are not deprived of it.

The sentence of the law is that you, John Brown, be
hanged by the neck until you are dead, and that execution of
this judgment be made and done upon you by the Sheriff' of
this County, on Friday, the second day of December next, be-
tween the hours of nine in the forenoon and four in the after-
noon of the same day. And the court being of opinion that
for the sake of example the execution (and all our dealings

350 History of West Virginia

with the accused be done in open day and before all men) of
this sentence should be in public, it is therefore ordered that
this judgment be enforced and executed not in the jail yard,
but at such public place as is used for this purpose or at such
public place convenient thereto, as the said Sheriff may select.
And may God have mercy on your soul.

The prisoner is remanded to jail.

After being out an hour the jury came in with a verdict
that Coppee was guilty on all the counts in the indictment.

John Brown's Interview.

(By one who visited the jail.)

"About 9 o'clock on Friday morning, December 2d, Cap-
tain Brown took leave of his fellow convicts. He walked
actively up the steps into the second story of the jail, where
Cooke, Coppee, Shields, Green and Copeland were confined.
We went first into the cell occupied by Green and Copeland.
In this cell also was Hazlett, between whom and Brown not
the slightest token of recognition passed. Immediately upon
going in Brown shook them by the hand — told them that he
was there to take his farewell of them. He charged them both
in bitter terms with having said things about him which were
not true, and which they knew were not true, and spoke par-
ticularly of their having said they were hired to come here
and were deceived. He told them the}^ knew that was not so ;
that they had joined him of their own accord, and knew what
they were to do.

"To Copeland he spoke very harshly in regard to what
he said of Kagi. Copeland, by way of excusing himself, said
he 'thought it could do no harm, as Kagi was dead.' Brown
replied he 'had no right to think — that they could only gain
the contempt of mankind by making false statements,' and
wound up by exhorting them, Tf they must die, to die like
men.' He gave each of them a quarter of a dollar, telling them
it would be no use to him, as his time was drawing very short,
and it might be of some use to them. Shaking them by the
hand, and again exhorting them to 'die like men,' which Cope-
land promised to do in these words, 'Captain Brown, I promise

History of West Virginia 351

you to do so,' he took his final leave of them, paying no atten-
tion to Hazlett.

"We then went into the cell occupied by Cook and Cop-
pee. Brown shook them by the hand, and at once said to
Cook (exhibiting a good deal of temper), 'You have made
statements about me which are not true, and which you know
were not true.' Cook asked, 'In what?' Brown replied, 'In
saying that I sent you to Harper's Ferry; you know that is
not true.' Cook said to him, 'Did not you tell Stewart Taylor
and myself to go to Harper's Ferry and to report to you ?'
'No, sir ; no. You know I opposed it when first proposed at
Cleveland and never consented to it.' Cook merely replied,
'Your memor_y is very different from mine.' Brown said very
sharply, 'T am right, sir.' Cook dropped his head, rebuked
and abashed, and evidently at the mercy of Brown, who then
turned to Coppee and said to him, 'You also have made state-
ments which were not true,' and referred to Coppee having
said they were confined at the Kennedy house, but which he
had since corrected, and commended him for it. 'No man can
gain anything but the contempt of mankind by making state-
ments which are not true.' He then exhorted them to die like
men — gave Coppee a quarter and, shaking them both by the
hand, bade them a stern 'farewell.'

"Stevens, who was downstairs, was next visited. The
interview was very short. Brown said, 'I am here to bid you
farewell, as I have done with the others. I have a ])iecc of
money for you which is of no use to me ; it may be of some to
you,' handing him a cpiarter. Shaking Brown warmly by the
hand, Stevens said, T feel it in my soul, Captain, that you are
going to a better world,' to which Brown replied, 'Yes, yes,
but stand up like a man — no flinching now. Farewell' — turned
and left the cell, and stepping into his own cell resumed his
writing.

"As soon as Brown entered the cell, he was again General
Brown, the prisoners his humble and devoted followers.
There never was seen a greater submission than was present
when Brown made his appearance. The prisoners were ready
to fall at his feet, and willing to promise him anything."

352 History of West Virginia

The Execution of John Brown.

(From The Virginian Free Press.)

Charles Town, Thursday, December 8, 1859.
To The Richmond Dispatch :

The North can say not one word against Virginia. Tlie
South has had an example of true greatness and commanding
moderation exhibited for her imitation. The honors already
ours have been increased, and the sons of the Old Dominion
may shout aloud anew for their loved State.

The last act in the drama of which "Old John Brown"
bore the chief part came off today in this pla<.c, viz : the exe-
cution. The day opened beautifully. The heavy clouds that
hung along the eastern sky reflected most splendidly the rays
of the rising sun. Very early the roll of the drum was heard
in every part of our town, and ere long columns and squares
of troops were seen moving through the streets. You could
see sentinels moving in their quiet watch in almost every
direction. The galloAvs was erected soon after the rising of
the sun, so that long previous to the time appointed for the
hanging everything connected therewith was in readiness. On
the southeastern skirts of the village lay a field of about fifty
acres, making part of some elevated land in that quarter. On
the swell of a small hill towards the southern part of said field
was placed the scaffold. A place more appropriate could not
have been chosen. West and north lay Charles Town in full
view. On the east and south loomed up the Blue Ridge, from
whose recesses Brown had come down like the bird of prey,
pouncing on its victims, carr3dng carnage and death before
him. Toward the south and west stretched away one of the
most beautiful districts of the far-famed Valle}^ of Virginia,
while away on the extreme west loomed the lofty North
Mountain.

I visited the place of execution during the erection of the
scaffold, and was well paid for my trouble. Man}^ things
conspired to render the scene intensely interesting. In the
woods, not far off, and the fields adjoining, might be seen the
scouts, on foot or mounted. At intervals, around and within

History of West Virginia 353

the large field, the sentinels were slowly moving to and fro,
their burnished arms gleaming in the light of the morning
sun. The workmen were busy completing the arrangement
of the gallows. All around small white flags were flying near
the ground, designating the position of the various bodies of
troops, and of the citizen spectators. Several prominent offi-
cers richly equipped were riding to and fro on restless
chargers. Soon the troops began to enter.

"Not a drum was heard, nor a funeral note,"

but slowly and silently they proceeded to their various posts.
About 9 o'clock Colonel Smith, of the Military Institute,
appeared on the field of execution, mounted and took charge
of the military arrangements. The guards, even at that early
hour, were rounding the posts in the field, having in their
charge a number of civilians who had been led J^y curiosity
to approach without the countersign. Soon the elegant corps
from Harrisonburg, Captain Gibbons, and the Alexandria
Rifles, Captain Marye, entered, and stations were assigned to
them as special guard, to preserve order among the anticipated
crowd. They appeared as lines of sentinels parallel with the
fencing. In a few moments the Cadet Battalion, under
Majors Gilliam and Jackson, marched slowly in and took posi-
tion in front of the scaffold at the distance of about forty
yards. The infantry was flanked on either wing by a
Howitzer detachment. This body of troops appeared to fine
advantage, marching with astonishing precision, whether with
or without music. The}'- exhibit, in addition, a power of en-
durance that makes the heaviest military duties light to them.
They were uniformed on this occasion in grey pants and red
shirts and made a beautiful display. The right and left wings
of the corps of Cadets were occupied, respectively, by Com-
pany A, of the First Regiment Virginia A'^olunteers, under
Captain Elliot, and Company F, under Captain Gary. Captain
Ashby, of the Fauquier Horse, mounted on his splendid white
charger, acted as special patrol, to see that the arrangements
separating citizens and strangers were carried out. His

354 History of West Virginia

troops, scattered here and there around the field, presented
with their scarlet uniforms a very picturesque appearance.

At about 9 :30 a. m.. Captain Harry Hunter took charge
of the large gate at the northwest corner of the field. His
command consisted of about 22 men, armed with the most
elegant Minnie guns, with sword ba3^onets. Being citizens of
Charles Town, the duty of separating those recognized as citi-
zens from strangers was assigned them. The citizens were
stationed on the eastern side of the field, the strangers on the
west. The brave Lieutenant Green, of the United States
]Marine Corps, commanded the latter position, with a detach-
ment of the Alexandria Artillery. This of^cer led the charge
at Harper's Ferry on the Engine-House, entered at the he id
of the storming party, and gave Brown the terrible blow o\ er
the head that prostrated him. He had on that morning, I ain
told, only a light dress sword, that was shattered by the blow.
According t© his reported statement, if he had struck the blow
with his own sword, he would have severed his head from his
body. He has been here ever since the arrival of the Rich-
mond troops, claiming the honor of leading the light ag'unst
the abolition rescuers should they come. Hence the honc^r-
able position assigned him this morning. General Tallafro
and a numerous staff, mounted, proceeded to the place of
execution at about fifteen minutes of 11 o'clock. At 11 a. m.
the prisoner was brought out, attended by Captain Avis, the
jailer, and Mr. Campbell, Sheriff, and placed in a light-colored
spring wagon, drawn by two gray horses. He was seated on
his cofiin and then driven slowly to the gallows, under the
military escort mentioned in the General Order. The battal-
ion was commanded b}^ Colonel August, who Avas mounted
on a jet-black charger, splendidly caparisoned. The proces-
sion arrived at the scaffold at about eight minutes after 11
o'clock. Captain Brown appeared in fine spirits. He came
from the jail with arms pinioned behind his body. Imme-
diately on appearing in view of the escort, he commenced to
smile and bow to those around with Avhom he was acquainted.
He was offered his choice, either to walk to the scaffold or
ride. On the road he conversed freely with those riding in
company with him, expressing great admiration of the sur-

History of West Virginia 355

rounding- country, saying- that it was the first opportunity he
had had of \-iewing it. He said he had not any fear of death,
but that to part from friends — some of them recently made —
was hard. Air. George W. Sadler, undertaker, remarked to
him , "Captain Brown, you are a game man." In answer.
Brown said, "I ne\'er knew fear — I have been educated by
thirty years' experience not to fear death." His surprise on
seeing so few citizens present on the field of execution was
considerable, his admiration at the magnificent military dis-
play manifest.

Accompanied by Captain Avis and I\Ir. Campbell, he as-
cended the scaffold with a firm tread. Immediately the
cap was drawn over his eyes, and without giving evidence of
the slightest emotion, he stood erect, while his feet were
drawn together by a cord, and the fatal noose adjusted around
his neck. Sherifl:" Campbell asked him if he had an}'thing to
say. He answered, "Nothing, do not keep nie standing un-
necessaril}' long." Mr. Campbell then asked him if he w^ould
give the signal with a handkerchief, and his answer was, "No,
I am ready and wait your convenience." He then shook hands
with the three or four persons on the scafi:'old. At 15 minutes
past 11 o'clock the drop fell, when the spirit of the prisoner
passed from earth. The body remained suspended thirty-
seven minutes.

Everything passed ofl:' in the most quiet manner. So
complete were the arrangements that not the firing of a pistol
or the bursting of a cap occurred to excite alarm.

The body Was conveyed to Harper's Ferry on a special
train at 6:30 ]). m., to be delivered to his widow.

The Will of John Brown.

Charlestown, Jefl:'erson Co., Va.,

December 1st, 1859.
I give to m\- son, John Brown, Jr., my surveyor's com-
pass and other surveyor's articles, if found ; also, my old
granite monument, now at North Elba, N. Y.. to receive upon
its two sides a further inscription, as I will hereafter direct;
said stone monunient, however, to remain at North Elba so

356 History o£ West Virginia

long as any of my children and my wife may remain there as
residents.

I give to my son, Jason Brown, my silver watch with my
name engraved on the inner case.

I give to my son, Owen Brown, my double-spring opera-
glass and my rifle gun (if found) presented to me at Worches-
ter, Mass. It is globe-sighted and new. I give, also, to the
same son fifty dollars in cash, to be paid him from the pro-
ceeds of my father's estate, in consideration of his terrible
suffering in Kansas, and his crippled condition from childhood.

I give to my son, Solomon Brown, fifty dollars in cash, to
be paid him from my father's estate, as an off-set to the first
two cases above named.

I give to my daughter, Ruth Thompson, my large old
Bible, containing the family records.

I give to each of my sons, and to each of my other daugh-
ters, my son-in-law, Henry Thompson, and to each of my
daughters-in-law, as good a copy of the Bible as can be pur-
chased at some book-store in New York or Boston at a cost of
five dollars each ; to be paid out of the proceeds of my father's
estate.

I give each of my grandchildren that may be living when
my father's estate is settled, as good a copy of the Bible as
can be purchased (as above) at a cost of three dollars each.

All the Bibles to be purchased at one and the same time,
for cash, on the best terms.

I desire to have ($50) fifty dollars each paid out of the
final proceeds of my father's estate, to the following named
persons, to-wit : to Allen Hammond, Esq., of Rockville, Tol-
land County, Conn., or to George Kellogg, Esq., former agent
of the New England Company at that place, for the use and
benefit of that company. Also, fifty dollars to Silas Havens,
formerly of Lewisburg, Summit County, Ohio, at Canton,
who sued my father in his life-time, through Judge Humphrey
and Mr. Upson, of Akron, to be paid by J. R. Brown to the
man in person if he can be found. His name I cannot remem-
ber. My father made a compromise with the man by taking
our house and lot at Manneville. I desire that any remaining
balance that may become due from my father's estate may be

History of West Virginia 357

paid in equal amounts to my wife, and to each of my children,
and to the widows of Watson and Owen Brown, by my
brother. John Brown.

The Execution of Cook, Coppee, Copeland and Green.

Charlestown, Dec. 16th, 1859.

As early as 9 o'clock A. M., in accordance with general
orders issued by IMajor-Gencral Taliaferro, the military were
moving- and taking the positions assigned them. The Jeffer-
son Guards, Captain Rowan, marched to the field of execution
and took position, supported by a portion of the Alexandria
Artillery, Lieut. Israel Green, commanding, as the right wing
to Captain Deane's battalion, Avhich occupied the ground im-
mediately in front of the gallows. Captain Deane's command
comprised the Portsmouth National Grays and the Woods
Rifles, ]\Iajor Lamb ; the left wing was occupied by the \A^ythe
Grays, Captain Kent, supported by a portion of the Alexandria
Artillery, Major Duffy.

The Fincastle Rifles, Captain Anthony, and Clarke
Guards, Captain Bowen, acted as the inner line of sentry sepa-
rating the citizens from the military : the Loudoun Cavalr}',
Captain Carter, served as the outer chain of sentry. Their
duties were arduous as they were constantly employed in
keeping the crowd from intruding beyond the limits pre-
scribed. The "Black Hawk Rangers", of Fauquier County,
Capt. Turner Ashby, were charged with the duty of keeping
the field clear until the troops were posted and to prevent en-
trance by the crowd into the square occupied jy the military.
Lieut.-Col. J. R. Chambliss w^as entrusted with the disposition
•of the troops on the field in accordance with general orders.

The Executive Guard, Capt. Harry Hunter, were stationed
at the gate entrance of the field, and proved very efficient in
the discharge of their trying duties.

At eleven minutes to 11 o'clock, Major-General Taliaferro
and staff entered the field, taking position immediately in rear
of Captain Deane's battalion. The staff consisted of sixteen
officers, mounted. Standing near and in front of t!ie gallows
v\-ere the Medical Staff", under the direction of Dr. ( ■. T'. ATason.

358 History of West Virginia

physician to the jail, and Dr. John A. Straith, assistant physi-
cian. There were in attendance some twenty physicians, at-
tached to the different companies now on duty here. To their
left, Thomas C. Green, Esq., Mayor of the town, Andrew
Hunter, Esq., assistant prosecuting attorney at the trial of
the condemned, J. W. Kennedy and A. E. Kennedy, Esqs.,
D. S. Eichelberger, Esq., of the "Independent Democrat",
D. H. Strother, Esq., so well and universally known as "Porte
Crayon", late of Harper's Magazine, N. H. Gallaher, of "Free
Press", and Edward A. Gallaher, reporter, were stationed ;
also Major J. Newton Brown, Paymaster of the Post.

At 11 o'clock, the column and guard to the prisoners
Copeland and Green appeared in sight and filed into the field,
Colonel Weiseger in command.

The prisoners were conveyed from the jail to the gallows
in a furniture wagon, driven by Mr. Sadler, undertaker, accom-
panied by Mr. Starry, his assistant. In the wagon with the
prisoners were the Sheriff", Mr. Campbell; Captain Avis, jailer,
and Dr. J. J. H. Straith. Rev. Messrs. North, Waugh and
Leach followed behind the wagon on foot. Upon reaching
the gallows, the column was halted, and the prisoners
descended from the wagon. Sheriff" Campbell took Copeland
b}' the arm and Captain x\vis took Green and led them to the
scaffold. As they were ascending the steps, Copeland stum-
bled and was near falling.

When they had reached the platform and whilst the mili-
tary were taking their positions, the Rev. Mr. North, of the
Presbyterian Church, off'ered up a prayer to the throne of
Grace in behalf of the condemned. His prayer, which was
most affecting and appropriate, occupied about ten minutes.
During the deli^'ery thereof Copeland and Green seemed much
affected and humiliated ; Copeland stood with head erect and
eyes closed, clasping his hands across his breast and seemed
listening attentively, his lips moving as if following Mr. North
in prayer ; Green stood with hands closed in front, and rocked
to and fro, frequently casting his eyes toward Heaven and
then dropping his head on his breast, glancing now and then
to right and left ; he appeared deeply affected and evidently
realized the trying situation in which he was placed.

History of West Virginia 359

At the conclusion of the pra_\cr by Mr. North, the ro])es
were adjusted and the caps drawn over their faces, they were
then led on the drop, when Captain Avis tied their feet. Cope-
land and (jreen then bade the ministers and Mr. Campbell and
Captain Axis goodbye. The Sheriil" descended from the plat-
form, cut the rope, and at 14 minutes past 11 o'clock a. m.
the drop fell and the souls of the poor, misguided creatures
were usliered into the presence of Him whose judgment is
final. 'Die struggles of Copeland \\ere really most ])ainful to
look upon, and as we watched him writhing in his agony we
could but feel how terrible indeed such a death must be.
Green's neck was evidently broken, for he seemed to suffer
much less than Copeland, as his struggles were not so violent.
We judged that Green was dead in about fi\'e minutes from
the time the drop fell ; Copeland appeared to have life several
minutes after.

They hung for thirty minutes, when Dr. Mason, Dr. j. A.
Straith and Dr. Starry made an examination of their bodies
and announced to the Sheriff that they believed them to be
dead. Captain Avis, jailer, and four of the guard then took
them down, placed them in tlieir coffins, and they were at
once conveyed to an adjacent field and buried. As soon as
they were taken down, the Sheriff and Jailer returned to the
jail in the same wagon for Cook and Coppee. The military
accompanying Copeland and Green were to repair to town
and relieve the companies detailed to guard the jail during
the execution of the two negroes. /\n interval of three quar-
ters of an hour passed after they were down ere the militar\-
appeared in sight, guarding Cook and Coppee. During this
time, the companies \\li() occupied positions to the front, right
and left of the gallows were variously exercised by command
of General Taliaferro in order to keep tliem warm, as the
weather was very raw and cold.

.A.t twenty minutes to 1 o'clock ]). m. the military ha\ing
in charge Cooke *and Coppee. were seen entering the field.
Upon reaching the gallows the column was halted, and Cook
and Coppee descended from the wagon, assisted by the officers
in charge of them. \\'hen they had gotten out both of them
commenced bidding goodbye to the jail guard who accom-

360 History of West Virginia

panied them, and to several of those standing near the gal-
lows. The Sheriff led Coppee up first. Captain Avis followed
after with Cooke. As Cooke was ascending the steps of the
scaffold we observed tears coursing down his cheeks. The
position we occupied, which was just at the side of the steps
at the time, aff"orded us an excellent opportunity of seeing the
prisoners. Coppee appeared very calm and collected, whilst
Cook was very much agitated. On reaching the scaffold Mr.
North officiated as before, off'ering up a pathetic appeal to
the God of Justice and Mercy (for man had none) in behalf
of the unfortunate criminals.

During the prayer, Cooke held his head down — resting on
his right hand, evincing great anxiety and agitation. Coppe
stood up firmly with hat on, clasping in his left hand a red
silk handkerchief; not a muscle moved, gazing quietly and
placidly on the scene before him. He evinced an equal degree
if not a greater firmness than Brown.

When Mr. North had concluded his prayer, Captain Avis
placed the rope around Cooke's neck, and Mr. Campbell offi-
ciated in the same way for Coppee. The condemned then bade
Messrs. Waugli, Leach and North, ministers, also Mr. Camp-
bell and Captain Avis farewell. Dr. J. H. Straith, by request,
then adjusted the ropes on their necks, placing them so that
the knot of the noose rested under the left ear, so that the
rope should pull immediately on top of the larynx or on the
valve of the windpipe. This was done at the request, so we
are told, of the Sheriff, to expedite death. The caps were then
placed over their heads. Here, Coppee, who had taken his
position on the drop, turned half around, and said to Cook,
''Goodbye, John." Stretching forth his hand, Cooke asked,
"Where is Ed's hand?" Captain Avis guided their hands to-
gether, when Coppee said, "Goodbye, John, God bless you."
Cook replied, "Goodbye, all."

The Sheriff had taken his stand at the upright beam to
which the drop rope was fastened, waiting until Dr. Straith
had adjusted the rope ; all being ready, Dr. Straith left the
platform and as he was descending the steps, said to the
Sheriff, "Be quick as possible", and the fatal blow was given,
the drop fell, and the souls of Cooke and Coppee were ushered

History of West Virginia 361

into the presence of the Supreme Being, there to be finally
judged.

Thus died at ten minutes to 1 o'clock, December lOth,
1859, two of the most prominent of the insurgents under
Brown. Thus in the most terrible form have the laws of the
State been vindicated, and an example been afforded their
deluded friends and sympathizers.

Coppee was buried by his Quaker relatives, about five
miles from Salem, Ohio; but was later taken up, placed in a
fine metallic casket and re-interred in the cemetery in sight of
Salem, a large concourse of people following the remains to
their last resting place.

The trial of Aaron O. Stevens and Albert Hazlett resulted
in a verdict of murder in the first degree and both were hanged
on Friday, ]\Iarch 16th, 1860. Thus again the Mosaic law of
"an eye for an eye" was carried out with interest, at usury
rates, for men were hanged who had not even fired a shot in
self-defense. But they had been guilty of treason against the
Government, and the law fixed the death penalty. Yet, but
few people today will contend that John Brown's views on
the slavery question were not morally right. However, in-
stead of waiting and letting the Federal Government settle
the matter — as it did shortly afterward — he very foolishly un-
dertook to <go it alone, and his failure proved his downfall.
But, had he succeeded in his designs, he would have been con-
sidered the greatest man that ever lived. Even as it was, there
is no doubt that this event hastened the abolition of slavery.

CHAPTER XX.

CAUSES LEADING TO THE FORMATION OF
WEST VIRGINIA.

Perhaps there is in no other State in the Union whose
people have endured more extreme hardships or have labored
under greater disadvantages than did the early settlers who
lived within the present boundaries of West Virginia.

For nearly a half century following the earliest settle-
ments by the whites, the lives of her people were never wholly
immune from Indian depredations ; and during the whole time
of the French and Indian and the Revolutionary Wars the
pioneers suffered, not only from savage inroads, but from
European invasions as well. Then, from the beginning till
the formation of W^est Virginia from the mother State, there
were many antagonistic elements in the way of the former's
progress. These were due, mainl)^, to the unfriendly relations
between eastern and western Virginia with reference to com-
merce, education, politics, and the habits of the people. In
these differences, all fair minded people who are familiar with
the history of Virginia must concede that the people of the
west were in the right, and their eastern brethren wrong.
Patronizing after the fashion of the British government, the
eastern part of Virginia assumed that it was the only part
worthy of consideration. A mountain barrier separated the
humble, frugal toilers on the west from the State capital and
the aristocratic slave-holders that hovered thereabouts on the
east. The latter were ambitious that Richmond should rival
and surpass Baltimore as a trade center. But fortunately for
western Virginia and unfortunately for eastern Virginia, the
latter was stronger in political than business acumen, and in
spite of the selfish purpose of the mother State to prevent the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad from extending its line to
Wheeling, the long-headed business men of Maryland saw
the great future possibilities of the west, and built not only

History of West Virginia 363

one line, but three to the Ohio Ri\cr — one Hne going to Pitts-
burgh, another to WheeUng, and still another to Parkersburg,
and later on to the far west.

Politicians tell us that large sums of money were ex-
pended for so-called internal impro\ements — such as turn^
pikes, canals, etc.; "but," say Miller and Maxwell in "History
of W^est Virginia", "these began everywhere and ended no-
where. They criss-crossed the region around and contiguous
to the State capital. They reached the base of the western
mountains. They afforded easy means of travel and line drive-
ways on which Virginia gentlemen could exercise their blooded
horses. But they opened little territory whose trade was not
already tributary to A'^irginia towns on tide water. The im-
provements were constructed with borrowed money. Debts
were piled up far beyond the power of honest revenue to pay.
Though practically none of the improvements were of value
to people west of the mountains, }et long after the separation
of the two sections, suits were carried to the court of last re-
sort in an effort to compel West Virginia to pay for over one-
third of Virginia's foolish efforts to build up a commercial
center to rival Baltimore."

Previous to the Ci^•il War, Mrginia was notoriously
backward in the matter of educational facilities. In the early
days the Shenandoah A'alley was the western frontier. The
people of this region came largely from the north, where edu-
cation was popular. They were of a different type from those
on tide-water Virginia — the Black belt. The rich slave own-
ers south of James River were generally of aristocratic char-
acter and considered themselves superior to the "poor white
trash". They believed in educating their own children, but
regarded the otlier whites very much as they did their own
slaves, in the matter of education. Many of the \\ealthy plant-
ers provided private teachers for their children, while others
were sent to England and France to be educated. The poor
or middle class could not afford these advantages.

Such a popular demand was made for schools that a fund
was eventually pro\'ided, but was regarded as a charity fund
to which the people were not entitled, and was begrudgingly
doled out accordingly.

364 History of West Virginia

When settlements were made west of the Allghanies, they
were composed largely of people from the Shenandoah Valley,
who carried with them their educational ideas. The hostility
of the eastern slaveholders to popular education pursued them
thither, and but little of the educational fund found its way
to the new settlements, and only those who were able to hire
teachers or send their children to a "select" school were in a
position to educate their children.

The habits of the people of eastern and western Virginia
were never homogeneous. Their tastes and temperaments
were different. They were of a different ancestry. Their hab-
its, manners and modes of life were not the same. The people
who first settled in the Shenandoah Valley and along its tribu-
taries were largely from Mar_vland, New Jersey and Pennsyl-
vania. They were of the Yankee element, and held nothing in
common with the aristocratic population of eastern Virginia.

The real A^irginian is, was and always has been an aristo-
crat by nature. He doted on his blood, and took as much
^jride in tracing his pedigree as did the French cavalryman his
w^ar horse.

Socially, the poor whites were beneath the black slave.
"Many of the notions that obtained under the old feudal sys-
tem, when the baron built a castle and walled himself in from
the vulgar contact of the plebeian and put on great pomp and
ceremony, seemed to have been imparted to Virginia. The
lordly owner of a Virginia plantation surrounded himself with
slaves and established himself in a mansion that was as inac-
cessible to the common herd. Nor were his personal dignity
and self-esteem less exalted than that of a feudal lord's. He
had a knightly chivalry that would brook no trifling with his
dignity. The slightest insinuation against his dignity or
honor subjected the offender to the alternative of responding
to a challenge to a duel or being branded as a coward."

Yet, notwithstanding these egotistical, absurd and even
foolish traits of character, this type of Virginian possessed
many qualities that appealed to those moving in his social
circle.

Of the Virginian, W. P. Willey has to say : "In his own
home he dispensed a princely hospitality. He was fond of

History of West Virginia 365

society. He was the ideal gentleman in dress and manners ;
ceremonious, but big hearted. He loved his friends, but hated
his enemies. He had leisure and liked to talk. His tastes ran
to blooded horses and politics, and his leisure gave him oppor-
tunity to study both. He knew much of party politics and
public questions, and his convictions -on such matters were as
fixed and unalterable as a rule of mathematics. He was loyal
to his party friends and meant extermination to his political
foes. His choleric temperament and profound convictions
made him a natural orator. When he went upon the hustings
during a political campaign, he gave an entertaining perform-
ance, even to those who disagreed with him. Few better
specimens of the highest style of the orator have ever been
heard than some who have growai up from the Virginia soil.
It was a florid, fervid, inimitable speech that no scholarship or
training could bestow. It had a touch of nature that could
not be counterfeited. It appealed to a hearer's inner self as
only spontaneous speech can. It was unhappily a kind of
oratory not often heard in these matter-of-fact political times."

The oratorical powers of the Virginian, as described by
Mr. Willey, were not characteristic of the average slave owner
of that State by any means. They were the exception — not
the rule. She had her orators, but only one Patrick Henry.

Happily, the aristocratic notions of the people of Virginia
are dying out as new generations appear. Their children are
imbibing higher and better thoughts, and that exclusive,
selfish feeling is conspicuous for its absence.

But returning to" the early days : In the Uxountain region,
the people were the very antithesis of the slave owners on the
east. They recognized no distinction or strata in society.
They were, by virtue of God's natural law, tree and equal. A
man's worth was gauged by his industry and integrity ; money
cut no material figure in a person's standing, socially or other-
wise, in a community. They were sociable, friendly, kind and
generous, but had no "exclusive sets". They were practical,
plain, unpolished, fairly moral, but as a rule, not saintly peo-
ple. Egotism, false pride, false modesty and silly aristocratic
notions were despised by them.

366 History of West Virginia

"The western people were poor, but did not seem to know it,"
"The eastern men were rich and never failed to show it."

Western Virginia also had much to complain of in a po-
litical way. The politicians and law makers or tiie eastern
part of Virginia seemed* to think that the most effective way
to keep their western brethren under their feet was by enact-
ment of arbitrary laws, unfair assessment of taxes, and an
unequal distribution of official positions. These unhappy con-
ditions were maintained through a voting qualification elec-
tion law which disfranchised a large number of voters in the
west, but was not effective against the property vote of the
east. Finall}^ however, conditions became so intolerable that
the westerners could no longer endure the high-handed
methods of the eastern politicians, and the latter, through
threatening and emphatic protests by the former, relaxed, in
a small measure, her tyrannical grip — just enough relaxation
to afford a slight breathing spell.

It will, therefore, be seen that four special things — com-
merce, education, habits and politics — afforded the cause for
dissension, and were, in truth, the prime factors that eventu-
ally brought about the separation of West Virginia from the
mother State.

This separation was but the culmination of efforts which
had been going on at intermittent stages for many j'-ears. The
geographical relationship of the tv/o sections with reference
to the intervening mountains was, in itself, sufficient to sug-
gest the natural suitableness of a division of territory. This
fact was recognized by both the French and English as far
back as 1749 — as indicated by the formation of the Ohio Com-
pany, and the planting of the leaden plates by Celeron under
direction of the Marquis de la Galissoniere, Commandant Gen-
Walpole, a London banker.

In 1770, the Ohio Company was merged in what was
called The Walpole Company — so called from Mr. Thomas
\A^alpole, a london banker.

After the Revolution, Mr. Walpole and his associates peti-
tioned Congress respecting their lands, called then "Vandalia."
This is said to have been the first real project having a definite

History of West Virginia 367

purpose of founding a state west of the Alleghanies, by divid-
ing Virginia. To this proposed division England appears to
have been more strongly opposed than X'irginia, but nothing
ever came of it.

At another time it was proposed to cut \irginia in two
along the summit of the mountains and form the State of
Transylvania by uniting the western parts of Pennsylvania
and Virginia and the eastern portion of Kentucky, but this
movement was likewise aborti\'e.

Subsequently — about the time of the adoption of the
United States Constitution — when the western extension of
some of the States was under discussion, it was proposed that
the Alleghany mountains should mark the Avestern boundary
of Virginia; but finally the Ohio River was settled on instead.

In 1822 there was some talk of a separation, but a majority
of the \\^estern A'irginians favored a more liberal State Con-
stitution. They would be satisfied with lavrs guaranteeing a
liberal suffrage and more equitable taxation. Finalh', in 1829,
a constitutional convention was called to Richmond, but the
results were so unsatisfactory to the westerners that a new
State movement was given increased momentum. A proposi-
tion was made to divide A'irginia by a line east and west from
the mouth of the Little Kanawha Ri\er to the soutli-west cor-
ner of Maryland, and annex to Penns}lvania or Maryland all
north of the line, about 8,000 square miles. That south of the
line miglit form a new State or remain with A'irginia. W ith
reference to this moxement, the "Winchester lvei)ublican'" had
this to say :

"The \ irginia legislature will convene on INIondaw To
the proceedings of this body we look with intense interest.
Matters of great moment will come before it. and the discus-
sions will be as interesting as those of the late con\ention.
The preservation of the State will, we believe, depend u]ion
the legislature. Dispute the claims of the trans-Alleghany
counties to what they may deem a proper share of the fund
for internal improvements, and a division of the state must
follow — not immediately, perhaps, but the signal will be given
for the rising of the clans, and they will rise. It is not worth
while now to speculate on the mode and manner in which the

368 History of West Virginia

government will be opposed. Sufficient unto the day is the
evil thereof. But a crisis is approaching. The northern coun-
ties demand to be separated from the state with a view of at-
taching themselves to Maryland or Pennsylvania; the south-
west counties go for a division of the state into two common-
wealths. Should the latter be effected, what will be our con-
dition in the valley? Infinitely worse than the present. The
mere dependency of a government whose interests and whose
trade would all go westward, we would be taxed without re-
ceiving any equivalent, and instead of being chastised with
whip, we would be scourged with scorpions. Of the two pro-
jects spoken of, that which would be least injurious to the val-
ley and the state at large would be to part with the north-
western counties. Let them go. Let us get clear of this dis-
affected population. Then prosecute the improvements called
for by the southwest, and that portion of our state, deprived of
its northern allies, would give up its desire for a separation !'''

At the time the above article appeared, the Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad was under way to Cumberland, which point the
non-progressive politicians of eastern Virginia hoped would
be its final terminus, as they were opposed to any development
west of the mountains which might tend to lessen their grip
on that part of the state. They feared if the railroad shoula
find its way through the coal fields and vast timber lands of
western Virginia, opening up both eastern and western mar-
kets, the people of that section would be in a much better
position to enforce their rights and desires than if th.QY were
kept in an isolated condition.

The convention of 1829-30 having failed to grant the peo-
ple's petition for relief, steps were again taken, in 1841-2, to
secure a call for a constitutional convention and for reappor-
tioning the representation, but these movements were de-
feated.

In the year 1850, eastern Virginia seriously considered
secession from the Union, but the people west of the moun-
tains opposed it. The following extract from, the resolutions
passed in Mason County, in 1850, expresses some of the rea-
sons why the secession movement was unpopular in western
Virginia :

History of West Virginia 369

"As a portion of the people of the fourteenth congres-
sional district, a part of West Augusta on whose mountains
Washington contemplated, if driven to extremities, to make
his last stand and plant his last banner in defense of the liber-
ties of his country, we are prepared, in conformity with the
parting advice of that same Washington, to stand by the
Union; and living in the line between slave-holding and non-
slave-holding states, which makes it certain that in the event
^f dissolution of the Union, we should be placed in the posi-
tion of borderers, exposed to the feuds and interminable broils
which such a position would inevitably entail upon us, a re-
gard for the safety of our firesides, not less than the high im-
pulses of patriotism, the glorious recollection of the past, and
the high anticipation of the future, will induce us to adhere
unswervingly to this resolution."

Daniel Webster's prediction of the probable action of the
Western Virginians along this line, in 1851, was as follows:

"Ye men of Western Virginia who occupy the slope from
the Alleghanies to the Ohio and Kentucky, what benefit do
you propose to yourselves by dis-union ? Do you look for the
current of the Ohio to change and bring you and your com-
merce to the tide-waters of eastern rivers? What man in his
senses would suppose that you would remain a part and parcel
of Virginia a month after Virginia ceased to be a part and
parcel of the United States ?"

On the 20th of December, 1860, South Carolina had
adopted an Ordinance of Secession, and by February 1st, 1861,
Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana had all
taken similar action, and the Senators and Representatives of
these states resigned their seats in the National Congress and
returned to their respective homes to share the fortunes or
misfortunes of their people. Three days later, delegates from
six of the seceded states assembled at Montgomery, Alabama,
and formed a new government, called the Confederate States
of America. On February 8th, Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi,
was elected Provisional President, and Alexander H. Stephens,
of Georgia, Vice-President.

Under the provisions of Virginia's constitution adopted
in 1851, the General Assemblv held biennial sessions. The

370 History of West Virginia

period of vacation was in the winter of 1860-61. On Novem-
ber 15, 1860, Governor John Letcher issued a proclamation
calHng the General Assembly in extra session January 7, 1861.
Upon the meeting of that body, the Governor said :

"The proposition for the call of a State Convention, to de-
termine the position which Virginia shall take, in view of pass-
ing events, appears to have been received with very general
favor. As this subject has been much discussed by the people
in their primary meetings, it is not only proper, but it is doubt-
less expected, that I shall refer to it in this communication.
* * * I have my convictions upon this question, and I give
expression to them in declaring my opposition at this time to
the call of a State Convention. I see no necessity for it at this
time, nor do I now see any good practical result that can be
accomplished by it. I do not consider this a propitious time
to moot the question, and I apprehend from indications that
have been exhibited that serious difficulties and embarrass-
ments will attend the movement."

It was soon found that the views of a majority of the
members did not harmonize with those of the Governor.

On January 8th, the Assembly adopted the following
resolutions :

"1. Resolved by the General Assembly of Virginia, that
the Union being formed by the assent of the sovereign states
respectively, and being consistent only with freedom and the
republican institutions guaranteed to each, cannot and ought
not to be maintained by force.

"2. That the government of the Union has no power to
declare or make war against any of the states which have been
its constituent members.

"3. Resolved, that when any one or more of the states
has determined, or shall determine, under existing circum-
stances, to withdraw from the Union, we are unalterably op-
posed to any attempt on the part of the federal government
to coerce the same into re-union or submission, and that we
will resist the same by all the means in our power."

On January 21, the following resolution was adopted:

"Resolved by the General Assembly of Virginia, That if
all efiforts to reconcile the unhappy dififereir^es existing be-

History of West Virginia 371

tween the two sections of the country shall prove to be abor-
tive, then, in the opinion of the General Assembly, every con-
sideration of honor and interest demands that Virginia shall
unite her destiny with the Slaveholding States of the South."

On February 13, 1861, a convention was held at the State
House at Richmond. The number of Delegates was one hun-
dred and fifty-two, of whom forty-seven were from cotmties
now included in West Virginia. Some of the most prominent
men of Virginia were present on that occasion, among whom
were Ex-President John Tyler, Henry A. Wise, Ex-Governor
of Virginia, etc.

In connection with the foregoing, the following is taken
from Lewis's "How West Virginia Was Made" :

A temporary organization was effected by the election
of James H. Cox, of Chesterfield County; and he was escorted
to the chair by George W. Summers and Spicer Patrick, the
delegates from Kanawha County — now in West Virginia.
Then William F. Gordon, clerk of the House of Delegates,
was appointed temporary Secretary. A permanent organiza-
tion was declared to be in order, and John Janney, of Louden
County, was elected President. In his address to the Con-
vention, he said :

"I tender you my sincere and cordial thanks for the
honor you have conferred upon me, by calling me to preside
over the deliberations of the most important Convention that
has been assembled in this State since the year 1776. * * *
It is not my purpose to indicate the course which this body
will probably pursue, or the measures it may be proper to
adopt. The opinions of to-day may all be changed to-morrow.
Events are thronging upon us, and we must deal with them
as they present themselves.

"Gentlemen : There is a flag which for nearly a centur}^
has been borne in triumph through the battle and the breeze,
and which now floats over this capital, on which there is a
star representing this ancient Commonwealth, and my earnest
prayer, in which I know every member of this body will cor-
dially unite, is that it may remain forever; provided always
that its luster is untarnished. We demand for our own citi-
zens perfect equality of rights with those of the empire States

372 History of West Virginia

of New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio ; but we ask for nothing
that we will not cheerfully concede to those of Delaware and
Rhode Island. * -^ *

"Gentlemen : This is no party Convention. It is our duty
on an occasion like this to elevate ourselves into an atmo-
sphere in which part}^ passion and prejudice Citnnot exist — to
conduct all our deliberations Math calmness and wisdom, and
to maintain with firmness whatever position we may find it
necessary to assume."

When the President finished his address, John L. Eubank,
of the City of Richmond, was elected permanent Secretary.
A Committee on Federal Relations, consisting of twenty-one
members, was appointed February 16, 1861. It consisted of
Robert Y. Conrad, of Frederick County; Henry A. Wise, of
Princess Anne County; Robert E. Scott, of Fauquier County;
William Ballard Preston, of Montgomery County ; Lewis E.
Harvey, Amelia and Nottaway Counties ; Vv^illiam H. McFar-
land, Richmond City; WilHam McComas, Cabell County;
Robert Montague, Matthews and Middlesex Counties ; Samuel
Price, Greenbrier County; Valentine W. Southall, Albemarle
County; Waitman T. Willey, Monongalia County; James C.
Bruce, Halifax County; William W. Boyd, Botetourt and
Craig Counties ; James Barbour, Culpepper County ; Samuel
C. Williams, Shenandoah County; Timothy Rives, Prince
George and Surrey Counties ; Samuel McD. Moore, Rock-
bridge County; George Blow, Jr., Norfolk City; Peter C.
Johnson, Lee and Scott Counties ; John B. Baldwin, Augusta
County; John J. Jackson, Wood County — seventeen from
what is now Virginia, and four from what became West Vir-
ginia.

On the same day the President appointed the following
Committee on Elections, viz : Alpheus F. Haymond, of
Marion County; William L. Goggin, of Bedford County;
William G. Brown, of Preston County; J. R. Chambliss, of
the Greenville-Sussex Delegate District ; Allen T. Caperton,
of Monroe County ; William Ambler, of Louisa County ;
Algernon S. Gray, of Rockingham County ; Eppa Llutton, of
Prince William County; John A. Campbell, of Wythe County;

History of West Virginia 373

William M. Tredway, of Pittsylvania Coimty ; and Addison
Hall, of the Lancaster-Northumberland Delegate District.

The business of the Convention was noA' fairly begun,
and resolutions were poured upon the Convention with great
rapidity, far the greater number being referred to the Com-
mittee on Federal Relations. They were expressive of divers
sentiments and conflicting opinions. The Governor was re-
quested to furnish the number of Enrolled Militia and the
number and character of arms distributed to volunteer com-
panies.

A select committee of five was appointed \o report speed-
ily whether any movements of arms or men had been made
by the Federal government to any fort or arsenal in or bor-
dering on Virginia indicating a preparation for attack or
coercion.

The 18th day of February was set apart for the reception
of the Commissioners appointed by the States of South Caro-
lina, Georgia and Mississippi, to the Convention to ask co-
operation of Virginia in establishing and maintaining a gov-
ernment in the seceded States. The first speaker was Hon.
Fulron Anderson, the Commissioner from Mississippi. He
began his remarks by a graceful adulation of Virginia, in
attributing to her the honor of leadership in the struggle for
independence with the crown of Great Britain. He then re-
hearsed the action of his own State in her secession from the
Union ; and closed by saying that Virginia held in her hands
the destiny of a Southern Confederacy, and that by uniting
with her Southern sisters, a revolution would be accomplished,
bloodless and peaceful in its character, and no more threats of
coercion would be heard. Hon. Henry L. Benning, from
Georgia, was next introduced. He urged separation as the
only remedy for existing evils. "What," said he, "shall influ-
ence a nation to enter into a treaty with another nation? It
is," he urged, "interest — material, social, political and re-
ligious interest." A long array of statistics and figures were
presented to show how Virginia would be benefited by join-
ing her fortunes with those of the seceding States. Then came
Hon. John S. Preston, the Commissioner from South Carolina,
who stated that his mission was "to communicate to the

374 History of West Virginia

people of Virginia the causes which have impelled the people
of South Carolina to withdraw from the United States." He
beheved that the time had come when the slaveholding States
should resume the powers hitherto granted to the General
Government. He closed with an earnest appeal to Virginia
to assume that position v/hich her past greatness indicated,
and with her voice hush the storm of war and keep the ancient
glory of her name. The Commissioners were representative
men of their respective States, and the addresses of all were
resplendent with rhetorical flourish and literary excellence.
All portrayed the danger to Virginia of remaining longer in
the Union, and held up to view a new government of a new
nation of which Virginia, should she pass an Ordinance of
Secession, would become the chief corner stone. The effect
produced by this visit of the Commissioners was indeed pow-
erful. By resolution, each Commissioner was requested to
furnish the manuscript of his address and three thousand
copies were ordered printed for the use of the Convention.

The citizens of many of the eastern counties, in conven-
tion assembled, urged the Convention to immediate action.
At a meeting in Bedford County, March 6, 1861, the following
was adopted :

"BE IT RESOLVED, That we will resist any and every
attempt at coercion, and respectfully request our delegates in
the Convention to use every means in their power to dissolve
the connection of Virginia with the Federal Government."

At a meeting of the citizens of Smj'-the County, at their
Court House, March 9, 1861, they adopted the following:

"Resolved, That the honor, the duty, and the interest of
Virginia imperatively demand that she should immediately
resume all her rightful sovereignty and stand prepared for
war."

On the 6th of March, Alpheus F. Haymond, Chairman of
the Committee on Elections, reported to the Convention that
returns from the election held on the 4th of the preceding
February had been received from all the counties of the State
(except Buchanan, Cabell, Elizabeth City, Greene, Logan,
McDowell and Wise), and that the total number of votes cast
was 145,697, of which 100,536 were in favor of referring the

History of West Virginia 375

action of the Convention to the people for ratification ; and
45,161 against referring" to the people.

On Saturday, April 13th, it was reported in Richmond
that the South Carolina forces had attacked Fort Sumter, and
Governor Letcher sent a telegram to Governor Pickens of
that State, making inquiry as to whether the report was true.
To this the latter replied, saying: "It is true, and it still con-
tinues. No damage to any on our side or to our works. Great
damage to Fort Sumter." Later in the day Governor Pickens
sent another telegram, saying: "Fort Sumter was bombarded
all day yesterday. * * * The war has commenced. Please
let me know what \'irginia will do?" To this, Governor
Letcher replied by saying: "The Convention now in session
will determine what Virginia will do."

An Ordinance of Secession.

This determination by the Convention was soon reached,
as Governor Letcher said it would be. Henceforth there was
much confusion, and excited discussions continued until April
16th, when, with the Convention in secret session, William
Ballard Preston reported from the Committee on Federal
Relations the following Ordinance :

"AN ORDINANCE TO REPEAL THE RATIFICA-
TION OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED
STATES OF AMERICA, BY THE STATE OF VIRGINIA,
AND TO RESUME ALL THE RIGHTS AND POWERS
GRANTED UNDER SAID CONSTITUTION.

"The people of Virginia, in their ratification of the Con-
stitution of the United States of America, adopted by them
in Convention on the twenty-fifth day of June, in the year of
our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight, hav-
ing declared that the powers granted under the said Consti-
tution were derived from the people of the L'uited States, and
might be resumed whensoever the same should be perverted
to their injury and oppression, and the Federal Government
having perverted said powers, not only to the injur\- of the
people of Virginia, but to the oppression of the Southern
Slaveholding States :

376 History of West Virginia

"Now, therefore, we, the people of Virginia, do declare
and ordain. That the ordinance adopted by the people of this
State in Convention, on the twenty-fifth day of June, in the
year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-
eight, whereby the Constitution of the United States of
America was ratified ; and all acts of .the General Assembly of
this State ratifying or adopting amendments to said Consti-
tution, are hereby repealed and abrogated; that the union be-
tween the State of Virginia and the other States under the
Constitution aforesaid is hereby dissolved, and that the State
of Virginia is in full possession and exercise of all the rights
of sovereignty which belong and appertain to a free and inde-
pendent State.

"And thc}^ do further declare, That said Constitution of
the United States of America is no longer binding on any of
the citizens of this State.

"This Ordinance shall take effect and be an act of this
day, when ratified by a majority of the votes of the people of
this State, cast at a poll to be taken thereon on the fourth
Thursda}^ in May next, in pursuance of a schedule hereinafter
to be enacted."

The next day, Wednesday, April 17th, 1861, was the most
eventful one in the annals of Virginia. At 1 :30 P. M. a vote
v/SLS taken and the Ordinance of Secession was adopted — yeas
88; nays 55 — a majority of 33.

The crisis had been reached and passed, but the result
was not known until the next day. Upon its announcement
all East Virginia was wild with excitement. That evening a
great mass meeting was held at the Metropolitan Hotel in the
City of Richmond, and the following resolutions unanimously
adopted :

"RESOLVED, UNANIMOUSLY, That the thanks of
this convention be cordially tendered to the State Convention
for the noble act of patriotic duty which they have just per-
formed ; and forgetting all past dissensions, we will rally with
united hearts and hands in defense of the honor, safety and
independence of Virginia, and the Confederate States."

"Resolved,, unanimously, That the members of this con-
vention do here, in the presence of the Almighty God and of

History of West Virginia 377

each other, pledge themselves and each other, their fortunes
and sacred honors, in defense of their native soil."

The same evening. Col. S. Bassett French, "with a heart
too full for utterance", enclosed copies of these resolutions to
the President of the Convention, stating that they had been
"adopted by the people under the deepest sense of their re-
sponsibility to Almighty God and their beloved State." That
night bonfires illuminated the public squares in Petersburg
and Fredericksburg", and at interior towns the booming of
cannon fired in celebration of the event, died away in pro-
longed echoes along the eastern base of the Blue Ridge. From
the mountains to the sea all was enthusiasm. * * *

On the 18th of April, the Convention adopted the follow-
ing:

"Resolved, That the Governor of this Commonwealth be
requested to communicate immediately to the President of
the Confederate States the fact that this Convention, on yes-
terday, adopted an Ordinance resuming the powers delegated
by Virginia to the Federal Government, and to express to the
said President the earnest desire of Virginia to enter into an
alliance, offensive and defensive, with the said Confederate
States."

The next day Governor Letcher complied with the request
in this resolution, and in reply thereto, received a teleg"ram
from the President of the Confederate States in relation to an
alliance between them and the Commonwealth of Virginia :

"To His Excellency, John Letcher,

"Governor of the State of Virginia, &c., &c.
"Sir: — In response to your communication, conveying to
me on behalf of the State of Virginia, the expression of the
earnest desire of that Commonwealth to enter into an alliance,
offensive and defensive, with the Confederate States, and
being animated by a sincere wish to unite and bind together
our respective countries by friendly ties. I have appointed
Alexander H. Stephens, Vice President of the Confederate
States, as special commissioner of the Confederate States to
the Government of Virginia ; and I have now the honor to
introduce him to you, and to ask for him a reception and

378 History of West Virginia

treatment corresponding to his station, and to the purposes
for which he is sent. Those purposes he will more particularly
explain to you.

"Hoping that through his agency these may be accom-
plished, I avail myself of this occasion to offer to you the
assurance of my distinguished consideration.

"Jefferson Davis.

"Montgomery, April 19, 1861."

Following is a copy of Alexander H. Stephens's Com-
mission to Treat with Virginia :

"TO ALL WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL CON-
CERN, GREETING:

"Know ye, that for the purpose of establishing friendly
relations between the Confederate States of America and the
Commonwealth of Virginia ; and reposing special trust and
confidence in the integrity, prudence and ability of Alexander
H. Stephens, Vice President of the Confederate States and
Commissioner to the Commonwealth of Virginia, I have in-
vested him with full and all manner of power, and authority
for, and in the name of the Confederate States, to meet and
confer with any person or persons authorized by the Govern-
ment of Virginia, being furnished with like power and author-
ity, and with him or them to agree, treat, consult and nego-
tiate of, and concerning all matters and subjects interesting
to both republics ; and to conclude a treaty or treaties, con-
vention or conventions, touching the premises; transmitting
rhe same to the President of the Confederate States for his
final ratification, by and with the advice and consent of the
Congress of the Confederate States.

"In testimony whereof, I have caused the. seal of the Con-
federate States to be hereunto affixed.

"Given under my hand, at the City of Montgomery, this
nineteenth day of April, A. D. 1861.

"By the President : JEFFERSON DAVIS.

"Robert Toombs,

."Secretary of State."

History of West Virginia il^J

In compliance with a resolution adopted on April 22nd,
Ex-President John Tyler, William Ballard Preston, Samuel
McD. Moore, James P. Holcombc, James C. Bruce and Lewis
E. Harvie were appointed a committee to confer with Hon.
Alexander H. Stephens, Commissioner from the Confederate
States, to arrange with him the terms of union or alliance i e-
tween Virginia and said Confederate States.

On April 24th Ex-President Tyler, Chairman of the '^v in-
mittee, reported to the Convention for its consideration a
"temporary convention and agreement with said States for
the purpose of meeting pressing exigencies affecting the com-
mon rights, interest and safety of said Commonwealth an-l
said Confederacy."

This agreement was duly ratified by the Convention tiic
following day, and on the same day the following or.linanco
was adopted :

"An ORDINANCE for the adoption of the Constitution
of the Provisional Government of the Confederate States of
America :

"We, the delegates of the people of Virginia, in conven-
tion assembled, solemnly impressed with the perils which sur-
round the Commonwealth, and appealing to the searcher of
hearts for the rectitude of our intentions in assuming the
grave responsibility of this act, do, by this ordinance, adopt
and ratify the constitution of the provisional government of
the Confederate States of America, ordained and established
at Montgomery, Alabama, on the eighth day of February,
eighteen hundred and sixty-one; provided, that this ordinance
shall cease to have any legal operation or cft'ect, if the people
of this Commonwealth, upon the vote directed to be taken on
the ordinance of secession passed by this convention on the
seventeenth day of April, eighteen hundred and sixty-one,
shall reject the same."

380 History of West Virginia

Organization of Provisional Army and Capture of
Government Property.

General Headquarters,

Adjutant-General's Office,

April 17, 1861.
Brigadier-General James H. Carson, 16th Brigade,
Frederick Count}^ Virginia.
Sir : — You will issue orders to the volunteer force of 3^our
brigade to hold itself in readiness for service at a moment's
warning, and support any movement that may be made by
the State troops upon the arsenal and works at Harper's
Ferry. They will probably be joined by the volunteers of
Augusta and Rockingham, &c. If necessary, you will assume
the command of the entire force.

By order of the Commander-in-Chief,

V^M. H. RICHARDSON, A. G.

General Headquarters,

Adjutant-General's Office,

April 18, 1861.
General Thomas Haymond, Commanding 3rd Division :

The Governor directs that you give orders to the volun-
teer corps in your Division to be ready for service at a mo-
ment's notice, and to the Brigadier-Generals to be prepared
for service. That you take measures effectually to prevent
the passage of the Federal or any other troops from the AVest,
eastward on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.

The Brigadier-Generals of your Division are Buckner
Fairfax, of Preston County, 10th Brigade; James H. Carson,
Frederick County, the 16th ; James Boggs, Pendleton County,
18th; C. B. Conrad, Gilmer County, 20th; John J. Jackson,
Wood County, 23rd ; and Bushrod W. Price, Marshall County,
24th ; and to them your orders should be addressed promptly.

By Command. WM. H. RICHARDSON, A. G.

April 19th, Major-General Kenton Harper, commanding
at Harper's Ferry, telegraphed Adjutant-General Richardson:
'T am forwarding to Winchester, with all dispatch possible.

History of West Virginia 381

the arms and machinery at this place, retaining only such of
the arms which are complete and rescued from the burning',
as are thought necessary to equip the troops, imperfectly
armed, as they come in. * =•'■ * There are now about thir-
teen hundred men here, and I expect reinforcements to the
number of five hundred in a few hours, and I have information
of about a thousand now on the way."

April 21st — Flag Officer French Forest took possession of
the Norfolk and Gosport Navy Yards, together with vessels,
steam engines, machinery, tools, supplies, and other property
valued at $2,497,130.92; together with the old and new custom
houses at Norfolk, valued at $207,000.00.

The same day on which the movement was made on
Harper's Ferry (April 17) the Convention provided for a State
Military force. This was done by the adoption of "An Ordi-
nance to call the volunteers into the service of the State and
for other purposes."

April 19th, the office of Major-General of the Military and
Naval forces of the State was created, and on April 22nd
Governor Letcher nominated Robert E. Lee for this office,
which was promptly confirmed by the Convention.

An ordinance for the Enlistment in the Provisional Army
was adopted on April 27th, which provided that "all free, able-
bodied, effective men between the ages of eighteen and forty-
five might be enlisted, and the enlistment should be binding
on minors, provided they be allowed four days to reconsider
and retract their enlistment."

On the 29th of April, five Congressmen were elected to
represent Virginia in the Provisional Congress of the Con-
federate States, about to assemble at Montgomery, Alabama.
These were Hon. R. M. T. Hunter, of Essex County; William
C. Rives, of Albemarle County; Hon. John W. Brockenbor-
ough, of Rockbridge County ; Walter R. Staples, of Mont-
gomery County ; and Judge Gideon D. Camden, of Harrison
County; but Camden never appeared to take his seat.

On May 1st the Convention adopted an ordinance to re-
lease the officers, civil and military, from all obligations to
support the Constitution of the late Confederacy, known as
the United States of America.

382 History o£ West Virginia

A resolution adopted by the Congress of the Provisional
Government ratified the terms of alliance entered into on the
24th of the preceding April, by and between Alexander H.
Stephens, the Confederate Commissioner, and the Commis-
sioners of Virginia, and the old Commonwealth was thus
formally admitted into the Confederate States of America
May 7th, 1861.

During all these movements on the part of the Eastern
Virginians, looking to a separation from the Union, the West-
ern Virginians, a great majority of whom were opposed to
secession, were not idle. Some were in favor of taking imme-
diate steps to form a new State. Others preferred to wait a
while and see what the slaveholding section would do. At
last, when Virginia had actually cast her lot with the South-
ern Confederacy, the Western Virginians went to work with
a will and in the midst of shot and shell the new State of
West Virginia took her place and cast her lot with the Union
on June 20th, 1863, details of which important event will
appear in another chapter.

CHAPTER XXI.

FORMATION OF WEST VIRGINIA.

A preponderance of sentiment in Western Virginia was
favorable to the perpetuation of the Federal Union. The
people west of the mountains generally regarded secession
from the Union as ruinous, and resolved that if that part dom-
inated by the slaveholders chose to go with the Confederate
States, they would endeavor to preserve the western section
to the Federal Union. They first desired to hold Virginia in
the Union, but if the}- failed in this, then the)' would seek a
division of the State, and proceeded to act accordingly.

On Xovember 12, 1860, a public meeting was held at the
Court House in Preston County for the purpose of an ex-
change of views on the important events then agitating the
whole country, and to discuss certain questions in which
Western Mrginia, in particular, was so vitally interested. .\
hotly contested election had been held six days previous, but
men of all parties, irrespective of past affiliations, were present
and took some part in the important matters which brought
them together. It was soon ascertained that practically every
one present was opposed to secession, and strong resolutions
were passed to that effect.

On November 24th — four days after South Carolina
adopted an Ordinance of Secession — a meeting was held in
Harrison County and resolutions were adopted to the eft'ect
that the people would first exhaust all constitutional remedies
for redress before resorting to more heroic measures ; that
the ballot box was the only Constitutional remedy and to it
they would appeal ; that it was the duty of all citizens to up-
hold and support the lawfully constituted authorities.

On November 26th a meeting of the people was held at
the Court House in Morgantown, Monongalia County, headed
bv tlic local leaders of both political parties. They resolved

384 History of West Virginia

unanimously that the election of the candidate of the Repub-
lican party did not justify secession, and that the union of
the States was the best guarantee for the present and future
welfare of the people.

On December 3rd the people of Taylor Count}'^ met at
the Court House at Grafton and passed resolutions opposing
secession.

On December 14th the citizens of Ohio County assem-
bled in the Atheneum in Wheeling. The meeting was a very
enthusiastic one. The Mayor of the City — Hon. Andrew
Wilson — was called to the chair, and Nathan Wilkinson was
appointed secretary. The evils of secession were ably por-
trayed by Hon. Sherrard Clem.ens, member of Congress, who
was the principal speaker on the occasion. The general senti-
ment of those present was strongly in favor of continued
Federal union. The following resolution was adopted :

"RESOLVED, That we deplore all attempts to abolish or
destroy the Constitution of the United States. We do not see
that our condition would be improved if this were done ; on the
contrary, we have reasons to fear that whatever evils we suffer
now will be greatly increased, with manifold others 'that we
know not of. Of the broken fragments of our present glorious
Union, we should despair of building another in which we
could have any confidence. Avowedly a league to be dissolved
at pleasure or any caprice, passion, disappointment, or sup-
posed interest, no stability could be expected in another Con-
federacy. Virginia is bounded by the Ohio River and the
State of Pennsylvania for upwards of 400 miles. A great bod
of her people reside near the Ohio River and on the hills and
valleys penetrated by the many streams and rivers which enter
it. They have their commerce and intercourse chiefly with
the great West; and are deeply interested in preserving the
perfect integrity and Union of the States. We deprecate being
placed in the position of a border frontier, and we think Vir-
ginia should hesitate long before she aids or abets the disrup-
tion of the present Constitution and places her people in such
position."

Following closely after the Wheeling meeting, similar
meetings were held at Bethany, in Brooke County, and at

History of West Virginia 385

Hartford City, in Alason County, each adopting resolutions
against the dissolution of the American Union.

On January 1st, 1861, a large and enthusiastic meeting-
was held at Parkersburg, and with but one dissenting vote,
adopted the following resolution :

"RESOLVED, That the doctrine of secession of a State
has no warrant in the Constitution, and that such doctrine
would be fatal to the Union and all the purposes of its crea-
tion; and ill the judgment of this meeting, secession is revo-
lution * * '•= . We are deeply impressed with the con-
viction that our national prosperity depends on preserving
the Union as it is ; and we see nothing in the election of
Abraham Lincoln to the Presidency of the United States — as
much as we may have desired the election of another — as
affording any just or reasonable cause for the abandonment
of what we regard as the best government ever yet devised
by the wisdom and patriotism of men. That the result of
calling a convention to consider what position Virginia shall
assume in the revolutionary movements of South Carolina
will be the means of precipitating the State into a connection
fatal to her credit, her prosperity and the happiness of her
people."

On January 5th a Workmen's Union assembled at the
Atheneum Hall, in Wheeling, — about 3000 in number — and
adopted the following resolutions :

"RESOLVED, That we will not be bound by the acts of
any convention, no matter how called or organized, the pur-
pose of which is to alter or in any manner change the relation
which Virginia bears to the Government of the Union.

"RESOLVED FURTHER, That any convention which
may be called should take such action to amend the Consti-
tution of Virginia as to bar representation in the General
Assembly upon the free, white population of the State and
ultimately establish the ad valorum principle of taxation as
well for slaves as for other property."

On January 5th eighty voters present at a meeting at
Sand Hill, in Marshall County, passed the following resolu-
tion :

"That we will stand bv the Union and resist to the utmost

386 History of West Virginia

of our ability every and all attempts to dissolve the Union ;
and we further pledge ourselves not to vote for any man to
hold office or represent us unless he is in favor of the Union
and will give it his support."

On January 7th a "large and enthusiastic meeting of ci^ . -
zens of Mason County assembled at Point Pleasant and passed
a series of resolutions strongly favoring the Union and de-
nouncing the policy of secession. The foremost men of the
county participated in the convention."

At a mass meeting held at Clarksburg, in Harrison
County, January 19th, the following resolution was unan-
imously adopted :

"Resolved, That we will not support any man who
believes that the convention to assemble at Richmond on the
13th of February, 1861, or any other State authority, can ab-
solve the citizens of this State from their allegiance to the
General Government ; and that we will support no man who
believes that the Federal Government has not the right of
self-preservation."

On January 19th a large number of Ohio County citizens
met at West Liberty, and declared that "in view of the present
alarming crisis of the Federal Relations of the State, it is the
duty of each citizen of the State to stand by the Union."

On January 21st the people of Hancock County met and
passed the following resolution :

"RESOLVED, That in our several capacities as citizens
of the United States and of this State, we can remain loyal to
both; but in the event of secession being forced upon us, we
will not recognize any power claimed thereby to alter or im-
pair our fidelity and allegiance to the General Government,
but will resist all such assumed power to the last extremity."

On January 22nd the citizens of Triadelphia, in Ohio
County, declared : "Tha-t Virginia has suffered no wrongs at
the hands of the General Government that v/ill afford suffi-
cient pretext for open and forcible opposition to the Federal
authorities, and the election of Mr. Lincoln was in form pre-
scribed by law, and we will vote for no man for a seat in the
State Convention until he pledges himself to vote in that body
against the secession of Virginia."

History of West Virginia 387

On January 24th a large mass meeting was held by the
Tyler County people at Sistersville, who were outspoken in
favor of State division, as will be shown in the following reso-
lution :

"Resolved, That in case of the firm determination of
Eastern Virginia to secede, we will instruct our delegate and
pledge him to stand by the Union in every emergency. AND
THAT IF EASTERN VIRGINL^ SECEDES, WE ARE IN
FAVOR OF STRIKING WEST VIRGINIA FROM EAST-
ERN VIRGINIA AND FORMING A STATE INDEPEN-
DENT OF THE SOUTH AND FIRM TO THE UNION."

On January 26th a large number of voters assembled at
Cameron, in Marshall County, and declared that it was "our
duty as well as interest to make our sentiments "known ; and
they are, that we are unfaltering in our devotion to the Union
as bequeathed our fathers ; that the Union and Constitution
have committed no wrong, but have secm-ed most graciously
and admirably in our mission, and will continue so to do, if
they are maintained."

On January 29th two conventions were held in Ohio
County, each emphasizing by resolution their unalterable de-
termination to stand by the Union and the Constitution.

The people in Brooke County, in a meeting held in Feb-
ruary, 1861, declared: "Of all the people of these United
States, we, the people of the so-called Panhandle Region of
Virginia, are the most to be affected by the secession of this
State. By it we would be put in an 'inferior condition to these
herein mentioned', and subject only to taxation to support a
government in the extreme South, in which we have no inter-
est in common with the people."

While there was great rejoicing throughout the Black
Belt in Virginia over the adoption of an Ordinance of Seces-
sion by the Convention at Richmond, April 17, 1861, the
feeling was quite the contrary in Northwestern Virginia.
"There anxious thousands impatiently awaited intelligence
from the capital city on the James. But none came, for at
that time there was but one line of telegraph connecting the
East with the West and that night — April 18th — it was
broken at Harper's Ferry. On the streets of Morgantown,

388 History of West Virginia

Clarksburg, Weston, Wheeling, Wellsburg, and other towns
earnest men looked each other in the face to see reflected back
an expression of the feeling which agitated their own breasts.
Nothing definite was known in some of the counties until the
arrival home of delegates from Richmond. Then a thrill of
excitement shook the country from the Alleghanies to the
Ohio, and but a few days sufficed to fan into flame the sec-
tional jealoiisies of other years."

Following is a list of names of those representing coun-
ties in Western Virginia (now West Virginia) in the Con-
vention at Richmond :

Barbour — Samuel Woods.

Berkeley — Allen C. Hammond and Edmund Pendleton.

Braxton, Nicholas, Clay and Webster — Benjamin W.
Byrne. ^ .

Brooke — William McComas.

Doddridge and Tyler — Chapman J. Stuart.

Logan, Boone and Wyoming- — ^James Lawson.

Marion — Alpheus F. Raymond and Ephraim B. Hall.

Marshall — James Burley.

Mason — ^James H. Couch.

Mercer — Napoleon B. French.

Monongalia — Waitman T. Willey and Marshall M. Dent.

Fayette and Raleigh — Henry L. Gillispie.

Gilmer, Wirt and Calhoun — C. B. Conrad.

Greenbrier — Samuel Price.

Hampshire — Edward M. Armstrong and David Pugh.

Hancock — George McC. Porter.

Hardy — Thomas Maslin.

Harrison — John S. Carlile and Benjamin Wilson.

Jackson and Roane — Franklin P. Turner.

Jefferson — Alfred M. Barbour and Logan Osburn.

Kanawha — George W. Summers and Spicer Patrick.

Lewis — Caleb Boggess.

Monroe — Allen T. Capterton and John Echols.

Morgan — Johnson Orick.

Ohio — Sherrard Clemens and Chester D. Hubbard.

Pendleton — Henry M. Masters.

Pocahontas — Paul McNeil.

History of West Virginia 389

Pleasants and Ritchie — Cyrus Hall.

Preston — Wm. G. Brown and James C. McGrew.

Putnam — James W. Hoge.

Randolph and Tucker — John N. Hughes.

Taylor — John S. Burdett.

Upshur — George W. Berlin.

Wayne — BurwcU Spurlock.

Wetzel — Leonard S. Hall.

Wood — ^John J. Jackson.

Of those named, the following voted against the Ordi-
nance of Secession : Edward M. Armstrong, George W.
Berlin, Caleb Boggess, William G. Brown, John S. Burdett,
James Burley, Benjamin AV. Byrne, John S. Carlile, Sherrard
Clemens, C. B. Conrad, James H. Couch, Alpheus F. Hay-
mond, Chester D. Hubbard, John J. Jackson, Wm. McComas,
James C. McGrew, Henry H. Masters, Logan Osburn, Spicer
Patrick, Edmund Pendleton, George McC. Porter, Samuel
Price, David Pugh, Marshall M. Dent, Ephraim B. Hall, Allen
C. Hammond, James W. Hoge, Burwell Spurlock, Chapman
J. Stuart, George W. Summers, Campbell Tarr, and Waitman
T. Willey — thirty-two in all.

Those voting for the Ordinance were : Allen T. Caperton,
John Echols, Napoleon B. French, James Lawson, Johnson
Orick, Henry L. Gillispie, Cyrus Hall, Leonard S. Hall, John
N. Hughes, Samuel Woods, and Franklin P. Turner — eleven
in all.

Those not voting upon the question were : Thomas Mas-
lin, Benjamin Wilson, Alfred M. Barbour, and Paul McNeil —
four in all.

Those who voted in the negative and afterward changed
to the affirmative were George W. Berlin and Alpheus F.
Haymond.

Those who did not vote, but afterwards signed the Ordi-
nance of Secession, were Alfred M. Barbour and Paul McNeil.

As there were 88 votes cast for and 55 votes against
secession, and as 13 of the Western Virginia delegates voted
for and 30 against — four not voting — it will be seen that the
secessionists would have won by three votes had all of the

390 History of West Virginia

forty-seven Western Virginia delegates voted against seces-
sion.

Immediately following the passage of the Ordinance of
Secession James Burley, Sherrard Clemens, Marshall M. Dent,
Ephraim B. Hall, Chester D. Hubbard, John J. Jackson,
James C. McGrew, Spicer Patrick, Chapman J. Stuart, George
McC. Porter, and Campbell Tarr met at the rooms of
Sherrard Clemens in the old Powhatan Hotel, where it was
resolved that all should leave Richmond for their homes on
the first train. Waitman T. Wllley, William G. Brown, Caleb
Boggess and others followed immediately afterwards, shortly
followed by George W. Summers, James H, Couch, James W.
Hoge and others.

By reason of their absenting themselves for causes not
agreeable to the delegates representing the secession element,
the following Western delegates were expelled as members
of the Richmond convention: William G. Brown and James
C. McGrew, of Preston County; James Burly, of Marshall
County; John S. Burdett, of Taylor County; John S. Carlile,
of Harrison County; Marshall M. Dent and Waitman T.
Willey, of Monongalia County; Chester D. Hubbard, of Ohio
County ; George McC. Porter, of Hancock County ; Chapman
J. Stuart, of Doddridge County; Campbell Tarr, of Brooke
County; John J. Jackson, of Wood County, and Ephraim B.
Hall, of Marion County.

James H. Couch, of Marion County, and George W.
Summers, of Kanawha County, resigned their seats in the
convention. John N. Hughes, delegate from Randolph Coun-
ty, was killed at the Battle of Rich Mountain, July 11th, 1861.
He was in the Confederate army.

News of the passing of the Secession Ordinance was
carried to all parts of Western A^irginia, and within a very
brief time meetings were being held in every town and village
west of the mountains ; and the returned delegates urged the
people to prepare for resistance of the secession movement at
the ballot-box on May 23rd.

On April 22nd a large mass meeting was held in Monon-
galia County, and the following resolution was passed :

"The time has come when every friend of the Union

History of West Virginia 391

should rally to the support of the flag of his country, and de-
fend the same ; that the people of Monongalia County, regard-
less of past afifiliations, hereby enter their solemn protest
against the secession of the State; and that they owe undying
fidelity to the Union ; and that they cling to it despite the
efforts of the people of Eastern Virginia to precipitate them
into the gulf of secession, and consequent ruin."

On April 22nd the people of Wetzel County met at New
Martinsville and adopted the following resolution :

"That secession is not the remedy for the troubles so
unfortunately resting upon our country and we believe it
would be for the interest of Virginia to remain in the Union,
believing that our rights can be maintained in the Union, but
that they will certainly be endangered out of it.

"Resolved, further. That the Union sentiment of this peo-
ple is such that we pledge our votes against any act of seces-
sion which would sever us as a State from the Federal Gov-
ernment."

A convention was held at Clarksburg on April 22nd, 1861,
at which, it was estimated, there were over 1200 voters of
Harrison County present. John Hursey was made President
and John W. Harris, Secretary. Following resolutions were
adopted by the meeting :

"WHEREAS, The Convention now in session in this
State, called by the Legislature, the members of which had
been elected twenty months before said call, at a time when
no such action as the assemblage of a convention by legisla-
tive enactment was contemplated by the people, or expected
by the members they elected in May, 1859, at which time no
one anticipated the troubles recently brought upon our com-
mon country by the extraordinary action of the State auti-
ties of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida,
Louisiana, and Texas, has, contrary to the expectation of a
large majority of the people of this State, adopted an ordi-
nance withdrawing Virginia from the Federal Union ; and,

"WHEREAS, By the law calling said Convention, it is
expressly declared that no such ordinance shall have force or
effect, or be of binding obligation upon the people of this.

392 History of West Virginia

State, until the same shall be ratified by the voters at the
polls; and,

"WHEREAS, We have seen with regret that demon-
strations of hostility, unauthorized by law, and inconsistent
with the duty of law-abiding citizens, still owing allegiance
to the Federal Government, have been made by a portion of
the people of this State against the said Government; and,

"WHEREAS, The Governor of this Commonwealth has,
by procalamation, undertaken to decide for the people of Vir-
ginia that which they have reserved to themselves the right
to decide by their votes at the polls, and has called upon the
volunteer soldiery of this State to report to him and hold
themselves in readiness to make war upon the Federal Gov-
ernment, which Government is Virginia's Government and
must in law and of right continue so to be uniil the people of
Virginia shall, by their votes and through the ballot-box, that
great conservator of a free people's liberties, decide other-
wise; and,

"WHEREAS, The peculiar situation of Northwestern
Virginia, separated as it is by natural barriers from the rest
of the State, precludes all hope of timely succor in the hour
of danger from other portions of the State, and demands that
we should look to and provide for our own safety in the fear-
ful emergency in which we now find ourselves placed by the
action of our State authorities, who have disregarded the great
fundamental upon which our beautiful system of government
is based, to-wit: 'That all governmental power is derived
from the consent of the governed,' and have, without consult-
ing the people, placed this State in hostility to the Federal
Government by seizing upon its ships and obstructing the
channel at the mouth of Elizabeth River; by wresting from
the Federal officers at Norfolk and Richmond the custom
houses ; by tearing from the Nation's property the Nation's
flag and putting in its place a bunting, the emblem of rebellion,
and by marching upon the National Armory at Harper's
Ferry ; thus inaugurating a war without consulting those in
whose name they profess to act.

"AND, WHEREAS, The exposed condition of North-
western Virginia requires that her people should be united in

History of West Virginia 393

action, and harmonious in purpose — there being a perfect
identity of interests in times of war as well as of peace —

"THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That it be and
is hereby recommended to the people in each and all of the
counties composing Northwestern Virginia to appoint dele-
gates, not less than five in number, of their wisest, best and
most discreet men, to meet in Convention on the 13th day of
May next, to consult and determine upon such action as the
people of Northwestern Virginia should take in the present
fearful emergency.

"RESOLVED, That Hon. John S. Carlile, Waldo P. Golf,
Hon. Charles S. Lewis, John J. Davis, vSolomon S. Fleming,
Lot Bowen, Dr. William Duncan, William E. Lyon, Felix
Sturm and James Lynch, be and are hereby appointed dele-
gates to represent this county in said Convention.

"JOHN HURSEY, President."

"JOHN W. HARRIS, Secretary."

"That evening Mr. C. E. Ringler, editor and proprietor
of the 'Western Virginia Guard,' published at Clarksburg,
issued an extra edition of his paper in which was printed an
'Address of the Convention to the people of Northwestern
Virginia.' In this the foregoing 'Preamble and Resolutions'
were embodied. Messengers mounted on horseback bore
copies of the 'Guard' to Weston, Kingwood, Morgantown, and
to adjoining and adjacent counties. Other copies were dis-
tributed along the lines of railroad westward to Wheeling and
Parkersburg; eastward to Martinsburg, and even to the Lower
Potomac. The time was short — but twenty days, — the emer-
gency great, and from Hancock County to W^ayne and from
Wood to Berkeley, the people hastened to comply with the
request of the Clarksburg Convention. Public meetings were
held in counties, in cities, in towns, at churches, schoolhouse^.,
and crossroads, and delegates appointed to tlte proposed con-
vention at Wheeling. Days seemed weeks, but time passed
and brought the eventful 13th day q^ May, 1861." (\'irgil A.
Lewis.)

394 History of West Virginia

Proceedings of the First Convention of the People of
Northwestern Virginia at Wheehng.

On May 13th, 1861, a Convention of Delegates from
twenty-seven counties in Western Virginia met at Washing-
ton Hall, in Wheeling. Major William B. Zinn, of Preston
County, was selected temporary chairman, and George R.
Latham, of Taylor County, temporary secretary. Convention
was opened by prayer by Rev. Peter T. Laishley, a delegate
from Monongalia County. Considerable debate arose between
Mr. Carlile and Mr. Jackson on the question of representa-
tion, but the matter was finally adjusted by the appointment
of a committee, com.posed of one member from each count/
represented on the floor, to whom were referred the subject of
representation and also the nomination of permanent officers
for the Convention. After a short adjournment, the Conven-
tion re-assembled, and Mr. Flesher, of Jackson County, Chair-
man of the Committee on Representation and Permanent Or-
ganization, submitted the report of that committee, as follows :

List of Delegates by Counties.

Barbour County — E. H. Menafee, Spencer Dayton and
John H. Shuttleworth.

Berkeley County — A. R. McOuilkin, John W. Dailey and
J. E. Bowers.

Brooke County — Adam Kuhn, David Hervey, Campbell
Tarr, Nathaniel Wells, J. R. Burgoine, James Archer, Jesse
Edgington, R. L. Jones, James A. Campbell, Robert C. Nich-
olls, Joseph Gist, John G. Jacob, Eli Green, John D. Nicholls,
Bazeleel Wells and Montgomery Walker.

Doddridge County — J. Chevront, S. S. Kinney, J. Smith,
James A. Foley, J. P. F. Randolph.

Frederick County — George S. Senseney.

Gilmer County — S. Martin.

Hampshire County — Owen D. Downey, George W. Bro-
ski, Dr. B. B. Shaw, George W. Sheets and George W. Rizer

Hancock County — George McC. Porter, W. L. Crawford,
Louis R. Smith, J. C. Crawford, B. J. Smith, Thomas Ander-

History of West Virginia 395

son, William R. Freeman, W. C. IMurry, J. L. Freeman, John
Gradner, George Johnston, J. S. Porter, James Stevenson,
J. S. Pomeroy, R. Breneman, Daniel Donahoo, D. S. Nichol-
son, Thayer Melvin, Ewing Turner, James H. Pugh, H. Farns-
worth, James G. Marshall, Samuel Freeman, John Mahan,
David Jenkins, William Hewitt, William Brown, A. Moore,
D. C, Pugh, Jonathan Allison, John H. Atkinson and Joseph
W. AHison.

Harrison County — John S. Carlile, Thomas L. Moore,
John J. Davis, Solomon S. Fleming, Felix S. Sturm, James
Lynch, William E. Lyon, Lot Bowen, Dr. Duncan, Waldo P.
Goff, Benjamin F. Shuttleworth.

Jackson County — Andrew Flesher, David Woodruff, C.
M. Rice, George Leonard, J. F. Scott, G. L. Kennedy, J. V.
Rowley.

Lewis County — T. M. Chalfant, Alexander Scott Withers,
J. W. Hudson, Perry M. Hale, J. Wootfer, W. L. Grant, J.
Ames and J. A. J. IJghtburn.

Marion County — R. R. Brown, J. C. Beeson, Isaac
Holman, Thomas H. Barnes, Hiram Haymond, Harvey '
Merrifield, G. W. Jollift'e, John Chisler, Thomas Hough,
William Beatty, James G. Beatty, Aaron Hawkins, Jacob
Sturm, Francis H. Pierpont, Jesse Shaw, Joshua Carter.

Marshall County — John H. Dickey, John Parkinson,
Thomas JMorris, W. Alexander, John Laughlin, W. T. Head,
J. S. Parriott, William J. Purdy, H. C. Kemple, Joseph Turner,
Hiram McMechen, E. H. Caldwell, James Garvin, L. Gardner,
H, A. Francis, Thomas Dowler, John R. ]\Iorrow, William
Wasson, Nat. Wilson, Thomas Morgan, S. Dorsey, Jr., R. B.
Hunter, J. W. McCarriher, J. B. Morris, R. C. Holliday,
William Collins, W. R. Kimmons, G. W. Evans, AA'illiam
McFarland, J. Hornbrook, John Reynolds, Remembrance
Swan, J. B. Hornbrook, James Campbell, F. Clement, J.
Winders, AA'illiam Baird, Dr. Marshman, Wm. Luke, J.
Garvin, S. Ingram, William Phillips, Jr., A. Francis, Thomas
Wilson, Lot Enix, G. Hubbs, John \Mlson, John Ritchie,
J. W. Bonar, J. Alley, S. B. Stidger, Asa Browning, Samuel
Wilson, J. McCondell, A. Bonar, D. Price, G. W. Evans, D.
Roberts, George Hubbs, Thomas Dowler, R. Alexander, E.

396 History of West Virginia

Conner, Charles Snediker, John Winters, Nathan Fish, V. P.
Gorby, Alfred Gaines, J. S. Riggs, Alexander Kemple, Joseph
McCombs, W. Alexander.

Mason County — ^Joseph S. Machir, Lemuel Harpold,
William E. Wetzel, John Godley, Wyatt WilHs, Wm. Wiley
Harper, William Harpold, Daniel Polsley, Samuel Davis, J.
N. Jones, Samuel Yeager, R. C. M. Lovell, Barney J. Rollins,
David C. Sayre, Charles H. Bumgardner, John O. Butler,
Timothy Russell, John Hall, A. A. Rogers, Wilham Hopkins,
Eugene B. Davis, David Rossin, Asa Brigham, Charles B.
Waggener, John M. Phelps, Stephen Comstock, W. C. Starr,
John Greer, Apollo Stevens, Major Brown, John J. Weaver.

Monongalia County — Waitman T. Willey, James Evans,
Leroy Kramer, William A. Hanaway, William Lazier, Elisha
Coombs, George McNeeley, Henry Dering, Dr. H. N. Mackey,
Evans D. Fogle, James T. M. Laskey, James T. Hess, Charles
H. Burgess, John Bly, William Price, Dr. A. Brown, Dr. J. V.
Boughner, D. P. Fitch, E. B. Taggart, Alpheus Garrison, Dr.
John McCarl, J. A. Wiley, Joseph Snyder, Joel Bowlsby,
Amos S. Bowlsby, A. Derrant, N. C. Vandervort, Daniel
White, Dr. D. B. Dorsey, Jacob Miller, Dr. Isaac Scott,
Marshall M. Dent, Rev. Peter T. Laishley, Edward P. St.
Clair, Wilham B. Shaw, P. L. Rice, Joseph JollilTe, William
Anderson.

Ohio County — John Alman, L. S. Delaplain, J. R. Stifel,
Gibson Lamb Cranmar, Alfred Caldwell, John Mcl,ure, Jr.,
Andrew Wilson, George Forbes, A. J. Woods, Thomas H.
Logan, James S. Wheat, George W. Norton, N. H. Garrison,
E. Buckhannon, John Pierson, P. Witham, Perry Whitten,
E. McCaslin, A. B. Caldwell, John R. Hubbard, A. F. Ross,
William B. Curtis, John Steiner, Daniel Lamb, Chester D.
Hubbard, H. Armstrong, S. H. Woodward, James W. Paxton,
A. A. Handlan, Stephen Waterhouse, J. Hornbrook, L. D.
Waitt, John K. Botsford, George Bowers, Robert Crangle,
J. M. Bickel, James Paull, John C. Hoffman, Jacob Berger,
A. Bedillion, Sr., George Tingle, Samuel McCulloch, J. C. Orr.

Pleasants County — Friend Cochran, Robert Parker, R. A.
Cramer, James W. Williamson.

Preston County — Harrison Hagans, R. C. Crooks, W. H.

History of West Virginia 397

King, James W. Brown, Charles Hooton, Summers AlcCrum,
William B. Zinn, W. T. Brown, Reuben IMorris, D. A. Lit-
zinger, John Howard, G. H. Kidd, James A. Brown, William
P. Fortney.

Ritchie County — Noah Rexroad, D. Rexroad, J. P. Harris,
A. S. Cole.

Roane Count}^ — Irwin C. Stump.

Taylor County — J. Means, J. M. Wilson, T. Kennedy,
Thomas Cather, John S. Burdett, J. J. Allen, B. Bailey, George
R. Latham, T. T. jMonroe, J. J. Warren.

Tyler County — Daniel D. Johnson, Daniel Sweeney, V.
Smith, W. B. Kerr, J. C. Parker, James M. Smith, j. H.
Johnston, Isaac Davis, S. H. Hawkins, D. King, William
Prichard.

Upshur County — W. E. Williams, C. P. Rohrbaugh.

Wayne County — William W. Brumfield, C. Spurlock, F.
Moore, William H. Copley, Walter Queen.

Wetzel County — F. E. Williams, Joseph Murphy, Elijah
Morgan, William Burrows, B. T. Bowers, J. R. Brown, J. M.
Bell, Jacob Young, Reuben Martin, R. Reed, Sr., Richard
Cook, A. McEldowney, B. VanCamp, John McCaskey, S.
Stephens, R. W. Lauck, John Alley, Thomas McOuown,
George W. Bier, William D. Walker, R. S. Sayers.

Wirt County — Henry Newman, E. T. Graham, B. Ball.

Wood County — S. L. A. Burche, John J. Jackson, Sr.,
J. D. Ingram, A. Laughlin, Wellington Vrooman, J. C. Rath-
bone, G. E. Smith, D. K. Baylor, M. Woods, Andrew Alls,
Joseph Dagg, Jr., N. W. Warlow, Peter Riddle, John Paugh,
T. E. McPherson, Thomas Leach, S. S. Spencer, E. Deem, N.
H. Colston, A. Hinckley, Bennett Cook, George W. Hender-
son, George Loomis, J. L. Padgett, S. D. Compton, S. N.
Peterson, G. H. Ralston, V. A. Dunbar, A. R. Dye, W. H.
Baker, William Johnston, Jr., Dr. Jesse Burche, S. Ogden,
Sardis Cole, P. Reed, John McKibben, W. Athe}'-, C. Hunter,
W. P. Davis, R. H. Burke, George Compton, C. M. Cole, Roger
Tiffins, Edward Holt, W. B. Caswell, Peter Dills, W. F.
Henry, A. C. McKinsey, Rufus Kinnard, John J. Jackson, Jr.,
C. J. Neal, J. G. Blackford, Henry Cole, W. E. Stevenson,
Jesse Murdock, J. Burche, J. Morrison, A. H. Hatcher, A.

398 History of West Virginia

Mather, Charles B. Smith, Arthur Drake, H. Rider, B. H.
Bukey, John W. Moss, R. S. Smith, M. P. Amiss, T. Hunter,
J. Barnett, T. S. Conley, J. J. Neal.

Dr. John W. Moss, of Wood County, was nominated
President; and Colonel Charles B. Waggener, of Mason
County, Marshall M. Dent, of Monongalia County, and Gibson
Lamb Cranmar, of Ohio County, were named Secretaries ;
James R. Ewing was appointed Sergeant- at-Arms ; and A.
Clemens and R. Higgins, Doorkeepers.

On Wednesday, May 15, 1861, the following Report of
the Committee on State and Federal Relations was adopted
almost unanimously, only two dissenting voices being heard:

"RESOLA'ED, That in our deliberate judgment the
ordinance passed by the Convention of Virginia, on the 17th
day of April, 1861, known as the Ordinance of Secession, by
which said Convention undertook in the name of the State
of Virginia to repeal the ratification of the Constitution of
the United States by this State, and to resume all the rights
and powers granted under said Constitution, is unconstitu-
tional, null and void.

"2. RESOLVED, That the schedule attached to the
Ordinance of Secession suspending and prohibiting the elec-
tion for members of Congress from this State is a manifest
usurpation of power to which we ought not to submit.

"3. RESOLVED, That the agreement of the 24th of
April, 1861, between the Commissioner of the Confederate
States and this State, and the ordinance of the 25th of April,
1861, approving and ratifying said agreement, by which the
whole military force and military operations, offensive and
defensive, of this Commonwealth are placed under the chief
control and direction of the President of the Confederate
States, upon the same principle, basis and footing as if the
Commonwealth were now a member of said Confederacy, and
all the acts of the executive officers of our State in pursuance
of said agreement and ordinance are plain and palpable viola-
tions of the Constitution of the United States, and are utterly
subversive of the rights and liberties of the people of
Virginia.

"4. RESOLVED, That we earnestly urge and entreat

History of West Virginia 399

the citizens of the State everywhere, but more especially in
the Western section, to be prompt at the polls on the 23rd
inst., and to 'impress upon every voter the duty of voting in
condemnation of the Ordinance of Secession, in the hope that
we may not be involved in the ruin to be occasioned by its
adoption, and with the view to demonstrate the position of
the West on the question of secession.

"5. RESOLVED, That we earnestly recommend to the
citizens of Western Virginia to vote for members of the Con-
gress of the United States, in their several districts, in the
exercise of the right secured to us b}^ the Constitutions of
the United States and the State of Virginia.

"6. RESOLVED, That we also recommend to the citi-
zens of the several counties to vote at said election for such
persons as entertain the opinions expressed in the foregoing
resolutions, for members of the Senate and the House of Dele-
gates of our State.

"7. RESOLVED, That in view of the geographical,
social, commercial and industrial interests of Northwestern
Virginia, this Convention are constrained in giving expres-
sion to the opinion of their constituents to declare that the
Virginia Convention, in assuming to change the relation of
the State of Virginia to the Federal Government, have not
only acted unwisely and unconstitutionally, but have adopted
a policy utterly ruinous to all the material interests of our
section, severing all our social ties and dr3nng up all the chan-
nels of our trade and prosperity.

"8. RESOLVED, That in the event of the Ordinance
of Secession being ratified by a vote, we recommend to the
people of the counties here represented, and all others disposed
to co-operate with us, to appoint on the 4th day of June, 186L
delegates to a General Convention, to meet on the 11th of that
sionth, at such place as may be designated by the committee
hereinafter provided, to devise such measures and take such
action as the safety and welfare of the people they represent
may demand,^ — each county to appoint a number of representa-
tives to said Convention equal to double the number to which
it will be entitled in the next House of Delegates ; and the Sen-
ators and Delegates to be elected on the 23rd inst., by the

400 History of West Virginia

counties referred to, to the next Genera] Assembly of Virginia,
and who concur in the views of this Convention, to be entitled
to seats in the said Convention as members thereof.

"9. RESOLVED, That inasmuch as it is a conceded
political axiom that government is founded on the consent of
the governed and is instituted for their good, and it can not
be denied that the course pursued by the ruling power in the
State is utterly subversive and destructive of our interests,
we believe we may rightfully and successfully appeal to the
proper authorities of Virginia to permit us peacefully and law-
fully to separ^ate from the residue of the State, and form our-
selves into a government to give effect to the wishes, views
and interests of our constituents.

"10. RESOLA/'ED, That the pubhc authorities be as-
sured that the people of the Northwest will exert their utmost
power to preserve the peace, which they feel satisfied they
can do, until an opportunity is afforded to see if our present
difficulties cannot receive a peaceful solution ; and we express
the earnest hope that no troops of the Confederate States be
introduced among us, as we believe it would be eminently
calculated to produce civil war.

"11. RESOLVED, That in the language of Washington
in his letter of the 17th of September, 1787, to the President of
Congress : "In all our deliberations on this subject we have
kept steadily in view that which appears to us the greatest
interest of every true American, — the consolidation of our
Union, — in which is involved our prosperit}^, felicity, safety,
and perhaps our national existence.' And therefore we will
maintain and defend the Constitution of the United States
and the laws made in pursuance thereof, and all officers acting
thereunder in the lawful discharge of their respective duties.

"12. RESOLVED, That John S. Carhle, James S.
Wheat, Chester D. Hubbard, Francis H. Pierpont, Campbell
Tarr, George R. Latham, Andrew Wilson, S H. Woodward
and James W. Paxton be a Central Committee to attend to
all matters connected with the objects of this Convention ; and
that they have power to assemble this Convention at any time
they may think necessary.

"13. RESOLVED, That the Central Committee be in-

History of West Virginia 401

structed to prepare an address to the people of Virginia in
conformity with the foregoing resolutions and cause the same
to be published and circulated as extensively as possible."

In response to a call for a speech, General Jackson made
a warm, enthusiastic appeal to the Convention to now stand
by and maintain what they had here declared.

Following is copy of the letter prepared by the Central
Committee :

"TO THE PEOPLE OF NORTFIWESTERN VIRGINIA:

"In obedience to the 13th resolution of the Convention
which met in this city on the 13th inst., we earnestly conjure
you to enter actively and immediately upon the great work
of preparing your neighbors and friends, as well as yourselves,
for the firm, stern and decided stand necessary to be taken
and adhered to at all hazards, and maintained at any and
every cost, if we would preserve to ourselves and transmit to
our posterity that unity of government which constitutes us
one people, which we jvistl}^ regard as the palladium of our
liberties and the main pillar in the edifice of our independence.
In this way, and this way alone, we can save ourselves from
the innumerable evils consequent upon secession and all the
horrors of civil war.

"Why should the people of Northwestern Virginia allow
themselves to be dragged into the rebellion inaugurated by
ambitious and heartless men, who have banded themselves
together to destroy a government formed for you by your
patriotic fathers and which has secured to you all the liber-
ties consistent wuth the nature of man, and has, for near three-
fourths of a century, sheltered you in sunshine and in storm,
made you the admiration of the civilized world, and conferred
upon you a title more honored, respected and revered than
that of King or Potentate — the title of an American citizen?
Will you passively surrender it and submit to be used by the
conspirators engaged in this effort to enslave you as their
instruments by which your enslavement is to be effected?

"Freemen who would remain free must prove themselves
worthv to be free and must themselves first strike the blow.

402 History of West Virginia

"What is secession? Bankruptcy, ruin, civil war, ending
in a military despotism. Prior to the adoption of the Ordi-
nance of Secession in Virginia and to the passage by the
Legislature of the bill calling a Convention, all v\^as peace,
and the great business interests of our State were uninter-
rupted. From the hour that it was proclaimed the Ordinance
of Secession had been passed, business of every description
has been paralyzed; State, corporation and individual credit
is prostrate, and bankruptcy and ruin stare us in the face ;
and war, civil war, with all' its attendant horrors, is upon us.
Secession, all now see, is war. It is preceded by war, accom-
panied and sustained by war, ushered into being by war.

"Who are to stand the brunt of this contest? Will it be
those who have clamored loudest for secession and who have
done the most to bring on the present crisis? These are the
first to flee from the very approach of danger. They hurr\- in
every train and by every coach from the anticipated scenes
of disturbance. Will the disunion majority of the Richmond
Convention come into the ranks and shoulder the musket in
the strife which they have inaugurated ? They will keep at a
respectful distance from danger. They will fill the lucrative
offices and secure the rich appointments which appertain to
the new order of things. They will luxuriate on two or three
or four hundred dollars per month, with horse, and servants,
and rations to match, while the Union-loving people will be
called upon, for the honor of Virginia and two shillings per
day, to do the fighting and undergo the hardships of war. We
are all Virginians, say they, the State must be sustained, and
right or wrong, we must all fight for Virginia, etc.

"What is it to fight for Virginia? What is it to sustain
the State? Is it to urge her upon a course which leads to
visible and gaping destruction? Is this the way and the only
way in which we can testify our devotion to the Common-
wealth? If those feelings which actuated our Revolutionary
Fathers be not all dead in us, we shall exhibit our love for
Virginia by repudiating this tyrannical rule which the Rich-
mond Convention has endeavored to impose, and suffer "not
ourselves to be sold like sheep from the shambles. The people
yet hold their destinies in their own hands — it is for them to

History of West Virginia 403

accept or reject a tyranny, worse many times, than that from
which the war of '76 dehvered us — not the tyranny of one man,
but of many.

"But, people of Northwestern Virginia, why should we
thus permit ourselves to be tyrannized over, and made slaves
of, by the haughty arrogance and wicked machinations of
would-be Eastern despots? Are we submissionists, craven
cowards, who will yield to daring ambition the rich legacy of
Freedom which we have inherited from our fathers, or are we
men who know our rights, and knowing, dare maintain them ?
If we are, we will resist the usurpers and drive from our midst
the rebellion sought to be forced upon us. We will, in the
strength of our cause, resolutely and determinedly stand by
our rights and our liberties secured to us by the struggles of
our Revolutionary Fathers, and the authors of the Constitu-
tion under which we have grown and prospered beyond all
precedent in the world's history. We will maintain, protect
and defend that Constitution and the Union with all our
strength, and with all our powers, ever remembering that 'Re-
sistance to tyrants is obedience to God.' We utterly repudiate
the war sought to be enforced upon us without the consent
and against the earnest- protestations of the people who have
not produced it, but who have, we regret to say, thus far
offered no resistance, but have submitted to the filling up of
armies and the quartering of troops in their midst; taking for
the purpose our young men who had, in a time of profound
peace and with no expectation of ever being called upon to
aid in a rebellion, attached themselves to the volunteer corps
of our State.

"The people, stunned by the magnitude of the crime,
have, for a time, offered no resistance, but as returning reason
enables them to perceive distinctly the objects and purposes
of the vile perpetrators of this deed, their hearts swell within
them, and already the cry has gone up from our mountains
and our valleys, 'Resistance to t3^rants is obedience to God.'

"Let us urge you, then, that our resistance may be
effectual, to act in the spirit of the Resolutions here appended,
adopted by the Convention whose Committee Ave are. Let all
our ends be directed to the creation of an organized resistance

404 History of West Virginia

to the despotism of the tyrants who have been in session in
Richmond and who are soon to re-assemble, that we may
maintain our position in the Union under the flag of our com-
mon country, which has for so many 3^ears waved gracefully
and protectingly over us, and which, when we behold upon
its ample folds the stripes and the stars of Freedom, causes
our bosoms to glow with patriotic heat and our hearts to swell
with honest love of country. That this flag, the symbol of our
might, challenges our admiration, and justly claims our every
effort against those who have dared to desecrate and dishonor
it, we all admit. Let us then see that we take the proper
measures to make effectual those efforts. The Convention to
assemble on the 11th proximo is looked to to organize our
action. Its importance, its necessity, will at once strike your
minds ; take immediate steps for your representatives in Con-
vention, your most determined, resolute, temperate and
wisest men. We have already detained you too long ; the time
for action, prompt, firm and decided, has come. In the hope
that our section will be that of a united people, we take leave
of you, confidently calculating that you will give your body,
soul, strength, mind, and all the energies of your nature to
the work of saving your country from becoming the theatre
of a bloody war, brought upon you without your consent and
against your will. Let us show Mr. Ex-Secretary Cobb, now
President of the Montgomer}^ Congress, that we are not will-
ing to recognize the transfer of us made by the Richmond
Convention, nor do we intend to allow our borders, as he says .
they will be, to be made the theatre of this war.

"Fellow citizens, we ask you to read and ponder well the
passages from Mr. Cobb's speech. We recite :

" 'The people of the Gulf States need have no apprehen-
sion; they may go on with their planting and their other
business as usual,i the war will not come to their section ; its
THEATRE WILL BE ALONG THE BORDERS OF THE
OHIO RIVER AND IN VIRGINIA.'

"The Convention between Virginia and the Confederate
States, by which the control of all military operations is placed
in the hands of President Davis, insures this result.

"Fellow citizens, 'these are the times when we must not

History of West Virginia 405

stop to count sacrifices, where honor and character and self-
preservation are put in issue.' The patriot and sage, Daniel
•Webster, in a speech delivered at Washington, in 1851, at the
laying of the corner stone of the addition to the Capitol, spoke
as follows :

" 'Ye men of the Blue Ridge, many thousands of whom
are nearer to this capitol than the seat of government of your
own State, what do you think of breaking up this great asso-
ciation into fragments of States and of people? I know that
some of you, and I believe that you all, would be almost as
much shocked at the announcement of such a catastrophe as
if you were informed that the Blue Ridge itself would soon
totter from its base— AND YE MEN OF WESTERN VIR-
GINIA, WHO OCCUPY THE SLOPE FROM THE ALLE-
GHANIES TO OHIO AND KENTUCKY, WHAT BENE-
FIT DO YOU PROPOSE TO YOURSELVES BY DIS-
UNION ? IF YOU SECEDE, WHAT DO YOU "SECEDE"
FROM, AND WHAT DO YOU "ACCEDE" TO? DO YOU
LOOK FOR THE CURRENT OF THE OHIO TO
CHANGE AND TO BRING YOU AND YOUR COM-
MERCE TO THE TIDE WATERS OF EASTERN RIV-
ERS? WHAT MAN IN HIS SENSES CAN SUPPOSE
THAT YOU WOULD REMAIN PART AND PARCEL
OF VIRGINIA A MONTH AFTER VIRGINIA HAD
CEASED TO BE A PART AND PARCEL OF THE
UNITED STATES?'

"Fellow citizens of Northwestern Virginia, the issue is
with you. Your destiny is in your own hands. If you are
worthy descendants of your worthy sires you will rally to
the defense of your liberties, and the Constitution which has
protected and blessed you will still extend over you its pro-
tecting aegis. If you hesitate or falter all is lost, and you and
your children to the latest posterity are destined to perpetual
slavery.

"JOHN S. CARLILE, "GEORGE R. LATHAM,

"JAMES S. WHEAT, "ANDREW WILSON,

"CHESTER D. HUBBARD, "S. H. WOODWARD.
"FRANCIS H. PIERPONT. "JAMES W. PAXTON,
"CAMPBELL TARR. "Committee."

406 History of West Virginia

Referring to Resolution No. 8 in Report of Committee on
State and Federal Relations, it will be seen that in case of
the Ordinance of Secession being ratified by a vote, the people
of the counties represented in the Convention then being held
and all others disposed to co-operate with them, were to
appoint on the 4th day of June, 1861, delegates to a General
Convention, to meet on the 11th of that month at such place
as might be designated by the Committee named in Resolu-
tion No. 11, to devise such measures and take such action as
the safety and welfare of the people represented might de-
mand,— each county to appoint a number of Representatives
to said Convention equal to double the number to which it
would be entitled in the next House of Delegates ; and the
Senators and Delegates to be elected on the 23rd inst., by the
counties referred to, to the next General Assembly of Virginia,
and who concurred in the views of the present Convention, to
be entitled to seats in the said Convention as members thereof.

In compliance with the provisions of the foregoing men-
tioned resolutions — the Western Virginians having oeen out-
voted by the Eastern Virginians on the secession question —
the Convention assembled at Washington Hall, in the City
of Wheeling, at two P. M., June 11, 1861, and at once pro-
ceeded to organize.

Dennis B. Dorsey, Esq., of Monongalia County, was
selected as temporary chairman, and Gibson Lamb Cranmar,
of Wheeling, was chosen temporary secretary. Rev. Gordon
Battelle opened the convention with prayer. The committees
were then appointed.

Committee on Organization — Francis H. Pierpont, W. H.
Copeland, E. H. Caldwell, John S. Burdett, and Chapman J.
Stuart.

Committee on Rules — John S. Carlile, Daniel Polsley,
Harrison Hagans, George McC. Porter, and Andrew Flesher.

Committee on Credentials — Arthur I. Boreman, Daniel
Lamb, Lewis Wetzel, John J. Brown, and James Evans.

On Wednesday, June 12th, the Committee on Credentials
reported that "the following gentlemen are entitled to seats in
this body from the counties designated, in the capacities
herein set forth, whether as members of the General A.ssembly

History of West Virginia 407

elected on the 23rd of May, 1861, or as delegates appointed to
this Convention, June 4th, only :

List of Delegates by Counties.

Alexandria County — Henry S. Martin and James T. Close,
delegates.

Barbour County— Nathan H. Taft and D. M. Myers,
members of the House of Delegates, and John H. Shuttle-
worth and Spencer Dayton, delegates.

- Brooke County — Joseph Gist, Senator; H. W. Crothers,
member H. of D., and John D. Nicholls and Campbell Tarr,
delegates.

Cabell County — Albert Laidley, member H. of D.

Doddridge and Tyler Counties — Chapman J. Stuart, Sen-
ator; William J. Boreman, member H. of D., and Daniel D.
Johnson and James A. Foreman, delegates.

Fairfax County — John Hawxhurst and P2ben E. Mason,
delegates.

Gilmer County — Henry W. Withers.

Hampshire County — James R. Carskadon, Senator, and
George W. Broski, James H. Trout and James J. Barricks,
delegates.

Hancock County — George McC. Porter, member H. of D.,
and John H. Atkinson and William L. Crawford, delegates.

Hardy County — John Michael, delegate.

Harrison County- — ^John J. Davis and John C. Vance,
members H. of D., and John S. Carlile, Solomon Fleming, Lot
Bowen, B. F. Shuttleworth and C. S. Lewis, delegates.

Jackson County — Daniel Frost, member H. of D., and
James F. Scott, Andrew Flesher and Senator James Smith,
delegates.

Jefferson County — George Koontz, delegate.

Kanawha County — Lewis Ruffner, member H. of D., and
Greenbury Slack, delegate.

Lewis County — Blackwell Jackson, Senator; Perry M.
Hale and J. A. J. Lightburn, delegates.

Marion County — ^Richard Fast and Fountain Smith,
members of H. of D., and Francis H. Pierpont, Ephraim B.

408 History of West Virginia

Hall, John S. Barnes, A. F. Ritchie and James O. Watson,
delegates.

Marshall County — James Burley, Senator; Remembrance
Swan, member H. of D., and E. H. Caldwell and Robert
Morris, delegates.

Mason County — Lewis Wetzel, member H. of D., and
Charles B. Waggener and Daniel Polsley, delegates.

Monongalia County — Leroy Kramer and Joseph Snyder,
members of H. of D., and Ralph L; Berkshire, William Price,
James Evans and Dennis B. Dorsey, delegates.

Ohio County — Thomas H. Logan and Andrew Wilson,
members of H. of D., and Daniel Lamb, James W. Paxton,
George Harrison and Chester D. Hubbard, delegates.

Pleasants and Ritchie Counties — James W. Williamson,
member H. of D., and C. W. Smith and William Douglas,
delegates.

Preston County — Charles Hooton and William B. Zinn,
members of H. of D., and William B. Crane, John Howard,
Harrison Hagans and John J. Brown, delegates.

Putnam County — George C. Bowyer, member of H. of D.,
and Dudley S. Montague, delegate.

Randolph and Tucker Counties — Solomon Parsons, mem-
ber H. of D., and Samuel Crane, delegate.

Roane County — T. A. Roberts, delegate.

Taylor County — Thomas Gathers, Senator; Lemuel E.
Davidson, member H. of D., and John S. Burdett and Samuel
Todd, delegates.

Upshur County — Daniel D. T. Farnsworth, member H.
of. D., and John L. Smith and John Love, delegates.

Wayne County — William Ratcliff, member H. of D., and
Wm. W. Brumfield and William Copley, delegates.

Webster County — Henry C. Moore, delegate.

Wetzel County — James G. West, member H. of D., and
Reuben Martin and James P. Ferrell, delegates.

Wirt County — James A. Williamson, member H. of D.,
and Henry Newman and E. T. Graham, delegates.

Wood Count}^ — John W. Moss, member H. of D., and
Arthur I. Boreman and Peter G. Van Winkle, delegates.

The Committee on Permanent Organization frecom-

History of West Virginia 409

mended the selection of Arthur I. Borenian for President;
Gibson L. Cranmar, Secretary, and Thomas Hornbrook, Ser-
geant-at-Arms.

Mr. Boreman, upon being conducted to the chair, ex-
pressed his acknowledgments to the Convention in a brief and
pertinent speech, of which the following was a part :

" This Convention was assembled under circumstances
which knew no parallel in the past history of the country since
the adoption of our Constitution. Then we were but a few
in the land — in these colonies of the mother country. Our
fathers met with opposition, but, few as they were, they deter-
mined to throw off the shackles which bound them. They did
so successfully, and after a struggle of seven years, succeeded
in obtaining from the world a recognition of their indepen-
dence. They adopted a form of government under which we
have gone on from that day to this, prospering and growing
in greatness beyond anything that ever occurred in the history
of any other nation, either ancient or modern. But now, in
the middle of the nineteenth century, w^e are awakened by the
astounding announcement in one section of our country that
we have no government worthy of our support, and the an-
nouncement is at once accompanied by a rebellion to throw
off this government under which we have been so long happy
and prosperous, and the inauguration of a system such as
never would have been countenanced by our fathers. We of
Western Virginia are asked to concur in this action. We are
placed in a peculiar position. The Convention at Richmond,
so far as they have the power, have by the passage of an
Ordinance of Secession withdrawn us from the Union of
our fathers. They submitted their action to a vote of the
people, as they proclaimed it, but in a way that made that
vote a mockery. The vote in form has ratified the Ordinance
of Secession — thus in the estimation of that Convention with-
drawing us from the United States of America. Under these
circumstances Western Virginia is placed in a peculiar posi-
tion. The States north of us and some of the slave States
have made no effort by an official body to withdraw from the
Union. States south of us have gone according to their opin-
ions out of the Union. Elsewhere there are no efforts being

410 History of West Virginia

made in any of them by any regularly constituted bodies to
retain their places in the Union, while here in Western Vir-
ginia we have determined that by the help of Him who rules
on high we will resist the action of that Convention, which
has practiced upon us a monstrous usurpation of power, vio-
lated the Constitution of the country and violated every rule
of right. We have determined, I say, to resist it, and under
this determination we are found here today to take definite
action. If you, gentlemen, will go with me, we will take defi-
nite, determined and unqualified action as to the course we
will pursue. We will take such action as will result in West-
ern Virginia remaining in the Union of our fathers. I am
satisfied that the members of this Convention concur with me
almost unanimously.

"Then in this Convention we have no ordinary political
gathering. We have no ordinary task before us. We come
here to carry out and execute, and, it may be, to institute, a
government for ourselves. We are determined to live under
a State Government in the United States of America and
under the Constitution of the United States. It requires stout
hearts to execute this purpose ; it requires men of courage — of
unfaltering determination ; and I believe, in the gentlemen
who compose this Convention, we have the stout hearts and
the men who are determined in this purpose. The definite line
of action to be pursued is not for me to indicate. Here are
learned gentlemen, men of experience, who, no doubt, after
deliberation will devise the course proper for us to pursue."

The Committee on Rules then submitted its report, em-
bracing the rules and regulations adopted by the Convention
held at Richmond in 1850.

The following resolutions were offered by Mr. Carlile and
adopted by the Convention :

"RESOLVED, That the thanks of the loyal people of
Virginia are due, and are hereby tendered, to the Federal
authorities for the prompt manner in which they have re-
sponded to our call for protection.

"2. That we tender our thanks to Major- General
McClellan for rescuing from the destruction and spoliation
inaugurated by the rebel forces in our midst the people of

History of West Virginia 411

Northwestern Virginia included within his miUtary division.

"3. That the gallant and soldierly bearing of the troops
from Ohio and Indiana, who, with our gallant 1st regiment,
commanded by Western Virginia's loyal son, Colonel Kelley,
have scattered the rebel forces in our midst, has won our
admiration, and we gladly hail them as our deliverers from
the ruin and slavery provided for us by the conspirators who
have temporary possession of the power of the State.

"4. That we deeply sympathize with our fellow citizen,
Colonel Kelley, in his sufferings from the wound received in
our service, and earnestly pray that he may be speedily re-
stored to perfect health and again resume his command at the
head of our 1st regiment.

"5. That we utterly repudiate the heresy sought to be
inculcated by secessionists that it is an invasion of Virginia's
soil for American troops to march to the defense and protec-
tion of Virginia's citizens, but on the contrary, we declare
Virginia soil to be American soil and free to the march of
American soldiery and sojourn of American citizens from all
and every portion of American territory ; and it is only by
such recognition that the Federal authorities could discharge
a plain Constitutional duty imposed upon them by the clause
guaranteeing to each State in the Union a republican form of
government."

Convention adopted a resolution that a committee of
thirteen members be appointed to prepare and report business
for the Convention ; and that all resolutions touching our
State and Federal Relations be referred to said committee.

Following persons were named as Committee on
Business :

John S. Carlile, Daniel Lamb, Francis H. Pierpont,
Harrison Hagans, P. G. V^an Winkle, Ralph L. Berkshire,
Daniel Polsley, William J. Boreman, E. H. Caldwell, Daniel
Frost, George McC. Porter, Daniel D. T. Farnsworth, and
William H. Copley. Later on James T. Close, John Hawx-
hurst, James R. Carskadon and a Mr. Crane were added to
the committee. It may be regarded as a peculiar circum-
stance that there were four Daniels in this committee.

412 History of West Virginia

On Thursday, June 13, 1861, the Convention met in the
United States Court room at the Custom House.

Among several resolutions presented was the following
by Mr. Frost, of Jackson County :

"RESOLVED, That for the better preservation of the
peace of the citizens of Virginia, this Convention most earn-
estly requests all persons within her limits engaged in rebel-
lious movements against the Federal Government, to desist
from all such demonstrations and return to their allegiance ;
and that this Convention does peremptorily require all sedi-
tious assemblages to disperse, and all companies mustered
into the service of the Southern Confederacy to be imme-
diately disbanded." This was adopted the following day.

On Friday, June 14th, Mr. Carlile announced that the
Central Committee, appointed by the May Convention, had
taken such steps as enabled them to announce "that 2,000
stand of good arms had been procured, 500 of which arrived
in the city today, and the other 1,500 to be here this evening
or in the morning."

The following resolution by Mr. Hagans was adopted :

"RESOLVED, That in consideration of the peculiar cir-
cumstances that have surrounded our loyal brethren of
■ Loudon County, as well as of their geographical position, this
Convention now extends to them a cordial and special invita-
tion to accredit and send their number of delegates as soon
^s possible, and that William F. Mercer be made the medium
of this invitation."

The afternoon session was consumed principally in a dis-
cussion as to the form and wording of the Declaration oi
Rights as offered by Mr. Carlile on June 13th.

On Monday, June 17th, the Declaration of Rights was
taken up and put upon its final passage. Mr. Dorsey called
for the yeas and nays, with the understanding that as the
absentees came in they be allowed to record their votes. The
yeas and nays on the adoption of the Declaration were then
taken, and resulted, yeas fifty-six, nays none.

"The vote taken," remarked Mr. Carlile, "exhibited a
happy coincidence, and one that may be hailed as an auspi-
cious omen : We have fiftv-six votes recorded in favor of our

History of West Virginia 413

Declaration, and we may remember that there were just fifty-
six signers to the Declaration of Independence."

Following is the Declaration of Rights, as amended and
adopted :

"The true purpose of all government is to promote the
welfare and provide for the protection and security of the
governed, and Avhen any form or organization of government
proves inadequate for, or subversive to, this purpose, it is the
right, it is the duty of the latter to abolish it. The Bill of
Rights of Virginia, framed in 1776, re-affirmed in 1830, and
again in 1851, expressly reserves this right to a majority of
her people. The act of the General Assembly, calling the
Convention which assembled at Richmond in February last,
without the previously expressed consent of such majority,
was therefore a usurpation; and the Convention thus called
has not only abused the powers nominall}^ entrusted to it,
but, with the connivance and active aid of the executive, has
usurped and exercised other powers, to the manifest injury
of the people, which, if permitted, will inevitably subject them
to a military despotism.

"The Convention, by its pretended ordinances, has re-
quired the people of Virginia to separate from and wage war
against the government of the United States, with whom
they have heretofore maintained friendly, social and business
relations :

"It has attempted to subvert the Union founded by
Washington and his co-patriots, in the purer days of the re-
public, which has conferred unexampled prosperity upon
every class of citizens and upon every section of the country :

"It has attempted to transfer the allegiance of the people
to an illegal confederacy of rebellious States, and required
their submission to its pretended edicts and decrees :

"It has attempted to place the whole military force and
military operations of the Commonwealth under the control
and direction of such confederacy, for oiTensive as well as de-
fensive purposes :

"It has, in conjunction with the State executive, instituted,
wherever their usurped power extends, a reign of terror in-

414 History of West Virginia

tended to suppress the free expression of the will of the people,
making elections a mockery and a fraud :

"The same combination, even before the passage of the
pretended ordinance of secession, instituted war by seizure
and appropriation of the property of the Federal Government,
and by organizing and mobilizing armies, with the avowed
purpose of capturing or destroying the Capital of the Union :

"They have attempted to bring the allegiance of the
people of the United States into direct conflict with their sub-
ordinate allegiance to the State, thereby making obedience to
their pretended ordinances treason against the former.

"We, therefore, the delegates here assembled in Conven-
tion to devise such measures and take such action as the safety
and welfare of the loyal citizens of Virginia may demand,
having maturely considered the premises, and viewing with
great concern the deplorable condition to which this once
happy Commonwealth must be reduced unless some regular
adequate remedy is speedily adopted, and appealing to the
Supreme Ruler of the Universe for the rectitude of our inten-
tions, do hereby, in the name and on the behalf of the good
people of Virginia, solemnly declare that the preservation of
their dearest rights and liberties and their security in person
and property imperatively demand the reorganization of the
government of the Commonwealth, and that all acts of said
Convention and Executive tending to separate this Common-
wealth from the United States, or to levy and carry on war
against them, are without authority and void ; and that the
ofifices of all who adhere to the said Convention and Executive,
whether legislative, executive or judicial, are vacated."

Considerable indignation was aroused among delegates
upon the reading of the Virginia Chronicle by Mr. Fisher,
of Jackson Count}^, announcing the action of the County Court
of that county in voting to tax the people of Jackson County
$3,000 for the support of the rebel soldiers and their families
during the war against the Federal Union.

Thursday, June 20th, considerable time was taken up in
the discussion of certain resolutions pertaining to ordinances
passed by the Convention, and the passage of a resolution

History of West Virginia • 415

concerning- the mode of signing- the Declaration heretofore
recorded.

The Chair then announced that the next business before
the Convention was the election of a Governor, Lieutenant-
Governor, Attorney-General and Council.

On the evening previous, the members of the Convention
held a private caucus at their room in the Custom House, and
unanimously nominated Francis H. Pierpont for Governor ;
Daniel Polsley, Lieutenant-Governor; James S. Wheat,
Attorney-General ; and for members of the Council of State,
William Lazier, Daniel Lamb, James W. Paxton, Peter G.
Van Winkle, and William A. Harrison. Therefore the elec-
tion of these officers the following day — June 20 — was but a
mere matter of form, which was soon carried out.

Beginning of the Restored Government — Meeting of the
General Assembly Thereunder.

(By Virgil A. Lewis.)

With the election of the Governor, Lieutenant-Governor,
and the members of the Council of State, the executive branch
of the new State Government was fairly inaugurated. At
five o'clock that evening the new State officials, together with
nearly all the members of the Convention, crossed over to
"Camp Carlile" on Wheeling Island, where they were received
by six hundred soldiers on dress parade, under the command
of Captain George R. Latham. Two cannons were fired in
quick succession, the echoes of which fairly shook the neigh-
boring hills on both sides of the Ohio River. Governor
Pierpont appointed Nathan Wilkinson, Auditor of Public
Accounts ; and Samuel P. Hildreth, Treasurer of the Com-
monwealth. Six days previously — ^June 22d — -he had issued a
proclamation convening the General Assembly in extra ses-
sion at Wheeling on the first day of July, 1861. In accordance
with this, that body convened on that date and was in 'session
until the 26th of that month. Eleven Senators were present,
and forty-nine members of the House of Delegates represent-
ing forty-eight counties were in attendance. Daniel Polsley,

416 • History of West Virginia

Lieutenant-Governor and ex-officio President of the Senate,
presided over the deUberations of that body, in which WilHam
W. Lewis was clerk; Jesse S. Wheat, sergeant-at-arms ; D.
V. Thorp, door-keeper, and Alexander Campbell, page. In
the House of Delegates, Daniel Frost, of Jackson County,
was elected speaker; Gibson Lamb Cranmar was elected
clerk; Evans D. Fogle, sergeant-at-arms; James O. Hawley,
first door-keeper, and James Musgrave, second door-keeper.

At 7:00 P. M. of the first day, both branches received
the message of Governor Pierpont, and five thousand copies
were ordered printed. In this the Governor said :

"I regret that I cannot congratulate you on the peace and
"prosperity of the country, in the manner in which has been
customary with executives, both State and Federal. For the
present, those happy days which as a nation we have so long
enjoyed, and that prosperity which has smiled upon us as
upon no other nation, are departed. We are passing through
a period of gloom and darkness in our country's history ; but
we must not despair. There is a just God who 'rides upon
the whirlwind and directs the storm.' Let us look to Him
with abiding confidence. You have met, gentlemen, in the
midst of Civil War, but I trust 3^ou may yet be assembled
under happier auspices, when the strife shall be over and
peace and prosperity be restored to this once happy country."

Accompanying this message were his correspondence
with President Lincoln, together with letters received by him
from Simon Cameron, Secretary of War, and Caleb B. Smith,
Secretary of the Interior, all showing recognition of the move-
ment to restore Civil Government to Western Virginia.

On July 9th the election of State officers was the order
of the day. For Secretary of the Commonwealth, William B.
Zinn nominated Lucian A. Hagans, of Preston County; John
W. Moss nominated George Loomis, of Wood County; L. E.
Davidson nominated Ellery R. Flail, of Taylor County.
Hagans was elected on the first ballot.

For Auditor of Public Accounts, Samuel Crane and
Nathan Wilkinson were placed in nomination. Crane was
elected on first ballot.

For Treasurer of the Commonwealth, Fontain Smith

History of West Virginia 417

nominated Campbell Tarr, of Brooke County; James H. Trout
nominated Samuel P. Hildreth, of Ohio County. Tarr was
elected on the first ballot.

Another joint order for the same day was the election of
United States Senators. At 2 :00 P. M. the Assembl}^ pro-
ceeded by joint ballot to elect a successor to R. M. T. Hunter,
U. S. Senator from Virginia, who resigned his seat in that
body, and John S. Carlile, of Harrison County, wes elected
without opposition. Then followed the election of a successor
to fill the unexpired term of James M. Mason, who, like
Hunter, had resigned his seat after Virginia adopted the
Ordinance of Secession. H. W. Crothers nominated Daniel
Lamb, of Ohio County; Lewis RufTner nominated Peter G.
, till Winkle, of Wood County; and Leroy Kramer nominated
Waitman T. Willey, of Monongalia County. Willey was
elected on the first ballot. * * *

Thus was completed the organization of the Restored
Government of Virginia. Its origin and its operation form the
most remarkable chapter in the history of the governments of
the individual American States. With the General Assembly
adjourned, it remained for the Second Convention of the
People of Northwestern Virginia to re-assemble in Adjourned
Session, and prepare the way for the division of the State and
the formation of West Virginia."

Convention adjourned June 25th, to meet again on the
first Tuesday in August, 1861, at 2:00 P. M., "unless other-
wise ordered by the Governor, with the advice of his Council."

August 6, 1861.

Pursuant to above adjournment, the State Convention
met in the United States Court Room, in the Custom House,
in Wheeling, at 2 :00 P. M.

Arthur L Boreman, President, resumed the Chair and
called the Convention to order. James G. West, of Wetzel
County, ofifered the following preamble and resolution, which
were adopted :

"WHEREAS, The members of this Convention are satis-
fied that a large majority of the good and loyal citizens of
Western Virginia are in favor of a division of the State, yet
ffiere seems to exist a difiference of opinion as to the proper

418 History of West Virginia

feme, as well as the proper means to be used to effect the ob-
ject; therefore,

"RESOLVED, by the Convention, That in order to pro-
duce harmony and facilitate action, the President of the Con-
vention appoint a committee consisting of one member from
each county represented in this Convention, whose duty it
shall be to take the whole subject of a division of this State
into consideration, as a basis upon which the Convention may
act, and report to this body at the earliest day possible."

On August 7th, the following gentlemen were appointed
a Committee on a Division of the State, under the resolution
of Mr. West :

James G. West, of Wetzel; W. L. Craw^ford, of Hancock;
J. D. Nicholls, of Brooke ; Andrew Wilson, of Ohio ; James
Burley, of Marshall; D. D. Johnson, of Tyler; C. J. Stuart, of
Doddridge; J. W. Williamson, of Pleasants; William Doug-
lass, of Ritchie ; P. G. Van Winkle, of Wood ; Andrew
Flesher, of Jackson ; Lewis Wetzel, of Mason ; William W.
Brumfield, of Wayne; Leroy Kramer, of Monongalia; John S.
Barnes, of Marion ; Thomas Gather, of Taylor ; Wm. B. Zinn,
of Preston ; Solomon Parsons, of Tucker ; Samuel Crane, of
Randolph ; D. M. Myers, of Barbour ; John L. Smith, of
Upshur; J. A. J. Lightburn, of Lewis; H. W. Withers, of
Gilmer; John J. Davis, of Harrison; E. T. Graham, of Wirt;
Greenbury Slack, of Kanawha; James H. Trout, of Hamp-
shire ; John Hawxhurst, of Fairfax ; and Miner,

of Alexandria.

During the period of the session of this Convention, the
weather was extremely hot and some of the delegates who
were assignd on committees were loath to exert themselves in
the consideration of measures before them with a rapidity sat-
isfactory to some of the other members, who were anxious to
do what was necessary to be done and return to their homes.
Mr. West, from Wetzel, had prepared a resolution relative to
State Division, which was now before the committee for con-
sideration. Mr. Burley, of Marshall County, becoming some-
what disgusted with the dilatoriness displayed, on August
9th offered a resolution, "That when the Convention adjourn
tomorrow it will adjourn sine die."

History of West Virginia 419

He remarked that he offered the resolution in good faith.
He did not think it necessary for the Convention to remain
any longer. He had discovered that they w^ere not getting
along as well as they might, and he thought this would aft'ord
plenty of time, if they would be more industrious, to do all
the work there was to do. "I was in the committee this morn-
ing, and found there was nothing before it except this Division
question. There is a sub-committee to draft a bill and I think
they should be able \o prepare that at a very early hour in the
morning, and the Convention has nothing before it but to act
upon it."

As Mr. Burley sat down, Mr. West sprang up and said,
"I rise for a two-fold purpose, and whether I can accomplish
both or either one I do not know. My object is to give the
resolution of my respected friend from Marshall County — Old
Jimmy — I am Old Jimmy, too " (laughter).

The President — "Gentlemen will forbear calling one
another by name."

Mr. West — "We know each other ; we do that by way of
compliment to each other. (Laughter.) However, I have had
a good deal of this sort of experience, and I find that a motion
of this kind has never failed to clog the wheels of the progress
of legislation. As certain as the sun rose this morning and
will rise tomorrow morning, if that resolution is not disposed
of today, it has to be disposed of at some other time ; and
whenever it is, it must embarrass our action ; and I know the
gentleman from Marshall does not intend to clog and impede
the progress of this House. But I do know one more thing,
that there will be an effort to adjourn this Convention before
thrs question of Division is decided upon ; and I do know. Sir,
as well as I know that, that if stich is the fact and we so
adjourn, we go home to an insulted constituency. We go home
to a constituency that has just cause to be insulted. Did they
send us here to play and trifle with them? Did they send us
here. Sir, to act as a mockery upon their expressed desires .''"

Some further exchange of views was had on the subject,
and finally an adjournment was had until the next day.

On August 10th the Division question came up again. Mr,
West said the Committee on Division of the State was pre-

420 History of West Virginia

pared to report. He wished the report to be received and
read, so that if there should be any substitutes offered they
could be offered at once, and all be printed and come up for
consideration at the same time. Matters were here inter-
rupted by the introduction of a question of privilege, relative
to the seating of certain delegates. Then followed the adop-
tion of a string of resolutions of more or less importance, but
foreign to the Division question, one of which, introduced by
Mr. Farnsworth, read as follows :

"RESOLVED, That the Committee on Business be in-
structed to inquire into the expediency of appointing collectors
on the Clarksburg, Buckhannon and French Creek Turnpike,
and the Staunton and Parkersburg Turnpike, and the receiv-
ing of the tolls already collected ; and making some provisions
for the repairing of the said roads, w^hich are becoming in bad
repair b}^ the increased use of the roads by the U. S. troops."

Another by Mr. Fast : "That the Committee on Business
inquire into the expediency of changing the name of the
county of Wise to that of Douglas, or some other name more
honorable than that of Wise." (Carried amid laughter.)

On Tuesday, August 13th, after some preliminary spar-
ring, the question recurred on adopting the report of the
Committee on a Division of the State, and Mr. West presented
that report, which was read by the Clerk. The boundaries for
the proposed new State were as follows :

"Be it therefore ordained by this Convention, That the
people of Virginia living North and West of a line beginning
on the top of Clinch Mountain, on the line dividing Tennessee
and Virginia, and running thence with the top of said moun-
tain, so as to include all that part of the county of Scott lying
North and West of said mountain ; thence Math the top of said
mountain, including Russell County ; thence with the top of
said mountain to the county line of Giles County ; thence with
the county line of Giles and Tazwell to the county line of Mer-
cer County; thence with the top of Wolf Creek Mountain to
the top of Salt Pond Mountain ; thence to the top of Potter's
Middle Mountain ; thence with the top of Rich Mountain to
Alum Rock ; thence to the top of Mill Mountain ; thence with
the top of said mountain to Augusta County line; thence with

History of West Virginia 421

the dividing line between Augusta and Bath Counties to the
top of Shenandoah Mountain, and with the top of said moun-
tain to the Hardy County line; thence with the county line
between Hardy and Rockingham Counties to the Shenandoah
County line ; thence with the county line between Hardy and
Shenandoah to Hampshire County; thence with the county
line dividing Frederick and Shenandoah to Warren County ;
thence with the county line dividing Warren and Clark
Counties to Fauquier County ; thence with the county line
dividing Fauquier and Clark Counties to Loudon County ;
thence with the county line dividing Loudon and Fauquier
Counties to Fairfax County ; thence with the county Une
dividing Fairfax and Prince William Counties to the Potomac
River ; be authorized and directed, on the fourth Monday in
November next, to open a poll at each election precinct em-
braced in such boundary, to ascertain the will and wish of the
people upon the question of such division, etc."

Mr. West, as Chairman of the Committee on State
Division, addressed the Convention in advocacy of the report
of the committee, as follows :

He did not propose to make a lengthy speech at this time ;
perhaps he should have occasion to participate somewhat in
the discussion that might ensue upon this question hereafter.
It had been said, and very properly, that there were but two
questions of real difficulty in the consideration of this subject,
and they were the questions of time and boundary, for he be-
lieved there were none, or at most very few, on the floor, op-
posed to a division at all. If such were, he accorded to them
honesty of motive, but he did not know what could be the
ground of their objection to the formation of a new State.

First, then, in relation to time: He believed that nov
was the time. He would set out on that ground. He had
occupied that ground and he expected to continue to do sc
He had never yet had, a good reason from any one why they
should not proceed at once. This was the accepted time if
they ever expected to complete what they had begun. He
observed that all the opponents of action had different rcaso^
for their opposition, and although they might be honest, yet
they had no common justifiable reason for not proceeding at

422 History of West Virginia

jnce. For himself, from the very beginning of this contro-
versy in the Legislature and the former Convention, he had
not swerved from his purpose of obtaining preliminary action
for a division of the State. Every step he had proposed was
a progressive step, as gentlemen here could testify. He ha
offered a proposition in the Legislature which he still believed
was the best that could have been adopted, but when it was
defeated, he voted willingly for the next best. He had be-
lieved, and did yet, that it was important, though not essen-
tial, to have had some expression at least from the Legislature.
They had no such expression, however, and a majority of the
Convention had decided, he believed, that they could proceed
without it, and such being the case, he was with them, and
would be the last man to back from the position he had taken.

And what objection could be offered to doing so? He
asked the gentlemen to say why they should not take action
just now on this most important matter. It was true there
might be some of the counties in the proposed boundary that
might vote against immediate action or against any action at
all, but if they would postpone till doomsday, and then pro-
pose to act, some one would object. There was one plan of
action that was always safe, and that was, never put o& what
can be done now.

But it was argued that it would leave Eastern Virginia
without a government; even if it did, they would only be in
the same situation they left us in, and they could do as we
did — go to work and make one. But they say they have a
government and we have no government ; they boast of their
government, and if you would go to Richmond and say they
have no government your neck would pay the penalty. Let
them take care of themselves as we haA^e done. We could not
sympathize with those who wanted to cut their throats if they
had an opportunity, and they did not ask any of this sym-
pathy which some gentlemen were disposed to bestow upon
them. They despised us and our government.

He used to be opposed to a division of the State, and
always had, up to the time this great emergency had been
forced upon our people. But now the time had come to look

History of West Virginia 423

out for our own interests, and disregard the interests of those
who wage war against us.

But it was objected that we were thrusting ourselves
upon the General Government. He would be the last to do
this after all the government had done for us in Western A'ir-
ginia, but we were not forcing ourselves upon the govern-
ment, and it was not so regarded anywhere except by the gen-
tlemen who raised the objection. If it could be proved he
would abandon the project, but not until it was done. But
he had the best authority for saying that this was not the
case — but that Congress would admit the new State, was
ready, willing and waiting to do so whenever application was
made. He had talked with the Hon, William G. Brown, on
his return from Washington a few days ago, and Mr. Browni
had told him the quicker the better ; that the proposition for
admission would not have lasted two days while he was there ;
that a recognition w^ould have been given at once. They all
know what Mr. Carlile says, that he corroborates the testi-
mony of Mr. Brown. They were the best authority^ and so
much for this objection. There was nothing in the way in
that direction. He had never been willing to admit for a mo-
ment that there was any danger of a reverse, as had been inti-
mated upon this floor; but he would have them act, now that
they had the power, lest by some possibility they should lose
it. It might be a little selfish, but he was willing to be thus
selfish — their welfare and the welfare of the people de-
manded it.

As for boundary, he was not a stickler for any particular
scheme. He preferred that reported by the committee, be-
cause it included a neck of countr}^ lyi^'^g' down next to the
Tennessee line, which was left out by other propositions, and
which naturally belonged to us and should be included, not-
withstanding the people might not now be quite so loyal as
they should be. The ordinance also proposed, after running
the main line on the top of the mountain, which the Almighty
had reared as a natural boundary, to take in the counties con-
tiguous to the Capital of the Country — and especially he
liked it because it would take in the grave of W^ashington. He
spoke of the advantages that would be apparent in running

424 History of West Virginia

the line so as to make the loyal State take in the territory op-
posite and adjoining Washington, and said that proposition
would cause our administration to be looked upon there with
more favor than it would otherwise be.

He would like to know now why it was that gentlemen
here disregard the plain wishes of their constituents. If they
had instructions from them to oppose action he would like to
see them. He had seen nothing of the kind, but he had seen
letter after letter to members urging them to take some action.

But suppose they should make their application now to
Congress, and Congress should lay it aside for a time, how
much worse off would they be than before? There would be
some proposition upon which they would act whenever, in
their opinion, the proper time should arrive, and they would
have the matter always before them until disposed of.

The people were now anxiously awaiting the action of this
body, and if the word were to go out that they had refused to
take any preliminary steps towards a separation, they would
hang their harps upon the willows, and their lips would be
mute and voiceless on the question in which they had taken
so much interest.

On August 14th Mr. Farnsworth oft'ered a substitute for
the report of the Committee on State Division, and on August
20th, 1861, Mr. Farnsworth, as Chairman of the Committee,
appeared before the Convention and submitted the following :

"AN ORDINANCE TO PROVIDE FOR THE FOR-
MATION OF A NEW STATE OUT OF A PORTION OF
THE TERRITORY OF THIS STATE.

"WHEREAS, It is represented to be the desire of the
people inhabiting the counties hereinafter mentioned to be
separated from this Commonwealth, and to be erected into a
separate and independent State, and admitted into the Union
of States, and become a member of the Government of the
United States :

"Sec. 1. The people of Virginia, b)^ their Delegates as-
sembled in Convention at Wheeling, do ordain that a new
State, to be called the State of Kanawha, be formed and

History of West Virginia 425

erected out of the territory included within the following de-
scribed boundary :

"BEGINNING on the Tug Fork of (Big) Sandy River
on the same Kentucky line where the counties of Buchanan
and Logan join the same, and running thence with the divid-
ing line of said counties and the dividing line of the Counties
of Wyoming and McDowell to the Mercer County line, and
with the dividing line of the Counties of Mercer and Wyoming
to the Raleigh County line, and thence with the dividing line
of the Counties of Raleigh and Mercer, Monroe and Raleigh,
Greenbrier and Raleigh, Fayette and Greenbrier, Nicholas and
Greenbrier, Webster, Greenbrier and Pocahontas, Randolph
and Pocahontas, Randolph and Pendleton, to the southwest
corner of Hardy County, thence with the dividing line of the
Counties of Hardy and Tucker to the Fairfax stone, thence
with the line dividing the States of Maryland and Virginia to
the Pennsylvania line, thence with the line dividing the States
of Pennsylvania and Virginia to the Ohio River, thence down
said river, and including the same, to the dividing line be-
tween Virginia and Kentucky, and with the said line to the
beginning; including within the boundaries of the proposed
new State the Counties of Logan, Wyoming, Raleigh, Fayette,
Nicholas, Webster, Randolph, Tucker, Preston, Monongalia,
Marion, Taylor, Barbour, Upshur, Harrison, Lewis, Braxton,
Clay, Kanawha, Boone, Wayne, Cabell, Putnam, Mason,
Jackson, Roane, Calhoun, Wirt, Gilmer, Ritchie, Wood, Pleas-
ants, Tyler, Doddridge, Wetzel, Marshall, Ohio, Brooke and
Hancock.

In addition to the foregoing, it was provided that an elec-
tion should be held on the fourth Thursday (the 24th) of the
ensuing October, to vote upon the question of the proposed
new State, and also to vote for Delegates to a Convention to
frame a Constitution for the government of the new State, in
case a majority of the votes cast should be in favor of its
formation. The Commissioners of the Election were to certify
the result of the election to the Secretary of State; and the
Governor was to make proclamation thereof, fixing therein
Wheeling as the place and November 26, 1861, as the date of
the commencing of the Constitutional Convention. The elec-

426 History of West Virginia

tion came off, as per schedule. The total number of votes
cast was 18,889, of which 18,408 were in favor of the new State
and 481 against it, being nearly forty to one. Pursuant to the
foregoing, Governor Pierpont issued his Proclamation calling
the members just elected to the Constitutional Convention to
assemble on the 26th of November ensuing, in the United
States Court Room, in the Custom House, in Wheeling, for
the purpose of organizing themselves into a Convention to
form a Constitution to be submitted to the voters for ratifica-
tion or rejection, \yithin the bounds of the proposed new State.
The Proclamation was issued on November 6th — twelve days
after the election.

While at this point we might digress to state that the
first Thanksgiving Proclamation issued under the Restored
Government of Virginia was by Governor Pierpont on
November 15th, 1861, recommending the observance of
Thursday, November 28th, as a day of thanksgiving to
Almighty God for the blessings of the year. In this he said :

"In the midst of war and its afflictions, we are more forci-
bly reminded of our dependence upon Divine Providence ; and
while in all we suffer we should own His chastening hand,
we should be ready to acknowledge that it is of His mercy
that we are not destroyed, and that so many of the blessings
of life are preserved to us."

When the Delegates to the Constitutional Convention had
assembled in the United States Court Room on November
28th they were called to order by Chapman J. Stuart, a Dele-
gate from Doddridge County. Forty delegates had been
chosen in forty counties, and thirty-four of them were present.
Before the Convention finally completed its work the names
of sixty-one members appeared on its rolls : . Following is the
list complete :

Gordon Battelle, of Wheeling, Ohio County ;

John L. Boggs, of Franklin, Pendleton County;

James H. Brown, of Charleston, Kanawha County ;

John J. Brown, Kingwood, Preston County ;

Richard L. Brooks, Rock Cave, Upshur County ;

William W. Brumfield, Ceredo, Wayne County ;

Elbert H. Caldwell, Moundsville, Marshall County;

History of West Virginia 427

Thos. R. Carskadon, New Creek Sta., Hampshire County ;

James S. Cassady, Fayetteville, Fayette County ;

Henry D. Chapman, Spencer, Roane County;

Richard M. Cook, Princeton, Mercer County ;

Henry Bering, Morgantown, Monongalia County ;

John A. Dille, Kingwood, Preston County ;

Abijah Dolly, Greenland, Hardy County;

Daniel W. Gibson, Greenbank, Pocahontas County ;

Samuel T. Griffith, W. Columbia, Mason County ;

Robert Hagar, Boone C. H., Boone County ;

Ephraim B. Hall, Fairmont, Marion County;

John Hall, Point Pleasant, Mason County ;

Stephen M. Hansley, Marshall, Raleigh County;

Thomas W. Harrison, Clarksburg, Plarrison County ;

Hiram Haymond, Palatine (now Fairmont), Marion
County.

James Hervey, Wellsburg, Brooke County;

J. P. Hoback, Perryville, McDowell County;

Joseph Hubbs, St. Marys, Pleasants County;

Robert Irvine, Weston, Lewis County;

Daniel Lamb, Wheeling, Ohio County ;

R. W. Lauck, Martinsville (now New Martinsville),
Wetzel County;

E. S. Mahon, Ravenswdod, Jackson County ;

Andrew Mann, Falling Springs, Greenbrier County ;

John R. McCutchen, Summersville, Nicholas County ;

Dudley S. Montague, Red House Sh'ls, Putnam County ;

Emmett J. O'Brien, Burnersville, Barbour County;

Granville Parker, Guyandotte, Cabell County ;

James W. Parsons, St. George, Tucker County ;

James W. Paxton, Wheeling, Ohio County ;

David S. Pinnell, , Upshur County ;

Joseph S. Pomeroy, Fairview, Hancock County;

John M. Powell, West Milford, Harrison County;

Job Robinson, , Calhoun County ;

A. F. Ross, West Liberty, Ohio County ;

Lewis Ruffner, Kan. Salines, Kanawha County ;

Edward W. Ryan, Fayetteville, Fayette County;

George W. Sheetz, Piedmont, Hampshire County ;

428 History of West Virginia

Josiah Simmons, Leedsville, Randolph County;

Harmon Sinsel, Pruntytown, Taylor County ;

Benjamin H. Smith, Charleston, Logan County;

Abram D. Soper, Sistersville, Tyler County;

Benjamin L. Stephenson, Clay C. H., Clay County;

William E. Stevenson, Parkersburg, Wood County ;

Benjamin F. Stewart, Newark, Wirt County;

Gustavus F. Taylor, Braxton C. H., Braxton County;

Chapman J. Stuart, West Union, Doddridge County;

Moses Titchenel, Fairmont, Marion County ;

Thomas H. Trainer, Cameron, Marshall County ;

Peter G. Van Winkle, Parkersburg, Wood County ;

William Walker, Oceana, Wyoming County;

William W. Warder, Troy, Gilmer County;

Joseph S. Wheat, Berkeley Springs, Morgan County ;

Waitman T. Willey, Morgantown, Monongalia County;

Andrew J. Wilson, Pennsboro, Ritchie County.

Of these, nineteen were farmers ; eighteen, lawyers ; eight,
ministers ; three, physicians ; three, merchants ; two, school
teachers ; two, carpenters ; one, hotel keeper ; one, salt manu-
facturer; one, mechanic; and three, not given.

Hon. John Hall, of Mason County, was elected President ;
Ellery R. Hall, of Taylor County, Secretary ; and James C.
Orr, of Ohio Count}^ Sergeant-at-Arms. The organization
was completed the first day, and the Convention proceeded
to the business before it. The Convention adjourned on Feb-
ruary 18th, 1862, having framed a Constitution for the pro-
posed new State of West Virginia, the name having been
changed from that of "Kanawha" as named in the Ordinance.
April 3d, 1862, was the day fixed for the vote on the question
of the adoption of the Constitution for the new State of West
Virginia. The . election came ofif, with the following result :
For adoption, 18,862; for rejection, 514 — nearly thirty-seven
to one in favor of the Constitution.

The first General Assembly under the Restored Govern-
ment of Virginia commenced its first regular session on De-
cember 2d, 1861, in the Linsly Institute building in Wheeling.
The same organization was retained that was in effect at the
extra session in the preceding July. Daniel Polsley, Lieuten-

History of West Virginia 429

ant Governor and ex-officio President of the Senate, presided
over that body ; WilHam Lewis, clerk ; Jesse S. Wheat, ser-
geant-at-arms ; D. V. Thorp, door-keeper; and Alexander
Campbell, page.

In the House of Delegates, Daniel Frost was speaker ;
Gibson Lamb Cranmer, clerk; Evans D. Fogle, sergeant-at-
arms; James O. Hawley, first door-keeper; and James Mus-
grave, second door-keeper. The session closed February 13,
1862.

In pursuance of Governor Pierpont's Proclamation of the
18th of April, 1862, the General Assembly convened in its
second extra session at Wheeling, May 6th following. The
follow^ing is a part of the Governor's message on that occasion :

"I have convened you in extra session, the principal ob-
ject of which is to take final action in the proposed division
of the State of Virginia as far as the Legislature is concerned."
He reviewed the history of the Convention which framed the
Constitution, and added : "The Constitution of the United
States provides that no new State shall be formed or erected
within the jurisdiction of any other State, without the con-
sent of the Legislature of the State concerned, as well as of
the Congress. Therefore to complete the work which has
been commenced, of the division of the State, requires the
consent of the Legislature of Virginia and the assent of Con-
gress. Of course your honorable body will take such action
in the premises as shall seem meet to you.

"Perhaps I have performed my duty in submitting the
matter to you without saying more. But I am not willing to
leave the question here. It is urged by some that the move-
ment is revolutionary. Those who urge this objection do not
understand the history and geography and social relations of
our State. Geographically, the East is separated from the
West by mountains which form an almost impassable barrier,
as far as trade is concerned. The barrier is so great that no
artificial means of intercourse has ever been made beyond a
mud turnpike road. All the trade and commerce of the W^est
is with other States, and not with Eastern Virginia. The two
sections are entirely dissimilar in their social relations and
institutions. While the East is largely interested in slaves,

430 History of West Virginia

the West has none and all the labor is performed by free men.
The mode and subjects of taxation in the State have been a
source of irritation, and indeed of strife and vexation, between
the two sections for many years past, as well as that of repre-
sentation in the Legislature. The subject of the division of
the State has been agitated at one time and another ever since
I can remember."

The Assembly got down to business and on May 13th
passed an Act giving the assent of the Legislature of Virginia
to the "Formation and Erection of a new State within the
jurisdiction of this State," a part of which enactment reads as
follows :

"Be it enacted by the General Assembly, That the con-
sent of the Legislature of Virginia be, and the same is hereby
given, to the formation and erection of the State of West Vir-
ginia within the jurisdiction of this State, to include the
counties of Hancock, Brooke, Ohio, Marshall, Wetzel, Marion,
Monongalia, Preston, Taylor, Tyler, Pleasants, Ritchie, Dod-
dridge, Harrison, Wood, Jackson, Wirt, Roane, Calhoun, Gil-
mer, Barbour, Tucker, Lewis, Braxton, Upshur, Randolph,
Mason, Putnam, Kanawha, Clay, Nicholas, Cabell, W^ayne,
Boone, Logan, Wyoming, Mercer, McDowell, Webster, Poca-
hontas, Fayette, Raleigh, Greenbrier, Monroe, Pendleton,
Hardy, Hampshire and Morgan, according to the boundaries
and under the provisions set forth in the Constitution for the
said State of West Virginia, and the Schedule thereto annexed,
proposed by the Convention which assembled at Wheeling on
the 26th day of November, 186L"

It was also provided that the counties of Berkeley, Jeffer-
son and Frederick might, upon their ratifying the Constitu-
tion, form a part of West Virginia. It was further provided
that copies of this Act, with a certified original of the Consti-
tution and Schedule, should be transmitted to the Senators
and Representatives in Congress from the Restored Govern-
ment of Virginia, with the request that they use their en-
deavors to obtain the consent of Congress to the admission of
the State of West Virginia into the Union.

On May 22d, 1862, John Hall, James W. Paxton, Peter
G. Van Winkle, Elbert H. Caldwell and Ephraim B. Hall, the

History of West Virginia 431

Commissioners named in the Schedule of the Constitution, in
company with Harrison Hagans, Granville Parker, Daniel
Polsley and othe prominent new State men, arrived at the
National Capitol, at Washington, where they were introduced
by Hon. Ralph Leets, of Lawrence County, Ohio, to the Sena-
tors and Representatives of that State.

The Thirty-seventh Congress was then in its second ses-
sion. Hons. Waitman T. Willey and John S. Carlile repre-
sented the Restored Government of Virginia in the Senate,
and Kellian V. Whaley, William G. Brown and Jacob Blair
in the House.

On May 29th Senator Willey presented to the Senate a
certified original of the Constitution, together with a copy of
the Act of the General Assembly of the Restored Government
of Virginia giving its permission to the formation of a new
State within the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the Memorial
of that body, requesting the Congress to admit the said new
State of West Virginia into the Union.

On June 3d, duplicates of the same documents were pre-
sented in the House of Representatives by Hon. William G.
Brown. The documents presented by Senator Willey were,
on June 23d, referred to the Committee on Territories, of
which Benjamin F. Wade, of Ohio, was Chairman. He, on
this date, reported "Senate Bill No. 365, providing for the ad-
mission of West Virginia into the Union and for other pur-
poses." The Bill read as follows :

CHAPTER VI— AN ACT FOR THE ADMISSION OF
THE STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA INTO THE
. UNION, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

WHEREAS, The people inhabiting that portion of Vir-
ginia known as West Virginia did, by the Convention in the
city of Wheeling on the 26th of November, 1861, frame for
themselves a Constitution with a view of becoming a sepa-
rate and independent State ; and

WHEREAS, At a general election held in 'the counties
composing the territory aforesaid on the third day of May

432 History of West Virginia

last, the said Constitution was approved and adopted by the
quaHfied voters of the proposed State ; and

WHEREAS, The Legislature of Virginia by an act
passed on the thirteenth day of May, 1862, did give its con-
sent to the formation of a new State Mdthin the jurisdiction of
the State of Virginia, to be known by the name of V/est Vir-
ginia, and to embrace the following named counties, to-wit :
Hancock, Brooke, Ohio, Marshall, Wetzel, Marion, Mononga-
lia, Preston, Taylor, Pleasants, Tyler, Ritchie, Doddridge,
Harrison, Wood, Jackson, Wirt, Roane, Calhoun, Gilmer, Bar-
bour, Tucker, Lewis, Braxton, Upshur, Randolph, Mason,
Putnam, Kanawha, Clay, Nicholas, Cabell, Wayne, Boone,
Logan, Wyoming, Mercer, McDowell, Webster, Pocahontas,
Fayette, Raleigh, Greenbrier, Monroe, Pendleton, Hardy,
Hampshire, and Morgan ; and

WHEREAS, Both the Convention and the Legislature
aforesaid have requested that the new State should be ad-
mitted into the Union, and the Constitution aforesaid being
republican in form, Congress does hereby consent that the
said forty-eight counties may be formed into a separate and
independent State. Therefore —

Sec. L Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Repre-
sentatives of the United States of America in Congress assem-
bled. That the State of West Virginia be, and is hereby de-
clared to be, one of the United States of America, and ad-
mitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original
States in all respects whatever, and until the next general
census shall be entitled to three members in the House of
Representatives of the United States; Provided, always, that
this act shall not take effect until after the proclamation of
the President of the United States hereinafter provided for.

It being represented to Congress that since the Conven-
tion of the twenty-sixth of November, eighteen hundred and
sixty-one, that framed and proposed the Constitution for the
said State of West Virginia, the people thereof have expressed
a wish to change the seventh section of the eleventh article
of said Constitution by striking out the same and inserting
the following in its place, viz. : "The children of slaves born
within the limits of this State after the fourth day of July,

History of West Virginia 433

eighteen hundred and sixty-three, shall be free; and all slaves
within the said State who shall, at the time aforesaid, be
under the age of ten years shall be free when they arrive at
the age of tw^enty-one years ; and all slaves over ten and
under twenty-one years shall be free when they arrive at the
age of twenty-five years ; and no slave shall be permitted to
come into the State for permanent residence therein." There-
fore—

Sec. 2. Be it further enacted. That whenever the people
of West Virginia shall, through their said Convention, and by
a vote to be taken at an election to be held within the limits
of the said State, at such time as the Convention may provide,
make and ratify the change aforesaid, and properly certify
the same under the hand of the President of the Convention,
it shall be lawful for the President of the United States to
issue his proclamation stating the fact, and thereupon this act
shall take effect and be in force from and after sixty days from
the date of said proclamation.

"Senate Bill No. 365" was put to vote on July 14th, re-
sulting in 23 yeas and 17 nays; eight members not voting.
John S. Carlile of Virginia was one of those voting nay.

On the following day William Hickey, chief clerk of the
Senate, "appeared at the bar of the House of Representatives,
and informed that body that the Senate had passed Senate
Bill No. 365, and requested the concurrence of the House
therein." But the Bill was held up in the House until De-
cember 10th, at which time it was put to a vote, resulting in
ninety-six yeas and fifty-five nays. The news of the action of
the House was officially conveyed to the Senate by Emerson
Ethridge, of Tennessee, clerk of the House of Representa-
tives, on December 11th.

The Bill was signed by President Lincoln on December
31st, 1862.

The Constitutional Convention was re-asscmbled in the
Custom House, in Wheeling, February 12th, 1863, for the
purpose of making certain changes in the Constitution of the
new State required by Congress. On February 20th the Con-
vention completed the work for which it was assembled and
adjourned sine die.

434 History of West Virginia

On March 26th the people voted upon the adoption of the
amended Constitution, the vote resulting : For Ratification,
27,749; for Rejection, 572, which result was duly certified to
the President of the United States on April 17th, and on April
20th the following Proclamation was issued :

A PROCLAMATION.

WHEREAS, By the act of Congress approved the 31st
day of December last, the State of West Virginia was de-
clared to be one of the United States of America, and was
admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original
States in all respects whatsoever, upon the condition that cer-
tain changes should be duly made in the proposed constitution
for that State ; and

WHEREAS, proof of a compliance with that condition,
as required by the second section of the act aforesaid, has
been submitted to me :

Now, therefore, be it known that I, Abraham Lincoln,
President of the United States, do hereby, in pursuance of the
act of Congress aforesaid, declare and proclaim that the said
act shall take effect and be in force from and after sixty days
from the date hereof.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and
caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this 20th day of April,
A. D. 1863, and of the Independence of the United States the
eighty-seventh.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

By the President :

WILLIAM H. SEWARD,

Secretary of State.

On May 28th, 1863, an election was held, and the follow-
ing officers elected : Arthur I. Boreman, Governor ; Jacob
Edgar Boyers, Secretary of State ; Campbell Tarr, State
Treasurer; Samuel Crane, State Auditor; Aquilla B. Cald-

History of West Virginia 435

well, Attorney-General; for Judges of Supreme Court of Ap-
peals, Ralph L. Berkshire, William A. Harrison and James
H, Brown.

The following from the Daily Intelligencer of Wheeling,
June 22, 1863:

"Saturday, June 20. That day the period of sixty days
mentioned in the proclamation of the President, April 20, 1863,
expired and West Virginia entered upon her career as a mem-
ber of the Federal Union.

"It was a remarkable one in the history of the Virginias.
In Wheeling a vast multitude thronged the streets ; thousands
of flags fluttered in the breeze; the display of bunting was
the most attractive ever seen in the 'Western Metropolis.' It
threatened rain — June showers ; now all the beauties of a clear
sunlight were shown, then a cloud chased all away. There
were June showers — little ones — not enough to drive the peo-
ple from the streets. A procession marched through the prin-
cipal streets and then halted in front of the Linsly Institute.
It was filled with people ; the streets were filled with men,
women and children, and the yards, windows and roofs were
full of eager faces. A large platform had been erected in front
of the Institute, and thither the officers — officials of two State
Governments — were conducted as they arrived. Hon. Chester
D. Hubbard called the multitude to order. Thirty-five taste-
fully attired and beautiful little girls, representing the Ameri-
can States — all of them — sang the 'Star Spangled Banner.'
Rev. J. T. McClure addressed the Throne of Grace. Then
came two Governors — Francis H. Pierpont, the head of the
Restored Government, and Arthur I. Boreman, Chief Execu-
tive of a State just then beginning to be. The first delivered
a Valedictory, the second an Inaugural Address.

The sovereignty of the Restored Government of Virginia
was terminated on the soil of West Virginia. Governor Pier-
pont retired with the Restored Government to Alexandria on
the Potomac, nine miles below Washington City. Three
cheers were given for West Virginia ; the little girls sang
E Pluribus Unum, the band played the 'Star Spangled Banner,'
and thus terminated the ceremonies of the inauguration of
West Virginia as a free and independent State."

436 History of West Virginia

(The Restored Government of Virginia which left Wheel-
ing on June 20th, 1863, for Alexandria, and in May, 1865, re-
moved to Richmond, is the present Government of Virginia ;
the Government organized at Wheeling, June 20th, continued
to be the Government of the State of West Virginia. — V. A.
L.)

CHAPTER XXII.

THE SOUTHERN VERSION OF THE CAUSES LEAD-
ING TO THE CIVIL WAR.

In a former chapter we gave a brief history of the forma-
tion of West Virginia out of Virginia, showing some of the
principal causes which brought about that very important
event. In doing so, we did not handle the story with velvet
gloves, but aimed to tell the naked truth, regardless of the
feelings of any section or party, and Virginia received her full
share of criticism for the unenviable position she played in
the performance of the great political drama in which was
lost to the Mother State what has since proven to be the
richest and best part of her once great domain.

In the beginning, the writer wants it to be distinctly
understood that he never was in sympathy with secession —
nor is he in favor of slavery in any form whatsoever. He
believes that the Constitution of the United States and of
the States is the safe-guard to all our liberties ; that the Union
is necessary for the protection and preservation of our repub-
lican form of government, and that the republican form of
government is the only real, fair and true government in the
world, and that is covering quite a bit of territory.

We propose now to give the Southern version of the
causes leading to the Civil War. Part of the information was
taken from a standard United States History and part from
a book written by a Southerner, entitled "The Unwritten
South."

Many of us Northerners were taught in our youth that
"Old Jefif Davis" was a very close relative of "Old Horny,"
and looked very much as that gentleman is pictured in books ;
that all Rebels were devils, too, only not quite so bad as "Old
Horny." The prevailing opinion in those days was that

438 History of West Virginia

Mason and Dixon's Line marked the boundary between a
heavenly land and the infernal regions.

Since the writer has grown up he has been told that the
people of the South held very much the same views concern-
ing "Abe Lincoln" and the "Yankees."

But now, after nearly a half century, the Mason and
Dixon's Line, which once marked the division line between
hostile sections, has entirely disappeared and perfect tran-
quillity and lasting friendship reign supreme among a re-
united people.

The "Southern Version of the Causes Leading up to the
Civil War" is not intended to revive any bitter feelings. Far
from that. It is only done in fairness to the memory of those
who have long since departed across the Great Divide.

Viewing the past from a perspective unobstructed b}^ po-
litical or sectional bias, we must, in all fairness," concede that
the people of the South were not altogether to blame, nor the
people of the North altogether blameless, for the Civil War.

We have a pardonable pride in our republican form of
government and the Constitution upon which it is based, but
if it had not been for the Southern people the probability is
that we would be living under some form of monarchial gov-
ernment today.

Henry, Lee, Peyton and Randolph were among the very
first to register a protest against the Stamp Act. When Pat-
rick Henry's voice echoed the principles which have made our
nation great, treason was yelled in his face from the House
of Burgesses, and the resolutions framed upon the occasion
carried by a majority of only one. But Henry's sentiments
M^ere popular with the masses, and soon the colonies were
banded together in determined resistance to further oppres-
sion. Then followed the Boston "Tea Party." It was at a
Convention held at Richmond that Patrick Henry proposed
that the citizens be formed into military companies and
drilled. Some of the more timid were at first slow to respond,
but the great speech of Henry so fired the Convention that
they went home resolved to "do or die" in the defense of their
rights.

Then came Thomas Jefferson, a rising young Virginian,

History of West Virginia 439

and prepared and presented to the House a paper declaring
the right of Virginians to expend their money as they pleased.

The colonists were now alert and discovered many plots
formed by the British ; and while her soldiers were battling
with Dunmore's troops her statesmen were carving out a last-
ing government.

Five days previous to the adoption of the Declaration of
Independence, a State Constitution, written b}^ George Mason,
was passed by a Convention held at Williamsburg, Virginia.
A Bill of Rights was at the same time drawn by Mr. Mason,
and from these were taken the Declaration of the Independ-
ence of the United Colonies and the Constitution of the United
States, as the same sentiments were expressed in the two — -
Thomas Jefferson writing one and James Madison the other.

The experience of a monarchial form of government was
distasteful to the majority of the people, and they were deter-
mined on having a government in which no office was held
for life. Also that each State should have a separate govern-
ment. Here were encountered some difficulties hard to over-
come ; and matters were in a very unsatisfactory condition
until 1787, when in the month of May of that year a conven-
tion met at Philadelphia and a Constitution was prepared and
presented to each State for its discussion. Some of the great-
est orators and statesmen of that time were present, and many
heated debates ensued before a conclusion was finally reached.
Patrick Henry was one of those who most vigorously op-
posed certain provisions of the Constitution. He believed the
instrument, as then written, was needlessly depriving the
States of rights which properly belonged to them. But INIadi-
son, Randolph and others took a different view, and thought
the States did not confer upon the Federal government any
rights necessary to the existence of the State government.
The Constitution was finally adopted by a majority of only
ten votes. Now that the Constitution had been given birth,
and had in fact become a living system of fundamental laws,
there lived not a man who more energetically defended it than
did Patrick Henry, but there was a strong sentiment in the
North to defeat its aims, as we shall see later on.

In 1791 Alexander Hamilton persuaded Congress to es-

440 History of West Virginia

tablish the first Bank of the United States at Philadelphia,
The discussion in Congress over the question of establishing
the Bank of the United States gave rise to the first two regu-
larly organized political parties — the Federalist and the Re-
publican. The members of the last named party called them-
selves Democratic Republicans, but finally took the name
Democrat, which name they still retain. The Republican party
of the present day did not come into existence until nearly
sixty years after the death of Washington.

Alexander Hamilton led the Federal party and Thomas
Jefferson the Republican, or as we say, the Democratic party.
These parties were also sometimes designated as the Hamil-
tonian and Jeffersonian parties. The former party beJieved
that the government should be the master of the people; the
latter that the people should be the masters of the govern-
ment. Every school child who reads history knows some-
thing of the traitorous acts of Hamilton, even while he was
Secretary in Washington's Cabinet. It is inconceivable that
any considerable number of people — people who had so long
endured untold hardships and suffering under British mis-
rule— would entertain for even one moment a thought of em-
bracing a form of government that oft"ered even the faintest
tendency toward monarchial rule, yet there were enough of
this class to elect John Adams, the Federalist candidate, to
succeed Washington in 1797. There is no doubt, however,
that a large number of Adams's supporters were misled in
the matter, and that they did not know the real character of
his political backers.

Washington, in commenting on the Hamiltonian doctrine,
said : "Those who lean to a monarchial form of government
have either not consulted the public mind or they live in a
region which is much more productive of monarchial ideas
than is the case with the Southern States."

In writing Mr. Morris, February 27, 1802, concerning the
National Constitution, Mr. Hamilton said : 'T am laboring to
prop the frail and worthless fabric a while. I do not publish
it in Dun and Beersheba, but I am thoroughly convinced that
we shall have to return to the English form of government."
He sought hard to inject his monarchial principles into the

History of West Virginia 441

Constitution. Failing in this, he tried a monarchial interpreta-
tion of the Democratic Constitution. He was more traitorous
than Arnold or Burr. He aspired to the Presidency, and might
have become king had not Jeffersonian principles prevailed.

Washington served two terms as President, and was suc-
ceeded in 1797 by John Adams. The latter was elected by
the Federalists by only three electoral votes over Thomas
Jefferson, the Democratic candidate. The wealthy class in
the North were generally in favor of Hamiltonian principles,
but owing to Washington's popularity the Constitution's ene-
mies were not permitted to make much headway ; but as soon
as Adams assumed the President's chair, notwithstanding he
had formerly been a Democrat and had won renown for ser-
vices rendered in the Revolution, he was surrounded by mon-
archial Federalists who persuaded him to believe the people
were ready and anxious to embrace a monarchial government.
Fortunately, however, the most unpopular thing he succeeded
in doing was causing the enactment of the "Alien and Sedi-
tion Laws." In spite of all Adams's shortcomings, Washing-
ton had this to say of him: "I have a cordial esteem for Mr.
Adams, increased by long habits of consensus of opinion, and
even since his apostasy to hereditary nobility. We differ as
friends."

"Adams was succeeded by Thomas Jefferson, who served
two successive terms — from 1801 to 1809. This period marks
the downfall of the Federalists as a controlling political power;
for the next forty years the Democrats held control. Jefferson
took the oath of office in the new capitol, which was ridiculed
as a 'palace in the woods.' It stood on a hill in the 'city of
Washington,' then nothing but a struggling village of a few
hundred inhabitants. Washington, for whom it was named,
had himself chosen the ground for the city.

"Jefferson prided himself on taking his stand with the
people. In dress, manners and ideas he was quite different
from the former Federal President, Adams, who thought it
proper for the head of the nation to stand a little apart from
the people, and kept up something of the dignity and cere-
mony of a king. Jeft'erson preferred, on the contrary, republi-
can simplicity in all things, and was ready to receive and

442 History of West Virginia

shake hands with any one and every one that wanted to shake
hands with him. When he entered office he found only Feder-
aHsts in the employ of the government. He naturally wished
that men of his own party should hold such offices, and when
opportunities came he appointed Democrats to fill them."

We have said that after the election of Jefferson to the
Presidency the Democratic party held power for a period of
forty years. Notwithstanding this fact, however, the Feder-
alists were not deprived entirely of their monarchial influ-
ences, as will develop later on.

The following resolution passed by the House of Repre-
sentatives of Kentucky, November 10, 1798, thoroughly covers
the grounds of complaint of the South at that time :

"RESOLVED, That the several States comprising the
United States of America are not united on the principles of
unlimited submission to the general government, but that by
compact, under the style and title of a Constitution for the
United States and of amendments thereto, they constitute a
general government for special purposes, delegated to that
government certain definite powers, reserving, each State to
itself, the residuary mass of right to their own self-govern-
ment; and, that whensoever the general government assumes
undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void and of
no force ; that to this compact each State acceded as a State,
and is an integral party ; that this government, created by this
compact, was not made the exclusive or final judge of the ex-
tent of the powers delegated to itself, since that would have
made its discretion, and not the constitution, the measure of
its powers ; but that, as in all other cases of compact among
parties having no common judge, each party has an equal
right to judge for itself as well of infraction as of the mode of
redress.

"2. Resolved, That the Constitution of the United States
having delegated to Congress a power to punish treason, coun-
terfeiting securities and current coin of the United States,
piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses
against the laws of nations, and no other crimes whatever ;
and it being true, as a general principle, and one of the amend-
ments to the Constitution having also declared, 'that the pow-

History of West Virginia 443

ers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution,
nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States
respectively, or to the people,' therefore also the same act of
Congress, passed on the 14th day of July, 1798, and entitled
'an act in addition to the act entitled an act for the punishment
of certain crimes against the United States,' as also the act
passed by them on the 27th of June, 1798, entitled 'an act to
punish frauds committed on the bank of the United States,'
and all other their acts which assume to create, define or
punish crimes other than those enumerated in the Constitu-
tion, are altogether void and of no force and that the power
to create, define and punish such other crimes is reserved, and
of right appertains solely and exclusively, to the respective
States, each within its own territory.

"3. Resolved, That it is true, as a general principle, and
is also expressly declared by one of the amendments to the
Constitution, that the powers not delegated to the United
States by the Constitution nor prohibited by it to the States,
are reserved to, the States respectively, or to the people ; and
that no power over the freedom of religion, freedom of speech,
or freedom of the press being delegated to the United States
by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, all
lawful powers respecting same did of right remain, and were
reserved to the States or to the people ; that thus was mani-
fested their determination to retain to themselves the right of
judging how far the licentiousness of speech and of the press
may be abridged without lessening their useful freedom, and
how far those abuses which cannot be separated from their
use should be tolerated rather than the use destroyed ; and
thus also they guarded against all abridgement by the United
States of the freedom of religious principles and exercises,
and retained to themselves the right of protecting the same as
this, stated by a law passed on the general demand of its citi-
zens, had already protected them from all human restraint or
interference ; and that in addition to this general principle and
express declaration another and more special provision has
been made by one of the amendments to the Constitution,
which expressly declares that 'Congress shall make no laws
respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the

444 History of West Virginia

free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or
of the press,' thereby guarding, in the same sentence and
under the same words, the freedom of religion, of speech and
of the press, insomuch that whatever violates either throws
down the sanctuaries which cover the others ; and that libels,
falsehoods and defamation, equally with heresy and false re-
ligion, are withheld from the cognizance of federal tribunals.
That therefore the act of the Congress of the United States,
passed on the 14th of July, 1798, entitled 'An act in addition
to the act entitled an act for the punishment of certain crimes
against the United States,' which does abridge the freedom of
the press, is not law, but is altogether void and of no force.

"4. Resolved, That alien friends are under the jurisdic-
tion and protection of the laws of the State wherein they are ;
that no power over them has been delegated to the United
States, nor prohibited to the individual States distinct from
their power over citizens ; and it being true, as a general prin-
ciple, and one of the amendments to the Constitution having
also declared that 'the powers not delegated to the United
States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States,
are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people,' the
Act of the Congress of the United States passed the 22d of
June, 1798, entitled 'an Act concerning aliens,' which assumes
power over alien friends not delegated to the Constitution, is
not law, but is altogether void and of no force.

"5. Resolved, That in addition to the general principle
as well as the express declaration that powers not delegated
are reserved, another and more special provision inferred in
the Constitution, from abundant caution has declared, 'that
the migration or importation of such persons as any of the
States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be
prohibited by the Congress prior to the year 1808.' That this
Commonwealth does admit the migration of alien friends de-
scribed as the subject of the said Act concerning aliens; that
a provision against prohibiting their migration is a provision
against all Acts equivalent thereto, or it would be nugatory ;
that to remove them when migrated is equivalent to a prohibi-
tion of their migration and is, therefore, contrary to the said
provision of the Constitution and void.

History of West Virginia 445

___^ «

"8. Resolved, That the preceding resolutions be trans-
mitted to the Senators and Representatives in Congress from
this Commonwealth, who are enjoined to present the same to
their respective Houses, and to use their best endeavors to
procure at the next session of Congress a repeal of the afore-
said unconstitutional and obnoxious Acts.

"9. Resolved, Lastly, that the government of this Com-
monwealth be, and is hereby, authorized and requested to
communicate the preceding resolutions to the legislatures of
the several States, to assure them that this Common wealt'i
CONSIDERS UNION FOR SPECIAL NATIONAL PUR-
POSES, AND PARTICULARLY FOR THOSE SPECI-
FIED IN THEIR LATE FEDERAL COMPACT, TO BE
FRIENDLY TO THE PEACE, HAPPINESS AND PROS-
PERITY OF ALL THE STATES— THAT FAITHFUL TO
THAT COMPACT, ACCORDING TO THE PLAIN IN-
TENT AND MEANING IN WHICH IT WAS UNDER-
STOOD AND ACCEDED TO BY THE SEVERAL PAR-
TIES, IT IS SINCERELY ANXIOUS FOR ITS PRESER-
VATION ; and it does also believe that to take from the States
all the power of self-government, without regard to the special
delegations and reservations solemnly agreed to in that com-
pact, is NOT for the peace, happiness or prosperity of these
States; and that therefore this Commonwealth is determined,
as it doubts not its co-States are, to submit to undelegated
and consequently unlimited powers in no man, or body of
men on earth; THAT IF THE ACTS BEFORE SPECI-
FIED SHOULD STAND THESE CONCLUSIONS
WOULD FLOW FROM THEM:

"That the general government may place any act they
think proper on the list of crime and punish it themselves,
whether enumerated or not enumerated by the Constitution
as recognized by them ; that they may transfer its cognizance
to the President or any other person, who may be the evidence,
his order sentence, his officer the executioner, and his breast
the sole record of the transaction; that a very numerous and
valuable description of the inhabitants of these States, being
by this precedent reduced as outlaws, to the absolute domin-
ion of ONE MAN, and the barriers of the Constitution thus

446 History of West Virginia

swept from us all, no rampart now remains against the pas-
sions and the power of a majority of Congress to protect from
a like exportation or other grievous punishment the majority
of the same body, the legislature, judges, governors and coun-
cilors of the States, nor their other peaceable inhabitants who
may venture to reclaim the Constitutional rights and liberties
of the States and people, or who for other causes, good or bad,
may be obnoxious to the views or marked by the suspicions
of the President, or be thought dangerous to his or their elec-
tion or other interests, public or personal; that the friendless
alien has been selected as the safest subject of a first experi-
ment ; but the citizen will soon follow, or rather has already
followed; for, already has a Sedition Act marked him as a
prey; that these and successive Acts of the same character,
unless arrested on the threshold, may tend to drive these
States into revolution and blood, and will furnish new calum-
nies against republican governments, and new pretexts for
those who wish to be believed, that man cannot be governed
but by a rod of iron ; that it would be a dangerous delusion
were a confidence in the men of our choice to silence our fears
for the safety of our rights; that confidence is everywhere the
parent of despotism; free government is found in jealousy,
and not in confidence, which prescribes limited constitutions
to bind down those whom we are obliged to trust with power;
that our Constitution has accordingly fixed the limits to which,
and no farther, our confidence may go ; and let the truest advo-
cate of confidence read the Alien and Sedition Acts and say if
the Constitution has not been wise in fixing limits to the gov-
ernment it created, and whether we should be wise in destroy-
ing those limits. * * * Jn question of power then let no
more be said of confidence in man, but bind him down from
mischief by the chains of the Constitution." * * *

Virginia Resolutions, drawn by Mr. Madison, in the
Virginia House of Delegates, Friday, December 21, 1798:

"Resolved, That the General Assembly of Virginia doth
unequivocally express a firm resolution to maintain and defend
the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution
of this State, against every aggression, either foreign or do-
mestic; and that they will support the government of the

History of West Virginia 447

United States in all measures warranted by the former. That
this Assembly most solemnly declares a warm attachment to
the Union of the States, to maintain which it pledges its
powers ; and that for this end, it is their duty to watch over
and oppose every infraction of those principles which consti-
tute the only basis of that Union, because a faithful observ-
ance of them can alone secure its existence and the public
happiness. * * *

"That this Assembly doth explicitly and peremptorily
declare that it views the powers of the Federal Government as
resulting" from the compact to which the States are parties, as
limited by the plain sense and intention of the instrument con-
stituting that compact, as no further valid than they are
authorized by the grants enumerated in that compact ; and
that in case of a deliberate, palpable and dangerous exercise
of other powers, not granted by the said compact, the States,
who are parties thereto, have the right, and are in duty bound,
to interpose for arresting the progress of the evil and for
maintaining within their respective limits the authorities,
rights and liberties appertaining thereto.

"That the General Assembly doth also express its deep
regret that a spirit has, in sundry instances, been manifested
by the Federal Government, to enlarge its powers by forced
construction of the Constitutional charters which define
them ; and, that indications have appeared of a design to ex-
pound certain general phrases which, having been copied
from the very limited grant of powers in the former Articles
of Confederation, were the less liable to be misconstrued, so
as to destroy the meaning and effect of the particular enumer-
ation which necessarily explains and limits the general
phrases, and so as to consolidate the States by degrees with
one sovereignty, the obvious tendency and inevitable result of
which would be to transform the present republican system
of the United States into an absolute, or at best a mixed, mon-
archy. * * *

"That the good people of this Commonwealth, having
ever felt and continuing to feci the most sincere affection for
their brethren of the other States, the truest anxiety for estab-
lishing and perpetuating the Union of all, and the most scrupu-

448 History of West Virginia

lous fidelity to that Constitution which is the pledge of mutual
friendship and the instrument of mutual happiness, the
General Assembly doth solemnly appeal to the like disposi-
tions in the other States, in confidence that they will concur
with this Commonwealth in declaring, as it does hereby de-
clare, that the Acts aforesaid (Alien and Sedition Laws, etc.)
are unconstitutional, and that the necessary and proper meas-
ures will be taken by each for co-operation with this State in
preserving unimpaired the authorities, rights and liberties re-
served to the States respectively or to the people."

In reply to the foregoing resolutions, the State of Dela-
ware, in its House of Representatives, on February 1, 1799,
resolved as follows: "That we consider the. resolutions from
the State of Virginia as a very unjustifiable interference with
the general government and constituted authority of the
United States, and of DANGEROUS tendency, and therefore
not fit subjects for the further consideration of the General
Assembly."

Rhode Island's reply was to the eft'ect that the question
of unconstitutionality of Acts passed by the Congress could
only be determined by the Courts. Virginia contended that
the action of legislative or judicial powers upon a case plainly
unconstitutional did not make it a lawful act; that the Consti-
tution was not subject to any tribunal, for it had none except
the people who made it.

Vermont's arguments were practically the same as those
of Rhode Island. She appeared to be more interested in the
"interpretation of the courts" than in the Constitution itself.
Legislative enactments were all right, regardless of their con-
stitutionality, so long as those Acts suited the purpose of the
enemies of the Constitution.

Going back to the adoption of the famous resolutions and
election of Jefferson to the Presidency : The people of the
North, particularly the Monarchical politicians, possessed
anything but a friendly feeling for the people of the South.
This feeling did not die with the generation, for the children
had been taught to hate Jefferson and his southern friends
with a degree of bitterness nearly equal to their antipathy for
"Jeff" Davis and the Southern Confederacy in later years.

History of West Virginia 449

Jefferson, in writing to a friend, said: "Our political
situation is prodigiously changed. Instead of noble love of
liberty and that republican government which carried us
through the war, an Anglo-Monarchic aristocratic party has
arisen. Their a\-owed object is to impose upon us the form
of the British Government, but the principal body of our citi-
zens remain faithful to the republican principles. They would
wrest from us that libert}- which we have obtained by so
much labor and peril."

Again he said : "The alien and sedition law is but an
experiment, and if this goes down \\ith the people, we shall
see Congress attempting to declare that the President shall
continue in office for life, and finally the transfer of succession
to his heirs."

There was a conspiracy in New England as early as 1796
to break up the Republic. A Northern Confederacy had been
contemplated for a number of years. "To sow discord, jeal-
ousy, and hostility was the first step tow^ards this object," says
Mathew Carey in the "Olive Branch." "In the famous Pelham
papers," says J. C. Stonebraker, "it was stated that the
'Northern States can subsist as a nation without the South.
It can not be contested that if the Southern States were pos-
sessed of the same political ideas, our union would be more
close, but when it becomes a serious question w^hether we
shall give up our government or part with the States south
of the Potomac River, no man north of that river. Avhose
heart is not thoroughly Democratic, can hesitate what decision
to make.' This was in 1796, and it proves that democratic
form of government (being obnoxious to the Monarchial
Federalists) was the cause of all the trouble between the
sections, though it embodied a coini)act entered into by
all of the States only eight years before. You will ob-
serve, of course, that the Northern section contemplated
seceding, not in defense of the existing Constitution, but
in opposition to it. The difference between the North
and the South in the the question of secession was only
a matter of ner.ve. It is admitted that the North wished to
sever the Union at the Mason and Dixon Tine." *

450 History of West Virginia

Following is taken from the ''Unwritten South", giving
the viewpoint of a Southerner on the slave question :

"In conjunction with the British spy Henry, the Federal
leaders settled upon the negro question as the best to bring
about the object they sought. Now, the North had no love
for the negro, as all know, for they had just gotten rid of all
of theirs, the climate being too severe for them. Let it be
remembered here as true, that the slave trade was looked upon,
as it existed in the early years of our nation, as a real blessing
to the negroes.

"In Africa they were all slaves to heathen masters and
lived upon snakes and toads. Thousands were butchered as
sacrifices to negro divinities. Their own offspring were eaten
for food, and were gladly sold when an opportunity was
offered. Washington, Teff'erson, Madison and all the leading
men of the land owned slaves, and were considered benefac-
tors. Before the birth of Christ slavery existed and their pos-
terity was inherited by their sons and daughters. So you see
the simple inheritance of slaves did not become such a hideous
crime all at once, especially in a land whose government pro-
vided against its being a crime. In Solomon's time it was
legal to marry a dozen wives, but the system was not abol-
ished by the ba3^onet.

"The South was the first to issue Acts against bringing
more slaves into the country, and imposed a tax upon them
in some of the States. So at the time of the agitation of the
slave question there were no slaves being brought into the
South, excepting such as could be smuggled.

"There were almost as many free negroes in the South
at the time of the war as slaves. Some of the negroes them-
selves owned slaves.

"The leading slave-holders were liberating their slaves at
the age of twenty-one and seeing after them. Very few men
sold slaves at this time, but many of them kept themselves
poor feeding and caring for the negroes in their charge. It
became an adage, 'that the pigs ate the corn and the negroes
ate the pigs.' It was conceded b}^ all that a negro with a
master was superior to a free one ; in fact, the slaves looked
with scorn upon a free negro. There were many collections

History of West Virginia 451

of free negroes in the South at the time of the breaking- out of
the war, and they hved upon the hen roosts of the community
principally. Without questioning the feasibility of freeing the
negro, the most reasonable plan surely would have been to
free the worthy ones at a certain age and thus have the best
ones as a nucleus for a development. It was plainly against
all order of evolution to rise so suddenly to such a position as
full citizenship.

"You remember that only in 1787 the Northern States
voted against the abolition of slavery, the Southern States
voting for it. Had the Northern cities anticipated that the
negroes would take advantage of the amendments to the Con-
stitution and flock to their States as citizens, their actions
had been different, as is regretfully stated by the inhabitants
of those cities now. They are getting a dose of their own
medicine in the North now with regard to the negro."

Continuing, the writer says : "The movement against
slavery began in 1820, when Missouri was added to the Union.
Jefferson said, in a letter to Lafayette, 'On the eclipse of Fed-
eration with us, but not its extinction, its leaders have set up
the false front of lessening the measure of slavery by the
Missouri question, but with the real view of producing a geo-
graphical division of parties which might insure them the next
President'. The Federalists knew they could not alter the
Constitution to manage the matter of citizenship, but showed
their disposition to break the solemn compact contained in
the Constitution. As the two parties existed at the time of
framing the Constitution they understood each other, and
were honorably bound to defend it as construed at the time;
hence any attempt to distort it to their sectional advantage
meant treason and false dealing. The status of the Federalists
was now to array the one section against the other and they
were assisted by one Henry, who was sent here by the Gov-
ernor of Canada, whose name was Craig. Craig's instructions
to Henry, dated Quebec, February, 1809, were the following:

" T request you to proceed with the earliest convenience
to Boston. The known intelligence and ability of several of
its leading men must give it a considerable influence over the
other States and will probably lead them in the part they are

452 History of West Virginia

to take. It has been supposed that if the FederaHsts of the
Eastern States should be successful and obtain the decided
influence which may enable them to direct public opinion, it
is not impossible that rather than submit they will exert their
influence to bring about a separation from the general Union.
I enclose a credential, but you must not use it unless you are
satisfied it will lead to more confidential communication.'

"This conspiracy between the agents of Canada and the
leading Federalists of New England came to the knowledge
of Madison, who was President, and he laid all the proofs be-
fore Congress. The President said to Congress, '1 lay before
you copies of certain documents Avhich remain in the Depart-
ment of State. They prove that at a recent period, on the
part of British Government through its public minister here,
a secret agent of that government was employed in certain
States in fomenting disaft'ection to the constitutional authori-
ties of the country, and intrigued with the disaifected for the
purpose of bringing about resistance to the laws, and eventu-
ally in concert with a British force, of destroying the Union
and forming the eastern part thereof into a political connec-
tion with Great Britain.'

"Henry wrote back to the authorities who had employed
him in Canada, that, although he found the leaders of the
Federalists of New England ripe for any measure which could
sever the Union, yet the masses of the people held so strongly
to the sentiment of Union that he doubted it could be imme-
diately dissolved. He suggested that the best way to further
this scheme of disunion would be to get up some sectional
domestic question on which the prejudices and passions of the
people could be permanently divided. This, he was sure,
would in time accomplish disunion. The sectional question
he spoke of was slavery. He did not miscalculate; it did its
work."

The writer from whom we quoted the above goes on to
say :

"A great flurr}^ was caused in the North by dissatisfac-
tion of South Carolina, but they overlooked the fact that the
Act in relation to the return of 'fugitives from service' was
openly and distinctly nullified by nearh^ every Northern State.

History of West Virginia 453

Lloyd Garrison, who was called the father of abolitionism,
inaugurated his movement by burning the Constitution of the
United States. He declared, *No act of ours do we regard with
so much conscientious approval, or with higher satisfaction,
than when we, on the 4th of July, in the i)resence of a great
assembly, committed to the flames the Constitution of the
United States.' He said, 'This Union is a lie, I am for its
overthrow. Up with the flag of disunion.' If such men had
been hanged, there had been no violation of and disrespect for
the Constitution later, and hence there had been no war,
Wendell Phillips said, 'The Constitution of our fathers was a
mistake; tear it to pieces.' It has been torn to pieces, and the
advocates of the destruction have become so docile as to say :
Oh, don't stir up the difference between the North and the
South ; since it is settled, let it rest. Yes, for shame's sake let
it rest, but for the sake of the truth, and the hope of ultimate
redemption from the stigma of error, let it not rest."

CHAPTER XXIII.

CIVIL WAR IN WEST VIRGINIA.

The South fought for their homes, and for slavery — yet
slavery was not the primary cause of the war. The South had
complained of unfair treatment from the hands of the Federal
Government as far back as the time of Alexander Hamilton.
They complained incessantly of the encroachment of the
General Government upon State Rights, as has been shown
in a former chapter. An anti-slavery sentiment had also long
existed in the North. The interests of the two sections were
not mutual. There was nothing in common between them.
The political leaders and the newspapers of both factions were
constantly and persistently nagging and threatening each
other.

The South had frequently threatened withdrawal from
the Union and forming an independent government. As late
as the early part of 1861 there was a strong feeling in the
North that it would be a good thing for all concerned if the
two sections were divided. They reasoned that, so long as
South and North were tied together as one country, there
would be danger of contamination from slavery, and that
Southern influence might eventually force slavery in the
Northern States and thereby offer cheap colored labor in com-
petition with the whites ; but, if they were politically foreign
to each other, no such contingency would exist. Why, then,
not let the South go? Their trade relations would remain the
same, and they would be safe from a repugnant labor traffic.
^rt, a majority of the Northern people took a different view.
While they were opposed to slavery, yet they were not so
much concerned about that so long as it was confined to its
present limits ; but they set their foot squarely down on se-
cession. They believed a division of the government would
render each section weaker in defense from European attack,

History of West Virginia 455

and that it would afford a precedent for other divisions and
ultimately lead to a number of small principalities, similar
to those in some of the tropical regions. Our forefathers had
sacrificed life, limb and property that we might enjoy the
precious inheritance of a republican form of government of
united states ; and nov^, to sacrifice all this as a compromise
with a dissatisfied faction or section would never do. No, the
Union must stand at all hazards.

This was all very well and proper. Yet, as we have seen,
the North was not entirely blameless for the unfortunate con-
ditions in which the country found itself. She had been
selfish and impatient for her own ends ; and the punishment
she brought upon herself was not, by any means, undeserved.
Had the people of both sides paid less attention to the ram-
pant harangue of hot-headed political speakers and jingo
journalism, and had shown that the sons of the Revolutionary
fathers were, by natural ties, duty-bound to treat one another
with a spirit of fairness, they would have discovered some
honorable means of adjusting" their difficulties without re-
sorting to war.

What a pity that thousands upon thousands of the very
cream of American manhood were so cruelly and so needlessly
sacrificed !

Aside from its humane features, how useful might have
been all these men had their efforts been directed in other
channels of honest human endeavor. And the heartaches and
tears it would have saved !

It is not a pleasant duty to record the stories of bloody
battles fought on any field or for whatever cause ; and it be-
comes more unpleasant when the scenes one describes hap-
pened in our own country and State, and in some cases, on
ground familiar to the writer, and by men or boys from his
own neighborhood — in many instances one neighbor against
another, family against family, and in some cases, brother
against brother, or father against son.

But the fates decreed that the war must come, and war
it was indeed — for four long years — years of hardships,
anxiety, turmoil, destruction of life and property, and count-
less homes made desolate; and during the enactment of these

456 History of West Virginia

terrible scenes, the great majority of those responsible for the
trouble were either dodging the muster roll, or comfortably
housed at a safe distance, and drawing a government salary.

As this is a State history, we will confine ourselves to
engagements in West Virginia as nearly as possible, occasion-
ally going outside as circumstances may require.

In presenting the story of engagements between the
Federal and Confederate soldiers in West Virginia, we will
quote freely from "History of West Virginia and Its People,"
by Miller and Maxwell.

On April 24, 1861, Lieutenant Jones, U. S. A., anticipating
an attack upon Harper's Ferry that night by Confederate
troops, fired the factories and blew up the government arsenal
at that place at 10 o'clock at night, and made his escape with
his men. The garrison consisted of forty-eight or fifty men
under Lieutenant Jones. They at once commenced planning
for the destruction of the place, by order of the government at
Washington. With their own swords they cut Kindling with
which to fire the buildings. They emptied their bed mat-
tresses and filled them with powder and then carried them into
the arsenal, so that no suspicion was aroused among the resi-
dents of the town. Fifteen thousand stand of arms were then
placed in the best position to be destroyed by an explosion.
Splints of boards and straw were thrown up in different parts
of the shops, so all could be destroyed at once. At 9 o'clock
in the evening Lieutenant Jones was advised that no less than
2,000 Confederates would be there by midnight, so he at once
proceeded to destroy the government property. The windows
and doors were thrown wide open in all the main buildings,
so'the flames would have free course; fires were lighted in the
carpenter's shop ; the trains leading to the powder were
ignited, and the men m'^rched out. The fire alarm aroused
the citizens, and just as Lieutenant Jones and his men had
entered the lodge to escape, an excited crowd gathered and
pursued them, threatening vengeance upon tliem for destroy-
ing the works. He suddenly wheeled his men and declared that
unless they retreated he would fire upon them. This dispersed
the most of the crowd. As they fled, he with his men took
to the woods. Within fifteen minutes after he left he heard

History of West Virginia AS7

the first loud report of the explosion. By the light of the fire
thus made, which illuminated the night, he was enabled to
make his way out of the country to the north. All of his men
escaped but four, who it is believed were captured and killed.
He made straight for Hagerstown, wading streams and
swamps, reaching that place at 7 in the morning. There he
secured omnibus transportation over to Chambersburg in time
to take a train for the east.

January 11, 1861, the 2d Kentucky Infantry landed at
Guyandotte. On the night of the 13th, four companies
marched out on the road leading to Barboursville, in Cabell
Count}', and in the early morning reached Alud River bridge,
within a few hundred rods of the town. On the ridge, in the
rear of the court house, were about 350 Confederates under
Col. James Ferguson, and a detachment of Border Rangers
under Capt. (later General) A. G. Jenkins. The Federals
approached the bridge and received the first fire, which they
answered and, crossing the bridge, carried the ridge and took
possession of the town. The Federals lost five killed and
eighteen wounded ; the Confederates had one killed and one
wounded, the former being James Reynolds and the latter
xA.bsalom Ballinger.

On May 20, 1861, seventy "soldiers of the State troops
came into Clarksburg for the purpose of recruiting for the
Confederate Army. They had come in from Romine's ]\Iills,
and marched up the main streets with rifles in hand. In a
short time they were joined by another similar band from the
surrounding country, commanded by N. M. Turner, Norvil
Lewis. Hugh H. Lee and W. P. Cooper. The loyal citizens
of Clarksburg were incensed at this act, and at 6 o'clock the
bell of the court house rang out as a warning, and the two
liome military companies were soon in line. These \Aere com-
manded by Capt. A. C. Moore and Capt. J. C. Vance. A
column was at once formed, with flags unfurled and bands ot
music playing. This display frightened the "green" Confed-
erate troops, who, after a time, asked if they might be allowed
to leave in peace, when they were told that they could remain
until morning providing they would stack their arms, which,
after 8 o'clock, they concluded to do.

458 History of West Virginia

Another version of this event is related by Henry Ray-
mond in his "History of Harrison County", as follows :

"On the afternoon of May 23rd, 1861, the residents of the
town were startled by the appearance of several squads of men
coming in on different roads, a portion of them being armed
with squirrel rifles and shotguns.

"The court house bell was rung, long and loud, and the
Union Guard, with a large number of other citizens, assem-
bled in the court room and amid great excitement it was pro-
posed that the new arrivals and all others who gave them aid
and comfort should be forthwith captured. But the arrival
of some of the older citizens upon the scene undoubtedly pre-
vented a collision between the two bodies. It was proposed
by a cool-headed speaker that a committee should wait upon
the secession body and ascertain their intentions in marching
into town under arms. This was very reluctantly agreed to
and the committee retired, and after some time reported that
the new arrivals had no hostile intentions, but were there for
the night and intended on the following day to march peace-
ably to Grafton to join Colonel Porterfield.

"After a good deal of discussion it was finally agreed that
the Secessionists should surrender their arms, which would be
placed in the jail, locked up, and the key given into the pos-
session of Waldo P. Goff, a prominent Union man, and that
they should be delivered to their owners on the following
morning, and that they should then leave town. This was
done and a collision happily avoided. On the next day their
arms were restored to them and the company marched down
Pike Street on their way to Grafton.

"A large crowd gathered on the pavement at the Old
Walker House at the corner of Second and Pike Street to
see them march away. It was a pathetic scene. Every one
seemed impressed with the solemnity of the occasion. There
were no loud hurrahs nor waving of flags as generally takes
place when men leave to go to war. Some quiet good-b3^es
were said between those leaving and those remaining, and as
they crossed Elk bridge and rounded the bend in the street
near the Catholic Church they M^ere lost to sight. A'ery few
of them ever saw their native town again, about twenty of

History of West Virginia 459

them were killed in battle and ten died from disease and only
six surrendered at Appomattox."

The same writer also relates what he terms "The Affair
at Righter's" :

"Peter B. Righter, a well-to-do farmer and grazier, lived
in a handsome residence on Coon's Run, about four miles from
Shinnston, just over the Marion County line. He was a pro-
nounced Secessionist and his house was a headquarters for
those of like faith in the neighborhood.

"He was reported to the military authorities and a detach-
ment of Company I of the 20th Ohio, under Captain Cable
from Mannington, was ordered to the Righter farm on June
21st, 1861. They were fired upon from the house, one of his
men was killed and three or four wounded, and John Nay, the
guide, was also wounded.

"Captain Cable's command fell back to Shinnston and,
receiving re-enforcements on the 22nd, returned to Righter's
and found the premises deserted. The house, barns and out-
buildings were burned and all the horses taken and moved to
Mannington.

"Banks Corbin, a resident of the neighborhood, while held
a prisoner by the troops, attempted to escape, was fired upon
and killed.

"This incident caused great excitement in the neighbor-
hood and brought the realities of war home to the people."

On May 6, 1861, Gen. George B. McClellan took com-
mand of the Department of West Virginia, while General
Garnett held a similar position in the Confederate Army. The
latter was at Beverly, Randolph County, and McClellan en-
deavored to force him to the east side of the mountains. He
divided his troops into two wings ; the one on the left began
at Grafton to march, via Philippi, under the command of
General Morris, while his right went by the way of Clarks-
burg and Buckhannon.

The first regiment of Federal troops organized in what is
West Virginia Avas mustered in for three months, and ren-
dezvoused on Wheeling Island, at the City of Wheeling, under
command of Col. B. F. Kelley, having been mustered May 15,
1861, as the First Virginia Federal Volunteer Infantry Regi-

460 History of West Virginia

nient. This command was joined by the first Union troops
to cross the Ohio River — an Ohio regiment, commanded by
Colonel Lander. About the same date a Confederate force
■was organized under Colonel Parterfield, near Grafton. The
Federal troops went via the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, while
the Confederates went back to Philippi, being followed up by
the Federals, and on June 3, 1861, occurred the first engage-
ment on West Virginia soil.

The Confederates were compelled to retreat, but neither
side lost many men. Colonel Kelley was wounded in the
breast, but recovered, and later was promoted to the rank of
Brigadier-General. This was the first military engagement
west of the Alleghany Mountains in the Civil \A^ar.

A celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the first land
engagement of the Ci\il War was held at Philippi, W. \sl.,
in June, 1911.

The following is taken from the Wheeling Sunday News
of June 4, 1911:

"PhiHppi. W. Va., June 3, 1911.

"Philippi"s first home-coming week ended successfully
to-day. As a closing feature of the aft"air the celebration of
the fiftieth anniversary of the first land engagement of the
Civil War was indeed all that could be expected. The quiet
little village of Philippi was filled to overflowing with visitors
from near and far. The crowd was variousl}^ estimated at
from 10,000 to 15,000. or at least 10 visitors to one inhabitant.

"The program of the day was one entirely of speech-
making, and there was not a dull moment from the time the
festivities opened until they closed. Among the notables
present who delivered addresses were : Governor W. E.
Glasscock; United States Senator "Fiddling Bob" Taylor, of
Tennessee; Uncle Henr}^ G. Davis ; Col. J. M. Schoonmaker, of
Pittsburgh ; Judge Frank Cox, of Morgantown ; Col. John
T. McGraw, of Grafton. United States Senator C W. Watson
and Hon. Lewis Bennett, of Weston, former Democrat can-
didate for Governor, were also present but did not speak, the
master of ceremonies explaining at their own request that they
were not speechmakers.

"GraY-haired veterans, bent with age, swarmed the streets

History of West Virginia 4ol

all day long, exchanging reminiscences of war days and listen-
ing to the stories of the war as told by the speakers. As nearly
as could be ascertained from the registry of visiting veterans,
there were about an e(|ual number of tlic blues and grays
present.

The committee in charge of the celebration gave away as
souvenirs small battle flags, both of the Federals and Confed-
erates. It was no uncommon sight during the day to see
crowds of Confederate and Union soldiers mingling together,
proudly unfurling to the breeze the battle flags of both sides.
Very few Union veterans left the grounds without taking
along as a souvenir the stars and bars of the Confederacy.
\\'hate\'er may have been the differences of the North and
South during the days of '61 to '65, it is certain that no ill
feeling exists among the old boys who attended the celebra-
tion at Philippi.

The celebration today was devoted entirely to a memo-
rial to the first land battle of the war fought on the hill just
north of Philippi on the morning of June 3rd, 1861. In this en-
gagement, led b}^ Colonel Lander of the Seventh Indiana Vol-
unteers, the Confederates were routed from Philippi, where
they had taken quarters, and forced to flee for dear life. One
of the distince features of the battle was Coloeel Lander"s sen-
sational ride down the steep declivity of Talbot's Hill, now
known as Battle Hill. As a feat of horsemanship it is proba-
ble that this ride has never been surpassed.

"In this engagement Colonel Kelley, commanding the
First A'irginia A'olunteers, was shot through the breast by
W^illiam Simms, a Confederate quartermaster, and was
seriously, but not fatally wounded. Only a few days ago
Colonel Kelley died at his home in California. Otherwise he
would have been present at yesterday's celebration. Colonel
Kelley was the first and only Union soldier wounded in this
battle. In this battle Company E, Seventh Indiana Regi-
ment, captured the first Confederate flag.

"At the break of day this morning the boom of cannon
from 'Battle Hill' announced to the sleeping inhabitants in the
valley below that the fiftieth anniversary of the first land
engagement of the Civil War Avas on. From that time on until

462 History of West Virginia

the evening sun had faded behind the hills there was a rapid
succession of events of the most interesting nature.

"A military street demonstration in honor of Governor
W. E. Glasscock was held at 9 :45 and at 10 the visitors gath-
ered on the lawn surrounding the court house to listen to
address by Governor Glasscock and 'Uncle' Henry G.
Davis, West Virginia's grand old man. Both speakers were
introduced by Senator S. V. Woods.

"Governor Glasscock spoke for nearly two hours. In his
opening remarks the Governor referred to the Civil War as
the only way of settling differences existing at that time. 'A
compromise was impossible,' he said. 'Slavery was either
right or wrong and there was no way to arbitrate the question.
The right of a State to secede from the Union was another
question which could not be settled by arbitration or compro-
mise, because there was no halfway place.

" 'The boys of 1861-65, whether they wore the blue or
gray, believed they fought for a righteous cause, and what-
ever may be our differences of opinion, with one accord and
with unanimity of opinion, we are agreed that they are all
patriots, and their acts of valor and self-sacrifice make up the
most interesting pages of our nation's history.'

"Declaring his pride that he had been a life-long native
of West Virginia, Governor Glasscock then digressed into a
rather extensive description of West Virginia's great wealth
and natural resources, etc.

"The Governor closed his speech with the following
burst of patriotic oratory :

" 'We are now standing upon the ground where the first
battle of the great Civil War was fought, but as we look out
before us we behold a beautiful city inhabited by people who
yield to none in their education and intelligence. x\ll honor to
the men who fought through the Civil War and preserved to
us through turmoil and strife the liberties guaranteed by the
constitution.'

"Immediately after Governor Glasscock's address, Uncle
Henry G. Davis was introduced to the throng. The Grand
Old Man told of a number of reminiscences of Civil War times.
He spoke very briefly, and in addition to paying tribute to the

History of West Virginia 463

veterans of both sides, Mr. Davis dwelt upon the great indus-
trial development of the State, and in a very clear manner
pointed out the wonderful progress made along this line since
the war. * * *

"Judge Frank Cox, the noted Morgantown jurist and
orator, was next introduced. His speech was 'short but
sweet'. He was not on the program, but he delivered a very
stirring and interesting address. He deplored the tendency of
the American people to drift away from the spirit that actuated
the soldiers in the war, toward selfish and mad races for
worldly wealth.

"At the conclusion of his address. Judge Cox introduced
Col. J. M. Schoomaker, of Pittsburgh, Vice-President of the
Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad.

"Colonel Schoomaker in his opening remarks told of his
first visit to West Virginia, when he led his regiment of cav-
alry down through Philippi to the Shenandoah Valley and
finally to Gettysburg. It was upon this visit, he said, that he
became impressed with the wonderful possibilities of the
country, in the development of the coal, lumber and other
industries.

"Colonel Schoonmaker's company is now building a rail-
road up the Tygart's Valley River, and hopes to have it fin-
ished within the next year or so. The war of the rebellion,
said the speaker, was a war of principle, and not one of race
prejudice. No nation, he said, could stand with half free and
half slave labor. He spoke briefly of the cost of the war in its
hundreds of thousands of lives, and monetary loss as well. A
beautiful tribute was paid to the women who attended and
cared for the sick and wounded during the awful struggle.

"Senator Woods then introduced U. S. Senator 'Fiddling
Bob' Taylor, of Tennessee. The Senator delivered one of the
best addresses ever heard in West Virginia, if not the very
best. He is a scholar and a man of culture, and his address
was truly a classic. Punctured at frequent intervals with
rare gems of genuine American humor, the speaker's address
held the attention of every person in the vast audience.

"Among other things he said : 'Ours is the greatest coun-

464 History of West Virginia

try in the world. Our inventions and discoveries have ad-
vanced the world a thousand years in a century.'

"Senator Taylor then took up the important discoveries
and accomplishments of history, detailing the men and mat-
ters that figured in them. Taking up American heroes, he
went through the list from Benjamin Franklin down to U. S.
Grant and General Robert E. Lee, extolling each in the most
beautiful language.

"He declared that modern politics is the most exquisite
art that the devil himself ever invented. The Anierican peo-
ple, politicians included, had gone money mad, and while we
have outstripped all other nations in the accumulation of
worldly wealth, he declared his belief that other nations out-
stripped us in the things that really make a nation great. 'Lust
for gold,' he said, 'has dug the grave of every nation that has
fallen, and I wonder if it is not digging our grave.'

"In closing. Senator Taylor said : 'May God grant that
we have many more of these peace reunions for both the Blue
and the Gray until the cr}^ shall ring out from the Atlantic to
the Pacific coast, a united nation with one God.'

"Col. J. T. McGraw, peer of all the Democratic silver-
tongued orators of West Virginia, was then introduced. He
delivered one of his characteristic, witty and interesting ad-
dresses. He was the last speaker of the day. In a flowery
flow of oratory he praised the war time deeds of the veterans,
showing equal interest in both sides.

"A responsive chord was struck b}^ the speaker when he
pointed out two of the preceding speakers in the persons of
Colonel Schoomaker and Senator Taylor as living examples
of the feeling and spirit which now exist between Confederate
and Union veterans. At the time Messrs. Schoomaker and
Taylor were sitting side by side in the speakers' stand.
Schoomaker was a colonel in the Union Army and Taylor held
a similar commission in the Confederate ranks. At the close
of Colonel McGraw's address. King Kelley went skyward in
his balloon, and while the band played 'Dixie' and the crowd
cheered, the celebration passed into history."

The writer is in receipt of a communication from Mr. S.
F. Hofifman, clerk of the county court at Philippi, in which he

History of West Virginia 465

recites the following incident in connection with the engage-
ment at that place in June, 1861 :

"On June 2nd, 1861, while the Federals were marching on
this town, which was at that time occupied by the Confed-
erates, one of the infantrymen, a man by name of Charles
Degner, of Company I, Seventh Indiana Regiment, while
crossing a small stream of water on a foot-log, lost his balance,
and falling accidentally discharged his gun, the ball pene-
trating his leg. He was taken into the house of Simon
Switzer, who lived nearby, and a physician summoned, but
before the ph3'^sician's arrival the wounded man died from loss
of blood.

"He was buried on the hill above where he was shot and
left there until the Federals returned, when they took charge
of those who had been wounded. They also took up the re-
mains of Degner and transferred them to the National Ceme-
tery at Grafton, W. Va., where he was buried along with the
others ; but there is no monument there by which his grave
can be identified."

Broaddus Institute at Philippi marks the spot where the
cannon were planted from which belched forth the first shot
of the first land engagement of the Civil War.

The writer has a clipping from a Wheeling paper dated
June 17, 1911, announcing that George W. McBride, aged 71,
who in April, 1861, had enlisted in the Twenty-fifth O. V. I.
and took part in the first fighting of the war at Philippi, had
been instantly killed by falling from a tree at Barnesville,
Ohio, and breaking his neck. He ascended the tree to replace
a young robin in its nest, and in seeking to get his footing on
a steep ladder on the way down he lost his balance.

The oldest military organization in the famous Kanawha
Valley of Virginia when the Civil W^ar came on was the
Kanawha Sharpshooters of Charleston, a company organized
January 9, 1861, really in anticipation of a civil conflict. Sub-
sequently, this company was a part of the Confederate Army.
The two armies — the one at the north and the one from the
south — saw in the fertile valley of the Kanawha, with its
grain and salt fields, valuable elements needed to maintain an
army and carry on a successful warfare, and each lost no time

466 History of West Virginia

in trying to secure and keep possession of the valley. In
June, 1861, Ex-Governor Henry A. Wise entered the valley
with a force of Confederate soldiers estimated at 2,700 men,
and established his headquarters at "Two Mile", just below
Charleston. At Gallipolis, Ohio, a force of Federals was
gathered for the same object. This command consisted of
the 21st Ohio Infantry, the 2nd Kentucky, 1st Kentucky, and
Battery A, 1st Ohio Light Artillery. Col. J. D. Cox was in
command. By July 17th he had reached Scary Creek, Put-
nam County, where he met a body of Confederates under
Captain Barbee : the Kanawha Riflemen, Captain George S.
Patten; Captain John S. Swan's rifle company; Major
Sweeney, with a small bod)^ of infantry; Captain Thomas
Jackson's battery of light artillery; and Captain J. M. Corn
and Colonel A. G. Jenkins with cavalry forces.

The battle began, and Lieutenant Colonel Allen, of the
21st Ohio, fell mortally wounded, while Colonel Norton re-
ceived a severe wound. Late in the day Colonel De Villiers,
Colonel Woodruff and Lieutenant-Colonel Neff rode upon the
field, and mistaking a body of Confederates for their own men,
entered their lines and were taken prisoners of war. Night
came on and the Federals fell back to the mouth of the Poca-
taligo River, leaving 21 dead and 30 wounded. The Confed-
erate loss was not so great. A few days later General Wise
abandoned the valley and General Cox occupied Charleston.
In passing, it may be added that General Cox was, at the time
the war broke out, a brigadier-general; was Governor of Ohio
in 1866-67; was Secretary of the Interior under President
Grant's last administration, and wrote much valuable history
concerning the civil conflict.

During the war railroads within the fighting zone suf-
fered greatly. In West Virginia and Maryland the Confed-
erates tore up miles of track and burned or blew up a large
number of bridges ; rolling stock and passenger equipment
suffered too, and traffic between Baltimore and Wheeling was
practically closed to the public from May, 1861, until April
2nd, 1862. During this time, the company, under guard of
Federal troops commanded by General Kelley, was engaged
in repairing the damage. It was estimated that the loss of the

History of West Virginia 467

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company was not less than
$2,000,000.

The question of the government allowing mail service to
be continued in the Southern States was brought up in May,
1861, and an order was issued by the Post Office Department
at Washington to the effect that postal service within the se-
ceding States would be suspended from May 21 of that year.
"Mails sent to offices closed by this order will be sent to the
Dead Letter Office, except those in West Virginia, which will
be sent to Wheeling. It is not intended by this order to de-
prive the Union men of West Virginia of their postal service."

In June, 1861, General Johnston concentrated a Confed-
erate force of 15,000 men at Harper's Ferry. General Robert
Patterson lay on the Maryland side of the Potomac River
with about an equal number of Union troops. On the 30th
he moved as to attack Johnston ; but the latter held his posi-
tion, and on July 2nd Patterson's advance crossed the
Potomac at Williamsport and was fired upon b}^ the Berkeley
County Border Guards. With the whole army across and
General Abercrombie's brigade in advance, the march com-
menced by the pike roads to Martinsburg. Five miles distant
from Williamsport, at Falling Waters, the Confederates had
outposts. A mile farther and the battle commenced in earn-
est. Abercrombie's brigade, made up of the 11th Pennsyl-
vania and the 1st Wisconsin, McMullen's Rangers, a detach-
ment of Philadelphia cavalry and Perkins's artillery of six
guns, constituted the Federal force ; while the Confederates
had what was to become famous as the "Stonewall Brigade".
The firing kept up two hours, with little loss to either side.
This was "Stonewall" Jackson's first battle. He withdrew to
Harper's Ferry, and Patterson marched to Martinsburg.
Johnston, having destroyed the public property at Harper's
Ferry, marched up the valley and over the Blue Ridge, and
then quietly stole away from Patterson and was present at
the battle of Bull Run.

In August, 1861, 300 Confederates lying at Bethesda
Church moved to Mud River Church (now Blue Sulphur
Springs) in Cabell County, and when near Pore's Hill (now
Ona Station), five and a half miles from Barboursville, were

468 History of West Virginia

fired upon by a body of 400 Federals, a detachment of the 5th
West Virginia Infantry

The Confederates returned the fire, but retreated, losing
one man killed and two prisoners taken, while the Federals
returned to Barboursville without loss.

Early in September, 1861, General Floyd with a large
force of Confederates advanced into Western Virginia, taking
his stand near Carnifex Ferry on Gauley River, where on the
10th of that month he was attacked by General W. S. Rose-
crans with a Federal force made up largely of the 10th, 11th
and 12th Ohio Infantry, with Snyder's and McMullen's bat-
teries. The 10th Ohio led the advance, and the Confederates
received the assault. The curtain of night covered the scene
and both armies rested on the field, but before daybreak the
Confederates had left, and the most important battle in Vir-
ginia west of the mountains was ended. The Federal loss was
225 killed and wounded, including Colonel Lowe, of the 12th
Ohio Regiment. The Federals held possession of the valley
more than a year, when they were compelled to abandon it,
and Lightburn's retreat is well known as an historic event
worth mentioning.

In the Spring of 1862, General Cox marched eastward
from Charleston and occupied a position at Flat Top Moun-
tain. In August he moved on to join General Shields in the
Shenandoah Valley, leaving General Lightburn in command,
with headquarters at Gauley's Bridge, Fayette County. His
eastern outpost was at Fayetteville, occupied by the 27th Ohio,
Colonel Sibert. The Federal force in the valley was then 3500
men. About September 7th General Loring, with a Confed-
erate force, was sent into the valley. On the morning of the
9th he attacked the Federals at Fayetteville, when Colonel
Sibert hastily retreated. He was closely pursued, and made
a short stand at Cotton Hill, but was unable to maintain his
position and retreated, finally joining General Lightburn at
Gauley Bridge. From that point the entire force fell back to
Camp Piatt, where at noon on the 11th a stand was made, but
the Confederates came in force and at daybreak on the 12th
the Federal advance reached Charleston, where in the next

History of West Virginia 469

twenty-four hours the entire army of occupation was con-
centrated.

Early on the 13th the Confederates appeared in large
numbers on Cox's Hill, from the opposite side of the Kanawha.
A Federal council of war determined upon a retreat to the
Ohio River. Accordingly the government stores which could
not be removed were burned, and the retreating columns, with
a train of more than eleven hundred army wagons, crossed
Elk River under heavy fire and burned the bridge behind
them. The artillery fire continued until noon, when firing
ceased, and the Federal forces were marching toward the
Ohio.

Fearing that the enemy's cavalry on the south side of
the river might cut off the retreat toward Point Pleasant,
when two miles out the column turned north to the Charles-
ton and Ravcnswood pike, and in three days had reached the
Ohio River. Transports conveyed the troops from Ravens-
wood to Point Pleasant, while the wagon train passed the
river at Portland, moving thence by way of Chester and
Pomeroy to the same place. At Point Pleasant, Milroy's
brigade from Washington City was added to the Federal
forces. General Cox with his brigade hurried on from the
Shenandoah Valley, via Flarper's Ferry, to Point Pleasant,
where the army then had increased to 12,000 men. Re then
began the march u]) the Kanawha Valley, but before he
reached Charleston the Confederate Army, which had been
transferred to the command of General John Echols, aban-
doned the valley.

On September 14, 1861, the Federals, under command of
Generals Rosecrans and Reynolds were, early in the morning,
attacked at Camp Barteau by the Confederates. The battle
lasted all day; and late in the evening the Federals withdrew
to Rich Mountain, in Randolph County. Their loss is not
recorded, but that of the enemy was thirty-six killed.

Shortly after the above occurrence, the Confederates
marched to Camp Allegheny, in east Pocahontas County.
Here they were joined by two other regiments, and at once
proceeded to fortify themselves, and on December 12th they
were again attacked by the Federals, who Avere again defeated.

470 History of West Virginia

after a hard day's battle and heavy loss on both sides. Captain
J. C. Whitmer, of the Pocahontas Rifles, and Captain Ander-
son, of the Lynchburg Artillery, were among the killed.

Thirteen days after the battle at Camp Barteau, a body
of Confederates in ambush attacked a body of Federal troops
under Isaac Hill, at High Log Run bridge, in Wirt County,
the Federals retreating with the loss of one nian wounded.

A short time after the above event. Major K. V. Whaley
recruited a company at Guyandotte for the 9th West Virginia
Infantry. On the evening of' November 10th, 1861, the 8th
Virginia Confederate Cavalry suddenly appeared and opened
fire on the Union men's position at the southern end of the
suspension bridge. The result was disastrous to the Federals,
all being killed, wounded or captured excepting a few who
effected their escape through the lines in the confusion of bat-
tle. The Confederates lost two killed and a few wounded.

At the commencement. Colonel Zeigler, with the 5th
West Virginia Infantry, was stationed at Ceredo, eight miles
below, and, learning of this attack, with a force of men went
aboard the steamer Ohio, ascended the river, disembarked on
the Ohio side at the mouth o^ the Indian Guyan, a mile below
the scene of conflict. From there they marched to Proctors-
ville, and at daylight on the 11th began crossing the river. As
the Federals entered the town the Confederates were leaving.
The Federals applied the torch to two-thirds of the buildings.
A few days later a few men came over from the Ohio side and
set fire to the extensive flouring mills of Dr. Thomas Buffing-
ton, and then went a mile up stream and fired the handsome
residence of Robert E. Stewart.

In May, 1862, the Greenbrier Riflemen, commanded by
Captain B. F. Eakle, and Company E, under Captain Wm. H.
Heffner, of Edgar's Battalion, occupied Lewisburg.

On the 12th of this month. Colonel Elliott, of Crook's
brigade, commanding 800 cavalry and 120 infantry, proceeded
to Lewisburg. The Confederates, not caring to risk a fight at
this time, fell back to the Greenbrier River, and the Federals
occupied the grounds just vacated by the enemy; and a few
days later were reinforced by Colonel Gilbert with a large de-
tachment of Crook's brigade. Early on the morning of May

History of West Virginia 471

23rd, General Henry H. Heath, with a force of 2500 men,
attacked the Federal position. After an hour's fighting, the
Federals succeeded in gaining an advantageous position over
the enemy, from which they were enabled to do greater exe-
cution, in consequence of which the Confederates were com-
pelled to fall back, leaving the field in full possession of the
Federals. The Confederate loss was sixty killed and that of
the Federals twenty-five killed.

The Kanawha Valley remained in the possession of the
Federals until September 6, 1862, the troops occupying Camp
Piatt, at Charleston, opposite Brownstown, with their most
eastern post at Fayetteville. Scouting parties operated south
and east through this territory. One of the detachments from
the 4th West Virginia Infantry, under Major John T. Hall,
August 6th, 1861, was attacked by the Confederate cavalry at
Kenneth's Hill, in Logan County. The Federals were routed
with a loss of three killed and eight wounded, among the num-
ber being Major Hall, who was killed. The Major was a son
of Hon. John Hall, who framed the first constitution of West
Virginia.

In the month of August, 1862, General George B. AlcClel-
lan ordered General D. H. Miles to occupy Harper's Ferry
until further orders. Meanwhile General Robert E. Lee
began the invasion of Maryland. On September 8th a
Confederate division consisting of the brigades of Generals
Walker, Hill, Pender, Archer and McLaws, all commanded
by Stonewall Jackson, appeared before the place. On the 11th
a heavy artiller}^ was opened upon the Federals, and the next
day witnessed the surrender of the entire Federal forces,
18,583 men, 47 pieces of artillery, 13,000 stand of small arms,
and other war material. The night before the surrender, the
8th New York Cavalry Regiment cut its v.-ay through the linos
and escaped into Maryland.

General Miles was mortally wounded -by a bursting shell.
General Jackson left the place in charge of General A. P. Hill,
and hastened on to meet Lee on the eve of the battle of South
Mountain. This was among the most important events that
occurred in West Virginia during the Civil War.

General Jenkins, commanding a cavalry brigade in the

472 History of West Virginia

Confederate service at Dublin Depot, on the Virginia & Ten-
nessee Railroad, having received information that a large
amount of Federal Army supplies was at Point Pleasant, in
Mason County, determined upon its capture; and on March
20th, 1863, a detachment of 800 men, partly made up from
the 8th and 16th Virginia Cavalry Regiments, commanded by
himself in person, with Dr. Charles Timms, of Putnam County,
as surgeon, began the 200 miles' march over the mountains.
After one week's hard traveling over bad roads and through
inclement weather, they reached Hurricane Bridge, in Putnam
County, where was stationed a Federal force : Company A,
Captain Johnson; B, Captain Milton Stewart; D, Captain
Simon Williams, of the 13th West Virginia Infantry; and
Company G of the 11th West Virginia.

Early the following morning, March 28th, Major James
Nowling, of the Confederate forces, under a flag of truce,
reached the headquarters of Captain Stewart, the Senior
Federal officer, and demanded an unconditional surrender.
Stewart refused to comply, and Major Nowling left, remark-
ing that "within thirty minutes an attack will be made," and
he made good his threat, and the sound of musketry was heard
within that time. It was returned with much effectiveness,
and for five hours the engagement continued. The Confed-
erates then withdrew and continued their march toward the
mouth of the Kanawha. The loss to the Federals is not
exactly known, but there were several killed and wounded,
Ultmas Young and Jesse Hart being among the killed. The
Confederates reached Hall's Landing, on the Kanawha, the
following day, just as the steamer "Victress'% Captain Fred
Ford, of Gallipolis, Ohio, in command, was descending the
river. On board was a United States paymaster with a con-
siderable amount of government funds. At a point nearly
opposite the landing, the boat was hailed from the bank by a
man seemingly alone. The pilot recognized the signal and
turned toward shore, when the boat was met by a storm of
bullets. Captain Ford at once backed the steamer to the mid-
dle of the stream, but not until she had been riddled with shot.
Luckily, no one was injured, and she continued her voyage,
arriving at Point Pleasant. From Hall's' Landing the Con-

History of West Virginia 473

federates marched to Point Pleasant, where Captain Carter,
with Company E of the 12th West Virginia Infantry, was
camped between Main and Viand streets, two blocks from the
court house, to which he took his men when firing began.
For four hours they were closely besieged. The citizens fled
to the opposite of the river and spread the news ; and rein-
forcements soon arrived, including a battery of artillery.
Preparations were made to bombard the town, in the belief
that the Confederates, instead of the Federals, were the occu-
pants of the court house ; but before firing could begin, the
error was discovered. They made it so hot for the Confed-
erates that the latter withdrew, crossed the Kanawha, and
that night camped at the headwaters of Ohio Eighteen, in
south Mason County, and the next day were at a point in
Tazwell County, Virginia.

While this skirmish was in progress, one of the most
shocking deeds of the Civil War was being enacted, in the
outright killing of the venerable Colonel Andrew Waggener,
then almost eighty-four years of age, by a Confederate soldier.
The published account runs thus :

"The Colonel had heard firing, and was leisurely riding
his favorite saddle horse into the town, carrying with him
his cane, a heavy stick which always accompanied him. He
was on the Crooked Creek road when met by a soldier, \\'ho
halted him and demanded his horse. He, of course, refused
to give the animal up, whereupon the soldier (not a brave ou'^)
sought to grasp the reins of the bridle, when the Colonel
struck him with his cane; whereupon the soldier drew his
gun and shot him, the old veteran falling from his horse; thus
he who had faced shot and shell fifty years before, in the war
of 1812-14, died on a battle field and in an action in which he
was not engaged. Colonel Waggener had won distinction at
Carney's Island ; his father was a major in Washington's
army during the Revolution, and he, with a brother, was at
Braddock's defeat, and stood high in military circles."

CHAPTER XXIV.

CIVIL WAR IN WEST VIRGINIA— CONTINUED.

Burning of Oil Tanks at Burning Springs.

On May 9th, 1863, General Jones, with a large body of
Confederate cavalry, arrived at Burning Springs, Wirt County,
where on that night they set fire to some oil tanks, containing
about 100,000 barrels of oil. It is said the light from the fire
was seen at Parkersburg — 42 miles distant.

Engagement at White Sulphur Springs.

On August 26, 1863, General Averill in command of the
Federal troops composed of Cotter's Battery B of the 5th
Ohio Artillery, and General Echols in command of Chapman's
Battery, met at White Sulphur Springs, two miles from
White Sulphur, where they engaged in an all day's battle.
The Federal loss was 150; the Confederate 60 men.

Battle at Headwaters of Sandy Lick, Lincoln County.

In the fall of 1863, the Confederates, commanded by
Captain Peter Carpenter, were marching through Union Dis-
trict, Lincoln County, and on reaching the headwaters of the
Sandy Lick, a branch of Sugar Tree Creek, information was
received that Company G, Third West Virginia Cavalary,
commanded by Major J. S. Witcher, was coming that way.
The Confederates thereupon proceeded to obstruct the road
with trees and brush, and when the Federals approached
opened upon them so vigorously with shot and shell that the
latter were forced to retreat. John Insco and Wm. Smith
were killed and three others severely wounded, while the Con-
federates escaped with the loss of one man killed and another
wounded.

History of West Virginia 475

Battle at Droop Mountain.

A very hotly contested engagement occurred on Droop
Mountain, November 6, 1863, between the Federal forces con-
sisting- of the 14th Pennsylvania, the 23rd and 28th Ohio
Infantry, the 3rd, 5th, 6th and 10th West Virginia Infantry
Regiments, and a West Virginia battery on the one side ; and
22nd Virginia Cavalry, under Colonel George Patton, the 19th
Virginia, under Colonel W. P. Thompson, 20th Virginia, un-
der Colonel W. W. Arnett, 14th Virginia Cavalry, under
Colonel James Cochrane, Jackson's and Chapman's batteries,
and Edgar's and Derrick's battalions, the whole in command
of Major John Echols, on the Confederate side. The former
had marched from Meadow Bluffs, Greenbrier County, and
the latter from Beverly, Randolph County, both armies meet-
ing at the extreme point of Droop Mountain, about 10 o'clock
a. m. The fight immediately began, and continued until about
4 o'clock p. m., when the Confederates retreated beyond
Lewisburg, the Federals pursuing them several miles. We
are not informed as to the loss in killed and wounded, but
both sides lost heavily.

Battle at Fairmont.

We quote the following from "West Virginia and Its
People" :

In April, 1863, the Confederates, having driven a small
force of Federals from Beverly and Philippi back to Grafton,
crossed the railroad at several points between Grafton and
Rowlesburg, and went on to Kingwood, thence to INIorgan-
town, which place they reached on Monday, the last week in
April. The following day they went down the east bank of
the river (probably means UP the east bank of the river^ —
Author) to within eight miles of Fairmont, where they w^ere
met by another body of troops, which later crossed the rail-
road. The whole force then went back to Morgantown,
where they greatly alarmed the citizens, destroying property
and plundering the place. They took every available horse
they could find en route. They then marched on to Fairmont.

476 History of West Virginia

where they were to concentrate Wednesday morning, crossing
Buffalo Creek, approaching the town of Barracksviile on the
Mannington pike. Their forces numbered about five thou-
sand strong. In the meantime, many weak-kneed citizens (jf
Fairmont, fearing being taken prisoners and forced into the
Southern army, had left for Wheehng and points in Ohio and
Pennsylvania.

Two companies of militia came from Mannington and
brought all the guns they could find. Not to exceed three
hundred men could be counted upon in an assault — these were
four companies of the 106th New York Regiment; two com-
panies of Virginia militia, consisting of 175 men; thirty-eight
men from Company A, Sixth Virginia, and a few from Com-
pany N, of the 6th Virginia Regiment, together with about
forty or fifty citizens.

The Confederates were in command of General William
E. Jones, who later declared his force consisted of seven regi-
ments of cavalry, one of mounted infantry, three hundred
mounted sharpshooters — in all about six thousand men, many
of whom were of the famous Ashby's Cavalry,

Wednesday morning dawned in a wet, foggy atmosphere.
The Federal scouts came darting into the town, reporting that
the enemy was out about three miles. One company of
militia and most of the citizens around the place went out to
meet them. Pickets commenced firing at each other about 8
o'clock. The Confederates, finding the Federals well pro-
tected, prepared to attack them as they came down Coal Run.
This had the desired effect, and the Federals fell back. The
men from the hillsides retreated, some of the main force near
the railroad bridge, a mile above town, and some to the Pala-
tine end of the bridge. The latter made a gallant stand and
resisted the enemy's crossing for nearly an hour. They took
shelter in a foundry and fired from the windows upon the
Confederates, who were mostly sharpshooters at that point.
They dismounted and took their shelter in vacant buildings,
stables and behind trees. A soldier from Bingamon was
fatally wounded, and soon all but a dozen had straggled away.
The remainder ceased firing, and each one took to looking
after his own safety. As soon as the firing ceased a white

History of West Virginia 477

flag" was seen rising from a house. It had been set up by the
Confederates, who sent a man with it to treat for surrender,
but to their utter astonishment they found no one there to
receive it. The enemy then hastily replaced the planks on the
bridge, over which a full thousand men soon crossed and
pushed their way to get in the rear of the Federals at the rail-
road bridge.

While the fight at the suspension bridge had been going
on the Confederates had disposed of their main force for attack
at the upper bridge. The Federal force, 275 men, were at the
bridge, and had taken position a half mile or so to the north,
but within gunshot of the roadway leading to Pruntytown. As
the Confederate cavalry dashed along the road to reach the
bridge they were exposed to a raking fire, which unhorsed
about a dozen. Having got across the south bridge and occu-
pied the heights at the eastern end of the railroad bridge and
gained the river above, the Confederates had the Federals
completely surrounded. General Jones, observing the situa-
tion, called out: "Why don't you fellows surrender?" The
Federals sent back the yell to their own men to "rall}'^". Then
began one of the most desperate unequal contests known in
all the four years' warfare. The Federals were in open
meadows, protected somewhat, however, by small ravines,
but exposed to the Confederate sharp-shooters behind rocks
and trees on the bank of the river. Inch by inch they were
forced back to within two hundred yards of the bridge, all the
time coolly loading and firing at concealed Confederates.
Finally they saw their case was hopeless, and just as the Con-
federate cavalry were ready for a charge which would have
destroyed the Federals, a white flag was raised from one of
the houses near by, and the firing ceased. Scarcely had the
formality of capitulation been completed when two pieces of
ordnance from Colonel Mulligan's command at Grafton
opened upon them from the opposite side of the river. Then
they "double-quicked" their prisoners to the court house,
where they were kept until that evening, when they were
paroled. The Confederates on the left bank of the river were
soon shelled out of range, but those on the same side as the
battery made a desperate effort to tear up the railroad, on

478 History of West Virginia

which stood MulHgan's car with the battery upon it. They
took up a few rails and piled several cords of wood on the
track, but after a short engagement they were driven off by
eighty men of Company B, 106th New York Regiment, and a
few rounds from the Federal cannon. While the train bear-
ing this battery was behind the hill, protected from being cut
off and captured, the Confederates completed the destruction
of the railroad bridge, then said to be the finest in the United
States, its cost being half a million dollars, and its length nine
hundred feet. It was an iron structure supported by four
piers of massive masonry. The iron work was supported by
tubular columns of cast iron. In these columns kegs of pow-
der, brought for the express purpose, were placed, and thus
the immense structure was thrown into the river below, caus-
ing the greatest single loss sustained by the Baltimore & Ohio
road during the Civil War. This battle was fought Wednes-
day, April 29th, 1863. The great odds in the contending
forces, the time fighting was going on and the few Federals
kille;d, were almost unheard-of in war — only one man was
kelled and four wounded on the Federal side, while the enemy
lost about sixty men killed and as many more wounded, as
stated by General Jones himself soon after the engagement.

The Confederates pursued the retreating Federals and
had a running fight till they were in sight of Grafton. Having
plundered, and destroyed the bridge, the main object of the
raid, the enemy left Fairmont and proceeded to Philippi and
so on to Beverly, Randolph County.

Governor Pierpont telegraphed General Lightburn from
Wheeling to Fairmont, asking what, the loss had been in the
raid at Fairmont in May, 1863, and was answered as follows :
"Your public and private library was destroyed; eleven horses
taken from Mr. Watson ; John S. Barnes was vv^ounded ; young
Coffman was killed ; no property burned except your library
and Coffman's saw mills. Money taken from N. S. Barnes,
$500; Fleming, $400; A. Fleming, $300 in boots and shoes;
Mrs. Sterling, $100 ; Jackson in flour and feed, loss great ; Ma-
jor Parrish lost all of his goods; every one who had good
horses lost them ; NATIONAL newspaper office destro)^ed
and type all in 'pi' ; United States property destroyed, $500 ;

History of West Virginia 479

Monongahela river railroad bridge of the Baltimore & Ohio
road destroyed, piers only left standing, bridge in river. Coal
Run, Buffalo and Barricksville bridges all destroyed. It was
Lieutenant Zane of Wheeling who destroyed your library
by burning it in front of your office."

On May 29th, 1864, an engagement took place on the
Curry farm, a quarter of a mile from Hamlin, in Lincoln
County, between the 3rd W. Va. Cavalry and a body of Con-
federates commanded by Major John Chapman, in which ]\Ia-
thias Kayler, a Federalist, was killed. He was from Raleigh
County.

In the same year and in the same county, at the mouth of
Coon Creek, another skirmish was had between Captain Car-
penter's Company K, 3rd W. Va. Cavalry, and the Confed-
erates. The former retreated with the loss of Lieutenant
Henry A. Wolf, who vv^as shot at the first firing.

In the autumn of 1864, General John H. Oley, of the Fed-
eral forces, in command of the Kanawha district, sent Captain
John M. Reynolds with Company D, 7th West Virginia Cav-
alry, to occupy Winfield, for protection of river transportation
on the Kanawha. There it constructed rifle-pits, traces of
which were still recently visible. Late in October that year
Colonel John Witcher, of the Confederate service, had regi-
ments along the Mud River country, and hearing that the
Federals had fortified at Winfield, decided to attack them,
which was done at night time with 400 men divided into two
divisions, one commanded by Colonel Thurman, who reached
the center of the works first, at Ferry and Front streets, when,
firing began at once. Colonel Thurman received a mortal
wound and was taken to the rear to die. The firing continued,
and after capturing several horses, the Confederates withdrew
to Mud River bridge, leaving the Federals in possession of the
town.

As Generals George Crook and B. F. Kelley have figured
so conspicuously in the history of the Civil War in A\''est Vir-
ginia, it may be interesting to our readers to read tlic particu-
lars of the account of their capture, along with Captain
Thayer, by the Confederates, while in their sleeping rooms at

480 History of West Virginia

hotels in Cumberland, Md., on the night of February 21st,
1865.

We give the account as recorded in Maxwell and
Swisher's History of Hampshire County, as follows :

Capture of Crook and Kelley.

The capture of General George Crook and General B. F.
Kelley, at Cumberland, Maryland, February 21st, 1865, by the
McNeill Rangers, was a remarkable performance, and at-
tracted much attention. That sixty men could carry away
two generals, surrounded by an army of eight thousand, was a
subject for much wonder. The names of those who took part
in the raid, so far as are now remembered, are J. G. Lynn, G.
S. Harness, J. W. Mason, R. G. Lobb, H. P. Tabb, John Tay-
lor, J. C. McNeill, L. S. Welton, William H. Haye, William
H. Poole, J. W. Duffey, L. S. Judj% Sergeants C. J. Dailey
and John Cunningham, John Aker, J. W. Markwood, D. E.
Hopkins, Charles Nichols, Joseph A. Parker, Isaac Parsons,
I. E. Oats, J. G, Showalter, J. W. Kuykendall, Benjamin E.
Wotring, G. F. Cunningham, I. H. Welton, John Mace, Mr.
Tucker, F. W. Bean, J. W. Crawford, George H. Johnson, C.
R. Hallar, W. H. Maloney, Jacob Gassman, 1. L. Harvey.

"To enable the reader to form a correct idea of the mili-
tary situation at the time, February 21st, 1865, a slight retro-
spect at the outset is necessary," says J. B. Fa}^, one of the par-
ticipants. "The debatable ground between the two opposing
armies in Northern Virginia ran parallel with the Potomac,
and embraced, sometimes, the length of two or more counties
southward. During the latter part of the war this region was
dominated by three famous Confederate leaders — Mosby, Gil-
mor and McNeill. Their forces sometimes intermingled; but
ordinarily the operations of Mosby were confined to the coun-
try east of the Shenandoah; those of Gilmor to the valley cf
Virginia; while McNeill's special field of action lay to the
westward, along the upper Potomac and South Branch. Mc-
Neill's command was composed principally of volunteers from
Virginia and Maryland, though nearly every southern and

History of West Virginia 481

not a few of the northern states had representatives in the
ranks.

"Moorefield, on the South Branch, was the principal head-
quarters of this command. In a daybreak attack on a company
of Pennsylvania Cavalry, who were guarding a bridge over the
Shenandoah, near Mount Jackson, in the fall of 1864, Captain
McNeill met his death. His son, Lieutenant Jesse C. AIcNeill,
was next in command!

"In February, 1865, Lieutenant McNeill consulted me
about the feasibility of going into Cumberland and capturing
Generals Kelley and Crook. After giving McNeill every as-
sistance that his design could be successfully carried out, he
determined to make the attempt. I was commissioned to pro-
ceed at once to Cumberland, or its vicinity, and prepare the
way for our entry by learning the number and position of
the picket posts, the exact location of the sleeping apartments
of both generals, and any other information deemed necessary.
Selecting C. R. Hallar as a comrade, I started. A few nights
after we left Moorefield found us upon the north bank of the
Potomac, a few miles west of Cumberland. At this point the
desired information was procured, and we retraced our steps.

"Hallar was dispatched to intercept Lieutenant McNeill,
who, during our absence, was to have twenty-five well-
mounted men prepared to move leisurely in the direction of
Cumberland, ready to act on my report. At the time of which
I write, six or eight thousand troops occupied the city. On
the night of our entry, in addition to the resident commander
(Major-General Kelley), General Crook, General Hayes (since
President of the United States), General Lightburn and Gen-
eral Duvall were temporarily in the city. A great harvest of
generals might have been reaped had we been aware of the
fact. At that time General Sheridan's army lay at Winches-
ter, and a considerable force of Federal troops was en-
trenched at New Creek, now Keyscr. Both of these points are
nearer Moorefield than Cumberland is. This shows the haz-
ard of a trip from our headquarters to Cumberland and the
probability of being cut ofi". .

"When McNeill and party arrived at the rendezvous, in
addition to those of our own command there \vere witli him

482 History of West Virginia

a number, probably a dozen, belonging to Company F of the
Seventh and D of the Eleventh Virginia Cavalry, of Rosser's
brigade. The men and horses were fed and rested. The
shades of that evening saw us upon our ride. Our route lay
over Middle Ridge, across the valley of Patterson's Creek,
through the ridges beyond the base of Knobly Mountain,
where, taking a northerly course yve came to a narrow gap
leading up to open fields on the mountain top. Passing up
this gap, over an icy road, we found the fields above covered
with snow drifts of uncertain depth, which forced us to dis-
mount and lead our struggling horses. Having reached the
road through a lower gap to the Seymour farm, we quickly
descended the mountain into the valley and crossed the Po-
tomac into Maryland.

"At this juncture Lieutenant McNeill held a council of
war with some of us, and after saying that there was not time
to reach Cumberland before daylight by the route laid down
by me, the Lieutenant proposed that that part of the expedi-
tion be abandoned. But to prevent the trip from being an en-
tire failure, he suggested that we should surprise and capture
the pickets at the railroad station near by, at Brady's Mills.
The prizes for which we had come so far were estimated by
quality, not quantity, and a company of infantry was not con-
sidered a fair exchange for two major-generals. His proposi-
tion met with an emphatic and almost unanimous dissent. It
is proper here to say that my route contemplated flanking the
neighboring village of Cresaptown, moving on to the well-
known National road and taking that thoroughfare, which was
not picketed, to enter Cumberland from the northwest by way
of the Narrows, a pass through Will's Mountain. This would
have doubled the distance to be traveled from the point where
we passed the river, but it was the only prudent and
reasonably safe route, and but for several unnecessary de-
lays already made, for which Lieutenant McNeill himself
was responsible, ample time had been left to pursue it.
The fact then remained, however, as McNeill declared, that we
could not then get to Cumberland by that route in the re-
quired time ; and if we were to proceed further on our expedi-
tion we must take the shorter route, the New Creek road, and

History of West Virginia 483

try our chances by surprising and capturing the pickets on
that road, and ^et into the city without giving the alarm. The
attempt to pass quietly through two Hnes of pickets promised
but doubtful results, but we determined to try it. McNeill and
Vandiver, followed by Kuykendall and myself, rode ahead -'s
an advance guard, the rest of the troops, under Lieutenant I.
S. Welton, keeping close behind. A layer of thin, crusty snow
was on the ground, and although it was an hour and a half till
dawn, we could see very well for a short distance. The New
Creek road skirts the base of Will's Mountain, running al-
most parallel with the railroad and river, and all three come
close together at the mouth of a deep ravine. About two
miles from Cumberland the road deflects to the left and winds
up through a ravine and over the hill to the city. A cavalry
picket was stationed at the mouth of the ravine, and as we
neared this post a solitary vidette was observed standing on
the roadside, and who, upon noticing our approach, gave
the challenge: 'Halt, who comes there?' 'Friends from New
Creek,' was the response. He then : 'Dismount one, come for-
ward and give the countersign.' Without a word Lieutenant
McNeill put spurs to his horse, dashed forward, and as he
passed, being unable to check his horse, fired his pistol in the
man's face. We followed rapidly and secured the picket,
whom we found terribly startled at the peculiar conduct of
his alleged friends. Two comrades, acting as a reserve, had
been making themselves cosy before a few embers under a
temporary shelter in a fence corner about one hundred yards
in the rear. Hearing the commotion in front they hastily de-
camped toward the river. They got no farther than the rail-
road, however, for we were close upon them, and in response
to our threats of shooting, they halted and surrendered. Ex-
amining them apart, and under threats of instant annihilation
at the end of a halter, they gave the countersign for the night,
which was 'Bull's Gap.' Mounting these men upon their
horses, which we found hitched nearby, we took them into
Cumberland and out again, when one was turned loose, with-
out a horse, but richer in experience.

"The imprudent action of Lieutenant McNeill in firing a
shot which might have caused a general alarm and forced us to

484 History of West Virginia

abandon our design^ created some displeasure among the
men. Sharing in this feehng, I insisted that Kiykendall and
myself should take the advance in the approach to the next in-
ner post. This was assented to, and we moved on with the
determination that no more unnecessary firing should be in-
dulged in on our part. The second post was fully a mile away,
over the high intervening hill and located at the junction of
the road we were on with the old Frostburg pike. This post
consisted of five men belonging to the First West Virginia In-
fantry, who were comfortably ensconced in a shed behind a
blazing log fire, and all busily engaged at cards. - As we drew
near the circle of light one of"the number was observed to get
up, reach for his musket and advance in front of the fire to
halt us. To his formal challenge Ku3^kendall answered :
'Friends, with the countersign." We kept moving up in the
meantime, and when the command was given for one of us to
dismount and give the countersign, I noticed an impatient
movement among our men in the rear ; and to mislead the
picket and enable us to get as near as possible before our in-
tended dash was made, I shouted back in a loud voice: 'Don't
crowd up, men ! Wait until we give the countersign.' We
did not find it necessary to give it, however. There was an
open space around the picket post which allowed no chance
of escape, and we were close upon them. The next instant a
swift dash was made, and, without a single shot, they were
surrounded and captured. Their guns and ammunition were
taken and destroyed, and they were left unguarded at their
post, with strict instructions to remain until our return.

"On its face this would appear to have been a ver}^ unwise
thing, but it was the best that we could do. We had no inten-
tion of returning that way; but we rightly trusted that before
the men could realize the situation and get to M^here an alarm
could be given, our work in the city would have been done.
We were now inside the picket lines, and before us lay the
slumbering city. The troop was halted here for a short time
while McNeill hastily told off two squads of ten men each,
who were directly charged with the capture of the generals.
Sergeant Joseph W. Kuykendall, Company F, Seventh Vir-
ginia Cavalry, a special scout for General Early, and a sol-

History of West Virginia 4cS5

dier of great courage and coolness, who had once been a
prisoner in Kelley's hands and had a personal acquaintance
with him, was placed in command of the men detailed to
secure that general. To Sergeant Joseph L. Vandiver, a man
of imposing figure and style, was given the charge of cap-
turing General Crook.

"An interesting fact in connection with this affair is that
among the number detailed to capture General Crook was Ja-
cob Gassman, a former clerk in the hotel where General
Crook lodged, and whose uncle then owned the building, and
Sergeant Charles James Dailey, whose father was landlord
at the time and whose sister, Mary, afterwards became Mrs.
Crook, and was probably then Crook's fiancee. The duty of
destroying the telegraph lines was intrusted to me, while
Hallar and others were detailed as my assistants. These pre-
liminaries being arranged, we moved on dowit the pike, rode
into Green street and around the court house hill ; then over
the chain bridge across Will's Creek and up Baltimore street,
the principal thoroughfare of the city. Taking in the situa-
tion as they rode along, the men occupied themsehes whistling
such Yankee tunes as they knew, and bandying words with
isolated patrols and guards that occasionally passed. Some
of our men were disguised in Federal overcoats, but in the dim
light no difference could be noticed in the shades of liglit blue
and gray.

"Part of the men were halted in front of the Barnuin
house, afterwards the Windsor hotel, where General Kelley
slept, and the others rode on to the Rex ere house, where Gen-
eral Crook reposed in fancied security. A sentry paced ui)
and down in front of the respective headquarters, but took
little notice of our movements, cxidently taking us lor a
scouting i)arty coming in to report. J. (i. I.) -iU, of Ku}kcn-
dall's squad, was the first the reach the i)avement. where he
captured and disarmed the sentry, who directed the party lo
the sleeping apartments of General Kelley. Entering the ho-
tel the party first invaded a room on the second lloor. wliicli
proved to be that of the adjutant-general, ^lehin. Arousing
him, they asked where General Kelly was, and were told that
he was in the adjoining apartment, a communicating room, the

486 History of West Virginia

door of which was open, and they entered at once. When
General Kelley was awakened, he was told that he was a
prisoner, and was requested to make his toilet as speedily as
possible. With some degree of nervousness the old general
comphed, inquiring as he did so, to whom he was surrender-
ing. Kuykendall replied : 'To Captain McNeill, by order of
General Rosser.' He had Httle more to say after this, and in
a very short space of time both he and Adjutant Melvin were
taken down into the street and mounted on horses, the owners
of which courteously gave the prisoners the saddle and rode
behind. In this manner they were taken out of Cumberland,
but as soon thereafter as separate horses could be procured
they were given them.

"At the Revere house an almost identical scene took place.
The sentry having been taken and disarmed, the capturing
party ascended the stone steps of the hotel and found the
outside door locked. The door was opened by a small col-
ored boy and the party entered. The boy was greatly alarmed
at the brusque manner of the unexpected guests, whom he evi-
dently suspected of improper intentions. When asked if Gen-
eral Crook was in the hotel, he said : 'Yes, sah, "but don't tell
'em I told you,' and he afterwards made the inquiry: 'What
kind o' men are you all, anyhow?' While Vandiver and
Dailey were getting a light in the office below, Gassman went
to No. 46, General Crook's apartment, and thinking the door
was locked, knocked at it several times. A voice within asked :
'Who's there?' Gassman replied: 'A friend,' and was told to
come in. Vandiver, Tucker and Dailey arrived by this time
and all four entered the room. Approaching tHe bed where
the general lay, Vandiver said in a pompous manner, 'Genera!
Crook, you are my prisoner.' 'What authority have you for
this?' inquired the general. 'The authority of General Rosser,
of Fitzhugh Lee's division of cavalry,' said Vandiver in re-
sponse. Crook then rose up in bed and asked : 'Is General
Rosser here?' 'Yes,' replied Vandiver, 'I am General Rosser.
We have surprised and captured the town.' That settled the
matter as far as the bona fide general was concerned. He was
immensely surprised at the bold announcement, but know-
ing nothing to the contrary, accepted Vandiver's assertion

History of West Virginia 487

as the truth. He submitted to his fate with as much grace
and chcerfuhiess as he could muster. Speaking to me after-
wards of his sensations at the time, the general said : 'X'andi-
ver was just such a looking person as I supposed Rosser to
be, and I had no reason to doubt the truth of his statement. I
was very much relieved, however, when I learned the real sit-
uation and that the city and garrison had not been taken.'

"When the sidewalk was reached a clerk in the hotel, who
had evidently been asleep and had just awakened, came out
on the sidewalk with a lantern, and holding" it up to get a
good look, asked: 'How many Johnnies have you got, boys?'
He quickly realized that he had made a mistake. John Taylor
snatched his hat off his head ; John Cunningham ran through
his pockets ; while W. H. Maloney caught him by the back and
jerked his overcoat over his head. They left him standing
dumbfounded.

"General Kelley and his adjutant were taken some time
before General Crook w^as brought out and mounted ; but when
this was finally done, and headquarters and other flags were
finally secured, the entire party rode down Baltimore street in
a quiet and orderly manner to the chain bridge. A large stable
was located here, and from this several fine horses were taken,
among them Thilippi,' General Kelley's charger, which had
been given him by the West Virginia soldiers in honor of his
victory over Colonel Porterfield at Philippi. The taking of the
horses caused some delay, which greatly excited lieutenant
McNeill, who, calling for me, ordered that I should lead them
out of the city at once. Turning the column to the left, 1
led it down Canal street and on to the canal bank, where, a
few hundred yards below% we came unexpectedly upon a dozen
or more guards, whom we surrounded and captured. A\ e de-
stroyed their guns and ammunition, but did not encumber our
selves with more prisoners. From this point the column wert
at a gallop down the tow path until halted by the picket posted
at the canal bridge, a mile below town, on the road to W iley's
ford. The column not halting, one of the pickets was heard to
say: 'Sergeant, shall I fire?' when Vandiver, who was in front,
shouted ; Tf you do, I'll place you under arrest. This is Gen-
eral Crook's bodyguard, and we have no time to w^aste. 'I'he

488 History of West Virginia

rebels are coming, and we are going out to meet them.' Fliis
explanation seemed satisfactory. We passed under the bridge,
beyond the picket post, which was the enemy's outmost guard,
and crossed the Potomac. A\'e were four or five miles away
before the boom of a cannon was heard, giving the alarm.

"General Crook was riding bareback. When they were
well across the Potomac, he called to W. H. Maloney and
asked him to ride ahead and get a saddle, remarking that he
was very tired. Maloney said he did not know where to get
one. To this General Crook replied: 'Take one from the first
man you meet, and tell him that General Crook ordered you to
do it.' Maloney dashed ahead to Jacob Kyle's, and, waking
him, told him he wanted a saddle for General Crook. Mr.
Kyle answered : 'Your men took the only saddle I had yes-
terday.' 'We are not Yankees,' said Mr. Maloney. 'General
Crook is a prisoner. I will search your house, and if I find you
are lying to me, I will burn your house.' 'The saddle is on the
porch in a flour barrel,' replied Mr. Kyle. Mr. Maloney got it
and General Crook had to ride bareback no longer.

"Sixty rugged miles intervened between us and safety,
but I doubt if there w^as a man in the troop but now felt at
ease. Elated, proud and happy, all rode back that morning
over the snow-clad Virginia hills. Our expedition had been a
grand success, and every wish was realized. A mounted force
from Cumberland, in pursuit, came in sight on Patterson's
Creek, but kept at a respectful distance in the rear until after
we had passed Romney, when they pressed upon our guard,
but upon the exchange of a few shots they retired. On reach-
ing the Moorefield valley a detachment of the Ringgold Cav-
alry, sent from New Creek to intercept us, came in sight. V\"e
were on opposite sides of the river, in full view of each other,
and soon our tired horses w^ere being urged to their utmost
speed, the Federals endeavoring to reach Moorefield and ci'.t
off our retreat, while our great desire was to pass througli the
town with our prisoners and captured flags, and exhibit to our
friends and sweethearts the fruits of our expedition and the
trophies of our success.

"It soon became evident, hoAvever, that-the fresher horses
of the other side would win the dav. Convinced that the town

History of West Virginia 489

could not be reached and safely passed, McNeill suddenly icd
his men into the woods skirting the road, and taking a well-
known trail, passed through the ridges east of Aloorcficld to
a point of security seven miles above, where we camped for the
night. In the preceding twenty-four hours we had rMdeu
ninety miles over hill and valley, mountain and stream, with
very little rest or food for men or horses. Our prisoners
received the best possible care and attention, and early the
next morning pursued their enforced march to Richmond by
wa}^ of General Early's headquarters at Staunton."

On February 24, 1865, General Robert E. Lee sent the
following dispatch to the war department of the Southern
Confederacy. :

"General Early reports that Lieutenant McNeill, with
thirty men, on the morning of the twenty-first, entered Cum-
berland, captured and brought out Generals Crook and Kelley,
the adjutant-general of the department, two privates and the
headquarters' flags without firing a gun, though a considerable
force is in the vicinity."

The following dispatch was sent from Cumberland by
Major Kennedy to General Sheridan, at Winchester, within
a few hours after McNeill's men had left the city : "About
three o'clock this morning a party of rebel horsemen came up
on the New Creek road, about sixty in number. They cap-
tured the pickets and quietly rode into town, A\ent directly to
the headquarters of Generals Crook and Kelley, sending a
couple of men to each place to overpower the headquarters'
guard, when they went directly to the room of General Crook,
and, without disturbing anybody else in the house, ordered
him to dress, and took him down stairs and placed him on a
horse, saddled and waiting. The same was done to General
Kelley. While this was being done, a few of them, without
creating an}- disturbance, opened one or two stores, but they
left without waiting to take anything. It was done so quietly
that others of us who were sleeping in adjoining rooms to
General Crook were not disturbed. The alarm was given in
ten minutes by a darkey watchman at the hotel, who escajjcd
from them, and in an hour we had a party of fifty cavalry after
them. They tore up the telegraph lines, and it required

490 « History of West Virginia

more than an hour to get them in working order. As soon as
New Creek could be called, I ordered a force to be sent to
Romney, and it started without any unnecessary, delay. A
second force has gone from New Creek to Moorefield, and a
regiment of infantry has gone to supply the place of cavalry.
They rode good horses, and left at a very rapid rate, evidently
fearful of being overtaken. They did not remain in Cumber-
land over ten minutes. From all information, I am inclined
to believe that instead of Rosser, it is McNeill's company.
Most of the men of that company are from this place."

General Sheridan sent four hundred cavalry across the
mountains from Winchester in the direction of Moorefield,
in hope of capturing McNeill and releasing the prisoners ; but
no success attended the expedition. McNeill was in the
mountains and eluded his pursuers, who were trying to close
in on him from four directions.

McNeill's men surrendered soon after General Lee. 'Tt
was arranged that they should lay down their arms on the
South Branch above Romney," say Maxwell and Swisher in
History of Hampshire County. "A company of Federals from
New Creek met them for that purpose. Two or three ofKcers
and a half dozen men crossed the river where McNeill's men
were, while the main body of the compan}'- remained on the
north side. There was no unnecessary ceremony. The Con-
federates threw down their arms and were paroled. The im-
plements of war piled on the ground looked as if they had come
out of a museum a hundred years old. They were flint-locks,
broken stocks, bent barrels, no ramrods, triggerless, rusty, big,
little, horse pistols, deringers, pepperboxes, choke-bores, bell-
mouthed, antiquated shot guns and old English blunderbusses,
and others beyond description. The Federal officers were
aware that these were not the guns with which McNeill's men
had done their fighting. They had hidden their good guns
and had gathered up these superannuated, pre-revolutionary
traps in junk-shops and garrets and were surrendering
them for form's sake. A competent judge who saw the arms
piled on the ground declared they were not worth ten dollars
a ton. However, the Yankees hauled them to New Creek.

"After they had thrown down their worthless guns, one of

History of West Virginia 491

McNeill's men asked the Union officers : 'What would be the
result if I would keep a Httle powder to shoot coons and such
things, and it should be found in my house, and an old shot-
gun or something?' The officer told him it would go hard
with him if he went to bushwhacking. To this the soldier re-
piled : T won't hurt any of you fellows, but the Swamp Dra-
gons from North Fork better not come fooling around me.'
The Swamp Dragons were the Union guerillas who infested
the mountain fastnesses around the headwaters of the South
Branch and Cheat River. Between them and McNeill's men
there was war to the death. Neither side asked nor gave
quarter."

In passing, it might be said that "Swamp Dragons"
were not confined alone to the waters of the Potomac. They
were to be found in nearly every community in the State dur-
ing the Civil War. In Marion County, where the writer lived,
there was a band of this character. They pretended to be
members of the "Home Guard," but their actions behed that
name. They were home wreckers. It was said that they
were "too cowardly to join the regular army, and too lazy to
work at home," and that they made their living by preying
upon and harassing their neighbors who they thought
might be in sympathy with the South. Numerous cold-
blooded murders were committed by these guerillas, under the
cloak of Unionism, to satisfy some old grudge or an im-
aginary wrong. They deemed it an opportune time to settle
old scores and they took advantage of it. Two of such mur-
ders were committed within three miles of^ Glover Gap, the
victims being old, gray-headed men.

West Virginia had in the field thirty-two companies of
State troops, known as Home Guards. Their duty was to de-
fend against invasion the counties to which they belonged. If
the perpetrators of these crimes were really members of these
organizations, it can not be doubted they exceeded their au-
thority in many, many instances.

492 History of West Virginia

Rosser's Raid to Keyser.

In November, 1864, General Rosser led 2,000 Confederates
to Keyser where he surprised 800 Federals under George R.
Latham, and dispersed them, capturing- many prisoners and
much property.

Rosser's Raid to Beverly.

In January, 1865, General Rosser and 300 Confederates at-
tacked Beverly, in Randolph County, defeating Colonel Youart
and taking 580 prisoners. These prisoners were marched, many
of them with barefeet, through snow to Staunton. Some of
them fell and died from cold and exhaustion. Shortly after
that time the outlying Confederate bands were ordered to
Richmond to fight Grant, whose grip could not be shaken
loose.

THE CONCLUSION OF THE CIVIL WAR.

(By Montgomery).

Headquarters Military Division of the Mississippi,
in the Field, Smithfield, North Carolina, April
12, 1865.
The General commanding announces to the army that he
has ofificial notice from General Grant that General Lee sur-
rendered to him his entire army, on the 9th inst., at Appo-
mattox Court House, Virginia.

Glory to God and our country, and all honor to our com-
rade, in arms, toward whom we are marching !

A little more labor, a little more toil on our part, and the
great race is won and our Government stands regenerated,
after four long years of war.

W. T. SHERMAN,

Major-General Commanding.

The above order was issued while the Union army was
marching from Goldsboro, N. C, in pursuit of Johnston's
BLtmy. Johnston did not make a stand, but surrendered near

History of West Virginia 493

Durham Station, about t\vent}-tive miles northwest of Ra-
leigh, N. C, April 26, 1865.

When Sherman's men learned that Lee had surrendered
they went wild with excitement. They shouted, they flung
up their caps, they turned somersaults in their delight.

The whole land seemed full of rejoicing that the long, ter-
rible struggle was practically over. Confederate as well as
Union soldiers were glad to see peace at hand ; an"d a Southern
woman who heard the hurrahs of Sherman's "boys in blue" as
they marched past her house, looked upon her wondering chil-
dren and said, while tears streamed down her cheeks, "Now
father will come home."

On April 26, 1865, Johnston surrendered to Sherman near
Raleigh, N. C.

When Lee surrendered to Grant, the latter showed a very
generous disposition toward the former and his men. "The
only conditions he demanded were that the men should lay
down their arms and return to their homes. Those who had
horses were permitted to take them with them ; for, as General
Grant remarked, they 'would need them for the ploughing.'
Finally, the victorious general issued an order to serve out
twenty-five thousand rations of food to Lee's half-starved
men. That meant that the strife was over, and that peace
and brotherhood were restored."

On April, 14th, 1865, General xAnderson hoisted the identi-
cal flag over Fort Sumter under whose starry folds he had
fought against Beauregard. On the evening of the same day,
President Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth.
Thus a day of gladness was suddenly transformed into one of
national sorrow. Many of those who fought against him in
the South wept at his death. We will never know a more
unselfish or a truer man than \\'as Abraham Lincoln.

The war was over — the Union saved ; but at what a terri-
ble cost in life and property ! Thousands upon thousands of
the very cream of American manhood had been sacrificed upon
the gory fields of battle. Other thousands had died from ex-
posure, while still thousands more were either crippled for
life or carried to an untimely grave from exposure. Then,
the days, weeks, months and years of untold heartaches, anxie-

494 History of West Virginia

ties and hardships endured by those at home. Much as
our brave soldiers of the North and the South must have suf-
fered, the wives, mothers and sisters were to be pitied most,
for they endured — they suffered most.

God forbid that the American people shall ever take up
arms against each other again, but grant that the present feel-
ing of good fellowship of a re-united people shall remain for
all time.

The following information is taken from History o£ West
Virginia and Its People.

The population of what is now West Virginia, when the
war broke out, was, approximately, 360,000 men, w-omen and
children. Of this number about nine and two-thirds per cent,
served in the armies — 28,000 in the Federal cause and 7,000 in
the Confederate army. The Federals lost 3,200 men and the
Confederates 824, or a total loss of 4,024 men during the war.

West Virginia paid out approximately $2,000,000 in the
way of bounties and for caring for her soldiers and their fami-
lies.

Following is the roster of West Virginia troops :

First Regiment, three months' service. Organized at
Wheeling, May, 1861, from volunteer companies from Han-
cock, Brooke, Ohio and Marshall Counties, at Camp Carlile,
Wheeling Island; participated in battle of Philippi, June 3rd,
1861 ; mustered out of service at Wheeling, August 28, 1861.

First Regiment, three years' service. Organized in the
Northern Panhandle in the fall of 1861 ; served three years ;
non-veterans mustered out of service at Wheeling, November
26, 1864. The veterans, or re-enlisted men, were consolidated
with the veterans of 4th Infantry, to form 2d Veteran Infantry
regiment.

Second Regiment, three years' service. Organized at
Beverly, in August, 1861 ; consisted of companies from Wood,
Taylor and other counties. Company G was transferred to
1st P^egiment Light Artillery. By order of June 26, 1864,
regiment was changed to Mounted Infantry, but is known
thereafter as 5th Regiment Volunteer Cavalry, but never
equipped as such. The non-veterans were mustered out of
service in August, 1863, and the re-enlisted, 200 in number,

History of West Virginia 495

consolidated with veterans of the 6th Mounted Infantry (then
known as the 6th Regiment Volunteer Cavalry) to form 6th
A^eteran Cavalry.

Third Regiment, three years' service. Formed at Clarks-
burg, July, 1861. January 26, 1864, regiment was changed
to' mounted infantry, but henceforth known as 6th Regiment
Volunteer Cavalry. The non-veterans were mustered out of
service at Beverly, August, 1864, wdiile the re-enlisted men
were organized into six companies, consolidated with re-en-
listed men of 5th Regiment Cavalry — the mounted infantry of
the 2nd Regiment — and thus formed the 6th Regiment Vet-
eran Cavalry, which should have been designated in the mili-
tary establishment as the 1st Regiment Veteran Cavalry.

Fourth Regiment, three years' service. Organized at
Point Pleasant, June to September, 1861. Non- veterans mus-
tered out of service when time expired in summer of 1864; re-
enlisted men consolidated with re-enlisted men of the 1st Regi-
ment Volunteer Infantry, to form 2nd Regiment Veteran In-
fantry.

Fifth Regiment, three years' service. Organized at Cere-
do, July and August, 1861. Non-veterans mustered out of ser-
vice at the expiration of term of service, summer of 1864; re-
enlisted men consolidated with re-enlisted men of 9th Regi-
ment Infantry, to form 1st Regiment Veteran Infantry.

Sixth Regiment, three years' service. Organized in Au-
gust, 1861, and by special authority recruited to fifteen com-
panies. Non-veterans mustered out at the end of their term ;
while the re-enlisted men, together with a large number of re-
cruits, preserved the regimentad organization until June 10,
1865, when it was mustered out at Wheeling.

Seventh Regiment, three years' service. Organized at
Wheeling and Grafton, in July, August, September and Octo-
ber, 1861. No regiment from West Virginia saw harder ser-
vice. The non-veterans were mustered out at the end of their
term of service, but the re-enlisted men, together with recruits,
continued the regiment in the field unti it was mustered out of
service at Munson's Hill, V^irginia, July 1st, 1S65.

Eighth Regiment, three years' service. Organized in
Great Kanawha A'alley in autumn of 1861. June 13, 1863, by

496 History of West Virginia

order of War department, mounted and drilled as mounted in-
fantry. By a second order the 8th Mounted Infantry was
changed to 7th Regiment Cavalry. The non-veterans w^ere
discharged, but nearly 400 re-enlisted as veterans, and v\ath
about 250 recruits, preserved the regimental organization until
mustered out of service in 1865.

Ninth Regiment, three years' service. Organized at Guy-
andotte, February 28th, 1862, of companies from Cabell, Wood,
Jackson, Mason and Roane ; the men in this regiment repre-
sented tv^enty-four counties. In 1864 the non-veterans were
discharged, term of service expired, and 357 men re-enlisted,
and with the veterans of the 5th Regiment were consolidated
and formed the 1st Veteran Infantry Regiment.

Tenth Regiment, three years' service. Organization be-
gun in March, 1862 ; mustered out of service at Richmond, Vir-
ginia, August 9th, 1865.

Eleventh Regiment, three years' service. Organization
begun in December, 1861, but not completed until September,
1862; mustered out of service at Richmond, Virginia, June,
17, 1865.

Twelfth Regiment, three years' service. Organized at
Camp Wiley, Wheeling Island, November 30th, 1862, com-
posed of companies recruited from Hancock, Brooke, Ohio,
Marshall, Marion, Taylor and Harrison Counties ; mustered
out of service at Richmond, Virginia, June 16, 1865.

Thirteenth Regiment, three years' service. Organized
with eight companies at Point Pleasant, October 10th, 1862;
mustered out at Wheeling, June 22, 1865.

Fourteenth Regiment, three years' service. Organized at
Camp Wiley, Wheehng Island, August and September, 1862;
mustered out at Cumberland, Maryland, June 27, 1865.

Fifteenth Regiment, three years' service. Organized
with nine companies at Wheeling, and ordered to held Octo-
ber 16, 1862 ; the tenth company was organized in February,
1864. Mustered out of service at Richmond, Virginia, Jruie
14, 1865.

Sixteenth Regiment. This regiment has an unique his-
tory. It was organized at the old town of Alexandria, on the
Potomac River, nine miles below Washington City, and was

History of West Virginia 497

the only regiment in the Federal service from that part of Vir-
ginia cast of the Blue Ridge. It was largely composed of
men from the counties of Alexandria, Fairfax, Fauquier and
Prince William, with quite a number from the vicinity of Nor-
folk. The recorded history of this regiment is very incom-
plete, hence nothing appears in connected form concerning it
in the adjutant-general's reports.

Seventeenth Regiment, one year's service. Organized at
Wheeling in August and September, 1864; nearly all the men
enlisted for one year; mustered out of service at Wheeling,
June 30, 1865.

First Regiment, Veteran Infantry. Regiments were
formed by consolidation of re-enlisted men of 5th and 9th Regi-
ments Infantry ; mustered out of service at Cumberland, Md.,
July 21st, 1865.

Second Regiment Veteran Infantry. Formed by consoli-
dation of re-enlisted men of 1st and 4th Regiments Infantry;
mustered out of service at Clarksburg, July 16th, 1865.

Cavalry.

First Regiment, three years' service. Organized in sum-
mer of 1861 ; non-veterans mustered out when term ex-
pired, summer of 1864; re-enlisted men, with 232 recruits, pre-
served regimental organization vnitil July 8, 1865, when it
was mustered out at Wheeling.

Second Regiment, three years' service. Recruited in sum-
mer of 1861 ; mustered into service with ten full companies,
November 8th; mustered out June 30th, 1865.

Third Regiment, three years' service. Enlisted in. sum-
mer of 1864, composed of companies brought together, but
which had been privately recruited to other commands. Com-
pany A was mustered at A\'heeling, December 23, 1861 ; Com-
pany C was organized at Brandonsville, October 1, 1861, and
the two constituted a battalion ; Companies B and D were mus-
tered at Wheeling, October 21st, 1862; Company H, at Park-
ersburg, November 2, 1862; Company I, at Bridgeport, May
16, 1863; Company M, at Buckhannon, April 4. 1864; and
Company G was recruited and mustered into service at Point

498 History of West Virginia

Pleasant. The re-enlisted men, with 115 recruits, kept the
regiment in the field until June 30, 1865, when it v/as mustered
out.

Fourth Regiment. Enlisted in autumn of 1863, for six
months, composed of companies from the northern part of the
State, in which were men from Doddridge, Tyler, Wetzel,
Marshall, Ohio, Marion, Monongalia, Harrison, Wood and
other Counties. It was mustered out of service March 15,
1864.

Fifth Regiment, three years' service. (See 2nd Regiment
Infantry Vols.). Organized in July, 1861, as 2nd Regiment
Infantry Vols., and served as such until January 26, 1864,
when it was mounted and designated as 5th Cavalry. How-
ever, it was never armed or fully equipped as cavalry, but con-
tinued to serve as mounted infantry. December 1, 1864, it
was consolidated with the re-enlisted men of the 6th Cavalry
(mounted infantry) to form the 6th Veteran Cavalry, while the
non-veterans were mustered out as their terms of enlistment
expired.

Sixth Regiment, three years' service (See 3d Regiment
Infantry Vols.). This regiment was organized at Clarksburg
in July, 1861, as 3d Regiment Infantry Vols., and served as
such until January 26, 1864, when it was mounted and designa-
tion changed to 6th Regiment Cavalry, but still continued to
serve as mounted infantry. It was never ecjuipped as cavalr}^
Its non-veterans were mustered out September 7th, 1864, and
its re-enlisted men were consolidated with the re-enlisted men
of 5th Regiment Veteran Cavalry.

Seventh Regiment, three years' service (See 8th Regiment
Infantry A^ols.). Organized in Great Kanawha Valley in the
fall of 1861, as 8th- Regiment Infantry Vols., and served as
such until June 13, 1863, when it was ordered to Bridgeport,
where it was mounted and drilled as mounted infantry. As
such it was known until January 27, 1864, when it was
changed to 7th Regiment Cavalry. Its non-veterans were
mustered out in 1864; but its re-enlisted men, nearly 400, to
gether with 250 recruits, continued the regimental organiza-
tion until it was mustered out at Charleston, August 1, 1865.

Sixth Regiment Veteran Cavalry. This regiment, which

History of West Virginia 499

should have been known as the 1st Regiment Veteran Cavalry,
was formed by consolidation of 200 re-enlisted men of the 5th
Regiment Cavalry (or originally 2nd Regiment Infantry), and
the re-enlisted men of 6th Regiment Cavalry '(originally 3rd
Regiment Infantry). Organized at North Branch Bridge, W.
Va., September 77 , 1864, whence it removed to Keyser, W. \'a.
January and February, 1865, kere spent at Camp Remount,
Pleasant \'alley, Aid. In March it was sent to Washington
City, where it was engaged in the performance of provost duty
until June 16, when it was ordered to Louisville, Ky., thence
to Fort LcaA'enworth, Kan., and thence across the plains into
Colorado and Dakota. Its headquarters in the winter of 1865-
66 was Fort Laramie. The regiment was several times en-
gaged with the Indians, and was highly commended for it gal-
lantry. It was mustered out of service at Fort Leavenworth.
May 22, 1866, and arrived at Wheeling the 25th, where, on the
29th, the men recei\'ed their final ])ay and were discharged.

Artillery Volunteers.

First Regiment Light Artillery Vols., three years' service.
This was the onh' artillery regiment in the service of the U. S.
from W. Va. It consisted of eight batteries, as follows : Bat-
tery A, the first battery organized under the Restored Gov-
ernment of \'irginia. Its non-veterans were mustered out
of service August 8, 1864, its re-enlisted men being added to
Battery F. Battery B was mustered out October 23, 1864; its
re-enlisted men were added to Battery E. Batteries C and D
continued in service until the close of the war. Battery E was
recruited at Buckhannon, August, 1862. Battery F was or-
ganized in 1861 as Company C of the 6th Regiment Infantry,
and was transferred to the artillery regiment. It was mus-
tered out of service September 14, 1864; its re-enlisted men,
with those previously transferred from Battery A, now reor-
ganized a veteran battery called Battery A. Battery G was
organized in 1861 as Company G of the 2nd Regiment Infantry
Vols., but was transferred to the artillery regiment; it was
mustered out of service August 8th, 1864. Battery H re-

500

History of West Virginia

mained in the service until the end of the war. The regiment
was mustered out at WheeHng.

The WheeHng Independent Exempt Infantry was a body
c .' infantry consisting of two organizations styled Company A
and Company B, which had no regimental connection. They
were made up of men enlisted in the Northern Panhandle, who
were stationed at AVheeling throughout the war as city guar^
or, more strictly speaking, Capitol Guards, for Wheeling was
not only the seat of the Restored Government, but the capital
of AA^'est Virginia after the admission of the State into the
Union. These two companies were on duty during the entire
Civil War period, and were not required to perform other mili-
tary service.

'••■■/■.■••ev-i -r* *-ff.

.» * U-; s^-' ti^^

v9

^ # 1 * "* I

ROUND BARN, NEAR ELKINS

CHAPTER XXV.

CAPITALS AND CAPITOLS, AND OTHER PUBLIC
BUILDINGS OF WEST VIRGINIA.

As we have stated in a former chapter, the first conven-
tion of the peoi)le of Northwestern Virginia assembled in
Washington Hall, in Wheeling, ]\Iay 13, 1861 ; and the second
convention at the same place the 11th of the ensuing June..
It was also indicated that the General Assembly, under the
Restored Government, held four sessions — one regular and
three extra, the first and fourth sessions being held in the U. S.
Court room in the Custom House ; while the second and third
convened in the Linsly Institute building". It was this latter
building that became the first capitol of ^Vcst A'irginia and in
front of which, on June 20, 1863, Arthur 1. Boreman, the first
Governor of the new State, delivered his inaugural address;
and within which building, on the same day, convened the
first Legislature of West Virginia.

On the evening of the same day (June 20), the Governor,
in his message to the Legislature, recommended, among other
things, that "s])eedy action be taken for the establishment of
a permanent scat of government. I know it is said b_\- some
that it would be best to wait until the war is over, but I fear
if the question is not settled by the present Legislature, it will,
in a short time, enter into contests for office throughout the
State, and thus l)ecome a matter of contention for years to
come; and until it is settled, the Legislature will not be jus-
tified in expending the money necessary to prepare the ac-
commodations for themselves and the other officers wliich are
demanded, not only as a matter of comftirt and convenience,
but for the reasonable dispatch of the ])ublic business. When
the location is made and the iniblic grounds selected in such
manner as ^•ou mav provide, \ou will then be warrant(nl in

502 History of West Virginia

making appropriations for the public buildings, and they may
soon be in process of construction."

The Legislature, however, did not deem it expedient to
take action along the lines indicated in the Governor's mes-
sage with reference to a permanent seat of government; but,
on December 9, 1863, by Joint Resolution, authorized him to
secure the Linsly Institute building for a State Capitol, which
the Governor proceeded to do. From that time on for a period
of six years, the Governor brought up the matter of perman-
ent seat of government before every sitting of the Legislature,
but without receiving any encouragement. But on January
20, 1869, Andrew Mann, a member of the House of Delegates
from Greenbrier-Monroe delegate district, offered the follow-
ing Preamble and Joint Resolution:

WHEREAS, The location of the State Capitol has been
deferred from time to time without any good reason for such
delay; and

WHEREAS, The failure to locate the State Capitol has
created great dissatisfaction on the part of the people, deter-
ring enterprising parties abroad from locating in the State,
rendering ourselves an unsettled people in the estimation of
the public; therefore

RESOLVED, By the Legislature of W^est Alrginia :
That we use our utmost endeavors to locate the State Capitol
during the present session of the Legislature, by such conces-
sions and deferences to the different desires of membrs of
the Legislature and the people we represent, as will finally
settle this vexed question harmoraiously, placing the capitol
where it will develop the natural resources of the State the
niost, and accommodate the largest number of inhabitantr."
On January 21st, James T. AlcClaskey, a delegate from
MonongaHa County, introduced House Bill No. 4, entitled "A
Bill permanently locating the seat of Government of this
State." This passed the House February 17th, and the Senate
February 26th. The Act, which was to take effect April 1st,
1870. provided that the seat of Government of this State
should be located at Charleston.

Of course this news was very gratifying to the Charles-
ton people, who at once took steps to provide accommodations

History of West Virginia 503

for the officers, records and archives of the State ; and on May
27th, 1809, a stock company, known as the State House Com-
pany, was formed by a few of the enterprising citizens for the
purpose of erecting" a temporary home for the State Govern-
ment, pending the erection of a permanent structure. 'J lie
contract for the erection of the building was let to Dr. John T.
Haley, of Charleston, who prosecuted the worlv as rapidly as
possible, but the btiilding could not be completed by April
1, 1870, the time fixed by law for the removal of the seat of
government. But the Charleston people were not worried
over trifles like that, and arrangements were made with the
Bank of the West to make room for a number of the state offi-
cers; the Merchants Bank to furnish a portion of its building
to the state treasurer; and the state library was provided for
by the trustees of St. John's P. E. Church, who gave free use
of its school room. Arrangements having thus been effected
for the reception of the new State Government, the citizens
of Charleston chartered a Kanawha River packet, known as
the "Muntain Boy," Monday morning, March 28, 1870. Ac-
companying the boat was a reception committee, composed
of Dr. Albert E. Summers and Dr. Spicer Patrick, of Charles-
ton; Colonel J. T. Bowyer, of Winfield, Putnam County; and
Colonel Hiram R. Howard and Hon. John M. Phelps, of Point
Pleasant, Mason County.

The committee at once called upon Governor Wm. E.
Stevenson and the other State of^ficials, and informed them
that a vessel was in ^vaiting at the wharf to transport them,
their personal belongings and the public papers, state archives,
etc., to the new capitol home in the city of Charleston. Pre-
parations having already been made for the removal, the work
of loading up the State property and the personal effects of the
State officers was commenced without delay, and 1)y midnight
the steamer, enveloped in a mass of bunting, cast oft' her moor-
ings and steamed down the Ohio, "having on board the State
offfcials, archives and i)araphernalia of the government of the
newest State east of the Mississippi."

The first landing was at Parkersburg — the home of C Gov-
ernor Stevenson. After an exchange of greetings wdth a num-
ber of the citizens of that place, the voyage down the river

504 History of West Virginia

was resumed. As the "Mountain Boy" was going up the
Kanawha on the morning of March 30th, it was met by the
"Kanawha Bill," having on board a Committee on Arrange-
ments, accompanied by the Charleston brass band. About 11
o'clock the "floating capitol" steamed slowly up to the landing,
while the United States artillery, then stationed at Charleston,
fired a salute from the head of the wharf.

This marked an important epoch in the history of Char-
leston, and everybody turned out for a holiday.

A procession was formed on Front street, with the left
resting on the corner of Central avenue, half an hour before
the arrival of the steamer at the wharf. It was under com-
mand of Colonel A. B. Jones, marshal of the day. The proces-
sion was composed of United States artillery; Arrangement
and Reception committees ; Governor and all other State offi-
cers, mounted ; Mayor and Council of Charleston ; Mayor and
Council from other cities, and other representatives ; the
Judges of the Court of Appeals and the Circuit courts ;
members of Charleston Fire Department ; Odd FelloAvs,
Masons, and other orders; school children, and citizens
generally, all led by the Charleston brass band. After
the Mayor of Charleston, -with members of the Cit}' gov-
ernment, had received the State officials, the Mayor de-
livered an address of welcome, at the conclusion of which
the procession moved up Front street to Dunbar street;
thence by Dunbar street to Church street; thence down
Church street to Central a\'enue ; thence up Central avenue
to the residences provided for the Governor and other State
officials.

On December 20, 1870, the "State House Committee"
made formal delivery of the Capitol to the Governor, and it
was immediately occupied by the State officials. The build-
ing cost $79,000.00.

Although Wheeling had lost the capitol to Charleston,
she did not entirely give up hope of its ultimate return to the
place of its birth. After the lapse of nearly five years, she 1"
lieved the opportune time had come. The Legislature con-
vened on January 13th, 1875, and five days later Hon. Jona-
than ]M. Bennett, of Lewis County, a senator from the Nintli

History of West Virginia 505

Senatorial District, introduced a Bill to remove the seat ot
government temporarily to Wheeling. It passed the Senate
on Februar}- 13th and the House the 18th, and became a law
on the 20th of February, \\ithout Go\ernor Jacob's signature.

The Preamble and Act read as follows:

"WHEREAS, Henry K. List, Michael Reilly, John Mc-
Clure, Cieorge W. Franzheim, and Simon Horkheimer, citizens
of Wheeling, have agreed to furnish the State, without cost
thereto, suitable accommodations in said city for the legisla-
tive, executive and judicial departments of the State, including
the State library, should the seat of government of the State
be removed temporarily to said city ; and

"WHEREAS, It appears to the Legislature that the
capitol of the State should be located at a more accessible and
convenient point ; therefore

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia, That
on and after the passage of this Act, until hereafter otherwise
provided by the law, the seat of government of the State of
West A'irginia shall be at the City of W^heeling."

It was now up to the ]K^ople of Wheeling to erect a new
State House at that place, and for this ])urpose a committee
was appointed. Captain John McClure being its chairman. On
the 17th of March. 1875, the city council adopted an ordinance
providing for $100,000 city bonds, the proceeds to be used for
the erection of a Public Building ; it being understood, though
not incorporated In the Ordinance, that the State Government
was to occupy it as long as Wheeling remained the capital
city.

The Ordinance was approved by a vote of the people on
the first Monday in April following. The bonds were sold
aDove par on July 19th, and on the same day the contract for
the erection of the capitol was let to A. R. Sheppard, of ]\Iead-
ville. Pa., on his bid of $82,940.00, and work was begun July
21, 1875, but the structure was not read}' for occui)ancy until
December, 1876.

In the meantime the peo]de of Charleston resolved to test
the constitutionality of the Act providing for the removal of
the seat of government; and on March 30th, 1875, John Slack,
Sr., lohn T. Cotton, Edward C. Stolle, John C. Ruby, John

506 History of West Virginia

T. White, Alexander H. Wilson, and Gustave Stolle, represent-
ing Charleston's interests, applied to Evermont Ward, judge
of the Ninth Judicial District, for an injunction restraining the
State officials from removing the State archives and other pub-
lic property from Charleston to Wheeling or elsewhere. Ihe
injunction was granted and the date of hearing set for the
21st day of May ensuing.

On the 18th of May, John L. Cole, the State Librarian, ap-
peared in the circuit court of Kanawha County and asked that
the injunction be dissolved. James H. Ferguson and Wra. A.
Ouarrier made able arguments in favor of its perpetuation, but
Joseph Smith, the presiding Judge, ordered its dissolution.
The latter decree was, however, suspended until the 27th, in
order to give the plaintiffs time in which to apply to the Su-
preme Court for an appeal ; and they were not slow to avail
themselves of this opportunity, and the appeal was granted
by Judge Charles P. T. Moore, at Point Pleasant, on Alay 20th.

As we have seen, the date on which the removal was to
have been made as fixed by law, was May 21st— -six da3's be-
fore the expiration of the time extended the plaintiffs b}^ Judge
Smith.

Previous to this time, on April 24th, the Auditor and
other State officials received notice from the Governor to pre-
pare for the removal of the archives and paraphernalia of their
offices to Wheeling on May 21st. The men who were em-
ployed to do the packing and draymen to convey the property
to the wharfboat, were arrested and taken into court, where
they were held to answer the charge of disregarding the in-
junction. Writs Avere also served upon the State officials,
all of whom made answer except the Governor, who gave the
matter no attention, but he was not arrested.

The people of Wheeling, how^ever, "had taken no stock"
in these proceedings, and the council of that city, on May 12th,
appropriated $1,500.00 Avith which to defray the removal ex-
penses. The steamer "Emma Graham" was chartered for
$1,000.00, and at 10:00 a. m., May 21, 1875, landed at the wharf
at Charleston, ready to receive the officials and State property
for transportation to Wheeling. Capt. John McClure, chair-
man of the "AAHieeling Removal Company," was on board, and

History of West Virginia 507

he at once notified the government officials of the presence
and purpose of the steamer. These gentlemen lost no time
in repairing- to the waiting \essel, which at 12:30 p. m. let go
her line and steamed down the Great Kanawha, leaving all the
public property behind in the custody of Judge Smith. Point
Pleasant was passed that evening at 7:00 o'clock; at Parkers-
burg all passengers were transferred to the steamer "Chesa-
peake," bound for Wheeling. An escort of twenty gentlemen
came down from Wheeling on the steamer "Hudson," and
joined the State House party near Sistersville. The "Chesa-
peake" arrived at Wheeling at 8:30 p. m., Sunday, May 23rd.

The Capitol building not having yet been constructed for
their reception, the State officials established their offices in
the Linsly Institute building.

So, we find the State officials in \\'heeling and the State
property — library, archives, etc., in Charleston. The State's
business was therefore now at a standstill, pending the decis-
ion of the Supreme Court of Appeals, then composed of three
members : John S. Hoffman, Alpheus F. Haymond and Chas.
P. T. T. Moore. The case was argued August 23d by E. W.
Wilson, W. A. Ouarrier and J. H. Ferguson, for Charleston,
and by W. W. Arnett, H. M. Mathews, and Daniel Lamb, in
behalf of Wheeling. The decision, A\hich was handed down
September 13th, was favorable to Wheeling. Judge Haymond
wrote the opinion — a very exhaustive one. Shortly afterward.
State Auditor E. A. Bennett and the Governor's private sec-
retary, Benj. Daley, proceeded to Charleston, where they
loaded the State property on two barges, and the steamer "Iron
Valley" left Charleston with these in tow at 3 :00 p. m., Thurs-
day, September 22, and at the same hour arrived in Wheeling,
Saturday the 25th. On Alonday all the State property was de-
livered to the various State officials; and on the 28th, Gov-
ernor Jacob issued a proclamation declaring the Linsly Insti-
tute Building to be, for the time, the capitol, and Wheeling
the capital of West Mrginia.

The Legislature, which met on the 10th of November, as-
sembled in Washington Hall. It was not until December 4.
1876, that the new Public Building, erected by the City, was

508 History of West Virginia

occupied by the State. On that day, the Governor made pro-
clamation thereof.

So, we find that West Virginia's capitol was a thing of
nomadic character in its early days ; and it had not yet ceased
its roaming disposition when it landed at Wheeling on May 25,
1875, as we shall soon see.

As yet our State Government had no home that it could
call its very own. It was as a derelict cast upon the waters
of jealousy and at the mercy of the waves of sectional feeling.
West Virginia's first Governor — Arthur I. Boreman — foresaw
this when he pleaded with the Legislature from time to time
during his administration. He recognized the fact that so
long as the State Government had no permanent place of
abode, the State's business, as well as the business affairs of
the State, would be more or less unsettled and unsatisfactory.
The people had grown weary of having the capitol on steamers
plying between Charleston and Wheeling. Our "floating capi-
tol" was regarded as a huge joke by outsiders, but it was not
so considered by our own people. It was a serious matter
with them. They therefore determined to bring matters to
a focus ; and when the Legislature convened at Wheeling in
January, 1877, such a strong, general pressure was brought to
bear by the members' constituents that on the 16th of that
month Peregrine Hays, a member of the House of Delegates
from Gilmer County, submitted "House Bill No. 35," entitled
"A Bill providing for the location of a permanent Seat of Gov-
ernment for this State, and the erection thereat of the neces-
sary Public Buildings for the use of the State." This passed
the House February 5th by a vote of 40 yeas to 16 nays ; and
on the 19th of that month it passed the Senate; yeas 112,
nays 9.

In compliance with one of the provisions of the x\ct, the
question of a permanent location of the Seat of Government
was submitted to the people at an election held on the first
Tuesday in August, 1877, the places voted on being Charles-
ton, in Kanawha County ; Martinsburg, in Berkeley County ;
and Clarksburg, in Harrison County. The one receiving a
majority of the votes cast was to be the permanent capital of
the State, after May 1, 1885.

History of West Virginia

509

The result of the election bv counties was as follows

be

t-l .

Counties tn

u
vi

U

Barbour .... 1,415
Berkeley .... 48

Boone

Braxton 293

Brooke 656

Cabell 6

Calhoun 160

Clay

Doddridge . . 1,587

Fayette

Gilmer 653

Grant 310

Greenbrier . . 5

Hampshire .. 160
Hancock .... 414

Hardy 226

Harrison .... 3,875

Jackson 68

Jefiferson .... 41
Kanawha .... 42

Lewis 1,426

Lincoln

Logan 1

McDowell

Marion 2,431

Marshall 1,473

Mason 18

Mercer

be
u

.B

4 4
3,569 1
960

11 951
40 34

1,832

2 587

479

2 39

1,760

1 225

87 116

1,902

149 573

8 95

187 594

13

1 2,169
1,340 328

2 6,140
29 261

1,167

1 885
308

12 140
28 206

3 3,004
1,017

bD

bo
u

c

u

3

o

in

Counties

3

J3

en

C

u

u

■*— t

a!

ca

J3
U

U

^

Mineral 561 160

Monongalia.. 1,188 4

Monroe 8 7

Morgan 40 573

Nicholas .... 15

Ohio 2,165 1,193

Pendleton .. 189 146

Pleasants . . . 446 8

Pocahontas.. 259

Preston 1,798 32

Putnam 5

Raleigh 2

Randolph . . . 859 2

Ritchie 1,572 2

Roane 2

Summers .... 3 1

Taylor 1,086 172

Tucker 363 1

c
o

*-»

en
<u

1h

u

155

626

1,404

5

965

218

280

93

241

42

1,654

1,034

31

145

1,995

1,410

141

6

Tyler.

Upshur 843

Wayne 2

Webster 79

Wetzel 1,226

Wirt 238

Wood 1,253

Wyoming ... 2

(no returns)

60
1

2

24
186

163
2,011

362
51

612
1,302

566

Totals ....29,942 8,046 41,243

Charleston having received a majority of all the votes
cast, was declared by the Governor as the permanent capital of
the State, after the expiration of eight years.

The Act further provided that when the permanent loca-
tion had been decided by the people, the Board of Public
Works should select and procure a suitable site on wliich to
erect the necessary Public Buildings, and to receive any dona-
tions in land or money that might be offered. To bcjiin with,
$50,000 was appropriated from the State treasury. The State
House Company, who still owned the ca])itol building at
Charleston, conveyed that property to the Board of Public
Works by deed dated August 13, 1878.

510 History of West Virginia

The building, which had cost the Company $71,000, was
mostly torn down to make room for a more suitable structure.
The contract for the new building was let on May 27, 1880.
The building when completed cost $389,923.58. It was for-
mally accepted by the Board July 7, 1888.

Subsequently it was necessary to erect an annex, which
is located directly across the street and to the south of the
capitol. This is a large, fine building, modern in construction
and up-to-date in all its departments. It was completed in
1902, at a cost of $225,000.00, and is now the home of the State
"Department of Archives and History ; also the State Auditor
and Treasurer have offices on its first floor at this time — 1914.

As previously stated, the date fixed by law for the removal
of the seat of government from Wheeling to Charleston was
May 1, 1885.

"For days prior to this," says Lewis, "the State officials
had been busy packing the public archives and paraphernalia
in the capitol at Wheeling, and having it transferred to the
river, where much of it was placed upon the model barge 'Nick
Crawley.' Tw^o steamers, the 'Chesapeake,' Captain William
Prince, and the 'Belle Prince,' Captain Kugler, were chartered,
and early in the morning of May 2d, 1885, the former having
on board the State officials and their effects, and the latter
having the barge in tow, left the wharf at Wheeling and be-
gan the descent of the Ohio. Large canvas banners decorated
the sides of the barge and steamers, and legends thereon in-
formed the populace along the river that the State Capitol of
West Virginia was again 'in transitu.'

"At 7 :00 P. M., Sunday, May 3rd, the steamers hove in
sight of Charleston. A cannon on the deck of the 'Belle
Prince' was fired every few seconds ; and all the steamers in
port kept up a continuous blowing of whistles. This was the
only demonstration, but almost the entire population lined the
banks of the river."

Thus the people's capitol finally found a permanent home
in the city of Charleston, where the mountain waters of the
Elk add their quota to those of the famous Great Kanawha.

History of West Virginia 511

State Institutions.

The following state institutions are entirely under the
management and direction of the State Board of Control :

Charitable and Penal Institutions of West Virginia :

West Virginia Hospital for insane, Weston.

Second Hospital for Insane, Spencer.

West Virginia Asylum, Huntington.

Miners' Hospital, No. 1, Welch,

Miners' Hospital, No. 2, McKendree,

Miners' Hospital, No. 3, Fairmont. ,

West Virginia Penitentiary, Moundsville.

West Virginia Reform School, Grafton.

West Virginia Industrial Home for Girls, Salem.

West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind, Romney.

The following institutions are under the management and
direction of the State Board of Control in all matters pertain-
ing to their financial and business afifairs :

W^est Virginia University, Morgantown.

West Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station, Mor-
gantown.

Preparatory Branch AW-st A'irginia University, Mont-
gomery.

Preparatory Branch West X'irginia University, Keyser.

Marshall College State Normal School, Huntington.

Fairmont State Normal School, Fairmont.

West Liberty State Normal School, West Liberty.

Glenville State Normal School, Glenville.

Shepherd College State Normal School, Shepherdstown.

Concord State Normal School, x\thens.

West Virginia Colored Institute, Institute.

Bluefield Colored Institute, Bluefield.

The West Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station,
while in reality a branch of West Virginia University, is
mainly supported by the LTnited States Government.

The State Board of Control, eonsisting of three mem-
bers appointed by the Governor, was organized July 1st, 1909.

512 History of West Virginia

The Board was composed of James S. Lakin, John A. Shep-
herd and Thomas E. Hodges, the former being chosen as Presi-
dent, and the latter as Treasurer.

Asylums for the Insane.

The State has three asylums for the care of the insane.
The West Virginia Hospital for the Insane, at Weston ; Sec-
ond Hospital for the Insane, at Spencer, and the West Vir-
ginia Asylum, at Huntington. The first two were created as
asylums for the insane, and the last named as a home for in-
curables. Finally the demand for additional room to care for
our insane became so much greater than for a home for incur-
ables that the Legislature of 1907 so amended the law as to
admit the insane to this asylum.

West Virginia Hospital, at Weston.

This was West Virginia's first public institution. Its con-
struction was begun by the State of Virginia before the sepa-
ration of West Virginia from the mother State, the appropria-
tion having been made by the Legislature of Virginia, March
22, 1858. The institution was not opened until October 22,
1864, with nine patients brought from Ohio, where they had
been in temporary care awaiting the completion of the hospi-
tal. Dr. R. Hills, of the Central Ohio Insane Asylum, was
made Superintendent, and Dr. N. B. Narns, assistant.

The first years of its history the institution was encom-
passed with many difficulties. Not only were there financial
troubles, but a raid of Confederate soldiers in Weston appro-
priated the blankets for the patients, and a second ward was
destroyed by the soldiers in a raid on the Baltimore & Ohio
Railroad. People of Weston very generously came to the
rescue and contributed blankets to fill the temporary need,
public acknowledgment of which was made by the Superin-
tendent in his report.

In 1868 the population of the hospital was forty: from
that time on there has been a continual increase in the num-
ber of inmates, and a corresponding increase in the appropria-

History of West Virginia 513

tions for running expenses, inilil July 1, 1910, the inmates of
the institution numbered 1,023. The increase of the population
of the institution, however, we are glad to say, docs not keep
pace with the increase of the population of the State. \\'e
have not the figures at hand of similar institutions of other
states, but we dare say that there are as few of such unfor-
tunates in West Virginia, considering our population, as in
any other State in the Union.

The grounds belonging to the Hospital at Weston con-
tain about 335 acres ; the property fronts about 2,000 feet on
the West Fork River, opposite the town of Weston, and ex-
tends back over the hills to the north to a depth sufficient for
this acreage. There are two producing gas wells upon the
property, supplying abundant gas for all needs of the institu-
tion. This gas was discovered in an effort to secure water by
boring deep wells. The water supply is furnished mainly from
the West Fork River. It is ]nimpcd into a large reservoir
upon a high point of the hill in rear of the buildings and piped
from the reservoir to such points as required.

The general hospital building has a frontage of 1,290
feet, consisting of a central portion — the Administration
Building — with wings extending on either side, north and
south. The corridors connect all the walls with each other
and with the central building.

In the rear of the main building are a number of other
buildings, used for various purposes, such as the electric
power-house, laundry, bakeshop, store-room, morgue, hose
house, green-houses, etc.

The grounds in front of the Administration Building gi\ e
evidence of much care ; the drive-ways present a nice a])]icar-
ance ; the numerous fountains near the front entrance, to-
gether with the great banks of beautiful llowers along
side of the broad walk leading u]) to the main entrance, ])resent
a pleasing sight in the summer time. Then 'round a!)()ut on
every hand are numerous handsome shade trees, under many of
which are rustic seats where tractable inmates are permitted
to sit or recline during certain hours, when the condition of the
weather iX'rmits. At other times, those patients sulTering

514 History of West Virginia

from a mild form of insanity are taken out for walks about the
grounds, but always accompanied by an attendant.

Dr. S. M. Steel ( 1910) is Superintendent; Drs. Cecil Den-
ham and J. G. Pettit, ward physicians ; Charles "B. Goodwin,
clerk; Xora W. Fitzhugh, matron; Jennie Sutton, female su-
pervisor; N. B. Carpenter, male supervisor; Gertrude McCoy,
stenographer; N. F. Proudfoot, engineer; Ralph Flagans,
Charles F. Elliott and John Twyman, assistant engineers ;
James F. Furr, store-keeper; James Ray, baker; W. R. Bond,
farmer ; John R. Steele, florist. In addition to the foregoing
there are about 84 attendants, three watchmen and 24 other
employees, making a total of 127 employees in all.

Second Hospital for the Insane, at Spencer.

This institution was erected by authority of an Act passed
by the Legislature May 7, 1887.. The grounds consist of a
tract of 184 acres of land. About twenty acres of this is con-
tained in a front lawn which contains a large number of flow-
ers, shrubbery, shade trees, a fountain and a small green-
house. The flowers and green-house are looked after by the
patients. The lawn is becoming more attractive each year.
About fifteen acres of Avoodland are used for raising and fat-
tening hogs ; about three acres for poultry yards ; and twenty
acres for truck gardening. The remainder of the farm, being
very hilly, is used for grazing purposes.

The Administration Building has a 60-foot front and is 130
feet deep. It is four stories high and ^s constructed of brick
and trimmed with native stone ; the roof is of slate, and there
is a basement under the entire building. On the first floor
are located the offices, drug room, operating room, pool room,
reception room, diet kitchen and laboratory. The second floor
of the Administration Building is used as a living apartment
for the Superintendent and family. The third floor is occu-
pied by the assistant physician, clerk and stenographers.
There is also a chapel 53x60 feet. The fourth floor is used
for sleeping rooms for kitchen employees.

Extending northeast from the Administration Building
and connected with it by three connections twenty feet long.

History of West Virginia 515

is section one of the male ward buildings. Extending on, and
connected to section one by three connections, twenty feet
long, is section two of the male ward. Each of these sections
is 200 feet long and 45 feet wide. A corridor thirteen feet
wide extends the entire length of each section and story ; the
wards of each story are numbered consecutively as wards 1,
2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Extending southeast from the Administration
Building and connected to it by three connections twenty feet
long is section "A," of the female ward buildings. Extending
on and connected to section A by three connections twenty
feet long is section "B," of the female ward building; all con-
structed the same as the male ward buildings, with each ward
lettered A, B, C, D, E and F.

There are a number of other buildings on the premises,
such as the laundry, power house, dining room annex, morgue,
isolated ward, farm house, barn, poultry houses, paint house,
etc., most of which are up-to-date in construction.

Situated about 2,000 feet east of the main building, with
an elevation of 230 feet, is located the hospital reservoir, with
a capacity of 2,500,000 gallons. The water is pumped into
this from Spring Creek and from seven drilled wells, five on
the State's property and two on an adjoining property, with a
ninety-nine year lease on them. The total capacity of these
wells is between forty and fifty thousand gallons daily. The
sewerage of the hospital is disposed of by a filtration system.
Suitable employment is given all able to work on the farm,
garden, lawn, sewing-roonl, kitchen and laundry.

Valuation of produce of farm for year 1909, $8,327.61 ;
and from October 1, 1909 to September 30, 1910, $5,889.50.

During the same period several thousand pieces of wear-
ing apparel, bed clothing, towels, scarfs, rugs, etc., were made.
A. J. Lyons, M.D., is Superintendent.
E. H. Dodson, M.D., Assistant Physician.
A. W. Brown, Clerk and Storekeeper.
Mrs. M. M. Lyons, Matron.
Nella R. Smith, Stenographer.

In addition to the foregoing arc the following employees:
Seven night watchmen ; twenty attendants ; one barber ; two
supervisors; two house girls; one dining room girl; one lirad

516 History of West Virginia

cook ; three cooks ; one baker ; supervisor of dining room ; one
seamstress ; one chaplain ; one musician ; one laundry boss ;
five laundry helps ; one chief engineer ; one electrician ; two
foremen ; one carpenter ; one upholsterer ; one farmer ; two
farm hands; making sixty-two employees in all.

West Virginia Asylum, at Huntington.

This institution, formerly known as the "Home for In-
curables," was created by an Act of the Legislature of- 1897.
The Legislature of 1901 changed its name to its present title
and also changed the class of patients to be admitted thereto.

A site consisting of thirty acres of land was donated to
the State by the Chamber of Commerce of the city of Hunting-
ton, and is on the foot hills in the eastern edge of the city, high
above the thickly settled portion. An electric street car line
passes the entrance to the grounds. The contour of the
ground affords a natural drainage and suitable sites for the
buildings, which are surrounded by natural forests of more
than a thousand magnificent trees.

Buildings.

Building No. 1, for male patients, cost $45,000 and has a
normal capacity of 150 patients; No. 2, cost $22,000, has capa-
city of 103 ; and No. 3 will accommodate 150 patients, and cost
$45,000. Building No. 4, temporary Administration Building,
used for employees' quarters, store rooms, etc., cost $50,000.
These buildings, with the exception of No. 2, are constructed
of pressed brick, with tile roof and native stone foundation ;
building No. 2 being constructed of common brick and native
stone foundation. The kitchen, laundry and power house are
all brick structures. The kitchen building is equipped with a
ten-ton refrigerator ice plant, the whole costing $21,000. The
laundr}^ building and equipment cost $10,000. The pov"
house is equipped with a battery of boilers of 250 horse power,
has a duplicate system of electric generators, and one pump
which will furnish 1,000 gallons of water per minute, under
high pressure. Cost of power house and equipment $12,000.

History of West Virginia 517

The water sui)ply of the institution is obtained ironi two wells
located 1,400 feet north of the power house and is pumped by
deep A\ell electric pumps. Capacity 200,000 gallons each
twenty-four hours. The sewerage empties into the city sewers.
A ward building, recently constructed, accommodates 600 pa-
tients. There were 454 inmates in the institution in 1910, at
which time only the following persons were admitted to the
institution : Epileptics, idiots and insane.

L. Y. Guthrie, M.D., is Superintendent.

James A. Bloss, M.D., Physician.

L. S. English, Bookkeeper.

Alice Neal, Stenographer.

J. S. Gibson, Chaplain ; Margaret L. (iuthrie, Matron ; \'ir-
ginia Hayhurst and C. H. Sayre, Su])er\isors. In addition to
these are the following: Fourteen attendants; three female
night watch ; two male night watch ; one seamstress ; three
dining room girls ; three cooks ; seven laundresses ; three en-
gineers; one fireman and two teamsters, a total of forty-seven
emj)loyees.

MINERS' HOSPITALS.

There are three public Miners' Hospitals in W est \'ir-
ginia, under the super\ision and support of the State. Not
onlv are unfortunate miners cared for at these hospitals, but
all persons accidentally injured in this State while engaged in
their usual employment or occupation are entitled, under the
law, to free treatment at one of these institutions.

Miners' Hospital No. 1

Is located at Welch, in McDowell County. This hospital is
located on a level i)lat of 3^4 acres. Ixing northwest of the
junction of Brown Creek with Tug River and bordering ui>on
these streams." The land composing the site was donated to
the State at the time of the establishment of the hospital in
1899. A portion of the ground is swamp}', 'ilie walks and
driveways are made of cinder. The premises are anything but
inviting, and exhibit bad taste or indifference in selection of a

518 History of West Virginia

location. The Hospital building, however, is a very good
structure, and suitably arranged for the purpose for which it is
intended. There are twenty people on the pay roll : Chas. F.
Hicks, M.D., is Superintendent; J. H. McCulloch, M.D., House
Physician ; Imo McClaren, Secretary ; Airs. T. Woodward, Ma-
tron, and Bertha Rappold, Clinic Nurse, in addition to fifteen
other persons employed in various capacities. There were
fifty-six patients in the hospital October 1st, 1910.

During the year ending September 30th, 1910, 791 per-
sons were admitted, 713 discharged, and JZ died. Of those ad-
mitted 594 were Americans, 63 Hungarians, 67 Italians, 21
Slavish, 17 Polish, 29 Russians, etc., 421 being coal miners, 57
railroaders, 216 laborers and 97 private patients. 503 were
white and 288 colored.

Miners' Hospital No. 2.

Is located at McKendree, in Fayette County, which is in the
center of the New River region, w^here there are about 6,000
miners. It was perhaps mainly due to the efforts and liber-
ality of the late Colonel Joseph C. Beury that the hospital was
located here. He contributed six and one-half acres of land
for a site, and also furnished the hospital its coal supply for
five years, and in other ways rendered material assistance.

The institution is located on a bench of the mountain
overlooking the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad, and is in the
midst of some of the most charming scenery to be found along
the New River. Its location affords a natural drainage ; there
is a nearby mountain spring whose crystal stream furnishes
not only an abundance of cold, healthful water to supply all
domestic purposes, but supplies sufficient quantity and pres-
sure for fire protection. A large, well built, two and a half
story brick and stone structure, and a few out houses con-
stitute the buildings. In the main building are located the
offices, superintendent's and staff's homes, Avards (white and
colored separate), supply rooms, kitchen, employees' rooms,
etc.

The building has a capacity of forty-two beds.

B. B. Wheeler, M.D., is Superintendent and Surgeon ; F.

History of West Virginia 519

W. Bilger, M.D., House Surgeon; Mrs. B. B. Wheeler, Mat-
ron; Hassie M. Straire, Superintendent of Nurses. There are
also thirteen other employees.

Miners' Hospital No. j

Is located at Fairmont, in Alarion County. The site was the
gift of citizens of that city. The hospital was opened October
1st, 1901, with a capacity of abouty thirty patients, which has
been increased so that in 1910 there was room for fifty.

The grounds comprise an area of one acre, fronting on
Guffey street, in the first ward of the city, easy of access, about
four blocks from the Baltimore &: Ohio Railroad station, with
water, gas, electric lights and an excellent sewerage svstem.
The grounds have perfect drainage, paved walks and roadwavs
that are lighted with electricity. While the buildings are not
noted for architectural beauty, they present a rather neat,
home-like appearance and answer the purpose for which they
are used in a very satisfactory manner.

J. W. McDonald, M.D., is Superintendent (1910) ; W. C.
Jamison, M.D., Assistant Supt. ; Emma Vernon, Matron. In
addition to the above, there are eight nurses, two cooks, three
house girls, two engineers, and one stableman, a total of nine-
teen employees.

THE WEST VIRGINIA PENITENTIARY

Is located at ]\Ioundsville, in ^Marshall County, on the Ohio
River, and near the famous Mound. It was established h\ the
State in 1866. The site ui)on which the buildings are located
contains ten acres of ground, fronting on Jefferson a\enue, ex-
tending eastward between Eighth and Tenth streets to Wash-
ington avenue. In addition to the ground of the site of the
institution, there is a farm of 212 acres, well improved, tillable
and pasture land, belonging to the institution. A large part
of this land is under cultivation for the benefit of the pris-
oners.

The Administration Building, together with the north and
south cell hall buildings, takes up tlic entire Jefi^erson a\"cnuc

520 History of West Virginia

front, 682 feet. The buildings are of cut sandstone, formidable
in appearance.

The Administration Building", four stories in height, is
occupied by the various officers, guards' rooms, warden's apart-
ment, etc. The north and south cell hall buildings contain a
total of 840 modernly equipped steel cells. The enclosure is
entirely surrounded by a solid wall of masonry, twenty-five
feet high, five feet at the base, tapering somewhat toward the
top, each of the four corners being surmounted by a guard
tower. AA^ithin the enclosure are five roomy work-shops, built
of brick, all but one of which are three stories in height.
These work-shops are all well ventilated and lighted and
steam-heated. A large pressed brick building, 78x140 feet,
two stories in height, is used as the dining hall and chapel.
Also v,'ithin the enclosure is a new building, devoted exclu-
sively to the use of female prisoners ; a hospital building, car-
penter shop, blacksmith shop, greenhouse and bakery.

Prisoners who are not disabled or sick work nine hours a
day in the shops, except Sundays and holidays. The dining
hall and chapel, built in 1902, is well suited to its purpose. The
first floor is used exclusively as a kitchen and dining room,
seating 1,200 with comfort. The kitchen is equipped with im-
mense pots and ranges and with modern labor-saving appli-
ances. The chapel on the second floor, accessible by means of
commodious stairways on each side, is roomy and well adapted,
being furnished with opera chairs, with a seating capacit}^ of
twelve hundred. A large pipe organ is built in the south end
of the chapel. There is also a piano for use at entertainments.
Religious services are held every Sunday morning by the chap-
lain. The basement of this building" contains the cold storage
plant, ice factory, refrigerators, laundry, bathrooms, etc.

The hospital building is a two-story brick structure, situ-
ated in the northwest corner of the enclosure, on the first floor
of which is situated the printing office, State tailor and shoe
shop, death cell apartment and the gallows. The second floor
is given over to the ph^^sicians' offices, dispensary wards, hos-
pital, kitchen, baths, etc. The bakery is situated adjacent to
the north end of the dining room and is equipped with up-to-

History of West Virginia 521

date fixtures, haxing- ani[)le eapacity for the needs ol the insti-
tution.

All the bread and pastr}- consumed b}- the prisoners is
furnished by this department, and it is operated entirely by
prisoners. The blacksmith and carpenter shops are situated
near the center of the north side of the enclosure, and are both
equipped with the necessary tools and implements for doing
the repair work of the institution.

The prison is equipped with modern machinery for gen-
erating the electric power and lights, steam for heating pur-
poses, which is furnished the shops, halls and all buildings
connected with the institution. A modern water system sui)-
plies the prison \vith pure water from wells drilled to a dej)tli
of about ninety feet, all cells being equipped with running
water for toilet and closet, the i)Ower plant supplying electric
light for all cells and buildings within the enclosure.

At the corner, isolated from the main enclosure, is the
female department, a modern brick building, two stories in
height. In this building are kept all female prisoners, now
numbering thirty-two (1910).

In connection with the foregoing, it may be interesting
to give some extracts from the \\'arden's report for the bien-
nial period ending September 30, 1910.

"Out of an average of 1,117 prisoners for this biennial
period, over 900 have been employed in the various shops on
contract work; an average of 150 on State work, farm, etc.,
leaving a smaller percentage than usual of sick and idle pris-
oners, l^hose on the idle list are either old and infirm, or
incapacitated for contract work through the loss of some mem-
ber of the body. At present there are employed in the tailor
shop an average of four hundred and fifteen men at 65c ])er
da_v ; skirt shop, two hundred and twenty-five at 52c ; whi])
sho]!, one hundred and fifteen at 52c ; broom shop, seventy-five
at 52c ; bed sho]i, ninety at 52c. There are employed on State
work, farm, etc., one hundred and fifty-fi\'e, leaving a total of
fifty-six out of the population of 1,131 (today) not working.
The number given as not working represents the sick in Iiis-
l^ital, insane, condemned men and old and infirm."

In his report to the Board of Public Works, for tlio bien-

522 History of West Virginia

nial period ending September 30, 1910, the Warden, under
head of Recommendations, says in part : "During the biennial
period covered by this report, the Parole Board has carefully
considered one hundred and forty-seven applications for pa-
role, of w^hich number fifty-eight men have been paroled by the
Governor. In passing upon the applications for parole the
Board has found numerous cases where, in their opinion, if
based upon good behavior of the apphcant, the parole should be
granted; but under the rules prescribed by the Governor could
not be recommended with propriety because of the expressed
opposition of the Prosecuting Attorney and Trial Judge. I am
in favor of a parole law, but believe it should be based upon
the conduct of the prisoner, or his reformation, rather than
the recommendation of the Prosecuting Attorney and Trial
Judge. The parole system and laws have come to be regarded
as humane, in the interest of sound policy, and highly bene-
ficial to the welfare of society. Statistics upon the subject
show that only five per cent, of those released upon parole
have violated the conditions thereof — ninety-five per cent,
proving the wisdom of such a measure. The parole law af-
fords a humane and effective means of reaching and bring-
ing out the better elements of the prisoners; statistics show
fifty per cent, less solitary punishment cases during the four
years of the operation of the parole law than the four preced-
ing years."

The foregoing statements of the Warden have the ring
of reason and common sense. We know that many persons
have been "railroaded" to prison through mere force of cir*
cumstances over which they had no control ; others, not bad at
heart, but weak, were led into violations of law by getting
into bad company. Such as these are apt to be well-behaved
prisoners. Yet, the Prosecuting Attorney may have, through
his zeal to convict, unconsciously formed the belief that the
defendant was a very bad citizen and deserved the full penalty
of law. Under such circumstances, it is scarcely probable
that an application for parole by such prisoner would have
favorable consideration by that Prosecuting Attorney

The prison farm consists of nearly one hundred acres
suitable for trucking, and ninety-seven acres for pasture land,

History of West Virginia 523

the value of the products from which amounted to $24,220.10
the last fiscal year, based upon Wheeling wholesale prices, the
work being- performed by prisoners.

During the biennial period ending September 30th, 1910,
there were 919 prisoners received at the penitentiary — 869 be-
ing State prisoners, and 50 United States prisoners.

Of the above total number, 528 were white, 391 black ;
894 were males, 25 females; 331 were married; 553 were sin-
gle ; 35 were widowed ; 242 had no education ; 614 had meager
education ; 61 had moderate education ; 2 had college educa-
tion ; 209 were temperate, and 710 were intemperate.

Table showing number of State prisoners by Counties
confined in Penitentiary September 30th, 1910.

Barbour 2 Monongalia 10

Berkeley 12 Monroe 1

Boone 7 Morgan 1

Braxton 9 VcDowell 199

Brooke 2 Nicholas 9

Cabell 75 Ohio Zl

Calhoun 5 Pocahontas 25

Clay 11 Pleasants 1

Doddridge 2 Pohahontas 25

Fayette 142 Preston 10

Gilmer 4 Putnam ]

Grant 5 Raleigh 28

Greenbrier 8 Randolph 10

Hampshire 6 Ritchie 4

Hancock 3 Roane 2

Hardy 1 Summers 28

Harrison 48 Taylor 5

Jackson 2 Tucker 11

Jefferson 5 Tyler 4

Kanawha 106 Upshur 3

Lewis 4 Wayne 13

Lincoln 16 WeJaster 1

Logan Z1 Wetzel 14

Marion 19 Wirt 6

Marshall 14 Wood 21

Alason 12 Wyoming 5

Mercer 43 From other States 26

Mineral r

Mingo 43 Total 1,131

Former Occupation of Prisoners :

2 Attorneys, 1 Agent, 1 Actress, 1 Banker, 2 Bakers, 13
Barbers. 6 Bartenders, 7 Blacksmiths, 1 Bookkeeper, 4 Brake-
men, 2 Brickmasons, 1 Broker, 3 Butchers, 1 Bottlemaker, 11

524 History of West Virginia

Carpenters, 1 Chambermaid, 19 Clerks, 1 Coachman, 2 Con-
tractors, 24 Cooks, 1 Civil Engineer, 1 Driller, 2 Drivers, 8
Electricians, 11 Engineers, 1 Engraver, 131 Farmers, 6 Fire-
men, 4 Glassworkers, 3 Hod Carriers, 3 Hostlers, 4 Hotel Por-
ters, 15 Housekeepers, 1 Iron Worker, 3 Jockeys, 179 Labor-
ers, 1 Loafer, 2 Lumbermen, 1 Moulder, 10 Merchants, 5 Mil-
lers, 229 Miners, 1 Musician, 1 Organ Builder, 5 Oil Pumpers,
14 Painters, 1 Paper Hanger, 1 Policeman, 2 Plasterers, 2
Plumbers, 2 Preachers, 4 Printers, 14 Porters, 2 Potters, 53
Railroaders, 5 Salesmen, 2 Saloon Keepers, 2 Saw Mill Work-
ers, 11 Servants, 3 Shoemakers, 1 Steeplejack, 2 Stonemasons,
1 Sailor, 1 Sailmaker, 3 Tailors, 1 Teacher, 27 Teamsters, 2
Telegraph Operators, 4 Tin M/'orkers, 1 Tanner, 12 Waiters
and 3 Steamboatmen.

About 25% of those sentenced to this institution are il-
literates, and over 60% have very little education ; but the
present educational system introduced in the prison, which
was available to about six hundred inmates during the last
biennial period, has shown a marked improvement in the dis-
cipline of the institution, both morally and intellectually. Con-
siderable interest is also manifested by a large majority in re-
ligious services. This was especially noticeable when "Billy"
Sunday and his evangelistic party visited the institution a cer-
tain Monday in March, 1912, during the noted six weeks' re-
vival held at the immense tabernacle at Wheeling.

The following report of Rev. A. B. Riker, chaplain, is
Avell worth quoting ;

"I have preached to the prisoners every Sabbath morning,
excepting a few times when I have been absent from the city,
or visitors from abroad have preached. The experience has
been inspiring to me, and I believe my labors have been profit-
able to the prisoners. W^ithout exception they have listened
to my messages with such intensity of eager attention as I
have never witnessed elsewhere. Throughout the year not a
single misdemeanor of any character has occurred in these
services. I most thoroughly believe in the power of the Gos-
pel to reach and inspire these men to stronger thinking,
cleaner morals and, indeed, genuine Christian character. The
song features of the services, under the splendid leadership of

History of West Virginia 525

Mr. Blanchard E. Hiatt, have been inspiring. I found the
volunteer prison league in existence, with a small number of
faithful members. To this League I ha\c given every en-
couragement, meeting them in special services on Sunday
afternoon each month. The enrollment is over 500 members.
They gave a most enthusiastic welcome to Mrs. Maude Bal-
lington Booth when she visited them in January. The inilu-
ence of this League, together with the very humane adminis-
tration of the Listitution, has a pronounced effect upon the
moral tone of the prisoners, the number of prisoners reported
to the police court being less than one-fourth of the number
formerly reported. To Mrs. Weaver, the mother of Mrs. Mat-
thews, who has been the very efficient President of the League,
much of its success is due.

"With my wife and Mrs. W^eaver, I have visited the
women in their apartments several times, and conducted ser-
vices of song, instruction and prayer.

"The Sunday School has been well attended. It is offi-
cered and conducted by the prisoners, with the counsel and
assistance of Mrs. Weaver and Mrs. Emma Moore Scott, the
very efficient organist, who teaches very large classes. The
average voluntary attendance is over two hundred.

"I have visited many of the prisoners in their cells and
sought to assist them as far as possible. I have also visited
the patients in the hospital, counseling" them, comforting them
in praying for them."

List of Employees at Penitentiary, 1910.

J. E. Mathews, Warden; J. E. Bloyd, Captain Guards;
R. M. Ayers, Clerk ; Rev. A. B. Riker. Chaplain ; Dr. J. C. Peck,
Physician ; U. G. Echols, Engineer ; ]\Irs. Pearl Stultz, Sten-
ographer ; Mrs. Sophia Horn, Matron ; Elizabeth Ernest, As-
sistant Matron ; O. W. Matthews, Postmaster ; A. L. Boggs,
Commissary; Emma Moore Scott, Organist; B. E. Hiatt,
Chorist ; \A^illiam Bryson, Band Leader; the last named three
being employed on Svniday, only.

Following is a list of Guards: F. W. H. Baldwin, M. C.
Barker, F. K. Burgy, Green Burks, G. E. Beckett, J. H. Camp-

526 History of West Virginia

bell, G. L. Carpenter, A. J. Coleman, C. C. Core, W. E. Doyle,
G. W. Drake, J. M. Gray, Howard Hare, S. R. Harshbarger,
G. A. Hickle, F. M. Howard, Charles Humphreys, T. E. John-
son, C. R. Knight, J. A. Layfield, M. E. Leftwich, H. C. Love,
A. P. McConnell, M. M. McGee, Church Marsh, E. P. Mat-
thews, J. VV. Maxwell,. G. W. Miller, M. C. Morrison, J. A.
Morrison, S. C. Pitchford, S. M. Sheets, Ben Stephenson, R. L.
Thompson, J. R. Underdonk, H. O. Whitworth, H. F. Wil-
liams, W. W. Woodford, Frank Baker, William Charlton, T.
C. Cochran, Lee Gatts, Roy C. Louden, J. A. Mitchell and M.
Sawyers.

The Warden receives $250.00 per month and apartments
and board for self and family free ; Captain of Guards receives
$100.00; Clerk $100.00; Chaplain, $50.00; Physician $100.00;
Stenographer, $60.00 ; and Matron $50.00 per month ; the
guards and other employees receive from $2.00 to $2.50 per
day. Salaries and wages paid out amount to over $63,000 per
annum. The average monthly income of the Institution from
all sources is about $13,500.00. Apart from the receipts from
the United States Government for board of Federal prisoners
and sale of miscellaneous items from the prison and the farm,
the entire income of the Institution is derived from contract
labor.

Financial Condition of the Institution for Year Ending

September 30th, 1910.

Balance, July 1, 1909 $ 1,176.89

Receipts for 15 months:

General fund 217,020.19

Souvenir sales. 277.15

Contract labor 195,886.00

Light and powder 4,539.94

Barber tickets 135.26

Photo Gallery sales 283.91

Visitors' tickets ' , 939.25

Dental receipts 520.99

Live stock 595.97

Beef hides 1,046.06

History of West Virginia 527

Parole postage 141 .89

Transportation of convicts 1,431.60

Board of Federal prisoners 8,538.06

Fire protection 968.75

Miscellaneous 1,715.36— $218,197.08

Outstanding- debts July 1, 1909 $ 2,791.30

Disbursements 182,647.15

Balance September 30/10 32,758.63

$218,197.08
WEST VIRGINIA INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL FOR BOYS.

This Institution, under the name of West Mrginia Re-
form School, came into existence by virtue of an Act of the
Legislature passed in 1889. By an Act passed February 8,
1913, the name of the institution was chan^ged to "West Vir-
ginia Industrial School for Boys."

It is located at Pruntytown, formerly the county seat of
Taylor County, four miles west of Grafton. The old court
house and site were given by Taylor County to the Institution,
and $5,000 was contributed by the County for the purchase of
additional grounds. The entire acreage of the grounds of the
Institution is about 175. The ground is mostly hilly and un-
suited to farming purposes. In 1909 the Legislature made an
appropriation of $30,000 for a farm, but as late as September
30, 1910, the Board of Public Works had not been able to pur-
chase a suitable one. In addition to H. E. Flesher, Superin-
tendent of the Institution, there are about 29 employees. The
monthly pay roll amounts to about $1,235.00. The average
number of boy inmates is about 267. A majority of them arc
able to work.

The plant consists of Administration Building, Central
Dining Hall, three or four cottages, .Shop building, Power
house. Tailor shop, Hospital building, barns and a few lesser
buildings.

Five teachers are employed at the Institution during the
fall and winter months. The white boys are taught in one

528 History of West Virginia

building; the colored boys in another. The branches taught
consist of reading, writing, arithmetic and spelling.

Opportunities for practical experience in mechanics and
arts are open to the boys, but more attention is given to gar-
dening and farming. As a diversion from study and work,
holidays, Saturday afternoons, noon hours and evenings after
supper until bed time, are set apart for play.

As the former name, "Reform School," would imply, the
population of this Institution is not made up of "Sunday
School" boys. They are a class of youngsters whose parents
or guardians could not manage them, and as a last resort they
are sent to this Institution to undergo a term of systematic
training and discipline, where they may be given an oppor-
tunity to obtain a common school education and learn some
useful trade.

The Institution is maintained at the expense of the State
at a cost of, approximately, $50,000 a year. It is believed that
if a farm of suitable size and fertility could be purchased and
properly managed in connection with the Institution the latter
might eventuall}^ become self-supporting.

WEST VIRGINIA INDUSTRIAL HOME FOR GIRLS.

The West Virginia Industrial Home for Girls was estab-
lished by an Act of the Legislature passed February 18, 1897,
and was opened for the reception of girls May 5, 1899, since
which time 303 girls have been received (1910).

It is exclusively charged with the reformation and care of
girls between the ages of seven and eighteen years, who may
be committed by the proper authorities. The Home is located
on a beautiful elevated plateau, one mile west of Salem, in
Harrison County, on the Parkersburg branch of the Baltimore
& Ohio Railroad. The citizens of Salem gave a farm of thirty-
eight acres for the establishment of the Home, and the State
purchased nine acres more, making a farm of 47 acres, 16 of
which are under cultivation.

The work of the home is divided into two departments,
the educational and the industrial, and each of these depart-
ments to suit the requirements.

History of West Virginia 529

On September 30, 1910, tlie Home eontaincd /<S inmates.
Average age of inmates when admitted, 13y^ years. They arc
from 29 different counties of the State. Of this number WOod
furnished 10; Ohio, 9; Braxton and Fayette, 6 each; Mingo
and Randolph, 4 each; Harrison, Marshall, Marion, Kitcliie
and Taylor, 3 each ; Berkeley, Cabell, Gilmer, Kanawha, Pres-
ton and Tyler, 12 each ; Grant, Hancock, Hampshire, Jackson,
Jefferson, Monongalia, Mason, Roane, Summers, Upshur.
Wayne and Webster, 1 each. Average time of detention of
the girls in the Home is one year, eleven months and sixteen
days.

The Institution is maintained by the State, and cost $14,-
188.11 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1910.

Miss Hilda M. Dungan is Superintendent, and there are
ten other employees in the Institution, the combined salary be-
ing about $420.00 per month.

WEST VIRGINIA SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF AND THE

BLIND

Established at Romney, in 1870, consists of four sei)arate
buiklings, all except one of brick, and three stories high, and
conveniently arranged for the purposes for w^hich they are
used.

The State owns 63 acres of land, part of which is now be-
ing made into an athletic field and already contains a small
grand stand, a good base ball diamond and a race track equip-
ped for both blind and deaf boys. In addition to the above,
the State owais a good farm of 140 acres, one mile from the
Institution, on wdiich is an apple orchard in good bearing.

The educational department of the Institution is meeting
with fairly good results, considering the natural difficulties to
be met and overcome in the training of the deaf and blind.
For the school year ending in 1910, there w^ere 73 deaf males
and 66 deaf females ; 28 blind males and 21 blind females at-
tending this school. There are 54 employees in the Institu-
tion (including R. Gary Montague, Superintendent), eighteen
of whom are teachers ; one matron ; one clerk ; one watchman ;
three engineers; one carpenter; one foreman of shoe sho]K

530 History of West Virginia

one printer; one baker; one housekeeper; five assistant ma-
trons ; one assistant supervisor ; four v^^aiters ; one barber ; one
teamster; one dairyman; five laundry workers; two janitors;
three maids ; two cooks.

The monthly pay roll of employees amounts to about
$1,900. The cost of running expenses and repairs for the fiscal
year ending September 30, 1910, was $42,069.91.

WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY, MORGANTOWN,

WEST VIRGINIA.

D. B. Purinton, Ph.D., LL.D., President.

This is the chief educational institution of the State. It
was established in 1867. It has an endowment fund of about
$115,000.00. From a faculty of six members it has grown to
about seventy-five.

In the beginning there were three departments : Classi-
cal, scientific and preparatory, including seventy courses of
instruction. Now there are over fort}'' departments, schools
and colleges, and between five and six hundred courses of in-
struction.

The University Campus, containing about fifty acres, ex-
tends from the Monongahela River, along three dift'erent ele-
vations to a maximum height of about 300 feet above the level
of the river bed. Nearby is the Experiment Station farm, con-
taining about 100 acres.

The collegiate courses are taught here : arts and sciences,
including the department of military science ; engineering and
mechanical arts ; agriculture ; law ; medicine.

Connected with the University are the following schools :
JNIusic, fine arts, summer school and preparatory school.

The Agricultural Experiment Station is a department of
the Universit}!- and is supported principally by the United
States Government.

I

Number of Students Attending University 1909 and 1910.

College of Arts and Sciences 233

College of Agriculture 56

College of Engineering 90

History of West Virginia 531

College of Law 120

College of Medicine 29 528

Preparatory School ■. .135

Commercial School 48

School of Fine Arts 15

Physical Training 57

School of Music 157

Choral Society 21

Summer School 302

Agricultural Extension School 126

School of Sunday School :\Tcthods 47— 906

Total : 1,434

The preparatory school at Morgantown will soon be abol-
ished. This work is now being done principally at the various
high schools in the State. Commencing September 1st, 1911,
nine high school units will be required for entrance to the
West Virginia University.

The average running expenses of the Institution are ap-
proximately $176,000 a year, of which sum about $99,000 con-
sists of endowments, fees, etc., and the balance of legislative
appropriations. The above mentioned expense does not in-
clude appropriations for new buildings.

The Experiment Station is a very important adjunct to
the University, and has been in operation since 1888. It is
under the supervision of James 'H. Stewart. The running ex-
penses of the Station for the fifteen months ending September
30, 1910, were $51,584.48. The income for the same period
was $61,712.31, of which sum $8,526.87 was realized on farm
products; $17,474.64 from State fund cr. by fertilizer, tax
and tags; $210.30 interest on deposits, and remainder from the
Hatch and Adams Government funds.

Preparatory Branch of West Virginia University at

Montgomery, Fayette Count}-, came into existence February
15, 1895, by an Act of the Legislature.

L. W. Burns is Principal, and he has had charge of the

532 History of West Virginia

school since July 31, 1910, having succeeded former Princi]ial
G. W. Conley.

There are five teachers in addition to the Principal. The
annual pay roll, including janitor's salary, is about $5,850.
The total expense of the Institution from July 1, 1909 to Sep-
tember 30, 1910, was $10,749.05.

Preparatory Branch of West Virginia University at

Keyser, Mineral County, was created b}^ Act of the Legisla-
ture passed February 15, 1901. The school was opened Octo-
ber 1, 1902, with F. L. Friend, Principal, and two assistants.
In 1910 there were eight assistants and a principal employed,
and an enrollment of 193. J. D. IMuldoon, Principal.

The annual pay roll is about $7,350.00. Total expense of
the Institution for fiiteen months ending September 30, 1910,
including improvements, $13,167.90.

MARSHALL COLLEGE— STATE NORMAL SCHOOL

AT HUNTINGTON.

The first State Normal School to be established in West
Virginia was located at Guyandotte, in Cabell County, before
Huntington became a city. The grounds belonging to the
Institution comprise about sixteen acres, and the school build-
ings are located in the center on an elevation of twenty feet
above the streets, overlooking the entire campus and a large
part of the ci^y. The Institution is well equipped for the pur-
poses for which it is intended and is a credit to the State as
well as the community in Avhich it is located.

The following is taken from President Lawrence J. Cor-
bly's report of attendance for 1909-10: Fall Winter Spring

Term Term Term

Normal and Academic ' 424 410 517

Preparatory 39 40 33

Music 32 40 43

Elocution 10 10 9

Total 505 500 602

Model School 125 111 124

History of West Virginia 533

'J'hc pay roll of the President and twenty teachers for the
same period amounted to $21,100. Alodel School (paid from

fees) supervisor and three teachers ! $ 2,200.00

Music department (paid from fees) 'supervisor, three

teachers and janitors, about 2,000.00

Night w^atchman and other expenses, about 3,500.00

Repairs, etc 13,300.00

Total cost of institution $42,000.00

THE FAIRMONT STATE NORMAL SCHOOL
BUILDING was constructed in 1867, through the joint efforts
of the State and the town of Fairmont, and was for a long time
used jointly by the Normal School and the Fairmont public
schools. Dr. J. B. Blair served as its first president until 1878.
In 1893 the school was moved into its present grounds and
building". The grounds consist of a single block, fronting on
Fairmont avenue. There are now two buildings for the use
of this school. They are up-to-date in e\"ery detail, and present
an imposing appearance.

President O. I. W'oodley is at the head of the institution,
having succeeded former President C". J. C. Bennett Septem-
ber 1. 1910.

The attendance for 1909-'10 was as follows:

Fall Winter S])ring
Term Term Term

Normal 282 288 491

Model Scliool 40 40 85

Tlie annual cost of the institvilion is aI)out $29,000.00, of
which amount $21,000 is for teachers.

\VES1^ LIBERTY STATE NORMAL SC"HOOL was
first known as the "\\'est Liberty Academy." which was
founded under the laws of Virginia in 1838, and was destroyed
b\- fire there years later, the work being continued in i)ri\ate
dwelHngs until in 1857, when tlu' older j^art of the ])resent
building was erected by pri\-ate enteri)rise.

In 1870 the West Virginia Legislature purchased the
pr()])ertv for a small sum and established a branch ol the State

534 History of West Virginia

Normal School, and on May 2d of that year the school was
opened, with F. H. Crago, A.M., as Principal. During the
years 1872-73 a model school was conducted in connection
with the regular work. A new building was completed and
occupied by the school in January, 1895, but was destroyed by
fire in February, 1896. The present building was completed
in May, 1897.

West Liberty Normal is located at West Liberty, Ohio
County, on the Wheeling, West Liberty and Bethany Pike,
twelve miles northeast of Wheeling and four miles southwest
of Bethany, Brooke County.

The attendance for 1909-10 was as follows :

Fall Winter Spring
Term Term Term

Normal 87 100 139

Academic 2 2 2

Preparator}^ 33 35 32

Music 15 20 23

Art . . . -.

Elocution . . 25

James C. Shaw, Principal.

Annual salary for Principal, eight teachers and janitor,
about $8,795.

GLENVILLE STATE NORMAL SCHOOL is located
in the town of Glenville, Gilmer County, on the Little Kana-
wha River and the L. K. V. Railroad. It was authorized by the
Legislature in 1872, but the citizens of the town had to provide
school rooms until the year 1885,when the Legislature provided
money for the erection of a new brick building, which was
built upon the site of the old dwelling house which had been
formerly used for school purposes. In 1893 the building was
enlarged, but by 1909 the attendance had so greatly increased
that it was found necessary to make further provisions ; so an
appropriation of $35,000 was made for a new building. The
present structure is located on a four-acre lot on the hillside,
north of and within the corporate limits of the town.

Attendance for the school vear 1909-10:

History of West Virginia 533

Fall Winter Spring-
Term Term Term

Normal 102 99 245

Academie 5 5 10

Preparatory 24 22 3S

Model School 34 35 41

Annual pay roll for principal, nine teachers and janitor,
$8,150. E. G. Rohrbough, Principal.

SHEPHERD COLLEGE STATE NORMAL SCHOOL
is located at ShepherdstOAvn, Jefferson County, on the Norfolk
and Western Railroad. It was authorized by an act of the
State Legislature February 27, 1872. It was formerly a pri-
vate school, known as "Shepherd College," the trustees of
which offered it to the State free of charge for use as a State
Normal School, which offer was promptly accepted, and work
under State control began here in September, 1873. From
that time until 1909 the State made use of the private property.
In 1909 the former Board of Regents, for the sum of $1,400,
purchased a lease of the property for twenty-five years, under
which lease the State now holds the original Shepherd Col-
lege property. The school has now three buildings in which
to carry on its work. The new Shepherd College building
was completed and first occupied in the S])ring of 1904. It
is an up-to-date structure in every particular.

Attendance for 1909-10 was as follows:

Fall \\'inter Spring-
Term Term Term

Normal 122 121 157

Academic 19 18 18

Preparatory 18 15 15

Music 13 11 16

Elocution 6 4 15

Model School 13 17

Annual salary ])rincipal, eight teachers and janitor,
$8,850. Thomas C. Miller, Principal (1910).

CONCORD STATE NORMAL SCHOOL is located at
Athens, in Mercer Countv. It was created b\- an act of the

536 History of West Virginia

Legislature P"^ebruary 28th, 1872, located March 18th, 1874,
and opened for work in a rough, unfinished building on May
10, 1875.

The grounds of this institution consist of two parcels, one
of about six acres, fronting westward on the principal street
of the village, sloping gently to the rear, where there is a beau-
tiful natural grove, on which is situated the school building.
The other is about one acre in extent, on the same street and
about one-fourth mile from the school building, on which the
girls' dormitory is located.

Attendance 1909-10 as follo\^•s :

"Fall Winter Spring
Term Term Term

Normal ....' 127 109 123

Preparatory 126 146 175

Music 40 62

Model School 49 38 53

Annual salary principal, teachers and janitor, $10,400.
Charles L. Bemis, Principal.

THE WEST VIRGIxVIA COLORED INSTITUTE is
located near the village of Institute, Kanawha County, eight
miles below Charleston, on the Great Kanawha River and the
Kanawha and Michigan Railroad.

In order that the State might a\'ail itself of the benefit of
an appropriation made by Congress August 30, 1890, known
as "The Morrill iVct," and which provided that no state should
enjoy the benefit of said act unless adequate provisions were
made for the education of colored youth of the State, the Leg-
islature passed an act in 1891 establishing the West Virginia
Colored Institute. Accordingly the State Board of Public
Works purchased thirty-one acres of ground in "The Cabbie
Settlement," and in 1892 erected the first academic building,
now known as Fleming Hall. The State since acquired addi-
tional ground, bringing the total acreage up to 67, on which
is located the following school property: Fleming Hall, Mac-
Corkle Hall, President's Hall, West Hall, Atkinson Hall, A.
B. \A^hite Trades Building, Dawson Hall, greenhouse and
barn. The buildings are generally large and commodious and

History of West Virginia 537

Males ....

,. 105

Females . .

,. 146

Total . . . .

.. 251

present a handsome appearance, particularly so I'kniini; Tlall
and the White Trades School building's. Most ot the build-
ings are fairly well equipped for the various ])urposes for
which they are used. The Trade School has a good su])|)l\ of
machinery and apparatus necessary for instruction in the vari-
ous mechanical and industrial arts that arc taught.

Attendance in 1909-10:

Males Females
Preparatory classes... 39 46

Normal classes (in-
cluding students in
Normal Training of

Teachers) 62 88

Special Course 2 5

Number of students in

Agriculture 10 Plastering 13

Carpentry 17 Sewing 92

Blacksmithing 13 Cooking 74

W'heelwrighting 8 Laundering 5

Bricklaying 13 Millinery 6

Painting 3 Commercial 9

Printing 6 Military Drill 93

1

The institution has adopted three literary courses of
study — English, Academic and Normal. The English Course
is es])ecially designed for students taking a trade who wish
only an English education. The Academic Course for thf)se
who ma\- wish to prepare for college or the professions. 1 he
Normal Course for the training of teachers. Hie first two
courses cover four \-ears, and the last course h\v \ears.

The cost of the institution in salaries ])er year is about
$18,270. I'esiik'S the President there were nineteen instruc-
tors, 1 matron, 1 stenogra])her, 1 bookkeeper, 1 assistant book-
keeper. 2 farmers, 1 greenhouse worker, 1 engineer and 1 phy-
sician;— 28 eni]ilo\ees in all. Ryrd Prillerman, Prt-sident
(1910).

BLUEFIELD COLORED INSTITUTE was ^

lished by an act of the Legislature in 1895. School oiH'iied

538 History of West Virginia

December 6, 1896. The grounds of this institution are in the
western portion of the city, and consist of about 10 acres,
fronting the Norfolk & Western Railroad. To facilitate the
carrying on of the work to the best advantage three buildings
have been constructed on the grounds, namely, Mayhood Hall,
erected in 1896, the first one constructed, and enlarged in 1902.
This is the principal building of the school ; Lewis Hall, a
dormitory for girls, erected in 1897; West Hall, a dormi-
tory for boys, built in 1900. These buildings are all large,
commodious and present an attractive appearance. The con-
tour of the premises is very irregular, being generally rough
in character; yet the proximit}^ of the native forests gives the
place a sort of romantic touch not unpleasant to the eye.

Attendance 1909-10:

Fall Winter Spring
Term Term Term

Normal 58 47 . 54

Academic 1 1 1

Preparatory 44 27 27

Music 10 13 14

Annual salaries paid Principal, eight teachers and two
janitors about $5,256. R. P. Sims. Principal (1910).

DR. H. D. HATFIELD
Governor of West Virginia

HON. J. S. DARST
State Auditor

E. L. LONG
State Treasurer, 1915

*,* *

■^

STUART F. REED

Secretary of State

FRED O. BLUE
State Tax Commissioner

CHAPTER XXVI.

NAMES OF ALL STATE OFFICIALS FROM THE FOR-
MATION OF THE STATE TO THE PRESENT
TIME, WITH DATE OF SERVICE.

From

June 20,

1863

Feb. 27,

1869

March 4,

1869

March 4,

1871

March 4,

1877

March 4,

1881

March 4,

1885

Feb. 6,

1890

March 4,

1893

March 4,

1897

March 4,

1901

March 4,

1905

March 4,

1909

March 4,

1913

June 20,

1863

March 4,

1865

March 4,

1869

March 4,

1871

March 4,

1877

March 4,

1885

March 4,

1893

March 4,

1897

March 4,

1901

March 4,

1909

March 4,

1913

June 20,

1863

March 4,

1867

March 4,

1869

March 4,

1871

Jan. 31,

1876

March 4,

1877

March 4,

1881

March 4,

1885

March 4,

1893

March 4,

1897

March 4,

1901

Governors.

To

Arthur Ingraham Boreman Feb. 26, 1869

Daniel D. T. Farnsworth March 3, 1869

William Erskine Stevenson March 3, 1871

John Jeremiah Jacob March 3, 1877

Henry Mason Mathews March 3, 1881

Jacob Beeson Jackson March 3, 1885

Emanuel Willis Wilson Feb. 5, 1890

Aretus Brooks Fleming March 3, 1893

William Alex. MacCorkle March 3, 1897

George Wesley Atkinson : . . . . March 3, 1901

Albert B. White March 3, 1905

William M. O. Dawson March 3, 1909

William E. Glasscock March 3, 1913

Henry D. Hatfield

State Auditors.

Samuel Crane March 3, 1865

Joseph Marcellus McWhorter.. March 3, 1869

Thomas Boggess March 3, 1871

Edward A. Bennett March 3, 1877

Joseph S. Miller March 3, 1885

Patrick Fee Duffey March 3, 1893

Isaac V. Johnson March 3, 1897

Latelle M. LaFollette March 3, 1901

Arnold C. Scherr March 3, 1909

John S. Darst ~ March 3, 1913

John S. Darst

State Treasurers.

Campbell Tarr March 3, 1867

Jacob H. Bristor March 3, 1869

James A. Macauley Alarch 3, 1871

John S. Burdett Jan. 30, 1876

Sobieski Brady March 3, 1877

Thomas J. West March 3, 1881

Thomas O'Brien March 3, 1885

Wilham T. Thompson March 3, 1893

John M. Rowan March 3, 1S97

M. A. Kendall March 3, 1901

Peter Silman Alarch 3, 1905

History of West Virginia 545

March 4, 1905 Ncwlon Ugdcn Marcli 3, \'A)'>

March 4, 1909 E. Lesley Long .' March 3, 1913

March 4, 1<)13 E. Lesley Long

Attorney Generals.

[line 20,1863 Aquilla Bolton Caldwell Dec. 31,1864

Ian. 1,1865 Ephraim B. Hall Dec. 31,1865

Ian. 1,1866 Edwin Maxwell Dec. 31,1866

Ian. 1, 1867 Thaver Melvin Julv 1, 1869

Inly 2,1869 Aqnilla Bolton Caldwell Dec. 31,1870

Jan. 1, 1871 Joseph Sprigg Dec. 31, 1872

Jan. 1, 1873 Henry Alason Mathews Alarcli 3, 1877

.\. arch 4, 1877 Robert White March 3, 1881

March 4, 1881 Cornelius C. Watts March 3, 1885

March 4, 1885 Alfred Caldwell March 3, 1893

March 4, 1893 Thomas S. Riley March 3, 1897

March 4, 1897 Edgar P. Rucker March 3, 1901

March 4, 1901 Romeo H. Freer March 3, 1905

March 4, 1905 Clark W. May (died) April 25, 1908

May 9, 1908 William G. Conley March 3, 1913

March 4, 1913 A. A. Lilly

State Superintendents of Free Schools.

June 20, 1863 William R. White March 3, 1869

March 4, 1869 H. A. G. Ziegler Feb. 17, 1870

Feb. 19, 1870 Alvin D. Williams March 3, 1871

March 4, 1871 Charles S. Lewis Dec. 31, 1872

Jan. 1, 1873 William K. Pendleton March 3, 1873

.\i arch 4, 1873 Benjamin \V. Byrne March 3, 1877

March 4, 1877 William K. Pendleton March 4, 1881

March 4, 1881 Bernard L. Butcher March 3, 1885

March 4, 1885 Benjamin S. Morgan March 3, 1893

March 4, 1893 Virgil A. Lewis March 3, 1897

March 4, 1897 James Russell Trotter March 3, 1901

March 4, 1901 Thomas C. Miller March 3, 1909

March 4, 1909 Morris P. Sha\ykey March 3, 1913

March 4, i i3 Morris P. Shawkey

Secretaries of State.

June 20, 1863 [acob Edgar Boyers March 3, 1865

March 4, l8o5 Granyille Dayison Hall March 4, 1867

March 4, 1867 John H. Witcher March 3, 1869

March 4, 1869 James M. Pipes March 3, 1871

March 4, 1871 John .M. Phelps March 3, 1873

March 4, 1873 Charles Hedrick iMarch 3, 1877

March 4, 1877 Sobieski Brady March 3, 1881

March 4, 1881 Randolph Stalnaker March 3, 188^

March 4, 1885 Henry S. Walker April 21, 1890

April 22, 1890 William A. Ohley March 24, 1893

March 25, 1893 \Villiam E. Chilton March 3, 1897

March 4, 1897 William M. O. Dawson March 3, 1905

March 4, 1905 Charles Wesley Swisher March 3, 1909

Alarch 4, 1909 Stuart F. Reed March 3, 1913

March 4, 1913 Stuart F. Rec<l

546

History of West Virginia

Judges of the Supreme Court of Appeals.

Ralph J. Berkshire.. 1863 to
James H. Brown ... 1863 to
Wm. H. Harrison. . .1863 to

Edwin Maxwell 1867 to

Ralph L. Berkshire . . 1869 to
Chas. P. T. Moore. .1871 to

James Paull 1873 to

John S. Hofifman . . . 1873 to

A. F. Haymond 1873 to

Thomas C. Green ... 1876 to
Matthew Edmiston . . 1876 to

Okey Johnson 1877 to

James F. Patton . . . . 1881 to
Adam C. Snyder.. . .1882 to
Samuel Woods 1883 to

1866 Henry Brannon....

1870 John W. EngUsh. . .

1870 Homer A. Holt....

1872 Daniel B. Lucas...

1872 M. H. Dent

1881 H. C. McWhorter..

1875 Geo. Poffenbarger. .

1876 Warren- Miller

1882 *Frank Cox

1880 *Jos. M. Saunders.

1876 tWm. N. Miller....

1889 tira E. Robinson..
1882 L. Judson Williams

1890 Charles W. Lynch.
1888

. 1889 to
. 1889 to
.1890 to
.1891 to
.1893 to
.1897 to
.1901 to
.1902 to
.1905 to
.1905 to
.1907 to
.1909 to
.1909 to
.1912 to

1912
1901
1897
1893
1905

i9i2
1905
1907
1907

*Resigned. tSuccessor to Cox. tSuccessor to Saunders.
United States Senators from V/est Virginia.

Peter G. Van Winkle. 1863 to
Waitman T. Vi/illey . . 1863 to
Arthur L Boreman. . . 1869 to

Henrv G. Davis 1871 to

Allen T. Caperton . . . . 1875 to

Samuel Price 1876 to

Frank Hereford 1877 to

Johnson N. Camden. . 1881 to
John E. Kenna 1883 to

1869 Charles J. Faulkner. . 1887
1«/1 Johnson N. Camden.. 1893
18/^ ^Stephen B. Elkins. . .1895
1883 Nathan B. Scott 1899

1876 *Davis Elkins 1911

1877 Clarence W. Watson. 1911
1881 William E. Chilton ... 1911

1887 Nathan Gofif 1913

1893

to 1899
to 1895
to 1911
to 1911
to 1911
to 1913

to

to

^Stephen B. Elkins died at 12 o'clock Wednesday night, January
4, 1911, while a member of the United States Senate, and on the 9th
ensuing Governor Glasscock appointed his son, Davis Elkins, to fill
the vacancy, and he served until the 2d of February following, when
he was succeeded by Clarence W. Watson.

CHAPTER XXVII.

LIST OF STATE AND COUNTY OFFICIALS IN THE

YEAR 1913.

STATE GOVERNMENT.
State Capitol, Charleston, Kanawha County.

Governor H. D. Hatfield .. .Eckman, McDowell Co.

Secretary of State Stuart F. Reed .. Clarksburg, Harrison Co.

Supt. of Free Schools. .. .M. P. Shawkey . .Charleston, Kanawha Co.

.Auditor John S. Darsl . . Cottageville, Jackson Co.

.Attorney General A. A. Lilly Beckley, Raleigh Co.

Treasurer E. L. Long Welch, McDowell Co.

Comr. of Agriculture H. E. Williams .. Trout, Greenbrier Co.

State Tax Commissioner .. Fred O. Blue. . . .Philippi, Barbour Co.

Librarian J. C. Gilmer Charleston, Kanawha Co.

Commissioner of Banking. S. Y. Mathews .. .Charleston, Kanawha Co.

Adjutant General C. D. Elliott Parkersburg, Wood Co.

Commissioner of Labor. ..1. V. Barton Wheeling, Ohio Co.

Chief Mine Inspector ... .John Laing Charleston, Kanawha Co.

Game and Fish Warden.. J. A. Visqueny. . . Belington, Barbour Co.

Pardon Attorney E. G. Pierson .... Fayetteville, Fayette Co.

Archivest and Historian

State.Board of Control.

James S. Lakin, President Kingwood, Preston County

Dr. E. B. Stephenson Charleston, Kanawha County

W. M. O. Dawson Charleston, Kanawha County

United States Senators.

William E. Chilton Charleston, Kanawha County

Nathan Goff Clarksburg, Harrison County

Representatives in Congress.

District. Name. Post-Office. County. Term Expires.

First Mansfield M. Neely. Fairmont. . . .^farion March 4, 1915

Second . . . William G. Brown . . Kingwood . . .Preston March 4, 1915

Third S. B. Avis Charleston. . Kanawha. . ..March 4, 191.S

Fourth .. .Hunter H. Moss .... Parkersburg. Wood March 4, 1915

Fifth James A. Hughes ... Huntington . .Cabell March 4, 1915

.At-Large. Howard Sutherland Elkins Randolph. . .March 4, 1915

548 History o£ West Virginia

THE JUDICIARY.

United States Courts.

Circuit Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit, Richmond, Ya.
Commencement of Terms — First Tuesday in February, May and
November.

Edward D. White, Chief Justice, Washington, D. C.

Woods, Circuit Judge of South Carolina.

Peter C. Pritchard, Circuit Judge, Asheville, N. C.
John C. Rose, District Judge, Baltimore, Md.
Henry Groves Connor, District Judge, Wilson, N. C.
James Edmond Boyd, District Judge, Greensboro, N. C.
Harry A. M. Smith, District Judge, Charleston, S. C.
Edmund Waddill, Jr., District Judge, Richmond, Va.
H. Clay McDowell, District Judge, Lynchburg, Va.
Alston G. Dayton, District Judge, Philippi, W. Va.
Benjamin F. Kellar, District Judge, Charleston, W. Va.
Henry T. Maloney, Clerk, Richmond, Va.

District Courts of West Virginia.

NORTHERN DISTRICT.

Commencement of Terms.

Parkersburg — Second Tuesday of January and second Tuesday
of June.

Wheeling — First Tuesday of May and third Tuesday of October.

Clarksburg — Second Tuesday of April and first Tuesday of
October.

Martinsburg — First Tuesday of April and third Tuesday of Sep-
tember.

Philippi — Fourth Tuesday of May and second Tuesday of No-
vember.

Alston G. Dayton District Judge Philippi

Charles B. Kefauver . . . Clerk Parkersburg

Edward B. Neal Deputy Clerk Parkersburg

L. V. G. Morris Deputy Clerk Philippi

Geo. E. Boyd, Jr Deputy Clerk Wheeling

A. C. Nadenbousch .... Deputy Clerk Martinsburg

H. Roy Waugh United States Attorney Buckhannon

John Marshall Asst. U. S. Attorney Parkersburg

Howard J. Wilcox. .. .Asst. U. S. Attorney Philippi

James E. Doyle United States Marshal Parkersburg

A. T. Barrett Chief Deputy Parkersburg

H. M. Rapp Office Deputy Parkersburg

F. D. Hupp Field Deputy Clarksburg

C. E. Williams Field Deputy Wheeling

W. D. Brown Field Deputy Martinsburg

L. V. G. Morris U. S. Commissioner Philippi

Edward B. Neal U. S. Commissioner Parkersburg

John W. Mason U. S. Commissioner Fairmont

Glen Hunter U. S. Commissioner Morgantown

F. L. Blackmar U. S. Commissioner Sistersville

Dorr Casto U. S. Commissioner Parkersburg

John T. Cooper U. S. Commissioner Parkersburg

History of West Virginia

549

J.

H.

T.

W,

c.

B.
M.

H. Siler....
A. Downs.

A. Brown Referee

Frank Stoiil Referee

E. VVyckoff Referee

L. Butcher Referee

H. King Referee

J. Ben Brady Referee

W " '

.U. S. Commissioner Berkeley Springs

.U. S. Commissioner Marlinsburg

in BankruiMcy Parkersburg

in Bankruptcy Clarksburg

in Bankruptcy (Grafton

in Bankruptcy Fairmont

in Bankruptcy Elkins

in Bankruptcy Kingwood

H. Thomas Referee in Bankruptcy Martinsburg

J. W. Cummins Referee in Bankru])tcy Wheeling

H. A. Nolle Referee in Bankruptcy Wheeling

Counties composing the Northern District — i5arl)our, Berkeley,
Brooke, Calhoun, Doddridge, Gilmer, Grant, Hampshire, Hancock,
Hardy, Harrison, Jefferson, Lewis, Marion, Marshall, Mineral, Mor-
gan, Monongalia, Ohio, Pendleton, Pleasants, Preston, Randolph,
Ritchie, Taylor, Tucker, Tyler, Upshur, Wetzel, Wirt and Wood.

SOUTHERN DISTRICT.
Commencement of Terms.

Charleston — First Tuesday in June and third Tuesday- in No-
vember.

Huntington — First Tuesdaj' in April and first Tuesday after the
third Monday in September.

Bluefield — First Tuesday in May and third Tuesday in October.

Addison — First Tuesday in September.

Lewisburg — Second Tuesday in July.

Benjamin F. Kellar. . .District Judge Charleston

Edwin M. Keatley .... Clerk Charleston

A. V. Fitzwater Deputy Clerk Charleston

Ceres K. Adkins Deputy Clerk Huntington

R. L. Gosling Deputy Clerk Bluefield

Finley M. Arbuckle. .. Deputy Clerk Lewisburg

R. M. Doddrill Deputy Clerk Addison

H. A. Ritz United States Attorney Bluefield

H. Delbert Rummel . . . Asst. U. S. Attorney. Charleston

Austin M. Sikes Clerk Huntington

Frank H. Tyree LTnited States Marshal Huntington

William H. Lyons ... .Office Deputy Huntington

H. B. Tyree Office Deputy Huntington

Walter C. Summers . . . Field Deputy Gauley Bridge

J. S. Porter Field Deputy Huntington

A. D. Beavers Field Deputy Pinevillc

Howard C. Smith Field Deputy Charleston

E. M. Stewart h'ield Deputy . . Welch

V. C. Champe U. S. Commissioner Montgomery

John R. Dillard V. S. Commissioner Bluefield

O. O. Sutton U. S. Commissioner Suiton

Joseph Ruffner U. S. Commissioner Charleston

John A. Thayer U. S. Commissioner Charleston

E. C. Eagle U. S. Commissioner Hinton

John W. AlcCreary . . . .1'. S. Commissioner Becklcy

L. V. Ketter U. S. Commissioner Welch

Paris D. Yeager l^. S. Commissioner Marlinton

F. H. Scott U. S. Commissioner Pineville

B. H. Oxley U. S. Commissioner GrilTillisville

550 History of West Virginia

J. P. Douglas U. S. Commissioner Huntington

John L. VVhitten Referee in Bankruptcy Point Pleasant

W. G. Mathews Referee in Bankruptcy Charleston

R. M. Baker Referee in Bankruptcy Huntington

John W. Arbuckle .... Referee in Bankruptcy Lewisburg

H. B. Lee Referee in Bankruptcy Bluefield

E. C. Rider Referee in Bankruptcy Sutton

A. R. Heflin Referee in Bankruptcy Hinton

Counties composing the Southern District — Boone, Braxton,
Cabell, Clay, Fayette, Greenbrier, Jackson, Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan,
McDowell, Mason, Mercer, Mingo, Alonroe, Nicholas, Pocahontas,
Putnam, Raleigh, Roane, Summers, Wayne, Webster and Wyoming.

State Courts.

SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS.

Judges. Residence. County. Term Expires.

Geo. Poffenbarger Point Pleasant. .. Mason Dec. 31, 1924

Ira E. Robinson Grafton Taylor Dec. 31, 1916

Wm. N. Miller . Parkersburg Wood Dec. 31, 1916

L. Judson Williams ... Lewisburg Greenbrier ...Dec. 31, 1921

Charles W. Lynch Clarksburg Harrison Dec. 31, 1924

Circuit Courts

FIRST JUDICIAL CIRCUIT— H. C. Hervey, Wellsburg, and
Charles C. Newman, Moundsville, Judges.

Hancock — Second Alonday in A; arch, third Monday in June and
first Monday in November.

Brooke — Third Monday in February, first Monday in June and
second Monday in October.

Marshall — Second Tuesday in February, last Tuesday in May and
second Tuesday in October.

Ohio — Last Alonday in March, first Monday in September and
fourth Monday in November.

SECO'nD judicial CIRCUIT— p. D. Morris, Judge, New
Martinsville.

Wetzel — Second Tuesda}^ in January, first Tuesday in May and
third Tuesday in September.

Tyler — Fourth Tuesday in February, third Tuesday in June and
first Tuesday in November.

Doddridge — Third Tuesday in March, second Tuesday in July
and fourth Tuesday in September.

THIRD JUDICIAL CIRCUIT— Homer B. Woods, Judge, Har-
risville.

Ritchie — Second Tuesday in February, second Tuesday in June
and second Tuesday in October.

Pleasants — Second Tuesday in January, fourth Tuesday in April
and second Tuesday in September.

Gilmer — First Tuesday in April, first Tuesday in August and
fourth Tuesday in November.

FOURTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT— Walter E. McDougle, Judge,
Parkersburg.

Wood — First Monday in March, first Monday in July, first Mon-
day in October and first Monday in December.

History of West Virginia 551

Wirt — Second Monday in January, second Monday in May and
second Monday in September.

FIFTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT— W. H. O'Brien, Judge, Ripley.

Roane— Third Tuesday in January, tliird Tuesday in May and
third Tuesday in September.

Jackson — First Tuesday in April, first Tuesday in August and first
Tuesday in November.

Calhoun — Third Tuesday in April, third Tuesday in August and
third Tuesday in November.

Mason — First Tuesday in February, first Tuesday in June and
first Tuesday in October.

SIXTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT— John T. Graham, Judge, Hunt-
ington.

Cabell — First Alonday in January, first Monday in April, first
Monday in July and first Monday in October.

Lincoln — First Monday in March, first Monday in June, first Mon-
day in September and first Monday in December.

Putnam — Third Tuesday in March, third Tuesday in Jul\- and
third Tuesday in November.

SEVENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT— John B. Wilkinson, Judge,
Logan.

Boone — -Second Monday in March, second Mondaj' in June, second
Monday in September and second Monday in December. ,

Logan — Second Monday in January, second Monday in April,
second Monday in July and second Monday in October.

Wayne — Second Alonday in February, second Monday in May,
second Monday in August and second Monday in November.

EIGHTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT— Isaiah C. Herndon, Judge,
Welch.

Mercer — Second Tuesday in May, second Tuesday in August ami
fourth Tuesday in November.

McDowell — Second Tuesday in February, second Tuesday in June
and second Tuesday in September.

Alonroe — Second Tuesday in April, second Tuesday in July and
second Tuesday in November.

NINTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT— James H. ^/iller, Judge, Hinton.

Raleigh — Third Monday' in February, first Monday in May, fourth
Monday in August and first Monday in December.

Wj'oming — First Monday in Alarch, fourth Monday in May, third
Monday in September and third Monday in November.

■Summers — First Monday in January, second Monday in March,
second Monday in June and first Monday in October.

TENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT— Sanuul D. Liltlepage, Judge,
Charleston.

Clay — First Monday in January, first Monday in April, third Mon-
day in June and second Monday in October.

Kanawha — Second Monday in February, second Alonday in .M;>.y,
second Monday in September and fourth Monday in November.

ELEVENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT— \\illiam L. Lee, Judge,
Fayetteville.

Fayette — Second Tuesday in February, second Tuesday in ' .

and third Tuesday in September.

552 History of West Virginia

TWELFTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT— Wm. D. O'Brien, Judge,
Buckhannon.

Webster — Third Tuesday in January, fourth Tuesday in May and
third Tuesday in September.

Upshur — Second Monday in March, first Monday in July and
second Monday in November.

THIRTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT— Haymond Maxwell,
Judge, Clarksburg.

Lewis — First Monday in March, first Monday in July and first
Monday in November.

Harrison — First Monday in January, first Mondaj^ in May and
first Monday in September.

FOURTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT— William S. Haymond,
Judge, Fairmont.

Marion — First Thursday after the first Monday in February, the
first daj' of May and the first Thursday after the first Monday in
October.

FIFTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT— Neil J. Fortney, Judge,
Kingwood.

Taylor — Second Tuesda}^ in January, fourth Tuesday in April and
second Tuesdaj^ in September.

Preston — Second Tuesdaj^ in March, second Tuesday in June and
third Tuesday in November.

SIXTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT— F. M. Reynolds, Judge,
Keyser.

Grant— First Tuesday in April, second Tuesday in July and third
Tuesdaj' in November.

Mineral — Third Tuesday in January, third Tuesdaj' in April,
fourth Tuesday in July and third Tuesday in October.

Tucker — Second Tuesday in March, first Tuesday in June, first
Tuesday in September and first Tuesday in December.

SEVENTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT— R. W. Dailey, Judge,
Romney.

HaniDshire — First Tuesday in January, first Tuesday in March,
first Tuesday in July and third Tuesday in September.

Hard}^ — Third Tuesday in February, third Tuesda}' in June and
third Tuesday in October.

Pendleton — Third Monday in March, fourth Monda}^ in July and
first Mondaj^ in December.

EIGHTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT— J. A'l. Woods, Judge,
Martinsburg.

Morgan — First Tuesday in January, first Tuesday in April ar.d
first Tuesday in September.

Berkeley — Second Tuesday in January, third Tuesday in April and
second Tuesday in September.

Jefferson — Second Tuesday in February, third Tuesday in May
and third Tuesday in October.

NINETEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT— Warren B. Kittle,
Judge, Philippi.

Barbour — Second Tuesday in January, second Thursday in April
and second Tuesday in September.

Randolph — Second Tuesdaj^ in February, second Tuesday in Yay
and second Tuesday in October.

History of West Virginia 553

TWENTIETH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT— Charles S. Dice, Judge,
Lewisbiirg.

Greenbrier — Tliird Tuesday in April, fourth Tuesda}' in June and
third Tuesday in November.

Pocahontas — First Tuesday in April, fourth Tuesday in July, i'nsl
Tuesday in December.

TWENTY-FIRST JUDICIAL CIRCUIT— Jake Fisher, Judge,
Sutton.

Braxton — Third Monday in March, second Alondaj' in July and
third Monday in November.

Nicholas — Fourth Tuesday in January, second Tuesday' in June
and first Tuesday in October.

TWENTY-SECOND JUDICIAL CIRCUIT— James Damcrc.n,
Judge, Williamson.

Mingo — First Monday in February, first Monday in May, first
Monday in August and first Monday in November.

Wj^oming — First Monday in April, first Monday in July and first
Monday in October.

TWENTY-THIRD JUDICIAL CIRCUIT— George C. Sturgiss,
Judge, Morgantown.

Monongalia — First Monday in January, first Monday in April,
first Monday in July and first Monday in October.

JUDGES OF INTERMEDIATE AND CRIMINAL COURTS.

County. Name. Address.

Cabell Thomas W. Tajdor . . . Huntington

Fayette J. T. Simms Fayetteville

Harrison James W . Robinson . . Clarksburg

Kanawha Henry K. Black Charleston

Marion G. A. Vincent Fairmont

Mercer J. F. Maynard Bluefield

McDowell James F. Strother... .Welch

Ohio A. H. Robinson. . . . V\'heeling

Raleigh T. J. McGinnis B«ckley

\\'ood F. "H. McGregor J'arkersbur.^

COUNTY OFFICERS.

Prosecuting Attorneys. .

County. Name. Address.

Barbour Albert C. Jenkins Philippi

Berkeley W. W. Downey Martinsburg.

Boone John B. Hager Madison.

Braxton James E. Cutlip Sutton.

Brooke William M. Werkman . Wellsburg.

Cabell Henry Simms Huntington.

Calho.'.n Albert Smith Grantsville.

Clay . . . T. O. Horan Clay.

Doddridge A. F. McCue West I'nion.

Fayette C. R. Summerfield Fayetteville.

Gilmer T^. H. Barnett Glenville.

Grant E. M. Johnson Petersburg.

Greenbrier Mark L. Jarrett Lewisburg.

Hampshire Robert \\'hitc Romney.

554 History of West Virginia

County. Name. Address.

Hancock Frank L. Bradley New Cumberland.

Hardy J. Ed. Chipley Moorefield.

Harrison A. Judson Findley Clarksburg.

Jackson N. C. Prickett Ravenswood.

Jefferson George D. Moore Charles Town.

Kanawha T. C. Townsend Charleston.

Lewis Henry F. Rymer Weston

Lincoln E. E. Young Hamlin

Logan John Chafin Logan

Marion Tusca Morris Fairmont

Marshall J. D. Parriott Moundsville

Mason F. G. Musgrave Point Pleasant

Mercer A. M. Sutton Princeton

Mineral Emory L. Tyler Keyser

Mingo J. L. Stafford Williamson

Monongalia Chas. A. Goodwin Morgantown

Monroe W. H. Copeland Union

Morgan H. W. Bayer Berkeley Springs

McDowell F. C. Cook Welch

Nicholas J. M. Wolverton Richwood

Ohio R. M. Addleman Wheeling

Pendleton William McCoy Franklin

Pleasants M. L. Barron Maxwell

Pocahontas S. H. Sharp Marlinton

Preston A. G. Hughes Kingwood

Putnam C. C. Knapp Winfield

Raleigh J. L. Hutchinson Beckley

Randolph H. G. Kump Elkins

Ritchie Thomas J. Davis Harrisville

Roane H. C. Ferguson Spencer

Summers T. N. Read Hinton

Taylor Gene W. Ford Grafton

Tucker Wayne K. Pritt Parsons

Tyler O. B. Conaway Aliddlebourne

Upshur . Jerome Dailey Buckhannon

Wayne .' . . D. B. Hardwick Wayne

Webster ..W. L. Wooddell Webster Springs

Wetzel Glen Snodgrass New Martinsville

Wirt S. W. Cain Elizabeth

Wood H. O. Hiteshew Parkersburg

Wyoming J. Albert Toler Pineville

Clerks of Circuit Courts.

Counts^ Name. Address.

Barbour" C. W. Brandon Philippi

Berkeley L. DeW. Gerhardt Martinsburg

Boone F. T. Miller Madison

Braxton C. H. Bland Sutton

Brooke Frank E. Foster Wellsburg

Cabell R. W. McWilliams .... Hundngton

Calhoun C. C. Starcher Gran i sville

Clav H. M. Young Clay

Doddridge J- O. Wilcox West Union

Fayette Floyd Keller Fayetteville

Gilmer I- N. Hardman Glenville

Grant I^- P- Hendrickson .... Pet-ersburg

History of West Virginia 555

County. Name. Address.

Greenbrier H. C. Skaggs Lew isburg

Hampshire V. M. Poling Romney

Hancock Thos. M. Cochran Now Cunibcrlaiui

Hardy C. B. \V elton Al ooretield

Harrison I. Wade Coffman Clarksburg

J ackson M. C. Archer Ripley

Jefferson John M. Daniel Charles Town

Kanawha .Ira Mottsheard Charleston

Lewis John H. Conrad Weston

Lincoln W. H. F. Curry Hamlin

Logan Scott Justice Logan

Marion Wm. S. Black Fairmont

Marshall \'ictor E. Myers Mounib\iile

Mason Charles Burton Point i^.-asant

Mercer W. B. Honaker Princeicn

Mineral J. V. Bell Keyser

iVJingo Guy White Willi '.; ,son

Monongalia John Shriver Morgan town

Monroe R. P. Boyd Union

Morgan W. H. Webster Berke'e, .Spring,

McDowell W. B. Payne Welch

Nicholas Jennings J. Summers . .Summersville

Ohio John L. Kinghorn Wheeling

Pendleton L E. Batton Franklin

Pleasants W. R. Carson St. Marys

Pocahontas Geo. W. Sharp Marlinton

Preston J. W. Watson Kingwood

Putnam W. E. Hodges Winfield

Raleigh Jackson Smith Beckley

Randolph G. N. Wilson Elkins

Ritchie H. E. McGinnis Harrisville

Roane L. O. Curtis Spencer

Summers W. H. Boude Hinton

Taylor M. D. Allender Grafton

Tucker Lawrence Lipscomb .Parsons

Tyler J. G. Mayfield Middlebourne

Upshur A. J. Zickefoose Buckiiannon

Wayne G. \V. Frazier Wayne

Webster John R. Dyer Webster Springs

Wetzel W. J. Postlethwait ... New Martinsville

Wirt . .Walter Hoffman Elizabeth

Wood Walter E. Stout Parkersburg

Wyoming E. M. Senter Pineville

Clerks of County Courts.

County. Name. .Address.

Barbour ....S. F. Hoffman Philippi

Berkeley E. A. Hobbs Marlinsburg

Boone Wm. Osborne Madison

Braxton E. W. Hefner Sutton

Brooke K. C. Brashear Wcllsburg

Cabell F. F. AfcCullough Huntin.uton

Calhoun S. W. McClung Grantsville

Clay James Reed .Clay

Doddridge L^. G. Summers W^est L'nion

Favette S. T. Carter Fayetteville

556 History of West Virginia

County. Name. Address.

Gilmer N. E. Rymer Glenville

Grant D. P. Hendrickson ... Peter.'iburg

Greenbrier John S. Crawford Lewisburg

Hampshire C. W. Haines Romney

Hancock Armour S. Cooper... New Cumberland

Hardy C. B. Welton Moorefield

Harrison W. Guy Tetrick Clarksburg

Jackson C. C. Staats Ripley

Jefferson Charles A. Johnson . . . Charles Town

Kanawha L. C. Massey Charleston

Lewis H. W. Lightburn Weston

Lincoln W. C. Holstein. - Hamlia

Logan W. L Campbell Logan

Marion John F. Phillips Fairmont

Marshall John E. Chase jMoundsville

Mason R. E. M itchell Point Pleasant

Mercer E. L. Bowman Princeton

Mineral J. V. Bell Key.ser

A ingo James Damron Williamson

Monongalia John M. Gregg Morgantown

Monroe ° E. S. McNeer Union

Morgan M. S. Harmison Berkeley Springs

McDowell Robert B. Bernheim.. Welch

Nicholas P. N. Wiseman Summersville

Ohio John H. Wells Wheeling

Pendleton L E. Batfon Franklin

Pleasants R. L. Griffin St. Marys

Pocahontas C. J. McCarty Marlinton

Preston E. C. Everly Kingwood

Putnam J. M. Henson Winfield

Raleigh M. J. Meadows Beckley

Randolph F. A. Rowan Elkins

Ritchie W. R. Meservie Harrisville

Roane W. A. Cai-penter Spencer

Summers W. P. Bowling Hinton

Taylor Howard Fleming Grafton

Tucker S. O. Billings Parsons

Tyler ]. W. Duty ^-^ iddlebourne

Upshur Ernest Phillips Buckhannon

Wayne John G. Lambert Wayne

Webster S. P. Allen Webster Springs

Wetzel Sylvester Myers New Martinsyille

Wirt L' p. Thorn'. Elizabeth

Wood William Dudley Parkersburg

Wyoming B. H. E. Stewart Pineville

Sheriffs.

County. Names. Address.

Barbour Arthur F. Bennett Philippi

Berkeley .E. H. Tabler Martinsburg

Boone Walter W. Smoot Danville

Braxton Russell N. Rolyson. .. Sutton

Brooke George H. Patterson. .Wellsburg

Cabell P. C. Buffington Huntington

Calhoun Robert J. Knotts Frozen

Clay C. U. .Summers Ivydale •

History of West Virginia ?^7

County. Name. Address.

Doddridge Kli Nutter West Lnion

Fayette T. J. Davis Montgomery

Gilmer J. R. Garrett .Sand Fork

Grant Dr. VV. T. Highberger . .\f aysville

Greenbrier Wm. A. Boone Organ Cave

Hampshire J. N. Sirbaugh Capon Bridge

Hancock J. S. D. Mercer New Cumberland

Hardy "O. S. Fisher Mooreheld

Harrison Ross F Stout Clarksburg

Jackson R. P. Shinn Ripley

Jefferson J. VV. Gardner Shepherd.stown

Kanawha feonner H. Hill Cheylan

Lewis John A. Chittum Weston

Lincoln Henry Miller GrifTithsville

Logan Don Chafin Logan

Alarion C. D. Conaway I'airmont

Marshall C. E. Hutchinson Aloundsville

Mason F. E. Blemci- Mason

Mercer W. W. Hamilton Bramweli

Mineral C. E Ncthkin Keyser

Mingo G. \Y Hatfield Williamson

Monongalia John B. Wallace Morgantown

Monroe C. T. Sibold Dorr

Morgan H. M. Ruppenthal Berkeley Sprinp,.>

McDowell T. Frank Johnson Welch

Nicholas lettes IVlollohan Summersville

Ohio \. T. Svveeney Wheeling

Pendleton L. D. Trumbo Brandy wine

Pleasant? S. V. Riggs St. ]\f arys

Pocahontas L. S. Cochran Marlinton

Preston H. Foster Hartman .. .Terra Alta

Putnam E. W. Wick Winfield

Raleigh George W. Thompson . Odd

Randolph A. J. Crickard Valley Bend

Ritchie Creed C. McKinley .... Harrisville

Roane J . P. Price Spencer

Summers D. M. Meador T^Iinton

Taylor Lee Bennett Grafton

Tucker Albert C. Minear Parsons

Tyler Lloyd H. Morris Aliddlebourne

LTpshur H. A. Zickefoose Buckhannon

Wayne J. S. Billups Wayne

Webster O. C. Terrell Cleveland

Wetzel Clarence M. Stone .... New Martinsville

Wirt F. E. Badger Elizal>eth

W^ood Wm. Devore Parkersburg

Wyoming Charley Short Baileysville

County Superintendents of Free Schools

County. Name. Address.

Barbour Clerphas Afarsch Pliilippi

Berkeli;y W. W. Nelson Turtle Creek

Boone E. N. Zeilor Inwood

Braxton W. B. Golden Flatwoods

Brooke S. C. Underwood A\'ellsburg

Cabell J. C. Petit Ona

558 History of West Virginia

County. Name. Address.

Calhoun Wheeler Chenowith . . .ErcUi

Clay J. F. Wilson Clay

Doddridge L. L. Sadler West Union

Fayette J. T. Peters Dothan

Gilmer j. E. Hays Troy

Grant H. F. Groves Maysville

Greenbrier Charles Tabscott Richlands

Hampshire Ira V. Cowgill Romney

Hancock H. O. Iv'Jiller... ... Pughtown

Hardy L. S. H?lterman Lost River

Harrison A. P. I\Iorrison Clarksburg

Jackson P. H. Rardin Sherman

Jefferson James Grantham. ... .Kearney.sville

Kanawha N. W. Cavender Charleston

Lewis M. L. B. Linger Weston

Lincoln Henry F. White Easy

Logan L. E. Browning Logan

Marion VV. M. Kennedy Fairniont

Marshall H. W. McDowell Glen Faston

Alason C. D. Ball Letan-

Mercer James F. Holroyd. . . Athen.^

Alineral Richard W. Th rush. . . Key.ier

iVIingo Hi Maynard Myrtle

Monongalia H. E. Brookove/ AJ orfyantown

Monroe Wheeler R. Fallen. Sal- sulphur Sprii't::.

Morgan x\. D. H. Alichael Berkeley Spring.-;

AlcDowell W. C. Cook Wel.rS

Nicholas Harrison Groves Summersville

Ohio J. H. Lazear Fulton Sta., Wheehrr;

Pendleton . Flick Warner Franklin

Pleasants G. C. McTaggart Eureka

Pocahontas B. B. Williams . .- Cass

Preston W^illis Fortney I ndependence

Putnam J. C. Fish Red House

Raleigh U. S. Dickens Beckley

Randolph W. J. Long Valley Bend

Ritchie R. B. Cokeley Harrisville

Roane A. L. Thrash.... Reedy

Summers . .~ W. T. Ball Hinton

Taylor , Dellet Newlon Grafton

Tucker C. R. Parsons Porterwood

Tyler A. L. Gregg Middlebourne

Upshur J. H. Ashworth Buckhannon

Wayne O. J. Rife Wayne

Webster George R. Morton. . . .Lanes Bottom

Wetzel Charles KisHg New Martinsville

Wirt Ross Wilson Hartley

Wood Edgar B. Sims WilHamstown

Wyoming Chester H. Cook Pineville

County Surveyors.

County. Name. Address.

Barbour Ellsworth Wilson Belington

Berkeley Henry H. Hess Martinsburg

Boone B. F. Hall Ramage

Braxton G. H. Cunningham .... BulltOAvn

History of West Virginia 559

County. Name. Address.

Brooke AT. E. Boyd Wellsburg

Cabell J. M. Oliver Huntington

Calhoun D. W. Shock Doddrill

Clay P. N. King Boniont

Doddridge C. C. Freeman Big Isaac

Fayette Earl McVey .Victor

Gilmer J. E. Bell Glenville

Grant S A. Stonestreet Streby

Greenbrier James W. Rader... . Lewisburg

Hampshire E. J. Loy Ford Hill

Hancock E. C. Grafton New Cumberland

Hardy J. W. KuykenduU . . . Moorefield

Harrison C. A. Osijorn Clarksburg

Jackson Herbert Skeen Kentuck

Jefferson .J. K. Kendricks Charles Town

Kanawha A. E. Price Blue Creek

Lewis P. F. Flesher Freemansburg

Lincoln Delmer Hill Caldona

Logan C. G. Curry Coalmer

Marion Frank J. Wilfong . . Fairmont

Marshall R. C. Yolio Aloundsville

Mason George E. Cliihls Point Plea.sant

Mercer F. E. \\ alker Matoaka

Mineral J. L. Hott Keyser

Mingo J. L. Ferrell Williamson

Monongalia A. L. Hea.lley Fairview

Monroe C. P. Lewis Sweet Springs

Morgan . T. N. Fries Berkeley .Springs

McDowell Harr\' J. Brook Welch

Nicholas R. O'. Odell Pearl

Ohio O. S. Koller Wheeling

Pendleton Z. AL Nelson Nome

Pleasants John Triplett Willow

Pocahontas E. H. Williams Marlinton

Preston S. R. Guesman Reedsville

Putnam .J. T. Lanhani Lanliam

Raleigli W. J. Scarboroug" . ..Beckley

Randolph A. W. Schoonover . Alontrose

Ritchie Tohn A. Pew Cairo

Roane P. T. Radabaugh . . . . Spencer

.Summers H. L. Batten. .... Pence Spring

Taylor R. A. Marrow Bridgeport

Tucker Joe K. Grubb Parsons

Tyler Charles P. Clar): .... Sistersville

L^pshur Claude Burr Buckhannon

Wayne Basil S. Burgess Wayne

Webster I'. B. Cogar Webster Springs

Wetzel I. M. Cochran Reader

Wirt H. F. Pell •. Creston

W^ood H. J. Ross Parkerslnirg

Wyoming L. R. Hash Rockview

County Assessors.

County. Name. Address.

Barbour E. E. Alusick \'arney

Berkelej' ..John W. Dodd Martinsburg

560 History of West Virginia

Countjr. Name. Address.

Boone C. C. Hopkins Danville

Braxton . C. G. Perkins Gassaway

Brooke Ed M. Smith Wellsburg

Cabell Homer Melrose Huntington

Calhoun , Wm. J. Sturm Hur

Clay Alex. Summers Valley Fork

Doddridge C. H. Pigott Central Station

Fayette C. H. Settle Fayette ville

Gilmer Sam E. West Auburn

Grant George E. Ours Dorcas

Greenbrier James W. McClung. . . Lewisburg

Hampshire E. H. Blue Romney

Hancock Robert C. Evans New Cumberland

Hardy J. W. F. Combs Needmore

Harrison Howard Robinson Rosebud

Jackson J. M. Staats Gay

Jefferson Floyd I-. Watson Kearney sville

Kanawha Henry A. Walker. . . . Charleston

Lewis W. O. Lunsford W^eston

Lincoln June C. Messenger. . . .Sheridan

Logan George Justice Logan

Marion James W. Davis Worthington

Marshall W. L. Nolte Benwood

Mason W. W. Rowsey Ruby

Mercer J. J. Via Via

Mineral F. C. Patton Elk Garden

Mingo Conej' E. Corder Williamson

Monongalia Norman Garrison Core

Monroe H. T. Neel Gap Mills

Morgan Perkins Courtney Berkeley Springs

AdicDowell Charles E. Rusmisell . McDowell

Nicholas W.S.Henderson Delphi

Ohio William Hankey Wheeling

Pendleton Elmer Lambert Riverton

Pleasants W. H. Myers Finch

Pocahontas William Gibson Marlinton

Preston Ezra B. Hanger Terra Alta

Putnam R. A. Raynes Buffalo

Raleigh John x\nderson Beckley

Randolph Jasper N. Phares Gilman

Ritchie "W. M. Nutter Iris

Roane B. S. Ray Spencer

-Summers Carry N. Vass Marie

Taylor Melvin Newlon Grafton

Tucker S. C. Simpson Parsons

Upshur N. C. Cutright Bnckhannon

Wayne P. Frazier Wayne

Weisster Walter Cool Diana

Wetzel David H. McMillen . . . 'M^w ^'rartinsville

Wirt Carl E. McCoy Palestine

Wood T. W. Fiinn Parkersburg

Wyoming W. B. Belcher Pineville

INDEX

\OLUAIE ONK.

CHAPTER I

Page
America Anterior to Columbus — Prehistoric Races

CHAPTER II

America's Destiny — Her Past and Future. — The Average Alan

(A Poem) 12

CHAPTER III

Explorations in America by French and English. — Their Base of

Contention for Ownership 21

CHAPTER IV

The Founding of Virginia. — \irginia Company of London — Set-
tlement of Jamestown — Captain Smith Captured by the
Indians — His Life Saved bj- Pocahontas — Recontre with
Paspahegh and What Followed — Additional Colonists —
Anarchy — Meeting at West's Settlement — Smith Returns to
England — Arrival of Lord Delaware — Tobacco Culture — In-
tro(luction of Negro Slavery— Death of Powhatan — Ope-
chananough's Conspiracy and Subsequent Attack LTpon the
Settlement — Beginning of the Evolution of American
Liberty — Continued Trouble with the Indians — Death of.
Opechananough — Sketch of John Smith — Pocahontas 30

CHAPTER V

Exploration and Early Settlements in West Virginia. — First Dis-
coveries by While Men^The First White Settlers — Memo-
randum by Jolin Stuart 51

CHAPTER VI

Manners and Customs of the Early Pioneers in West Virginia.

The Fort — Tlic Wedding — House A\ arming — Early Trials
and Hardships — A I'ioneer Wedding 74

CHAPTER VII

The French and Indian War. — Kxi)e(liiic)n of General Braddock —
March of the Britisli Army — The Battle on the Mononga-
hcla — Braddock's Defeat — Braddock's Monument 100

ii Index

CHAPTER VIII

Page
French and Indian War (Continued). — Attack Upon Fort
Duquesne — Its Surrender — Peace Declared — The Leaden
Plates 115

CHAPTER IX

Lord Dunmore's War. — Building of Fort Fincastle — McDonald's
Expedition Against the Ohio Indians — Battle of Point
Pleasant — Death of Cornstalk — History of Erection of Monu-
ment at Point Pleasant 122

CHAPTER X

The Revolutionary War. — Resolutions of Thanks to Lord Dun-
more — A Change of Sentiment — Lord Dunmore's Abdication
of Office as Governor of Virginia — Unrest of American Colo-
nists— Patrick Henry — A Letter from Washington — Capture
of Ticonderoga — -Battle of Bunker's Hill — Equipment of
Virginia Troops — Declaration of Bill of Rights — Declaration
of Independence 146

CHAPTER XI

Revolutionary War (Continued). — Battle at Fort Henry, Wheel-
ing— The Powder Incident and Betty Zane 153

CHAPTER XII

Names, Location and Date of Establishment of Forts in West

Virginia 159

CHAPTER XIII

Wrongs by Whites. — Murder of Cornstalk, the Great Indian
Chief; and Adam Stroud, Captain Bull and Their Families
by the Whites 182

CHAPTER XIV

Murder of the Moravian Indians. — The Greatest Crime Ever

Perpetrated in the Annals of W^arfare 188

CHAPTER XV

Indian Wars and Massacres. — Attack on Fort Seybert — Battle of
the Trough — Capture of Mrs. Neff — Her Escape to Fort
Pleasant — Pursuit by the Indians — The Fight — Battle with
Shawnees near Edward's Fort — Bingamon's Adventure with
Indians near Petersburg, Hardy County — Other Indian
Depredations on the South Branch — Indian Troubles on the
Monongahela — Attack on the Brains and Powells on Snowy
Creek, in Preston County — Capture of Leonard Schoolcraft
in Buchannon Settlement — Death of Captain Booth and
Capture of Nathaniel Cochran on Booth's Creek — Famous
Adventure of David Morgan and Children, near Prickett's
Fort — Death of John Owens and John Juggins — Escape of
Owen Owens and Son of John Owens — Death of John Ice

Index

111

Page

and James Snodgrass, in Wetzel County — The Story of
Crow's Run — Murder of Edward Doolin — Story of the
Dragoos, or The Two Half-Indians — Murder of the School-
craft Family in Buchannon Settlement — Indians Attack
Samuel Cottrails at Clarksburg — Invasion of Tygart's Val-
ley Attack on the Bozarth Home on Dunkirk Creek — Fate

of Nathaniel Davisson on Ten Mile — Killing of Lieutenant
White on Tygart's Valley — Another Attack on Martins Fort. 195

CHAPTER XVI

Indian Wars (Continued). — Attack on Thomas Family, on Booth's
Creek — Removal from Booth's Creek to Simpson's Creek —
Pursuit of the Indians — Murder of Settlers on Crooked Run —
Another Invasion of Tygart's \'alley— Attack on West's Fort
and Removal of People to Buchannon — Adventure of
Jeremiah Curl, Henry Fink and Others — Pursuit of the
Indians by the Whites, and the Running Fight and Recapture
of Stolen Property — Murder of the Mclntires, and Pursuit
of the Indians — First Siege of Fort Henry at Wheeling —
Ambuscade of Captain Goreman and Men at Grave Creek
Narrows, in Marshall County — Removal of Remains to
Moundsville Cemetery 225

CHAPTER XVII

Indian Wars (Continued). — Fate of Inhabitants at Harbert's
Fort — Appearance of Savages near West's Fort — Incidents
near Coburn and Stradler's Forts — Attack on Fort Ran-
dolph— Troubles at Clark's Fort, in Marshall County — The
Johnson Boys' Adventure with Indians — Captivity of Mrs.
Glass — The Jolley Family — Death of Captain Van Buskirk —
The Tush Episode — Attack on Mr. Armstrong at Blenner-
hassett's Island, in Wood County 241

CHAPTER XVIII

Biographic Sketches and Personal Adventure. — Lewis Wetzel —
Andrew Poe and His Fight with "Big Foot" — Col. William
Crawford — Col. Ebenezer Zane and Brothers — Major Samuel
McColloch — Isaac Williams — George Washington — The
Washington Family in West Virginia — Washingtons in
England — Gen. Andrew Lewis 261

CHAPTER XIX

John Brown's Raid at Harper's Ferry. — Capture, Trial and

Execution of Brown and Companions 326

CHAPTER XX

Causes Leading to the Formation of West Virginia. — An Ordi-
nance of Secession — Correspondence of Jefferson Davis —
Organization of Army and Capture of Government Property. 362

iv Index

CHAPTER XXI

Page
Formation of West Virginia. — Proceedings of First Convention
of the People of Northwestern Virginia, at Wheeling — List
of Delegates by Counties — Letter to the People of North-
western Virginia — Beginning of the Restored Government —
Meeting of the General Assembly — An Ordinance to Provide
for Formation of New State — Proclamation of Abraham
Lincoln. 383

CHAPTER XXII

The Southern Version of the Causes Leading to the Civil War.. 437

CHAPTER XXIII

The Civil War in West Virginia. — Firing of Factories and Blowing
Up of Arsenal at Harper's Ferry — Battle in Cabell County —
Gathering of Confederate Troops at Clarksburg — The Affair
at Righter's — Gen. George B. McClellan of the Federal and
General Garnett of the Confederates Take Command — Mus-
tering in of Troops — Death of George W. McBride, late of
Twenty-fifth O. V. I., the Kanawha Sharp-shooters — Battle
on Scary Creek — General Kelly — Suspension of U. S. Mail
Services — General Johnson at Harper's Ferry — Battle near
Falling Waters — "Stonewall" Jackson's First Battle — Skir-
mish at Blue Sulphur Springs — Battle near Carnifax Ferry-
Fight at Fayetteville — Federals Retreat to Cotton Hill —
Camp Piatt — Charleston — Battle at Camp Barteau and With-
drawal of Federals to Rich Alountain — Federals Again
Defeated at Camp Allegheny — Federals Ambush at High Log
Run, in Wirt County — Federals Attack at Guyandotte
Bridge — Federals Fire Proctorville — Battle at Lewisburg —
Skirmish at Kenneth's Hill — Surrender of Federals at Har-
I per's Ferry — Engagement at Hurricane Bridge — Steamer
'; Victor Fired Upon — Another Hot Engagement at Point
Pleasant, and Account of the Killing of Col. Andrew Wag-
gener — Celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the First
Land Engagement of the Civil War, at Philippi 454

CHAPTER XXIV

The Civil War in West Virginia (Continued). — Burning of Oil
Tanks at Burning Springs — Engagement at White Sulphur
Springs — Battle at Headwaters of Sandy Lick — Battle at
Droop Mountain — Engagement at Fairmont — Capture of
Crook and Kelley — Rosser's Raids at Keyser and Beverly —
The Conclusion of the Civil War — Roster of West Virginia
Troops 474

CHAPTER XXV.

Capitals and Capitols, and Other Public Buildings of West
Virginia. — The "Floating Capitol" — Election Returns — List
and Description of State Institutions 501

CHAPTER XXVI

Names of All State Officials from the Formation of the State to

1914 544

Index V

CHAPTER XXVII

Page

List of County and State Officials 1913 547

Note. — For Chapters 28 to 41, see Volume 2.

ILLUSTRATIONS

Representatives from Western \'irginia on Their Way to Rich-
mond in the Early Days 73

Plan of Battle at Point Pleasant 145

Elizabeth Zane 156

Edward Doolin's Grave 216

Site of File's Cabin 224

John Wetzel's Grave 265

McColloch's Leap 301

Round Barn, near Elkins , 500

Governor Hatfield 539

State Auditor Darst 540

State Treasurer Long 541

Secretary of State Reed 542

State Tax Commissioner Blue 543

k NEW WEST VIRGINIA

HISTORY By t MYERS

Valuable Data of State Con-
tained in Two Interesting
Volumes.

Wit>i the compliments of the
author, Sylve^ ter Myers of New
iviaruusviile, a new history of
West Virginia reaches the Re-
porter office, and a casual ex-
amination of the work indicates
the condensation of much very
valuable and highly interesting
data of the state in the two
volumes.

This history differs from, many
others, in that the author has
^; 'begun with the begining."
There are chapters dealing with '
the first settlement of this coun-
try and leading on down through
the formation of the

state and up to happenings as
late as June 1915. The author
is a very pleasing writer, he has
the ability to put his data in
such shape as to make it highly
entertaining, and he does not
SDoil his work with t( o much
of "dry facts, " as do so many
historians.

Myers' History of West Vir-
ginia is in two volumes, 6x9.
substantially and neatly bound
in silk cloth and contains 1039
pages. It contains much val-
uable information not of a his-
torical character, and is a book
suitable for all classes of people
Your West Virginia library will
be greatly enhanced in value by
the addition of these volumes.
George W. King, of Wanego, W
Va.,isi -^ Rome County age./,
for the history. The price is
$3.50.

\

J a-

^

OCT 2 - 195e