USA > West Virginia > Harrison County > History of Harrison County, West Virginia : from the early days of Northwestern Virginia to the present > Part 41
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Although about sixty years of age he served in the war of 1812, as also did three of his sons, one of whom died from disease.
He died in 1844 at about the age of ninety years and was buried with Military honors.
For many years he was a pensioner and during the latter part of his life he was afflicted with blindness.
Hughes was a quiet unassuming law abiding citizen, of a good dis- position and had the respect of his neighbors. He was reasonable on all
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subjects but that of Indian warfare. He was a true child of the frontier and never forgave the savages for their merciless war on helpless women and children.
Jesse Hughes.
Jesse Hughes the noted border and Indian scout was it is supposed born on the South Branch of the Potomac and came to the West in 1770 and located his 400 acres on Hacker's Creek adjoining lands afterwards owned by Colonel William Lowther.
He participated in many expeditions against the Indians and was perhaps better known and had a wider reputation for daring that any man on the Upper waters of the Monongahela and he did much to protect the settlers from the forays of the savages.
He had a fierce temper and bore an intense hatred to the Indians, and no one of that race was safe with him either in war or peace.
Some of his exploits are mentioned in other parts of this volume.
He lived to a great age and died at the house of his son-in-law George Henshaw in Jackson County, West Virginia, about 1830.
Governor Joseph Johnson.
Joseph Johnson was born in Orange County, New York, December 19, 1785, and came with his mother, a widow to near Bridgeport about 1803, where he lived until his death February 27, 1877.
He was self educated and was always an eager participant in the debating societies in his neighborhood. In 1811 he was appointed a con- stable, his first appearance in public life. He was captain of a Company of Riflemen from Harrison County in the war of 1812 with England and marched it to Norfolk.
He was elected to the Legislature in 1818. In 1823 he was elected to the 18th. Congress, also to the 19th. to the vacancy in the 22nd. occas- ioned by the death of Philip Doddridge, serving from January 21 to March 2, 1833 and to the 24th, 25th, 26th and 29th, Congress retiring in 1847. He was again elected to the Legislature in 1847 and in 1850 he was chosen a member of the Constitutional Convention.
While serving in that body he was elected Governor for a short term by the Legislature and upon the adoption of the new constitution by which that office was made elective by the people he was elected Governor for four years defeating George W. Summers.
Previous to this time the Governor had always been chosen by the legislature and thus it came to pass that Mr. Johnson was the first Govern- or of Virginia chosen by the sufferage of the people, and the only one who ever held the office who lived west of the Allegheny mountains.
In the war of 1861 Governor Johnson's sympathies were with the South and during that period he left Bridgeport and lived quietly inside of the Confederate lines in Virginia and returned to his home in 1865 after the cessation of hostilities.
Governor Johnson was a medium sized man of agreeable manners, a
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persuasive stump speaker and of great political popularity among the peo- ple.
When he was a candidate for Governor he was opposed by George W. Summers of Kanawha County who was a finished orator and the idol of the whigs in Western Virginia.
There were no joint debates during the campaign and Johnson's political opponents charged that he would not dare meet Summers on the stump to discuss the issues of the campaign.
To this Johnson replied "I do not shrink from meeting Mr. Summers for have I not met the lion of the forest and shaken the dew drops from his mane." This illusion is to Philip Doddridge, who was perhaps the ablest man in the West and had a reputation as a scholar, lawyer and orator exceeded by none.
Governor Johnson was a good conversationalist and having met all the prominent men of his time his recollection of passed events was exceedingly interesting.
He had the respect and admiration of the people of his county and his private life was without reproach.
George Jackson.
George Jackson, the son of John, was born East of the mountains in Virginia or Maryland and came to the Buckhannon settlement with his father in 1769. He was probably nearly grown at that time as he entered 400 acres in 1773 on the second Big Run. The State Census for 1782 reports him as having five in his family at that time.
The first County Court for Harrison County was held at his home on the Buckhannon River in 1784. This Court granted him permission to build a mill at Clarksburg on Elk Creek and he moved to that place shortly afterwards. There is a mill still occupying this location.
George Jackson inherited from his mother both bodily and mental strength, was a courageous determined man, of strong character, and very much disposed to have his own way in anything he was connected with, and was prominent in public affairs.
He bore his full share in defending the settlements from savage raiders and could always be depended upon in any emergency.
He was an officer of Militia, Justice of the Peace, Sheriff, Member of the Legislature, Member of the Virginia Convention that adopted the constitution of the United States and served in the 4th., 6th, and 7th. Congress. His first term in Congress was the last one of Washington's administration and was held in Philadelphia. It is said of him that while making a speech in Congress his statements caused considerable amusement among the members, which provoked him into saying that he would go home and send his son John to congress and they would not laugh at him. The records show that he was succeeded by his son, John G. Jack- son in the 8th. Congress, which held its first session in October 1803, which indicates that he carried out his threat and shows his great influence in his community.
The idea he intended to convey by his remarks was that though he
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himself was not an educated man, that his son was and could hold his own among them.
George Jackson recruited a Company in 1781 to join General George Rogers Clark's expedition against the British at Detroit, from which place Indian War parties were equipped and sent out against the frontier of Virginia and Kentucky. The Company built canoes and joined the expe- dition near Fort Pitt and floated down the Ohio to the Falls where Louis- ville now stands, at which place the expedition was abandoned and the Company returned home by way of the river, a long, tedious, and danger- ous journey.
Colonel Jackson in later life moved to the present site of Zanesville, Ohio, where he erected a mill and other enterprises.
He represented his County in the Ohio Legislature and lived to a good old age.
Job Goff.
Job Goff was born in Rhode Island in 1760, was a soldier in the war of the Revolution, removed to Vermont, subsequently to New York and came to Harrison County in 1804. His wife was a Miss Waldo of a talented and distinguished family in New England.
He purchased land on Booth's Creek and lived a long and useful life, for sixty years was a member of the Baptist Church and died in 1845.
His four sons, John, Waldo P., Nathan and David were active, ener- getic and useful citizens and prominent in public affairs.
Waldo P. held several County offices and was a State Senator in Virginia and long a merchant. Nathan represented this County in the West Virginia Legislature, was a merchant and banker, and David the County of Randolph in the Legislature of the Old State, was also promi- nent as a lawyer in that County.
John was a successful farmer and prominent in religious matters.
All of these four brothers were men of absolute integrity stood high in business affairs and had the confidence of the community.
William Haymond, Jr.
William Haymond, the second, the son of Major William Haymond, was born in Montgomery County, Maryland, June 11, 1771, and came West with his father in 1773.
He married Cynthia Carroll March 12, 1793. He served as a scout in the Indian wars and one summer patrolled the Ohio river near Parkers- burg and Marietta.
In 1794 he moved to a tract of land on which Palatine is now situ- ated and lived there until his death. His descendants are still in Marion County. He wrote the letters that are published in this volume.
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COUNTY
Thomas Haymond.
Thomas Haymond, the son of Major William Haymond, was born January 11, 1776, in the Monongahela Glades now in Monongalia County.
He married Rebecca Bond a native of Cecil County, Maryland, Jan- uary 6, 1803. He served as a Deputy Surveyor, Justice of the Peace and Commissioner of Delinquent and Forfeited Lands in Harrison Coun- ty and was principal surveyor from the death of his father in 1821 until his death in 1853, a period of thirty-two years.
Although but a boy he served his tour as a scout in the Indian war and was stationed one winter at Salem.
He was buried in the Haymond grave yard on Elk and his descen- dants still live in the County.
John Haymond.
John Haymond the son of Major William Haymond, was born near Rockville now in Montgomery Co., Maryland, December 7, 1765, and came with his father to near Morgantown in 1773. He married Mary, the daugh- ter of Colonel Benjamin Wilson, July 3, 1787, who then lived in Tygart's Valley near Beverly. The wedding party from Clarksburg on their way to the bride's home camped out all night under a cliff of rocks a short distance from Philippi on the Valley River. It was said that the bride and groom were the handsomest couple on the frontier.
John Haymond was clerk of the Board of Trustees of the Randolph Academy, Deputy Surveyor, Sheriff, Member of the Legislature from Har- rison County, Member of the State Senate, an officer of Militia, took a prominent part in the Indian wars and was in many expeditions against them. In a skirmish with the Indians on Middle Island Creek, now in Doddridge County, a ball passed through a handkerchief which he had tied around his head.
He was a member of the Virginia Senate at the time of the passage of the celebrated Resolutions of 1798, and in all phases of the parlimen- tary contest in that memorable struggle his name is found as voting against them.
About the year 1800 he moved onto a large tract of land on the Little Kanawha River, in what is now Braxton County near Bulltown, built a mill and established a salt works.
He built canoes and floated down the river to the Ohio and thence up to Pittsburgh, purchased kettles in which to boil salt water and returned with them by the same route, a long tedious and laborious journey.
He conducted the manufacture of salt for many years and died Sep- tember 5, 1838.
His descendants still live in Braxton County.
Luther Haymond.
Luther Haymond was born on the 23d day of February 1809 on Zack's Run, now Elk District, six miles from Clarksburg, on the Buck- hannon Road, and was the son of Thomas and Rebecca Bond Haymond.
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As a boy, he was a clerk in the store of John Webster in Clarksburg. Afterwards, he was Deputy Surveyor, Member of the Legislature, En- gineer of the Board of Public Works, Commissioner of the Circuit Court, Treasurer of the County, and Cashier of the Merchants' National Bank at Clarksburg from its organization in 1860 until he retired in 1896.
He located the Beverly and Fairmont Turnpike, The Weston Clarksburg and Fairmont Turnpike, and the Fairmont and Wheeling Turnpike and was employed on other works of a public character.
He married Delia Ann, the daughter of Major Thomas P. Moore.
It was his custom to celebrate his birth day by holding a reception for his friends.
He died on the 19th day of September 1908, in his hundredth year, and in the possession of all of his faculties. Had he lived until the fol- lowing 23d February 1909 he would have rounded out his century of life.
At the time of his death he was the oldest Odd Fellow in the State, and the oldest person in the County.
Col. William Lowtheer.
William Lowther was the son of Robert Lowther, who moved to the Hacker's Creek settlement in 1772. He soon became one of the most con- spicious men in that section of the Country, while his private virtues and public actions endeared him to the community.
During the war of 1774 and the following hostilities he was the most active and efficient defender of the vicinity against the savage foe, and there were very few scouting parties from this neighborhood by which Indians were killed or dispersed but those which were commanded by him.
During the latter part of the war he had charge of the line of scouts along the Ohio River, covering the approaches to the settlements in the Monongahela Valley, and performed that duty to the satisfaction of the State Authorities.
Colonel Lowther in civil life was a Justice of the Peace in the Dis- trict of West Augusta, the first sheriff of Harrison and Wood Counties and served as a member of the General Assembly. His descendants are still in this County.
It is a matter of regret that so little is known of the life and services of this most distinguished citizen. The date of his birth is not known and it is supposed that his death occurred in Wood County.
The Border Warfare speaks in the highest terms of Colonel Lowther's active and successful exertions in what is known as the "starving year" to relieve the sufferings of the settlers. The starving year was in 1773 and was caused by the corn crop of the preceding year not being sufficient to furnish bread for the increased population.
His settlement right was for 400 acres on Hacker's Creek in 1772 adjoining land of Jesse Hughes.
In 1782 he had eight members in his family.
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Dr. Edward B. Jackson.
Dr. Edward B. Jackson was born in Clarksburg January 25, 1793 and died at Bedford Springs September 8, 1826.
He received a liberal education under Rev. George Towers the princi- pal of the Randolph Academy and commenced the study of medicine under Dr. William Williams.
In the Fall of 1812, he in response to the Call of the Government for more troops after the surrender of Detroit by General Hull, volunteered as a mounted rifleman. He was detailed as Surgeon's mate in the 3rd. Regiment of Virginia Militia and served at Fort Meigs in Northern Ohio.
He was tendered an appointment as surgeon in the United States Army but declined it.
In 1815 Dr. Jackson was elected a delegate to the General Assembly of Virginia and in 1820 was elected to Congress to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of James Pindall, and was also elected for a full term, which expired March 4, 1823.
The Clarksburg Intelligencer issued September 23, 1826 states, in referring to Dr. Jackson's death that "In all the various stations to which he was called he supported with credit to himself the interest and honor of the District he represented. The death of such a man is both a national and a private loss. Peace to his ashes."
Alexander West.
Alexander West was prominent as a frontier scout. He was repre- sented to be a tall, spare man, very erect, strong, lithe and active, dark skinned, prominent Roman nose, black hair, keen eyes, not handsome, rather raw boned but with a bearing that commanded the attention and respect of those with whom he associated.
He was of a quiet disposition and only lifted his arm against the Indians in time of war. He had the confidence of the community and his knowledge of the woods and of the Indian's method of warfare made him a power for good that was felt all along the frontier.
He died in 1834 near Jane Lew. His house of hewn logs is with a barn still standing about a mile east of the site of West's Fort and is still occupied by his kindred.
In the vicinity of the Beech Fort West discovered an Indian. He fired and wounded him in the shoulder. The Indian made off and was not pur- sued as an ambucade was feared. Two weeks later his body was found two miles from the fort on Life's run a branch of Hacker's Creek in a cleft of rocks into which he had crawled and miserably perished.
Levi Douglass.
Levi Douglass was one of the party of five of the first permanent settlers in the present limits of the County and entered 400 acres of land on Brushy Fork of Elk Creek adjoining lands of Benjamin Coplin in 1775.
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In company with Sotha Hickman he was captured by Indians, an account of which is given elsewhere.
He was a man of sterling worth and for that day accumulated consid- erable property.
The census of Monongalia County taken in 1782 before Harrison County was formed, shows that at that date his family consisted of four members.
The inventory of his estate was dated August 4, 1787, the exact date of his death being unknown.
His descendants still reside in the County.
Sotha Hickman.
Sotha Hickman was born on the Sugar Land Bottom on the Potomac River near the present town of Rockville, Maryland in 1749, and died at his home on Elk Creek near Quiet Dell where he had lived for many years.
As stated before he with a party of four others came to this region looking for land in the fall of the year 1771 and built his first cabin near where the Elk View Cemetery is now situated.
He brought out his family from the East to this location in 1772 or 1773 and is known to have been living there in 1779. He entered a thous- and acres of land on Elk Creek near and perhaps including Quiet Dell in 1773 but did not occupy it for several years afterwards.
Sotha Hickman always claimed that his son, Arthur, was the first white child born in Harrison County, that he raised the first crop of corn and owned the first rooster that ever crowed in the County.
While trapping on the Liitle Kanawha River in Company with Levi Douglass they were captured by a party of Indians and taken to their towns on the Sciota River in Ohio.
One night while the Indians were holding a grand dance and festival the prisoners were left in charge of an old man who fell off into a sleep. They each then quietly seized a gun and equipments and struck out for home and liberty.
Travelling only at night they were four days without food and after reaching the Virginia side of the Ohio River they were fortunate enough to kill a bear and ate so much of it that they both became very sick and were relieved by drinking what was called rock oil, which was found floating on the surface of Hughes River.
In common with most frontiermen he had no liking for the Indian race and a favorite expression of his was "Dod blast their yaller hides."
He enlisted at Fort Nutter in the Virginia troops and served fourteen months during the Indian wars, a part of the time under Colonel William Lowther. He was pensioned by the Government for his military services.
While a party were gigging for fish in the West Fork River near the old fair ground, Hickman carrying the fagott or torch, two guns were flashed on the bank. He soused the fagott in the water and they all struck for shore. The string of fish had been thrown down and hearing the fish
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fluttering in the water Hickman returned and secured them and they all hurried to Clarksburg.
Flint locks were then in use and the powder in the pans of the Indians guns had become damp and thus failed to discharge the pieces.
The subject of this sketch was of a companionable disposition, an ex- pert hunter and trapper and spent most of the time in those occupations during the fall and winter.
He died on his settlement right and was buried in the Haymond Grave Yard, having obtained a greater age than the others who came to the country with him in 1771.
Andrew Cottrill.
Andrew Cottrill was one of the five first settlers in the County in 1771, and made his settlement right in 1772 where the town of Grasselli now is, consisting of 400 acres, which was confirmed to his heirs in 1781.
In the same year 400 acres was confirmed to William Cottrill heir at law to Andrew Cottrill, who made the entry in 1773 on Elk Creek.
These entries show that his death occurred prior to 1781. Both An- drew and Samuel left descendants who are still with us.
The Cottrill's have for generations been distinguished in the tra- ditions of the County for their personal courage; they were quick to take offense and were always ready to avenge an insult either to themselves or to a friend. They were tough customers to tackle in a rough and tumble fist fight. It is said that they never used weapons. always fought fair and quit when the other fellow called "enough" which was most generally the case.
Both Andrew and Samuel Cottrill died within a few years after they came to the Monongahela Valley, but whether either of them were killed by John Simpson is not known. He killed one of the Cottrills in a quarrel about a peck of salt.
Samuel Cottrill.
Samuel Cottrill was one of the party of five who came into the present County of Harrison for permanent settlement in the Fall of 1771.
He built his cabin in what is now East Clarksburg near the old Jack- son grave yard, his nearest neighbor being Sotha Hickman on the opposite side of Elk Creek.
His house was attacked by a party of Indians in 1779, an account of which is elsewhere given. It is not known how long he lived at this place but the land records show that his heirs in 1781 were granted 400 acres of land on Rooting Creek according to a settlement made in 1775.
James Pindall.
James Pindall the celebrated lawyer was born in Monongalia County about 1783. He studied law and was admitted to the Bar at Morgantown in 1803. Not long after this he moved to Clarksburg and had a wide reputation as a learned lawyer.
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He served in the Legislature of the State, was colonel of Militia and was twice elected to Congress serving in that body from 1817 to 1820 when he resigned and was succeeded by Dr. Edward Jackson.
He was a very brilliant though an eccentric man and many amusing anecdotes are told of him. The County Court records show that he has been fined for using profane language in the presence of the Court.
The following order was entered on the County Court records when his death was announced :
"At a County Court held on the 22nd. day of November, 1825, The Court having received the mournful intelligence that James Pindall, Esquire, Attorney at law, departed this life about 4 o'clock this morning, by whose death it has lost one of the oldest and ablest advisors and Society one of its most valuable members.
As a testimony of the deep regret which the Court feels for the loss of their distinguished fellow citizen,
Resolved, That the Court do adjourn until Thursday next: that the members of the Court will attend his funeral in a body, and wear crape upon their left arms for one month."
He built and lived in the brick house now standing opposite the Epis- copal Church on Main Street, in Clarksburg, West Virginia.
James Pindall was the son of Thomas Pindall, whose first wife was killed by Indians in 1781. His second wife was Julia Scott, said to have been of the General Winfield Scott family and she was the mother of James.
The Washhburn Family.
The Washburn family were very early settlers in the County. Isaac located his homestead of 388 acres on the West Fork River to include the mouth of Isaac's Creek above Milford, in 1771. After his death his heir, Nancy, supposed to be his wife was granted title to his land.
Charles in the same neighborhood entered his claim in 1773. James located adjoining Charles in 1775 and in addition to his settlement right preempted 1000 acres adjoining. Stephen lived with or near James. The above four were brothers and all were killed by the Indians: Isaac killed near Clemen's Mills, Charles near Clarksburg and Stephen on the West Fork at James' cabin. James was taken prisoner at the same time and tortured to death at their towns West of the Ohio.
The descendants of some of these are still in the County. The census for 1785 contains the name of Rebecca Washburn whose family consisted of four members. She was the widow of one of those named above.
The Shinn Family.
In a history of the Shinn family by Josiah H. Shinn published in 1903 it is stated that Levi Shinn who was born in New Jersey in 1748 and married Elizabeth Smith in 1772, died at Shinnston was the pioneer of the Westward movement so far as the family of Shinn was connected with it. The records do not disclose his dismissal from any New Jersey meeting of
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friends. Neither do they show when he reached Hopewell, Virginia, nor how long he remained there. Tradition and the records say that he lived for awhile on Apple Pie Ridge in Frederick County, Virginia, where others of the family and others from New Jersey had taken residence. In 1778 we find him in Harrison County, Virginia, blazing with his axe the domain which was to be under his tomahawk right and near which the town of Shinnston now stands.
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