USA > West Virginia > Preston County > History of Preston County (West Virginia) > Part 6
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Morgantown and Clarksburg were points to which the in-
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FROM 1818 TO 1863.
habitants of the western and southern parts of the county repaired for trading and buying; Morgantown receiving. however, the principal amount of this traffic.
Greenville Furnace continued to make considerable quan- · tities of iron, which was hauled to Cheat River, and boated to Pittsburg; while a man by the name of Davis, not later than this year, commenced the erection of a forge at the Great Falls on Big Sandy. He failed from some cause-want of capital or other difficulties ; and to-day a few traces remain to mark the spot where he commenced to erect his forge. The place is known by the name of Davis's Folly. This forge was commenced after Greenville furnace was built, but in what year, can not be ascertained, though it was some time between 1818 and 1828.
Scott and Daugherty, some time between 1825 and 1828. commenced to build a furnace at the Decker's Creek Falls. They erected a store, built a saw-mill, partly constructed a dam, and laid the foundation for their furnace and pros- pected for ore banks; but, from lack of means, scarcity of . ore, or some other cause unknown, they did not carry their project forward to completion, but left. Considerable traces still remain to point out the nature and size of the various buildings intended to be built in connection with the furnace, and which were but barely begun when the enterprise was abandoned, and the owners left. James Moffit was ap- pointed general manager, and served in that capacity the short time the undertaking was prosecuted. This furnace, like Greenville, was located at the base of Chestnut Ridge, on the east side. It would have depended, as Greenville did, upon Cheat River for the transportation of its product to market.
William Sigler, William Johnson, William Price, Charles Byrne and Thomas Brown, the commissioners appointed in February to open books and receive subscriptions for the Northwestern Turnpike, at Kingwood, performed that duty, and received several subscriptions. The road was expected to pass through Kingwood. There is no record of any meet-
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HISTORY OF PRESTON COUNTY.
ing in Kingwood to organize the company-a proceeding which, in all likelihood, took place elsewhere.
A third election poll was established on the 25th of Janu- ary, 1823, at the residence of Isaac Criss, lying south of the dividing ridge, between the waters of Three Fork and Racoon creeks.
John Hoy and Francis Deakins laid off lots on their lands at Mount Carmel. These lots were purchased, and im- proved; and the owners, now desirous of having their town established by law, petitioned the General Assembly upon the subject, and on the 28th of January, 1828, the town of Mount Carmel was established, its limits to include not over 20 acres of land. Jacob Shaffer, John A. Wotring, Henry Grimes, Jacob Startzman, and Frederick Hersh were ap- pointed trustees. These trustees were empowered to make such by-laws and ordinances as to them should seem best. for the good government of the town-the first laid out. and the fourth established by law within the county.
We find that the Assembly, on the 20th day of February, passed an act to amend an act entitled "An Act authorizing & sum of money to be raised by lottery for building a toll- bridge over Cheat River." Thomas P. Ray, Thomas M'Gee, William G. Brown, William Sigler, and Charles Byrne, or any three of them, were appointed commissioners to raise by lot- tery or lotteries, any sum or sums of money, to be by them applied to the purposes of building the said bridge, not ex ceeding in the whole amount so to be raised, the sum of ten thousand dollars. They were to build this bridge on a site fixed by order of the county court of Preston. The bridge was to be a free bridge, unless the Assembly should other- wise direct by law. The commissioners, otherwise, were to be governed by the provisions of the act of January 7, 1896, passed for the erection of a bridge over Cheat River. The commissioners appointed proceeded to the discharge of their duties.
The inhabitants of the extreme northeastern part of Ran. dolph (then an adjoining county and including the territory
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FROM 1818 TO 1863.
of Tucker), petitioned the General Assembly to add their part of the County of Randolph to the County of Preston. Their reasons for this annexation were that they had to travel 50 miles to their court-house, and 18 miles to their separate election, while they resided within 20 miles of Preston Court- house, and only three miles from a separate election in the County of Preston. The General Assembly, on the 29th of February, 1828, passed an act adding a part of the County of Randolph to Preston, and described that part of Randolph annexed in the following language: "That so much of the County of Randolph as lies within the boundary lines, to wit : begin at Lord Fairfax's stone, thence in a straight line to Grind-stone Spring on the Horse-shoe road; thence to Cheat River, where the line dividing Randolph and Preston coun- ties crosses the same near James Goff's, shall be annexed to, and henceforth a part of the County of Preston."
The county court of Preston was to direct the surveyor of the county, at whatever time they saw fit, to run and mark the lines established by this act; and the county court of Randolph might at the same time, appoint their county sur- veyor to attend the surveyor of Preston in running and. marking these lines. The lines were run, and the included territory became part of Preston County, in accordance with the act of Assembly.
In 1828. it was the wish of the people of Virginia that a convention be called to amend the State Constitution.
The bridge across Cheat, provided for by act of Assembly in 1828, was completed by the commissioners without resort- ing to lotteries to raise the money. William G. Brown gave one hundred dollars, Elisha M. Hagans two hundred dollars, and others smaller sums, while the county court made an ap- propriation. This, with the subscriptions received, was suffi- cient to build it. The site was selected on Cheat, about three and a half miles below Kingwood, and where, afterwards, Albrightsville was built up. It was a suspension bridge, and was sometimes called the "Wire Bridge."
With the opening of the year 1829, on the Ist day of Jan-
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HISTORY OF PRESTON COUNTY.
uary, the General Assembly changed the voting poll from David Stemple's to the residence of John A. Wotring in the town of Mount Carmel, or at such other house in said town as may be from time to time designated by the commissioners appointed to superintend the poll.
An act was passed on the 5th of January to open and im- prove a road from the State of Maryland, by Kingwood, to the Ohio River. John Fairfax, William Elliott and Samuel Byrne were members of the commission appointed to carry out the act, and to raise the money by lottery.
The wish of the people, the preceding year, for a conven. tion to amend the State Constitution was a subject consid ered in the General Assembly; and, intent on carrying out this wish, an act was passed on the 10th day of February, 1829, to organize such a convention. In the month of May, according to the provisions of this act, the people of every county met at their regular voting places, and voted for four persons as members of this convention. The persons elected as members of this convention, met on the first Monday in October, at the Capitol in the city of Richmond, and organ- ized in pursuance of the provisions of the act of February. This convention met to amend the State Constitution that was framed prior to the Declaration of Independence. Its members comprised the ablest talent of the State. The grievance, which mainly led to its call, was inequality of rep- resentation in the State legislature.
This convention concluded its labors on the 14th day of January, 1830, and passed an amended Constitution or Form of Government for Virginia. In April it was ratified by a majority of the people, and by proclamation of the Governor went into immediate operation. By the provisions of the New Constitution, Preston was entitled to elect one member only to the House of Delegates, instead of two as before; and the people of the county, in voting for the adoption of this constitution, one of whose articles reduced their repre- sentation in the House of Delegates, must surely have had
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FROM 1818 TO 1863.
the interests of the State more at heart than the local inter- ests of the county.
Great efforts were made in every part of Virginia, to or- ganize companies to open turnpike roads. Many companies failed to secure subscriptions sufficient to construct their roads, after securing their grants from the General Assembly, and were nothing but paper roads ; while some companies were authorized to raise their capital by lotteries, and in many cases failed. Preston, as well as other counties, had some of these paper turnpikes.
A project was agitated for a road from the Pennsylvania line, near Smithfield (now Somerfield), by the way of Bran- donville and Morgantown, to the Ohio River. An act of the General Assembly was passed on the 27th of January, 1830, incorporating a company to construct this road. The amount of capital was to be 50,000 dollars, in shares of 25 dollars each, and books for subscriptions were to be opened at Brandonville by Harrison Hagans, Jesse Willets, William Brandon, Thomas McCollum and John Gribble, or any three of them. And when they had received subscriptions for a sufficient number of shares, the subscribers were to form a company to be known aa the "Morgantown and Fishing Creek Turnpike Company." This pike was completed, and became, a few years afterward, quite a thoroughfare for travel. Meanwhile many of its cotemporaries failed to ever pass the paper stage of their existence.
Elections were held under the New Constitution, and the General Assembly met in December at the Capitol in the city of Richmond, under its requirements.
By the census taken in 1830, Preston had 5092 inhabi- tants, an increase of nearly a thousand in ten years.
We come now to glance retrospectively over the events oc- · curring from 1818 to 1831. We find it was to have been a period of inchoative enterprises-the beginning of progress -the commencements of varied industries-the embryotic
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HISTORY OF PRESTON COUNTY.
elements of the present material, mental and moral advance- ment of the county.
Roads naturally received a large amount of attention, and the prevailing idea was of roads such as turnpikes, to be made by companies, and the cost of construction and repairs to come from the tolls levied by the company upon travelers and passengers over the road.
Buildings received their proper share of attention, and many neat frame, and commodious stone, and several brick houses were to be seen throughout the county.
Wagons now came into general use, and sleds and ox carts were but little seen upon the public highways.
The raising of cattle became a leading business, and dro- vers came into the county from many different points to gather up droves for the eastern markets.
Wheat was raised in many places and the home mills, con- siderably improved, began to do fair work in the produc- tion of flour and meal. There was talk of coal existing in the county, and the idea was held that it would yet take the place of wood as fuel.
Farms received more attention than heretofore, and some thought was given as to how the land might best be kept up, but no experiments were yet made in that direction.
The linsey hunting-shirt was giving away slowly to cloth of eastern manufacture; and the stores were assuming re- spectability in size, containing a variety of articles for sale, though yet at high prices.
Schools were open all over the county, and imparted a plain, practical business education to the pupils. The branches taught were reading, writing and arithmetic. Grammar and geography did not yet receive much attention.
Churches, like schools, were in every community, and Sunday-schools had been introduced in connection with some of them.
An iron pathway for travel was given some attention, but
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FROM 1818 TO 1863.
horses were the motive power, and steam was not yet thought of for that purpose.
We come now to trace the two great enterprises projecte d in 1827 by the General Assembly: the great turnpike from Winchester to the Ohio, and the Baltimore and Ohio Rail road extending from the Maryland line to the Ohio. Each was to pass through Preston. The railroad had not yet reached as far westward as Cumberland, and was attracting but little attention. The great turnpike, projected by the way of Kingwood, was examined by engineers, who claimed that the mountain was too steep to cross to Kingwood, and that its location must be through the southern part of the county, so as to enable a crossing of the mountain at the necessary grade of five degrees. This decision caused a lack of interest in the enterprise about Kingwood. In apprecia- tion of its advantages-let it cross the mountain where it might-subscriptions, were placed upon the books of the com- missioners, yet naturally not nearly so many in number, or so large in amount, as if it had been located by Kingwood. Different causes in different places operated more or less against it, and it had made but slow progress up to 1831.
In this year the General Assembly, sensible of the great importance of the road, and the benefits to accure from its establishment, took the matter in hand, and rescued it from a precarious existence at the hands of a private company. An act was passed on the 19th day of March, 1831, providing for the construction of a turnpike road from Winchester to some point on the Ohio, to be known as "The North-West- ern Turnpike Road." Its importance urged the necessity of its creation, and in recognition of the one and to insure the other, the Governor was constituted president, the Attorney- General, treasurer, and they with the second Auditor of the Commonwealth, were constituted Directors of the road. They were authorized and empowered to borrow 125,000 dollars, on the credit of the State, to enter upon the prose- cution of the work at the earliest date possible and practi- cable. The width of the road was not to exceed eighteen
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HISTORY OF PRESTON COUNTY,
feet nor to be less than twelve feet. The chief engineer was to graduate the road in such manner, that the acclivity or declivity thereof in no case should exceed five degrees. The commissioners were to issue certificates of stock for money borrowed, and a portion of the first funds received, was to be immediately appropriated for the location of the road by competent and well-skilled engineers.
Turnpikes, during the year 1832, received their full share of attention, from the General Assembly. On the 21st of January, an act was passed, adding Thomas M'Gee, Robert M'Gee and William Springer to the number of commis- sioners appointed to open and improve the road from the State of Maryland, by the way of Kingwood, to the Ohio River ; and also the sum of money to be raised by lottery for that purpose was increased to 100,000 dollars. On the 29th of February, an act was passed authorizing the com- missioners named, to raise by lottery 40,000 dollars to con- struct a road from Beverly, in the County of Randolph, to Morgantown, in the County of Monongalia. This road, as projected, was to pass through the western part of Preston.
The North Western Turnpike Road was located during this year, through the southern portion of Preston, by Charles B. Shaw, civil engineer, on the location of the road and his report of the same made to the General Assembly on the 31st of December.
At the close of this year, there were 66 slaves, and 1711 horses in the county ; and the revenue paid to the State amounted to 546 dollars.
During the next year (1833), the North-Western Turnpike Road was building through the southern part of Preston.
Hugh Evans had cleared out some land, which came into the possession of his son James. On this land James Evans had built a house, and laid out a town site. Upon his petition to the General Assembly, that body established a town by the name of Evansville, on the 28th of January. Hugh Evans, Henry Walters, John Wilkins, Benjamin Leach and James Evans were appointed trustees, and were
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FROM 1818 TO 1863.
empowered to make all by-laws and ordinances for said town, whose limits were not to embrace over twenty five acres of land. Evansville was the fourth town on the ter- ritory of the county, established by the General Assembly. The location of the North-Western Turnpike Road was south of Evansville ; but, on the 20th of February, the Gen- eral Assembly changed the location of the road so far as to carry the same along the main street of the town.
All attention was now directed to turnpikes. In the northern part of the county the subject of turnpikes running from the Maryland line through that portion of the county, and connecting with other pikes at Evansville and Morgan town, was discussed. On the 11th of February, 1835. a res- olution was agreed to by both houses of the Assembly, for a survey of a route for a road from some point on the Mary- land line, near Smithfield, Pennsylvania, by way of Bran- donville and Kingwood, to intersect the North-Western at or west of Evansville, in the direction of Clarksburg; and authorized the board of public works to appoint a competent engineer to survey and locate the road without delay.
On the 10th of March an act was passed directing the location of a road from the mouth of Fishing Creek, on the Ohio River, in the County of Tyler, by way of Morgantown, in the County of Monongalia, to Brandonville, in the County of Preston. This road was to be located on the route of Fishing Creek and Morgantown turnpike, previously pro- jected by a company, but which it failed to construct,
The year 1836 witnessed the rapid progression of work on the North-Western Turnpike Road; and on the 6th of Jan- uary the election poll, at the house of Isaac Criss, by act of Assembly was removed to the house of Wick Johnson, in the town of Evansville.
The board of public works, by act of Assembly passed on the 28th of February, 1837, were directed to have a survey made of Cheat River from the point at which the North- Western Turnpike Road touched it, to the Pennsylvania line. The object of this survey was to ascertain the practi
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HISTORY OF PRESTON COUNTY.
cability and probable cost of making a sluice navigation between those points. On the 13th of March the subject of a turnpike from the Maryland line to a point at or west of Evansville, came up again in the General Assembly, and an act was passed that day incorporating the Brandonville, Kingwood and Evansville turnpike company, to construct said road The capital of the company was limited to 30,000 dollars, in shares, of twenty-five dollars each. Books for subscription were to be opened at Brandonvill e under the direction of Harrison Hagans, John Scott and Samuel Rodeheaver, or any two of them; at Kingwood, under the direction of Elisha M. Hagans, Israel Baldwin and Thomas M'Gee, or any two of them; and at Evansville, under the direction of Wick Johnson, John Wilkins and Wm. K. Smith, or any two of them. The survey for the road was to be made by a competent engineer appointed by the board of public works, and the expense of the survey was not to exceed one hundred and fifty dollars. The company was given the privilege to erect a toll bridge across Cheat.
On the 25th of March an act was passed by the General Assembly incorporating the Preston Mining and Manufac- turing Company, for the purposes of mining and manufac- turing iron and steel and other minerals in this county. H. R. Roby and others were to compose the company, with a capital from 10,000 to 100,000 dollars, and a right to pur- chase and hold land, not exceeding 1000 acres in the county.
On the 27th of the same month, an act was passed, "That Abraham G. Randal, - Benedict, and such other per- sons as may be hereafter associated with them, shall be, and they are hereby incorporated and made a body politic and corporate, under the name and style of The Greenville Fur. nace and Mining Company' for the purpose of mining for and manufacturing iron and other minerals in the counties of Monongalia and Preston." The capital stock of the com- pany was to be between 25,000 and 100,000 dollars, in shares of 100 dollars each, and they were to have the right to pur- chase and hold land, not exceeding 10,000 acres, in the same
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FROM 1818 TO 1863.
counties. The members of the company were mostly from Boston, Massachusetts. Harrison Hagans, of Brandonville, was elected president of the company, and the manufac- ture of iron was begun upon a far larger scale than Watt Carlile had prosecuted it. The iron, as heretofore, was hauled to Cheat and boated to Pittsburgh to market, some- times being carried down the Ohio as far as Cincinnati.
On the same day (the 27th), an act was passed by the General Assembly changing a part of the location of the Beverly road passing through the western part of the county.
The Assembly, after stopping for a short time from legis- lating on turnpikes, to consider the iron interests of the county, directed its attention again to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, and an act passed on the 28th of March, authorized the board of public works to subscribe on behalf of the Commonwealth for shares in the capital stock of this company to the amount of 302,100 dollars; the con- ditions upon which this money was subscribed were that the company should complete their road to the Virginia line, and satisfy the board that the road would be completed to the western limits of Virginia. And it appeared probable now that the Northwestern Turnpike Road would have a rival running through Preston, and bidding in competition with it for the rapidly increasing trade of the west. Many believed the railroad to be a doubtful matter, as they thought it an impossibility for a railroad to climb the mountain hights of the Alleghanies.
On the 30th of March, the Assembly appointed William B. Zinn, of Preston, one of seven directors of the Beverly Turnpike road, and the county court of Preston was author- ized to receive subscriptions to the amount of two thousand dollars, to be used for the construction of the road, which was to be laid off in four sections, and one of these sections was in Preston County.
A petition was presented to the General Assembly, in 1838,
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HISTORY OF PRESTON COUNTY.
by the citizens of a part of Randolph County, asking that their part of the county be annexed to the County of Pres- ton, for the purpose of saving long distances to be traveled in attending court. They had petitioned in 1828 for annex- ation, but contrary to their expectations, had been excluded from the part then annexed. They now renewed their peti- tion, and it was granted. The General Assembly, on the 4th day of April, 1838, passed an act to add a part of the County of Randolph to the County of Preston, in the following lan- guage: "That so much of the county of Randolph as lies next to, and adjoining the county of Preston, and contained in the following boundaries, to wit: Beginning at a point in the line which divides the County of Preston from the County of Randolph, on the western summit of the Alle- ghany mountain, as run and marked under the authority of the act passed February 29, 1828, as aforesaid, and running thence in a straight line to the mouth of Muddy Run on the east side of Cheat River, where the line dividing Preston and Randolph counties crosses said river, shall be annexed to and henceforth a part of the County of Preston."
The turnpike roads, projected through various parts of the county, were mainly paper roads. The companies organ- ized for their construction, failing to obtain subscriptions sufficient to warrant the commencement of their construction, were unable, through their representatives, to obtain suffi- cient appropriations from the Assembly to push them forward to completion. Yet not disheartened by repeated failures, the citizens persevered in efforts to secure these turnpikes, and procured act after act of the Assembly for the organiza- tion of turnpike companies.
On the 7th of April, 1838, the Assembly passed an act for the construction of a turnpike road from Brandonville to the Northwestern Turnpike Road. The road was to be con- structed on the route surveyed and located for the Brandon- ville, Kingwood and Evansville Turnpike. Harrison Hagans,, Israel Baldwin and Benjamin Jeffers were appointed direc- tors of the road, in connection with two others to be ap-
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FROM 1818 TO 1863.
pointed by the board of public works. From experience in past efforts, they did not rely on subscriptions to furnish the capital with which to build the road.
They petitioned, and secured the privilege of receiving subscriptions and loans from individuals and the county court of Preston, and in addition to this, secured an appro- priation of one thousand dollars from the State. This road covered a portion of the road from Fishing Creek to the Maryland line, projected previously, and the remainder of it was located on the Brandonville, Kingwood and Evansville
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