USA > West Virginia > History of West Virginia > Part 43
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HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA.
MERCER.
Mercer county was formed by Act of Assembly, passed March 17, 1837, from parts of Giles and Taze- well, and named in honor of General Hugh Mercer, who fell at Princeton. The act defined the original boundaries to be as follows : " Beginning at the mouth of East river, in Giles county, and following the mean- ders thereof up to Toney's Mill Dam; thence along the top of said mountain to a point opposite the upper end of the plantation of Jesse Belcher, deceased ; thence a straight line to Peery's Mill Dam, near the mouth of Abb's Valley ; thence to a point well known by the name of Peeled Chestnuts ; thence to the top of the Flat-Top Mountain ; thence along said mountain with the line of Logan, Fayette and Tazewell counties, to the New river ; thence up and along the various mean- derings of the same to the beginning."
At the time of the formation of the county there was not a village in it, but the erection of the county build- ings formed the nucleus of a town, which, from the battlefield on which General Mercer fell, was called Princeton. A branch of the State Normal School is located at Concord Church, eight miles from the county seat.
MARION.
Marion was formed from Monongalia and Harrison, by Act of Assembly passed January 14, 1842, and named in honor of General Francis Marion of the Revolution.
Fairmont, then called "Middletown," in Monongalia
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county, was established a town, by Act of Assembly, January 19, 1820, on lands of Boaz Fleming, with John S. Barnes, John W. Kelly, Josiah Wolcott, John H. Polsley, Jesse Ice, Benoni Fleming and Thomas Flem- ing, trustees. By an act of February 4, 1843, the name was changed from Middletown to Fairmont. The State Normal School was established here March 4, 1868.
The Fairmont Male and Female Seminary was incor- porated March 12, 1856, with W. C. Cooper, F. H. Pierpont, G. Battelle, James Shaw, L. L. Laidley, Isaac Courtney, George M. Ryan, F. C. Pitcher, C. H. Con- nally, B. F. Martin, Enoch Conway, E. B Hall, U. N. Arnett, O. Jackson and James Burns, trustees.
Mannington was incorporated March 4, 1856; the first election of corporate officers was conducted by Samuel Henderson, John C. Lepps and A. N. Pritchard. Palatine was incorporated February 7, 1867, and Booths- ville March 2, 1870.
FRANCIS H. PIERPONT, Governor of Virginia under the "Restored Government," has long resided in this county. He was born four miles east of Morgantown, in Monongalia county, January 25, 1814, on a farm settled by his grandfather, John Pierpont, a native of New York, in 1770. Here he reared a family, one of whom, Francis, wedded Catharine Weaver, and they became the parents of the subject of this notice. In 1827, the family removed to Fairmont, where the son assisted his father on the farm and in the tannery until June, 1835, when he entered Allegheny College, at Meadville, Pennsylvania, from which he graduated in 1839. Returning home, he taught school two years, and then removed to Mississippi, where he continued teaching until called home by the failing health of his
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father. In the intervals while teaching, he studied law, and after his return to Fairmont was admitted to the bar. From 1848, for eight years, he was local counsel of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company for the counties of Monroe and Taylor. He took an active interest in politics, and in 1848, was an elector on the Taylor ticket. His action in connection with the New State movement, his election or appointment as Gov- ernor of Virginia under the Restored Government, and his conciliatory policy toward the conquered inhabitants of his own State, have been detailed in Part I. of this work. He still resides at Fairmont, where since the war he has been engaged in the practice of his pro- fession
WAYNE.
Wayne, the most western county in the State, has an area of 440 square miles. It was formed from Cabell by Act of Assembly passed January 18, 1842, and named in honor of Anthony Wayne, of Revolu- tionary fame.
The First Court held for the county of Wayne con- vened on the 1 1th day of April, 1842, at the house of Abraham Trout, Sr., who resided on the spot where Trout's Hill, the county-seat, now stands. There were present the following justices : John Wellman, Levi McCormack, John Plymale, Samuel Webb, William Ratcliff, Thomas Copley and Walter Queen. Hugh Bowen was elected clerk of the court for the term of seven years. John Laidley, William McComas, Joseph J. Mansfield, James H. Ferguson and Elisha McComas, attorneys of this State, were granted permission to prac-
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tice in the courts of this county. John Laidley was elected commonwealth's attorney. Next, Jeremiah Wellman and Nathan Holt were elected constables. Hiram Chadwick was elected commissioner of the reve- nue. Samuel Wellman was recommended as a suitable person to fill the office of surveyor of lands. William Morris, Frederick Moore and John Plymale were next recommended as proper persons to execute the office of sheriff.
The First Circuit Superior Court convened on the 6th of May, Judge Lewis Summers presiding. Henry Clarke had previously been appointed clerk of the court. John Laidley was appointed to prosecute in behalf of the commonwealth in this court. Then the said John Laidley, Henry I. Fisher, Joseph J. Mans- field, James H. Ferguson, Evermond Ward, Elisha W. McComas and James H. Brown, all practitioners in the courts of this commonwealth, were granted license to practice in the courts of this county.
First Land Survey .- The first land survey made within the present limits of the county was that of a tract of 28,627 acres, including the Ohio river bottoms immediately above the mouth of Big Sandy river. It was surveyed by George Washington, in October, 1770, as bounty lands for Captain John Savage and the men composing his company, for services during the French and Indian War. The grant was made in com- pliance with the proclamation made by Robert Din- widdie, Governor of Virginia, in 1754, and the Savage patent was signed by John, Earl of Dunmore, Decem- ber 15, 1772. It read as follows :-
"George III., by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, defender of the faith, etc. : To all
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to whom these presents shall come, greeting : Know ye, that for divers good causes and considerations, we have given, granted and confirmed * unto John Savage, Robert Langdon, Robert Teemsdall, Edward- Waggener, Richard Trotter, Wise Johnston, Hugh McCoy, Richard Smith, John Smith, Charles Smith, Angus McDonald, Nathan Chapman, Joseph Gate- wood, James Samuel, Michael Scully, Edward Good- win, William Bailey, Henry Bailey, William Cofland, Matthew Doran, John Ramsey, Charles James, Matthew Cox, Marshall Pratt, John Wilson, William Johnston, John Williams, Nathaniel Barrett, David Gorman, Pat- rick Galoway, Timothy Conway, Christian Bumgard- ner, John Hanston, John Maid, James Ford, William Braughter, William Curney, Edward Evans, Thomas Moss, Matthew Jones, Philip Gatewood, Hugh Paul, Daniel Staples, William Lowry, James Ludlow, James Lalrot, James Given, Joshua Jordan, William Jenkins, James Carmacks, Richard Morris, John Ghatson, Robert Jones, William Hogan, John Franklin, John Bishop, George Malcolm, William Coleman, Richard Bolton, John Kincaid and George Hurst, one certain tract or parcel of land containing twenty-eight thousand six hundred and twenty-seven acres, lying and being in the county of Fincastle" (of which the present county of Wayne was then a part). There were sixty-one of the patentees among whom the survey was divided, and this would give to each 470 acres.
Pioneers .- The first settler near the forks of the Big Sandy appears to have been Samuel Short, who reared his cabin where the town of Cassville now stands, about the year 1796. Robert Tabor followed him, and in 1798 patented a tract of land of 2500
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acres. Thomas Short, Sr., Thomas Short, Jr., Samuel Hatton, William Adams, Peyton and Joseph Newman, John and Richard Graystun, Thomas Vaughan, Peter Loar, Benjamin Sperry and William Artrip, all came and found homes near him, probably before the year 1800. John Wellman came in 1802 ; Robert Webb, with a family of two sons and three daughters, settled just below the site of Cassville in 1804. Other early settlers were Michael Burke, John Smith, Pleasants Workman, Joel Ferguson, James Bartram, William Perry, Solomon Perry, Joseph Fulkerson, John Breeden, Jesse Cyrus, John Deering, Jesse Stith, Goodwin Lycan, Samuel Smiley, John Thompson and Abraham Queen.
The first settler within the present limits of Ceredo district was Stephen Kelley, who came to the mouth of the Big Sandy and reared his cabin on Virginia Point, in 1798. His first neighbor was Matthew Belomy, who in 1799, built his cabin within a hundred yards of the place where the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad bridge now spans the Big Sandy. The year 1800, witnessed the founding of several other homes. William Hatton settled just below the mouth of White's creek; Benjamin Maxy near him ; Leonard Sharp at Sharp's branch ; Samuel Hensley at Miller's branch, all on the banks of the Big Sandy. John Stewart and John Brown settled where the town of Ceredo now stands, and James and Moses McCormick at the mouth of Twelve-pole river.
The first cabin on the upper waters of Twelve-polc river was built by a man named Nevens, in the year 1799. . The next year he was joined in his wilderness home by John Wilson, Jacob Noe, John Prinston, Richard Williamson, Hezekiah Wiley, Job Spence,
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Lazarus Damron, Daniel Cox, John Jarrel and Henry Hampton.
James Bias reared his cabin at the mouth of Lick creek, on the banks of Twelve-pole river, in the year 1802. His first neighbor was David Bartram, who . came in 1803. The year 1807, witnessed the erection of five other cabins on the banks of the little river. These were built by Jesse Adkins, Thomas Napier, Berry Adkins, John Ferguson and William Lambert.
Jesse Spurlock and Samuel Ferguson built their cabin homes near where the court house now stands, in 1802. Both came from Tazewell county, Virginia. In 1806, David France, who is said to have planted the first apple tree on Twelve-pole river, Hezekiah Adkins, John Stephenson, Thomas Chandler, Asher Crocket, Reuben and William Adkins found homes near them. Soon after these came Hugh Bowen, Asa Booten, Daniel Davis, a soldier of the Revolution; Solomon Hensley, Reuben Booten, Jesse Blankenship, John Thompson, who built the first distillery in Wayne county ; John Newman, Benjamin Drown, afterward a soldier of the War of 1812; Chester Howe, who built the first grist mill on Twelve-pole river; Valentine Bloss, a soldier of the Revolution; Benjamin Garret, William Morris, Charles Boothe, a soldier of the War of 1812; John Amos, Joshua Stevens, John Savage, a drummer-boy in the command of General Lafayette during the Revolution ; Joseph Dean, Jerry Lambert, Abraham, Stephen and Burwell Spurlock.
Trout's Hill, the county seat, was located by the bill which created the county and named in honor of Abra- ham Trout, the owner of the land on which the town
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was laid out. The town was incorporated by an order of the Circuit Court, made June 21, 1882, and Wash- ington Adkins, Jefferson Ferguson and G. F. Ratcliff were appointed to superintend the election of the first officers, who were as follows : Mayor, Washington Ad- kins ; Recorder, Chapman Adkins; Councilmen, Dr. G. R. Burgess, G. F. Ratcliffe, G. W. Sellards, W. S. Moore and Addison Adkins.
Ceredo was founded in 1857, by Eli Thayer, a mem- ber of Congress from Massachusetts. While visiting his friend, Albert G. Jenkins, on the banks of the Ohio, he met Thomas L. Jordan, from whom he purchased the land upon which the town now stands. On arriv- ing at the site of his proposed town and seeing the bountiful crops with which Ceres had laden the land, he thought it a fit tribute to the fabled goddess to bestow her name upon the town, and accordingly it became Ceredo. It had been the dream of Thayer to found an immense manufacturing city, but the Civil War came on, and instead of the realization of the founder's dream, it yet remains a little town of from four to five hundred inhabitants.
The town was incorporated by Act of the Legisla- ture passed February 25, 1866. The first officers were : Mayor, Richard R. Brown ; Recorder, W. H. Stewart; Councilmen, Charles A. Brown, Lafayette Brown, John Kelly, Patrick McLeese and Robert Wright; Town Sergeant, R. A. W. Brown.
Fairview was incorporated March 27, 1860, and J. J. Mansfield, Milton J. Ferguson, Hugh Bowen, Wash- ington Adkins and Burwell Ferguson were appointed to hold the first election.
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BARBOUR.
Barbour county was formed by legislative enactment, March 3, 1843, from parts of Harrison, Lewis and Ran- dolph, and named in honor of Philip P. Barbour, who was Governor of Virginia in 1811, and a member of the United States Senate from 1815 to 1825; Secretary of War during the administration of John Q. Adams, and Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Great Britain in 1828.
Philippi, the county seat, in which is commemorated the Christian name of him for whom the county was named, was established a town by an Act of Assembly passed February 14, 1844, with L. D. Merrell, James L. Burbridge, William Shaw, John R. Williamson and William Wilson, trustees.
RITCHIE.
The act creating the county of Ritchie was passed February 18, 1843, the county being formed from parts of Lewis, Harrison and Wood.
THOMAS RITCHIE, from whom the county derives its name, was Virginia's most famous journalist. He was born in 1778, and edited the Richmond Enquirer- formerly the Examiner-from 1804 to 1845, when he became the editor of the Washington Union. He died in IS54.
The county is drained principally by Hughes river, named in honor of Jesse Hughes, though the stream on Samuel Lewis' map, drawn in 1794, to accompany " Jefferson's Notes on Virginia," is called Junius river.
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Harrisville-then in Wood county-was laid out by Thomas Harris, and legally constituted a town by act of January 3, 1822, with James Mealy, Joseph Stewart, William L. Mitchell, John Harris and Edward Shelton, trustees. It was made the county seat by the act cre- ating the county, and the first court was required to be held at the house of John Harris. The town was incorporated February 26, 1869.
Smithsville-then in Lewis county-was established a town by Legislative enactment, February 14, 1842, on lands of Barnes Smith, with James Malone, James Hardman, Isaac S. Collins, Daniel Ayers and Benja- min Hardman, trustees.
TAYLOR.
Taylor county was formed from Harrison, Barbour and Marion, by act of Assembly, January 19, 1844, and named in honor of General Zachary Taylor.
Pruntytown-then in Harrison county-was estab- lished a town under the name of Williamsport, Janu- ary 8, 1801, on lands the property of David Prunty, at a place called the "Cross Roads," and Robert Plum- mer, James Cochran, John Asbury, Peter Johnson and Vincent Leek, were appointed trustees. By an act of Assembly, January 23, 1845, the name was changed from Williamsport to Pruntytown. The act creating the county fixed the seat of justice at Williamsport.
Grafton, the present county seat, was incorporated March 15, 1856; Flemington, on the 16th of March, 1860, and Fetterman, February 26, 1869.
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DODDRIDGE.
Doddridge county was formed by legislative enact- ment, February 4, 1845, from parts of Harrison, Tyler, Ritchie and Lewis, and named in honor of the dis- tinguished Philip Doddridge.
PHILIP DODDRIDGE was a native of Pennsylvania, born in Bedford county, May 17, 1772. Facilities for acquiring an education were very meagre in the vicinity of his home. His father was his instructor, until at the age of 17, he was placed under the care of a private tutor at Wellsburg, Virginia, where he applied himself to the study of Latin. This place, in 1796, became his permanent home. Young Doddridge, curious to see the world, made an engagement with the proprietor of a flat-boat engaged in transferring flour and bacon to New Orleans. On his return he applied himself to the study of law, with little assistance other than his own industry and genius. In 1797, at the first court held in Brooke county, Philip Doddridge was permitted to practice law in the courts of the county. Thus be- gan his career as an attorney. His growing reputation soon extended beyond the quiet village of Wellsburg, until he was acknowledged the first lawyer in that part of the State. Chief Justice Marshall said of him in after years, " He is second to no one at the bar of the United States;" and Webster observing his portrait declared "He was the only man I ever feared to meet in debate." He was a member of the House of Dele- gates in 1815-16, and again in 1822-3, and again in 1828-9. He was a member of the Convention for amending the State Constitution in IS29, and the same year was elected to Congress. He died at Washing-
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ton, November 19, 1832, and his remains were interred in the Congressional cemetery, where they now rest.
West Union was incorporated by act of Assembly, March 14, 1850. By the act creating the countyit was made the county seat, and the first court required to be held at the house of Nathan Davis, at that place.
GILMER.
Gilmer county was formed by legislative enactment, February 3, 1845, from parts of Lewis and Kanawha, and named from Thomas Walker Gilmer.
THOMAS WALKER GILMER, was born at Gilmerton, Albemarle county, Virginia, April 6th, 1802, and edu- cated at Charlottesville and Staunton. He studied law at Liberty, Bedford county, and began the practice of his profession at Charlottesville. He represented Albemarle county in the General Assembly from 1829 to 1840, with the exception of two sessions, and was speaker of that body during the sessions of 1838 and 1839. February 14, 1840, he was elected Governor of Virginia, but a few months later resigned to take a seat in Congress. February 14, 1844, President Taylor appointed him Secretary of the Navy. But his labors were now nearing an end. He was killed by the burst- ing of a gun on board the American war steamer Princeton, at Mount Vernon, February 28, 1844-four- teen days after his appointment.
Glenville, the county seat, was incorporated March 10, 1856, when B. Conrad, George E. Ball, and Pres- ton Pew were appointed to conduct the first municipal election. A branch of the State Normal School was established here February 19, 1872.
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WETZEL.
Wetzel county was formed by act of January 10, 1846, from Tyler, and named in honor of Lewis Wet- zel, the distinguished frontiersman and Indian scout- the Boone of Northwestern Virginia. The literature of the border is filled with details of his adventures and exploits, some of which have been interwoven into fiction, prominently in the work entitled " Rose Forester," in which the scene is laid around Mount Pleasant, which is plainly visible from Lancaster, the seat of justice of Fairfield county, Ohio.
New Martinsville, was made the seat of justice by the act creating the county, and was incorporated by act of March 18, 1848.
BOONE.
Boone county was formed in 1847, and named in honor of Daniel Boone, the founder of Kentucky, and one of the representatives from Kanawha county in the General Assembly of Virginia in 1791. The act creating the county fixed the seat of justice on lands of Albert Allen, at the mouth of Spruce Fork, but this location was unsatisfactory to the inhabitants, and by an act of Assembly, March 31, 1848, proper officers were appointed to hold an election, at which the voters should determine between the place fixed and another, on lands of Thomas Price, near the mouth of Turkey creek. The commissioners conducting the election were, Allen McGinnis, of Cabell ; John Brumfield and Crispin S. Stone, of Logan ; James McGinnis, of Wayne, and Joseph Capehart, of Kanawha.
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Peytona, in the northern part of the county, on Cole river, derives its name from William M. Peyton, who was the first to discover and develop the cannel coal deposit at that place. He was born in Montgomery county, Virginia, in 1803, and was the eldest son of the eminent jurist, John Howe Peyton and Agatha, his wife, who was the daughter of William J. Madison, a niece of James Madison, Protestant Episcopal Bishop of Virginia, and of George Madison, Governor of Kentucky. He was educated at Princeton and Yale, after which he began the study of law, which, however, he soon abandoned. He inherited an estate, and hav- ing wedded Sallie, a daughter of Judge Allen Taylor, became a member of the Virginia Assembly in 1837, to which he was reelected in 1838. Previously, in 1829, he had been tendered the position of Secretary of Legation to Paris, and later that of United States Dis- trict Attorney for Western Virginia, both of which he declined. Interested in internal improvements, he, in 1846-7, explored the western part of the State in search of cannel coal, and his labors were rewarded by the discovery of it at the place which now bears his name. He organized a company, and spent a large sum in improving Cole river and in developing the valuable mineral. He was in New York city at the breaking out of the Civil War, and being unable to return to Virginia by the usual route, traveled north to Canada, then west and south, reaching home by way of Kentucky. He died in 1868, and is buried in Thornrose Cemetery, at Staunton, Virginia, where his half-brother, John L. Peyton, the author of "The American Crisis" and a " History of Augusta County," has erected a beautiful cenotaph to his memory.
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PUTNAM.
Putnam county; the present area of which is 320 square miles, was created by an Act of the General Assembly passed March 11, 1848, and entitled, “An Act to authorize the formation of a new County from portions of Kanawha, Mason and Cabell counties."
The First County Court convened May 22d, 1848, at the residence of Talleyrand P. Brown, which stood on the present site of the town of Winfield. There were present the following justices : Matthew D. Brown, Alexander W. Handley, John C. Thomas, Sr., Mahlon S. Morris, Lawrence A. Washington, Lewis S. Boling, John Morgan, John Ruffner, William A. Alexander and James Smith. Until a sheriff should be appointed and qualify, Elijah Kimberling was chosen crier pro. tem. The Court then appointed the following officers : Hart C. Forbes, County Clerk ; George W. Summers, Prosecuting Attorney; Daniel B. Washington, Com- missioner of the Revenue; Samuel T. Wyatt, Sur- veyor of Lands, and Addison Wolf, Coroner. Mat- thew D. Brown was chosen first high sheriff of the county. At the second or June term, James Hedrick and James M. Laidley were granted license to practice law in the courts of this county, and became the first members of the Putnam County Bar.
Pioneers .- The first settlement in the county was made in what is now Curry district. James Conner visited the vicinity in 1775, and selected the site of his future home. Charles Conner located in 1799. The same year, James Ellis built a cabin on the waters of Big Hurricane. John Dudding located on Kanawha river nearly opposite Johnson's Shoals, about the year
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I799. Soon after him came Benedict Lanham, who settled at the mouth of Pocotalico. Other early settlers in this vicinity were the Harmons, Tacketts, Caruthers, Dixons, Asburys, Nulls, and William Hensley, father of William Hensley, Jr., who built the first grist mill in this locality.
The first white man in Teays' Valley was a man named Teays-a relative of Thomas Teays, from whom the valley received its name. The first actual settler was Thomas Reece, who built his cabin in 1800, near the centre of the valley. Soon after came Richard McAllister, George Bentley, Bennett Barrister and Samuel Frazier. The first white men who were ever within the present limits of Buffalo district were George Washington and his surveyors, in the autumn of 1770. In 1800, the Oldakers located on the waters of Eighteen. Jonathan Hill located above the Oldakers in 1816. Thomas Scott came in 1817 and Ira Dilno in 1818, both of whom located on the waters of Eighteen. The first settlement at Red House was made in 1806. Tra- dition says that a man named Jones settled on the river one-half mile above the present site of Winfield in 1815. Here he raised corn, which he sold to the boat- men at twelve and a half cents per bushel. In 1818, William Clark settled on the river bottom near Win- field. About the same time Lewis Tackett settled at the head of Tackett's Shoals.
Horrible Death of Two Pioncers .- One of the most touching events, an account of which is recorded in the Annals of the West, occurred on the water of Eighteen-mile creek, this county, in the spring of the year 1817. The facts gleaned from persons yet living and who remember the occurrence are as follows :
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