USA > West Virginia > Monroe County > A history of Monroe county, West Virginia > Part 16
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The commissioners now appointed by Monroe were Cornelius Leach and J. R. McPherson, the latter being county surveyor. Sum- mers chose Matthew Gwinn, J. B. Lavender, and S. K. Boude. Mr. Boude died and M. A. Manning was chosen to the vacancy. Judge A. N. Campbell of the circuit court declined to sit on the case, on the ground that he was a citizen of Monroe, one of the interested counties. His place was taken by A. F. Guthrie, judge of the Ka- nawha circuit. The petitions in behalf of Monroe and Greenbrier were dismissed, but were upheld by the Supreme Court. Ex-Gov- ernor A. B. Fleming was chosen umpire, but being unable to act, George E. Price of Charleston appeared in his stead. The trial, which lasted several days, was held at Alderson in April, 1897. The attorneys appearing for Monroe were John Osborne and A. G. Pat- ton. The decision as to the Greenbrier-Summers line being in favor of the older county, there was a decision in favor of Mon-
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A HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
roe almost as a natural consequence. The court held that Sum- mers was too tardy in presenting its claim, and since the older counties had been in undisturbed possession more than twenty years, the new county could not equitably gain title. The adjudication was therefore on very much the same grounds as in the case of the long-drawn-out boundary contest between Maryland and West Vir- ginia. There may have been an intent in the act of legislature to give Summers a broader confine than the one it actually has; but if so, the intent was thwarted by fogginess in the phraseology. Tax- able property to the amount of $400,000 was saved to Monroe.
There was no urgent call for the creation of Summers county. Monroe was not so large as several other counties, even before its last curtailment. The area of Summers does not come to the limit of 400 square miles which is the statutory minimum. The surface is of inferior agricultural capability. The existence of the county is justified only because it is traversed by a trunkline railroad and con- tains a small city which has been called into being by that road.
During the last twenty years there have been some notable gath- erings in Monroe. At the Confederate reunion of August 31, 1895, the orator of the day was General John B. Gordon of Georgia. Two years later the oration was by Senator John W. Daniel of Virginia. 4000 people then assembled in the Patton grove, just north of Union. The centennial of Monroe county was held at the county seat, Au- gust 10, 1899, and despite some adverse circumstances, about 3000 people collected. An able and appropriate address was given by Virgil A. Lewis, state historian. In 1901 there was an unveiling at Union of a monument in honor of the soldiers sent by Monroe to the Confederate army. The cornerstone had been laid September 6, 1900, under Masonic rites, and with an oration by John W. Ar- buckle. A still more memorable occasion was the homecoming of August 26, 1909, held also in the Patton grove. It was attended by an immense throng of people of the county, as well as by many persons who had gone out from Monroe to make homes elsewhere. The address was by Colonel J. H. Crosier, and the response was by the Reverend B. P. Pennington. A poem entitled "Our Home
THE MONROE HOME COMING OF 1909
REV. A. H. HAMILTON 38 years Pastor of Mt. Carmel Church at Midway, Virginia
S. PORTER HAMILTON An Honored Member of the County Court
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FROM 1872 TO 1916
Coming," was written for the event by Mrs. Ellen F. Craig, and another, "In Old Monroe," was furnished by Mrs. Rose O. Sell.
About 1904, in response to a general appeal by the Fresh Air Society of Baltimore, 116 children were sent in a special car to Fort Spring, and thence delivered by vehicles to the summer homes that had been secured for them. Next year about 50 children came. On each occasion they spent two weeks in Monroe.
In 1872 Monroe land was assessed at an average of $7.25 an acre, yielding a total of $2,063,582, as against $2,482,264.18 for the much larger county of Greenbrier. During the next fifteen years the assessable value rose a little more than fifty per cent. In 1889 a new courthouse was built at the cost of $15,000.
For some time Monroe has been free from the licensed barroom, notwithstanding the adverse influence of the summer resorts. The prohibition amendment of 1888 was defeated in this county by a majority of 334 in a total vote of 1760. But that of 1912 carried by a vote of 2064 against 552.
In a political sense, Monroe seems never to have been a one- sided county. During the long antebellum period it was in the main an adherent to the Democratic faith, although the Whig party had a strong leadership and a strong following. The complexion of the county since 1882 will appear in the following tabular statement:
1882 :- C. P. Snyder for Congress, Democrat-693; J. H. Brown, Re- publican-624.
1884 :- Cleveland for President-1176; Blaine-973
1888 :- Cleveland-1338; Harrison 1222
1890 :- Democratic majority in every district for the first time since the war
1892 :- Cleveland-1373; Harrison-1141
1896 :- Bryan-1577; Mckinley-1325
1900 :- Bryan-1533; Mckinley-1557
1904 :- Parker-1504; Roosevelt-1486
1908 :- Bryan-1525; Taft-1523
1912 :- Wilson-1570; Taft-798; Roosevelt-742; Debs-17
1912 :- Thompson for Governor, Democrat-1684; Hatfield, Republi- can-1418
We close the chapter with selections from the county order-
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A HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
books, beginning with the first session of the county court as restored by the constitution of 1872-1873.
First session, February 10. Members present: John W. Gray, presi- dent, John Wickline, J. M. Shanklin, James S. Harvey, Archibald Miller, George W. Nickell, S. I. Warren, Napoleon Patton.
April session: Two justices assigned for each term. April and August terms to be devoted to police and fiscal concerns. Grand jury terms to be in June and December.
June session: Liquor licenses given to Oliver Beirne at Sweet Springs and Thomas J. Peyton at Red Sulphur (August). Tavern licenses with- out liquor given to A. E. Scruggs and Lewis F. Clark.
October session: James G. Vaughn given tavern and liquor license at Alderson.
1874
Road precincts: 22 in Sweet Springs, 18 in Wolf Creek, 26 in Union, 21 in Springfield, 23 in Second Creek, 20 in Red Sulphur.
1877
Voting places : Sweet Springs; Watts' store and Napoleon Patton's; Wolf Creek; Wolf Creek, Alderson, and Jones' store; other districts have each one voting place.
1881
Court organized March 21 under the commissioner system. Hinchman drew the six year term, Neel the four year term, and Symms the two year term. Court to meet in April, July, and November.
Justices: Springfield: James S. Harvey and Granville Houchins; Sec- ond Creek; J. W. McDowell and B. S. Cook; Wolf Creek, A. A. Carden and George Alderson; Union, Archibald Miller and S. I. Warren; Red Sulphur, Luther C. Hale and E. P. Williams; Sweet Springs, Robert A. Hall.
Bounties: wolf and bear, $3; wildcat and catamount, $1.50; red or gray fox, grown animal, $1; cub, 50 cents.
Chesapeake and Ohio stock sold for $10,488.
XIX
THE COLORED ELEMENT
African Slavery-Slavery Times in Monroe-The Race Today.
HE school histories tell us that slavery began in the United States with the landing of twenty "negars" at Jamestown in 1619. This is not correct. Slavery was not sanctioned by Virginia until 1661. Until then the very few negroes in the colony were servants and not slaves. Until then and for some years afterward, the white servants were more numerous than the black ones. The former were brought from Europe, of- ten against their will, and were sold into servitude for a term of years. The one distinguishing mark of slavery, as contrasted with servitude, was not the absence of freedom, but the fact that the ab- sence was permanent. The white servant had somewhat greater privileges under the law than was the case under slavery, and when his term of indenture was over he became as free as other white people.
The black man appeared in Monroe almost as soon as the white. In the early pioneer period the larger landholders had their slaves. Even among the victims of the massacre at Baughman's fort was "old Christopher."
The mountain belt of Virginia was not suited to an extensive development of the plantation system. Neither was the institution of slavery ever popular in this region. Consequently, the negro pop- ulation was never large in Monroe at any time. It was only the large and wealthy landholders who were likely to possess field hands, In general, the negroes were kindly and indulgently treated. They fared better than where the slaves were so very numerous as to render a sternly repressive control a matter of public safety. The field hand worked by the side of his master, and toiled only when he did and only so long as he did. The servants in the "big house"
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A HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
looked down on the field hands, but both house and field servants looked down on the poor class of whites. Except so far as the slaves were quartered in the "big house," they lived in huts and suffered somewhat in cold weather. Mrs. Royall, writing in 1824 and her- self the wife of a slaveholder, states that the winter season was hard on the negroes.
The appearance of the negro in Virginia was promptly followed by the appearance of the mulatto. The latter was defined by stat- ute law as a person not more than one-fourth white. If his mother was a slave, he was a slave also.
The practice of manumission was encouraged by a state law of 1784. In Monroe the freeing of slaves, especially by will, was rath- er common. Perhaps the first local instance of emancipation was in 1795, when William Scarborough of Turkey Creek was given leave to free his man York, on being responsible for any illegal conduct on his part.
In 1832 the Virginia Assembly came within one vote of passing a resolution declaring it expedient to abolish slavery. This reso- lution had the support of all the delegates from the counties along the Alleghany chain. These mountain counties upheld the view that slavery was "ruinous to the white, retards improvements, roots out our industrious population, and banishes the yeomanry." Gov- ernor Letcher was one of many who proposed that the institution be eventually excluded from the section of the state west of the Blue Ridge.
Slavery led to a code of laws and regulations in its own interest, and to an administration of justice somewhat unlike that which ap- plied to the white population. For example, the county court could sentence a slave to death but not a white person. Again, no negro or mulatto might be a witness except in case of the state against a negro.
Local records throw many interesting sidelights on the working of the slavery regime. Those of early Greenbrier mention an order that Frank be given "fifteen lashes on the bare back, well laid on," for stealing sheep and hogs and breaking into a dairy. For making "seditious speeches and seducing a negro woman out of the service
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THE COLORED ELEMENT
of John Stuart," Peter, a mulatto, was in 1796 given thirty-nine lashes and sent to jail until ironed with a ring and chain and a twenty pound weight, which ornaments he was to drag around until the next term of court.
William Haynes chastised a man and his wife for some petty stealing. Because of their racial belief that after death one passes to some other land and lives more happily, they thought to go to Africa by suicide. Accordingly, they committed suicide in a cave and they were buried there.
Cuffy, slave of Margaret Kitchen of Gap Valley, was made levy-free in 1799. (This fact indicates that he was old and no longer able to do much work.
Harry, alias Harry Wilson, brought suit against James Glenn for false imprisonment and presented an affidavit from James Ward. The jury decided that Wilson was a free man, and that he should not only recover his freedom but damages to the amount of 40 shill- ings.
In 1801, Jack Hunt, a free negro, was shot in the leg while steal- ing from a milkhouse, and died of his wound in the jail at Sweet Springs.
In 1802, negro Will, for stealing and selling 100 pounds of to- bacco, was branded with an O in his right hand and then discharged.
Moses, a slave of Samuel Ewing, murdered Will, a slave of Oliver Ewing, in 1811. Will was stabbed in a kitchen while Moses was drunk and quarrelsome. The murderer threw his knife into a chimney corner and fled. The witnesses were chiefly negroes. Moses was sentenced to hang near Union, March 29. His owner was paid $275, it being a provision of the slavery laws that a master should be indemnified for the loss of a slave by capital punishment. This was the first hanging in Monroe and the spot became known as "Mose Hollow." Beck, the negro woman who murdered a little girl of Robert Coalter, was hanged on the road leading to the Alex- ander farm.
In 1812, Peter, slave of Andrew Beirne, stole a sheet and some brown sugar from the wagon of Jacob Haynes. The value of the goods was $26.04. It was ordered that an R be branded in the
-
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A HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
palm of his left hand until the mark should fully show, and that he be given six lashes well laid on. About this time, Lymus, slave of John Gray, was punished with ten lashes and an R for stealing from the store of Shanklin and Caperton 24 yards of orange colored bom- bazet worth $30. Jim, another slave of Andrew Beirne, stole hose, saddle, bridle, and a pair of boots. The articles were recovered, but it was ordered that a T, an inch and a fourth in diameter, be burned into his hand and that fifty lashes be administered.
In 1824, Billy Ligging, supposed to be a runaway slave, stabbed George Moss and resisted arrest. It was ordered that he be given thirty lashes on the bare back, well laid on, and that he be trans- ported from the United States. His value was fixed at $400. In another instance, a committee to whom the value of a runaway was referred, reported him too crippled to be worth anything.
Misdemeanors, especially stealing, were at times rather fre- quently brought before the county court, but the negro was some- times cleared.
The following is the form of manumission used by Colonel Royall :
Know all men by these presents that I, William Royall of the County of Monroe and State of Virginia, do emancipate a certain negro Boy of the name of Richard, who is now my property and the grandson of a cer- tain free negro man of the name of Edward, for sundry and divers causes and on the following condition, to wit: that he, the said Richard, shall remain as fully my Slave until he arrives at the age of twenty-one years, as if this Deed had never been made. In Witness whereof I have here- unto set my hand and seal this 15th Day of May, 1805.
Even after the negro was freed, the former master was answer- able for his support, in case he were liable to become a charge on the county. And when the institution of slavery was most flourishing, there was a reluctance to allow the freedman to remain in the state. He might not remain in the county except by and during the per- mission of the county court. In such a case a description of his person was filed in the office of the county clerk.
As early as 1806 we find mention of the following free negroes: Jinny Hargrove-housekeeper-Rich Creek
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THE COLORED ELEMENT
Elijah Hargrove-farmer-husband of the above Betsy Corder-at Jacob Miller's on Rock Creek Susannah-wife of Jacob Buckland-Indian Creek
Henry Wilson-Farmer-at William Gullett's Sharlot Hunt-has two daughters, Sally and Katy
Yock Nelson and wife-farmer-near Adam Bowyer's, Gap Valley Ned-on John Larew's land
Ben Montgomery-Peter's Creek
Harry Gluesberry-jobber-Sinks
Daniel and wife-surname not known-Sweet Springs Nan and Susannah
Jeremiah, freed by William Vawter and unwilling to leave Vir- ginia, where his friends and relatives were, asked permission to remain in Monroe. This was in 1827. In 1850, the petition of Edmund Briggs was signed by 51 persons. He asked leave to remain on the ground that he was 69 years old, had been in the county 22 years, and could not think of separating from his old wife, who was a slave. The petition of Emily Covins in the same year reads much like that of Briggs.
In 1829, the sheriff was ordered to sell into slavery eight free negroes for their failure to pay taxes. Three years later, several freedmen were charged with felony and larceny. In 1843 a de- scription is recorded of the six negroes emancipated by Griffith Gar- ten and the two by Adam Thomas. They were allowed to remain in the county. About 1845 quite a number of free negroes were registered.
It is significant that in 1858 John T. Wilson, of the hotel at Sweet Springs, was prohibited from selling liquor to any negro, slave or free.
One of the last punishments under the reign of slavery was in February, 1862, when negro Taylor was ordered transported out of the Confederacy for burning the barn and washhouse of Moses Arnold. The property was valued at $200. The indemnification of the master was fixed at $500.
One feature of the slavery system was the patrol. This was a semi-military device for keeping all slaves under close inspection. In Monroe the patrol company was divided into five squads for tours
V
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A HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
of one week each. In 1822 the captain of a squad was allowed one dollar for twelve hours' service, and the privates had seventy-five cents.
The present negro element of Monroe is partly derived from other communities. It is largely concentrated in two suburbs of Union, only a few small settlements occurring elsewhere. In most country neighborhoods a colored person is almost as infrequently seen as in the North or West. Since he attained his freedom, the negro is commonly a town dweller in the counties where he is least numerous.
Slavery taught the negro to work after the manner of the white man, but racial traits stood in the way of his developing into a hus- tler. Yet those of the race who show themselves to be industrious and law-abiding are well thought of by the dominant color.
A particularly useful citizen was the Reverend Charles L. Camp- bell, who was born a slave near Pickaway on the plantation of Rob- ert Campbell. After the close of the war he spent three years in Ohio, working by day at his trade of blacksmithing and going to school at night. Returning to Union he became active in the im- provement of his people. He taught several years and was ordained as an elder by a board of white preachers. In 1870 he organized the colored Baptist congregation at Union, was its pastor several years, and was instrumental in the purchase of its house of worship from his former master, who was a trustee of the church when used by the white Baptists. His life of usefulness came to a close in 1912 at the age of 72. He was then the oldest minister in the Val- ley Baptist Association (colored).
XX
TOWNS AND VILLAGES
Union-Alderson-Other Places.
HEN Monroe county was organized it had nearly 4000 inhabitants and not even a village. It would now be difficult to find in the whole Union an organized county of that size without a town of at least 400 people.
About a mile from the courthouse to the south James Byrnside had made a home about 1762. In 1774, James Alexander, then a young man of twenty-two, built a cabin a little north of the town. He soon sold a part of his land to Michael Erskine. But so late as 1799 there does not appear to have been any dwelling within the present town limits except that of Alexander himself.
That the farm became a town was solely because it was chosen for the seat of government of the new county. On the second day of the first term of the Monroe court, Alexander entered into a bond to convey one acre as a courthouse lot and ten acres adjoining as a town site. The bond was made out in favor of William Haynes, John Gray, John Byrnside, James Handley, and James Alexander, acting as town trustees. The sheriff was then ordered to let out the building of a log courthouse and a stone jail.
At a session held August 21, 1799, the trustees resolved that "the size of buildings on each lot must be one square log house, of the same size of 16 by 18 feet from out to out; two stories high of a common height, roof of shingles, and chimney of brick or stone; to be floored and finished in the inside in a workmanlike manner."
There was a prompt remonstrance against the choice of county seat. A petition with many signers condemns it as being far from the center, thus disregarding the act creating Monroe, and also as illegal, on the ground that the justices of the new county were ap- pointed and commissioned without the consent of the court of Green-
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A HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
brier or the knowledge of the citizens of Monroe. The petitioners laid the blame on John Hutchinson. Another grievance was that the court was already preparing to erect the public buildings. The paper concludes by asking for a commission to determine the center of the county.
Nevertheless, the Virginia Assembly passed the necessary bill, January 6, 1800. The other towns included in the same act were Springfield in Loudoun county, Elkton in Fauquier, Madison in Madison county, New Port at the mouth of the Little Kanawha, Rocky Mills in Hanover, Kernstown in Frederick, and Monroe (for- merly Neal's Spring) on the Little Kanawha. The sections relat- ing particularly to Union read thus :
Section Four: That twenty-five acres of land, the property of James Alexander, at the courthouse in the county of Monroe, as the same have been laid off into lots and streets, shall be established a town by the name of Union; and that William Haynes, John Gray, John Byrnside, James Hanley, Michael Erskine, John Hutchinson, and Isaac Estill, gentlemen, shall be and they are hereby constituted trustees thereof.
Section Nine: The trustees of the said towns respectively, or a majority of them, are impowered to make such rules and orders for the regular building of houses therein, as to them shall seem best, and to settle and determine all disputes concerning the bounds of the lots. So soon as the purchaser of any lot, in either of the said towns shall have built a dwell- ing house therein equal to twelve feet square with a brick or stone chim- ney, such purchaser shall enjoy the same privileges as the freeholders and inhabitants of other towns, not incorporated, hold and enjoy. Vacancies by death or otherwise, of any one or more of the trustees of the said towns, respectively, shall be supplied by the remaining trustees, or a majority of them; and the person so elected shall have the same power as if they had been named in this act.
The earliest lot purchasers on record are the following, the lot numbers being bracketed : 1804, Michael Alexander (64), Andrew Beirne (35, Joseph Burk (61), Henry Chapman (14), Adam Cline (52), Lewis Forlander (44), Benjamin Hall, (23, 24), James Handley, Sr. (34), Richard Shanklin (51); 1806, Thomas Beirne (53), Henry Stever (54), George Beamer, Joseph Alderson, Will- iam Blanton. All but Beamer and Blanton bought directly from Alexander. The only purchase price named in the deeds is $51 in
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TOWNS AND VILLAGES
the case of lot 44. In 1806 James Alexander deeded one acre for a courthouse lot and 25 acres for a town site, so long as the ground should be used for such purposes.
Richard Shanklin is said to have been the first merchant, open- ing his store the year after the town was founded. In 1802 Henry Alexander and Hugh Caperton formed the partnership of Alexan- der and Company. Soon afterward came Andrew and George Beirne, known as the firm of A. and G. Beirne. Andrew Beirne, Jr., later entered the firm. Benjamin F. Steele and Madison Mc- Daniel formed the partnership of Steele and McDaniel. A post- office was opened in 1800.
In the election, April 1, 1802, for overseer of the poor, the fol- lowing men voted: James Alexander, Matthew Alexander, John Byrnside, Joseph Burk, Jonathan Dunbar, Alexander Dunlap, Lewis Forlander, Benjamin Hall, Reuben Leach, Matthew Ralston, Rich- ard Shanklin, George Spickert, and Henry Stever.
There were Methodist and Presbyterian churches within two miles, but after the town was established there was worship in the courthouse, and in pleasant weather in a maple grove.
By a statute of 1804 the lot owners of "Union Town" were al- lowed seven more years in which to make their improvements, this period to begin with the last day of 1803. But in 1816 there was a further extension of seven years.
A statute of 1820 made it unlawful for the people of Union to allow sheep or hogs to run at large. For the first offense the penalty was half a dollar; for the second, it was one dollar; for the third, it was the sale of the animal, the proceeds going to the improvement of the streets. In 1827 there was a petition for the repeal of this law on the ground that Union was a small place.
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