USA > West Virginia > Pendleton County > A history of Pendleton County, West Virginia > Part 10
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The organization of the county government is thus de- scribed in the records : "Be it remembered that at the house of Seraiah Stratton, in the county of Pendleton, on the 2nd day of June and in the year of our Lord 1788, and in the 12 year of the Commonwealth, Commissions of the Peace and of Oyer and Terminer, directed to Robert Davis, John Skidmore, Moses Hinkle, James Dyer, Isaac Hinkle, Robert Poage, James Skidmore, Matthew Patton, Peter Hull, James Patter- son, and Jacob Hoover, Gentlemen, was Produced and Read, and thereupon the said Robert Davis took the Oath appointed by the Act of Assembly giving assurance of fidelity to the Commonwealth, and took the Oaths of a Justice of the Peace, of a Justice of the County Court in Chancery, and of a Justice of Oyer and Terminer, all of which Oaths were ad- ministered to him by the said John Skidmore and Moses Hinkle. And thus the said Robert Davis administered all the aforesaid Oaths to the said John Skidmore, Moses Hinkle, James Dyer, Isaac Hinkle, James Skidmore, Matthew Patton, and James Patterson.
"A Commission from his excellency the Governor to Robert Davis, Gent. to be high Sheriff of this County during pleas- ure was produced by the said Robert Davis and read, there- upon together with Seraiah Stratton, Francis Evick, Roger Dyer, James Davis, Isaac Hinkle, and George Dice, his securities, entered into and acknowledged two Bonds for the said Robert Davis's due and faithful performance of his Office, which are ordered to be recorded. And then the said Robert Davis took the Oath for giving Assurance of fidelity to the Commonwealth and was sworn Sheriff of Said County."
Of the eleven justices, Davis, Dyer, and Patton were brothers-in-law. 'The Hinkles were of one family, and the Skidmores were of one other, and were related to the Hinkles. It is quite probable that still other relationships existed.
The organization of the county government was perfected by the following selections :
President of the Court, John Skidmore.
Clerk of Court, Garvin Hamilton.
Prosecuting Attorney, Samuel Reed.
Deputy Sheriffs, John Davis, and John Morral.
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Overseers of the Poor, James Dyer, John Skidmore, Christian Ruleman, Ulrich Conrad, John Dunkle.
County Surveyor, Moses Hinkle.
Constables, Gabriel Collett, George Dice, Jacob Gum, Johnson Phares, Isaac Powers, William Ward, George Wil- keson.
County Lieutenant, James Dyer.
Regimental Militia Officers : Colonel, Robert Poage; Lieutenant Colonel, Peter Hull: Major, Henry Fleisher.
Overseers of Roads: North Fork; (proceeding from north to south) Michael Eberman, Abraham Hinkle, Isaac Hinkle, Moses Hinkle. South Branch (in same order) ; George Fisher, Michael Alkire, Francis Evick, Christian Pickle, Nicholas Harper, McKenny Robinson, George Nicholas. South Fork (also in same order); John Wortmiller, James Dyer, Roger Dyer, Henry Swadley, Jacob Hoover, Christian Rule- man.
After deciding to build the courthouse on the lands of Francis Evick, and to hold the next court at his house, James Patterson was directed to attend the surveyor in laying out the courthouse grounds. He was also appointed jailer. To make the seat of local government more accessible, road sur- veys were ordered to Roger Dyer's, to Brushy Fork, and to the North Fork at Joseph Bennett's.
Voting places were established at "Frankford" for the middle vallev, at George Teter's for the North Fork, and at Henry Swadley's for the South Fork. By 1847 the number had increased to eight; namely. the courthouse; John Kiser's; Doe Hill; Jacob Sibert's on Straight Creek; Circleville; Mouth of Seneca; Mallow's mill; Jacob Wanstaff's in Sweedland Valley.
Moses Hinkle was authorized to solemnize marriages, the county clerk was appointed to draw the deed for the court- house lot, and Thomas Collett was granted the contract to erect the county buildings. for which in due course he re- ceived $166.67. Samuel Black was paid $18.67 for making the courthouse desk.
The first grand jury met September 1, Jacob Conrad being foreman. The other members were Michael Arbogast. Lewis Bush, Jacob Coplinger. Abraham Eckard, Nicholas Harpole, Isaac Hinkle, George Kile. Adam Lough, Robert Minniss, Frederick Propst. George Puffenbarger, Jacob Root, Joseph Skidmore, John Sumwalt, Philip Teter, and Peter Vaneman. They proceeded to "fire" three of the newly appointed road overseers; to indict three residents of the North Fork for breaking the peace, and another (a woman) for bastardy;
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and to indict two residents of the South Fork for absenting themselves from grand jury service.
With Hardy and Hampshire, Pendleton became a judicial district with the court sitting at "Hardy Courthouse."
The report of the surveyors on the line between Pendleton and Hardy was presented in March, 1789, and reads as fol- lows : "Beginning at three chestnut oaks, a white oak, and chestnut tree on the top of the North Mountain, opposite the north point of Sweedland Hill, and running thence W. 51 de- grees W., crossing the South Fork at the point of Sweedland Hill, through the land and above the dwelling house of Charles Wilson, and crossing South Mill Creek through the land and above the dwelling house of Charles Borrer, and crossing North Mill Creek through the land and above the dwelling of Nicholas Judy, and crossing the South Branch through the land and below the dwelling house of David Hutson, and crossing the North Fork through the land and below the dwelling house of Samuel Day; thence through the Clay Lick a straight course to the top of Alleghany Mountain, containing 21 miles in distance."
The report was signed by Moses Hinkle, surveyor of Pen- dleton, and by John Foley, assistant to Joseph Nevill, sur- veyor of Hardy.
The new county being thus launched on its career, it re- mains for us to know more of the men who were instru- mental in effecting the organization. Our task is the more difficult because there are no voluminous "write-ups" to be dug out of the yellowing files of some local newspaper.
Robert Davis was of a Welch family that settled in North Carolina and moved thence to Virginia. He may have been the son of Robert Davis, an early settler of Augusta and its first constable. He settled a half mile below Brandywine, at least as early as 1764, purchasing land in that year of Mat- thew Patton. About this time he married Sarah, daughter of Roger Dyer and widow of Peter Hawes. His older broth- ers, John and William, settled also on the South Fork. Whether John Davis was the one who was a justice of Rock- ingham and was appointed to let the building of its first courthouse is not known. William died in 1773, and Robert was his executor. Robert was a major in the Continental army and saw active service, especially among the Indians west of the Alleghanies. He was present at the killing of Big Foot, a noted chief. In 1779 he was commissioned Cap- tain of militia for Rockingham, resigning in 1781. He was one of the first justices of that county, but owing to his military duties, he was not present to take his oath of office until May 25, 1779. In 1780 and 1781 he was the leader
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of the South Fork patriots against the tory faction. The dis- turbance was brought to an end by a truce he arranged with Ward and Hull. In 1784 he was recommended as coroner. In 1785 he and James Davis were the committee to view the repairs on the new Rockingham courthouse. In 1786 he be- came sheriff of Rockingham, and held this office until he be- came the first sheriff of Pendleton. He was again sheriff in 1804, and he served his county as member of the House of Delegates in 1793-4. He was a justice of the peace from 1778 until his death in 1818 at an advanced age. He was frequently called upon in the settlement of estates and in other matters of public business, thus indicating a high de- gree of practical judgment. He was one of the substantial residents on the south Fork. On his land stood with one ex- ception the first mill in that valley and probably the very first schoolhouse.
Garvin Hamilton is first mentioned in 1774, when he pre- sented a bill to the county court of Augusta for retaking a runaway slave. He was a member of the first county court of Rockingham and was for two years a member of the legis- lature. At what time he came to Pendleton is not known, but probably it was not earlier than the breaking out of the Revolution. He owned land at Thorny Meadow on Trout Kun, and on the organization of the county he settled in Franklin. The December term of court for 1788 was held in his house. In the spring of 1783 he thought of moving to Georgia, and as that state required the new settler to pro- duce a certificate of character and conduct, he applied for one to his county court. It was ordered of the clerk that he "certify that Garvin Hamilton had been many years an in- habitant of the county, a surveyor, a magistrate, a lieuten- ant colonel, a man of uprightness, integrity, spirit, and reso- lution; of true whiggish principles in the long contest with Great Britain."
Captain Seraiah Stratton was apparently from the east of Virginia. His name first appears about 1767, when he was licensed to keep an ordinary. In 1774 he served on a com- mittee to view the new prison at Staunton. He appears to have settled on the South Branch earlier than 1778. In that year he was granted a permit to build a gristmill. In 1781 and 1782 he was a tax commissioner for Rockingham, and in the former year he produced an account for building a pub- lic granary to receive the tax in grain. For collecting the same he was allowed $11.67. He became a large landholder in the South Branch valley. In 1792 he removed to Ken- tucky, after selling his homestead of 393 acres to Moses Hinkle
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for $516.67. He appears to have been an active and able cit- izen.
Matthew Patton was one of the very first members of the Dyer Settlement, and after the murder of Roger Dyer he be- came a leading citizen of the Pendleton territory. He was commissioned a justice of the peace, August 19, 1761, and for a number of years he took the lists of tithables for this portion of Augusta.
James Dyer. brother-in-law to Patton, has been elsewhere mentioned. He was a prominent and well-to-do citizen, and much concerned in the public affairs of the county.
The Skidmores of the South Branch were enterprising cit- izens and large landholders. Captain John Skidmore had a military career in the Indian wars and doubtless also in the Revolution. He was wounded in the battle of Point Pleas- ant, and is said on one occasion to have killed an Indian in single combat.
Moses and Isaac Hinkle, cousins to Captain Skidmore, were progressive and energetic and of more than usual ability. Isaac was a sheriff of Rockingham a little prior to 1783.
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CHAPTER XI Early Middle Period-(1788-1818)
The county of Pendleton began its separate existence as the ninth of the counties which now constitute West Vir- ginia. It entered upon a long career of peaceful and steady development. The Redstone insurrection of 1794 and the war of 1812 were remote from its borders. In the former instance Moorefield was the meeting-point of the troops from the nearby counties, whence they marched to Cumberland and thence to the Monongahela. In the latter instance, Nor- folk, more than 300 miles distant by road, was the only point in Virginia seriously threatened by the enemy.
The line between Pendleton and Bath is thus defined by the county surveyor in 1792 : "Beginning at the top of the North Mountain opposite the lower end of John Redmond's land on the Cowpasture, and N. 63 1-2 degrees W., crossing Shaw's Fork through the lands and below the dwelling house of Thomas Devereux, and crossing the Cowpasture run through the lands and below the dwelling house of Joseph Mathew, and crossing the Crab Run about 2 1.2 miles above the Blue Hole: thence through the land and below the house of Joseph Bell, and thence to the top of the Chestnut Ridge through the lands of William Lewis, and thence through lands of Adam Boyers; thence crossing Back Creek and the Laurel Fork to the top of the Alleghany Mountain. to a red oak and maple on the top of said mountain; containing 20 1-2 miles."
But this southern boundary stood only eight years. In 1796 another line was established, running through the cen- ter of what is now Highland, and giving Pendleton an area of 990 square miles. This second line was surveyed in 1797, at a charge to the county of $42.92, and it is described as follows by Act of Assembly: "All that part of the county of Bath within the following bounds, to wit : beginning at the top of the Alleghany Mountain, the northwest side of the line of the county of Pendleton, thence a straight line to the lower end of John Slavin's plantation on Greenbrier River, thence to Dinwiddie's Gap on Jackson's River, thence cross- ing the Bullpasture so as to leave Edward Stewart in the county of Bath, thence to Stewart's Gap on the Cowpasture, thence to the top of the mountain which divides the waters of the Cowpasture and Calfpasture rivers, thence a north-
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easterly course along the said mountain to the line of the county of Pendleton."
The increase in area helped to give the county in 1800 a population of 3962, an increase in two years of nearly 62 per cent. But during the next twenty years, the growth was only to 4846. an increase in twice as long a time of only 22 per cent. This falling off in the rate of growth is due to an active emigration westward. The Indian peril had van- ished to the farther bank of the Mississippi, and the fertile lands now open to unmolested settlement enticed many a Pendletonian to cross the Alleghanies. During this period we therefore lose sight of many a name mentioned in the early records.
But with nearly 5000 people in 1820, and with more than 70 years of settled history, Pendleton had assumed the ap- pearance of a comparatively old and staid community, even though it was yet a remote region and largely covered with virgin forest.
A road up the Seneca and over the Alleghany divide had been ordered in 1774, so as to communicate with the infant settlements on the Cheat and Tygart's Valley rivers. If the order was carried out, it could have resulted in no more than a bridle-path. A new order for a road was issued in the first year of Pendleton's history, and Joseph Ray was ap- pointed to construct the thoroughfare to the top of the Alle- ghany. There is little doubt that he opened a wagon road. This natural route across the mountains was too important and the country beyond filling up too rapidly to permit the further neglect of a more adequate highway.
In 1811 the new county became the home of a congress- man. General William McCoy was now chosen to represent his district in the National House of Representatives, and he continued to hold his seat for 22 years. This was no small honor to the county as well as to himself, for Pendleton was the least populous of the six counties composing the Eleventh District. Augusta, Hardy, Pendleton, Rockbridge, Rocking- ham, Shenandoah.
In 1799 the log courthouse was repaired, and in 1817 it .gave way to a larger and more substantial building of brick.
The records for this period of 30 years present little else than a routine recognition of the usual breaches of public or social order, the more quiet details of chancery work, the levying of varying sums for the county's needs, the recom- mendations of citizens to official positions, and the granting of licenses and permits. One of the cares of the first county court was to authorize a bounty of one pound ($3.33) on
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wolf scalps. The witness fee of 53 cents a day and the mile- age fee of three cents long remained in force.
The first permit for a gristmill after Pendleton was organ- ized appears to have been issued in 1803 in favor of James and John Dyer. The need of gunpowder in the war of 1812 stimulated the making of saltpetre from the nitrous earth found in the caverns of Cave Mountain. Trout Rock. and the Harman hills. This industry continued until after the break- ing out of the war of 1861.
A good index to the continued growth and broader devel- opment of the county may be found in the reports of public sales.
George Cowger lived in the Fort Seybert neighborhood, where the estates of the two Dyers had been settled up 30 years earlier. At the "praising" of his property, Novem- ber 6, 1788, the 10 horses were rated at $10 to $40 each, the 35 cattle at $6.67 to $10.83 each, the 7 hogs at $3 each, and the 8 sheep at $1 33. A wagon and gears were put at $24.17, a gun and pouch at $20, a loom at $9.17, a bed and bedding at $10, cotton coat, jacket, and breeches at $5, two pairs of leather breeches at $3.67, a hat and a pair of stockings at $2, an overcoat at $7.25, a saddle at $2, a flax hackle at $1.67, a coverlet at $1.37, and a hunting shirt at $1. Among smaller items we find mention of a silver teaspoon at 58 cents, a churn and bucket at 42 cents, an iron stove at 25 cents, and a tin lantern at 21 cents. It is hardly more than necessary to add that the stove was merely a small contrivance for holding a few live coals. Fulled linen sold at 66 cents a yard and some other linen at 25 cents.
In 1795 the sale of the estate of George Dice near Frank- lin resulted in the sum of $689.05. Henry Janes in the south of the county had been a more prosperous farmer. his sale August 30-31, 1804, resulting in $1303.97. Yet of the 221 items mentioned, scarcely one would now be considered an article of luxury. Of these items 124 sold at less than a dol- lar each. There was not a book or a musical instrument. The story conveyed in the sale is simply that of a farmstead well supplied with appliances of actual need. Christian Hy. necker was a far poorer man, his sale in 1802 realizing but $134.90. although it included $7.32 in cash, and books selling at $1.69.
The sale in 1807 of the personal property of James Dyer netted $1975. The inventory including 8 horses, 65 cattle, 52 hogs, and 23 sheep. There were 15 books, a Bible going at $9. and a copy of Johnson's Dictionary at $3.33. The fur- nishings of the house amounted to $189.09, including a clock selling at $60 and a desk at $25. We here have a glimpse of
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a man who read books, who was considered rich, and whose log house was perhaps the best furnished dwelling in the county.
At the other end of the scale was John Turnipseed of the Deer Run settlement, whose sale took place in 1801. His livestock netted $36.02, and his 45 items of house furnishings amounted $29.13.
The estate of Roger Dyer in 1810 was $6403.33. that of Sebastian Hoover was $4043.33, that of Nicholas Judy was $2183.33. and that of Leonard Simmons was $3300.56. Abra- ham Hinkle left notes and accounts valued at $4634. Less forehanded men were Joseph Bennett, worth $713.33. Joseph Skidmore, worth $259.08, and George Evick, whose avails were $223.33.
CHAPTER XII
Later Middle Period (1818-1861)
This epoch of Pendleton history, even apart from the up- heaval of war coming at its close. is more eventful than the epoch discussed in the last chapter.
During the 43 years the population did not quite double, even making allowance for the portion of Pendleton that went to form Highland. From 1820 to 1:30 there was in- deed a rapid growth, the county adding a third to its num- bers in these ten years. But during the next ten year period the rate of increase fell off one-half, and after 1840 it was even slower. It will appear on a little study of this matter, that as Pendleton was then industrially organized, there was elbow room for only a limited number of people. The sur- plus had to find space for itself either in the fertile West or in the cities of the East.
Nevertheless, the industries of the county during this pe- riod were more diversified than at any other time. Never be- fore or since has Pendleton come so near living within its own resources. The annual product of 50 tons of maple sugar nearly made the Pendletonian independent of the sugar and molasses wagoned from the distant seaport. Almost every farmer raised sheep and grew flax if not also hemp. The wool and the flax fiber, with a little aid from the hemp and from cotton brought over the Shenandoah Mountain were woven on the looms that were very common all over the county. Pen- dleton not only clothed itself, but made a surplus of cloth.
Other handicrafts also flourished, not only in the one village at the county-seat, but on the farms as well. One man was a wagon-maker, another a cooper, another a tailor, another a hatter, another a potter, another a sickle-maker. another a tanner. The iron used in these little home industries was brought from without the county, but it was possible enough to have smelted it from the ores in the South Fork Mountain.
Along the rapid streams were water-turned mills for grinding the corn and wheat and for sawing the small amount of lumber required for home needs. There were also the saltpeter works and the rather frequent distilleries. A portion of the saltpeter was made into gunpowder. And finally, on the eve of the war, a woolen factory was built and equipped, though soon destroyed by fire.
A FARM HOUSE OF THE EARLY MIDDLE PERIOD: OLIVER McCOY RESIDENCE .- Phot'd by T. J. Bowman. A brick farmhouse two miles below Franklin : built by Oliver McCoy in 1805 and now the property of B. H. Hiner.
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In making saltpeter the nitrous earth was leached and the leaching water boiled down. On cooling, the saltpeter rose to the surface and was afterward clarified.
Within recent years we have witnessed the comparative ex- tinction of these domestic industries. Tanning has lingered because of the mountain forests. The gristmill continues to run, because the absence of a railroad enables it to compete with the flour from Minnesota. The handicrafts are repre- sented only by the blacksmith, the wheelwright, and the shoemaker, and their work is almost limited to repair service. That the homeweaving of cloth is not totally extinct is due to the absence of a railroad and the consequent lingering of oldtime habits. But that only one distillery remains is a fact not mourned by good citizens.
The falling away of the little home industries is easily ac- counted for, but we cannot here pause to discuss the matter.
The growing of flax is now all but extinct in Pendleton as well as throughout the Appalachians in general. Yet the little field of a quarter or a half acre was once a feature of almost every farm, and it entailed no small amount of care and labor. The plants had to be pulled by hand and tied into bundles with the poorer stems. After the manner of wheat sheaves these bundles were put into capped shocks until dry. Then after the seed had been threshed out with a flail, the stems were spread out on a meadow for two or three weeks to xo through the retting process. Then a simple hand ma- chine was used to break the stems so as to loosen the hard sheath from the interior fibers. The next step was the swingling, when each handful of the fiber resting on a board was struck with a not very sharp paddle to break off the shives. The yellow threads were now ready for the spinning- wheel, and the linen which was afterwards woven was of several grades depending on the quality of the fiber.
The tall, yellow-flowered hemp was much grown, not only for the excellent rope and cord which were made from the strong fiber, but as a fabric also. A linen chain with a filling of hemp made a coarser cloth than the linen alone, and it was not so smooth, although it was exceedingly durable. The cloth was at first greenish-gray, finally becoming white. The hemp plant is as persistent as a weed, and has been known to maintain itself on the same ground for more than sixty years.
Wagons were rare. The block wagon with a solid wheel cross-sectioned from a log and banded with a hoop was very serviceable in logging. Until about 1840 there were only two light wagons. When Zebulon Dyer drove from his home to Franklin in his carryal, people came to look at the strange
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sight as a few years ago they turned out to gaze at the auto- mobile.
The first mower, appearing about 1858, cost $130. It had one large driving wheel and a wooden cutter-bar. The old- fashioned plow with its curved oak mouldboard was not swift in yielding to its metallic rival, since the mouldboard of iron did not scour so well as the one of steel which has since come into use.
The "frolic," especially for husking a farmer's crop of corn, was a recognized feature of farm labor. The absence of any but the simplest forms of farming tools made the col- lective display of human muscle absolutely necessary.
In keeping a lookout for venomous snakes, the reaper might cut his hand on his sickle. But when his work was done he was free to hunt or fish at any time, and the consid- erable area of wild land still sheltered a considerable amount of game. Several hundred fish would be snared on a single occasion, but the smail ones would be returned to the river. The hams of a deer could be sold for $2.50.
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