USA > West Virginia > Preston County > A History of Preston County, West Virginia, V.1 > Part 13
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There comes up at last the irresistible query: Which is the happier man, the John Dee of 1825, or his adult great grandson of 1913? If the former could be put forward eighty-eight years into the future, he would not at once take kindly to our complex age of "dig and scratch." He might declare with emphasis that he had been getting along very well as he was. Neither would the great grandson take any more kindly to the simple and unsophisticated, yet coarse, narrow, and laborious life of his forbear. If now, by some Aladdin-like performance, the two men could meet and compare views, they would very possibly agree that, if illusion lurks within the dreamy azure haze with which "ye olden time" is enveiled, so there is on the other hand much of tinsel in the showy exterior of our present-day civilization. The world in which John Dee lived and moved had some features in its favor, and from which we have departed to an extent perhaps regrettable. Yet its seem- ing repose and contentment sprang from its very ignorance of the mani- fold aspects of our modern time. The broader present life contains more possibility of good than the discarded old life, although it may be so perverted as to be in effect a greater evil.
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CHAPTER XIII
EARLY MIDDLE PERIOD.
1848 a Landmark Year - A New American Spirit - The Virginia System of Govern- ment - New State Constitutions - Progress of Preston County.
This period of ten years was fraught with greater consequences to Preston than any other decade in the entire cycle of its history. These consequences were political, industrial, and social, and visibly touched the current of public and private life at almost every angle.
But to know something of the cause, we must spend a few moments in looking outside the confines of the county. The year 1848 is approxi- mately the center of an epoch of far-reaching human activity. It may very justly be regarded as the threshold of the truly modern era. The quarter century immediately following has been the stage of childhood and youth. The years since then are the stage of early adult manhood.
It is true there had been a long period of preparation, advancing with steadily lengthening step, but what it was going to lead to was dimly apprehended by those men who tried to look into the future. It was somewhat as when workmen have hauled, with much labor, and perhaps with little thought, a great mass of building material to a cer- tain spot, the exact form of the handsome structure forthcoming being known only to the architect himself. In like manner, the approach of a new era had, until about the middle of the last century, made no deep impress on the habits and thought of the general mass of the American people. They were still living in the shadow of the colonial age, and were rather content to do things as their fathers had been doing them.
Charles W. Eliot, lately president of Harvard University, and one of the most eminent and observant of American citizens, made the follow- ing remark when in 1901 the twentieth century came into being :
"The twenty-five years just past is the most extraordinary period in the whole history of our race. Nothing is done as it was done twenty-five years ago."
There are ages when the world in general. or the individual nation in particular, seems almost stationary. Then will come a time of great activity, followed by a relapse of the sluggish feeling, as if there were a weariness with the past effort and a gathering of reserve power for a new effort. In these periods of unusual life it would seem that the im- pelling force lies in a condition of the social atmosphere, and that it
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drives men in a certain direction, independently of the initiative and directive influence of any person or group of persons.
The great movement which sprang into full life about 1848 was practically confined to the European branch of the human race, and was most strikingly exhibited in the American people. But in Europe there was a movement for popular rights, taking active form in 1830, and reaching a climax in 1848. In England there was an extension of the right of suffrage. In France, Germany, and Italy, there was an indig .. nant outbreak against despotic power, followed by the coming to this country of many of the more liberal Germans. Russia came to Manchu- ria. The discovery of gold in California and Australia changed the vast Pacific from an almost silent expense into the scene of a busy com- merce. The ports of China were opened by England, and those of Japan by America.
In the United States there was, in addition to the discovery of gold and silver in the far West, the discovery of petroleum in the East. There came the telegraph, destined to make neighbors of all the na- tions of the earth; the use of ether as an anaesthetic, followed by an astonishing advance in medicine and surgery; the swiftly increasing appearance of lavor-saving devices, such as the reaper and the sewing machine. It was soon possible to grow a bushel of wheat with eleven minutes of labor, instead of three hours of labor. The throngs of people released from the compulsion of living on the farm gathered into the city and the town. By thus becoming more concentrated and less scat- tered, the Americans became more alert and enterprising. Conserva- tism fell out of fashion.
Previous to this new era, America was not rich. The volume of imports had only doubled in fifty years. The yield of gold was much less than one million dollars a year. So far from yet being the granary of Europe, America was producing little more than enough breadstuffs for her own people. In 1837 one state resorted to a bounty to stimu- late wheat-growing. About the same time the city of New York had bread riots, allayed by the importation from Europe of more than a million bushels of grain. Towns were small, because a large majority of people were pinned to the soil and toiling long hours, so as to pro- duce enough foodstuffs for their own use and a surplus of minor amount for the cities.
The American had always been resourceful, yet he was much in- clined to follow the time-honored beaten paths. The first iron plow was
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believed to poison the ground and cause weeds to thrive. In 1831, a young man of the Shenandoah Valley invented the first efficient reap- ing machine. Its successful trial was watched by a hooting, cursing crowd of harvesters, who did not want to lose their privilege of work- ing sixteen hours a day at a rate of three cents an hour. But with the new epoch fairly under way, the old ruts fell into disrepute. Young men were inclined more than ever to seek their fortunes in a new state or in a city.
Counties of the Appalachian region, which continued to lie remote from the channels of travel and trade, continued to adhere in large measure to the old customs. The situation of Preston on a great com- mercial route prevented such a loitering in the general march of prog- ress.
It is a great error to suppose that, because the Americans threw off their allegiance to a king in 1776, they put on as it were a brand-new suit of clothes. On the contrary, the old suit was dusted, given a new name, and put on again. Men are willing to progress by steps, but are very slow to progress by jumps. So far as their local affairs were con- cerned, Virginians were hardly conscious that there had been any change. Their new Constitution of 1776 was only a restatement of the source of the laws they already had, so that the document might con- form to the fact of the separation from England. The king's name was, of course, used no longer in proclamations and official forms. But the Virginia governor lived in style, just as the royal governor had done. There was still a Governor's Council of eight members. The General Assembly was the House of Burgesses under a new name.
The legal voters of a county elected two of their citizens to the Gen- eral Assembly. They also voted for congressmen and for presidential electors. But this was about as far as they had any direct voice in self- government. Their governor was not chosen by themselves, but by the legislature. He signed their land patents, just as the royal governor had been doing. He appointed the justices who composed their county courts, and as this body made its own nominations to the governor when vacancies were to be filled, it was a close corporation, and self- perpetuating. The governor also commissioned their sheriff and the officers of their militia. The county court appointed the county clerk, the prosecuting attorney, and the jailor. Local officials were therefore chosen by the governor or by the county court. All this was very indi- rectly a government by the people. It was a government from above,
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and in the parent state the appointive method is retained to a greater extent than in West Virginia.
Such was the aristocratic form of local government under which Preston was living in 1828. It was acceptable to the mass of the peo- ple east of the Blue Ridge. With the more democratic* citizenship west of the mountains it was distasteful to be held in a condition of political infancy. Not only had they no direct voice in the management of their local affairs, but they had to pass a property qualification before being allowed to vote. This restriction required the ownership of 25 acres of improved land, with a house on it equal to the size of 12 feet by 12; or 50 acres of improved land; or a lot and similar house in a town desig- nated as such by the legislature.
In 1825 a convention met at Staunton, and issued an appeal to the legislature that a new Constitution be framed. The answer was the constitutional convention of 1829. But, as a whole, this body was re- actionary, and not progressive. It was dominated by the eastern sec- tion of the state. In the new instrument there was only a little broad- ening in the voting qualifications. The membership of the House of Delegates was fixed at 135, only 29 being apportioned to the counties which now form West Virginia. The representation from the two sides of the state was to remain unchanged, regardless of any unequal growth in population. All counties weak in population( of which Pres- ton was one,) were now limited to a single delegate, instead of the two they had been sending. The West Virginia counties showed their dis- pleasure by throwing 8,365 votes against the new Constitution, and only 1,383 in its favor. But in the other division of the state there were 24,672 votes for it and 7,198 against it. Thus the new charter carried by a majority of 10,492 votes in a total of 41,612.
This Constitution went into effect in 1830. The number of justices for a county was limited to twelve . The county court was to meet quarterly, with supplementary terms every alternate month. At its November term it was to make three nominations from its own body for sheriff, this officer holding his position a little more or a little less than a year, according to the date of commission. The coroner was appointed by the governor from two nominees, and held office during good behavior. The county clerk was appointed by the court for seven years. The fourth Thursday in April was made the day for state elec-
*The word "democratic" as here used refers to government by the people themselves. It does not refer to the political party of that name. When any political party is mentioned in this book, it is with a capital letter.
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tions. Female slaves above the age of sixteen were counted as tith- ables.
In 1850 there was another constitutional convention, which met at Richmond, and, after deliberating nine and a half months, framed the instrument which was adopted the next year by a vote of 75,748 to II,- 069. This became effective January 1, 1852. The interest of the Pres- tonians in bringing it about is apparent in a petition of 1845, signed by 124 citizens. The document recites their belief
That it does not sufficiently guard the "Elective Franchise" against abuse and fraud, nor does it provide in the election of the servants of the people for a fair representation of the public will. For instance, a chief magistrate of the Commonwealth can be elected by the voice of about one-third of the Electors of the State by means of the existing inequality of representation in y'r hon. body.
The constitution of 1851 was a distinct improvement over the former, although it contained some reactionary features, these to stand until 1865, at least. But the right to vote was now freed from all prop- erty qualifications. The day of state election was changed to the fourth Thursday in May. Each magisterial district was to elect four justices, and these were divided into classes. Justices now received a per diem compensation of three dollars, but no fees or emoluments. County of- ficers were also elected by popular vote, the clerk and surveyor for a term of six years, the prosecuting attorney for four years, and the sheriff and the commissioner of the revenue for two years. Overseers of the poor and constables were likewise chosen by popular vote, and so were the circuit judges for their term of eight years.
All property was now to be taxed according to its value, except that slaves above the age of twelve were to be assessed the same as land of the value of $300. The quarterly terms of county court were to begin on the second Mondays of February, May, August, and November. The other terms, to be known as monthly courts, were to open on the first Monday of each remaining month.
Of the 32 state senators, 13 were to come from west of the Blue Ridge. Of the 152 delegates, 47 were allotted to the counties now in West Virginia. In making this arrangement, slave property was thrown into the scale. The vast majority of the slaves being east of the Blue Ridge, that section of the state thus remained in control. But as a con- cession to the western counties it was provided that in 1865, or in any tenth year thereafter, and in case the legislature should fail to agree on a principle of representation, the voters of the state were to decide
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between these four schemes: I. A suffrage basis resting wholly on votes. 2. A mixed basis, one delegate being assigned to each seventy- sixth of the number of whites, and one to each seventy-sixth of all state taxes on licenses and law processes, plus the capitation tax on freed- men. 3. A taxation basis, the senators being apportioned on the taxa- tion basis, as aforesaid, and the delegates on the suffrage basis. 4. The senate to be chosen on the mixed basis and the lower house on the suff- rage basis.
But, because of the war of 1861. this elaborate scheme to hold the center of political gravity east of the Blue Ridge was never put to a trial.
The first court in Preston under the new system was presided over by John S. Murdock, and the 32 justices are said to have constituted a fine body of men, both physically and intellectually.
The districting of the county was performed in 1852 through a com- mission appointed by legislative act. The citizens composing the same were John J. Hamilton, Charles Hooton, David C. Miles, Samuel R. Trowbridge, John J. Brown, Thomas Gregg, Harrison Hagans, William Connor, John Shaffer, Benjamin Shaw, and John Feather. Districts One, Four, and Six were identical with the present districts of Grant. Union, and Kingwood. Districts Two, Three, Five, Seven, and Eight were nearly the same, respectively, as Pleasant, Portland, Valley, Lyon, and Reno.
Eleven years later a new commission, appointed by the legislature of West Virginia, divided the county into the eight townships of Grant, Kingwood, Lyon, Pleasant, Portland, Reno, Union, and Valley. The members of this commission were Harrison Hagans, Solomon Miller, George M. Michael, James H. Shaffer, Peter M. Hartley, William M. Grimes, Joseph G. Baker, and William H. Brown. The state Constitu- tion of 1872 abolished the name of township and restored that of dis- trict.
Fourteen election polls were established in 1852, their sites being as follows: Brandonville, Parnell's (near Cuzzart), Miller's (near Muddy Creek), Feather's (in Craborchard), Summit (Terra Alta), Ger- many (Aurora), Kingwood, Graham's, Independence, Huddleson's, Martin's, Evansville, Nine's, and Funk's. Lyon and Reno were thus given three polls each, and Pleasant and Portland were given two each.
The coming of the railroad did not at once do away with the feeling in favor of good highways, and in 1858, after several years of effort, the
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Brandonville and Terra Alta pike was completed. The company was organized after the subscription of one-third of the authorized capital of $8,025. The length of the road is 18.36 miles. In the same year the pike between Kingwood and Morgantown was finished at a cost of $327 per mile.
Yet it was in the early portion of this period that the National and Northwestern pikes succumbed to the iron road, somewhat as the wooden frigates Cumberland and Congress went down in Hampton Roads before the onslaught of the armor-plated Merrimac. With the pikes, the villages of Brandonville, Fellowsville, and Evansville sank into decline, but the larger railroad points of Cranberry, Rowlesburg, Tunnelton, and Newburg arose to fill the vacancy. The growth of population was now mainly in the zone traversed by the railway.
The time was now come when Preston was fairly emerging from the conditions and customs of pioneer life. The county was as yet poor, and at the dawn of the Transition Period a few citizens-so few that they could be counted on the fingers of a single hand-were worth perhaps $10.000 each. A farmer was thought well-to-do if he owned 150 acres of land, a team and wagon, was out of debt, and could com- mand $300 in cash. Land varied in price from a half dollar to six dol- lars an acre. It was hard to pay for when we learn that grown youths simetimes hired out for the munificent wage of $3 a month and board. A farm of 100 acres, with house and some cleared land, was sold near Hazelton in 1855 for $150. A farmer in Long Hollow paid for his own farm out of the proceeds of dried peaches hauled to Cumberland, a dis- tance of full 80 miles.
The hunting-shirt and the moccasin had now quite disappeared, yet the costume of the day was not altogether the same as that with which we are now familiar. The dress suit included the claw-hammer coat, with its broad collar, and in the way of neckgear there was the stiff, satin-lined stock, with its bow in front and its buckle behind. Over- coats were not so generally worn as now, especially on the part of the boys. They were of the soldier pattern, with cape, after the style of the military overcoats of 1861.
The stores were selling more goods of outside manufacture, and they kept in stock such now obsolete or unusual articles as candles and candle-moulds, leather, shoepegs, tin lanterns, and grease lamps. Yet it was not advisable for the country merchant to be too overbearing, for we find that one stubborn farmer, after taking offense at the neigh-
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borhood storekeeper, lived within his own resources nearly nine years, not giving patronage to any merchant.
The school was still primitive, and both preacher and teacher were poorly paid. The "literary" at the schoolhouse was a common feature of neighborhood life, and was maintained by adults rather than by the school. There were as yet few newspapers in the homes, and few books except the religious books brought in and sold by the preachers. Other books could only be had by sending away for them.
Coal was now beginning to find its way into general use, yet it was not liked by the housewives on account of the dust and smut. The first stoves were adapted to wood rather than coal. Wheat bread, not al- ways relished in the olden time, was now displacing the cornbread loaf. and the tea made from birch, sassafras, spicewood, or pennyroyal was yielding to "store" tea and to coffee.
The large acreage of woodland was still sheltering much small game, and the local proverb that "it takes one day to catch a fish and eleven days to kill a deer" is illustrative of the interference of the hunt- ing habit with steady application to farm labor.
The moral tone of the community was improving. Gambling was less usual, unless, perhaps, at the tavern. The ratio of church mem- bers to non-church members was rising. Partly through this fact, and partly through a better enforcement of law, the barbarous custom of settling a difference of opinion by a brutal fight was giving way beofre a more enlightened public opinion.
In the first week of June, in 1859, came the "great frost," when a promising crop of grain and corn was utterly ruined. The blighted fields were reseeded to buckwheat, corn, and potatoes, and the rest of the season being favorable, these second crops were heavy, especially in the case of the buckwheat. In the barn of George Livengood, of Pleasant, is still a quantity of the blighted wheat. The grain was in bloom at the time and was cut for fodder. Not all of it was used, and the residue was buried under the harvests of later years.
In the fall of 1860, great havoc was wrought among the young by an epidemic of diphtheria, a half dozen children sometimes perishing in a single home. The scourge was a new as well as severe disease, and it almost defied the measures taken to combat it. The next year the infected localities suffered a second visitation, though in a milder form. Two or three years later there came an epidemic of dysentery, such as occasionally descends upon the Appalachian country in time
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of exceptionally low water. This scourge was also the cause of great mortality, and as in the case of the first, its ravages were all the more severe because of the lack of adequate hygienic knowledge.
In February, 1860, Bruceton became a town. The trustees were given power to collect a head tax of 75 cents on each male above the age of eighteen, and a property tax of not more than 25 cents on each $100 of assessment.
In 1851 we note the incorporation of the Spruce Run Manufacturing Company for the making of cotton and woolen and other goods. The members of the firm were William F. and Francis W. Deakins and John and I. G. Ambler. The capital authorized was a minimum of $10,- 000 and a maximum of $100,000.
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CHAPTER XIV
THE WAR OF 1861.
Causes of the War - American Slavery - Slavery in Preston - Disruption of Virginia - The Two Phases of State Separation.
The war of 1861 is too large a topic to treat with any degree of full- ness in the pages of a local history. If, in the case of a county of the two Virginias, the subject is practically omitted, the volume is made incomplete. But if treated in detail, it looks as though the author were putting into his book too much of national and state history. Yet, as we have heretofore remarked, Preston lies at the intersection of the lines dividing North from South and East from West. Its contact with matters of national interest has been unusually close. It was slave ter- ritory, although it sided with the Union. It took a hand in the meas- ures by which West Virginia was separated from the parent state. Therefore, we begin this chapter with a concise statement of the causes of the titanic struggle of 1861. It is believed that the presentation here given is in accord with the actual facts of American history.
Except to a few men of very unusual insight, the true nature of the differences which brought on the war were not clearly seen, even after the clash of arms had begun.
The Northern people could perceive only a willful conspiracy to keep millions of black men in cruel bondage, and to tear in twain the republic which the men of 1776 had founded. It was in their eyes a wicked rebellion, brought on by arrogant aristocrats, who would ruin if they could not rule. To them a disruption of the country spelled na- tional disaster. The Southern people could see only an attempt from the outside to meddle with their domestic affairs, to wipe out the value of a large share of their property, and to compel them to live and act as other people thought best. Their call to arms was in their own eyes a most righteous effort to resist a wanton and inexcusable invasion.
Hence the two groups of the American nation appealed to the God of Battles, the one to maintain its national unity at any cost, the other to defend its local self-government at any cost. Each side was thor- oughly sincere, as well as thoroughly in earnest. And the combatants being stubborn, unyielding men, the war was fought to a finish. They were of the same blood, and their temper was the same.
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For years the two sections had been quarreling over the meaning of the Federal Constitution. Each side forgot that any generation sees with its own eyes, and not with the eyes of its forefathers, and must, therefore, interpret a writing according to the light of its own time. The difference between North and South toward the Constitution .was there- fore an honest difference. But the hot-blooded wrangling caused each side to misunderstand and distrust the other. This fact, aggravated by a want of close acquaintance, led to a mutual dislike.
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