USA > West Virginia > Preston County > History of Preston County (West Virginia) > Part 8
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Quickly the hours between the negro and eternity roll away ; the moments hurry past like the dark, swift, swollen waters of Cheat. A scaffold, crowds gather; the executioner is at hand; the negro mounts the scaffold, the noose is ad- justed, perhaps something good is said by some good minis- ter or good spectator-a hush-a drop-Ned swings in the air, dangles, writhes, dies. The soul of the poor negro boy wings its way into the presence of its God, there to appear at the bar of Justice in the Supreme Court of the Universe.
Such was the first man hung in Preston County-a dumb, ignorant wretch, devoid of the mental and moral faculties that distinguish the man from the beast. Thus closed the first and only execution for murder that ever occurred in the county. The criminal hung was not a citizen of the county, and was hung for the murder of a man that was not a citi- zen of the county. The county has never yet hung any of her own citizens. Ned was buried beneath the gallows on which he paid the penalty of his crime, about a mile from Kingwood. As to the year in which the murder and execu tion took place, those that recollect it well, differ-some making it 1836, and others 1837.
We pass on now to the year 1839, and find that turnpikes are still a theme of discussion in parts of the county remote from the Northwestern road.
First Agricultural Paper .- In May, Joseph Miller and Jacob Alter, from Harrisburg, came to the vicinity of Bran- donville, and set up the first printing press ever in the county. In that month they issued the first number of a monthly agricultural publication, called "The Mount Pleas- ant Silk Culturist and Farmer's Manual," which was the first paper of any kind ever published or printed in the county, Mount Pleasant was the name they gave the farm they had
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HISTORY OF PRESTON COUNTY.
purchased, where their periodical was to be printed. The object of the journal was to introduce the raising of silk- worms and the manufacture of silk. The publication was intended to introduce silk culture throughout several State's, as well as to build it up in this county. The paper during the year obtained considerable circulation, and was well ed- ited by Miller. In the northern part of the county some at. tention was given to the planting of the mulberry tree, whose leaves furnished the food of the silk worm; but elsewhere in the county the subject elicited but little attention.
Wolves still seemed to cross portions of the county not yet inhabited, and the General Assembly, on the 19th of March, authorized the county court to offer a reward for kill- ing them.
On the 30th of March the Assembly passed an act author- izing 12,500 dollars to be paid by the State toward the com- pletion of the Fishing Creek and Brandonville Turnpike. The next year, while work was being pushed forward on the above-named turnpike, in connection with the building of the Brandonville, Kingwood and Evansville Turnpike, a com- pany had been projected to operate on Cheat, in the lumber and mining business on a large scale, and to enable them to successfully prosecute their enterprise the General Assembly, on the 7th of March, 1840, passed an act incorporating "The Preston Railroad, Lumber and Mining Company," with the privilege of making a railroad around the falls of Cheat River. The capital was to be from 50 to 500,000 dol- lars, in shares of 100 dollars. They could hold 10,000 acres of land. The persons mentioned in the act of incorporation were Casper W. Weaver, Zalmon Ludington, Harrison Ha- gans, Elisha M. Hagans, and Buckner Fairfax.
The memorable political campaign of 1840 was conducted in Preston with all the excitement that characterized it over the entire country In its hight, John Tyler, the Whig can- didate for Vice President, and afterwards President, ad- dressed a political meeting in the Court-house.
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FROM 1818 TO 1863.
As far as can be ascertained he was the only President that ever honored Preston with his presence, although at the time he was only a Vice-Presidential candidate. Many of those who looked upon his face and listened to his words, in the Court-house in 1840, have gone from the changing scenes of earth. No sentence of his speech can we reproduce, but in the place of the speech, we present his picture below-the picture of the only President of the United States ever in Preston.
First Newspaper .- During the political campaign, the "Silk Culturist" was suspended on account of insufficient support, and Miller and Alter issued a political newspaper, called "The Mount Pleasant Democrat," or "The Preston County Democrat." No copy of the paper can be found in the county, and persons living who read it are not certain from recollection which of the two names it bore, only they are positive it was one of the two.
From its name, it would be inferred that it was a Democratic paper, but it was not. It was an ultra-Whig journal, supporting with great vehemence the claims of the Whig party, and warmly advocating the election of General Har- rison as President of the United States.
JOHN TYLER,
By the census taken in 1840, Preston County had six thousand eight hundred and sixty-six inhabitants; six thou sand seven hundred and forty-three white, thirty-two free colored, and ninety one slaves. Of her inhabitants, one thousand three hundred and forty- four were engaged in agri- culture, eleven following commercial pursuits, one hundred and sixty-three manufacturers and tradesmen, one engaged as a sailor, nine as engineers; eight were revolutionary pen- sioners, three deaf and dumb, and four hundred and thirty- one of the whites over the age of twenty years could neither- read nor write. Some of the other western counties had more than two thousand white inhabitants over twenty
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HISTORY OF PRESTON COUNTY.
years of age that could neither read nor write, which showed Preston County to be well advanced in education, as com- pared with then.
A glance here at the census of 1840, compared with that of 1830, may be worth a moment's attention. In 1830, there were four thousand nine hundred and forty-seven whites, twenty-seven free negroes and one hundred and twenty-five slaves, according to State returns, making the entire popula- tion five thousand and ninety nine; while the United States census made but five thousand and forty-nine. In 1840, there was an increase of one thousand seven hundred and ninety-six whites, five free negroes, and a decrease of thirty- four slaves. The entire population in 1840 by State returns was six thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, while the United States census made but six thousand eight hundred and twenty nine. The total increase of population by the State returns, in the 10 years, was one thousand seven hun- dred and sixty-seven, and by the United States or Federal census, as often called, was one thousand seven hundred and eighty. The State returns were the more correct, as they were probably taken later in the year; and the Federal cen- sus may have only taken the three-fifths of the negroes rec- ognized in the basis of representation. Preston was classed at this time by Virginia in what she denominated her trans- Alleghany district.
Educational matters now received considerable attention by the people of the county. Parents, realizing its need and appreciating its benefits, made efforts to give their children the advantages of an education that they had failed to re- ceive themselves. And while this move was made through- out the county to impart to the rising generation a good practical English education to fit them for the agricultural, mechanical and mercantile pursuits, an effort was put forth to secure to the people of the county the advantages of a higher education at home, not attended with the great ex-
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FROM 1818 TO 1863.
pense of sending their children to leading schools of learn- ing at a great distance away.
The idea was to establish an academy at the county seat, and employ competent instructors to impart a scientific and classical education at home, that would lead to a far higher degree of culture and refinement than existed, and establish for the county a reputation of being one of the advanced and enlightened counties of the State. This effort of some of the public-spirited and ambitious men of the county took shape in a petition to the General Assembly, presented by the Honorable William G. Brown, the representative from Preston to that body. On the 11th of December, 1840, on motion of Mr. Brown, the committee of schools and colleges was instructed to bring in a bill to incorporate the Trustees of the Preston Academy in the County of Preston. An act was passed by the General Assembly, on the 2d of January, 1841: "That for the purpose of establishing an academy for the instruction of youth in the County of Preston, Elisha M. Hagans, Israel Baldwin, Thomas Brown, Solomon P. Hern- don, William Sigler, John P. Byrne, John Magee, John R. Stone, William Elliott, Buckner Fairfax, William Brown and William B. Zinn, be and they are hereby constituted a body politic and corporate, by the name and style of 'The Trustees of the Preston Academy.'" These trustees and their succes- sors were empowered to purchase, receive and hold lands, tenements, rents, goods and chattels to the amount of thirty thousand dollars, and were to have power to dispose of the same in any manner that might seem conducive to the inter- ests of the academy. After the passage of the act measures were taken to erect the academy building, which, however, was not finished till some two or three years afterwards.
Some counties of Northwestern Virginia were not destined to retain all the territory within their limits at the time of their organization, but Preston not only occupies her original territorial limits, but has been fortunate in securing additions from other counties since the time of her organization.
Between a part of the northern boundary of Preston and
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HISTORY OF PRESTON COUNTY.
the Pennsylvania line, extended a narrow, wedge-shaped strip of Monongalia County. The inhabitants of this strip were mostly about equi-distant from Morgantown and Kingwood, but to attend courts at Morgantown, or to repair there for the transaction of any business, required the crossing of a steep mountain and the passage of Cheat River by ferry, a dangerous operation often when the waters were high. To go to Kingwood, there was no mountain to cross, and the ferry over Cheat afforded them better passage of the river. They petitioned for their separation from Monongalia and annexation to Preston. In this petition they were joined by citizens of Preston. This petition was presented by the Hon. William G. Brown, of Preston, and was referred to the proper committee, on the 23rd of January, 1841; and on the 15th of March, an act was passed by the General Assembly, "That so much of the County of Monongalia as lies east of the ridge of mountains called Laurel Hill, and north of Cheat River, next to, and adjoining, the County of Preston, and is contained in the following boundary lines, to wit: Beginning on the line dividing said counties at the point where it crosses Cheat River, and running thence a straight line to the England Ore bank, on top of the mountain; thence a straight line to the Osburn farm, so run as to include the dwelling house of said farm in the County of Preston; thence a due north course to the Pennsylvania line, shall be annexed to, and henceforth a part of the County of Preston." The surveyors of both counties were required to meet and run the lines, which they did ; and this strip became a part of Preston, while maps of the said lines were made and returned to the county courts of both counties, and recorded in their respective clerks' offices. Every one now seemed busy in the county. Men of enterprise in every section were studying how to promote the interests of their localities. Many experiments were made and many projected ventures failed, as they always will under such circumstances ; yet some were successful, and the spirit manifested showed the progressive character of the men in their different enterprises. The southern portion of the
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FROM 1818 TO 1863.
county was beginning to settle up, and its leading men gave all their attention to the Nortwestern Turnpike and its daily increasing wants-the supplies needed for an enlarging stream of travel. The northern portion of the connty, partly satisfied with their turnpikes now in course of construction, gave some thought and attention to educational matters beyond the private schools in existence. Desirous of enjoy- ing the advantages of a school of higher grade, they discussed the propriety of the establishment of an academy, similar to the one soon to be erected at Kingwood.
Petitioning the Assembly, an act was passed on the 27th day of March, 1843, "That for the purpose of establishing an academy for the instruction of youth in the town of Bran- donville, in the County of Preston, William Brandon, John King, William Conner, Harrison Hagans, John Scott, A. C. Leach and James H. R. Donovan be and they are hereby constituted a body politic and corporate by the name and style of the 'Trustees of Brandon Academy."" The value of property to be held by the trustees, was not to exceed twenty thousand dollars. After their appointment, the trustees proceeded to the discharge of their duties, and in due time the academy was erected.
From this time till 1846, nothing of unusual interest hap- pened, beyond a steady increase of population, and the contin- ued increasing stream of travel on the Northwestern Turnpike.
West Union .- A new town sprang up on this road, about this time, called West Union (now Aurora), about three miles west of the Maryland line; aud to the house of William Talbert, in this town, was removed the election poll from John A. Wotring's, in Mount Carmel, by act of the Assembly. passed on the 28th day of February, 1846. It was the sec- ond of the Northwestern Turnpike towns in Preston, and the fifth town, in order of age, in the county.
James H. Grimes, a citizen of Preston, it is said, was a member of Captain Thornton's company, attacked by the Mexican troops on the 26th of April, 1846, near the Rio Grande River, and was one of the sixteen Americans killed
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HISTORY OF PRESTON COUNTY.
in the fight. These were the first killed in the war with Mexico. Thus Preston blood was mingled in the first crim .- . son stream that dyed the earth in the great struggle between. the United States and Mexico. During the war, sons of Preston were found beneath the banner of the Republic with Scott and Taylor, in the columns storming fort and castle- and in the triumphal legions planting the Stars and Stripes over the halls of the Montezumas, and some of them lie, sleeping the last sleep in the burning sands of Mexico.
Work, in the meantime, was still being pushed forward on the turnpike from the Maryland line to the Northwestern. Turnpike ; and an act was passed by the Assembly, on the 16th of February, 1847, increasing the capital of the road by . the additional sum of fifteen thousand dollars, of which the Commonwealth was to subscribe six thousand. The Assem- bly, on the 13th of March, 1847, authorized the board of public works to appoint a commissioner to examine the road. from the Ohio, by way of Morgantown, to Brandonville, and estimate what amount of work had been done, and what sums. for the same were due the various contractors building the different portions of the road.
Turning our attention at this time to another part of the county, we find the town of Evansville becoming quite a local center ; its material interests rapidly increasing, and its citi- zens moving in the direction of mental improvement, peti- tioned the Assembly to incorporate a literary society which they had formed for mental, social and moral improvement .. On the 20th day of March, 1847, it was enacted by the Gen- eral Assembly, "That A. Barbee, J. Howard, James Morrison, Moses J. Robinett, E. E. Menshall, D. S. Stuart, John J. Hamilton, Charles Byrne and. Julius C .. Kemble, who now are or hereafter may become members of the society, be and. they are hereby made a body politic and corporate by the name and style of 'The Evansville Literary Society of Pres- ton County.'" The Society was authorized by the act, to
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FROM 1818 TO 1863.
hold lands, goods and chattels to the amount of twenty thou- sand dollars in value.
Bruceton .- At the junction of the Brandonville, King- wood and Evansville Turnpike with the road from the Ohio, by way of Morgantown, to Brandonville, on Big Sandy Creek, near Morton's mill, two or three houses stood at the time these turnpikes were projected; and, in connection with the mill, went by the name of Milford. In 1847, John Hoffman came into posession of the mill and houses, and laid out a town-the sixth in the county --- naming it Bruceton in honor of his step-father, George Bruce, .of Maryland.
The year 1848 was distinguished in the history of the county for a general resumption of past local enterprises, and the projection of new ones.
The General Assembly, on the 15th of January, passed an act to incorporate the Cheat River Toll-bridge Company, with a capital of ten thousand dollars, divided into shares of twenty-five dollars each, to build a bridge on the site and in place of the Cheat River bridge projected by the Honorable William G. Brown and others, heretofore mentioned. Books were to be opened for subscriptions at Kingwood, under the direction of Israel Baldwin, Thomas Brown, Elisha M. Ha- gans, John P. Byrne and Gustavus Cresap; and at Brandon- ville, under the direction of Harrison Hagans, James Heth- erington and A. C. Leach; or, at either place, by any one of them. The State subscribed two-fifths of the stock. The bridge was to be commenced in two, and to be finished in three, years, on penalty of a forfeiture of the right to collect toll.
On the 13th of March, a Cheat River navigation company was incorporated, among the names of whose directors we find those of Elisha M. Hagans, Buckner Fairfax, Israel Bald- svin and John Ambler. The board of directors was chosen from citizens of both Monongalia and Preston, but operations were never begun.
Work was still progressing on the two turnpikes connect- ing near Brandonville; and the indomitable energy and won
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HISTORY OF PRESTON COUNTY.
derful perseverance of the public-spirited men of the county, was exhibited in the projection of a new turnpike, from West Union, by the way of Kingwood, to a point on the Beverly road beyond the western border of the county. The Assem bly incorporated this road, known as "The Kingwood and West Union Turnpike," on the 25th of March, with a capital of ten thousand dollars, and appointed Jacob Startzman, John Shaver and William H. Grimes, at West Union, to re- ceive subscriptions; and Buckner Fairfax, E. M. Hagans, and Israel Baldwin, for the same purpose at Kingwood, while other directors were appointed at Morgantown. This road. was enabled to pass the paper stage of its existence, and was located and finished in the course of a few years.
County and private roads were rapidly multiplying all over the county, and several new ones connecting with the Northwestern Turnpike, were opened. The travel over the latter was becoming greater and greater every year.
Fellowsville .- During the spring of this year (1848), Syl- vanus Heermans came from Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, bringing out a colony of Pennsylvanians and New Yorkers. He came as the agent of his uncle, Joseph Fellows, of New York, to look after his interest in a large body of lands in this county. Mr. Heermans laid out a town, three miles east of Evansville, on Little Sandy Creek and the Northwestern turnpike, at a point where the latter is joined by the Bran- donville, Kingwood and Evansville turnpike. This town he called Fellowsville, in honor of his uncle. A land agency was established, and a hundred town lots laid out and offered for sale. Sites were selected for a large flouring mill, an exten- sive axe and scythe factory, an iron foundry, and a woolen factory. The erection of houses began; and thus was founded Fellowsville, the third town on the Northwestern Turnpike, and the seventh town in the county.
In the first building erected, Heermans placed a printing press, and issued, on the 10th of May, the initial number of a paper called "The Fellowsville Democrat." It was a four- page sheet, well edited, ultra-Whig in politics, and an ardent
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FROM 1818 TO 1863.
supporter of the claims of Henry Clay to the Presidency of the United States. It was the second newspaper printed in Preston County, and was published for some two or three years.
During the summer of 1849, Samuel Lewis and E. Thorpe started another paper at Fellowsville, called the "Preston County Herald." It was edited by E. S. M. Hill, and was the first Democratic, and the third, newspaper published in the county. It ran about a year only.
Fellowsville grew rapidly. Houses increased in numbers, a mill built, shops erected, and a large, commodious and well-arranged hotel was opened and kept by Heermans. It was noted as one of the best hotels on the Northwestern Turnpike, and the new town became quite a local center.
At this time, Evansville had three hotels and several shops. West Union, too, was slowly increasing. Along the turnpike was life and business activity, of which these three towns were centers.
This year a new voting poll was established at the house of Jacob Guseman, on Muddy Creek, by act of Assembly passed March 8, 1849. It was the fifth established in the county.
Preston was now a rapidly growing county. The popula- tion, according to the census of 1850, was as follows: Whites-males, 6943; females, 4619; total white population, 11,562 : free colored-males, 37; females, 22; total of free colored, 59: slaves-males, 39; females, 48; total of slaves, 87. Total population, 11,708-an increase of 4679 in the decade from '40 to '50.
During the year ended June 1, 1850, there were 256 births, 75 marriages and 58 deaths.
The number of dwellings in the county was 1664, occupied by the same number of families.
Slaves had decreased from 91 to 87, and free negroes in- creased from 32 to 59.
Preston had 42 public schools, 42 teachers, 840 pupils ; and had 675 dollars of public funds for the year; and two
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HISTORY OF PRESTON COUNTY.
academies, with three teachers and 70 pupils. Eight hun- dred and fifty-nine adults in the county could neither read nor write, of which number 159 were of foreign birth.
The county contained 63,948 acres of improved, and 172,- 477 acres of unimproved lands, in farms, whose cash value was estimated at $1,105,218, with 58,588 dollars' worth of farming implements and machinery. Of horses the county had 2799; 17 mules, 3764 milch cows, 359 working oxen and 6462 other cattle; 21,781 sheep, 10,714 swine, whose value was estimated at $279,619.
The county produced, during the year ended June 1, 1850, 36,769 bushels of wheat, 20,502 bushels of rye, 144,276 bushels of Indian corn and 153,496 bushels of oats; 820 pounds tobacco, 43,907 pounds of wool, 564 bushels peas and beans, 12,635 bushels Irish potatoes, 193 bushels sweet potatoes, 855 bushels of barley, 28,283 bushels of buckwheat, 179,836 pounds of butter, 4087 pounds of cheese, 7765 tons of hay, 45 bushels clover seed, 267 bushels of other grass seeds, 99 pounds of hops, 25,450 pounds flax, 1232 bushels flaxseed, 20 pounds of silk cocoons, 21,768 pounds maple sugar, 1548 gallons of molasses, 18,445 pounds of beeswax and honey. The value of orchard products was $2041, and of market gardens $463.
Churches and church property were given as follows: Six Baptist churches, whose value was 1200 dollars; 3 Free churches, of the value of $650; 1 Friends church capable of seating 100 persons ; Lutheran not given; Methodist, 11 churches-value, $7,200; Presbyterian, one church-value, $1000; Roman Catholic, 2 churches-value, $1200; Tunker, one church-value, $1000; Union churches, 3-value, $1000, Total number of churches in the county, 28, capable of seat- ing 4500 persons, with church property worth $13,325. Pittsylvania was the leading county of the State for churches, and it had 50 only.
The labors of the convention of 1829-30, which amended the State Constitution, were not satisfactory to many at the time; and dissatisfaction with the amended constitution in-
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FROM 1818 TO 1863.
creased from the time of its adoption down to 1849, when it became so strong that a third convention began to be agi- tated, and propositions were made to the Assembly to pro- vide for calling such a body together. In consideration of the wish of the people, as expressed through the many peti- tions laid before them, the General Assembly, on the 4th of March, 1850, passed an act to take the sense of the people upon the question of calling a convention, and added pro- visions for the organization of the same, if it should be called by the people. Many of the citizens of Preston favored the calling of a convention.
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