USA > West Virginia > Lewis County > A history of Lewis County, West Virginia > Part 10
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A HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY
the emigrants wanted to get away from the institution of slavery ; perhaps the Ohio country was better adver- tised and settlers went there because others were going. Many of the best lands in western Virginia were passed by carelessly by the emigrants in their rush to gain the choice tracts in the Northwest Territory. Practically the whole of continental United States was settled be- fore the land-hungry multitude turned their attention to the hills of West Virginia and found the country ex- tremely well adapted for raising live stock. Lewis County should have been settled faster, and would per- haps have been settled by more progressive people if it had not been for the rush to Ohio. Some of the settlers in the West Fork valley were merely transients who had started to Ohio, but who had stopped for a season in order to make a crop.
Whatever land had escaped the speculators in the period immediately preceding the close of the Indian wars was patented, and the surveys made and recorded. Among the most important of the new surveys was one issued in 1797 for 100,000 acres on the West Fork and Little Kanawha rivers to Benjamin Haskell and William Warren. David Lockwood took out 40,000 acres lying on Sand fork of Kanawha, partly in Gilmer, partly in Lewis. The Reed and Ford survey containing 27,000 acres was also made. It began near the head of Rush run and extended southwestwardly. Upon the failure of the expected rush of immigration to materialize, the original owners allowed the title to lapse through non-payment of taxes, and it afterwards became a part of the Camden- Bailey-Camden estates, and eventually passed into the hands of Irish settlers. Most of these surveys were made by the famous surveyor, Henry Jackson.
The first section where actual settlements were made besides those maintained under the shadow of West's fort were on Stone Coal creek, the first Lewis County stream discovered and explored by white men. Several settlements had been made in that beautiful
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EXTENSION OF SETTLEMENT-SKIN CREEK
valley, which is reputed to be perhaps the best farming section of the county, but the settlers had been forced to abandon their claims during the Indian wars. The note- worthy exceptions were John Schoolcraft, who had es- tablished himself on Schoolcraft's run-now Smith's run, and Henry Flesher, at the mouth of the stream.
After the treaty of Greenville the lands filled up very fast. Abner Abbott settled near the head of the creek not far from the present Lewis-Upshur line, about the year 1798. George Sommers came immediately after- wards and settled just below him. Just above the pres- ent site of Gaston, in perhaps the most beautiful section of all the Stone Coal valley, John and Benjamin Taylor built their humble cabins about the year 1797. John Curtis settled on the site of Gaston and Henry Hard- man located his claim near the forks, of the creek. James Paines was also one of the earlier settlers in the upper valley of Stone Coal.
On the lower course of the stream no new settle- ments appear to have been made for several years. Schoolcraft's run had become so thoroughly peopled with Smiths by the year 1805 that the name was changed to Smith's run. Isaac and William Smith came in the last years of the century and took up tracts of land on the run, and perhaps purchased the claim of John School- craft. In 1805 Mark Smith moved his household goods from his cabin near the mouth of Freeman's creek, where he had settled the year before, and also settled on Smith's run.
By 1808 the Stone Coal settlement had become nu- merous enough to justify the establishment of a mill on the upper course of the stream. George Bush secured the necessary machinery and began grinding corn on the later site of Gaston. The village which grew up around the mill was known locally as Bush's Mills for the next eighty years. Henry Curtis acquired pos- session of the mill in 1812 or 1813 and made many im- provements. In 1814 he added to his grist mill the first
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sawmill on the creek. It consisted of a rude sash saw run by water power, and, needless to say, the capacity of the mill was limited. Most of the earlier sawmills could not saw large logs, and most owners objected to sawing any but soft woods like tulip poplar. A still was in existence at about the same time a little farther down the creek.
The community at first had to depend upon the schools established in the Hacker's creek valley. Sev- eral young men in turn tried their skill at teaching with rather indifferent success. In 1815 Henry Hardman taught a select school near the forks of the creek. It resulted in the training of several young men who after- wards taught school in the valley. Bush's mills became rather prominent as an educational center in the early history of the county.
The Rev. John Mitchell, first preacher in Lewis County, came to Stone Coal creek before the settlement had fairly started and held meetings in the homes of some of the pioneers. Soon services were held at regular intervals by the Rev. Mitchell and the circuit preachers. A class was formed, and a log church erected a little later by the Methodists. The Presbyterians also estab- lished a church on the creek at a later date under the leadership of the French creek pastor.
Across the ridge to the south of Stone Coal lies a fertile territory drained by Skin creek. It also attracted considerable immigration within a few years after the treaty of peace. Skin creek was first explored by John Hacker in 1769 while on his famous buffalo hunt. Later it was a famous hunting ground for parties from Hack- er's creek, so that the desirability of the land was well known. Only the danger to such an isolated settle- ment from war parties kept the pioneers from going there. There is fairly good evidence for the statement that Alexander Hacker settled at the Ward place (now the Jewell farm) on Big Skin creek about the year 1778, but he abandoned his settlement.
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On the tomahawk claim made by John Hacker at the mouth of Curtis run on Little Skin creek, his son Jonathan Hacker settled in 1796. Young Hacker soon became tired of the location and moved to another of his father's tomahawk improvements at the mouth of Crane Camp run ; but learning that the land had already been surveyed as a part of a large tract, he soon aban- doned his cabin and returned to Hacker's creek. His farm at the mouth of Curtis run had been purchased by the Rev. John Hardman, the mechanical genius of the new settlement. He immediately proceeded to establish a small mill, which was far superior to the tin grater- when there was water to flow over the dam. Hardman is said to have lacked patience to watch the "corn- cracker" mill, and he sold it to Rev. Anthony Spaur, who hailed from Holland. Hardman moved to a tract about two miles farther up the creek. Henry Bott set- tled on one of the best locations on the creek near where the road leaves the valley to pass over the low gap to Hall's run. Felix Albert, who came a little later, made his settlement near the mouth of Blacklick run. He later sold out to John Clark. William Peterson and John Helmick settled on tracts farther up the stream. All these settlements were made probably within five or six years after the close of the Indian wars. Louis Bonnett, one of the garrison at Flesher's station during the last years of the Indian wars, and a younger brother, Philip, came to Skin creek early in the century. They remained there long enough to rear their families and then left for the cheaper lands farther west. Nicholas Linger came from Germany about 1815 and made his settlement on Little Skin creek. A family of Stalnak- ers from Randolph County, natives of Holland, also came very early. The Bonnetts were Dutch also and never wholly mastered the English language. Before the coming of the Chidesters and the Corathers, the set- tlement was overwhelmingly Dutch. By the time of the formation of Lewis County in 1816, Little Skin creek
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was the most compact settlement between Stone Coal creek and the Great Kanawha river. It was also a set- tlement of progressive, intelligent pioneers. It is said that every resident of the stream could read and write. In order that the gift of learning should not die out, a school was arranged almost as soon as there were set- tlements. The first school of Little Skin creek was taught by Anthony Spaur, who, according to one who knew him, "was a man of Herculean strength and sten- torian voice." Like all the teachers of his time he was a strict disciplinarian. Michael G. Bush, who followed "Old Father Spaur", was one of the best teachers of Lewis County, and later he became one of the most active men in establishing schools who lived in the county before the Civil war. He had had the advantages of one or more terms of school under Isaac Morrison, one of the leading educators of northwestern Virginia, and he possessed the gift of imparting his knowledge to his pupils. Two very successful teachers were grad- uated from Bush's school-Henry D. Hardman, who taught the first schol on Big Skin creek, and Daniel R. Helmick, who succeeded to the school on Little Skin creek. He was in turn succeeded by George R. Marsh.
As in the case of the Stone Coal settlement, the Rev. John Mitchell was early in the field preaching to the peo- ple of the district On account of the diversity of creeds represented and the number of ministers on the creek, it was impossible to organize a church until 1823. The erection of a church building came much later.
Big Skin creek, though not as thickly settled as the other fork, contained the nucleus of a future great com- munity in the half dozen families who settled there in the first two decades of the nineteenth century. On the Ward place-abandoned homestead of the pioneer Alex- ander Hacker-Richard Johnson built his cabin just be- low the mouth of Charles run in 1797 or 1798. His son John is said to have been the first white child born on the creek. Spencer Marsh lived just above the present
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site of Vandalia. The first settler on the present site of the village is said to have been Peter Bonnett who, with his brothers, were members of the first garrison at Flesher's station. His cabin stood just across the creek from the site of the village church. About 1820 David Hall came to the valley and took up the land upon which most of the village was later laid out. His brother Jona- than settled on Hughes fork, near the site of the camping ground of the deer hunters who took part in the famous Skin Creek hunt. Henry Wheeler was the first settler on Wheeler's fork, which empties into the creek just above Vandalia. William Wilson, in 1802, entered a homestead on the right fork of Skin creek.
An Indian trail up Big Skin creek was at first the only means which the settlers had of gaining access to the outside world. Some time before 1813 a road was opened through the settlement in consequence of the activity at the Haymond salt works on Salt Lick creek. Over the winding trail from the valley of the Buckhan- non came not only people in search of salt, but also many settlers on Big Skin creek.
Near the mouth of Skin creek few settlements were made for nearly fifty years. Brownsville had no exist- ence for nearly eighty years after the settlements on the creek above it. Joseph Alkire is said to have settled on or near the present site of the town shortly after the close of the Indian wars. He was followed by Stephen Coburn, who lived either on the West Fork river or a short distance up Skin creek. These were the only settlements above Bendale on the river for a distance of ten or twelve miles. Others came and spent a few years on the river, but, except in the more favored locations the settlements were not permanent. The narrow bot- toms which were alone fit for tillage were soon worn out, and the homesteaders moved to more congenial locations.
CHAPTER XI.
THE COLLINS SETTLEMENT
Collins Settlement, the most southern district in the county, shows the greatest diversity in topography. The valley of the West Fork from its source to where it passes out of the district is equal in fertlity to any sec- tion of the county. The bottoms are level and well adapted to cultivation. It is one of the garden spots of West Virginia. On the other hand, in the extreme southern part of the district there are deep, narrow val- leys and towering mountains. The surface is not adapt- ed for anything but stock raising except in the narrow bottoms and on the summits of the mountains, where it is possible in places to raise corn. The crop from the hilltops is largely brought to the valleys below on wires. On account of the magnificent crops produced in the up- per valley, it was formerly known as "Egypt"; and from the number of famous men who are natives of the district, it has sometimes been called by the high-flown title "The Athens of West Virginia." During the Civil war it was known as "Dixie".
The excellent quality of the land was known to the Hacker's creek settlers at a very early date. John Hacker's war of revenge against the buffaloes in 1769 led him through the district from one end to the other, and he located two claims-hunter's camps-within the boundaries of Collins Settlement. One was at the mouth of Crane Camp run, now on the Davisson farm at Crawford, and the other on Hacker's Camp run in the "Shoestring". Hacker's oldest son Jonathan, to whom he gave these claims, left the one on Little Skin creek to settle on Crane Camp. His abandoned cabin, reputed to be haunted by ghosts, stood on the site for many years,
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and furnished shelter for numerous hunting parties. The lower course of the West Fork was thoroughly ex- plored by 1774 by Jesse Hughes, John P. Duvail and others.
That the upper valley of the West Fork was not permanently settled following the explorations is due to the Indian wars. Among the records of land certificates granted in 1781 is one to Joseph Hall "on the east side of the west branch of the Monongahela river to include his settlement made thereon in 1777." At the same time Jacob Bush received a certificate for "400 acres on the West Fork about two miles below the main fork of said river to include his improvement made thereon in 1777." The latter tract was probably above Abram's run. No trace of the settlement has been found, nor is the nature of the "improvement" known. He evidently never returned after the Indian wars to occupy it. John Pierce Duvall, whose claims were strategically located all through Lewis and Harrison counties with a view to their later importance as town sites, bought out two early settlers in the district. One was at the Indian carrying place, now Arnold, near the lowest point in the divide between the West Fork and the Little Kanawha rivers, to include a settlement in 1776, and the other at the forks of the West Fork, to include a corn right dating back to the same year. It may well be doubted whether there were four acres cleared and planted in corn above Walkersville by 1776, which would have given the right to the 400 acres of land included in the grant. John P. Duvall was one of the three commissioners to adjust disputes and issue certificates. The land opposite Walkersville on the south side of the forks of the river was not surveyed until 1820.
By far the most important tract of land in the his- tory of the district was that patented by Colonel George Jackson. It included five thousand acres in the valley of the West Fork lying between the two town sites of John P. Duvall. In the middle of the tract he selected
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a plot of ground on a high bottom near a good ford of the river where later the future town of Jacksonville was to be located. There was at that time not a single settler in the upper valley of the West Fork. Years afterward he confirmed the location of the town in a deed granted to his daughter Mrs. Prudence Arnold.
In order to bring about the settlement of this land as soon as possible and to encourage further settlements in the region round about his tracts, Colonel Jackson agreed to donate to some Irish settlers of the South Branch valley small tracts of land if they would make settlements here and stay until the settlement became permanent. They were also to mark a bridle path from their settlement to the Flesher settlement at the mouth of Stone Coal creek. The offer was accepted by several families. .
John Collins and his three sons, Jacob, Cornelius and Isaac, were the first permanent settlers in the dis- trict. They brought all their worldly possessions to the upper West Fork on packhorses in the winter of 1797-98, and selected the broad bottom facing the rising sun which is now part of the George I. Davisson farm about one mile south of Jacksonville. The first cabin was located on the right side of the river and not far northeast of the sugar orchard. The Collins' were in- dustrious and cleared a considerable portion of the land in the immediate vicinity of their homes. They remained in their original location until after the formation of Lewis County when they sought a more favorable sit- uation in the west.
Captain James Keith and Dan T. Turvey emigrated to the same region immediately after the Collins settle- ment was established. Captain Keith's cabin stood on the south side of Calamus hollow a short distance above Jacksonville. He had the reputation of being by far the best hunter in all that section, averaging, it is said, fifteen or twenty deer a week during the hunting sea- son. He was also one of the largest fruit growers in the
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THE COLLINS SETTLEMENT
West Fork valley, and years afterwards his orchard was resorted to by the people of the neighborhood.
In 1799 a man named Shoulders settled at the forks of the river. The next year the Bennetts came over the old Seneca trail from the upper Potomac valley. Wil- liam Bennett located on Colonel Jackson's land just be- low the tract selected by Shoulders. Abram Bennett located on Abram's run, which took its name from its first settler. Joseph Bennett located on the stream a little later. Jacob Bennett made his settlement farther up the Right Fork on Leatherbark run. The Bennetts were fruit growers and propagated apples from seeds which they had brought with them from the Potomac valley. Captain James Keith married a daughter of William Bennett, and doubtless received as part of her dowry the apple seeds from which grew his famous orchard. The Bennetts have continued to the present time to occupy the ancestral farm of William Bennett. He died in 1857, and his tombstone in Long Point cem- etery states that "he lived 29,780 days, without guile and without reproach, progenitor of 248 descendants." ₱
One of the most important settlements on the Jack- son tract was that made by Rev. Henry Camden in 1804. His cabin stood a short distance west of Jacksonville where Camden hollow debouches into the valley of the river. Here he cleared the high bottom, reared a large family, and was a leader in the community for years. He was one of the earliest preachers on the Lewis cir- cuit of the Methodist Episcopal church which at first em- braced appointments all the way from Burnersville in Barbour County to Salt Lick creek in Braxton. The Camdens remained there for many years. The old Camden-Collins cemetery containing the graves of the pioneers of the district, unmarked save for rough flag- stones, is on the hillside above the site of the Keith house.
Shortly after the Rev. Camden located in the valley, John Byrne settled on the right bank of the river about
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A HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY
one mile below Walkersville. Robert Crawford built his cabin in the broad meadow near the mouth of Indian Cap run in 1815. The Bennetts, Crawford and the Cam- dens became the mainstays of one of the most important Methodist congregations in the Monongahela valley at an early date. Jesse Cunningham came about the same time as Crawford and settled on Abram's run. Elijah Arnold, who married Colonel Jackson's daughter, settled on the town site of Jacksonville in 1830. The old manor house is still standing, and is occupied as a summer home by Mrs. Mary A. Edmiston, a great-granddaughter of Colonel Jackson.
On John Pierce Duvall's town site at the Indian Carrying place, George T. Duvall settled at an early date. He is supposed to have been a son of Colonel Duvall.
On Sand fork of the West Fork, the first settlement appears to have been made by Samuel Wilson, near the mouth of Sammy's run. His cabin stood where John Rollyson formerly lived. He came from Staunton, and some of his descendants bear a marked resemblance to President Wilson. He did not continue long on Sand fork, but moved to the Right fork of West Fork. The Rev. George I. Marsh settled farther up Sand fork also at a very early date. Below the mouth of Sammy's run the McCrays had made their settlement before 1820.
For years after the Collins Settlement became permanent and prosperous, the pioneers on the upper West Fork were cut off from all the other settlements by a wall of primeval forest. Their nearest neighbors were on Salt Lick creek, at the Ward place on Skin creek, and at Weston. The valley below Arnold was not occupied for a distance of ten miles. In 1808, Abner Mitchell located about one mile below the site of the village of Roanoke. He was for years the only settler on the river from George Duvall's to the mouth of Skin creek.
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THE COLLINS SETTLEMENT
The bridle path which had been blazed by the Col- lins' continued in use for many years without improve- ment. It was occasionally followed by the residents of the older settlements on their trips to Haymond's salt works. The trail from the Buckhannon river settlement to the same place entered Collins settlement from Skin creek and again plunged into the wilds. The West Fork river in its upper reaches was far too small to consider building flat boats, and the problem of transportation for the Collins settlement remained for a future generation to solve.
Reference has already been made to the Methodist society which had been organized in the Collins settle- ment, and which continued for years to prosper under the guidance of the Rev. Camden. Apparently no repre- sentative of other sects entered the valley of the upper Fork until later, and even at the present time the churches of other denominations are few and far be- tween, so strong is the hold of the Methodists there.
The early progress of education in the Collins set- tlement is unknown. Unfortunately the early traditions have failed to hand down the location of school houses and the names of the early teachers who helped to pro- duce coming leaders of the state-a United States sena- tor, jurists, legislators, constitution makers, empire builders, capitalists, educators and officials of the na- tion and of the state. William Schoolcraft, who lived on the upper West Fork at an early date, is said to have been a "noted school teacher and hunter." Further than the one entry the record is blank.
CHAPTER XII.
FREEMAN'S CREEK DISTRICT
Freeman's Creek district is the largest in the county, the richest by far, and has the greatest population. The soil is very fertile, though, aside from the West Fork river bottoms, there is a less proportion of tillable land in the district than in any of the other districts with the exception of Court House. The farmers are pros- perous, and better farming methods are employed than in most other sections. The district does not represent as homogenous a territory as most of the others, since about three-fifths of the territory is drained by Free- man's creek, Polk creek, McCann's run and the southern hollows of Kincheloe creek, all of which are tributaries of the West Fork; and the other two-fifths lies on Fink creek, Alum fork and other tributaries of Leading creek. There is an overflow of the Irish settlements from Sand Fork and its tributaries in the southwestern portion of the district.
The derivation of the name of the creek is uncertain, but it was evidently named for some early explorer. Lieutenant Edward Freeman, who served in Captain Booth's company of militia at the beginning of the Rev. olution, was one of the earliest comers to the upper West Fork valley, and the stream was probably named for him.
Reference has already been made to many of the homesteads which were taken out in 1781. The most important of them is the town site of John P. Duvall at the forks of the creek, and the patents on Gee Lick run. Land on Horse run was originally granted to Alexander West, the scout. By 1808, George Arnold was a large landholder, in partnership with John P. Duvall. He
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added to the plot owned by Duvall in the forks of the creek, and took up other tracts in various parts of the district, so that the possessions of Duvall and Arnold bear a somewhat similar relation in the later settlement of the district to those of Col. George Jackson in the Collins settlement. James Arnold was also a large land- holder on Freeman's creek and Polk creek at a somewhat later date. Owing to the number and scattered loca- tions of homesteads taken up before the close of the Revolution, unbroken tracts of thousands of acres were not numerous.
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