USA > West Virginia > Webster County > Moccasin tracks and other imprints > Part 5
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It was not known whether the child was living or dead until it was taken out at the fort late in the evening. It soon revived, but its collar bone had been broken. After the Indian danger had passed, he moved to the mouth of Big Birch and began an improvement at a place called Big Elk. He was the father of four sons, William. Benjamin, David and Peter. The last named remained in Braxton county, and the other three settled in the Elk valley above Webster Springs.
William and Benjamin married Jane and Nancy, daughters of Colonel Isaac Gregory, and David married a Miller. William, the hunter, had four sons, Isaac, Adam. Benjamin and William G. The last named was,
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one of the valiant sons of Webster county. who responded to Lincoln's call for volunteers. He was wounded at the battle of Winchester, while acting as color-bearer, but he was with Grant at Appomattox and was the proud possessor of a heart-shaped piece of the apple tree under which the surrender was negotiated.
The sons of Benjamin were Allen, Addison, William, James and Christopher. David's sons were James, Peter, John, David, Benjamin, George, Levi, and William. Interesting sketches could be written of each of these seventeen great grandsons of Patrick Hamrick. They lived active, industrious lives and left sons to perpet- ulate their names.
The three brothers above mentioned were the ancestors of the very numerous family of Hamricks now living in Webster county. It will be seen from the fore- going, that they are of prolific stock and the meeting so many stalwart Hamricks between Webster Springs and Whittaker Falls need not create surprise. This is by far the most numerous family in the county. there being about four hundred representatives in Fork Lick district. The descendants of Patrick Hamrick can be found in nearly every state west of the Alleghanies and in almost every county of West Virginia. The name is spelled in various ways in different localities. "Hamrick," "Hamric." and "Hambrick," are the three forms most generally used.
James Dyer. Senior, came from Pendleton county about 1810, and located above Fork Lick. His son James married a Sawyers and settled on the Gauley,
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where he built a commodious house on a hill looking the river, at the mouth of Beaver run brought the first wagon to what is now Webster c in 1837, from Alleghany county, Virginia. H the first Superintendent of Free Schools of WI county, and made a most excellent official. Jo Dyer, now (1915) Clerk of the Circuit Court, is a grandson of James Dyer, Senior, the pioneer. grandsons, Harvey, George, and Cyrus, are pror citizens of Webster county.
John R. Cogar came from Braxton county in He was a son of Jacob Cogar, who was a member company of soldiers, that went to Norfolk in 1 fight the British. He was one of the last surviv the Second War of Independence, having lived extreme age of one hundred and four years. Jo married Mary Gregory and settled on the divi tween the Elk and the Gauley. in his twenty-first He cleared a large farm, which he kept in a fin of cultivation. As an orchardist he was unsur and his apples would have brought a fancy price market. He was one of the best bee hunters county, and after he had passed the allotted thre and ten, he still went into the woods in sea wild bees. He was also very successful in the I of bears, deer and panthers. He killed a greater n of the last named animal than any other of the hunters. He was the father of a large number o who still live in the county which their father to establish.
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David Baughman settled on the Gauley one mile above Turkey creek in the latter part of the thirties. He was a farmer, a cooper, a millwright, a carpenter, and a blacksmith. He possessed real mechanical talents, and had he received a technical education, he would have become a master workman. He was very peculiar in many ways but his honesty and his veracity were never questioned. He, too, was an orchardist and his fine orchard still standing is a monument to his in- dustry and perseverance. When he first moved to the Gauley brook trout were very plentiful and could be caught in large numbers. In the spring, they would congregate below his mill dam in large schools, wait- ing for a tide to enable them to pass up stream. Some large trout may vet be caught at the Baughman mill.
Number VIII.
My readers are invited to accompany me on an imaginary trip from Skyles creek, the western limit of Webster county, to Mill run, five miles above Webster Springs, in the autumn of 1849. The distance is thirty- six miles and can be traveled in one day, if an early start be made, and the entire trip will be in Nicholas county, formed in 1818. Each one of the party must be accustomed to horse-back riding, as the roads are not suitable for carriages of any kind. The road is very narrow and it will be necessary for us to ride "Indian file." While there are no deep ruts in the road made by wagons, see that your saddle girths are well cinched, because some of the hills over which the road is made, are very rough and steep.
Christopher Baughman, a man of German ancestry, lives near the starting place. He has lived here for several years and has cleared a small farm. His son John, who married Susan Dyer but recently, lives a mile above on the south bank of Birch river. He is the owner of a small grist mill and has just begun cutting down the timber for the purpose of farming, but by in- dustry he will soon have a good farm. One mile above lives William Barnett, the noted hunter, who recently came from over in Braxton county. We will not call at his home for it is most likely that he is in the woods in pursuit of game, for it is in the midst of the hunting season.
When passing this way again, we will stop and par- take of his bear meat and venison which his wife Charlotte knows so well how to cook. Above here
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lives Henry Cutlip, who came from Greenbrier county. These are the only persons living on Birch river at the time of our trip. We pass through the Welch Glade country but find no one living there, but in that part of the county is destined to be located one of the busiest and most prosperous little towns in Webster. Austin Hollister, a typical Connecticut Yankee, lives three miles above Welch Glade. He married Margaret Given and selected a very pretty location for his home on a small eminence. He is a farmer and his sur- roundings show the true New England thrift.
Samuel Given lives at Upper Glade and his son John lives in the same vicinity. Mr. Given moved from Bath county. Virginia. He served as county clerk of Nicholas county for seven years. It is now noon and we will have dinner with this excellent family renowned for hospitality. Our host entertains us to the entire satisfaction of each member of the crowd. Venison. bear meat, buckwheat cakes, and some excellent wild honey are greatly relished after the fifteen mile ride in the bracing November air. Samson Sawyer lives at Sand run. He is one of the best farmers in Nicholas. His fields are well tilled and barn and granary are filled almost to bursting with the products of his farm. There is a neat and substantial gate in the entrance of each field.
Adonijah Harris lives at the top of the mountain at what is now known as the McGuire farm. He is a blacksmith and a fine mechanic. He is a class leader in the Methodist church and is respected and loved by all who know him. We have arrived at Fork Lick, but we find no visitors or health-seekers. But one family.
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Mrs. Polly Arthur and her children, live here. Her husband, who died just previous to our visit, was the first person buried at Webster Springs. Thomas Cogar lives above Mrs. Arthur's and William Given lives at the Given ford. These were two of the old time settlers, and each left a numerous family whose de- scendants still live in Webster county. Adam Gregory lives on the old Gregory farm. The evening is far spent, and in the gloaming we reach our destination. William Hamrick lives on the north side of the Elk nearly opposite the mouth of Mill run. He is one of the old pioneers. having settled here in 1812. He is a noted hunter and always keeps a pack of well trained bear dogs. He has a large fund of anecdotes of the chase with which he will entertain us after supper. He will also tell us the sad story of a Mrs. Smith, who was murdered by the Indians at Miller bottom a short distance from where he lives. She and a Mrs. Drennan and a little son had been captured by the Indians near where Edray, in Pocahontas county, is now located and was being taken beyond the Ohio by way of the trail that led past the Fork Lick. Mrs. Smith was not able to keep up with the party and she was tomahawked and scalped, and her body thrown into the river. We have traveled all day, and we have seen but fourteen dwelling houses, and we have passed but few people on the road. Should we take this trip today, we would scarcely, if ever, be out of sight of a farm house. We would pass seven post offices and two thriving towns, not to men- tion the numerous saw mills surrounded by dwelling houses. Teams of all kinds would be met hauling lum- ber to the railroads or merchandise for the stores. A
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sanitarium with all the modern equipment is located at Cowen, while in 1849 there was not a physician in the vast territory embraced in Nicholas county. There were neither mail routes nor post offices, and if a news- paper by chance was obtained by any one, it was passed from hand to hand until its contents had been read by the entire neighborhood. There were not more than three schools taught within the present limits of Web- ster in 1849 and 1850. Today there are two high schools, and more than a hundred primary and graded schools, being taught, and every boy and girl has an equal opportunity to get an education.
The people of this county eighty years ago were very supersititious. They believed in witches, omens, spells, magic charms, and incantations. This is not at all sur- prising, when it is remembered that among the most enlightened people of Europe less than two hundred and fifty years ago witches were publicly burned at the stake. In Massachusetts the most cultured and devout persons believed in witch-craft as late as 1692. Even today many persons, after three centuries of education and enlightenment, believe in the old-time supersti- tions. In pioneer times, if a person was stricken with some malignant disease, the cause was at once traced to some one in the vicinity who exerted an evil in- fluence over him, but now some of the modern religious sects attribute the cause of all diseases to the works of the devil.
"Witch balls" were often found. These were small balls made from the hair of a cow, or other short-haired animal. and could be neither made nor unraveled except
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by a witch or someone in league with his Satanic Majesty. The fact is that these balls can be made by any one who has the patience to work long enough. A guest, who balanced a chair on one of its legs and rapidly revolved it, was regarded as an enemy of the family, and was at once ordered off the premises. The pioneers believed most implicitly in lucky and unlucky days. No good housewife could be per- suaded to begin the making of any article of dress on Saturday. The person for whom it was intended would never live to wear it when finished. It was thought to be a family misfortune for a child to be born on Friday, the thirteenth of any month. If the child lived, which was extremely doubtful, it would bring shame and disgrace to its parents. If a hoe was carried through a dwelling house, a death in the family would soon occur, unless it was immediately carried back with. the handle pointed towards sunrise. This reminds one of the devout Jew and the Mussulman who faced Jerusalem and Mecca when praying. The rising sun to the old pioneer indicated the homes beyond the mountains where kindred and friends dwelt.
Sassafras wood was never burned in the fireplaces of many cabin homes. The person who did this invited certain destruction of his entire household either by fire or flood. Dogs were often laid under a spell by a witch or some other person of evil nature. This was evinced by their taking the "back" track in a chase or running in the opposite direction when called. When a dog was so afflicted the Lord's prayer was written on a piece of bear skin, and after being baked in a corn pone, was fed to the dog. The roasted fore-foot of a
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raccoon eaten by the dog would start him on the right end of a trail. Cows were bewitched and gave bloody milk, or butter could not be made from it. The remedy for these conditions was to steal the suspected witch's dish rag and massage the cow's udder with it nine times when the moon was full. When a profuse hemorrhage occurred from a deep cut or other wound, a certain verse in the Bible was quoted to stop the flow of blood. This was thought to be a most excellent remedy for both man and beast. It was considered very unlucky for any one who started on a journey to return to the home for any purpose. and the hunter who counted his bullets returned empty-handed from the chase.
Misfortune followed in the footsteps of those who saw the silver crescent of the new moon for the first time through the treetops. It was equally unlucky for one to see the new moon in looking over the left shoulder. It was considered a crime to allow a baby under a year old to see its reflection in a mirror. It was thought that many a pioneer youngster was hurried into an untimely grave by this pernicious practice.
In the olden time a prosperous farmer put six hogs in a pen. and he made preparations to butcher them the next day. When he went to the pen next morning. he found them dead. The blood was splashed against the sides of the pen. but a thorough examination showed the skin unbroken. This was thought to be the work of an eccentric old lady who was accused by her neigh- bors of being a witch. This was the current belief for years by the people of the entire neighborhood. The mystery was solved by the old lady's son, who upon his
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death bed confessed that his mother had hired him to kill the hogs with a heavy club.
Two elderly pioneers were talking of witches. One of them said that he did not believe they could bewitch a person. The other one thought that it could be done. and mentioned an instance in which a gun had been "spelt." "Oh, yes," said his companion, with fine scorn, "such a little frivolous thing as a gun can be brought under their control, but with a person it is quite dif- ferent. It can't be done." Guns were often spoiled for present use, by a rival hunter, or marksman, putting a small pellet of resin in the barrel. This prevented ac- curacy in shooting, but could be easily removed by a gunsmith. A horseshoe was often nailed on the doorstep, or hung just over the door to keep witches from entering the house. They then could not enter and live.
Number IX.
The Glade country attracted the settlers very early in pioneer days. In many places there were open spaces covered with native grasses which afforded ex- cellent pasturage for stock. The land was not so heavily timbered as the Elk, the Gauley, the Holly and the Williams river valleys. Game was more plenti- ful in that region than in any locality, except in the vicinity of the Fork Lick. The oak forests supplied an abundance of food for fattening hogs. During the autumn and winter hundreds of deer fed upon the acorns. They came from long distances to that feed- ing ground. Along the bluffs of the Gauley and the Williams bears could be found in large numbers. The Indians, as late as 1772, hunted in that region, and one of their principal trails in central West Virginia passed through this hunter's paradise.
Game continued to be plentiful until after the Civil War, and in 1868 two hunters killed more than two hundred deer.
The majority of the early settlers in the Glades came from Greenbrier county, following the Indian and buf- falo trails across the mountains. The McClures, the Duefields, the Dillys, and the Greens were among the first settlers. Later came David Hanna. John Woods, the Raders and the Mortons. Descendants of these families are numbered among the most progressive citi- zens of Webster and Nicholas counties.
Samuel Given sold his farm in Pocahontas county in 1835, and brought his wife and five children across the
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Yew mountains by way of the Williams river. He camped the first night at the mouth of Tea creek. The scream of the panther and the howl of the wolf made the night hideous, especially for the children. The journey was continued the next day by way of Straight creek and the Gauley. The second night was spent with John Miller, who had settled a few years before near the mouth of Miller Mill run. This night was spent in better cheer than the previous one. They had the best of backwoods fare, and the soft skins of wild animals made them excellent beds.
Mr. Miller was a good hunter and especially success- ful in a bear chase, as he always kept a number of the very best dogs. He was a good farmer and he owned one bottom containing one hundred acres. He broke the ground with an old-fashioned, wooden mold-board turning plow, much used at that time. On the third day the Given family landed at the farm purchased of the McClures. This land had been patented in 1786 and lay south of the Harrison-Greenbrier county line. Upper Glade postoffice is located on a part of the Given farm. Given was a man of great industry and soon had his farm in a fine state of cultivation. He became one of the largest individual land owners in Nicholas county, but his land was situated in what is now Web- ster county. At the beginning of the Civil War he went to Augusta, his native county, where he died and was buried near the Mossy Creek Church, in which he worshiped when a young man. He was the father of eight children, four boys and four girls, all of whom grew to manhood and womanhood.
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Austin Hollister, of Washington, Connecticut, mar- ried Margaret, a daughter of Samuel Given. He first settled in Pocahontas county in 1840. While there he purchased the Price land, being a part of a thousand acre tract patented by Arbuckle in 1286. The old Hollister farm, between Cowen and Upper Glade, is a noted landmark of the county. By purchase and patent he obtained thousands of acres of wild land. He was Chief Justice of Nicholas county for three years. He was survived by five sons, whose names, from the simi- larity of sound, when used in pairs. have often proved perplexing to strangers. His eldest son, Walter, held many positions of trust in the county of Webster, and was recognized as being a surveyor of marked ability.
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X. FORMATION AND ORGANIZATION OF WEBSTER COUNTY.
The early settlers of the Elk valley were far removed from a seat of justice. It was forty or fifty miles to the county seat of Randolph county and almost as far to that of Braxton county. A great many citizens were practically disfranchised, as it was twenty-five miles to the nearest voting place. In 1841 a petition signed by Benjamin Hamrick, James Hamrick, William G. Greg- ory, William Hamrick, Isaac G. Dodrill, William F. Hamrick, Isaac Hamrick, and Joseph Gregory, was sent to the Virginia Assembly, praying for specified changes in the lines of Braxton and Randolph counties so as to make the petitioners subject to Nicholas county. While this change did not bring them in close proximity to a court house, it gave them a better road over which to travel and obviated the necessity of ford- ing the Elk so many times, which was very dangerous during a flood.
The movement for the formation of a new county out of parts of Nicholas, Braxton and Randolph began in 1848. In compliance with the law of Virginia, a notice was posted on the front door of the court house of the three counties concerned, stating the intention of the citizens to ask the General Assembly for the creation of a new county. Thomas Miller took the notice to Braxton county and Adonijah Harris posted the notice in Nicholas. It is not known who posted the notice in Randolph, but an affidavit made by Christopher Hamrick stated that he saw the notice posted in October, 1848. Polls were opened at the various voting precincts in Braxton in the autunm of
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1851. The election returns of but one voting place in Nicholas is available at this time. This election was held at the home of Mrs. Mary Arthur at Fork Lick on December 8, 1851. There were nineteen votes polled and each voter cast his vote in favor of the new county. The following is a list of the voters: Benjamin Ham- rick. John Lynch, Isaac Hamrick. Robert Gregory, Mathew Given, George Cogar, Peter L. Cogar, Archi- bald Cogar, Thomas Cogar. John C. Paign (Payne), Joel Dobbins. Levi C. Hall, Thomas M. Renals (Reynolds). Adonijah Harris, William Given, Addison M. Hamrick, Robert E. Given. John C. Hall, and A. M. Whitman. John Lynch. Adonijah Harris and William Given acted as commissioners of election. Addison M. Hamrick. clerk, and A. M. Whitman, sheriff. This was the first election ever held in Webster Springs.
In 1852 a petition signed by John Lynch, Jr., and about two hundred others was presented to the General Assembly. but it was rejected. Another effort for a new county was made in 1859. A few interested men took the responsibility of arranging the preliminaries. Such men as Adam G. Lynch. Wilson Arthur and Richard A. Arthur led the movement. Adam G. Lynch. at his own expense, posted the proper notices in Nicholas. Braxton and Pocahontas counties. This was no small undertaking in that day. The following petition was presented to the General Assembly in De- cember, 1859 :
"To the General Assembly of Virginia, Assembled :
"We, the citizens of parts of the counties of Ran- dolph. Nicholas and Braxton Liveing from forty to
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fifty miles from our Court Houses having mountains and Rivers very difficult to contend with, we ask your Honorable body to Grant us a new county out of parts of the counties of Randolph, Nicholas and Braxton and the Boundary to be as follows towit.
Beginning at the forks of Little Kanawha thence a Straight line to the corner of Upshur Randolph and Braxton Counties, thence a straight line to the turkey Bone Knob thence a straight line to the Whiitaker Rock on Elk River thence a straight Line By the way of the three forks of Gauley River to the Pocahontas line and withe said line to a point opposite the mouth of Stroud's Creek thence a straight line by the mouth of Stroud's Creek to the mouth of Skiles creek on Birch River thence a straight line to the Halfway point on Holly River, thence a straight line to the Beginning. The county seat of said new county to be at Fork Lick on Elk River Between Elk River and the Back fork of Elk.
Wilson Arthur, Adam G. Lynch, Sr., John Lynch, Jr., John Lynch, Sr., Isaac G. Lynch, Richard Arthur, Alfred R. Miller, Robert P. Miller, George W. Payne, Wm. Cogar, John W. Arthur, Zackariah Woods, Cur- rence Gregory, Wm. P. King, John C. Payne, Thomas J. Miller. Addison M. Hamrick, John Phares, Christopher Shrader, Samuel Tharp. Jeremiah Brown, Cornelius G. Cool, Benjamin Cogar, L. B. Cool. Chris- tain B. Ware, John B. McCourt, Thos. Belknap. I. W. Cool. Elijah Skidmore, Thomas Cogar, John McGuire. H. C. Moore, C. Hamrick, Benj. Hamrick, John R. Cogar, G. W. Miller, M. W. Howell, A. Cogar. James M. Hamrick, A. C. Hamrick, F. S. Cline, F. M. Payne,
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Adam Gregory, John Grannen, Thomas J. Cogar,
George Dodrill, Suthermore, Solomon Grigsby, Nathaniel Arters (Arthur), Thomas M. Arthur, John C. Cool, Silas Cogar, Wm. R. Arters (Arthur), George Lynch. John L. Arthurs, Wm. R. Lynch, Perry Greg- ory. John Skidmore, Allen Hamrick, Marshall Ham- rick. James Pritt, Wesley Pritt, I. Y. Gregory, W. G. Hamrick, Fielding McClung, D. M. Mclaughlin. A. G. J. Burns, Daniel H. Perdue, Samuel C. Miller, A. F. Fisher, Andrew Woods, J. E. Hall, Tobias Size- more. Franklin Pritt, Walter Cool, William W. Clif- ton, James Salisbury, Wm. Given, Archibald Cogar, George Cogar, Peter Cogar, Tobias Cogar, Jesse Payne, Isaac Mynes, Adam G. Hamrick, Arthur M. Bickel, Samuel Brady, John W. Arthur, C. M. Dodrill, Wm. T. M. Chapman, Adam G. Gregory, Benjamin Hamrick, Wm. Griffin. James Harris, Adonijah Harris. Taylor Sutton.
It will be seen by a careful examination of the peti- tion that the pioneers were somewhat short on orthog- raphy, capitalization and punctuation, but they knew what they wanted, and they took the proper steps to get it. No vote was taken in the counties interested in the formation in 1859, because consent had been given in the election of 1851.
The following is Chapter 47 of the Acts of the Virginia General Assembly of the session of 1859-60:
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