USA > West Virginia > Braxton County > History of Braxton County and central West Virginia > Part 2
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Standing on the summit that divides the headwaters of the East and those
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SUTTON'S HISTORY.
of the West, one can in some degree apprceiate the feeling of the savage as he stood on the same spot viewing the approach of the white settler who occupied the valley of the James and drove from the rich hunting and fishing grounds those whose fathers for so many generations feasted in a paradise of luxury. Wild game, yellow sueker and eel, in castern waters, were onee as the stars of heaven in number. It may be that the untutored savage, like the wild animal, sought the highest ground in time of danger, and viewed from the summits of the mountain that stand at the fountain head of West Virginia's principal rivers, and gave a long lingering look to the land which he loved, and to the battlefield that was lost to him forever.
BISON RANGE
There rises near Hightown, Virginia, the castern base of a mountain that has its western terminus at Point Pleasant, West Virginia, nearly four hundred miles in length. This mountain or ridge divides the waters of the Greenbrier, the Gauley, the Elk, the Sandy, the Poca and other smaller streams on the south from the Potomac, the Cheat, the Valley river, the West Fork, the Little Kanawha and other minor streams on the north. This divide has innumerable peaks and elevations of considerable height, and a vast number of low gaps which form a natural passway for county roads, and even for railroads by making cuts and short tunnels in a few of the low gaps. In many low places among the mountains, springs rise up and flow to either side, dividing their waters between the New river and the Ohio. We have named this divide the Bison Range where onee the Buffaloes roamed in great numbers on the rich native pastures which were unsurpassed for luxury for various animals that fattened on this range. The rich soil along the water courses and the aecumu- lation on the northern eoves of humus and decayed vegetable matter, pro- duced an abundant crop of pea vines and other food of great fattening quality which lasted well into the winter. The winter fern also was a source of supply.
The deep gorges once cut down by the stream, the cliffs of rocks, the laurel and the spruee afforded an elegant shelter in the roughest storm. The water was pure and unexcelled, with occasional salt springs from which the Buffalo, the clk and the deer often slacked their thirst. The roads traveled in going from one buffalo lick to another showed greater skill in grading and construc- tion than is shown in the average West Virginia road. The streams and their tributaries that have their rise on the Bison Range, water the largest and by far the richest portion of our state. If the savage viewed with alarm the ap- proaching skirmish line of the citizen soldier of Virginia from the eastern terminus of the Bison Range, he met him later in solid rank at the western terminus, where the greatest of all their chieftains with his united tribe met defeat, and were driven across the Ohio to their silent wigwams of the West.
When we speak of a nation, we consider it in relation to other nations of the world; or of a state, we view it in relation to other states of the union in
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its intricate form. When we consider the relative greatness of West Virginia, sometimes referred to as the Switzerland of America, with her mountains and valleys, her limitless resources, her varied climate and soil, her coal and oil, gas and rock, her magnificent streams that rise at the base of her great moun- tains that pierce her borders-we pause to find a State comparable to ours.
In the midst of the great Civil war, West Virginia came forth and threw her influence and power in the Nation's favor, and in the conflict she established a republican form of government, with a system of free schools which has grown from a weak and experimental beginning to one of which we all have a just pride. The Civil war gave the people living west of the Alleghaney moun- tains an opportunity long cherished for a separation from the mother state. Virginia had tolerated a system of slavery with its varied institutions for over two hundred years, all of which was out of harmony and distasteful to the mountaineer. He had with his own hand built his log cabin, felled the forests and driven back the savage and the bear; he was his own master; he kindled his fires from the sparks of his own flint; and in every emergency relied upon his rifle that ever hung above his cabin door. From these sturdy mountaineers came the backbone of our citizenship.
In the fifty years of our state's history, many of the land marks of the fathers have been removed. We fear that too often their memories have been forgotten, so wonderful and varied has been the march of her development. Her rich soil has been yielding treasures to the hand of the husbandman. If fifty years, beginning in the wilderness and coming down to the present, have pro- duced so much wealth and the various institutions of our state, what may wc expect in the next fifty years with the great natural storehouse of her treasures lying open before us?
During the two hundred years of our civilization in America, God kept concealed from the commercial world. the wealth hidden in her mountains and buried in her bosom. If the savage knew, he told it not, for to him it was a scaled book; and the rivers and mountains murmured it not. Even the winds conspired to keep the secret. Her industries are diversified, being one of the great coal producing states of the union, with a natural flow of gas that is giving heat and power to thousands of furnaces as well as light and warmth to her citizens. Her oil which is flowing from ten thousand wells or more is a source of great wealth. Her virgin forests unsurpassed of grandest mag- nificence has added millions to the wealth of her people. Her soil is well adapted for the production of all the finest grasses, making West Virginia one of the first states of the union for stock raising. West Virginia stands at the front as a fruit growing section, her production of fruit becoming one of the state's leading industries, in quality as well as quantity. Surpassing the famous fruit states of the West, the Red Shale belt of the eastern panhandle is to the fruit interest of West Virginia what the famous Grape Belt of France is to the Wine product of that nation or the South Sea Cotton Belt is to the cotton market of the world; but greater than all these is the intelligence and
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independence of her citizenship. Men and women of noble birth and par- entage, often those who came from the more humble stations of life, have dis- tinguished themselves in their various professions. What an inspiration to the intellectual greatness of West Virginia to stand amid the forests and see their magnificence, behold the mountains robed in ten thousand different hues and the rivers which flow through our state whose power if utilized would turn all the spindles of the world. The state beginning with a population of one hundred and seventy-six thousand has increased to a million and a quarter.
But we would remember the eastern portion of our state which has stood so loyally by the west, and whose interests are identical, one with the other. Men of the same blood descended from the same noble pioneers. There is not perhaps a spot of ground in all the vast dominion of our government of equal interest historically to the Valley of Virginia. There is not a State nor a Territory within the Union or a civilized country beneath the sun where does not live someone who at some time trod her smooth and dusty limestone roads, and drank from her great fountains; who does not remember secing the smoke and fire from some belching gun or the more exciting dash of the charger. Such is the magnetism of the Valley. Its productiveness, its associations and environments none will ever forget who have been charmed with its unequaled splendor. Her fields are as rich and mellow today as they were when the blood of the Indians and pioneer was mingled with its soil in their contention for its possession; when the cabin and the wigwam were subject alike to the scalping knife and the torch, and as long as there are showers and sunshine, will this grandest and noblest of all lands yield abundantly to the hand of those who toil.
Generations may come and go, strangers may take the place of present inhabitants of the land, but the influence and impress of the steady pioneer, the nobility of the men and women who inhabit the valley from the Potomac to the watershed of the James, will never be obliterated ,and their manhood and virtue will stand like a monument as majestie and imperishable as time itself. Who could measure the greatness of our state or keep pace with the flight of her march? Such in brief, is West Virginia.
GOVERNORS AND OFFICIALS
Jamestown had been burned in 1676 during Bacon's rebellion and was re- built by Lord Culpepper, but in the last decade of the century was again de- stroyed by an accidental fire, and as the location was considered unhealthy, was not rebuilt.
The seat of Government was in 1699 removed by Governor Nicholson 10 the middle plantations, half way between the James and York Rivers, and named Williamsburg in honor of King William III, at which place the William and Mary college had been established in 1693, the first assembly being held in the college building in December, 1700.
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SUTTON'S HISTORY,
Williamsburg remained the capitol of Virginia until the Revolution when in May. 1779, an act was passed directing its removal to Richmond, the last Assembly being held in Williamsburg in October of that year, and the first one in Richmond in May, 1780.
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GOVERNORS OF THE COLONY OF VIRGINIA
Sir Thomas Smith. 1607
Lord Culpepper. 1680
Sir George Yeardly.
1618
Nicholas Spencer. 1683
Sir Francis Wyatt
1621
Lord Howard. 1684
Sir George Yeardley
1622
Nathaniel Bacon. 1687
Francis West
1627
Francis Nicholson. 1690
John Pott. 1628
Sir Edmund Andross. 1692
Sir John Harvey.
1629
EFrancis Nicholson 1698
Capt. John West.
1635
Edward Nott. 1705
Sir John Harvey.
1636
Edward Jennings 1706
Sir Francis Wyatt 1639
Alexander Spottswood. 1710
Sir William Berkeley 1641
Hugh Drysdale. 1722
Richard Kempe. 1644
Col. Robert Carter 1726
Sir William Berkeley 1645
William Gouch 1727
Richard Bennett
1652
Robert Dinweddie 1752
Edward Digges. 1656
Francis Fanquier
1758
Samuel Matthews. 1659
John Blair.
1768
Sir William Berkeley 1659
Lord Bottetourt 1769
Francis Moryson
1661
William Nelson 1770
Sir William Berkeley 1662
John Murray, the Earl of
. Sir Henry Chickerly 1678
Dunmore
1772
The Earl of Dunmore continued Governor until 1775, when he fled.
THE INTERREGNUM
Presidents of Conventions, who executed the office of Governor:
Peyton Randolph
1775
John Page 1802
Patrick Henry
1776
William H. Cabell
1805
Thomas Jefferson
1779
John Tyler 1808
Benjamin Harrison 1781
James Monroe. 1811
Patrick Henry.
1784
James Barbour 1812
Edmund Randolph
1786
Wilson C. Nicholas 1814
Beverly Randolph
1788
Edmund Pendleton 1776
Henry Lee
1791
James P. Preston. 1816
Robert Brooke.
1794
Thomas M. Randolph
1819
James Wood.
1796
John Tyler. 1825
James Monroe
1799
William B. Giles. 1827
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SUTTON'S HISTORY.
John Floyd. 1830
John M. Gregory 1842
Littleton W. Tazewell
1834
James McDowell 1843
Wyndam Robertson.
1836
William Smith 1840
Davison Campbell
1837
Joseph Johnson
1852
Thomas W. Gilmer
1840
Henry A. Wise. 1856
John Rutherford
1841
John Letcher. 1864
GOVERNORS UNDER THE RE-ORGANIZED GOVERNMENT
Francis II. Pierpoint 1861
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY AND NOW
At the beginning of the century our country was in its infancy -- a gir. ernment in its initial state, though containing a population of nearly five and one-half millions of earnest, patriotic citizens. A war lasting eight years had terminated less than twenty years prior to the close of the century -- a war by which the colonies had broken down the barriers and severed the bands that bound them to the old world. Flushed with victory and with faith in the ability of their leaders they entered the new century with the utmost hope and confidence of the ultimate greatness of a land whose freedom they had bought at such a sacrifice of life and physical endurance.
The eighteenth century was prolific of men of renown, leaders to whom the people looked with confidence and admiration, though the unexpected death of General Washington which occurred just a few weeks before the close of the century, cast a gloom over the whole country; but such had been the patriotie sentiment of the people, such the inspiration of the leaders, such the burning; flashing eloquence of statesmen and orators, and the unswerving fidelity of those whom the people had chosen as their representatives, that the young Republic was bounding on to greatness and power.
So abhorrent had been the sentiments of the people against the colonial policy of the old world that the faintest whisper adverse to the fullest and freest liberty of every land and people would have been regarded as the voice of oppression. The eloquence of a Henry, the wisdom and philosophy of a Frank- lin, the statesmanship of an Adams, the democracy of a Jefferson, the life and character of the immortal Washington closed out the century in a halo of tri- umphant glory.
MOCCASIN TRACKS
We publish below a sentiment expressed in a few brief paragraphs, and if the talented author had published a book whose pages were blank from cover to cover, save this alone, it would be worthy a place in the library of any seholar or historian of the land:
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SUTTON'S HISTORY.
"What the people of today have gained in educational advancement, has been discounted in the lack of genuine hospitality, good cheer, upright living, and the passing opportunity of enjoying the good health and the appetites incident to pioncer life. In some remote period, when Webster county is peopled with a hetoregeneous population, and, when their great, great grand- children have arrived at distinction, there will be a movement started, and earried to a successful termination, to erect tablets and monuments to the memory of the first settlers. The first Centennial of the first settlement has come and gone and nothing has as yet been done to mark the graves of the men who wore the moccasin and the hunting shirt."
JAMES H. FACEMIRE
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SUTTON'S HISTORY.
CHAPTER II.
West Virginia; Its Birthplace in the Hearts of the Freemen of the Mountains; Constitutions;, West Virginia Legislaures; Governors, etc; Elevation of West Virginia; Counties of State With Names of County Seats; When Formed, etc .; The History of Song, "West Virginia Hills."
We copy from a letter published in a Virginia newspaper under the sig- nature of C. C., a graphic sketch of the Virginia Convention of 1829-30:
CONVENTION OF VIRGINIA
I attended the debates of this body a fortnight. The capitol, in which the convention sat, is a fine building, nobly situated-more so than any other I have seen in this country. Richmond is a picturesque place; the James looks beau- tiful there in a spring morning; the rocks and islands, and foaming rapids, and murmuring falls, and floating mists, all light and glorious, under a clear blue sky. The convention boasted several men of distinction-Madison, Monroe, Giles, Marshall, Randolph, Leigh, Tazewell, etc. Mr. Madison sat on the left of the speaker, Mr. Monroe on the right. Mr. Madison spoker once for half an hour; but although a pin might have been heard to drop, so low was his tone, that from the gallery I could distinguish only one word, and that was. "Con- stitution." He stood not more than six fect from the speaker. When he rose, a great part of the members left their seats and clustered around the aged statesman, thick as a swarm of bees. Mr. Madison was a small man, of ample forelcad, and some obiquity of vision, (I thought the effect probably of age,) his eyes appearing to be slightly introverted. His dress was plain; his over- coat a faded brown surtout. Mr. Monroe was very wrinkled and weather- beaten-ungraceful in attitude and gesture, and his speeches only common- place. Mr. Giles wore a crutch-was then governor of the state. His style of delivery was perfectly conversational-no gesture. no effort; but in ease, fluency, and tact, surely he had not there his equal; his words were like honey pouring from an eastern rock. Judge Marshall, whenever he spoke, which was seldom, and only for a short time, attracted great attention. His appearance was revolutionary and patriarchal. Tall, in a long surtout of blue, with a face of genius. and an eye of fire, his mind possessed the rare faculty of condensa- tion, he distilled an argument down to its essenec. There were two parties in the house; the western or radical, and the eastern or conservative. Judge Marshall proposed something in the nature of a compromise. John Randolph was remarkably deliberate, distinct, and emphatic. He articulated excellently: and gave the happiest effect to all he said. His person was frail and uncommon
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SUTTON'S HISTORY.
-his face pale and withered-but his eye radiant as a diamond. He owed, perhaps, more to his manner than to his matter; and his mind was poetical rather than logical. Yet in his own peculiar vein, he was superior to any of his cotemporaries. Benjamin Watkins Leigh cut a distinguished figure in the convention, as the leader of the lowland party. His diction is clear, correct, elegant, and might be safely committed to print just as spoken. Yet high as he stands, he is not perhaps in the highest rank of speakers. He never lightens, never thunders, he can charm, he can convince, but he can hardly overwhelm. Mr. Tazewell, I never saw up but once, for a moment, on a point of order; a tall, fine looking man. P. P. Barbour presided over the body with great dignity and ease. Of these seven extraordinary men, four have since died, to-wit: Monroe, Giles, Randolph, and Marshall. Mr. Leigh is now a United States senator, and Mr. Tazewell governor of Virginia.
EARLY SETTLERS IN CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA
"In 1772, that comparatively beautiful region of country, lying on the east fork of the Monongahela river, between the Alleghany mountains, on its south eastern and the Laurel Hill, or as it is there called the Rich mountain, on its north western side, and which had received the denomination of Tygart's valley, again attracted the attention of emigrants. In the course of that year, the greater part of this valley was located, by persons said to have been enticed thither by the description given of it, by some hunters from Greenbrier who had previously explored it. Game, though a principal, was not however their sole object. They possessed themselves at once of nearly all the level land lying between those mountains-a plain of 25 or 30 miles in length and varying from three fourths to two miles in width, and of fine soil. Among those who were first to occupy that section of country, we find the names of Hadden, Connelly, Whiteman, Warwick, Nelson, Stalnaker, Riffle and Westfall; the latter of these found and interred the bones of Files' family, which had lain, bleeching in the sun, after their murder by the Indians, in 1754.
Cheat river too, on which no attempt at settlement had been made, but by the unfortunate Eckarly's, became an object of attention. The Horse Shoe bottom was located by Captain James Parsons, of the South Branch; and in his neighborhood settled Robert Cunningham, Henry Fink, John Goff and John Minear. Robert Butler, William Morgan and some others settled on the Dunk- ard bottom.
In this year too, settlements were made on Simpson's creek, the West Fork river and on Elk creek. Those who made the former, were John Powers, who purchased Simpson's right (a tomahawk improvement) to the land on which Benjamin Stout now resides; and James Anderson and Jonas Webb who located farther up the creek.
On Elk, and in the vicinity of Clarksburg there settled Thomas Nutter, near to the Forge-mills-Samuel Cottrial, on the east side of the creek and
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SUTTON'S HISTORY.
n'early opposite to Clarksburg-Sotha Hickman, on the west side of the same creek, and above Cottrial-Samuel Beard at the mouth of Nanny's run -- Andrew Cottrial above Beard, and at the farm now owned by John W. Patton -- Daniel Davisson, where Clarksburg is now situated, and Obadiah Davisson and John Nutter on the West Fork; the former near to the old Salt works, and the latter at the place now owned by Adam Hickman, Jr.
There was likewise, at this time, a considerable accession to the settle- ments on Buchannon and Hacker's creek. So great was the increase of popu- lation in this latter neighborhood, that the crops of the preceeding season did not afford more than one third of the breadstuff, which would be ordinarily consumed in the same time, by an equal number of persons. Such indeed was the state of suffering among the inhabitants, consequent on this scarcity, that the year 1773 is called in the traditionary legends of that day, the starving year; and such were the exertions of William Lowther to mitigate that suffering, and so great the success with which they were crowned, that his name has been transmitted to their descendants, hallowed by the blessings of those, whose wants he contributed so largely to relieve.
These were the principal settlements begun in North Western Virginia, prior to the year 1774. Few and scattered as they were, no sooner was it known that they were commenced, than hundreds flocked to them from dif- ferent parts; and sought there the gratifications of their respective predilec- tions. That spirit of adventurous emigration, which has since peopled, with such unprecedented rapidity, the south western and western states, and which was then beginning to develope itself, overcame the fond attachments of youth, and impelled its possessors, to the dreary wilderness. Former homes, encircled by the comforts of civilization. endeared by the grateful recollections of by- gone days, and not unfrequently, consecrated as the spots where their tenants had first inhaled the vital fluid, were readily exchanged for "The variety of untried being, the new scenes and changes," which were to be passed, before the trees of the forest could be supplanted, by the fruits of the field.
CONSTITUTIONS
The period between the flight of Governor Dumore in June, 1775, and the adoption of the first Constitution, June 29, 1776, is known in history as the Interregnum. During this time, the convention which met July 17, 1775, at Richmond, conducted the government of the colony through its president. This convention passed ordinances, organizing troops for the public defense and appointed a general committee of safety to carry on the government, and also authorized the selection of county committees of safety by the inhabitants thereof, who executed the decrees and orders of the general committee. The Constitutional Convention which met at Williamsburg, May 6, 1776, on June 12, 1776, adopted a bill of right, and on June 29. 1776, adopted a Constitution, the first one in America, and on the same day elected Patrick Henry pro-
SUTTON'S HISTORY.
visional Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. From this time, dates t ehfirst year of the Commonwealth. This Constitution, having been adopted without being submitted to the people for approval, was in force for fifty-four years, but as the people outgrew its provisions a change was demanded in hopes that many of its restrictions in regard to the qualifications of voters and basis of representation might be remedied under its provisions. . All State and County officers were appointed, and the only privilege the voters had was to vote for members of the Legislature, Overseers of the Poor and Town Trustees, and voters were required to be free holders. The Assembly on February 10, 1829, passed a bill submitting to the voters a proposition to call a Convention to adopt a new Constitution. This was carried, but by far the largest vote favoring it came from west of the Blue Ridge. The Convention assembled in Richmond October 5, 1829, and contained a remarkable body of men, among them being James Madison and James Monroe, ex-presidents of the United States, John Randolph and others distinguished as lawyers, statesmen and orators.
'The new Constitution was unpopular in the west, and in a short time de- mands were made for a radical change in the organic law. This finally resulted in the Legislature calling a Constitutional Convention which met on the 14th of October, 1850, and adopting a Constitution which was ratified by the people on the fourth Thursday of October, 1851. The election for officers under this Constitution was held on the second Monday of December, 1851. The property clause heretofore required of voters was swept away, and universal suffrage granted. The Governor, Judicial and County officers for the first time were now to be elected by the people. While the basis of representation was not entirely satisfactory to the west, yet they had gained so many privileges that it was acquiesced by the people. The first Governor elected under this Con- stitution was Joseph Johnson of Harrison county, and the only one ever elected west of the mountains. We lived under this Constitution until the formation of West Virginia.
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