USA > West Virginia > History of West Virginia > Part 44
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Previous to the above date, John Green with his family settled on what is now known as Trace fork of Poco- talico river. About the same time, Reuben Harrison settled on Mud Lick fork of Thirteen, in Mason county. Harrison had several sons, among them were Alexan- der, Josiah and Zebulon, the last a lad of twelve years. The men were all hunters, and often enjoyed the chase together, the Harrison's going to Green's to hunt on Pocotalico, and he in turn visiting them for the purpose of hunting on Eighteen and Thirteen. In the spring of 1817, Mr. Green came on one of these visits, bring- ing with him his little son Edward, aged eleven years.
During the visit, Alexander Harrison and Mr. Green were hunting alone on Eighteen. After killing a deer, they found, about noon, a tree, which from the scratches they supposed to contain a bear. Leaving their veni- son they hastened to the residence of Mr. Harrison, seven miles distant, to procure axes. Here the two boys begged that they might be taken along to see the tree felled. Their request was granted, and the four arrived at the tree late in the evening, but upon felling it found no bear. It was not uncommon at that day for hunters to remain out all night, and being weary, they concluded not to return home until the next day. Casting about for a suitable resting place for the night they found a cave under a shelving rock. Here they built a fire, and lay down to sleep, the men on one side, the boys on the other-little dreaming of the terrible awakening. During the night the frozen rock above burst, from the effect of the fire beneath, and a huge mass fell upon them. Both men were crushed from the hips down to the feet ; the boys, though badly bruised, were able to crawl out, the rock on their side
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being partially supported by the wood they had brought in for fuel. Morning dawned upon the awful scene, the men crushed beneath the weight from which the boys could not extricate them. They begged for water, and the boys poured the powder from the horns and brought it. They were bewildered and knew not the way home-the only place from which help could come. The day passed, night came and no relief. Then followed another day and night of the most intense suffering to which any human being was ever subjected. Their friends alarmed at their long absence were searching for them, and late in the even-
. ing of the fourth day, Josiah Harrison found them. What a sight met his gaze! Death had already relieved his brother, and Green was speechless. The boys were ready to die from hunger and wounds. Placing them upon the horse he was riding, he hastened to bring assistance. As he was leaving, Green turned his head and cast a longing look of despair after him. He conducted the lads home, and, collecting aid, made haste to return to the sad spot. Ere they arrived, Green's spirit, too, had taken its flight. Only two masses, crushed almost beyond recognition, remained. The rock was removed and the bodies taken out. No, coffins enclosed them. Logs were cut from which wide slabs were split, then narrow graves were dug, a slab placed in the bottom, one on edge at each side. The bodies were then placed within, another slab covered them, and all that was mortal of John Green and Alexander Harrison was buried at the entrance of the cave.
Tackett's Pinc .- For nearly a hundred years " Tack- ett's Pine " has been pointed out to the traveler as one
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of the remaining landmarks of the struggle with the Red men for the possession of the Great Kanawha valley. It stood upon the summit of a lofty ridge opposite Knob Shoals, one mile above the town of Buffalo. Soon after the close of the Revolution a man named Tackett settled near the mouth of Cole river. In 1786, while engaged in the chase, he was taken prisoner by a band of savages. They bound Tackett, placed him in a canoe, and descended the river to the Shoals, where they landed. Marching their prisoner to the top of the hill above mentioned, they bound him with buckskin thongs to a pine tree. When he was firmly secured, they departed, leaving him in this con- dition. It was near the middle of the afternoon, and the prisoner expected them to return and release him ere dark came on, but in this he was mistaken. Night came and went; morning dawned, and found him with aching limbs, tormented with a burning thirst, his arms almost wrenched from their sockets. Dim thoughts rushed through his brain. Had his tormenters gone never to return? Or, would they come and release him, reserving him for a more terrible fate? He called aloud, hoping that some one, either friend or foe, would hear and relieve him. Twenty-four dreadful hours had passed-hours into which it seemed a lifetime of suffer- ing had been crowded. The sky was now overcast. The thunder reverberated among the surrounding hills. A hurricane swept through the forest, and the tree to which he was bound swayed back and forth as if it must yield before the raging tempest. The rain descended in torrents and the hail beat upon his bare head. He made an effort to change his position, and the bonds seemed to slacken ; the rain had caused the
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thongs to give way; one mighty effort, and he was free. He rushed down the mountain, plunged into the river, and swam it at the shoals ever since known by his name. Just as he touched the shore he heard a shout of disappointment from his enemies. It was thirty-eight miles to Clendenin's fort, but Tackett never halted until he was safe within its walls. He remained in the valley until after Wayne's treaty with the Indians, spent several years in the western country, and finally returned to Virginia, in which State he died. The tree has now fallen to the ground, and around its lifeless trunk are scattered fragments of bark on which were carved the names of many who had visited the spot. The tree will soon be gone, but Tackett's Pine will have an existence on the pages of the history of the Great Kanawha Valley.
Buffalo is the oldest town on the Kanawha river, between Charleston and Point Pleasant. The land upon which the town stands originally belonged to Mr. Clarke, who gave it to his daughter, Mary A. Clarke. She afterward married Benjamin K. Craig, who laid out the town in 1834. It was named from the post-office at the mouth of Big Buffalo creek, four miles above, but which was removed to the new town the same year in which it was founded. It was incorpo- rated in 1837. The first Board of Trustees were: Benjamin K. Craig, Matthew D. Brown, Zila Burch, Dr. James Beaty and Irvin McCoy. The Buffalo Academy was established in 1849, by a joint stock company composed of Irvin McCoy, J. E. Pitrat, Ben- jamin K. Craig, L. L. Bronough, George E. Allen and others. The first principal was George Rosetter, A.M., afterwards of Marietta College, Ohio. It continued to
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be a flourishing institution until the beginning of the Civil War, when it was occupied alternately as a bar- rack by soldiers of the Federal and Confederate armies, and during the time all the furniture and apparatus was destroyed. After the war the building was deeded to the Board of Education of Buffalo district, and became a public school building.
Winfield .- The site upon which the town stands was a part of a tract of land of 400 acres which once belonged to Charles Brown. He established a ferry across the river at this place about the year 1818. George C. Bowyer built the first hotel in the year 1850. It was occupied first by Dudley S. Montague. The first church was erected by the Methodists in 1856. It was destroyed by the Federal soldiers during the late war. The town was incorporated February 21, 1868.
Raymond City, located at the mouth of Pocotalico river, was incorporated July 16, 1868. Tradition says that a man named Null discovered coal near this place about the close of the last century, but no effort was made at mining until the close of the Civil War. A company was organized in 1865, of which General Averill, a prominent Federal Cavalry officer, was presi- dent. Work has been continued ever since and is now prosecuted by the Marmet Mining Company of Cin- cinnati.
JOHN BOWYER, a pioneer of this county, was born in Greenbrier county, Virginia, April 26, 1794. At the age of eighteen he enlisted for the War of 1812, becoming a member of Captain John McClung's Greenbrier company, and was appointed regimental ensign, which then ranked as a lieutenancy. At the close of the war he was appointed United States
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Marshal for the western district of Virginia, a position which he held for twelve years. Afterward he held the position of Commissioner of Revenue and United States Commissioner. In 1827, he married Mrs. Crawford, a widow, at Blue Sulphur Springs. He died at Winfield, this county, December 18, 1878, aged eighty-four years.
SYDENHAM HEREFORD, M. D., was born in Loudoun county, Virginia, June 17, 1811. He was educated at the grammar school of Rev. John Ogleby, in Fauquier county, and entered upon the study of medicine. He graduated from Jefferson Medical College in 1833. While practicing his profession in Rectortown, Fauquier county, he married an accomplished lady, Lovenia S. Flowery. In 1836, he removed to Gallipolis, Ohio. The following year he located at Buffalo, then in Mason county, Virginia, now in Putnam county, West Vir- ginia. In 1847, he removed to Red House Shoals, where he continued the practice of medicine until 1871, when he abandoned it for mercantile pursuits. In 1863, he lost his wife by death, but afterward married Mary E., sister of Captain A. J. Burford, late of the Confed- erate army.
JAMES H. HOGE was born near Staunton, Virginia, April 9, 1830. He was admitted to the bar in 1850, and located at Howardsville, Albemarle county, but re- moved to Winfield, Putnam county, in 1852. In May, 1856, he was elected prosecuting attorney of his adopt- ed county, and a year later married Sarah C., daugh- ter of John G. Wright, of Charleston, West Virginia. In 1859, he was commissioned a Colonel of the State troops of Virginia. In 1860, he was reëlected prose- cuting attorney, and a few weeks later was chosen a delegate to the State Convention which convened at
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Richmond in April, 1861. In the fall of 1866, Daniel Polsley, Judge of the Kanawha Valley Circuit, was elected to Congress, and the following February James H. Hoge was appointed to fill the vacancy upon the bench. At the expiration of the term he was elected to the same office. He died at Winfield, West Virginia, August 12, 1882.
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WIRT.
Wirt county was created by Act of Assembly, passed January 19, 1848, and named in honor of the dis- tinguished William Wirt. It has an area of 290 square miles.
The First Circuit Court convened on the 4th day of April, 1848, at the house of Alfred Beauchamp, Judge David McComas presiding. Alfred G. Stringer was elected clerk, with John G. Stringer, H. Kyger, D. Wilkinson and Clermont E. Thaw as his bondsmen. John G. Stringer was appointed State's Attorney. Edward Tracewell was made Tipstaff. William E. Lockhart was appointed Commissioner in Chancery, and Daniel Wilkinson and William P. Rathbone Com- missioners to take depositions. John F. Snodgrass, James M. Stephenson, John G. Stringer, Peter G. Van Winkle, Jacob B. Blair, Arthur I. Boreman, John J. Jackson, Clermont E. Thaw, John E. Hays, and John O. Lockhart, attorneys, appeared and were granted license to practice in the courts of this county. Thus was instituted the first Wirt county Bar, and it is doubt- ful if any bar in the State ever presented a greater array of talent. Snodgrass was afterward a member of Congress; Stephenson represented Wood county
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in the General Assembly of Virginia; Van Winkle was one of the first United States Senators from West Virginia ; Blair was afterward a member of Congress, Minister to Costa Rica during President Johnson's Administration, and later a judge of the United States court for the district of Wyoming Territory; Boreman became Judge of the 19th Judicial Circuit, served two terms as Governor of West Virginia, and represented the same in the United States Senate; Jackson was afterward State's Attorney for Wood county, repre- sented the same in the General Assembly, and was president of the Second National Bank of Parkersburg from 1865 until his death. He was the father of Gov- ernor Jacob B. Jackson, of J. J. Jackson, Judge of the United States District Court of West Virginia, and of J. M. Jackson, Judge of the 5th Judicial Circuit of West Virginia.
Pioneers .- Among the pioneers who first reared cabin homes within the present limits of the county, were William Beauchamp, who settled where the town of Elizabeth now stands, in the year 1796; Benjamin Roberts, Thomas Prebble, and Jonathan Shepherd from the South Branch of the Potomac, the latter bring- ing with him his three sons, William, Samuel and Henry. Then came Samuel Coe and William Walls, who settled on Reedy creek; William Petty, John Petty and John Wilson, from Harrison county ; John Bennett, who settled on Tucker's creek, and Jacob, Frederic and Andrew Bumgardner, Richard Reeder, Charles Rockhold, Elijah Rockhold and Jeremiah Wise- man.
Elisabeth, the county seat of Wirt, is situated on the south bank of the Little Kanawha, thirty-one miles
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from its mouth. As before stated, William Beauchamp was the first settler here. If the traveler who visits the town will take a stroll into the cemetery near by, he will observe a rude gray sandstone slab, now, like the body of him whose resting place it marks, rapidly crumbling to dust. From it he will learn that William Beauchamp was born in 1743, and died in 1808. Beneath it reposes all that was mortal of the first pioneer of Wirt county. In 1799, he was joined by David Beauchamp and Charles Rockhold, and a year later Ezekiel McFarland came and erected his cabin near by. The Beauchamps built a grist mill in 1803, and from that time until 1817, the place was known as Beauchamp's Mills, but in that year the name was changed to Elizabeth in honor of the wife of David Beauchamp, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Woodyard.
Burning Springs, on the north bank of the Kanawha, has a history which reads like romance. Its recital calls to mind the early days of San Francisco, the metropolis of California. Here was the Eldorado of 1860 and 1861. In the former year news of the dis- covery of one of the greatest petroleum-producing regions then known on the globe went out to the world from this place. In August of that year there was not a score of souls in the vicinity, and six months later, the morning Fort Sumter was fired upon, there were no less than six thousand persons here. It was a swarming mass of humanity representing almost every nation on earth. Capitalists and adventurers from every part of the continent rushed hither as did many thousand others to California eleven years before. United States Senators, members of Congress-one of
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whom was James A. Garfield,-governors of States, and many others high in official position, came in pur- suit of what proved to be but another "South Sea Bubble." Fortunes were made and lost in a day, a town arose as if by magic, and in the spring of 1861, the Chicago hotel-every part of which was rendered brilliant by mains filled with natural gas, had arisen upon what was six months before a thicket of under- brush. A single well furnished a sufficient quantity of gas to illuminate the cities of America. It was used for light, for fuel and for generating steam, but at last it failed. It was a dark, stormy night in the winter of 1867, that every light and every fire in the town was suddenly extinguished. The supply in the great natural reservoir had become exhausted, and many families suffered from the extreme cold before a supply of fuel could be obtained from another source.
Hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil were shipped from this place within the years 1860 to 1870. On the 9th day of May, 1863, a detachment of Confederate troops, commanded by General Jones, visited the place and kindled the largest fire ever started in West Virginia. One hundred thousand barrels of oil were simultaneously ignited, and the light that night was plainly visible at Parkersburg-distant forty- two miles.
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HANCOCK.
Hancock county was formed in compliance with an Act of Assembly, passed January 15, 1848, and named in honor of John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress of 1776, and the first signer of the Declara- tion of Independence. Its area is 100 square miles.
The First Court, in pursuance of the act creating the county, met at the house of Samuel C. Allison, in New Manchester; John Pittenger, David Pugh, Andrew Henderson, John Gardner, David Wylie, William H. Grafton, and John Mayhew were the justices constituting said court. The court elected John Atkinson, Clerk; Robert Brown, Prosecuting At- torney ; Josiah A. Adams, Commissioner of Revenue ; Thomas J. Hewitt, Surveyor. David Wylie and Joseph Cameron were appointed to hold the first election. David Wylie, William H. Grafton, and John Mayhew were recommended as fit persons to execute the office of sheriff, and William H. Grafton and John Mayhew as proper persons to execute 'the office of coroner. James Cochran and Alexander D. Pugh were appointed constables.
Contest for the County Seat .- The act creating the county of Hancock left the selection of a site for the seat of justice to the people. New Manchester-now Fairview -- and New Cumberland were named in the election, the latter receiving a majority of thirteen votes. The County Court refused to remove the courts to New Cumberland. At a second election, April 25, 1850, a majority of forty-six votes were polled in favor of New Cumberland. The courts were removed after some delay, but now a dispute sprang up as to the location
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of the court house. This was pending when the advo- cates for New Manchester obtained a third election in 1852, which resulted in a majority of one vote for that place, and the courts were returned thither.
Pioneers .- About the year 1776, a man named Holli- day settled in what has ever since been known as Holliday's Cove. Shortly after the close of the Revo- lution, several soldiers who had served during the war, moved westward and settled what is now Hancock county. Among these were Colonel Richard Brown, a native of Maryland, who served under the command of George Washington-he with his wife and children settled on a tract of 1000 acres in Holliday's Cove ; John Edie, a native of Pennsylvania, who became county surveyor and made many of the early surveys in the region embraced within the limits of Hancock county ; Colonel George Stewart, a native of Ireland, but who, prior to the war, emigrated to eastern Pennsylvania- in 1790, he with his family settled in what is now Grant district. About the year 1780, James Allison emigrated from Maryland and located within the present limits of Grant district. In 1783, George Chapman located a tract of 1000 acres upon which a part of New Cum- berland was afterward laid out. James Campbell settled on King's creek, three miles from the mouth, in 1783. Jacob Nessley removed to Hancock county from Lan- caster county, Pennsylvania, in 1785. Ten years later, William Chapman came from Eastern Virginia. Alex- ander Morrow, a native of Ireland who emigrated to New Jersey in 1793, five years later moved westward to Hancock county. In 1800, Hugh Pugh located 400 acres where Fairview now stands. Burgess Allison came in 1801. Alexander Scott, of Pennsylvania, settled
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one mile northwest of Fairview, in 1802. In 1812, William Langfitt settled near Fairview.
The Poe Brothers .- The famous encounter of the Poe brothers with the Wyandotte chieftains occurred at the mouth of Tomlinson's run, in Hancock county. The following account is subjoined from Howe's " His- torical Collections."
"In the summer of 1782, a party of seven Wyandottes made an incursion into a settlement some distance below Fort Pitt, and several miles from the Ohio river. Here finding an old man alone in a cabin, they killed him, packed up what plunder they could find and com- menced their retreat. Among their party was a cele- brated Wyandotte chief, who in addition to his fame as a warrior and counselor, was, as to his size and strength, a veritable giant.
" The news of the visit of the Indians soon spread through the neighborhood, and a party of eight good riflemen was collected in a few hours for the purpose of pursuing them. In this party were two brothers, Adam and Andrew Poe. They were both famous for courage, size and activity. This little party commenced the pursuit of the Indians with the determination, if possible, not to suffer them to escape as they usually did on such occasions, by making a speedy flight to the river, crossing it, and then dividing into small parties, to meet at a distant point in a given time. The pur- suit was continued the greater part of the night after the Indians had done the mischief. In the morning the party found themselves on the trail of the Indians which led to the river. When arrived within a little distance of the river, Adam Poe left the party, who followed directly on the trail, to creep along the brink
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of the river bank, under cover of the weeds and bushes, to fall on the rear of the Indians should he find them in ambuscade. He had gone but a short distance when he saw the Indian rafts at the water's edge. Not seeing any Indians, he stepped softly down the bank, with his rifle cocked. When about half way down, he discovered the large Wyandotte chief and a small Indian within a few steps of him. They were standing with their guns cocked and looking in the direction of Poe's party, who by this time had gone some distance lower down the bottom. Poe took aim at the large chief but his rifle missed fire. The Indians hearing the snap of the gun lock, instantly looked around and discovered Poe, who being too near them to retreat, dropped his gun, and sprang from the bank upon them, and seizing the large Indian by the clothes on his breast and at the same time embracing the neck of the small one, threw them both to the ground himself being uppermost. The small Indian soon extri- cated himself, ran to the raft, got his tomahawk and attempted to dispatch Poe, the large Indian holding him fast in his arms with all his might, the better to enable his fellow to effect his purpose. Poe, however, so well watched the motions of his assailant, that, when in the act of aiming a blow at his head, by a vigorous and well directed kick he staggered the savage, and knocked the tomahawk from his hand. This failure on the part of the small Indian was reproved by an ex- clamation of contempt from the large one.
"In a moment the Indian caught up his tomahawk again, approached more cautiously, brandishing his tomahawk and making a number of feigned blows in defiance and derision. Poe, however, still on his guard,
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averted the real blow from his head by throwing up his arm and receiving it on his wrist, in which he was severely wounded, but not so as to entirely lose the use of his hand. In this perilous moment, Poe by a violent effort, broke loose from the Indian, snatched up one of the small Indian's guns and shot the small Indian through the breast, as he ran up a third time to tomahawk him. The large Indian was now on his feet, and grasping Poe by the shoulder and leg threw him down on the bank. Poe instantly disengaged himself and got on his feet. The Indian then seized him again, and a new struggle ensued, which, owing to the slippery state of the bank ended in a fall of both combatants into the water. In this situation it was the object of each to drown the other. Their efforts to effect this were continued some time with alternate success, sometimes one being under the water and sometimes the other. Poe at length seized the tuft of hair on the scalp of the Indian, with which he held his head under water until he supposed him drowned. Relaxing his hold too soon, Poe instantly found his antagonist on his feet again and ready for another combat. In this they were carried into the water beyond their depth and were compelled to lose their hold on each other and swim, each for his own safety. Both sought the shore to seize a gun and end the contest with bullets. The Indian, being the best swimmer, reached the land first. Poe seeing this, immediately turned back into the water to escape being shot, if possible, by diving. Fortunately the Indian caught up the rifle with which Poe had killed the other warrior. At this juncture, Andrew Poe, missing his brother from the party, and supposing from the report of the gun that he was either killed or engaged in con-
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