USA > West Virginia > Marion County > History and progress of the county of Marion, West Virginia, from its earliest settlement by the whites, down to the present, together with biographical sketches of its most prominent citizens > Part 1
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Gc 975.401 M33d 1954205
M. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
.7
L
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
3 1833 02258 7304
HISTORY AND PROGRESS
OF THE
COUNTY OF MARION
WEST VIRGINIA, Va.
FROM ITS
EARLIEST SETTLEMENT BY THE WHITES, DOWN TO THE PRESENT, TOGETHER WITH BIOGRAPHI- CAL SKETCHES OF ITS MOST PROMINENT CITIZENS.
BY GEO. A. DUNNINGTON
Aided by Notes and Memoranda left by the late RICHARD P. LOTT. 1
FAIRMONT, W. VA: GEORGE A. DUNNINGTON, PUBLISHER.
1880.
26
1954205
·
PREFACE.
E have designed in the following pages to relate in detail the principal events that have transpired in Marion county from its first settlement to the present. We are aware that the work has many imperfections, but they could not be helped. To write a history without having any authentic or writ- ten records to aid us, was almost akin to "creat- ing something out of nothing." The early set- tlers of this section have all died, their children have, with a few exceptions, followed them ; and many events of interest in connection with the early history have been lost in oblivion. We have endeavored to rescue as many as possible, however, and herewith present them.
In giving the history of the county since its organization, we have aimed to incorporate only the principal events which have trans-
*
.
,
4
PREFACE.
pired, and which are worthy of being preserv- ed. This part of the book is necessarily writ- ten in a somewhat rambling manner, for reasons which the intelligent reader can plainly discern.
A considerable amount of the information connected with the formation of the county, and on down to the present has been gleaned from the memoranda left by the late Richard P. Lott, whose purpose was to write a history of the county during that period, having been solicited to do so by the undersigned. The hand of Death interrupted him, however, cre he could commence the work.
In the narrative proper, we have made but little reference to the political history of the county-this will be found largely in the bio- graphical sketches annexed. They are mostly of the men who have taken the most promi- nent parts in the politics of the county.
For much of the information received, we are indebted to Gov. F. II. Pierpoint, Messrs. Charles Morgan, William Cochran, Robert P. Nixon, Zebulon Musgrove, George Merrill,
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PREFACE.
Luther Haymond and others ; besides Wither's Border Warfare, Doddridge's Notes on Wes- tern Virginia, old files of county newspapers, etc.
Hoping that this little volume will prove all that is expected of it, and thanking the public for their encouragement in the past, we are,
Your O'bt Servant,
FAIRMONT, Feb. 1, 1880.
G. A. D.
6-7
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Introductory, -
-
- -
.
-
- 9 CHAPTER II.
First Settlements,
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-
-
-
- 14
CHAPTER III.
About the Land Titles held by the Settlers,
-
-
18
CHAPTER IV.
The Characteristics and Hardships of the Early Settlers,
-
22
CHAPTER V.
Commencement of the Indian Troubles-Forts established, etc. 28
CHAPTER VI.
Murder of Josiah Prickett-Continuation of Indian Atrocities-
Murder of Miss Coon-Attack on Fort Harbert,
-
-
32
CHAPTER VII.
Captain Booth killed-Capture of Captain Cochran-David
Morgan's encounter with two Indians,
-
-
39
.
CHAPTER VIII.
Horatio Morgan-Massacre of the Thomas Family,
.
-
48
CHAPTER IX.
Continued Hostilities of the Savages-Attack on the Cunning-
hams and Capture of Mrs. Cunningham,
-
53
CHAPTER X.
A Boy's Adventure-The Indian's on Buffalo Creek-Levi
Morgan's Adventure, -
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-
60
8
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XI.
Murder of the McIntires-End of Indian depredations, - 66
CHAPTER XII.
Progress of Civilization from 1785 to 1819.
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- 70
CHAPTER XIII.
The Towns of the County,
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-
-
- - 73
CHAPTER XIV.
Organization of the County - The First Conrt-The Jail-The Court House, etc.
- 78
CHAPTER XV.
The Irish Riot-The Great Freshet-Completion of the rail- road- Suspension Bridge built, etc. - - -
- 85
CHAPTER XVI.
The Churches and Schools of the County,
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-
-
95
CHAPTER XVII.
The First Steamboat-The Banks of Marion County-Journal-
ism in the County, -
- 103
CHAPTER XVIII.
The War of the Rebellion-Division of the State.
- 110
CHAPTER XIX.
The Mining Interests-The Fire at Fairmont-Marion Militia, - - 116
etc.
CHAPTER XX.
The Resources of the County-Its Political Complexion-Con- clusion, - - - - . - - 126
PEN SKETCHES OF PROMINENT CITIZENS.
Hon. William S. Morgan, Hon. Zedekiah Kidwell, Hon. Francis H. Pierpoint, Col. Thomas S. Ilaymond, Hon. B F. Martin, Hon. A. Brooks Fleming, John W. McCoy, Esq , Hon. J. C. Beeson, Hon. U. N. Arnott, Judge A. F. Haymond, James Morrow, Jr., Esq., Robert B. Lott, Esq , Richard P. Lott, Esq .. Fontain Smith, Esq., Albert S. Hayden, Esq., C. M. Davison, Esq. Other Prominent Men, - - 134
HISTORY
OF THE
COUNTY OF MARION,
CHAPTER I.
-
INTRODUCTORY.
AT the time when this section of Virginia was first known to the whites, it was occupied by a tribe of Indians known as the Massawomees. As set- tlements were extended westward and over the moun- tains, the Massawomees gradually retired until the country between the Alleghenies and the Ohio river was almost entirely unused by them as a regular place of habitation. There soon remained but few Indian villages, and those that did exist contained but small numbers of inhabitants. What is now the State of West Virginia, however, was used as a hunting ground by the savages, and as a battle ground by contending tribes.
In many parts of Marion and adjoining counties evidences of a prehistorie people are found. Imple-
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HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
ments of war, crockery, and curiously shaped instru- ments of various kinds are occasionally plowed up in the fields, and, in short, the signs are upon every side that some of the race of semi-civilized people, who in- habited this country ages before its discovery, dwelt in this immediate vicinity. Some years ago, some workmen, in preparing to build a bridge which spans Paw Paw creek, at the upper end of the village of Rivesville, unearthed three skeletons, which were those of giants, each measuring over seven feet in length. Upon "Fort Hill," about two miles north of Fairmont, were found traces of an aboriginal fort. Along the bank of the Monongahela river, and run- ning through Palatine, where the earth has been washed away by freshets, can be seen traces of an old McAdamized road. It is some feet below the surface and can be traced for quite a distance. The bed of the road seems to vary from ten to fourteen inches in thickness, and the stone is broken with great regu- larity. The earth above the bed is black and pre- sents somewhat the appearance of an alluvial deposit. It is very probable that this deposit formed the bed of what we now call a McAdamized road, at some former period of the world. Since the settlement of the county, skeletons have been found at various times in the vicinity of Boothsville and other towns.
Traces of the Massawomees are also found in many places. For instance, a mile below Rivesville near
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HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
the Morgantown and Fairmont pike, upon the farm of Mr. Wm. Arnett, there is a very interesting relic in the shape of a large rock, upon which is roughly cut a picture of an Indian leading a bear. Represen- tations of turkey and bear tracks, and other figures are also upon the rock. About twenty-five years ago a large wild cherry tree was by a storm torn up by the roots, leaving this rock with its inscription exposed to view. Other interesting relics may also be found in the county.
After the Massawomes retired from the country lying between the mountains and the Ohio river, the sole permanent inhabitants of that region were the beasts and birds of the forests, until the white settle- ments were made. During the winter the Buffalo would find their way into Kentucky, and live among the cane-brakes to be found there. As spring ap- proached they would again seek our luxuriant pas- tures, where they, with the abundance of other game, would fall victims of the savages from Pennsylvania and the country west of the Ohio, who came here in quest of food. As the various tribes who made this a hunting ground were at constant enmity, the fact that they all claimed the territory was sufficient to make it a field of contention; consequently, it was often made the scene of carnage and bloodshed.
Up to the year 1738 all that part of Virginia west of the Blue Ridge mountains was included in the
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HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
county of Orange. At the fall session of the Colonial Legislature, in the above year, the counties of Freder- ick and Augusta were formed out of Orange. Fred- erick county was bounded on the north by the Poto- mac river, on the east by the Blue Ridge, and on the south and west by a line drawn from the head spring of Hedgeman's to the head spring of the Potomac. Augusta county consisted of all the remainder of the State west of the Blue Ridge, and within the limits were included much of Virginia and West Virginia as they now are, and the territories embraced in Ohio, Indiana and parts of Western Pennsylvania, Michi- gan, Illinois and Kentucky. Nearly forty years after- wards, in 1776, the counties of Ohio, Monongalia and Yougbiogania were formed out of the district of West Augusta, and at the same time the boundary between Augusta county and the district of West Augusta was fixed as follows: "Beginning on the Allegheny mountains, between the heads of Potomac, Cheat and Greenbrier rivers; thence along the Ridge which di- vides the waters of Cheat river from those of Green- brier, and that branch of the Monongahela called Ty- gart's Valley river to the Monongahela; thence up the said river, and the West Fork thereof to Binga- mon's creek, on the northwest side of said West Fork ; thence up the said creek to the head thereof: thence in direct course to the head of Middle Island creek, a branch of the Ohio; and thence to the Ohio, includ-
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HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
ing all the waters of the said creek in the aforesaid district of West Augusta-all that territory lying to the northward of the aforesaid boundary, and to the westward of the States of Pennsylvania and Mary- land, shall be deemed, and is hereby declared to be within the district of West Augusta."
And to render the benefits of government and the administration of justice more easy and convenient to the people, this act formed out of West Augusta the three counties above mentioned. Several years after- wards, the greater part of Youghiogania county, by the extension of the western boundary between Pennsyl- vania and Virginia, fell within the limits of the form- er State. The residue was, by an act of 1785, added to the county of Ohio, and Youghiogania became extinct. All that part of the district of West Au- gusta lying to the northward of the county of Augusta, to the westward of the meridian of the head fountain of the Potomac, to the southward of the county of Youghiogania, and to the eastward of Ohio county, was comprised in the limits of Monongalia county. In 1784 Harrison county was formed out of Monongalia and West Augusta. As Marion county, nearly seventy years afterwards, was taken from the counties of Mon- ongalia and Harrison, we will give an account of the early settlement of the territory in the two latter, now comprising the former.
CHAPTER II.
FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
N the beginning of the foregoing chapter mention was made of the Indians who occupied Western Virginia previous to the coming of the whites, and of their abandonment of the country as a place of resi- dence. When, in 1754, David Tygart and a Mr. Files made the first attempt to settle this section of the State, the only Indians to be found composed the oc- casional hunting or war parties from the north and west. The two gentlemen named were probably the first white men who ever built cabins in Virginia west of the Allegheny mountains. Files settled at the mouth of the creek which now bears his name- where the town of Beverly now is -- and Tygart settled a few miles further up the river, (which has since been called Tygart's Valley river,) in what is known as Tygart's Valley. They soon determined to aban- don their settlements on account of the hostility of the Indians, and the difficulty experienced in obtain- ing breadstuff's for their families. Before they were enabled to carry out their determination the family
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HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
of Files fell victims to savage cruelty A strolling party of Indians fell upon them and massacred them all save one-a boy-who escaped and warned the Ty- gart's of the danger in time for them to save them- selves by flight.
Not long after this a settlement was made on Cheat river, a few miles east of where stands Morgantown, by a party of Dunkards, comprising Dr. Thomas Eek- erly and his two brothers. Dunkard's creek owes its name to the circumstances of their having camped at its mouth while they were engaged in exploring the vicinity for a suitable place to settle. They finally located in Dunkard's bottom, which lies on Cheat. They spent some years there unmolested by the In- dians, although a bloody war was then waging. The Doctor left Cheat once to visit a trading post on the Shenandoah, to procure ammunition and other needed supplies. His story that he had lived on Cheat so long unmolested by the Indians, seemed so improba- ble to the people on the Shenandoah that they ar- cused him of telling an untruth, and suspicioned him of being a confederate of the enemy. He was accord- ingly arrested and placed in confinement. In vain did he declare that he had never even seen a savage during his sojourn in Dunkard's bottom. He finally requested that a guard be sent with him to his little settlement, that he might be able to prove the truth of his statements. His request was complied with, and
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HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
upon arriving at the spot, only a heap of ruins were found where had stood the cabin, and the mutilated bodies of his brothers were lying upon the ground. Thus his story that they were not confederates of the Indians was awfully confirmed.
In the fall of 1758 Thomas Decker and others con - menced a settlement on the Monongahela river, at the mouth of the creek since called by his name, but in the spring following it was broken up by a war party of Delawares and Mingoes.
These were the only attempts to effect settlements upon the Monongahela or its branches prior to the French and Indian war, and it was not until the year 1772 that any permanent settlements were made.
About the year 1772 settlements were made upon the upper branches of the Monongahela river. Cap- tain James Booth and Mr. John Thomas established themselves upon what is now known as Booth's creek, near the present town of Boothsville, this county. Captain Booth settled at the place known as the "old Jesse Martin farm," and Mr. Thomas on the "old William Martin place." Withers, in speaking of this latter farm, in 1831, said: " It is perhaps the most valuable landed estate in Northwestern Virginia."* . About this time David Morgan, afterwards conspicu- ous for his personal daring and prowess, during the hostilities of the Indians, established himself upon
*" Border Warfare "- page 93.
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HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
the Monongahela about five miles below Fairmont, near the mouth of Prickett's creek. Among other emigrants settling here about this time, were the Pricketts, Ices, Halls, Cochrans, Hayes, Cunninghams, Hartleys, Barns, Haymonds, Flemings, Springers and many others, whose descendants now comprise the greater part of the population of Marion county. 1 great number of them came from the then colonies of Maryland, Virginia and Delaware, crossing the moun- tains by a route called Braddock's trail.
NOTE .- In a burying ground at Barracksville is the grave of the first white child ever born west of the Allegheny mountains. His name was Adam Ice, and he was born in 1767, at lee's ferry, on Cheat, a short time previous to the removal of the Ice family to the settlements here, and died in 1851.
CHAPTER III.
ABOUT THE LAND TITLES HELD BY THE SETTLERS.
F course, the main object of the carly settlers in coming into this region was to procure for then- selves and families homes, for land could be secured upon easy terms. Building a cabin and raising a crop of grain entitled the occupant to four hundred acres of land and a pre-emption right to one thousand or more adjoining, to be seenred by a land office warrant. At first there was a kind of land title, denominated the " tomahawk right." This was made by deaden- ing a few trees upon the premises, and marking the bark of one of them with the initials of the person making the improvement. A narration of the cir- enmstances under which these land titles were held by the settlers, is here in order.
In the year 1754 Governor Dinwiddie, of Virginia, issued a proclamation by authority of his council, authorizing a fort to be built at the confluence of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers ( Fort Duquesne,) to oppose the encroachments of the French and their
.
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HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
Indian allies, and for the protection of his majesty's subjects in his colony-providing for sufficient mili- tary force to protect the same. In order to encourage volunteers to enter the military service, he set apart 200,000 acres of land above their pay -100,000 acres contiguous to the fort, and the other 100,000 acres on or near the Ohio river-to be laid off and granted to such persons " who by their voluntary engagements and good behavior in said service shall deserve the same." The said lands were to be free of quit rents for the term of fifteen years.
After the conclusion of the French and Indian war, in 1763, Dr. Franklin, with a number of associates, petitioned the king of England for a grant of that territory lying west of the water sheds of the Alle- gheny mountains and south of the Ohio river, extend- ing southwest along the Ohio to the mouth of the Big Sandy, and up the same to the water sheds of the Alle- ghenies. George the Third refused the petition on the grounds of having retained that territory for hunt- ing grounds for the friendly Indians, in consideration of their valuable services, and issued his proclamation granting the erection of the governments of Quebec, East Florida, West Florida and Granada .* The colony of Quebec lay northeast of New York and New Eng- land ; East Florida constituted what is now the east- ren part of the State of Florida; West Florida extended
** ce Henning'sStatutes-Appendix to vol. 7.
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HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
from the Apalachacola river, along the Gulf of Mexico, westward to Lake Pontchartrain, and thence north- ward to Lake Mauripas and the Mississippi river to 31º north latitude ; thence due east on the line of this latitude to the Apalachacola river.
It will be seen that none of these grants include any territory west of the Mississippi river, nor west of the Allegheny mountains, except that region east of the Mississippi and below the thirty-first degree of north latitude, which comprises small portions of the States of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. In this proclamation George the Third forbids any of the new colonies from granting any warrants of sur- veys or patents for any lands beyond the boundaries of their respective governments as described. Also, no governor of commander-in-chief of any of our other , colonies or plantations in America do presume for the present, and until our further pleasure be known, to grant warrants of surveys, or pass patents for any lands beyond the heads or sources of any rivers which fall into the Atlantic ocean from the west, northwest, or upon any lands whatever, which not having been ceded to or purchased by us, as aforesaid, are reserved to the said Indians, or any of them.
It will be seen that there is a conflict between the proclamation of Governor Dinwiddie and that of the King. The Governor promises 200,000 acres adjacent to Pittsburgh. These lands, with a large amount of
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HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
others, were settled in West Virginia immediately thereafter. The Revolutionary war came on soon af- terwards. The lands of the settlers were held under different rights. and the Legislature of Virginia, in order to settle all these titles, and to secure the set- tlers, passed the act of 1779, in which they recognized both proclamations, and gave no validity to that of the King. By this act of the Virginia Legislature. the previously uncertain titles of the lands settled here were made good, and the titles of many of the estates in Marion and adjoining counties are held un- der this law.
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CHAPTER IV.
-
THE CHARACTERISTICS AND HARDSHIPS OF THE EARLY SETTLERS.
AS soon as it was known east that this field of wealth lay west of the mountains, that "the land could be had for the taking up," and that settle- ments had been commenced here, hundreds flocked in from different parts of Eastern Virginia and Mary- land. The spirit of emigration began to develop it- self, and the motives which have since induced the peopling of our far West prompted the adventurer to overcome his youthful attachments, and wend his way into this dreary waste to assist in the foundation of what is now a powerful and progressive State. As has been well said, " former homes, encircled by the comforts of civilization, endeared by the grateful re- collections of by-gone days, and not unfrequently as the spot where their tenants had first inhaled the vital fluid, were readily exchanged for the variety of untried being, the new scenes and changes which were to be passed before the trees of the forest could be supplanted by the fruits of the field, or society be
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HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
reared in the solitude of the desert." With the same cheerfulness, hardihood, and adventurous daring that characterized the pioneers years before in the laying of the corner stone of this vast empire, these brave men and women faced the hardships and dangers that presented themselves, and surmounted them all in a comparatively brief space of time. It was a natural consequence of their situation that their morals should suffer, and that their manners should become rough and uncouth. This has been the state of things in all new colonies.
Some of the early settlers, according to Doddridge, took the precaution to come over the mountains in the spring, to raise a crop of corn, leaving their fami- lies behind, and then return and bring them out in the fall. Others, whose families were not large, brought their wives and children with them in the spring. Sometimes, those who took the latter course would suffer for it, for the Indian meal they brought over the mountains with them would be expended too soon, and they were obliged to live without bread until the corn was ready to pull. Venison and the breast of the wild turkey then served them as a substitute for bread, and the flesh of the bear was denominated meat. But this was a hard way to live-it did not satisfy the cravings of the stomach, " which seemed to be always empty, and tormented with a sense of hunger."- " Light" bread was a luxury they seldom indulged in
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HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
or could get hold of, as was also butter. The venera- ble William Haymond, in a letter to Luther Hay- : mond, in 1842, referring to the manners of living of the early settlers, as he remembered them, said: " I remember brother John and myself went to Ruble's mill, in Pennsylvania, distant eleven miles, and re- mained all night. Next morning, when we were on our horses to start for home, Ruble, or some other per- son, brought each of us a piece of light bread spread with butter. This I thought such a great feast that I have it in my mind to this day."
Of course, in these primitive times there were no carpenters, tailors, cabinet-makers, shoemakers, wea- vers, or any of the tradesmen who are now considered indispensable to a community. Every family was under the necessity of doing everything for itself. Hand-mills were used in most of the houses, with which each family ground its own corn. Their cloth- ing was all of domestic manufacture. Linsey was the most substantial cloth they could make, and the wo- men did the weaving. Every family tanned its own leather, made its own shoes and manufactured its own clothing. In short, these were the days of bridle- ways, pack-saddles, rope-bridles, tread-mills, wooden plows, and flails. Almost every house contained a loom and a spinning wheel. All the women knew . how to knit, spin, weave and sew, and with rare ex- ceptions, they all wore narrow-skirted flannel dresses.
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HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
The men were usually habited in deer or coon-skin caps, red flannel jackets or hunting shirts, blue linsey breeches and moccasins. They knew nothing of our present McAdamized roads and elegant mud-pikes, neither had they any conception of the luxury of a cushioned saddle, a leather bridle, a nice buggy or a fine carriage; or the iron plow, threshing machine, reaper or steam mill. The nearest place where sup- plies could be procured was east of the mountains, and it was often that the barest necessities of life were suffered for when extremely heavy snows or freshets prevented any communication between the settle- ments and the stores.
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