USA > West Virginia > Hampshire County > History of Hampshire County, West Virginia : from its earliest settlement to the present > Part 17
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While hemmed in on all sides, and when apparently every avenue of escape was closed, Averell intercepted a dispatch from General Jones. to General Early, dated December 19. From this dispatch he learned the positions of the various forces of the confederates around him. The outlook was gloomy, but by knowing what routes were impassable he could gain some advantage. He relied on help from the forces which he supposed had been sent to Greenbrier and Pocahontas counties, according to orders, to render him assistance on his return. But by some blunder these forces had been withdrawn, although he did know it at that time. The demonstrations against Staunton had also failed to be of any service to him. Thus, cut off from all hope of help, he was left in the mountains to struggle against four or five times his own number. But the brave never despair. From the intercepted dispatch he learned that the rebel post at Callighan's, near the summit of the 17
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Alleghanies, was held by only a small force, if at all, and he pushed for that place, and was in possession of it while the bridges across the James river were still burning. A formal demand for his surrender was received from Gen- eral Early, but he made no reply to it. He took an obscure road across the Alleghanies to Hillsboro, in Pocahontas county, and reached the base of Droop mountain, his re- cent battlefield. The confederates made almost super- human efforts to capture him, but they usually took wrong roads. The citizens of the country, who knew the roads best, considered Averell's escape impossible. After reach- ing Pocahontas county and crossing the Greenbrier river, several attacks on the rear were made by the confederates, but they were generally repulsed with small loss.
The weather had now grown intensely cold. The roads were sheets of ice. The horses could not pull the artillery up the hills, and men performed this service. Nor could the heavy guns be held back, going down hill. Trees were tied behind the cannon to act as brakes while de- scending the mountains. For two days men dragged the cannon. News had reached Beverly that Averell was returning, hungry, freezing and almost exhausted. Rein- forcements, with supplies were sent to meet him. Beverly was reached after a march of four hundred miles in six- teen days. Many of the men were frozen. Averell's feet were swollen and were wrapped in sacks. Fearing that the confederates would retaliate by sending a force on a raid into the South branch valley, Averell did not stop at Beverly, but proceeded to the railroad in Taylor county, and moved his command by rail to Martinsburg, arriving there just in time to confront and drive back the rebels who were advancing upon that place. The United States government, in consideration of the services rendered by Averell's force, presented each man with a new suit of clothes and a new pair of shoes to replace those worn out on the march.
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The Dublin Raid .- In May, 1864, an important movement was made against the Virginia and Tennessee railroad, in the vicinity of the village of Dublin, in Pulaski . county. The cavalry was under the command of General Averell, while General George Crook was in command of all the forces. On May 9 occurred a desperate battle on Cloyd mountain, near the boundary between Giles and Pulaski counties, Virginia. General Crook commanded the union forces, and the confederates were under General Albert G. Jenkins. For a long time the issue of the battle was doubtful; but at length General Jenkins fell, and his army gave way. He was mortally woun led, and died soon after. His arm had been amputated at the shoulder by a federal surgeon. In the meantime General Averell, with a force of cavalry, two thousand strong, advanced by wretched roads and miserable paths through Wyoming county, West Virginia, into Virginia, hoping to strike at Saltville, or Wytheville before the confederates could con- centrate for defense. When the troops entered Tazewell county they had numerous skirmishes with small parties of confederates. When Tazewell court house was reached it was learned that between four and five thousand confed- erates, commanded by Generals W. E. Jones and John H. Morgan, had concentrated at Siltville, having learned of Averell's advance. The defences north of that town were so strongly fortified that the union troops could not attack with hope of success. Averell turned, and made a rapid march toward Wytheville, in order to prevent the confed- erates from marching to attack General Crook. Arriving near Wytheville on May 10, he met Jones and Morgan, with five thousand men, marching to attack General Crook. Averell made an attack on them, or they on him, as both sides appeared to begin the battle about the same time. Although out-numbered and out-flanked, the union forces held their ground four hours, at which time the vigor of the confederate fighting began to slack. After dark the
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confederates withdrew. The union loss was one hundred and fourteen in killed and wounded. Averell made a dash for Dublin, and the confederates followed as fast as possi- ble. The bridge across New river, and other bridges, were destroyed, and the railroad was torn up, Soon after crossing New river on the morning of May 12, the confed- erates arrived on the opposite bank, but they could not cross the stream. They had been unable to prevent the destruction of the railroad property, although their forces out-numbered Averell's. The union cavalry rejoined General Crook, and the army returned to the Kanawha valley by way of Monroe county.
Notes .- West Virginia furnished 36,530 soldiers for the union armies, and about 7,000 for the confederate armics.
The first union regiment recruited in the state was Col- onel Kelley's, at Wheeling. It took the field May 25, 1861.
The first armed confederate killed in the state, and also said to be the first killed in the war, was Captain Christian Roberts. His death occurred on the morning of May 27, 1861, at Glover's Gap, on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, between Wheeling and Grafton. He fell in a fight with a squad of union soldiers under Lieutenant Oliver R. West, Company A, Second Virginia Infantry, afterwards the. Fifth West Virginia Cavalry.
The first enlisted union soldier killed in the state, and also said to be the first killed in the war, was Bailey Brown, of Company B, Second Virginia Infantry, afterwards Fifth West Virginia Cavalry. He was killed at Fetterman, near Grafton, on the night of May 22, 1861. The shot was fired from a flintlock musket in the hands of Daniel W. S. Knight, of Captain Robinson's company, Twenty-fifth Vir- ginia confederate regiment.
The first regiment to enlist for the three years service in the state was the Second West Virginia infantry.
The last gun ever put into position by General Lee was
-
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silenced by General Thomas S. Harris, of West Virginia, on the day of the surrender at Appomattox; and the last bugle command given the union troops prior to Lee's sur- render, was given by Nathaniel Sisson, also a West Vir- ginian.
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CHAPTER XIX.
THE NEWSPAPERS OF WEST VIRGINIA,
Newspaper history commenced in the territory now forming West Virginia, nearly one hundred years ago; that is, in 1803. The beginning was small, but ambitious; and although the first journal to make its appearance in the state, ceased to pay its visits to the pioneers generations ago; yet, from that small beginning has grown a press which will rank with that of any state in the union, if pop- ulation and other conditions are taken into account. West Virginia has no large city, and consequently has no paper of metropolitan pretensions; but its press fulfills every requirement of its people: faithfully represents every bus- iness interest; maintains every honorable political princi- ple; upholds morality; encourages education, and has its strength in the good will of the people. This chapter can do little more than present an outline of the growth of journalism in this state, together with facts and figures relating to the subject.
The first paper published in West Virginia was the Monongalia Gazette, at Morgantown in 1803. The Farm- er's Register, printed at Charlestown. Jefferson county, was the next. These were the only papers in the state in 1810. The oldest paper still being published in West Vir- ginia is the Virginia Free Press, printed at Charlestown, Jefferson county. It was founded in 1821. The Monon- galia Gazette was perhaps an up-to-date journal in its dav; but it would be unsatisfactory at the present time. It was in four page form, each page sixteen inches long and ten inches wide. There were four columns to the page. Its
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editors were Campbell & Britton; its subscription rate was sis cents a copy, or two dollars a year. It was impos- sible that a weekly paper so small could efficiently cover the news, even though the news of that day was far below the standard set for the present time. Yet, had such a paper been edited in accordance with modern ideas, it could have exerted a much wider influence than it did ex- ert. No other paper was near enough to make inroads upon its field of circulation and influence; and it might have had the whole region to itself. But it did not expand, as might have been expected; on the contrary, within three years it reduced its size about one-half. More space in it was given to foreign news than to the happening's of county, state and nation. Before the days of railroads, steam- boats and telegraphing, it may readily be understood that the events recorded from foreign countries were so stale at the date of their publication in the backwoods paper that they almost deserved classification as ancient history. The domestic news, particularly that relating to distant states, was usually several weeks old before it found place in the Gazette. County occurrences, and happenings in the neighboring counties, were given little attention. Many a valuable scrap of local history might have been permanently preserved in that pioneer journal; but the county historian looks through the crumpled and yellow files in vain. But, on the other hand, he encounters numer- ous mentions of Napoleon's movements; the emperor of Russia's undertakings, and England's achievements: all of which would be of value as history were it not that Guizot, Rambaud and Knight have given us the same things in better style; so that it is labor thrown away to search for them in the circumscribed columns of a pioneer paper printed on the forest-covered banks of the Monongahela. Joseph Campbell, one of the editors and proprietors of the Gazette, had learned the printing trade in Philadelphia. It is not known at what date the paper suspended publica-
THE NEWSPAPERS OF WEST VIRGINIA 231
tion. It was customary in early times, as well as at the present day, to incorporate two or more papers into one, drop the name of one and continue the publication. The Gazette may thus have passed quietly out of its individual existence.
Monongalia county fostered the first newspaper west of the Alleghanies in the state, and it also has had perhaps as many papers as any county of West Virginia. The full list, from the first till the present time, numbers between thirty and forty. The list compiled by Samuel T. Wiley, the historian of Monongalia, shows that the county had thirty-one papers prior to 183). Nearly all of these sus- pended after brief careers. It would be difficult to com- pile a list of all the papers established in this state from the earliest times till the present. It would perhaps be impossible to do so, for some of them died in their infancy, and a copy cannot now be found. There were, no doubt, many whose very names are not now remembered. It would not be an extravagant estimate to place the total number of papers published in this state, both those still in existence and those which are dead, at five hundred. It would be a surprise to many persons to learn how ephem- eral is the average newspaper. It comes and goes. It has its beginning, its prosperity, its adversity, its death. Another follows in its path. Few can be called relatively permanent. There are now more than one hundred news- papers published in West Virginia. Only nine of these were in existence in 1863, when the state was admitted into the union. These nine are the Wheeling Intelligencer, Wheeling Register, Clarksburg Telegram, Charlestown Free Press, Charlestown Spirit of Jefferson, Shepherds- town Register, Barbour County Jeffersonian, Wellsburg Herald and Point Pleasant Register. Of the papers in exis- tence in this state in 1870 only sixteen have come down to the present day. The cause of the early death of so many papers which begin life in such earnest hope is that the
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field is full. Two newspapers try to exist where there is room for only one. It does not require an evolutionist to foretell the result. Both must starve or one must quit. If one quits there is always another anxious to push in and try its luck.
West Virginia's does not differ from experiences else- where. Journalism in country towns is much the same the country over. In cities the business is more stable, because conducted on business principles. Men with ex- perience and business training accustom themselves to look before they leap. The inexperienced man who is ambiti- ous to crowd some one else out of the newspaper business in the interior towns is too prone to leap first and do his looking afterwards. There is no scarcity of good news- paper men outside the cities, and West Virginia has its share; but at the same time, there are too many persons who feel themselves called upon to enter the arena, although unprepared for the fray, and who cannot hold their own in competition with men of training in the pro- fession. To the efforts and failures of these latter persons is due the ephemeral character of the lives of newspapers, taken as a whole. Country journalism comes to be looked upon as a changing, evanescent, uncertain thing. always respectable; only moderately and occasionally successful; inaugurated in hope; full of promise as the rainbow is full of gold: sometimes materializing into things excellent; now and then falling like Lucifer, but always to hope again. There is something sublime in the rural journalist's faith in his ability to push forward. Though failures have been many, country journalism has builded greater than it knew. West Virginia's development and the rural press have gone hand in hand. Every railroad pushing into the wilderness has carried the civilizing editor and his outfit. He goes with an unfaltering belief in printer's ink and con- fidence in its conquering power. He is ready to do and suffer all things. The mining town and the latest county
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seat; the lumber center and the oil belt; the manufacturing village and the railroad terminus; these are the fields in which he casts his lot. Here he sets up his press; he issues his paper; he booms the town; he records the births, mar- riages and deaths with a monotonous faithfulness; he ex- presses his opinion freely and generously. In return he expects the town and the surrounding country to support his enterprise as liberally as he has given his time, talent and energy in advancing the interests of the town. Some- times his expectations are realized; sometimes not. If not, perhaps he packs his wordly assets and sets out for another town, richer in experience but poorer in cash. There are men in West Virginia who have founded a num- ber of newspapers, usually selling out after a year or two in order to found another journal.
This is the class of editors who blaze the way into the woods. They bear the same relation to the journalism which follows as the "tomahawk right" bore, in early days, to the plantations and estates which succeeded them. After the adventurous and restless journalist has passed on, then comes the newspaper man who calculates before he invests. He does not come in a hurry. He is not afraid some one will get ahead of him. He does not locate before he has carefully surveyed the field, and has satisfied him- self that the town and the surrounding country are able to support such a journal as he proposes establishing. His aim is to merit and receive the patronage of the people. This becomes the solid, substantial paper, and its editor wields a permanent influence for good. Such papers and such editors are found all over West Virginia.
Journalism among businesses is like poetry among the fine arts-the most easily dabbled in but the most difficult to succeed in. It may not appear to the casual observer that the newspaper business is nearly always unsuccess- ful, or, at least, that nearly all the papers which come into existence meet untimely death in the very blossom of their
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youth. An examination of the history of newspapers in nearly any old town will show that ten have failed where one has succeeded. The history of journalism in Monon- galia county, already alluded to, differs little from the history of the papers in any county of equal age and popu- lation.
In 1851 when Horace Greeley was asked by a parliamen- tary committee from England "at what amount of popula- tion of a town in America do they first begin the publica- tion of a weekly newspaper?" he replied that every county will have one, and a county of twenty thousand popula- tion usually has two weekly papers; and when a town has fifteen thousand people it usually has a daily paper. This rule does not state the case in West Virginia today. The average would probably show one newspaper for each six thousand people. In the small counties the average is sometimes as low as one paper to two thousand people; and not one fourth of these people subscribe for a paper. It is not difficult to see that the field can be easily over- supplied; and among newspapers there must be a survival of the fittest.
The early journals published in this state, as well as those published elsewhere at that time, say seventy or eighty years ago, were very different in appearance from those of today. The paper on which the printing was done was rough, rugged and discolored, harsh to the touch, and of a quality inferior to wrapping paper of the present time. Some of them advertised that they would take clean rags at four cents a pound in payment of sub- scriptions. At that time paper was made from rags. It is now mostly made from wood. The publishers no doubt shipped the rigs to the paper mills and received credit on their paper accounts. Some of these early journals clung to the old style of punctuation and capitaliz ition; and some, to jadgo by their appearance, followed no style at all. but were as outlandish as possible, particularly in the use of
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THE NEWSPAPERS OF WEST VIRGINIA. 235
capital letters. They capitalized all nouns, and as many other words as they could, being limited, apparently, only by the number of capital letters in their type cases.
As late as 1835 all the printing presses in the United States were run by hand power. On the carliest press the pressure necessary was obtained by means of a screw. Fifty papers an hour was fast work. The substitution of the lever for the screw increased the capacity of the press five fold. This arrangement reached its greatest develop- ment in the Washington hand press, patente in 1829 by Samuel Rust. This press is still the standby in many small offices. The printing done with it is usually good; but the speed is slow, and two hundred and fifty impres- sions an hour is a high average. Printers call this press "The Man Killer." because its operation requires so much physical exertion.
The early newspapers in backwoods towns attempted to pull neck and neck with the city journals. They tried to give the news from all over the world; and the result was, they let the home news go. They were long in learning that a small paper's field should be small, and that the readers of a local paper expect that paper to contain the local news. Persons who desired national and foreign news subscribed for metropolitan papers. This was the case years ago the same as now. In course of time the lesson was learned: the local papers betook themselves to their own particular fields with the result that the home paper has become a power at home. The growth of journalism has a tendency to restrict the influence of indi- vidnal great papers to smaller and smaller geographical limits. All round the outer borders of their areas of circulation, other papers are taking possession of their territory, and limiting them. No daily paper now has a general and large circulation farther away from the place of publication than can be reached in a few hours. This . is not so much the case with small papers. When once
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firmly established they can hold their small circulation and local influence much more securely than large circulation and large influence can be held by metropolitan papers. The trouble with the country papers is that the most of them die before they can establish themselves.
Some of the earlier statesmen feared danger from what they termed a newspaper aristocracy, formed by the con- centration of the influence of the press about a compara- tively few journals advantageously located in commercial centers. This danger is feared no more. The power of the press has been infinitesimally divided; among the metropolitan papers first; then among those in the smaller cities: lastly, among those in the smaller towns, until all fear of concentration is a thing of the past. The funda- mental law of evolution, which rules the influence of the press as it rules the destinies of nations, or the growth and decline of commerce and political power, renders it impossible that any aggregate of newspapers, acting in concert. can long wield undisputed influence over wide areas. They must divide into smaller aggregates, and subdivide again, each smaller aggregate exercising its peculiar power in its own appropriated sphere, and not trespassing upon the domains of others. The lowest sub- division is the country paper; and so secare is it from the inroads of the city journals that it can hold its ground as securely as the metropolition journal can hold its field against the paper of the interior.
CHAPTER XX,
GEOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY- AND CLIMATE.
In this chapter will be presented facts concerning West Virginia geography, climate, soil and geology. Its geog- raphy relates to the surface of the state as it exists now; its geology takes into account, not only the present sur- face. but all changes which have affected the surface in the past, together with as much of the interior as may be known and understood. The climate, like geography. deals chie^y with present conditions; but the records of geology sometimes give us glimpses of climates which prevailed ages ago. The soil of a state. if properly studied, is found to depend upon geography. geology and climatol- ogy. The limits prescribed for this chapter render im- possible any extended treatise; an outline must suffice.
Reference to the question of geology naturally comes first. as it is older than our present geography or climate. We are told that there was a time when the heat of the earth was so great that all substances within it or upon its surface were in a molten state. It was a white-hot globe made of all the minerals. The iron. silver, gold. rock. and all else were liquid. The earth was then larger than it is now. and the days and nights were longer. After ages of great length had passed. the surface cooled and a crust or shell was formed on the still very hot globe. This was the first appearance of "rock. " as we understand the word now. The surface of the earth was no doubt very rough, but without high mountains. The crust was not thick enough to support high mountains, and all under- neath of it was still melted. Probably for thousands of
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years after the first solid crust made its appearance, there was no rain, although the air was more filled with mois- ture then than now. The rocks were so hot that a drop of water upon touching them was instantly turned to steam. But they gradually cooled, and rains fell. Up to this point in the earth's history we are guided solely by inductions from the teachings of astronomy, assisted to some extent by well-known facts of chemistry. Any description of our world at that time must be speculative, and as applicable to one part as to another. No human eye ever saw, and recognized as such, one square foot of the original crust of the earth, in the form in which it cooled from the molten state. Rains, winds, frosts and fire have broken up and worn away some parts, and with the' sand and sediment thus formed, buried the other parts. But that it was ex- ceedingly hot is not doubted; and there is not wanting evidence that only the outer crust has yet reached a toler- able degree of coolness, while all the interior surpasses the most intense furnace heat. Upheavals and depres- sions affecting large areas, so often met with in the study of geology, are supposed to be due to the settling down of the solid crust in one place and the consequent upheaval in another. Could a railroad train run thirty minutes. at an ordinary speed, toward the center of the earth, it would probably reach a temperature to melt iron. And, it may be stated parenthetically, could the same train run at the same speed for the same time away from the center of the earth, it would reach a temperature so cold that the hottest day would show a thermometer one hundred degrees below zero. So narrow is the sphere of our existence- below us is fire; above us "the measureless cold of space." In a well on Bogg's run, near Wheeling, the temperature at 4,462 feet was one hundred and ten degrees. A descent of less than a mile raised the temperature sixty degrees. A well five thousand feet deep near Pittsburg had a tem- perature of one hundred and twenty degrees. A well in
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