USA > West Virginia > Hampshire County > History of Hampshire County, West Virginia : from its earliest settlement to the present > Part 27
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Gabriel Jones was clerk of the court in 1757, and held office twenty-five years, and signed the court proceedings till the close of the Revolutionary war. If not a relative of Lord Fairfax he was at least on intimate terms with him, and held his office by appointment from Fairfax. He was a personage of considerable importance in his time, at least in his own estimation. He was clerk of other courts be- sides Hampshire, and went from place to place signing the court proceedings, which were written by his deputies. Sometimes, however, several pages in the old books are found in the unmistakable penmanship of Gabriel Jones, showing that he could work when he wanted to. Lord
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Fairfax owned several counties and could have appointed Jones clerk of all of them had he so desired. As it was the old clerk had good pay and enough to do to keep him busy part of the time, and he was philosophical enough not to grasp at so many of the emoluments of office that he would have no time to enjoy the fleeting years. Thus life ran smoothly with him, and for a quarter of a century he signed the pages of the Hamshire courts. There is no record of how or why he lost his place; but, since his name diappears just after the close of the revolution, and soon after the death of Lord Fairfax, it is probable that the end of British rule in Virginia also was the end of the clerkship of Gabriel Jones. Nevertheless he had been permitted to hold the office all through the war, although it was well known that his patron, Lord Fairfax, was an enemy to the cause of American independence.
Although he was clerk of several counties, yet he found time for long pleasure trips to Richmond, Baltimore and elsewhere. Those cities were not so large or busy then as now, and many of the inhabitants, perhaps the most of them, at least in Richmond, knew Gabriel Jones. Like many other men of fame or genins, he sometimes took refuge from business cares in the excitement and pleasure of a game, usually as pastime, but sometimes for money. The story is told of him that once in Richmond the games went against him all night, and by the dawn of day his pocketbook had collapsed; the last shilling had gone into the pocket of the successful shark who played against him. But Mr. Jones had resources other than ready money. He wore a coat with gold buttons, every one worth five dollars, and there were a dozen of them. When his money was gone he commenced betting his buttons. As fast as he lost one he cut off another and staked it. Luck was against him, and the buttons went until only one was left. He hesitated when he came to that, but his hesitation was short, and as he cut off the button he remarked: "Here
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0
goes the last button on Gabe's coat." That sentence be- came a proverb in Hampshire county, and still may be heard. When a man is driven to extremities and is com- pelled to put forward his last resource, he does so with the remark: "Here goes the last button ou Gabe's coat."
The oldest books in the court house are made of linen paper, apparently equal to the best modern paper. At any rate, it has stood the test of a century or more of use and wear, and is still in good condition. The writing in most cases is clear and easily read. The ink used then must have been of an excellent quality, for it has neither faded nor rotted the paper. This is no doubt partly due to the fact that the writing was done with quill pens. It is well known that public records and documents to be pre- served for a great length of time, should never be written with steel pens, but with quills, or with gold or glass pens. The rust from a steel pen forms a combination with some kinds of ink and rots the paper. In manuscripts not a quarter of a century old the ink sometimes has rotted the paper until every letter is eaten out, due to having been written with a steel pen and poor ink. But in Hampshire's records not a case of this kind was met with, either among the old or the new books.
The spelling and the grammar are often faulty and unique in the old records. This was due to two causes: first, documents were sometimes copied in the books just as they were written, mistakes and all; secondly, those who did the recording were sometimes deputies who had little education. The clerks of Hampshire have usually been educated gentlemen, but occasionally they have em- ployed less educated persons to do the clerical work, and errors in grammar and spelling have crept in. A lease was recorded before the Revolutionary war in which the word "acres" is spelled in seven different ways, and not one of them right. It is "akers," "eakers," "akkers," "aquers," "ackers," aikers," and . "akres." One is
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tempted to believe that the person who wrote it was exper- imenting to see in how many wrong ways he could spell the word. Another case of the same kind occurs in which "the calculus of variations" is brought to bear with all its powers upon the proper name "Hughes." From the handwriting it is evident that the copying was done by the same person who had experimented on "acres." It appears that Thomas Hughes and Susanna Hughes, his wife, made a deed. At first they are spoken of as "Thomas Hughes and Susanna Hues, his wife," and then as "Thomas Hughes and his wife Susannah Hughs;" again as "Thomas Hews and S. Hughes," and finally pure pho- netics are resorted to and names are "Tomas Huse and Suzana Huze, his wife." Such variation in the spelling could not have been the result of ignorance, and must have been done by some copyist for amusement. The varia- tions in the spelling of "Capon" are little better; but in that case the different orthographies were usually by dif- ferent persons, and are found all through the records from the earliest times till the present. Each clerk, or copyist, had his own way to spell the name; and to this day men who have lived their whole lives in Hampshire will dispute over the proper spelling of the word. It is the name of a river, and is said to be of Indian origin, meaning "to appear," "to rise to view," "to be found again, " or some- thing of that kind. Lost river after flowing many miles, sinks and disappears, and after passing some distance under ground, rises to the surface, and then takes the name Capon. The word is spelled in different ways now. It is pronounced "Ca-pon," with accent on the first sylla- ble, and that ought to be the spelling. But some write it "Cacapon" to this day, and it so spelled on the govern- ment geologic maps. In the earliest records it appears as "Cape Capon," "Capecapon," "Capcapon," "Cacapchon," "Cacapon," "Capecacapon," "Capecacahepon," and even in other ways. In 1849 Dr. Foote in his "Sketches of Vir-
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ginia" spells it "Cacopon." The name "Potomac" has nearly as many spellings, not to mention three or four dif- ferent and distinct names by which it was known in early years. It was "Powtowmac," "Potomack," "Powtowmac," "Powtowmack." "Pawtomack," "Potawmack," "Poto- muck, " and "Potomoke,"
There is little difficulty in determining whether a docu- ment was written under British rule or after the achiev- ment of independence, even if the date is missing. Under the British rule there is a long preamble, reciting the great and lasting benefits which befall humanity on account of the benign sovereignty of "the king of Great Britain, France and Ireland, by the grace of God." After the Rey- olutionary war there is no more of this foolishness. Some- times papers of the most trivial character are prefaced by pompous and highflown language, always referring to the royal family on the throne of England, One may be given as an example of a large class. Early in 1762 Elizabeth Long, wife of Christian Long, of Hampshire county, owned a tract of land and wanted to sell it. But she was an in- valid and was unable to travel from her home to the court of Hampshire county to acknowledge the deed and to be questioned as to whether she had signed it willingly, as the law required. She being unable to travel to court, and the court being unwilling to travel to where she was, there was a hitch in the proceedings, and the throne of England was appealed to for assistance. Thereupon, "George the Third, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, etc., " appointed a commission to visit Mrs. Long at her house and ascertain whether she had signed the deed of her own free will, or whether she had done it "through force, fear or frand." This commission was composed of Benjamin Kuykendall, Jonathan Heath and Robert Parker, all of Hampshire. The gentlemen performed their duty as became loyal sub- jects of King George, and made a written report "to the
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justices of our lord, the king," that Mrs. Elizabeth Long had willingly signed the deed, and force, fear or fraud had no influence over her. Thereupon the deed was admitted to record May 12, 1762. Of course this document was in compliance with a form used in all similar cases; but that makes it none the less interesting, as it reminds us force- ably of the time when the people who inhabited the valleys and hills of Hampshire acknowledged the sovereignty of the king of England. Although they were loyal and obedient subjects, yet it is doubtful if they had much re- spect for any king. At least the people of this part of the country were the strongest supporters of independence, both at home and on the battlefield.
The first divorce granted in Hampshire county was a peculiar affair. If the law had been strictly interpreted, it probably would not have been declared a lawful divorce; but it is designated a divorce on the face of the record, and without doubt it was so considered by all interested parties. The history of the transaction, as nearly as can be ascertained, was as follows: During Pontiac's war, prior to 1765, a farmer in Hampshire county was taken prisoner by the Indians, but his wife escaped. He was carried to Ohio and from there was sold from tribe to tribe until several years afterwards, when peace was made with the Indians, he came home. He had heard nothing from his wife during the years of his captivity, but he evi- dently expected to see her again. Great was his disap- pointment when, upon arriving at his old home, he learned that she had long ago given him up as dead; had married again, and had several children. He did not seek revenge, but accepted the situation with the resignation of an Enoch Arden. The following record was made February 19, 1773, except that the names are left blank.
"To all whom these presence may come or may concern:
"Whereas, My wife hath sometime left me, and hath in- termarried with J- C-, I do hereby certify that I do 26
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freely acquit and discharge the said J- C- from all trouble or damages, and I do consent that they may dwell together as husband and wife for the future without any interruption from me. Given under my hand and seal this XIX day of February, 1773.
"J-K -. "
After Gabriel Jones had held the office of clerk twenty- five years, Andrew Wodrow came in and held from 1782 to 1814, thirty-two years. There was then a clerk who was in office only a few months, and gave way for John B. White, who was clerk from 1814 to 1862, forty-eight years. Dur- ing the war and immediately following, the office was ad- ministered by different parties till C. S. White was elected in 1872, and was subsequently elected for terms ending in 1903. No other county in the state, and probably none in the United States, can show such a record. In 1903 the county will be one hundred and forty-eight years old, and four clerks will have held office one hundred and thirty-five years. These clerks are Gabriel Jones, twenty-five years; Andrew Wodrow, thirty-two years; John B. White, forty- eight years; C. S. White, thirty years. The last two are father and son, and their combined terms are seventy-eight years. The historian is not gifted to see into the future, but at the date of the writing of this book the county clerk, C. S. White, is not an old man, and judging from the cus- tom of Hampshire of keeping clerks in office all their lives, it is not beyond the range of possibilities that the father and son may hold the office a century.
It is not positively known where the first Hampshire county court was held, but very early in the county's his- tory a court house was built in the valley several miles above Romney. This was prior to 1762. In that year Romney was made the county seat, and a wooden court house was afterwards built between the present store of J. H. C. Pancake and the foot of the hill, southwest. Court was held there many years, and finally a brick building
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was erected for the court. It stood east of the present court house and answered all purposes for which it was intended until 1837, when the present court house was completed.
The records have passed through vicissitudes of fortune, and many are now missing. It is believed, however, that they were complete up to the beginning of the war. Dur- ing the war the court house was used as a stable by the soldiers who were stationed at Romney, and all records which had been left in the building were scattered and lost. Fortunately, however, the most valuable books had been removed. Early in 1861 when the union forces under General Lew Wallace came to Romney, John B. White was clerk. He was fearful that the books would be meddled with, and he kept close watch over them. But they were not molested. In the fall of 1861 another union army advanced to Romney under General Kelley. Learning of the advance of the federal forces, and not wishing to risk the books again in the hands of the union troops, Mr. White loaded them on wagons and sent them to Winches- ter. He took only the bound volumes, such as deed books, wills, and settlements of estates, and left the original papers in the court house taking two chances of preserv- ing the records. If the books should be destroyed, there was a chance that the papers in Romney would escape. If the papers should be lost, the books in Winchester might escape. The wisdom of this measure was after- wards apparent. Had the books been left in the court house, all of Hampshire's records before the war would have been destroyed. opening the way to almost endless litigation regarding the title to lands. As it was. the books had many a narrow escape as related in what follows.
In 1863 Winchester was no longer a safe place for any- thing that could be destroyed. That town was captured seventy-eight times during the war. It changed hands oftener than the moon changed. The yankees and the rebels
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chased one another in and out of it in rapid succession. By the close of the second year of the war the town could no longer be held any length of time by the confederates. Captain C. S. White, then in the southern army, kept his eye on the Hampshire records with concern for their safety. The yankees had ascertained that the books were in Winchester, and they were bent on destroying them. To prevent this. Captain White removed them to Front Royal. In a short time they were in danger here, and they were taken to Luray and remained several months. The union forces threatened that town, and it was apparent
that it must soon fall into their hands. Captain White was determined to take the Hampshire books away, and with a company of about sixty men hurried to Luray, hoping to reach there ahead of the federal troops. In this he was disappointed. They entered the town ahead of him, and made straight for the place where the books were stored and commenced destroying them. That appeared to be the principal object they had in view, and had they been left alone a few hours they would have succeeded. But they were surprised in the act. Captain White and his men rode up and caught the yankees tearing up the books. The first intimation they had of the approach of the rebels was when a load of shot fired from a double- barreled gun in the hands of Captain White took effect on the exposed part of the body of a yankee who was in the act of perpetrating an insulting defilement upon the open pages of a deed book. The yankee sprang into the air as the load of shot struck him, ran a few steps, butted his head against a wall, and fell. Another yankee was at work on a book with his knife, slashing the pages. When the shot was fired, the yankees fled. Captain White and his men threw the books, about one hundred and fifty in num- ber, into a wagon, and carried them safely away. They were taken to North Carolina and were concealed until the war was over. This was in the autumn of 1864. The
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next year Captain White went to North Carolina and hauled the books to Staunton, and from there sent them by express to Romney.
In all of these changes of location, and ups and downs of fortune, not a volume was lost, and the only damage sus- tained was the wear of the covers, and the mutilation of two books by the yankees at Luray. The Romney court house was repaired and cleaned out, and the clerk's office was once more opened for business, after an interval of four years.
Other portions of the county records did not fare so well. Some of the records of the superior court are not in Romney, and may never be found. Among the volumes dating from before the war are, "Field Notes of the County Surveyor," in 1820, containing many names of old surveys; "Minutes and Fee Book," from 1792 to 1796, of about four hundred pages; "Tavern License Book," from 1843 to 1850, about one hundred pages; "Fee Book" of 1820, 1821 and 1822; "Chancery Cases," from 1843 to 1861; "Execution Book," of 1818, 1819, 1820 and 1821; "Superior Court Proceedings, " from 1809 to 1831; "Execution Book," from 1814 to 1818; "Surveyor's Book," from 1793 to 1803; "Surveyor's Book," from 1804 to 1824; "Surveyor's Book," from 1778 to 1793; "Fee Book," from 1814 to 1817; "War- rant Book," from 1788 to 1810. This was connected with the state land office, and contains a record of all state lands patented in Hampshire county during the years which it covers. It will thus be seen that there are many gaps which will probably remain forever unfilled. It is said that records of some of the earliest courts have never been deposited in Romney; but that they were kept in the pri- vate office of Lord Fairfax, and they may have been long since lost beyond recovery.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS.
BY H. L. SWISHER.
The pioneer settler had not spent many moons in his rude cabin before the pioneer minister visited his abode. It would be hard indeed to discover the name of the first minister who braved the dangers of the forest to point men to a higher and nobler life. Nor is it definitely known what denomination first built a church within the present limits of Hampshire county.
This chapter is compiled from such data as could be gathered from histories and from ministers and members of the different denominations. No particular order was observed in the treatment of the different churches, but this chapter progressed as information was received. If more space is given to the treatment of one church than another it is because more data was furnished the author by those interested in that particular church.
Protestant Episcopal Church .- The county of Hampshire was formed into a parish by this church in 1753. When Hardy county was cut off from Hampshire in 1785 a new parish was formed in that county. Some- time in 1771-72 the Reverend Messrs. Ogilvie, Manning and Kenner were ordained in England for the church work in Hampshire county. Of these three Mr. Manning only reached the county, and the success or failure of his work is not recorded. About 1812 the Reverend Mr. Reynolds had charge of the parish of Hampshire, and quite soon after that Bishop Moore of Virginia, ordained the Reverend Norman Nash for church work in Hampshire, and such
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was his zeal that unexpected success crowned his efforts. With his own skillful hands he helped to erect one if not two churches in this county. Zion, near North river mills, stands today as a monument to his skill and industry. After at least sixty years silence the voice of the Episcopal ministry was again heard at Zion a few years ago, when Bishop Peterkin and Reverend Gibbons held service at that place. Service is now held there quite frequently. It is probable also that Reverend Nash built a frame church at the town of Frankfort. Rev. Sylvester Nash, a nephew of the above-named gentleman, succeeded his uncle and often preached in the log churches he had erected. Through the untiring efforts of the last mentioned gentleman the old brick church in Romney was built. This church was partly destroyed by fire just previous to the Civil war. The remaining walls are now incorporated in the public school building which stands on the lot formerly owned by the church. Succeeding Mr. Nash came Rev. Mr. Hedges, and after him Rev. Mr. Irish. On October 12, 1878, Rev. J. Dudley Ferguson took charge of the work in Hampshire and remained until his successor, Rev. J. Tottenham Loftus, arrived in January, 1881. He, on the sixth of Sep- tember of the same year, received injuries in a railroad ac- cident from which he died in England in 1883. After an interregnum of nearly two and a-half years, Rev. Samuel H. Griffith took charge and remained one year. The Rev. G. A. Gibbons of Fairmont, W. Va., was then called and took charge of the work in Hampshire and adjoining counties July 2, 1885. The same year the brick church, St. Stephens, was built in Romney, chiefly through the efforts and liber- ality of the late J. C. Corell. This church was consecrated November 13, 1887, Bishop Pekerkin and the rector, Rev. G. A. Gibbons, officiating. St. Stephens has at present twenty communicants and a Sunday school of five teachers and twenty scholars, E. O. Wirgman, superintendent.
In November, 1835, Rev. Gibbons and Bishop Peterkin
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visited the McGills and Russells, near Okonoko, this county. During this visit they for the first time conducted Episcopal service in the M. E. church, south, on the Levels, about a mile from Levels cross roads. This service was repeated from time to time until this mission grew to have twenty communicants. At length the beautiful Epiphany church was built, chiefly through the well-directed efforts of Miss Hester McGill and other faithful adherents, and by the kindness of Wm. L. Davis of Rochester, New York, who generously donated his work while building the church. Epiphany has twenty communicants and a Sunday school of twenty scholars and five teachers, Henry McGill Russell, superintendent.
We gather, then, that this church formed the parish of Hampshire in 1753. It has been served by ten clergymen, Messrs. Manning, Reynolds, Nash, Nash, Hedges, Irish, Ferguson, Loftus, Griffith and Gibbons. There have been six churches, four of which, Zion, Frankfort, St. Stephen and Epiphany, are still standing. The old brick in Romney and a church on North river have been destroyed.
Evangelical Lutheran Church .- In the last quarter of the eighteenth century a congregation known as the "German Charches" was organized at a point about four miles from Capon Springs on Capon river. These "Germaa Churches" were German Reformed or Lutheran congregations. The house in which these congregations worshiped for a full half century was built of hewn logs. It is still standing and is used as a sexton's house. The official records date back as far as 1786, and in 1836 inter- esting centennial exercises were held in Hebron, the name of the present Lutheran church at that place. For a num- ber of years the two denominations had but one pastor, who was sometimes a German Reformed minister and sometimes a Lutheran.
The preachers in those early days served this congrega- tion in connection with churches in the valley of Virginia.
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Rev. A. Reck, a Lutheran minister residing in Winchester, became pastor of the Capon church, as it was then called, and since that time only Lutheran ministers have served as pastors. The present church, Hebron, was erected in 1849, under the ministry of H. J. Richardson. A visit to the cemetery of this pioneer organization reveals the fact that the Swishers, Rudolphs, Klines, Brills, Sechrists and Baumgardners were the first worshipers, and their de- scendants to the third and fourth generation worship there today. Mrs. Maud L. Michael, the wife of the present pastor, is of the fourth generation, being a great-grand- daughter of George Rudolph, sr. There are but three of the pastors who served Hebron church now living. These are Reverends P. Miller, P. J. Wade and the present pas- tor, Rev. D. W. Michael. Rev. W. G. Keil, who was pas- tor at Hebron from 1822 to 1827, died at Senacaville, Ohio, in 1891, in his ninety-second year. In 1867 the member- ship of this church was the highest it has ever been, 106 being then enrolled.
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