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A HISTORY
OF
HIGHLAND COUNTY
VIRGINIA
BY
OREN F. MORTON, B. L.
AUTHOR OF "UNDER THE COTTONWOODS" "WINNING OR LOSING" "LAND OF THE LAUREL" "A HISTORY OF PENDLETON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA " "PIONEER FAMILIES OF PRESTON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA"
MONTEREY ... VIRGINIA
PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR
COPYRIGHTED, 1911 BY OREN F. MORTON
THE STONE PRINTING AND MANUFACTURING CO. ROANOKE, VA.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART I
PAGE
Chapter
I Descriptive.
7
II While the Indian was Here.
27
III The European Forefathers. 34
IV America in 1745
46
V Colonial Virginia.
50
VI Exploration Beyond the Mountains.
57
VII Early Days of Settlement
67
VIII
The Time of Indian Peril.
74
IX Highland Under the British Crown.
86
X The Dunmore War and the Revolution
100
XI Under Pendleton and Bath.
107
XII The New County
114
XIII
Highland in the War of 1861
118
XIV
Churches and Fraternities.
142
XV Schools and the Professions.
150
XVI Towns, Villages, and Hamlets
158
XVII
Land Ownership.
163
XVIII
Civil Officers. 180
XIX
Highland Militia 184
XX
Highland Soldiers. 189
XXI
The Negro in Highland.
211
XXII The Highlander Abroad
216
XXIII Biographic Paragraphs
221
XXIV The Highland of To-day and To-morrow
227
PART II
Section
I Given Names and Surnames. 236
II Classification of Highland Families 241
III Explanatory
245
IV Outline Sketch of Pioneer Families.
250
V Adjunct Families. 254
VI Pioneer and Sub-Pioneer Families.
256
VII Border Families 353
VIII Recent Families. 373
IX Extinct Families. 377
APPENDIX
PAGE
A Population in Different Years
390
B The Settlers of 150 Years Ago
391
C Tithables in 1822
391
D Householders in 1848.
394
E Statistical Items
395
F Act of Assembly Establishing Highland
396
G Boundary Survey of 1848.
399
H Church Letter of William Wilson.
401
I Surveys in Bath, 1744-6
402
J School Statistics.
403
K Post Offices, Past and Present.
405 406
M Appraisement of Seybert Estate. 407
408
0 Soldier's Oath, 1777.
408
P Attest of Naturalization
408
Q Tavern Prices in Colonial Days
409
R Prices of Store Goods in 1820
411
S Sundry Prices in Former Years. 412
T Regent's Letter to Charles P. Jones
414
U The Hooke Family 416
MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS
Map of Highland County
Opposite
Title
A Pasture in Highland
Opposite
1
Crabbottom Gap
Opposite 24
A House of the Indian Period
Opposite 48
The Fort Meadow
. Opposite
64
Site of the Wilson Home
Opposite
84
Map of the McDowell Battlefield
Opposite
128
The Town of McDowell
Opposite
136
The Town of Monterey
. Opposite
160
A Highland Farm-house of To-day
Opposite
176
Powder House Key
Opposite
184
L Bond by James Knox
N Servant's Indenture.
A PASTURE IN HIGHLAND Looking east through Vanderpool Gap to Sounding Knob
Phot'd by A. C. Suddarth
FOREWORD
T HIE work of collecting material for this history of Highland was begun in last September. Nearly every portion of the county was visited, as well as the courthouses of Orange, Augusta, Pendleton, and Bath. The archives at Richmond were also consulted. Several books were likewise examined which have a direct bearing on the annals of this region.
Compilers of local history often give the greater share of space to biographic mention of contemporary citizens, a feature which they contrive to make remunerative. But aside from such perma- nent value as these articles may possess, it would seem scarcely a fair deal to single out certain individuals for genealogic tracing, ignoring meanwhile the collateral lines. Those who are passed over are not always less conspicuous, and the most of them are worthy members of the community.
Instead of tracing backward from the subject of a special sketch, the present writer has preferred to trace forward from the pioneer ancestor, thus giving a comprehensive outline of the entire connection. To accomplish this end a large amount of patient work is necessary, but the appearance of partiality is avoided and the interest of the whole community is awakened.
In a county like Highland the posterity of the pioneers form, with a very few exceptions, the entire body of the population. To know beyond a reasonable doubt that he has a pioneer sire will be of quite as much interest to the Highland man of to-morrow as it is to know that he has a Revolutionary sire, the two persons, indeed, often being one and the same. As yet it is generally possible to trace the line of descent. But oftentimes it is none too easy to do so, and as the older people pass away, the difficulty increases abruptly and very much.
With respect to this feature of his book, the writer does not guarantee its accuracy. The statements given him had to be taken for what they might be worth. Yet he has examined them all with care, making the results more accurate wherever it seemed possible to do so, and throwing out that which was evidently wrong.
When the writer began this effort he was a stranger to High- land county and its people. To a person thus situated there is the possibility of keeping free from bias and treating all persons and all interests with fairness. Yet on the other hand his unfamiliar- ity with his field at the start places him at a disadvantage.
The writer of this volume has sought to preserve for the future such material as could still be gathered. He has intention- ally dwelt more on the pioneer than on the recent period. The knowledge of the former is fast slipping away, and much is already lost beyond recovery. A knowledge of the latter will remain for a while on much firmer ground. Consequently he has not made his book a general directory of Highland as it is to-day. Such a result is not true history. It is a mere description of the passing moment, and begins to fall out of date as soon as the ink is dry.
The book being constructed on a topical plan, an index is not included. Matter appropriate to a particular chapter is ordinarily to be found in that chapter alone.
Some incidental mention is made of Bath County. This fea- ture was not further developed because a history of Bath is con- templated by another person.
While sojourning in Highland the writer has traveled about 547 miles on foot and 266 by conveyance. He has been entertain -. ed in the homes of seventy-two of the citizens. He interviewed 168 persons, besides receiving written communications which would raise the number to nearly 200. He has been treated with unfailing hospitality and cordiality. A warm and helpful interest in his undertaking has everywhere been expressed. The prepara- tion of these annals of an historic county has therefore been attended with pleasure. It is hoped that the book may prove of some lasting value to the people for whom it was written.
A number of the people of Highland have been helpful to the writer in a very marked degree. To certain of them is due the credit of making this book a possibility. That no person might inadvertently be overlooked, mention by name is not given. But he here offers his most sincere thanks to all persons whomsoever who have in any manner aided him in his work.
OREN F. MORTON.
McDowell, Va., Sept., 11, 1911.
CHAPTER I
DESCRIPTIVE
Position of County - Form - Boundaries - Mountains - Valleys - Streams - Springs - Mineral Waters - Geology - Soil - Minerals - Climate - Animals - Vegetation - Scenic Attractions - Adaptability to the Pioneers - Names of Natural Features - Changes in Names.
H ISTORY is not clearly understood without the help of physical geography. Conditions of soil, climate, animal and vegetable life, and the nature of the surface, whether damp or dry, level or mountainous, have very much to do with moulding the habits of the people who settle a new region.
Of the many hundreds of counties in the United States, only two bear the name of Highland. These are in Virginia and Ohio. The south corner of the Virginian county lies only a few miles northwest of the geographic center of the original Old Dominion, the northern Panhandle of the newer state being left out of consideration. In latitude Highland lies be- tween the parallels of 38 degrees, 12 minutes, and 38 degrees, 35 minutes. In longitude it lies between the meridians of 1 degree, 20 minutes, and 1 degree, 48 minutes, west from Wash- ington.
A glance at the map shows that Highland lies in the middle distance between the Canadian border and the Gulf of Mexico. By road the distance from Monterey to Richmond is 182 miles, and to Hampton Roads, where lie the Virginian seaports, the distance is 257 miles. To the great cities of Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York, the distances are 198, 238, 296, and 386 miles, respectively. Looking westward, we find that Chicago, which is second only to New York among American cities, is by air line scarcely more than one-fifth as far away as San Francisco. These comparatively short dis- tances have a bearing on the future of Highland.
A second glance at the map shows that Highland lies al- most in the very center of the Appalachian Uplift. The White
·
8
History of Highland County
Mountains of New Hampshire and the iron-filled hills around Birmingham in Alabama are equidistant from here. Appala- chian America is a large, interesting, and important region. It covers an area equal to that of the British Isles and is su- perior to them in its varied capabilities. It is a land of wooded hills, smiling valleys, wholesome air, and picturesque scenery. Its people are almost wholly of the colonial American stock. A well-known economist has remarked of it that "nowhere else in the United States, in an equal area, is to be found such an opportunity for diversity of employment in agriculture, min- ing, metallurgy, or varied manufactures."
In form the county is an irregular quadrangle, its corners looking nearly toward the four cardinal points of the compass. The transverse distances are about 30 miles in a northerly and 27 miles in an easterly direction. The circumference is slightly above 81 miles, the northern, eastern, southern, and western borders being, respectively, 181/3, 231/3, 161/2, and 222/3 miles. The area, according to the boundary survey of 1848, is 390 square miles. But according to the books of the county sur- veyor, the area is 291,445 acres, or 4553/8 square miles.
East and west Highland has natural boundaries. In the former direction the line follows the crest of the lofty Shenan- doah, or Great North Mountain. In the latter direction it fol- lows the backbone of the Alleghany system. North and south the boundaries are very artificial, being arbitrary lines drawn circuitously between the main Alleghany and the Shenandoah ridges. The bordering counties are Augusta and Bath in Vir- ginia, and Pendleton and Pocahontas in West Virginia.
Between the bordering ranges four parallel elevations run entirely through the county, dividing it into five well-defined valleys. Passing from west to east, we may term these the Alleghany, the Bluegrass, the Monterey, the Bullpasture, and the Cowpasture valleys. Several minor elevations occur, the most conspicuous being Middle Mountain, Little Mountain, and Shaw's Ridge.
In laying off Highland County into its three magisterial districts, these natural divisions have been observed. Blue- grass District includes the Alleghany and Bluegrass valleys.
9
History of Highland County
Monterey District includes only the Monterey Valley, while Stonewall District takes in the Bullpasture and Cowpasture valleys. The first and third are consequently larger than the second. Stonewall District covers 111,512 acres, Bluegrass, 103,739, and Monterey, 76,194.
The Main Alleghany, or Alleghany Front, is fairly regular in altitude, the average being about 4,000 feet. Lantz Moun- tain, forming the eastern border of what we have called the Alleghany Valley, is known in the south as Little Mountain. It is very perceptibly lower than the Alleghany Front and is steeper on its western side. The eastern slope is slightly scal- loped at very short intervals, and against the sky-line the evenness of the summit is broken only by slight prominences corresponding in number with the shallow depressions of which we have spoken.
The next of the principal ridges is known as Back Creek Mountain south of Vanderpool Gap, as Monterey Mountain between Vanderpool and Crabbottom gaps, and as Backbone Mountain north of the latter. It is higher and broader than Lantz Mountain and its crest has less of a saw-tooth appear- ance. Jack Mountain, the next of the Highland ranges, is the most elevated of those lying within the county. In the south and likewise in the north it is a single ridge, but in the center it becomes complex. There are here two closely parallel heights, the western being the watershed, and opposite Mon- terey they connect by a low divide separating the sources of Crab Run and Straight Creek. In the main arm of Jack Moun- tain, four miles south of the county seat, is the commanding eminence of Sounding Knob, 4,400 feet above sea. It is the highest land within the county, and with a clear sky the view from the top is very extensive, even though much is screened by the ranges on either side. North and south the vistas are far-reaching, including even the distant Peaks of Otter. The name of the knob is derived from the hollow sound produced by footfalls on a certain limited spot, apparently the roof of a cavern. From Sounding Knob lateral spurs are thrown off, especially to the west and southwest. Immediately to the north is a very conspicuous depression in the main range,
10
History of Highland County
dividing the waters of Davis Run from those of Dry Branch.
Bullpasture Mountain, the fourth of the leading internal ridges of Highland, is quite high, yet is less a well-defined range than any of the others. It is a belt of table land, occu- pying almost the entire breadth between its bordering rivers and cut by deep ravines into a labyrinth of hills.
East of Bullpasture Mountain is Shaw's Ridge, a low, nar- row, isolated eminence entering from Pendleton and terminat- ing abruptly at the mouth of Shaw's Fork. Still further east is the massive Shenandoah Mountain, its lofty sky-line being quite uneven and showing toward the southeast corner of the county a deep depression. Short lateral spurs, nearly as high as the parent ridge, are thrown out toward the west and sink abruptly into the valley below. Along the flanks of both the main mountain and its spurs are shallow ravines scooped out of the steep slopes by the storms of uncounted years.
Chief among the minor ridges of Highland is Little Moun- tain, a western offshoot of Jack Mountain. It enters from Bath and runs northward until it meets and even passes Dick- son Hill, a divide coming from the direction of Sounding Knob. Another of the minor ridges is Middle Mountain, lying be- tween Lantz Mountain and the Alleghany. Redoak Knob, its culminating point, is 4,300 feet high.
Along the Jack and Back Creek ranges are hills of varying length and moderate height. These are sometimes broken into knob-like prominences by transverse ravines. The conical knob is infrequent in Highland, although a few such projec- tions are thrust up from the eastern face of Back Creek Moun- tain opposite the mouth of Bolar Run. Another is the isolated hill just south of Monterey.
A striking feature of the Appalachian system is the water gap, cleaving a mountain wall to its very base and causing a stream to leave one valley and flow into another. Several of the Highland ridges are interrupted by these narrow clefts. Lantz Mountain is thus broken by Mill Gap and Lower Gap, which are only a few miles apart. The Back Creek Range is interrupted by the Crabbottom Gap, near the north of the county and by Vanderpool Gap near the center. In Little
11
History of Highland County
Mountain is Bolar Gap and in the eastern arm of Jack Moun- tain are a few more, particularly the narrow pass on Crab Run. As passages for highways such gaps are very convenient and are nearly always thus used.
It is now in order to mention the five valleys of Highland. The westernmost, which we call the Alleghany Valley, is deep, quite narrow, and thinly peopled. In the south it is drained by Back Creek, flowing southward. In the north it is drained by Straight Fork, a tributary of the North Fork. Yet this northern section of the Alleghany Valley is in fact double, because of Middle Mountain, a spur of the Alleghany Front. The sub-valley between these two ranges is shallow and there- fore very elevated. It is watered by Laurel Fork, which after meeting Straight Fork, beyond the Pendleton line, becomes known as the North Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac.
The next, or Bluegrass Valley, illustrates two other notable features of the Appalachians. It is crossed by slight divides rendering its drainage complex instead of simple. It is also canoe-shaped, being quite long in comparison with its breadth. Its length, in fact, is that of the county. At the Bath boundary it is brought to an end by interlocking spurs of Back Creek and Lantz mountains. On the Pendleton line it is again shut in in the same manner. In this direction High Knob, nearly as lofty as Sounding Knob, towers midway between the bor- dering ranges causing this end of the valley to have a double termination like the points of a bootjack.
In the northern half of the county, the Bluegrass Valley is much broader than in the southern, and is distinguished by the name of Crabbottom, a contraction of Crabapple Bottom. The upper and middle sections of the Crabbottom are rendered double by a very low ridge. The western and lower part of these sections is curiously interrupted by low, oblong hills, running not with the valley but across it. In the coves on either side of High Knob the surface is very broken. But toward the center is a large expanse of comparatively smooth land, almost suggestive of a Western prairie. This is the orig- inal Crabapple Bottom, the name not having been applied at
12
History of Highland County
first to the entire section of Bluegrass Valley now known as the Crabbottom.
The drainage of the Crabbottom is northward and east- ward, and here is to be found the source of the South Branch of the Potomac. The middle section of Bluegrass Valley is bordered north and south by the low cross divides of which we have spoken. The drainage of this basin is southeastward through Vanderpool Gap. A southern and longer section of Bluegrass Valley was once termed "the Valley of Back Creek," but is now known as Big Back Creek to distinguish it from Little Back Creek, which is simply the Back Creek valley proper. The drainage of this district is westward by means of the two small streams which flow into Mill Run and Lower gaps.
The Bluegrass Valley is of limestone formation. It is by all odds the most fertile and valuable of the five great valleys and is devoted almost exclusively to grazing.
The Monterey Valley is so broken by minor ridges as to seem on a casual glance very narrow. North of its center a rather high cross ridge passes from Monterey Mountain to Jack Mountain, and on this water-parting lies the county seat. The hilly district reaching to the Pendleton line is known as the Straight Creek Valley. The middle part of Monterey Valley is mainly occupied by the basins of South Straight Creek and Dry Branch. Southward, on the east side is Big Valley, a limestone region like the Crabbottom. On the west side is the narrow valley of Jackson's River proper. Except as to the pastures of Big Valley and the fine bottoms of Jack- son's River, the Monterey Valley falls quite short of Bluegrass Valley in agricultural importance.
The Bullpasture Valley is drained throughout by the river of the same name. Its lowlands are almost wholly to the west of the stream. Above the belt of river bottom lies a consider- able breadth of low tableland, sometimes hilly and sometimes comparatively level. The Bullpasture valley, proper reaches into Bath as far as Burnsville, where it merges into the nar- rower valley of Dry Fork.
Beyond Bullpasture Mountain is Cowpasture Valley, sim-
13
History of Highland County
ilar in its characteristics to the one last named. The uplands lie on the left bank rather than the right, and except for Shaw's Ridge in the upper half, it is quite free from minor elevations.
Of the streams of Highland some mention has already been made. The average altitude of the county is quite high- about 2,800 feet-and the series of cross-ridges throws the drainage in opposite directions. Highland is, therefore, a birthplace of rivers. No fewer than ten streams flow out of it, while only two or three insignificant tributaries flow into it. Northward of the cross-ridges, Highland lies in the basin of the Potomac; southward it lies in the basin of the James. In the former section are the upper courses of Laurel Fork, Straight Fork, South Branch, Blackthorn, South Fork, and Brushy Fork. In the latter section are the upper courses of Back Creek, Jackson's River, the Bullpasture, and the Cow- pasture.
At Hightown is a red-roofed barn, the rainwater from which feeds both the Potomac and the James. Nearby is the spring which is the fountain-head of the South Branch of the Potomac. In coursing down the Crabbottom the brook rapidly gains volume, especially from Spring Run and Wimer Run, which issue, respectively, from the coves on the western and eastern sides of High Knob. At Crabbottom village, eight miles from Hightown, the South Branch enters Crabbottom Gap as a large and rapid mill stream. At Forks of Waters, two miles below, it is joined by Straight Creek, a tributary of nearly equal size, and little more than a mile beyond it passes into West Virginia. Though already having fallen 700 feet, the altitude at the boundary line is 2,400 feet.
Beyond Jack Mountain and near the village of Doe Hill is the head spring and a few hundred yards of the upper course of the Blackthorn, an important tributary of the South Branch. So inconspicuous is the divide from which it issues that one of its springs was with slight effort turned in the opposite direction for the better convenience of a milk house. From the divides where the Cowpasture and Shaw's Fork rise, there flow in the contrary direction the South Fork of the Potomac
14
History of Highland County
and its tributary, Brushy Fork, each crossing the state line as a small mill stream.
Jackson's River also rises at Hightown, and collecting the drainage of a five-mile section of Bluegrass Valley, pours a considerable volume of water through Vanderpool Gap. With- in a few miles it is joined by South Straight Creek and by the sometimes hidden waters of Dry Branch. A still larger trib- utary is Bolar Run, which collects the drainage of Big Valley and also of Little Valley, an arm of the latter reaching into Bath. Bolar Run crosses and recrosses the Bath line, but is essentially a Highland stream. Toward the county line Jack- son's River attains a breadth of ten to twenty yards. It is the upper course of the James River and should bear the same name. Back Creek, a tributary of nearly equal size, rises in the Alleghany Mountain, and as already pointed out, it collects the drainage of portions of the Alleghany and Bluegrass valleys.
The Bullpasture is formed at Doe Hill by the union of three brooks, one of which rises in Pendleton County. At McDowell it receives on the right the eight-mile tributary of Crab Run, which like Straight Creek rises in the saddle be- tween the two arms of Jack Mountain. At the Bath line the Bullpasture is a longer and larger stream than is Jackson's River at the same border. Just within the Bath line it turns eastward, its foaming waters passing through a narrow and picturesque gap into the Cowpasture Valley at Williamsville.
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