USA > West Virginia > Lewis County > A history of Lewis County, West Virginia > Part 20
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32
263
THE GREAT BUSINESS BOOM, 1845-60
or McCraysboro, the name would have meant some- thing."
The beginning of the present village of Georgetown may be traced to the same period. In 1851 the post- office of Little Skin creek was conducted in the store of W. B. Peterson. Several families comprised the pop- ulation of the village in 1857 when an ordinary, kept by William B. Roach was added to the town.
Improvements were made in several other sections of the county. The Freeman's creek settlers whose cen- ter up to the 'forties had been Hezekiah Tharp's mill, formed a new community center around the old Baptist church. Some time in the early 'fifties Fortunatus and Marcellus White started a store there which was the only establishment of the kind between Weston and Troy. At about the same time Reuben Kemper estab- lished a blacksmith shop in which the work was mainly done by a slave named Tobe. In his honor the place was called Tobetown, which name it bore for many years until the establishment of a postoffice long after the Civil war, when the more euphonious but less ap- propriate name of Freemansburg was bestowed upon it. Mail was brought from Weston by any resident of the neighborhood who happened to go to the county seat and left with the merchants who thus became, as it were, unofficial postmasters. In later years the store was op- erated by Hall and Gaston.
On the right fork of Freeman's creek the commu- nity had become strong enough by 1846 to have a sep- arate church, and the Mt. Zion Baptist church was there- fore organized and a meeting-house erected. The prin- cipal support for the church in its earlier years came from Jacob Straley and Alexander (Buck) Moffett.
Every section of the county showed greater relig- ious improvement than at any other period of its pre- vious history. The Mt. Hebron church at Jane Lew was organized from among members of the Methodist Episcopal church who did not follow the majority into
264
A HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY
the Methodist Protestant denomination. The Meth -- odists also organized a society on Gee Lick run before the war, meeting at first in the houses of the members and later in an old log house which was donated by Mrs. Lydia Fisher, a staunch Baptist.
Farm methods changed for the better, through the introduction of improved machinery. The first thresh- ing machine in the county was introduced about 1845. It was evidently a small four-horse "chaff-piler", which threshed the grain fairly clean but did not separate it from the chaff. The grain and chaff together were de- livered by the machine into a rail pen, and later the grain was cleaned by means of an old-fashioned windmill which was hauled from farm to farm. The large eight- horse separator was not introduced until a few years be- fore the opening of the Civil war. It is possible that there were a few mowers in the county then, but the real in- troduction of these machines did not take place until af- ter the Civil war. Even then their use was regarded as being in a more or less experimental stage. The "Mitchell Bull" and the "patent lever" plows came into use among the better class of farmers about 1845; but it was ten years later before the hillside plow was intro- duced.
Wagons were more or less scarce, and farmers owned them "on shares" or loaned them to one another in the neighborhood. The first buggy, a crude affair without any top, was introduced about 1845. Not every citizen possessed his own saddle. It was not uncommon for a man to be seen riding in public on a pack-saddle with a sheepskin thrown across it for comfort.
The growing of livestock continued to be the chief industry of the people. Cattle predominated until about 1860, when the interest of the farmers turned largely to sheep raising. The prices of cattle had increased since 1828, a good cow bringing, by 1860, $15 or $20. The increase was partly due to the good home market after the completion of the Staunton and Parkersburg turn-
265
THE GREAT BUSINESS BOOM, 1845-60
pike, partly to a general rise in prices. The price of sheep declined as the number of wolves became less. The gen- eral average of prices was about seventy-five cents per head for common stock, but more for an animal of bet- ter quality. The sheep were kept wholly for their wool. It was impossible to market lambs and many of the farmers preferred to make up their herds of wethers. A better breed of long-wooled sheep was introduced about 1855 or 1860, and a great deal more attention was paid to the breeding of sheep than at a later period.
The tobacco industry, first introduced by Tandy Sprouse on Rush run in 1840, had assumed large propor- tions in 1860, and many other farmers had taken it up following the completion of the Staunton and Parkers- burg turnpike, which made the Richmond market read- ily accessible to Lewis County farmers. The production was in the neighborhood of 50,000 pounds per year by 1860. One of the most prominent growers of the plant was Henry H. Rittenhouse, on his farm at the mouth of Abram's run.
The first improved potatoes, the "early rose" appear to have been introduced about 1855 or 1860. Previous to that time the people had to depend for their early supply upon the "cowhorn" variety which grew about the size of a man's thumb and which reached maturity about July 4. The late potatoes were of course larger, but the quality was poor.
Sorghum was introduced as an experiment in 1856. The first crop was raised from seed brought from Geor- gia and it was so successful that all the seed was saved and planted, until within a few years most of the farmers had a cane patch.
The first sewing machine in the county was brought over the Fairmont and Weston turnpike in 1855.
Introduction of the process of canning fruit to take the place of dried fruit for the winter occurred about 1860. Tin cans were used, the lids being sealed with solder.
266
A HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY
The government of the county also changed for the better during the period. Instead of a dozen or more jus- tices forming a close corporation and filling any vacan -. cies which occurred in their body, sometimes with poli- ticians who were unfit for the place, there was introduc- ed a real representative local government. Under the new constitution, adopted in 1852, the people chose their own justices of the peace, who, however, continued to exercise both judicial and executive functions, largely to the detriment of the administration of the county. The sheriffalty, instead of going to the decrepit old man who had managed to survive until his turn came, was made an elective office. The term of office was two years. If he were not an honest collector and a vigor- ous enforcer of the law, it was because the people had not been sufficiently trained in local affairs to protect their interests. Once having an opportunity to exercise the suffrage, they were quick in learning.
The later minor subdivisions of the county also began to take shape. After the defection of the Buck- hannon river settlements resulting the formation of Up- shur, the two assessors' districts were separated by a line following the Staunton and Parkersburg turnpike from east to west. The genesis of the present magis- terial districts is also to be found in the division of the county into election districts in order to prevent plural voting which was likely to occur when there were several precincts in the county without any definite division line. The boundaries of the first district were identical with the present Collins Settlement; the second district included the territory now in Skin creek and Court House, except that east of Weston the line was the Staunton and Parkersburg turnpike; the third district was the present Hacker's creek with the addition of Gee Lick and Polk creek; and the fourth district in- cluded the remainder of the county, with the valleys of Freeman's creek and those of Leading creek, Fink and their branches. The election districts as thus consti-
267
THE GREAT BUSINESS BOOM, 1845-60
tuted made a more even division of the county than was made later, with the exception that the Hacker's creek precinct had more than onethird of the population. The voting places were in 1852: First district, J. M. Bennett's store (forks of river) and Joseph Hall's store (near the mouth of Sand Fork) ; second precinct, Court House and Peterson's store on Little Skin creek; third precinct, Jane Lew and Weston; fourth precinct, House of Henry Steinbeck on Leading creek and a house just below the forks of Freeman's creek.
Country life in Lewis County before the war is thus described by Captain Michael Egan in his book, "The Flying Gray-haired Yank": "Rural life in the wilds of Virginia might well be envied by even the nabobs and the lords of creation. In such places, above all others, are happiness and godliness sure to be found; person and property were alike safe in the keeping of those kind-hearted, industrious and religious people. They were like one happy family in their daily inter- course, cheering and helping each other along the steep, stony path of life.
"During the summer months it was customary for the young people of both sexes to attend camp-meetings, revivals, geography singing schools, and other religious or instructive gatherings. In winter the male portion of the population engaged in the exciting pleasures of the chase, hunting deer, bear and smaller game."
CHAPTER XXI.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATION
Education in Lewis County began while yet the savages hovered around the Hacker's creek settlements. West's fort served not only as a refuge for the people in time of danger but also as an agency in the dissemina- tion of knowledge. The fort was practically deserted during the winter months, when the danger of Indian raids had ceased, and the house within the stockade made as good a school house as there was anywhere in north- western Virginia. When the danger from Indian raids had ceased, the old fort was still used for both educa- tional and religious purposes until it was torn down. Recourse was then had to abandoned cabins, or if there were none, then schoolhouses were erected in abandoned fields which could no longer profitably be cropped. As each later settlement was made, the pioneers attempted to secure teachers and to establish schools. The few set- tlers on Little Skin creek had a school before the set- tlement was a half dozen years old, and schools in that community continued to be taught annually from that time forth. The pioneers of Collins Settlement, Free- man's creek, Big Skin creek and other sections were equally prompt in lighting the torch of education.
The children of isolated settlers like Tom Boilen on Sand fork, Lewis Stallman on Leading creek, or John Hurst on Fink, were likely to grow up illiterate. The poor man, who had purchased land and who faced utter ruin unless he were able to pay for it within a few years could not afford to pay the tuition and was too proud to apply for pittance provided by the great state of Vir- ginia, "Mother of Presidents"-and of illiterates-and sometimes allowed his children to grow up in ignorance.
269
THE DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATION
The educational policy of Virginia before the war was based upon the theory that education was the busi- ness of the parent or, at most, of the community. The people of the eastern part of the state had a fairly good system of private or parochial schools to which they might send their children. The man who did not send his children to school was looked down upon by his neighbors. If he could not afford the expense of an ed- ucation for his children, then the state, upon his mak- ing the humiliating confession of indigence, furnished a pitiful sum from a fund created, not for the establish- ment of schools for poor children, but for paying their tuition in schools which happened to be in existence. The people of the west had no permanent schools, with the exception of Randolph Academy. They had no as- surance of a school unless the parents of a community banded together, and employed the services 'of such teachers as were available. The school term was sure to be short, the instruction was likely to be indifferent, and conditions were unsatisfactory all around.
The people west of the Alleghanies were like the Puritans of New England in their belief in education as a factor in the development of democratic institutions. In general they were an intelligent and enterprising class of people, many of whom could read and write. Most of them were passionately devoted to education, and they made tremendous sacrifices in order that the gift of learning which they had received should be passed on to their children.
The schools which they established can not be com- pared for one moment to the rural schools of the present time, but they were far better than none at all. The "old field" schoolhouse with its old fashioned school- teacher versed only in the three R's was a factor of greatest importance in the development of Lewis County. The subscription school has long since passed away, but it has left its indelible impression upon the character of the people.
270
A HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY
A description of one of the old buildings erected on Skin creek, which is typical of all those of the period is quoted from John Strange Hall, formerly county superintendent of free schools:
"The house was 16x18 ft .; built of round logs, slightly scutched down on the inside. The door, loft and roof were made of boards-the latter weighted down with poles. The cracks were chinked and daubed except one at the end and one at the side next the door, which was near the corner. These were enlarged for windows. There was also a small window on the opposite side near the fire. Instead of glass for filling the windows, one of the patrons furnished a few copies of the Pittsburgh Christian Advocate for the purpose. These were cut into strips of suitable width and supported by upright slats, were pasted in the windows and greased to let in the light. My teacher told me it was to let the dark out. Broad poplar slabs were leveled with a broadax and closely jointed for a floor and others dressed more care .. fully were put up in front of the windows for writing desks. Chestnut saplings split, leveled and shaved, and supported by legs of suitable length, served for seats. Every pupil carried his own back, for the benches had none. Blackboards did not adorn the schoolhouses of that age. *
"The chief glory of the edifice was its chimney. It was no half wooden concern liable to take fire whenever an armful of dry wood was thrown on. One-half the north end was cut out, and a rough, though substantial. stone chimney with a capacity to absorb a respectable log heap and roast an ox on the hearth completed the schoolhouse."
All the schools were made up by subscription. Spe- cific articles of agreement between the patrons,-includ- ing the school commissioners for the indigent children -- and the teachers were drawn up showing what was to be taught. All included spelling, writing, reading, with usually a part or the whole of Pike's arithmetic. The
271
THE DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATION
tuition charged by the teacher in the rural districts of the county was usually a dollar and a half per term for the simpler branches, and two dollars per term when geog- raphy and grammar were included in the program. The school term was for three months or sixty-five days.
School began promptly at eight o'clock and closed at five. There was seldom a case of tardiness, though some of the children walked a distance of three or four miles from their homes. When not reciting, the pupils were kept constantly at their books, and no idleness was permitted. Pike's arithmetic, a speller and a Testament were the only textbooks in use. Discipline was main- tained, not with the classic birch of the north, but with a tough hickory switch from three to five feet in length. "This in our school,' says Mr. Hall, "was used as an emblem of authority rather than as an instrument of torture ; but it was convertible."
Spelling was the favorite accomplishment of the pupils, and there was no higher honor than to get the greatest number of head-marks or to stand up longest in the spelling match.
Teaching was not regarded as a profession in pioneer days. With one exception every one of the teachers made it a stepping stone to some other position. The careless and good for-nothing teachers, of whom there were a few, sank into obscurity ; the efficient passed into positions of public trust; but, as Mr. Hall says, there was none who attained to greater eminence, or who rendered a greater service to his community in his chosen field than he did in his humble position of schoolmaster. The teacher was generally the young man in the community who had stood at the head of his classes at the local school, or had attended another school or college and secured a better education than it was possible to obtain at home. Clad in their flowing hunting shirts and buckskin moccasins they were pic- turesque figures as they pointed the way for their youth- ful charges over the stony paths of learning.
272
A HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY
Summer schools were taught in some communities which had become educational centers by virtue of the labors of a long line of especially distinguished teachers. These were attended largely by the young women of the community, for few of the boys who were old enough to guide a shovel plow between the corn rows or wield a hoe were able to take advantage of them. Sometimes teachers managed to spend a term at a school outside of their districts, where they paid their board by cutting wood, feeding the stock, grubbing, and making them- selves generally useful. It was considered a far better way to secure an education than to take advantage of the provisions of the Literary fund of the state. Oc- casionally school teachers from New England would come into Virginia, teach two or three years and then either settle here on a farm or return home.
There was no supervision of the schools by the state -no teachers' examinations, no correlation of the work of different schools. All was left to the discretion of the citizens of the community who banded together to se- cure a teacher. There was a slender incentive to good schools in the fact that school commissioners might re- fuse to disburse any of the money furnished by the state for the education of indigent children unless the teacher met with their approval.
The Literary fund of the state was not sufficient at any time to influence greatly the schools of the county. It consisted of forfeitures and fines and proceeds of the sale of property which has reverted to the state through failure of heirs. By an act passed in 1818 it was pro- vided that from five to fifteen school commissioners should be appointed in each county for the purpose of disbursing the pro rata share of the proceeds of the Lit- erary fund allotted to the county. The county court of Lewis appointed on the board Joseph McCoy, John Mitchell, Asa Squire, David W. Sleeth, Edward Jackson, Lewis Maxwell and Aaron Gould, nearly all of whom had served an apprenticeship as teachers. Varying
273
THE DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATION
amounts were to be disbursed, at first not more than $200, then rising to $500, until in 1844 the General As- sembly, in lieu of the annual appropriation, gave the lump sum of $469.21. This was to abolish illiteracy in Lewis County-a jurisdiction then extending from the divide east of the Buckhannon river to the present line between Wirt and Calhoun counties. Efforts had been made at various times to increase the amount. In the convention of 1829-30 it was proposed by a western del- egate that a poll tax of twenty-five cents per year, to- gether with an equal amount set aside by the state should form a fund, the interest of which was to be used for elementary education. It was shown in the conven- tion that at that time Virginia made provision for the indifferent education of only one-eighth as many chil- dren as were provided annually with adequate education by the little state of Connecticut. The convention ut- terly ignored the plea of the people of the west for a better system of education.
The Auditor's report for 1833 gives an interesting glimpse into the activities of the school commissioners for Lewis County. There were then thirty-four schools in the county attended by poor children, and two hundred and thirty-four poor children out of a total of five hun- dred applicants received the benefit of the fund. The amount at the disposal of the commisioners that year was $304.99, and the wonder is that they succeeded in getting instruction for as many children as they did. It must not be forgotten also that there were many chil- dren not in school because their parents would not ap- ply for the benefits of the fund.
Among the indefatigable workers for better schools in Lewis County there was none more active than Thomas Bland who served as school commissioner for many years, and whose efforts in organizing schools in various parts of the county met with great success. He was ably seconded in his efforts by Michael G. Bush in the upper valley of the West Fork, who had been one of
274
A HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY
the most successful teachers in the county, and by Elias Lowther and Colonel John Mc Whorter. The legislature was being continually reminded of the need of greater appropriations for the county. Citizens were urged to keep their schools going. Everything possible was done to increase the interest in education and to promote progress in the instruction of the youth of the county.
The need for a better system became more and more apparent. Advocates of education in other counties ex- perienced the same difficulties. The people determined to take united action to bring pressure to bear on the legislature. In 1841 a convention met in the old Pres- byterian church in Clarksburg, with 140 delegates in at- tendance, among whom were John McWhorter, Thomas Bland, R. W. Lowther, A. G. Reger and Cabell Taven- ner from Lewis County. The convention declared in fa- vor of better schools, and drafted strong resolutions recommending changes in the existing system.
No immediate results were apparent. In 1845, how- ever, the legislature passed an act providing for the dis- tricting of the counties apparently with the view of se- curing better supervision of the schools already es- tablished. One school commissioner was to be appoint -. ed from each of the districts and the board should choose a superintendent who should keep an accurate roll of the children of the county, account for the inconie receiv- ed from the Literary fund, and render a report on the effects of its expenditure. It was also provided by an act passed a little later that the county court might es- tablish a school in each of the districts if two-thirds of the voters of the county were in favor of the measure. Trustees were to be selected for such schools, two by the voters of the districts and one by the school commis- sioners.
The county court finished the task of dividing Lewis county into eighteen districts the next year. The dis- tricts as defined were as follows:
(1) corporation of Weston; (2) Polk creek and Mur-
275
THE DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATION
phy's creek and their tributaries; (3) Leading creek; (4) Sand fork; (5) West Fork river above the mouth of Sand fork, and also Oil creek; (6) Tributaries flow- ing into the West Fork from the west below the mouth of Polk creek; (7) Sand fork and Big Skin creek; (8) Canoe run, Carrion run, Rush run, and Middle run ; (9) Little Skin creek; (10) Stone Coal creek; (11-16) districts now in Upshur; (17) tributaries from the east side of the West Fork river from the mouth of Stone Coal to the Harrison County line and the valley of Hacker's creek as far up as the mouth of Jesse's run; (18) remainder of Hacker's creek. The districts were far too large for the purpose for which they were cre- ated :- namely, to be centers each for a school. An elec-) tion for the establishment of a school within one of the districts would be favored by all the people residing near the center of a district where it was proposed to estab- lish a public school; and opposed by all who lived on the edge of the school district, for they would have to pro- vide for the education of their children in subscription schools as before. The results was that not a single pub- lic school was created in Lewis County prior to the formation of West Virginia. The creation of the office of superintendent of schools served in a measure to in- crease the efficiency of the teachers. During the admin- istration of John Morrow especially, 1857-59, much was accomplished.
In the constitutional convention of 1850 the dele- gates from the western counties made a determined ef- fort to establish a system of education under which schools should be established by the state, where rich and poor children alike would be able to secure an edu- cation. The resolutions providing for a clause in the con- stitution on the subject of free schools were voted down. The people of the east feared that they would be taxed for the support of schools in the west-a condition that would have been no worse, however, than the long con- tinued policy of disproportionate taxation of the people
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.