USA > West Virginia > Summers County > History of Summers County from the earliest settlement to the present time > Part 70
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Of the family of Andrew Farley none are left except Joel, now living with his son-in-law, Mr. W. O. Farley, and Jackson, now living on New River Bench, not far from Bull Falls, and Mrs. Ida Hughes.
Of the family of Nancy, who married David Cook, none are living except Mrs. Martha Vest, of near Jumping Branch, W. Va.
Of the family of Archibald Farley the following are living, viz. : Albert G. P., Henley C., Mrs. Philena Wiley, Henderson, of Kan- sas. Anderson P., and Lewis W. Farley, now living on the old home- stead in Pipestem District.
Madison Farley, the oldest son of Archibald and Jemima Far- ley, was born January 21, 1833, near the place of his death, and grew up to be a strong, vigorous and energetic young man. He married Miss Harriet M. Wilburn, of Giles County, W. Va., a very estimable laday; she was a niece of Gordon L. Jordan, of Pipestem, and who was Summers County's first representative
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
in the West Virginia legislature. To this union were born four sons and three daughters, mention of whom has already been made. Uncle Mat, as he was familiarly called, was truly a good man, having, as he did, strong religious and political convictions, a soldier in the service of the Confederacy, always brave and zealous in the cause he espoused, and upon his return to civil and domestic life his character was unspotted, and he was afterward called upon to fill several places of honor and trust, which he filled with entire satisfaction to the people. He was no less zeal- ous in his religious affiliations, being a member of the M. E. church. - He lived a pure and spotless life, until February 28, 1906, when he died at his old home near the place of his birth, at the age of seventy-four years. Wm. O. Farley, his son, is now a member of the county court of Summers County, elected in 1902.
The Farley family is also located throughout Raleigh and Mer- cer Counties. John Farley is, no doubt, the oldest member of the family now living. He at one time lived on Slab Fork, in the county of Raleigh, but at this date and for years past has resided on the waters of Little Bluestone River, in Summers County. He is now ninety-eight years of age, and, remarkable to say, re- tains the faculties of his early days. A wonderful transformation is now taking place in his life. For forty years his hair and beard were snow-white, but within the last few years it has been grow- ing darker, until now it is almost as black as it was in his early youth. In the summer of 1906 he joined the church, and has been a faithful attendant upon divine worship since. In his early days he was a famous hunter in that region, and claims the distinction of having killed the last panthers ever slain in Raleigh and Sum- mers counties. In politics he is a Democrat, and always has been. His first vote was cast in 1832 for "Old Hickory" Andrew Jackson, and he has never missed an election since during all these years. Like the mountaineer, he is a partisan and a fighter.
THE PIONEERS OF PIPESTEM.
As noted above, Drewry Farley was the first settler in Pipestem District, and was soon followed by the following named persons consecutively, viz .: Daniel Cook, James Houchins (the grand- father of Ballard Houchins, an honored citizen of Pipestem Dis- trict), who settled on the farm now owned and occupied by Mr. Anderson, and lately owned and occupied by Gordon L. Wilburn: John Neely, who settled on the farm now owned
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and occupied by Floyd Thompson; James Ellisin (the grand- father of Wm. M. Ellison), who settled on the opposite bank of the creek from Pipestem Post Office, and David Hughes (the father of William Hughes, the grandfather of H. J. Hughes and the great-grandfather of G. J. Hughes, of Hinton, W. Va.), who settled on the waters of Big Pipestem creek, on the farm now owned and occupied by John Richards and known as "Davy's Knobs."
These old pioneers were soldiers of the Revolution; the last- named was one of Washington's scouts. They were all hunters and Indian fighters, and many were the hardships and hair-breadth escapes from the tomahawk and scalping-knife of the savages. David Hughes. after rambling about, hunting Indians, to whom he was a relentless foe, made a settlement somewhere in what is now Wyoming County, but later went to Giles County, Virginia, where he joined his family, and afterwards, with his family, set- tled on Davy's Knobs, as above stated.
The early settlers obtained their meat chiefly by hunting, and they were near New River, which abundantly supplied them with fish, whenever they were disposed to feast upon this delicacy. These early settlers were a hardy and thrifty people, and raised their own grain. tanned their own leather in the trough, from which they made themselves the "moccasin" (boots and shoes were to them at this time unknown). and the good old dames spun the wool into yarn, and the flax into thread, from which they made the clothing for the family.
Other early settlers of the region, now Pipestem District, con- sisted of the sons and daughters of these early settlers, together with the following, who also deserve especial mention, viz. : Charles Clark, Joel Buttler, Jabez Anderson, Rufus Clark. Gar- land Austin. Wm. Crump, Sr., St. Clair Abbott, Jonathan Hop- kins, Jackson and William Keaton, Joseph Hannan and Lee Roy Keaton, Robert and Henry Gore, Robert Wood, Gordon L. and Thomas Jordan, Win. and James Houchins, Joseph Diarly, Hugh Stafford, Wm. Meador. Isaiah and Tolliver Meador, David and Hudson Martin, Stephen Newkirk. Henry Wyrick, William No- ble, and perhaps others.
These old settlers paved the way through the wilderness of Pipestem for a prosperous, law-abiding and God-fearing populace. They have built up schools, organized churches, opened up the paths of civilization. and made this section of our county bloom as the rose. But few, indeed, of this noble and self-sacrificing
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band of early settlers remain to tell their offspring of the dangers and vicissitudes of their early experiences in hewing the paths which they now tread so lightly, and in opening up and building the beautiful and pleasant homes which they now occupy, and which are the handiwork of the brain and brawn of their fore- fathers. Some rest in the shadows of the old church, and
Some their weary hearts have laid Upon the shores of distant lands : And their lonely graves were made By strangers' heedless hands.
But their names and fame live on, and will continue to live so long as patriotism, bravery and self-sacrifice are virtues honored and cherished among men.
HARMON.
. The Harmons were among the first settlers in the Upper New River Valley, west of the Allegheny Mountains. The name was originally Herman, and the old-time settlers in this land were from Germany. They have many descendants who are still resi- dents in McDowell, Tazewell, and that section of West Virginia and Virginia, and many who have been prominent in the affairs of the country. They were Indian fighters, as well as fighters for American independence. The only family of that name residing in this county, or that has ever resided in this county, so far as I know, is George W. Harmon, who now lives on Crump's (Cul- bertson's) Bottom, and is the owner of the better half of that great plantation. He purchased the interest of John G. and Ella Crock- ett, his wife, who was a Crump, about 1902, at the cost of about twenty thousand dollars. He lives in the old Crump-Crockett brick mansion house in the upper end of the bottom, not far from the location of the old Field Fort erected in Indian war times. He is a native of McDowell County and a rich man, and is di- rectly descended from the original German who settled in the Middle New River settlements, along with the Ingles. Drapers, Tygarts and others. The settlement was made about 1850, and known as Draper-Meadows settlement, and about the same time that Culbertson located his claim on Crump's Bottom. At that time Virginia extended from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and em- braced the present States of Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, and the population at
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
that time of that whole territory was but 82,000 souls, and all but a few hundred of these were east of the Blue Ridge. Those not east of the Blue Ridge were principally in the Valley of Vir- ginia, which is the territory between the Blue Ridge and the Al- legheny ranges. As we have stated, and it is generally claimed and conceded, Governor Spottswood and his Knights of the Golden Horseshoe, in 1716, penetrated the Blue Ridge and Swift Run Gap, and it was first settled in 1732 by Hite, Bowman, Lewis, Green and others, followed in 1734 by Morgan, Allen. Harper and others, and in 1738 by Benj. Burden, Patton, Christian and oth- ers; but the facts are that this country had been penetrated at an earlier date by Colonel Abraham Wood, many years prior to Spottswood, and Wood was not the only one, though the first. As will be observed from statements hereinbefore made, in 1866, twelve years before Wood and fifty years before Spottswood. Captain Henry Batt. with his fourteen Virginians and fourteen Indians, started across and penetrated these mysterious regions, beyond the mountains from Appomattox, and in seven days they reached the foot of the mountains; crossing them, they came to level and delightful plains, with abundant game, and here they discovered a river flowing westward, which they followed for some time, and came to `fields and cabins lately tenanted, and here Captain Batt stopped, and the Indian guides refused to pro- ceed farther, claiming that there dwelt at that place a tribe of In- dians that made salt and sold it to the others. This tribe was claimed to be numerous and powerful, and never permitted any one to venture into their towns. Thereupon Captain Batt aban- doned his determination to proceed, gave up his exploration, and returned to civilization. Captain Batt no doubt knew of Wood's exploration, for it had only been twelve years prior. Captain Batt evidently struck New River, then called Wood's River, but which he called a "river flowing westward," thence followed the same down the valley along the Kanawha to what is supposed to have been the Campbell's Creek Salt Spring, where there are abundant remains of ancient Indian relics. Colonel Wood did not know the course of the stream, and called it Wood's River. The name New River and Wood's River was intended to attach to the whole course of the river, from its source in North Carolina to its mouth at Point Pleasant, West Virginia. It rises in Grandfather Moun- tains, in North Carolina-a seaboard State-but flows westward, and its waters empty into the Gulf of Mexico, cutting its way through the Blue Ridge, Alleghenies, and parallel ranges. The
DAVID GRAHAM BALLANGEE, First Postmaster of Clayton.
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LISTARY
ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATION&
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
first Indian depredations made against the whites west of the Al- ยท leghenies was in 1749, at which time the house of Adam Harman, the original settler, was raided by a party of these savages and his fur skins stolen. The oldest map showing the New River re- gion was made in 1744, by Ralp D. E. Thoyers. It shows New River, from its source to its mouth, to be a branch of and empty into the Mississippi River. Wood's discovery of New River was in 1654.
The Benjamin Burden referred to in these pages was sent over from England as the agent of Lord Fairfax, who had large grants of land, chiefly in Rockbridge County. He was a man of great business capacity and integrity, meeting all business obligations and engagements with such scrupulous promptness and exactness that his habits became standards of comparison for others. The Harmons followed early across in the upper New River settlements in the footsteps of the explorer, but their settlements were cast of our territory.
INGLES AND DRAPER.
The story of Mrs. Ingles and Mrs. Draper, who were captured by the Indians and carried west of the Ohio about 1774, is one of great interest, and is detailed at great length by Dr. John P. Hale, in his Trans-Allegheny Pioneers. The only connection that cap- ture and escape has with Summers County is from the fact that these women were carried through the territory of Summers County, down the New River Valley for some thirty-five miles, and that, on the return of Mrs. Ingles, she passed back through the same wilderness of Summers County. Mrs. Draper and Mrs. Ingles were taken from the Draper-Meadows settlement; were first car- ried down New River about forty miles, to the mouth of Indian Creek, which was in the line of the Indian trail. Below the mouth of Indian they forded New River at the War Ford. At this point, in 1764, Captain Paul, from Dinwiddie, attacked a party of Indians whom he was pursuing, killed several, stampeded the rest, and recovered some prisoners, among whom was Mrs. Catherine Gunn, from Dinwiddie. From the mouth of Indian Mrs. Ingles and Mrs. Draper were carried down the west side to the mouth of Bluestone River, where they left New River, going up Bluestone, thence crossing the Flat Top Mountain, and were supposed to have fol- lowed the present route of the Giles-Raleigh-Fayette turnpike to the head of Paint Creek, thence down the same to the Kanawha River. During this terrible trip Mrs. Ingles, who was in a deli-
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
cate condition, gave birth to an infant child. Mrs. Draper had her arm broken. It was poulticed by Mrs. Ingles-her sister-in -. law-with leaves and wild comphry, with a salve made from the wild comphry plant and deer fat. Mrs. Draper was sent to a for- eign Indian settlement at Chillicothe, and Mrs. Ingles retained. They were separated after their arrival west of the Ohio. This Mrs. Ingles was the first white woman who ever saw the Kanawha River, and the first woman ever within the boundaries of Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. She was retained for some time, and finally taken to Big Bone Lick, a long distance west of where Cincinnati is now located, and while there she determined to make her escape, taking along with her an old Dutch woman. They succeeded in successfully escaping, and started on their return to the Upper New River settlements, which required forty days, and during which time the only sustenance these women had was the wild fruits, barks and berries they could secure from the wilder- ness, and there were no habitations whatever to sleep in. They passed up the Ohio, thence up the Kanawha, then up the New River, passing the entire length through the county by Meadow Creek, New Richmond, Hinton, mouth of Bluestone and Mercer Salt Works, all of which was an utter wilderness and uninhabited, and required forty days from the time of their escape from the In- dians until they were rescued in the Upper New River settle- ments. The old Dutch woman became crazed for want of food, and in her desperation threatened and tried to kill Mrs. Ingles with cannibalistic intent, from which she succeeded in escaping, being the younger and more agile of the two, managed to cross the river, and separated somewhere near Crump's Bottom. After that they passed on up New River, one on one bank and one on the other, the old Dutch woman trying to persuade Mrs. Ingles to recross and join her, which she was afraid to do. It can be imagined the great hardships and the terrible privations these women suffered in those forty days. Snow had begun to fall be- fore they were rescued, the final rescue being accomplished by Adam Harmon, somewhere in the neighborhood of the Ingles- Ferry settlement. It is inconceivable almost how these women made the passage through the gorges from the mouth of Gauley to the mouth of Greenbrier. They walked, climbed, crept and crawled through brush, thorns and briers, over and around huge rocks and avalanches of debris, under and over fallen timbers and slippery banks, and waded creeks and rivers. There was always danger pending from destruction from wild animals of the forest.
DR. J. A. FOX
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX ANE TILDEN FOUNDATIONE.
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
This journey was quite different from a journey of the same char- acter over the same territory now, which is made by their great- great-grandchildren through these wild canyons in luxurious Pull- man palace cars, at the rate of forty miles per hour, when time and distance are annihilated. They managed in some way to make the perilous adventure' of passing over the great cliffs of New River, two hundred and eighty feet high to the top, the first one hundred feet overhanging the river and the great pool at the base, where the New River makes its rift through the Alleghenies. The return was made by walking, running, crawling, climbing and wading eight hundred miles through the howling wilderness in forty days, and they were saved at last and returned to their fami- lies, and lived to be very old people. A part of this daring escape was made through the territory of Summers County. After Adam Harman had returned Mrs. Ingles to her family, he, with his boys, started down the river on a search for the old Dutch woman, whose name was never known, finally rescuing her and returning her also to the Ingles settlement.
Mrs. Betty Draper, after six years, was finally rescued by her husband, after many adventures.
LOWELL.
A. C. Lowe and Erastus Preston Lowe were two brothers. sons of Joshua Lowe, of Indian Creek, in Monroe County, who about 1871 or '72 located at Lowell, on the Greenbrier River, and built at that point a two-story hotel, and engaged in the mercan- tile business. On the 4th of March, 1875, E. P. Lowe, the senior of the two brothers, while in a canoe rafting fodder down the Greenbrier from a short distance above Lowell, struck one of the stone piers in the river at that point, being one of the piers of the railroad bridge. His canoe was broken to pieces, and Mr. Lowe thrown into the river. The current being strong, he was unable to rescue himself or to be rescued by any one from the shore, and was immediately drowned. Immediate search began and contin- ued for a month and eleven days for his body, which was finally found on Woodson's Island, just below Talcott, at the mouth of Hungard's Creek.
A. C. Lowe, the younger brother, married Miss Virginia Gwinn. daughter of Andrew Gwinn, and continued to reside at Lowell and was in business at that point until 1904. when he removed to the All Healing Springs, in Craig County, Virginia, where they still
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
reside, several years before sold the hotel property to E. A. Mc- Neer, of Monroe County, who later sold the same to Frank Keys, of Keyser Mineral Co., and the same was operated by Charles W. Spotts, his brother-in-law, until 1905, when he died, and his widow and son Harry still continue to operate it.
Lowell is only a very small village of four or five houses, a postoffice and depot, with two mercantile establishments. The name is after the Lowe brothers, above mentioned. It was for many years, and until 1904, an important place, however, on ac- count of it being the shipping point for the Red Sulphur Springs. The old Graham Ferry across the Greenbrier River is at this place, so called for Colonel James Graham, the Indian fighter, who lived at this place, as related elsewhere in this narrative. The present business enterprises at this place are a general mercantile estab- lishment, conducted by George A. Miller, L. E. Johnson and George K. Gwinn, of Alderson, under the firm name of Johnson, Gwinn & Co., the business being managed by Mr. Keller, a de- scendant of Conrad Keller, one of the first settlers. The other is Messrs. Shanklin Brothers, of Greenville, Monroe County, descend- ants of one of the oldest and most respected family of settlers in Monroe County. It is near this place Mr. Andy Gwinn resides. There are several residences on the opposite side of the river, and on that side is located the old Graham log house in which Bunyan L. Kesler now resides, and also Henry F. Kesler, ex-county super- intendent of free schools for two terms, sons of Abraham C. Kesler, and brothers of ex-Sheriff O. T. Kesler.
MIKE FOSTER.
Mike Foster was an humble citizen of Summers County, who became a Confederate soldier during the Civil War. He was one of the bravest of the brave soldiers who fought in that war on either the Union or the Confederate side. He was desperately wounded, from which he died soon after the war was closed, and was buried at the cemetery at Forest Hill. His grave remained unmarked until 1907, when some of his old comrades and soldiers of the Confederacy, as a mark of their admiration for this humble but gallant man, undertook to erect a monument at his grave. Subscriptions were secured throughout this and Monroe counties, and on the 15th day of October, 1907. a beautiful shaft was un- veiled in the presence of one of the largest, if not the largest, crowds of people that ever assembled within the boundaries of
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
the county outside of Hinton. There were estimated to be three thousand people present. At eleven o'clock a procession was mar- shalled by Adjutant J. D. McCartney, led by the Alderson band, which marched from the village of Forest Hill to the cemetery surrounding the Baptist Church. Fifty-five sturdy old soldiers of the Confederacy, headed by Squire R. A. Hall, of Camp Mike Fos- ter, took part in -the parade. A number of other veterans were present. After making a circuit of the cemetery, the procession halted opposite the speakers' stand. The platform was prettily decorated with Confederate colors, the Confederate flag and the Stars and Stripes being intermingled and prominent. Over the grave of Mike Foster floated the Confederate battle flag, the em- blem under which he had fought so dauntlessly. Among those who lent a helping hand in the decorations were Misses Tinie Meadows, Gertrude Cunningham, Cora Hutchinson, Berta Lowe, Bessie McNeer, Esther Michael, Maud Michael and others. The vast assemblage promptly came to order, and Rev. Henry Dillon, one of the Summers County noblemen, invoked the blessing of Almighty God upon the exercise in a beautiful prayer. At his conclusion the monument to the dead soldier was unveiled, the cords being drawn by four charming young ladies, dressed in white and wearing red, white and blue sashes. These young ladies were Misses Lula M. Ellison, Mattie F. Webb, Lola M. Vass and Nora M. Hutchinson. As the veil fell away and the handsome monument was revealed to the eyes of the multitude, three cheers were givenl for Mike Foster and his comrades, and the band played a stirring patriotic air, after which Rev. Henry Dillon offered a second prayer, brief and impressive, and introducing by a few appropriate remarks the orator of the day, Hon. John W. Arbuckle, of Lewis- burg, who, by the way, is a descendant of the famous Captain Matthew Arbuckle, of Indian fame, and one of the warriors who fought in the battle of Point Pleasant. Mr. Arbuckle's address was in every way worthy the occasion, eloquent, noble in senti- ment, chaste in diction, and it was one of the finest speeches and most admirable orations ever delivered within the county. He paid a beautiful tribute to the departed soldier, and also to the cause for which he suffered, touching upon the tenderest memo- ries and dwelling upon the valor and fortitude which have crowned the people of the South with imperishable glory. At its con- clusion the veteran soldiers pressed forward to shake his hand. and an impromptu reception was held, while the band played "Dixie." This oration of Senator Arbuckle, who has for many
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HISTORY OF SUMMERS COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.
years been a practicing attorney in Summers County, and who has also represented the county and the people in the Senate of the State, will be placed in the hands of a committee for publi- cation. Hon. A. S. Johnston, in his paper, "The Monroe Watch- man," speaking of the occasion, says that "nothing could have exceeded the hospitality of these kind people. There was the greatest abundance of good things to eat, the most cordial invita- tion to everybody, and, notwithstanding the size of the crowd, nobody went away hungry, and many more could have been fed. It was a veritable feast of plenty and good-will." The afternoon was spent in delightful social amenities, and a reunion of Marse Robert's old soldiers, who together turned anew the pages of their battle years. If in the economy of God the spirit of Mike Foster was permitted to look upon the scene, he must in Paradise have had an added happiness.
The event was in every way creditable to the people of Forest Hill and vicinity, and to the committee who carried this honorable undertaking to a conclusion so successful, and to the kind ladies, whose help was invaluable. The monument is a handsome shaft of white marble of graceful proportions, its apex being ten feet from the ground. On the spire above the inscription in front are carved crossed rifles, the insignia of the infantry service. The inscription on the die in front is as follows: "Mike Foster, a sharpshooter of Stonewall Brigade, C. S. A .: born 1841: desper- ately wounded near Petersburg, Va., in 1865, and died of his wounds May 22, 1875." On the left: "Volunteered in the Mon- roe Guards, 27th Virginia Infantry, 1861, and in this company of heroes was distinguished for gallantry on every battlefield." On the right. "He trod the path of duty, which is the way to glory."
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