USA > West Virginia > Lewis County > A history of Lewis County, West Virginia > Part 15
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The first piano in Weston was brought over the Staunton and Parkersburg turnpike from Parkersburg in the summer of 1844. It was purchased by Mrs. Wilson, whose daughters had attended a school in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, where music was one of the accomplish- ments taught.
Weston in 1844 was without any manufacturing in- dustries except for the wagon shop, the tan yard and the combined grist and carding mill, which was still run by water power. There was not a single steam engine in the town and only one in the county at that time.
CHAPTER XVI.
PROGRESS UNDER THE NEW REGIME
Aside from the development of Weston and the country about the town, the creation of Lewis County apparently made little difference in the establishment of new settlements, and the extension of the older commu- nities. From the standpoint of government there was a decided improvement, for the inconveniences of going to Clarksburg for the transaction of legal business were obviated and more attention was paid to the details of administration in the county.
The founding of Weston had considerable influence in the development of the surrounding lands, because of the fact that most of the inhabitants of the town bought small farms in the vicinity, where they obtained their firewood, cut lumber and raised their breadstuffs. Some of them bought farms and then let the land lie idle to increase in value with the development of the town. Part of the land on the river above Weston was cleared very early by the slaves of the owners, and large crops were cultivated by them. Stillhouse run (now Town run) was developed in the same way far earlier than it would have been without the close proximity to the town. Some of the citizens of Weston busied themselves in lo- cating lands in the surrounding country which had not been taken up, or if taken up, had been abandoned. Sev- eral tracts were located on Murphy's creek, on Middle run, on Rush run or on the river above Weston.
The Lewis County surveyor's books for 1817 show that most of the new surveys of lands were being made
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A HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY
on Steer creek, Cedar creek, Hughes river and the lower course of the Little Kanawha. But tracts of land were also being surveyed in what is now Lewis County in numbers and location which were surprising. Five thousand acres in a single tract on Freeman's creek ; twelve hundred acres on Cap run; and smaller tracts on Sand fork of West Fork, Skin creek, Polk creek, Leading creek, Gee Lick run, Saul's run and Ward's run were surveyed. Smaller tracts continued to be patented from year to year, sometimes in surprising locations. There was much confusion, and it was difficult to determine just what land had been surveyed, especially since the boundaries of tracts were fixed by the purchasers, and they usually located only three sides and noted that on the fourth side the tract "extended for quantity." The man who occupied the post of county surveyor had a good opportunity to find out whether or not land was claimed by any private owner, and many of the early incumbents of that office became wealthy by keeping the secret of the location of vacant lands until their terms had expired and then securing a patent for them. Other surveyors had also a rare opportunity. The profession was recommended for the young man who wanted to get ahead in the world.
In 1836, land that had never before been patented, was surveyed on Clover fork, Murphy's creek, Oil creek, Skin creek, Gee Lick run and on Laurel Lick not far from the original settlement of John Hacker, made sixty- seven years before. Six years later small tracts were being surveyed on the upper reaches of Hacker's creek and on the tributaries of Sand fork of West Fork.
The amount of land which could be had by taking out warrants for it was so great that for years, land val -- ues were extremely low. One hundred acres on Stone Coal creek, adjoining lands of Henry Flesher, was sold in 1817 for $300, and the price was considered high. The usual price for a farm was from one to three dollars per acre, depending upon the amount of the land that
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had been cleared. The large unwieldy tracts which had been surveyed in the last years of the Indian wars were not settled except by squatters, owing to the fact that the owners were non-residents, and the tracts did not fall into the hands of citizens of the county until the titles were forfeited through non-payment of taxes. The more enterprising of the new owners subdivided their lands and sold them in small tracts to settlers.
When the county was established the citizens lived in islands of settlement in a sea of forest without means of ingress or egress. The development of communica- tion between different settlements and the extension of their boundaries until they touched each other and in- cluded all the lands in the county was the problem which faced the leaders of the new county after its creation- a problem which was not wholly solved until after the development of the lumbering industry caused the tim- ber to be cut and made easier the clearing of land.
The population of Lewis County increased but slow- ly in comparison with the expansion of the settlements of Indiana and Illinois during the same period, but the growth was equal to that of most of the counties of northwestern Virginia. In the first ten years of the ex- istence of the county the number of inhabitants in- creased about forty-five per cent. The same ratio of in- crease continued until the Civil war, though the statis- tics of the census seem to indicate a less rapid growth in later years. This apparent slowing up is readily ex- plained by the formation of new counties out of the original territory of Lewis.
The county government was expanded to meet the needs of the large population. An act passed in 1824 provided that the county court of Lewis County should appoint two commissioners of the revenue (assessors) "in lieu of the one appointed heretofore." On account of the growth of communities at a distance from the coun- ty seat and the difficulties of attending the polls at the courthouse, it was provided in 1827 that separate elec-
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A HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY
tions should be held at the house of Daniel Farnsworth on the Buckhannon river, at the home of Benjamin Coonrod on the Little Kanawha river, and at the home of Benjamin Riddle at the mouth of Leading creek, in addition to the one at the courthouse. A new regiment of militia, the 133rd, was formed in 1829 out of the 125th regiment, which had previously been created for Lewis County.
The consolidation of the old settlements is shown best perhaps by the example of Hacker's creek, which in 1840 had about reached maturity as a community. The first pioneers and their descendants had been reinforced by newer comers until the population of the valley was soon almost as great as it is at the present time. The third postoffice in the county was established at Mc- Whorter's Mills with Fields McWhorter as postmaster, in 1829. The number of residents in the vicinity and the natural importance of the site as a center for the Hacker's creek community led Lewis Maxwell, one of the founders of Weston, to purchase the Jacob Bonnett farm and divide it into town lots, in 1835. The town thus laid out was named Jane Lew in honor of Jane Lewis, mother of Lewis Maxwell. There were several purchasers of lots, and within a few months a half dozen or more dwellings were in process of construction. A store was established in the village in 1837 by S. P. Jackson, which was operated by Blackwell Jackson un- til 1844, when he established a store of his own. The first ordinary was established about 1840 by S. P. Jack- son. In 1844 he started a tannery, which was soon sold to Isaac Jackson. To S. P. Jackson far more than to Lewis Maxwell is due the development of the town. In 1844 a traveler in Jane Lew saw six or eight dwell- ings, a frame hotel, a livery stable, a store, a blacksmith shop, a tannery and a large flag pole nearly one hundred feet high bearing the names of Polk and Dallas, Demo- cratic candidates for President and Vice-President re- spectively.
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The community had a house painter in the person of John P. Peterson, who lived not far from the mouth of Life's run. He later came to Jane Lew and bought the tannery. Ezekial Boilan and Albert Jewell, a school teacher from Maine, who lived at the head of Life's run, were prominent new citizens in 1845. Nicholas Alkire was reputed to be the second richest man in the county, his wealth having grown with the increase of the herds which he pastured during the summer in the rich coves of Fink creek.
Westfield had maintained a precarious existence fol- lowing the failure of the town to secure the courthouse, but its citizens did not wholly give up the struggle. In 1833 one lot brought $50. The establishment of Jane Lew in 1835 and the building of Lightburn's mill farther down the river led to the abandonment of the site. By the early 'forties it was an improved farm occupied by Minter J. Bailey. One large log house in which the Lewis County court is said to have held its first session -a melancholy memorial of disappointment and blasted hopes-marked the site until after the close of the Civil war.
The populous and prosperous Broad run community continued to expand, as did also the McCann's run dis- trict. Benjamin Lightburn's mill, which was establislı- ed near the mouth of Broad run some time before 1840, formed the nucleus of the present village of Lightburn.
The settlements on Freeman's creek expanded dur- ing this period perhaps faster than at any other time in their history. The farmers cleared their lands and placed them in cultivation or in bluegrass pasture, which more than doubled the capacity of the land to fatten cattle, and still left a great acreage of pea-vine pasturage. The Hacker's creek ranchmen were obliged to depend more and more on the land farther west in the rich coves of Fink. About 1840 there was a considerable immigration of great importance to the later history of the commu- nity. Several families, including Jesse Coler, Solomon
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A HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY
White, David Simmons and the Rexroads and Halter- mans, migrated from Highland County. Some of the new immigrants were members of the United Brethren church, and one of their first acts upon coming to the Freeman's creek valley was to commence holding their religious meetings. The first services of the United Brethren church in Lewis County were held in the home of David Simmons about 1841 or the year following. A church was soon organized, and largely through the generosity of Mr. Simmons, a house of worship was erected on the Simmons farms above the site of Free- mansburg. From the parent church a number of others have sprung, including Valley Chapel, the Polk Creek church, the congregation at Churchville, and the Broad street church at Weston.
Daniel Harpole is said to have been the first set- tler on Murphy's creek about the beginning of the cen- tury. He was followed by the progenitor of the Jarvis family in Lewis County at a period so remote that his name has been lost. George Fisher settled on the creek at a somewhat later date. About 1840 the Bankheads, Spears, and Henrys, who had come from Scotland, set- tled on Limestone, a tributary of Murphy's creek. They were coal miners, and took up the business of supplying Weston with coal after the abandonment of the bank owned by James M. Camp. A Baptist church, the third in the county, was organized on the creek in 1844.
Middle run and Rush run were settled at a later date than Murphy's creek, and for a long time they remained practically in the wilderness. By 1844 each of the val- leys of the streams had a population of four families. The Rush run settlements and those above its mouth on the river, induced the building of a mill by Jonathan Holt in 1840. It subsequently passed into the hands of John Detamore, who continued it in operation until late in the century, when it was destroyed by fire. Dr N. B· Barnes organized a Sunday school in 1855 in an old building which stood near the mouth of Middle run.
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PROGRESS UNDER THE NEW REGIME
In the valley of the West Fork below Roanoke, new settlements began to be made around the home- stead of Abner Mitchell. The Heavners settled at first on the Rhodes place where they lived until the coming of Rhodes, shortly before the Civil war. Samuel Bond came from near Lost creek about 1825, and settled not far from the later site of the Seventh Day Baptist church. The first services of that denomination were held in the home of one of the Heavners shortly after the close of the Civil war. Before 1820 the pioneer Abner Mitchell applied for permission to construct a dam in the river, to furnish motor power for a small mill which he proposed to establish. The mill was con- structed, but the venture was not a success owing to the small number of settlers near him and the later compe- tition of other mills in the neighborhood.
The town of Roanoke at the mouth of Sand fork and near the mouth of Canoe run occupies a strategic loca- tion which was not appreciated for a long time after the first settlement had been made in the vicinity. John and William Godfrey, brothers, are credited with having been the first to occupy the site. They were lumber- men in addition to being farmers, and with every rise in the river they floated hundreds of logs to Weston and points beyond, where they were formed into rafts and sent down the Monongahela. Michael G. Bush, a for- mer school teacher, millwright and farmer, moved fron Skin creek to the mouth of Sand Fork about 1835. About the time that Mitchell's mill suspended operations he is thought to have established a mill which had a brief existence, almost forgotten by the sons of pioneers in that section. The mill gave the name to the post- office of Bush's Mills, which was in existence just below Roanoke in 1851 with William Rohrbough as postmaster Isaac Waldo came from Harrison County about 1840 and established a mill in the bend of the river about one- half mile above the mouth of Sand fork. It continued in
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A HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY
operation for many years until it was burned to the water's edge in the 'seventies.
The progress made in the Collins settlement was largely in the nature of the extension of clearings. New farms were settled by the descendants of the first com- ers, and the area of improvements was gradually ex- tended to include both forks of the river. A postoffice, the second in the county, was established under the name of Collins Settlement with Joseph H. Camden as post- master in 1821, when there were no roads connecting the section with Weston. At the forks of the river, William Bennett established a mill prior to 1820 which became the nucleus of the present village of Walkersville. A postoffice was established there under the name of Ben- nett's Mills about 1835, and a polling place was estab- lished at his home in 1838. The Right fork was set- tled first, as indicated by road orders of the county court which found it necessary to establish a road only to the mouth of Crane Camp on the left fork in 1820, but which a little later caused a road to be viewed up Right fork to the mouth of Glady. Andrew Wilson settled near the present site of the village of Ireland, James and John Anderson built their homes about half way be- tween Ireland and Bennett's mill, some of the younger Bennetts took up land near their fathers, and Isaac Bouse settled near the present village of Ireland where he became the first postmaster about 1845. The place was called Ireland in honor of Andrew Wilson, a son of Erin, who voted for James K. Polk for president in 1844 at the age of 113. Abram's run was rather thickly settled by 1845. Sand fork had more than a dozen families by the same date. Henry Gilson, Robert Irvine, James Brady, Henry McCauley and others lived on the stream, but they left on account of the conflict of land titles and went farther west-
One of the first settlers of Clover fork and Oil creek was Alexander Skinner, who lived in the forks of the creek where Orlando is now located. John Riffle
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PROGRESS UNDER THE NEW REGIME
was also on lower Oil creek by 1827. He established the first mill in that section some time prior to 1853, and he also had the honor in that year to kill the last panther seen in Lewis County. The Poseys were also pioneers on lower Oil creek; James Posey lived just above Orlando. Clover fork was settled about the same time, and had grown so swiftly through the coloniza - tions of G. J. Arnold and others that there were suffi- cient settlers to justify the establishment of a store a few miles above the mouth of the stream by a man named Townsend in 1853. A blacksmith shop was also in operation. Near the head of the stream the first set- tler was William B. Holbert, who came before 1836. The Cunninghams and Traylors were there a little later.
Skin creek district as a whole reached maturity perhaps earlier than any of the other districts of the county with the exception of Hacker's creek. Big Skin creek was a fairly compact territory by 1840. In addi- tion to the earlier settlers the Petersons had established themselves at the head of the creek, and there were several families of Hardmans living between David Hall's and the mouth of Charles' run. George Harris lived just below the present Jewell farm, and William Warner had settled on Glady fork. Philip Linger es- tablished a mill about 1830 on the farm just adjoining the land on which Vandalia was afterwards built. A church building was erected nearby about 1838, which served for many years both as a place for worship and as a schoolhouse.
Little Skin creek, about the year 1850 was proba- bly as thickly settled as it is today. Colonel John Cor- outhers, who was of Irish descent if not a native of Ire- land, and whose residence on the creek dates from about 1825, was regarded as the richest man in the county in 1844. He was a prominent cattle dealer, as well as a farmer whose methods were superior to those of other farmers of the vicinity. The Rev. Phemeno Chidester, W. M. McNemar, David Whetsel and Jacob Hudson
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A HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY
were other new residents in the valley. A separate polling place was established there about 1848.
Stone Coal creek, which is now regarded as being one of the best agricultural sections in the county, had a population in the 'forties of intelligent and enterprising farmers. To them is partly due the present fertility of the soil, for they never cropped their fields until the land became worn out. The Rev. Henry Hardman, Peter Smith, Mark Hersman, John Yoke, James Wilson, Jacob Whetsel, Thomas Hawkins and Levi Maxwell were some of the more noteworthy residents of the val- ley. In 1844 there were no villages along the whole course of the stream. The Lorentz store near the head of the creek and the various establishments of Weston furnished sufficient stocks of goods from which the peo- ple might select. The Curtis mill was supplanted in 1836 by the Shoulders mill. Shortly after the Methodist con- gregation on the creek voted to cast their lot with the Methodist Protestant church, Henry D. Hardman, at his own expense, erected a church for the few members who decided to remain with the older organization. There were then three churches on the creek. The com- munity was then too weak to support all of them, and the Presbyterian congregation, which had maintained a precarious existence for some time, ceased to exist by 1840. Following the construction of the Staunton and Parkersburg turnpike the village of Gaston began to take form.
In what is now Court House district settlements were slow in being founded. Jim Ditcher, a freedman. was the first settler on Goosepen run, or for that matter on any of the streams which are tributary to Sand fork. He located there in the early 'thirties. Tom Boilen set- tled at the mouth of Rock Camp run a little later. Until the coming of the Irish, these were the only settlements in the whole region.
Those communities which had not reached a suffi- cient stage of development to have stores, were served
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after a fashion by peddlers, who with a greater or less quantity of trinkets on their backs or of store goods in their wagons, made their way from one settlement to another. A peddler's license fee was $25 per year, except for clock peddlers, who paid $100. William T. Knotts and William M. Grimes were two of the first peddlers in the county who sold at retail "goods of foreign growth and manufacture." The old peddler was a picturesque figure as he made his way over the trails in his light wagon filled with his stock of groceries, notions and dry goods which he exchanged for the products of the farm. His wagon always was full, even at the end of the trip; for the goods which he took in trade were heavier and more bulky in most cases than those he sold. The peddler was always welcomed, for his wagon was the only source from which store goods could be procured by the families who lived in the valleys remote from the older communities, and he retailed not only goods but gossip of the whole region through which he traveled.
The first show to come to Lewis County was owned by Miller, Mead and Olmstead, who gave performances in 1853 in many of the more populous communities. At intervals thereafter shady individuals gave performances in the old field schoolhouses for the edification of the natives. Most of the amusements of the people consist- ed, as at an earlier date, of corn huskings, grubbing frolics, quilting bees and hoe-downs.
Very few of the farmers owned slaves, because they could not afford to keep them throughout the year for the small amount of agricultural produce which resulted from their labor. The lack of a good market made the institution unprofitable; the fact that all the farmers of the county worked their own land made it unpopular. Only the nabobs at the county seat and the very rich farmers could afford to keep slaves, and they were used for a great variety of domestic service as well as for grubbing in winter and tending crops in summer.
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A HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY
The influence of religion upon the pioneers often led to a combination of the wild and uncouth with the pure and noble. The great revivals of that day when the unlettered preacher spoke forcefully before an even more unlettered audience were calculated to instill the fear of God into the hearts of the people and to frighten them into the fold. Perhaps it was the only effectual means of accomplishing the end for which the frontier church existed.
The influence of the church was always directed to- ward a higher plane of civilization. Many a community was "cleaned up" by a vigorous revival meeting and sometimes the results were fairly permanent. The reg- ular meetings of congregations were always worth while. even aside from their spiritual importance.
The Methodists and Baptists were the leading de- nominations in the county until a later date. Members of other churches who settled in the county usually affiliated with one or the other of them. The Lewis circuit of the Methodist church in 1827 included ten churches, of which one was located in Harrison county, one in what is now Barbour, two in Upshur, one in Gil- mer, one on Salt Lick creek, now in Braxton County, and four churches in communities now included in Lewis. Two of the classes were located on Hacker's creek, one on Stone Coal and one on Skin creek. There were but three church buildings on the circuit, and Harmony church on Hacker's creek was the only one of these now in Lewis County. Two preachers were assigned to the circuit. In 1829 occurred the schism in the Methodist church over the question of the admission of laymen to a share in the government of the church: The two con- gregations on Hacker's creek went over to the Meth- odist Protestant church, as did most of the members on Skin creek and Stone Coal.
Among the pioneer preachers of the Methodist Episcopal church whose influence helped to mould the character of the community were Forest W. Peterson,
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PROGRESS UNDER THE NEW REGIME
Asa Shinn, George Brown, John Strange, and at a later date, Edmund Leehon and James G. Samson. The two last-named have perhaps never been excelled in this country as pulpit orators. Among all those of the Meth- odist Protestant church none ever was more widely known or more influential than the Rev. Samuel Claw- son, who first came to Lewis County in 1839. He was a man of tireless energy, who rode from one section of the county to the other preaching the gospel of redemp- tion from hell fire in the few churches of his denomina- tion, in schoolhouses and in private homes, forming congregations and building churches. "Put that fire out," he said before a service to some members of his congregation who had gathered about a huge fireplace, "I'll soon make it hot enough for you in here." He did, according to the testimony of disinterested spectators. Among the Baptist ministers in the county there was none more successful than the Rev. Anthony J. Garrett. Though uneducated, in fact almost illiterate, he was gifted with fluent speech. He traversed all of north- western Virginia, living a great part of the time on horse- back, preaching wherever the opportunity presented it- self, and always with remarkable results.
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