USA > West Virginia > Braxton County > History of Braxton County and central West Virginia > Part 12
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SUTTON'S HISTORY.
A few years ago, the town was enlarged by the Stewart addition. A plot of ground was laid off on the north side of the Elk and sold in town lots. Dr. Perry installed a planing mill, and was active in building up this new addition. A wire suspension foot bridge connected the addition with the main town in the year 19 ..... The Standard Oil Company who owned a large tract of timber on the waters of Steer creek, built a narrow gauge railroad from Gassaway to Frametown, ten miles below, thence to Shock and on to Bear's Fork of Steer creek. This road, called the Elk River & Little Kanawha, penetrates a rich and fertile country, underlaid with Freeport eoal and a magnificent forest of native timber that is being principally sawed into oil barrel staves. The distance from Gassaway to where the Coal & Coke R. R. crosses the B. & O. R. R. at Orlando is twenty-eight miles. Gassaway is six miles below Sutton, the county seat. Gassaway has several dry goods stores, two jewelry stores, one hardware, one fine millinery store, bowling alley, photograph studio, a commodious school building and armory, flouring mill, and many minor enterprises. It has a fine hospital building, but at present is not in use. Senator Davis laid off a beautiful park, adjoining the depot.
The town is composed of an industrious, enterprising people. J. A. Pat- terson, who was one of the first eitizens of the town, also the engineer who laid it off, has been very active in promoting its interests, and to him belongs more credit perhaps than to any other private citizen for the rapid progress the town has made in the few brief years of its existanee.
As stated, Gassaway is on a line of railroad leading from the state capitol to Elkins, the eastern terminus of the road where it has connections with the Western Maryland and other roads. From Gassaway, there is a braneh road of six miles which terminates at Sutton.
Some years ago, the town built a wire suspension foot bridge at the lower end of the town, and a very substantial iron bridge at the head of town. Gassa- way is poorly situated to county roads leading to the town. The river hill on the south of town is rugged and steep, while the river road on the north side from Gassaway to Frametown is almost exclusively occupied or made dan- gerous by the Elk & Little Kanawha railroad.
Gassaway is quite a business plaee with many enterprising and business citizens. The post office in 1908 was made a Presidential office. It pays about $1,000. The railroad shops work about one hundred and fifty hands, and its weekly pay-roll is $3,000. Gassaway is situated near a gas and oil field that is being developed on the northwest side, while a great coal field undeveloped lies on her south. .
Resident lawyers are, Van Wilson, C. W. Flesher and G. D. Armstrong.
FRAMETOWN.
Frametown is situated on the Elk river sixteen miles southwest of Sutton. The place has been known as Frametown for a great many years, James Frame having built a water mill there about the early part of the first decade of the
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eighteenth century, and many years later Henry Waggy put up a steam mill there with the roller process for making flour, but both mills have gone out of use.
Frametown had a post office, blacksmith shop, one or more stores, M. E. Church and a country inn in 1903. When the Coal & Coke railroad was com- pleted, the principle business was moved to the south side of the Elk. The county built an iron bridge across the Elk river a short distance below where the old frame mill stood. There is a large tract of beautiful bottom and flat land on the north side of the Elk, extending back and up the river from the old village that would be a splendid site for a town of eight or ten thousand inhabitants.
In 1912, the Elk & Kanawha narrow gauge railroad was built from Gassa- way to Rosedale on Steer creek, and has since been extended from there down the creek. This road is said to belong to the Standard Oil Company, and was primarily built to ship oil, staves and lumber from the company's land lying principally in Gilmer and Calhoun counties. This road passes through Frame- town. It traverses the north side of the Elk from Gassaway to the mouth of Frame's mill run, thence up that stream to its source, and crosses Bison ridge to the waters of Steer creek. At present however the road has but slight com- mercial intercourse with the town.
Frametown is surrounded with an excellent class of citizens, many of the families having settled that portion of the county in an early day. The town maintains an elegant graded school. The town was incorporated at one time, but the incorporation was not kept up. It will always make a good up-to-date town on account of its location, the surrounding country and its railroad fa- cilities. Its population is about 150.
COWEN.
Cowen, often called "The Savannah of the Mountains," is a beautiful and thriving town situated in Glade district of Webster county, on the B. & O. railroad, about thirty-eight miles east of Sutton. It is situated in a beautiful country called Welch Glades, embracing one thousand acres of flat land, with a gentle sloping country surrounding the town. It is watered by Glade run which empties into the Gauley river. The town occupies an altitude of 2,255 feet above sea level. The first white settler in that region of country was a German named Stroud whose family was murdered by the Indians about the year 1785 or 1790. Stroud's Glade took its name from this man. Some of the early settlers in the Glade before the Civil war were Caleb Gardner, Arthur Hickman, Jas. Hamric, John Woods, Major Reynolds, and several families of the Mortons settled Stroud's creek.
The soil of this region is well adapted to grass, and part of the glade land produces good corn and vegetables. The town and glade district has recently completed a very fine high school building. A. L. Goff had the contract at $2 .- 300. The same contractor built during the year a Baptist church which is at
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SUTTON'S HISTORY.
very neat and substantial brick building at a cost of $6,000. There is an M. E. church, also an M. E. church, South. The town has six stores, planing mill, two barber shops, blacksmith shop, pool room, etc.
Mr. Caleb Gardner who has reached the good old age of ninety, moved from Augusta county to the Glade in 1853. We found Mr. Gardner to be a very in- telligent and hospitable gentleman. Ile had quite a varied experience during the Civil war. His home was burned, all his property destroyed, as was that of some of his neighbors, by the Federal soldiers. There was a battle fought on his farm called the Gardner battle.
Cowen is only a few miles' drive from the famous Salt Sulphur Springs in Webster County. The Kessler Bros. have a hospital building at Cowen. Dr. D. P. Kessler who lives there, enjoys a very large and lucrative practice. He is also largely interested in coal lands and mining.
The town was established about the year 1895, and a few years later was incorporated. Its first Mayor was M. L. Shriver, and the first Council consisted of C. D. Howard, Luke Fitzsimmons Wallace Holden, D. P. Kessler, and E. H. Isenhart.
CENTRALIA.
Centralia, fifteen miles east of Sutton in Holly district, is located at the mouth of Laurel creek on the Elk river, and on the B. & O. railroad. It was laid off for a town about the year 1900. It is well situated with good building ground. It is in the heart of a coal field, and is surrounded with a vast timber region. A railroad coming down the Elk River will tap the B. & O. at this point. A company owning a large tract of timber on the Elk is preparing to build mills at this point. A circular saw mill has recently been put in opera- tion on the site of the old mill which was recently removed to another point. 'The town consists of one M. E. church, hotel, two stores. and quite a number of new homes are being built. Centralia is destined in the near future to be a town of considerable interest. In its immediate vicinity, some of the first settlers of the county lived.
SLABTOWN.
This place is eight miles east of Sutton in Holly District.
Shortly after the Civil war, Griffin Gillespie put up a store house and sold goods at the mouth of Flatwoods run. Adam Gillespie for many years had run a grist mill at this point, and this mill was equipped with an up-and-down saw, and the ploce was called Slabtown. The store house in Slabtown was one of the first voting places after the war.
Afterward, for several years, J. S. Hyer kept a store at this point. From there, he removed his store to Sutton after the B. & O. railroad was built. The business continued at the mouth of Ben's run, about a mile above, and the
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SUTTON'S HISTORY.
place was called Hyer. It has one or more stores, M. E. ehureh, B. & O. depot, a post office and several residenees.
Two miles above Hyer is located the Holly Sand Company. An elegant quality of sand is deposited on a large sand bar on the south side of the Elk, opposite the B. & O. depot at Holly Junetion. A fine railroad bridge spans the river at this point. The roeks from ten thousand shoals and ravines on the Elk and Holly rivers and their tributaries, are being washed down by every freshet. The sand deposited on these streams is inexhaustible. The company ships to the various towns for building purposes, cement bloeks, paving bloeks, engine sand, ete. Hyer is about ten miles east of the county seat.
TESLA.
Tesla, a post office village on Two Liek run in Holly district, is six miles south of Sutton on the Turnpike leading from Sutton to Gauley Bridge. There are two or three residenees, one store, post office and schoolhouse.
Some of its citizens are Dr. O. O. Eakle, Henry Long, member of County Court, Wm. Davis, a prosperous farmer and cattle dealer, Rev. Perry Roberts and others.
NEWVILLE.
Newville is in Holly distriet, twelve miles east of Sutton, situated on Bee run, a tributary of the Elk river, and on the county road leading from the Flatwood road to the Holly river, and a road leading from the Elk river to High Knob, Salt Lick erossing the main road at that point.
Newville was established as a post office village soon after the close of the Civil war. It has an M. P. Church, blacksmith shop and two stores.
Silas Morrison, a veteran of the Civil war, kept the post office for twenty- three years. L. P. Currenee, a Confederate veteran, has been engaged in the mereantile business for a number of years. Quite a number of the deseendants of Captain John Skidmore of the Revolutionary war are elustered near the village.
BIRCH RIVER.
Birch River post office is fourteen miles south of Sutton at a point midway between Sutton and Summersville on the Big Bireh river where the Weston & Gauley Bridge Turnpike erosses. For many years, this place has contained one or more stores, a tavern and post office.
The place was first settled by Wm. Frame, Col. John Brown, and later, Richard Seott for many years sold goods. Here Powell's ereek empties, and near its mouth Wm. Frame had a small eorn mill before the Civil war. There was a saw mill on the river a short distance above the village. In time of the
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war, Captain Wm. H. Kantner who commanded a military post at Birch river, used this mill to saw timber with which to build a fort.
This village is situated in the center of a great coal and timber region. There is a branch road leading from the B. & O. railroad at Erbacon in Web- ster county that strikes the Big Birch river a few miles above the village, thence down to the mouth of Powell's creek, and up Powell's creek to its source. The Eakin Lumber Company owns a large boundary of timber along this route, and has built a large band mill on the Birch river.
Birch post office, where the pike crosses the river, is fifteen miles above its mouth. This region lies at the foot of the great Powell's Mountain, and its lands are all underlaid with the finest coal seams.
LITTLE BIRCH.
The Little Birch is seven miles south of Sutton, midway between Sutton and Big Birch River post office, and situated on the Weston and Gauley Bridge Turnpike where it crosses the Little Birch. This village was settled about 1812 or 1815 by Jesse Jackson, John Crites, Joe Barnett, Wm. Ellison, John Cutlip, Dr. A. N. Ellison, Robert Jackson and John Cutlip.
Jesse Jackson built a mill where the pike now crosses the Little Birch about 75 or 80 years ago. David M. Jackson, now in his 77th year, is running the same old mill. For many years a post office has been kept at this point, a store, etc. There is a public road leading up and down the river, crossing the pike at this point.
SAVAGE TOWN.
In about the period of 1875 or 1876, a Mr. Savage of Ohio discovered iron ore on the waters of Strange creek, and proceeded to erect an iron furnace. Strange creek empties into the Elk river twenty miles below Sutton. The county made extensive preparations for the manufacture of pig iron. The ore found in the locality was said to be of superior quality, but the only means of transportation to the markets was by flat boats on the Elk. The river being navigable for flat boats only in freshets, and as tides occurred occasionally in the spring of the year, the business was found to be unprofitable, and the enter- prise was soon abandoned. The town lost its name of Savage, and is now called Strang. Greek. It has a post office, hotel, one or more stores and a few good residence buildings. Strange Creek is in Birch district, and is one of the voting places. See the derivation of the name of Strange Creek on another page.
John Frame, James Panter, Isaac Evans and other old settlers have resided at or in the vicinity of this village. The Hon. George Goad whose death oc- cured in July, 1917, has long been a resident of Savage Town.
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SUTTON'S HISTORY.
SERVIA.
Servia, a small village about twenty miles west of Sutton, is situated on Duck creek in Birch district, on the main road leading from Sutton to Charleston.
It contains three stores, a Baptist church and blacksmith shop. Nathan Mollohan, one of Braxton county's most worthy citizens, owned a large farm and lived for many years at this place where some of his descendants now re- side. A large Indian mound stands on the bank of the creck near the old Mol- lohan residence. Duck creek flows through a wide fertile bottom, surrounding the village.
BULLTOWN.
Bulltown is on the Little Kanawha river where the Weston & Gaulcy Bridge Turnpike crosses fifteen miles north of Sutton, and two miles below the falls. It has long been noted as the Indian town where Chief John Bull and four or five other families perished at the hands of the white man; and for the further fact that it was a point at which for many years salt was manufactured in quantities sufficient to supply a great region of country. It was carried on pack-horses to various neighborhoods in Braxton, Lewis, Upshur, Gilmer and Webster counties before the Civil war. A very substantial wooden bridge was constructed across the Little Kanawha, and notwithstanding its constant use for over half a century, carrying large bodies of troops, artillery, cavalry, and thousands of heavily laden army wagons, the bridge is still in general use. John B. Byrne settled at this point many years ago.
Early in the 18th century, in the early settlement of Braxton, there lived at Bulltown and in its vicinity, many prominent men : John B. Byrne, Col. B. W. and John P. Byrne, Win. Haymond, Col. Addison MeLaughlin, Gen. Curance Conrad, Jesse Cunningham and others. At Bulltown was fought the battle be- tween the Union and Confederate forces, an account of which is given on another page.
At Falls Mills, two miles above Bulltown, is the finest water power in the central part of the state. Bulltown is surrounded by the best-lying and most productive lands of the county, embracing the fine bottom lands once owned by the Conrads and Currences. The adjacent grazing lands are unexcelled.
ROANE COUNTY.
Roane county was formed in 1856 from Kanawha, Jackson and Gilmer counties. It contains 350 square miles; was settled about the year 1791, and was named for Judge Roanc of Virginia. Its county scat is Spencer, 50 miles from Sutton, located on the head waters of Spring creek. The county is rich in oil and gas and its soil is fine for grazing and agricultural purposes.
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SUTTON'S HISTORY.
CANFIELD.
Canfield is a village on Middle run of the Little Birch river, ten miles southwest of Sutton, in Otter district. It contains one or more stores, a black- smith shop, Baptist Church and schoolhouse. It was named for B. T. Caufield who owned a farm and lived for many years adjacent to the village.
John S. Garce, James Dunn and Hiliard Skidmore were some of the older citizens who lived near the town.
CORLEY.
A little village situated on Salt Lick creek in Salt Lick district, less than a mile below Tom Hughes' Fork, is ten miles northeast of Sutton. There was a water mill there before the Civil war, known as the Hutchison mill, afterward owned by Eugeus Haymond, then by Frank Harper. Still later, it assumed the name of Corley by reason of a party by that name keeping goods there for sev- eral years. Mortimer Rose & Sons have kept goods at Corley. The mill has disappeared, and there is nothing but a store, post office and a few residences in the place.
NAPIER.
Napier is a post office village on the Weston & Gauley Bridge Turnpike, fourteen miles north of Sutton in Salt Lick district. It contains a store and post office. The surrounding country is fertile, and well adapted for grazing purposes. The village is on Big run of Little Kanawha, two miles above its mouth, and on the Weston & Gauley Bridge Turnpike.
The widow of Addison Rader, whose maiden name was Curry, an estimable lady, has for many years resided there, and kept a country inn.
ROLLYSON.
A flag station in Salt Lick district, named for Major Wm. D. Rollyson who kept a store there when the railroad was first built. The store is now kept by Daniel Singleton. Rollyson is two miles below Heater on O'Brien's Fork, and near its mouth. A considerable amount of stock is shipped from this point to market.
HEATER.
A railroad station and village on the B. & O. railroad in Salt Lick district, ten miles north of Sutton. It contains two stores, post office, blacksmith shop, schoolhouse, M. P. church, also severa! good dwellings.
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It is at the junction of the two branches of O'Brien's Fork and the Berry Fork, and is surrounded by a splendid farming and grazing country. Heater took its name from the Heater family who have owned the land and resided there for three generations.
In 1792, Captain John O'Brien's cabin stood about one mile above the station.
SALT LICK BRIDGE.
The village called Salt Lick Bridge is one among the oldest settlements in the county. It is situated in Salt Lick district, and has been a voting place since the formation of the state. It is twelve miles north of Sutton on the Wes- ton & Gauley Bridge Turnpike.
About the year 1807, Asa Squires and Jackson Singleton settled on ad- joining lands, Salt Liek creek dividing their possessions. For many years, Charles E. Singleton and D. S. Squires cach carried on a mercantile business, then Major Wm. D. Rollyson and C. E. Singleton conducted the business for several years. Nicholas Mick had a grist and saw mill. Jas. D. Sprigg carried on a boot, shoe and harness shop. John Colerider had a blacksmith shop. Salt Lick bridge is a wooden structure built several years before the Civil war, and is in a good state of preservation yet. The lands on Salt Lick and its tributaries are very fertile, with a deep red soil that produces elegant grain and blue grass. Salt Lick creek has its rise on the Bison range, and heads directly opposite Granny's creek, a tributary of he Elk. One of its principle tributaries is O'Briens Fork that heads near the main head of Salt Liek. It takes a more northerly course, and empties into the main stream about a mile below Salt Lick Bridge. The main creek runs east, and receives one of its main tributaries, called Tom Hughes' Fork, near the little village of Corley. The creek then turns north and makes a long circuitous route, turning southwest until it flows beyond the mouth of O'Briens Fork. This stream was once famous for fish, especially pike and catfish. It empties its water into the Little Kanawha river at Burnsville.
The old store house of Singleton and Rollyson, also that of D. S. Squires, have all been torn down, and the fine lands that they owned are principally in the hands of their descendants, many of whom are prosperous farmers and business men.
PALMER.
A lumber town which is the oldest inhabited place in the county, the land being taken up and settled by Benjamin Carpenter about the year 1790 or possibly a year or two before that time.
Palmer was established as a town in 1896. The first improvement was a very fine band saw mill built by the Holly Wood, Lumber & Coal Co. This mill claimed a capacity of 75,000 fect per day. The company that operates this mill, owned large holdings of timber in Braxton and Webster counties.
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SUTTON'S HISTORY.
About this time, the West Virginia Midland, a narrow guage railroad was constructed from a point on the B. & O. railroad, one mile below the mouth of Holly to Addison, a distance of 31 miles. The Lumber Company built from: the forks of Holly a branch road for several miles up the left hand branch of Holly. On this branch and on the main line to Webster Springs are situated seven saw mills, besides a great many logs are shipped to Palmer and other points. A few years ago, Nicholas Ruth established a veneering mill at Palmer, but after operating the mill for two or three years, he moved his machinery to Buckhannon. He claimed the rates were too high, and the service unsatisfac- tory on the Midland railroad.
In 1913, the large and valuable saw mill at Palmer was destroyed by fire, and has recently been replaced by a large circular saw mill, having a capacity of from 25,000 to 30,000 feet per day. This mill is largely owned and managed by J. W. Cook of Pennsylvania. The shops of the Midland railroad are located at Palmer. There is one M. E. Church, a post office, one large mercantile store owned by Henry Gillespie and Robert Lynn. Henry Gillespie is the present post master. The population of the town is about 300.
Palmer is spread out along the shores of two beautiful rivers. The country surrounding Palmer is rough, the hills are high and precipitous, but the natural scenery is magnificent. The spruce that skirts the river banks, interspersed with a numerous growth of holly wood and the rhoderdendrum, makes the scenery when the snows are falling, one of rapturous beauty, and no less so in the verdure of spring when the wild honeysuckle and the ivy are in bloom.
ROSEDALE.
Rosedale, a thriving town, is situated on Steer creek, twenty miles west of Sutton in Birch district. It has two or three dry-goods stores, one hardware store, two churches, M. E. and Baptist, post office, two taverns, schoolhouse, blacksmith shop, flouring mills, etc.
Rosedale is in the center of the Rosedale Oil field, with several producing oil wells. It is on the Elk & Little Kanawha narrow gauge railroad, and is in the midst of a great timber region that is being worked principally by the Standard Oil Company into tight barrel staves, though large quantities of tim- ber are floated down the streams to the Little Kanawha river, thence to Par- kersburg, W. Va.
The land of the surrounding country is very fertile, and is fine for grain and grazing purposes.
Rosedale is built on the old Jacob Shock farm. It was laid off as a town in 19 .... and incorporated with the following officers: Mayor,. Councilmen,
The town is in the midst of a fine gas field. Quite a number of wells have been bored for oil and gas, and a number of fine gas wells have been struck.
A certificate of incorporation was granted the town of Rosedale by the circuit court of Braxton county on the 24th day of August, 1911. The com-
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missioners of eleetion for or against the incorporation were B. E. Rider, C. B. Beatty, Jr., and C. T. King. Eleetion resulted in favor of the incorporation, and B. E. Rider, J. W. Twyman and U. S. Upton were appointed by C. H. Bland, elerk, to hold first eleetion, which resulted as follows: For Mayor, C. N. Snodgrass, Reeorder, H. M. Turner, Conneilmen, T. P. Dobbins, C. B. Beatty. Sr., C. T. King, M. E. Riffle, J. W. Smith.
The present population of the town is 180; the value of real and personal property, ineluding the property assessed by the Board of Publie Works is for the year, 1918, $91,947.00
ERBACON.
Erbaeon eontains about two hundred inhabitants, and is situated on the B. & O. railroad, twenty miles southeast of Sutton in Webster Co. There is a lumber railroad running from the town to a point on the Big Birch river. Other lumber camps are located near the town.
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