USA > West Virginia > Preston County > History of Preston County (West Virginia) > Part 19
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FROM 1863 TO 1881.
" The character of a man, whose average life is less than fifty years, can be understood and held in remembrance by those around him, but the character and conduct of a nation that may last for thousands of years can only be known by faithfully written and faithfully preserved history. But for recorded facts, how little would be known of the thrilling incidents that occurred in what is called the border warfare? Many a son and grandson feels proud when he reads of his heroic mother, rifle in hand, helping to defend her cabin and children against the deadly attacks of the savage Indian. But for the history of the Revolution how little would be known of the high and glorious achievements of Washing ton and of the brave officers and men under his command in that long and bloody struggle that achieved our national independence.
" Where is the American citizen after reading that history, that does not feel his patriotism aroused and enlarged, or that is not proud of being called an American citizen ? But for the aid of history how little would we know of our early statesmen, who were patriots, not millionaires. We read with interest every little incident in the lives of those great and good men. * *
"It is of the utmost importance to have a first-class his- torian to depict the thrilling incidents in the conduct of men or the wars of nations. If in giving the history of the late war between the United States and part of the people thereof, we had a Xenophon to describe and illustrate the battles of Bull Run, Seven Oaks, Wilderness, Lookout Mountain, Gettysburg, and the triumphant march of Sher- man through the Southern States to the sea, Grecian heorism would dwarf before the bravery and daring of the warriors of our day and country. For it is as true now as ever, that "when Greek meets Greek, then comes the tug of war."
"Having made a few suggestions on the importance of preserving the history of our country, I now propose to say something in relation to our own county.
"The first Legislature of Virginia after the Declaration of
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HISTORY OF PRESTON COUNTY.
Independence, met in December, 1776, and formed two (Ohio and Monongalia) counties west of the Alleghany, out of what was then called "West Augusta." Ohio embraced. what is called the "Panhandle," or the present counties of Ohio, Hancock, Brooke, Marshall, Wetzel and Tyler. Mon- ongalia comprised the present counties of Monongalia, Marion, Taylor, Harrison, Wirt, Wood, Doddridge, Ritchie, Gilmer, Braxton, Upshur, Barbour, Randolph, Tucker and Preston.
"Prior to 1776 the beautiful bottoms of the Ohio and the fertile valley of the Monongalia had induced a few bold ad- venturers to settle at the mouth of Wheeling creek on the Ohio and at the mouth of Decker's creek on the Mononga- hela. But the territory composing the present county of Pres- ton, a hundred years ago, did not contain a single resident. white man.
"In 1818 when Preston was first formed, her population must have been about 3000, for in 1820, her first separate census, her population was only 3,422; and in 1870, being- the last census, her population was 14,555. By this it will be seen that the per cent of increase of population of Pres- ton from 1820 to 1870 is greater than that of the United States ; for the census of the latter in 1820 was 9,638,131, and in 1870 only 38,558,983; and this notwithstanding that within the period aforesaid, Florida, Texas and California, with their populations, had been annexed, or added, to the United States.
"Preston, Wood, and Harrison are the only counties taken from the territory originally belonging to the old county, that out-number in population our good old mother- Monongalia.
"Just at the close of the war in 1781, many of the dis- charged soldiers of the Revolution had to find new homes and new employment. The hunting grounds of the valley of Cheat River invited them to settle in the territory now form- ing the county of Preston.
" The old Revolutionary rifle, with its flint-lock. and
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FROM 1863 TO 1881.
muzzle that you could run your thumb into, in the hands of an old soldier, was a dangerous weapon not only to the wild game but also to the Indian that was then fighting for what he claimed as his own favorite hunting grounds.
"To give you an idea of the game and its abundance then found among our hills, old Mr. - Wiles, who settled in what is now called Union District, told me more than fifty years ago, that he, when he first settled there, killed as high as seven elk in one day, the least of which weighed over three hundred pounds net.
"The late Col. Ashby, who resided on Snowy Creek, near Portland, told me that he, when young, killed in a fall, as high as thirty deer and his father about as many, and, by way of variety, they would occasionally kill a bear or buffalo. And within my recollection, the late John Conley, who re- sided within less than a mile of Kingwood, went with his children to gather chestnuts, and soon came to a very in- viting tree, the top of which was dark with opening burs, . and at once concluded to fell it. But before the tree was half down, the children discovered a fine bear in the top of it. As a matter of course the programme was changed: the bear had to be killed and dressed.
"The waters of Cheat and Youghiogheny rivers were as famous for fish as their hills were for game. Was it sur- prising, then, that the Indians should fight to the last for a country like this ?- a country which they and their fathers had owned and used for a summer retreat probably for thousands of years-where not only game and fish were found in great abundance, but where services, whortleberries, wild grapes and plums, hazle- and chestnuts, along with many other varieties of fruits and nuts, were found ripened to their hands by a kind Providence, without any toil on their parts. But they are conquered and gone, the country is ours.
"The last fight made in this country by the Indians to drive back the invading white man, was about the year 1788, when they murdered John Greene and part ot his family and
1
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HISTORY OF PRESTON COUNTY.
carried the rest into captivity. This took place. on the farm now owned by the heirs of the late Thomas Brown. The Indians fitted out their expedition on the Ohio river at or near the mouth of Fishing creek, now in Wetzel County. From thence they followed up Fishing creek to its head, crossed the dividing ridge to the head of Indian creek, which they followed down to its mouth, crossing the Monongahela river where Smithtown now stands, kept up the valley of White Day creek to its source, thence in an easterly direc- tion with a view of falling on the head waters of Morgan's run, their object being to murder William Morgan, who had settled on the Dunkard bottom at the mouth of Morgan's. run, where Mr. Morris now lives, and to burn his cabin. But the fates had ordered otherwise. They mistook the creek,. and followed down Greene's run, passing within a short dis- tance from where Kingwood now stands, until they came in hearing of one Lewis, who was splitting rails for Greene. They shot Lewis and captured Greene's rifle which Lewis had with him, and hastened to Greene's house to commence the murderous fight. A little girl running from the house as the Indians came up, was fired upon and shot through the hand; she had presence of mind enough to fall and hold her bleeding hand on her face and head and lay there quietly until the Indians left. Greene was soon dispatched. The mother and two half grown daughters were taken pris- oners. The house was fired and just before taking up their retreat one of the Indians stepped to the little girl, first shot, and seeing the condition of her head, left her for dead. After the Indians had left, the little wounded girl made her way to Cheat river, opposite to the mouth of Roaring creek, where David Morgan now lives, but then the property of one Thomas Butler. The cries of the child were heard and she was taken across the river and cared for by Butler. When she grew up she married a man by the name of Friend, and her descendants live in or near the Sanging" ground in the edge of Maryland. The Indians made good their retreat, and recrossed the Ohio river near where they
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FROM 1863 TO 1881.
started. Mrs. Greene was exchanged, after a captivity of a year or more, and returned and married a man by the name of Moore by whom she had a son called Edmanson, and two daughters, Hannah and Cissia. Edmanson married, lived, and died in this county. The second wife of our worthy neighbor, Samuel Snider, was a daughter, and Col. Moore, living near Evansville, a son, of Edmanson. Cissia married a Trowbridge, and Hannah a Ruble; their descendents are living in Monongalia. Mrs. Greene, after the death of Moore, married a man by the name of Spurgen, by whom she had a daughter named Lydia, who also married a Ruble and moved to Monongalia. Mrs. Greene and her three hus -- bands now sleep in the old graveyard near where Lewis was shot.
" After the defeat of the Indians by Gen. Wayne and the treaty of peace of 1795 was concluded where the city of Cin- cinnati now stands, the two daughters of Greene were found, one of the provisions of the treaty being that all the · prison- ers should be set at liberty. Sarah was the wife of a man by the name of Sourhaver, Elizabeth the wife of a man by the name of King, both French traders. The girls wanted to come home, and King not caring to leave his pursuits, sold his wife to a soldier by the name of Johnson, who took charge of her and her little son by the name John King. As the Indian marriages were not recognized as valid, John- son married Mrs. King according to our laws and returned. to this neighborhood, some seventy-six years ago.
"Sourhaver returned with his wife, remained at her mother's for a short time, sold out their interest in the Greene lands to my father, and returned to the Indians .. Their descendants may be Indian chiefs, now bravely con- tending for the golden treasures of the Black Hills; at least, they chose their lots among the roving tribes of the “Great West." Johnson and his wife lived and died in this county, leaving beside John King, five children, Jesse, Isaac, Greene, Sarah and Rebecca. All the children of Elizabeth settled in this county. Jesse married a Miss Cromley, a cousin of the
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HISTORY OF PRESTON COUNTY.
late Wm. Royse, the former owner of this grove in which we are to-day assembled.
"I have been thus particular because of the large connec- tion of the Greene family, and because the Greene murder does not appear, so far as I know, in any of the sketches of the border warfare with the Indians.
"About 60 years ago, I first visited an Indian mound standing on the ridge between Lick and Pringle's run, some five miles from this place, at the top of which stood a very large sugar tree with large roots running down the sides of the mound into the ground like braces, and around its base lạy many human bones. The mound itself was silent, but the skeletons were all those of full grown men, indicating that the surrounding plain, at some remote period, had ·witnessed some exciting and deadly struggle. The princi- pal rivers not only of the Virginias but of the United States, retain their Indians names. Not so with the principal river of our county. The early settlers and traders in crossing it, found it a deceptive stream, and called it Cheat, a name that it well deserves, as many an adventurer learned by sad experience.
"The towns and villages of Preston generally took their names from their original proprietors.
"Brandonville took its name from Col. Brannon, a worthy gentleman, many of whose relatives reside in the county. The late Harrison Hagans and his two brothers, Elisha and Zer, began business there about 1820, as merchants. Bruce- ton was originally called Morton's Mills, but when it became a flourishing town it was named Bruceton by Mr. John H. Huffman in honor of his step-father, Col. Bruce.
"Cranesville was founded by the late John Crane, an active and well-doing citizen of his day. He left a large family, of which our generous friend Smith Crane, Esq., is one.
"Portland was originally called Cranberry Summit, from the abundant yield of cranberries found in the rich mash there before the construction of the B. & O. R. R., and be- cause of the altitude of its site. The name of Portland was
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FROM 1863 TO 1881.
given to it by some Northern gentlemen, in consequence of the large amount of lumber being bought and sold there, and being otherwise a commercial center. I believe it was named in honor of its elder sister, Portland, of Maine.
"Albrightsville was named after David Albright, a wealthy citizen who lived and died near where the town stands.
" The town at the mouth of Daugherty's run is yet in its infacy, and I am not sure that it has yet been christened ; but our enterprising fellow citizen, Joseph Gibson, is its founder, and it is proposed to call it St. Joe.
" West Union is an offshot of what was called Mount Carmel. In the construction of the Northwestern Turnpike, it missed Mt. Carmel a few hundred yards, and West Union was built on the road, and soon took the trade from the old town.
"Rowlesburg was named after Capt. Rowls, one of the leading engineers on the B. & O. R. R., during its construc- tion.
"Tunnelton took its name from the Big Tunnel on the B. & Q. R. R., near the eastern mouth of which it stands.
"Newburg, the largest town in the county, was built under the patronage of the B. & O. R. R. Company, designed for a first-class depot, and for the erection of machine shops for the use of the Railroad. The name of Newburg seemed to have been almost a necessity, as the list of names had been pretty much exhausted by her sister towns of the county before her day.
"Scotch Hill was built by Scotch miners, and they have done no discredit to their mother country or brethren across the Ocean. It has been one of the most moral and best gov- erped villages in the county.
"Fellowsville was named for Joseph Fellows, a rich and distinguished citizen of New York, who held title to a large body of land including the site of the town. Mr. Fellows was a kinsman of our highly esteemed fellow-citizen, F. Heermans.
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HISTORY OF PRESTON COUNTY.
" Independence was named in honor of the Fourth-Inde- pendence Day-by the late John Howard.
"Evansville was named after the late Hugh Evans, Esq., who recently died at the age of one hundred years. Mr. Evans was once the Sheriff of the county, and long served as a member of the old County Court.
"Franklin was principally built by the late enterprising George Hardman, for the accommodation of his hands at his iron works, known as the Franklin Furnace.
"Gladesville was so named because of the beautiful glades near it.
" Reedsville was named after James Reed, now living near the town; he was a large land-holder adjoining the village.
" Masontown was named after William Mason, a merchant that first settled there. This place is surrounded with some of the best land in the county.
"Kingwood is the oldest town in the county, and has been the seat of justice ever since the county was formed. The elevation on which it stands was covered with a beautiful forest of unusually tall trees-forest kings,-and from these it took its name. The grounds on which Kingwood now stands was used as a camping ground by the emigrants going West long before the town was built. Many of the earlier settlers of Kentucky passed this way from Winches- ter to the Ohio River opposite Marietta, at which point there was a fort, and from thence by flat boats to Covington, or other points, on the Kentucky shore, where forts were provided for their protection.
"Conrod Sheets, Jacob Funk and a man by the name of Steel first built log houses and called the new town King- wood, the name by which the camping ground had been known for years before.
"This was about 1807. Funk's house stood across the street from where Mr. Elijah Shaffer now lives. Sheets's cabin stood where Hon. J. C. McGrew's fine residence stands.
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FROM 1863 TO 1881.
*The Steel house is still standing west of the residence of Mr. Gustavus Cresap."
*
About 5 o'clock on the evening of Monday, April 18, 1877, during a furious wind-storm, the wooden bridge across Cheat River, at Albrightsville, was lifted fromits abutments, thrown to the water below, up the stream, and demolished.
On the 30th of the following May, the county court ap- pointed James C. McGrew, William H. King and John P. Jones commissioners to advertise for plans and receive pro-, posals for rebuilding the superstructure ; and they were also authorized to receive like proposals and plans of wooden and iron bridges, looking to the erection of a superstructure at or near the Fairfax Ford, making a survey of the river at that. place. They were authorized to examine the road between the ford and Albrightsville, and report what amount, in their judgment, would be necessary to put the road in good repair. On the 3d of July the commissioners made their report, lay- ing before the court various proposals and plans of bridges from different firms ; whereupon, on motion of John S. Mur- dock, Esq., the court decided, a majority of the justices be- ing present, to build one bridge across the river; and, on motion of Jehu Jenkins, Esq., the court decided to build the said bridge across the river on the old abutments at Al- brightsville. Messrs. McGrew, King aud Jones were re- tained as commissioners, or rather re appointed to. select from the most suitable proposals received, and contract with parties, having reference in their selection and contract to the safety, durability and cheapness of the plan.
On the 7th day of July, the court ordered the clerk to prepare bonds of the denomination of one hundred dollars each, not exceeding eight thousand dollars, to raise funds to build the bridge, and bonds of the same denomination to the amount of three thousand dollars for the poor-house to be erected, in all not to exceed the aggregate of eleven thou- sand dollars.
'The commissioners, some time about the middle of July,
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HISTORY OF PRESTON COUNTY.
entered into contract with the Wrought Iron Bridge Com- pany, of Canton, Ohio, for the erection of a one-span wrought- iron truss bridge across Cheat, on the old abutments, at Albrightsville. The bridge was to be completed by the 1st of the following October.
Saturday, July 7, 1877, the court, a majority of the justices being in attendance, decided to build a house of general re- ception for the poor of the county on the present poor farm, not to cost the county over three thousand dollars. The board of overseers of the county were authorized to prepare plans, and let the building of the poor-house to the lowest responsible bidder. McCafferty & Hughes were the con- tractors.
On the same day, the court, on motion of the Hon. Wm. G. Brown, Charles M. Bishop and Robert W. Monroe, or- dered that the districts of the county and the councils of Kingwood, Newburg, Rowlesburg, Portland and Brandon- ville open polls on the ensuing 7th of August, for the pur- pose of taking the sense of the people upon the question of subscribing to the capital stock of a proposed narrow-gauge railway from Morgantown, past Kingwood, connecting with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad at some point in the county. The vote, however, was never taken. A few days after the order was made, the friends of the enterprise found that the date fixed would be too soon for an intelligent submission of the proposition, and by common consent no polls were opened.
On the 25th of August, the name of the Preston County Herald was changed to that of the West Virginia Argus.
The year 1877 closed with matters worse than when it opened. A bonded debt was again resting upon the county, and the hard times following the panic were getting no bet- ter. The succeeding year was no improvement; matters seemed to be getting worse and worse ; public works had stopped, and there was no call for labor in any quarter.
In 1879, a most horrible murder was committed about three miles from Portland (Cranberry Summit), where a ped-
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FROM 1863 TO 1881.
dler was killed, robbed, and his body thrown into a wood, where it was found on the 3d day of July. The particulars of this murder will be given in the history of Portland District.
In 1880, business seemed to brighten up, and the laboring classes found employment again at public works, though at lower rates of wages than before the panic. The presidential campaign of the year excited the usual interest among the people of the county.
The Broad-Ax was started at Fellowsville, on the 2d of July, by George Purcell and John N. Wolff. It was moved to Newburg soon after, and the name changed to The New- burg Enterprise. After running a short time, publication of the paper was stopped.
Soon after the removal of the Broad Ax to Newburg, an- other paper, called the Newburg Herald, was started at that place, by Charles H. McCafferty.
Early in 1881, a railway-the Morgantown & Iron Valley -was projected. It was to begin at the point on the Balti- more & Ohio Railroad where the railway from the Irondale Furnace taps it, and, running up that road to the furnace, it was to extend through Valley District, down Decker's Creek, to Morgantown. At the school election on the third Tues- day in May, the districts of Valley and Lyon voted subscrip- tions to the road-the former $11,000, and the latter $20,000. The route was afterward surveyed and, perhaps, located ; but the intentions of the company as to the future, have not been made known.
A voting place was established at Fearer's, in Grant Dis- trict, this year.
The territory embraced within the boundaries of Preston County has had an interesting, and to some extent an event- ful, history. On the west it was swept by the great Ca- tawba War-Path ; on the east passed Nemacolin Indian trail from the forks of the Ohio to the fountain-head of the Poto-
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HISTORY OF PRESTON COUNTY.
mac, and on its near north fell the line of Braddock's fate- ful march.
For two hundred and fifty years after Cabot planted the standard of Great Britain upon the dreary coast of Labrador, and beside it placed the banner of a free republic-his native city Venice,-the Indians remained undisputed masters of the soil of Preston County, while their brethren in the North, East and South were being dispossessed of their hunting grounds. In 1750, their rule was threatened, and the terri- tory of Preston as a part of the Monongahela Valley, lay be- tween the English possessions in the East and the French colonies in the West. In 1754, England and France en- gaged in a final contest for colonial supremacy in the New World. The Ohio Valley, including the Monongahela Valley, was the subject of dispute, each nation claiming it ; and the frontiers-men of each striving for a foot-hold on its soil, pre- cipitated the great contest then opening and to be known in history as the French and Indian War. France sought to occupy the Ohio Valley for the purpose of connecting her settlements on the St. Lawrence with those in the Mississippi Valley, and by a cordon of forts on their waters from the ocean to the gulf, divide the continent, hemming the English in east of the Alleghanies, and winning all the vast stretches of western territory for the mighty realm of New France.
France bent all her powerful energies to carry out this great design. England exerted all her mighty strength to prevent its successful accomplishment. England claimed from ocean to ocean, and American pioneers in her interests pierced the Ohio Valley by the way of Wills Creek (now Cum- berland, Maryland), and built a stockade on the site of Pitts- burg, which a French fleet captured, enlarged and named Fort Duquesne.
From Fort Duquesne, "the gateway of the West," the French came with waving banners and shining blades to hurl back the silken standards and gleaming steel of Great Britain. But a few miles northeast of the territory of Pres- ton the two forces met, and Washington fired the first gun of
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FROM 1863 TO 1881.
the contest. It was the death-knell of French rule in North America. The rustling flame of that volley opened a war in which New France was swept from the map of the New World, and the North American continent passed under the rule of the English-speaking race with its powerful language, laws and institutions.
Before the close of this war, the three Eckorlys attempted to settle on the soil of Preston, but two were killed, and the other one was compelled to leave. By 1765, the Indains had retreated from Preston, but came back for many years thereafter to murder the settlers and plunder their possessions.
The first permanent settlements were made on the present territory of Preston County, in the year 1769. The Indians had then left the county as residents, but war parties and marauders returned from beyond the Ohio until as late as 1789.
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