USA > West Virginia > Harrison County > Clarksburg > The Shawnee trail : program : an historical pageant presented at Clarksburg, West Virginia, June 13 and 15, 1923 > Part 4
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Now Lord Dunmore undertook to raise two armies-one to be commanded by himself, to march first to Wheeling, where were Col. McDonald's 400 men, thence to the junction of the Ohio and Kanawha rivers, to meet the second army. This was to be under the command of Gen. Andrew Lewis, and was to march to meet Lord Dunmore's army via. the Greenbrier and Kanawha rivers.
Gen. Lewis at once set about forming his army, and his brother, Col. Charles Lewis, collected several hundred men in east Augusta county, so that in a short time 1400 men were on the march for their place of rendezvous at Fort Union (now Lewisburg), near the Green- brier.
But money was lacking (not Gov. Dunmore's fault this time, since the Assembly had refused to give the appropriation he asked for), and supplies were scarce, and powder and ammunition, as always, pitifully short. Even such necessities as camp kettles were hard to obtain; and what with these difficulties and the rough, unsettled country, the ab- sence of roads, the unavoidable delays in various parts of the army, it was necessary to stretch out the line of march of 1400 men over 200 miles. But by heroic exertions, the army was on the march toward Wheeling by the last of September.
By October 6 they had reached what is now Point Pleasant, where they were to join the army of Lord Dunmore; but instead of the army, Gen. Lewis found there dispatches informing him that Lord Dunmore had changed his plans (for the fourth or fifth time), and that he would march across the river to the Indian villages on the Scioto, and that Gen. Lewis should meet him at a designated place there. Preparations were at once made to continue the march, although the army was not ready for an advance, and not all the supplies had come.
The Indians, half of them being the fierce Shawnees, were under the command of the able Cornstalk. They were well supplied with ammunition and inspired by the constant war-cry of Cornstalk, "Be strong! Be strong!" They reached the banks of the Ohio soon after Gen. Lewis came.
On October 17, in obedience to still another order from Lord Dun- more, Gen. Lewis lead his army across the Ohio. Cornstalk, seeing further resistance to be hopeless, went to Gov. Dunmore and asked for peace. Lord Dunmore's terms were most humane and just, and the Indians agreed to them with alacrity. Had the whites kept their part of the agreement, all would have gone well and much needless suffer- ing and bloodshed have been spared; but this solemn treaty was soon
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followed by the treacherous murder of Cornstalk, then a hostage, and his entirely innocent son, Elinipsico.
This victory and the treaty that followed made it possible for the next two years for the men of the northwest to fight west of the Alleghanies. Armed hostilities were already in progress there, as a proclamation of the king (though dated later than this), shows or in any way aiding or abetting the persons now in open arms and rebellion against our government " and there can be no doubt that the northwestern Indians were "as much the mercenary troops of the British as the Hessians and others."
In March, 1775, the second Revolutionary Convention met in Richmond, and it was then, standing in the pew of the historic old St. John's church, that Patrick Henry made his famous speech ending, "I know not what others may think, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"
In 1777 occurred the battle of Ft. Henry, also reckoned as a battle of the Revolution. Ft. Henry was at first Ft. Fincastle, after one of the titles of Lord Dunmore; but after the flight of Dunmore from Vir- ginia, the name was changed to Ft. Henry, in honor of Patrick Henry, then governor. It stood on the site of the present city of Wheeling, and not far from the fort was the residence of Ebenezer Zane, the first settler in that region. On a day in September from 300 to 500 Indians appeared before the fort, armed by the British and lead by Simon Girty. The garrison within the fort numbered forty-two men, with an unknown number of women and girls. After fighting bravely and effectively against the besieging Indians, the supply of powder in the fort was exhausted, and a young girl, Elizabeth Zane, volunteered to go to her brother's house, about sixty yards distant, to procure some. When remonstrated with, she said that if she were killed she could be more easily spared than a man, and she was allowed to go. Strange to say, she went and returned in safety, bearing with her, tied up in a tablecloth, the precious powder. Thus the defense was continued, and the Indians finally driven away.
But Harrison county was not formed until 1784, and Clarksburg was established in 1785, so that while this section fought bravely against the Indians, and suffered much at their hands, it was too far away and too sparsely settled to have any part in the stirring events of the Revolution, unless in individual cases.
As West Virginians, we claim a part in the glory of Virginia. Virginia was the first state to adopt a constitution; the first to recom- mend a declaration of independence; the Declaration was written by a Virginian; George Washington, a Virginian, was the commander-in- chief of the army and became the first president of the United States; Virginia's men were in the field for eight long years, beginning with the battle of Point Pleasant; the men who fought this battle were all Virginians; "Virginia gave to the service of the Revolution the elo- quence of Henry, the pen of Jefferson, the sword of Washington."
-MRS. JOHN A. PRESTON
CLARKSBURG COMMUNITY SERVICE
Harrison County Formed
1784-1800
N 1734, in the reign of King Charles, the County of Orange was formed and for want of knowledge of the country west of the Blue Ridge, the western boundaries of the country were describ- ed as extending westerly to the limits of Virginia, and in November, 1738, under the reign of King George II, that portion of the county of Orange lying beyond the Blue Ridge to the "Western Limits" of Vir- ginia, was divided into two counties by a line to run from the head spring of Hedgeman river to the head spring of the Potomac river, and that part of the said territory lying to the southwest of said line and beyond the top of the Blue Ridge was called the county of Augusta. That part of Augusta county lying west of the Allegheny mountains became known as the "District of West Augusta."
The General Assembly of Virginia in 1776 passed an act dividing the District of West Augusta into three distinct counties called Ohio, Monongalia and Yohogania, and the present territory of Harrison county was left within the bounds of Augusta county, and in 1779 the mountain region of Augusta county lying on the head of Elk river, Tygarts valley and Cheat river (embracing the present limits of Harrison county), was added to Monongalia.
In May, 1784, the General Assembly passed an act forming the County of Harrison out of the County of Monongalia, providing that from and after the twentieth day of July next, that that part of Mo- nongalia county lying south of a line beginning on the Maryland line at Fork Ford on the land of John Goff, thence a direct course to the head waters of Big Sandy creek, thence down said creek to Tygarts valley of Monongalia river, thence down the same to the mouth of West Fork river, thence up the same to the mouth of Bingamon creek, (the present Harrison and Marion line), thence up said creek to the
line of Ohio county ; that a court for the said County of Harrison shall be held by the justices named in the commission of peace for said coun- ty on the third Tuesday in every month after such division shall take place as is provided by law for other counties; that the said justices shall meet at the house of George Jackson at Bush's old fort on Buck- hannon river in said county upon the first court day after the said division shall take place, and having taken the oath prescribed by law and administered the oath of office to, and taken bond of the sheriff, proceed to appoint and qualify a clerk and fix upon a place for holding court in said county, at or as near the center thereof as the situation and convenience will admit of, and shall proceed to erect the necessary public buildings at such place.
In January, 1800, the legislature added a portion of Ohio county to Harrison, beginning with the mouth of the West Fork river, thence with a northwest course to Buffalo creek, and up the same and its main forks, and then with the line of Ohio county to Harrison, and in 1804, another portion of Ohio county was added to Harrison, extend- ing the line farther north and west so as to include a part of what is now Doddridge and Tyler counties.
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Harrison county as thus formed included either wholly or par- tially the following named counties: Randolph, Barbour, Marion, Pleasants, Jackson, Calhoun, Braxton, Pocahontas, Lewis, Tucker, Taylor, Wood, Wirt, Gilmer, Upshur, Webster, Ritchie, Tyler and Doddridge.
Thus it will be seen that the present territory of Harrison county has at various times been included in Orange, Augusta, District of West Augusta and Monongalia counties.
All the records made prior to the formation of the county were a part of the records of Monongalia and were destroyed when its court house was burned in 1796.
Pursuant to the act of the General Assembly forming the county of Harrison, John P. Duval, Benjamin Wilson, William Lowther, James Anderson, Henry Delay, Nicholas Carpenter, William Robinson, John Powers, Thomas Cheney, Jacob Westfall, Salathiel Goff and Patrick Hamilton, justices named by the governor in a commission, met at the house of George Jackson on Buckhannon river on the 20th day of July, 1784, and William Lowther presented a commission from his excellency, the Governor, appointing him sheriff of the county, and he entered into a bond, with Benjamin Wilson as security and took the oath of allegiance to the commonwealth and oath of office as directed by law.
Benjamin Wilson was chosen clerk of the court of said county and likewise took the oath. The court being thus organized transacted the following business :
William Haymond was recommended to his excellency, the Gov- ernor, as the proper person to fill the office as principal surveyor, and James Anderson and Nicholas Carpenter were likewise recommended as the proper persons to fill the office of coroner, and John P. Duval as the proper person to be county lieutenant, and Benjamin Wilson, col- onel, Henry Delay, lieutenant colonel, and William Robinson, major.
On the same day it was ordered that Clarksburg be the place for erecting the public buildings for the county, and that one-quarter of an acre of land or lot No. 8, formerly belonging to Daniel Davisson be appropriated for the purpose of erecting the public buildings upon, together with one-quarter of an acre, or lot No. 7, formerly belonging to Joseph Hastings, adjoining thereto, be applied to the aforesaid pur- pose, and these two men agreed in open court to make a deed in fee simple for said land to the present court and their successors so long as the court house and other buildings shall continue thereon.
The court ordered that the sheriff summon twenty-four free- holders for the grand jury of inquest for the body of the county to appear at the next November court.
Ordered that George Jackson, John McCally, John Sleeth, John Wilson, Cornelius Westfall, John Goodwin, Edward Jackson, Benjamin Robinson, John Prunty and Robert Maxwell are proper persons to be recommended to the governor to fill the office of justice of the peace for said county.
Ordered that Salathial Goff, James Anderson, Henry Delay, Jacob Westfall, Patrick Hamilton, Thomas Cheney, William Robinson and John Sleeth are appointed to celebrate the rites of matrimony.
CLARKSBURG COMMUNITY SERVICE
Ordered that Charles Harris, Obediah Davisson, James Runyan, Michael Johnson, Jacob Riffee, John Currence and Mathius Whiteman be appointed constables, and to appear at the next term of court to be sworn in.
Ordered that George Jackson has a good and just right to build a mill on his premises in or adjoining Clarksburg on Elk river, so that said Jackson doth not effect any other person's land.
John Powers, Benjamin Coplin and Christopher Carpenter were appointed surveyors of certain roads named to be laid out.
Ordered that the court do meet at the house of Hezikiah Davis- son at Clarksburg at the next court day, and that court adjourned until the next court day.
Thus these sturdy men, clad in their rude dress of the frontier, consisting of hunting shirt, leggings and moccasins, organized the county and establishing a government for the people in the wilderness, and having discharged their duty well and intelligently, mounted their horses and, with their rifles close at hand, struck out by various paths and trails through the woods to their cabins and unprotected families.
The first court house was erected on the lot at the intersection of Main and Second streets, and the jail on the opposite side of the street where the First Presbyterian church now stands. The court house was built high enough above the ground, and was built on pillows to afford a place under the same for the hitching of horses.
The First Jury Trial
The first court trial in Harrison county was on the seventeenth day of August, 1784, between John Wolfe as plaintiff, and Alexander Maxwell, as defendant. It appears that three witnesses were exam- ined by the court and judgment was rendered in favor of the plaintiff for three pounds and costs.
The first jury trial for the county was on the eighteenth day of November, 1784, in the suit of Sarah Currence against Barbary Shaver for a trespass. The jury was composed of Ebenezer Petty, Adam O'Brien, Edmon Night, Alexander Davisson, Francis States, Louis Duval, Thomas McCann, Charles Harris, Hezikiah Davisson, William Haymond, William Tanner and John Cutright, who returned a verdict for the plaintiff for six pence damages, which in our money today is eight and one-third cents.
The court in the first year of the county's history transacted many matters of business of great importance in that day, and of much interest to the reader of the present time, but space does not here permit even the enumeration of them.
Clarksburg
The first white man known to have visited the present site of Clarksburg, was John Simpson, who located his camp on the West Fork river, opposite the mouth of Elk creek, in what is now Stealey Heights. In 1772, other settlers began to locate their land nearby, and in 1773, Daniel Davisson located and took up 400 acres on which the principal part of the town is now located.
The next year found the following persons settled in the neigh- borhood:
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Daniel Davisson, Obadiah Davisson, Amaziah Davisson, Samuel Cottrill, Andrew Cottrill, Thomas Nutter, John Nutter, Matthew Nut- ter, Sotha Hickman and Samuel Beard. At a meeting of the settlers held probably in 1778, one of the Shinns suggested the town be named after General George Rogers Clark, who had gained great fame in the Indian wars and the war of the Revolution.
In October, 1795, the General Assembly of Virginia passed an act establishing the town of Clarksburg in the county of Harrison, nam- ing William Haymond, Nicholas Carpenter, John Myers, John Mc- Cally and John Davisson, as trustees of the town, and further provided that one-half acre of ground, either in one or two separate parcels shall be laid off by said trustees, and appropriated for erecting the court house and other public buildings. Said trustees were given power to lay off as many lots, streets and alleys as to them seemed convenient for the building of said town, and that the possessors of any lots in said town shall forfeit the same, unless he build one dwell- ing house of at least 16 feet square, either of stone, brick, frame or hewed logs with a stone or brick chimney by the first day of January, 1790. This time was afterwards extended for three years by an act of the General Assembly, and later again extended for five years.
When the town was selected as the county seat in 1784, there were two rows of cabins extending from where the court house now stands to the Jackson house east of Elk creek, the site of which is now occupied by residence of Paul M. Robinson.
Clarksburg was incorporated by an act of the General Assembly passed March 15, 1849, in which act the boundaries were given and in 1870 the town authorities accepted Chapter 47 of the Code and was governed under that chapter until 1897, when the town was given a special charter by an act of the legislature. In 1917, the legislature gave the city a new charter with a commission form of government, and enlarging the boundaries so as to include the towns of Adamston, Broad Oaks, Northview and Stealey Heights, and in 1921, the legisla- ture enacted the present charter or city manager form of government.
In the early days the manufacturing and business interest of the town was principally located on what is known now as Mechanic street, and Pike street was known as North Back street.
-HARVEY W. HARMER
CLARKSBURG COMMUNITY SERVICE
Progress of the Early Years
Modes of Travel
HE first phase of road making was the broadening of the Indian trail, by the passing of wider loads over it. (The Indian, so far as is known, never lifted his finger to make his paths better in any one respect.)
The beginning of the pack horse era was announced by the need of greater quantities of merchandise and provisions in the West to which these paths led.
Probably by 1750 three routes, and only three, running through Pennsylvania and New York were made broader and deeper. We speak relatively when we use the term "broader," for it was only sufficiently so to enable the horses to meet and pass without danger to their loads, and the wider and deeper these few roads became, the narrower and softer the lesser trails became.
Of this pack saddle era, little has been written, and it may be well to quote from Doddridge's notes a description of it:
"The acquisition of the indispensable articles of salt, iron, steel and castings presented great difficulties to the first settlers of the western country. They had no stores of any kind-no salt, no iron, and no money to make purchases where the articles could be obtained. Every family collected what peltry and furs they could obtain through- out the year, for the purpose of sending them over the mountains for barter. In the fall of the year after seeding time, every family formed an association with their neighbors for starting the little caravan. The horses were fitted out with pack saddles, to the latter part of which was fastened a pair of hobbles made of hickory withe. A bell and collar ornamented their necks. The bags provided for the convey- ance of the salt were filled with feed for the horses on the journey, and part of this feed was left at convenient stages on the way down to provide for the return trip. Large wallets filled with bread, jerk, boiled bacon and cheese were for the refreshment of the drivers. At night, after feeding, the horses were turned out, and the bells were opened. Each horse carried back two bushels of alum salt, weighing eighty-four pounds to the bushel.
"The caravan route from the Ohio river to Frederick, Md., cross- ed stupendous ranges of mountains, the path scarcely two feet wide, and travelling by horses in single file, over hill and dale, through moun- tain defile, over craggy steeps, around dizzy heights, where one false step might hurl horse and rider into the abyss below. To prevent such accidents the bulky baggage was removed in passing the dan- gerous places, to secure the horses from being thrown from their scanty foothold. The horses with their packs were marched in single file, the foremost led by the leader of the caravan while each successive horse was tethered to the pack saddle of the horse behind him. A driver followed behind to keep his eye upon the whole.
"The pack horses used to carry bars of iron on their backs, crooked over and around their bodies-barrels and kegs were hung on each side of these."
Photo by Ideal Studio
CHIEFS OF THE SHAWNEE TRIBE
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Wheeled Vehicles
First in the van came the great clumsy cart, having immensely high and solid wooden wheels. These were obtained by taking a thin slice from the butt of the greatest log that could be found in good con- dition, or by being built piecemeal by rude carpenters. These great wheels would go safely wherever oxen could draw them, many of their hubs being three feet from the ground. Thus the body of the cart would clear any ordinary brook or river at any ford which horses or oxen could cross. No rocks could severely injure such a vehicle and no rut could disturb its solid dignity. These solid carts could proceed nearly on the ancient bridle path of the pack horse age. Changes were necessary, however, where marshy places were found, for the carts chose the lower ground and the road was often a veritable "slough of despond." Every great road had its "wet" and "dry" route. In one of the earlier road laws it was ordered that in wet and miry places the road should be laid out "six or ten rods in width," though ordinarily ten to twelve feet was considered a fair width.
By 1785 the great freight traffic by means of wagons had fully begun across the Alleghenies at many points. It is doubtful if any- where else in the United States wagoners did such a thriving business as on the three or four trans-Allegheny routes between the year 1785 and 1850, and another change was necessary in the construction of the roads. The wagons and carts could not climb the heights possible for the pack horse. The lower grounds were therefore chosen, and the wet regions were made passable by corduroying-laying logs closely together to form a solid roadbed. Those in charge of the wagons of course were most interested in keeping the roads passable, and when bad spots were found, they either skirted them or "corduroyed." After the passage of one wagon, the rains would probably obliterate his effort at road repair, and the next victim would push his unwilling horses into an "unfathomed sea." In many cases the bottom just "fell out" and many a driver lost his load in the "bottomless pit." Since the advent of the wagon was very obnoxious to the pack horse men, these difficulties were only the just reward of their interference with the trade of honest men!
A description of the old road freighter is interesting. Its bed was long and deep, bending upward at the bottom at either end. The lower broad side was painted blue, with a movable board inserted above painted red. The top covering was white canvass and drawn over wooden bows. Many of the wagoners hung bells on a thin iron arch over the hames of the harness. The wheels of the freighter were of a size to the rest of the wagon. The first wagons used on the old roads had narrow rims, but it was not long before the broad rims came into use by those who made a business of freighting. The nar- row rims were always used by farmers. Tolls were less for broad wheels than for narrow ones, because of the less wear on the roadbed. (One ingenious inventor planned a wagon which would pass the toll gates free. It had the rear axle four inches shorter than the front,
making a track eight inches in width.) Nine horses were hitched to this wagon, three abreast.
CLARKSBURG COMMUNITY SERVICE
The day of the freighter and the corduroy road was a brighter one for the expanding nation than that of the pack horse, and the advent of the stage coach was as much in advance of both as the steam boat was in advance of the barge in river traffic.
The social disturbance caused by the introduction of coaches on the pioneer roads gives us a glimpse of road conditions to be gained in no other way.
Many historians give incidents showing the anger of the more important pack horse lines across the continent, at the coming of the stage. Coaches were overturned and passengers maltreated, horses were chastized and personal property ruined, and there was no lack of debate on the question of whether the stage coach was a sign of advancement or deterioration.
Mails could not be carried so rapidly by coach as by a horseman, and when messages of importance were sent, they were always sent by an express rider.
The advent of the wagon and coach promised to throw hundreds of men out of employment. Business was improved, but fewer hands were necessary.
Again, the horses which formerly carried the freight of America on their backs, were not strong enough to draw heavy loads on either wagon or coach. They were ponies-they could carry a few score pounds with great skill over blind paths, but they could not draw heavy wagons. So, hundreds of pack horse owners saw alarming de- preciation of their property when great, fine coach horses were shipped in to carry freight and passenger loads. So it has ever been-conser- vatism dreading the advent of progress!
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