USA > West Virginia > Harrison County > Clarksburg > The Shawnee trail : program : an historical pageant presented at Clarksburg, West Virginia, June 13 and 15, 1923 > Part 5
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The stage coach era heralded the age of advanced road building, but these macadamized roads were few and far between. Many road- ways were widened and graded, but they remained dirt roads, and a few plank roads were built. Hosts of road and turnpike companies sprang up in the first half of the nineteenth century.
When Washington crossed the North Branch of the Potomac on the twenty-sixth day of October, 1784, at McCulloch's crossing, he was on the track of what should be, a generation later, the Virginia highway across the Appalachian system to the Ohio basin. All told, Virginia had accomplished more in the way of road building into the old central West than all the other colonies combined, but not one inch of either of these great thoroughfares lay through Virginia territory when independence was secured and the individual states began their struggle for existence. It was Washington's dream, but he died with- out its fulfillment.
The Northwestern Turnpike
However, the beginning of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, in 1825, stirred Virginia to action, and on the twenty-seventh of Febru- ary, 1827, the General Assembly passed an act to incorporate the "Northwestern Road Company."
A mistake which doomed this plan to failure was the arbitrarily outlining a road by way of certain towns without due consideration of
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the nature of the country between them. When the engineers got through Hampshire county by way of Mill Creek Gap, in Mill Creek mountain, and on into Preston county, insurmountable obstacles were encountered, and it was reported that the road would never reach Kingwood.
From that moment the road languished, and only the intervention of the state saved it. In 1831 a new act was passed by the Virginia Assembly, unique in character for its provisions. This was an act to "provide for the construction of a turnpike road from Winchester to some point on the Ohio river." The governor was made president of the company, and he, with the treasurer, attorney general and second auditor, were constituted a board of directors.
The roadway was soon built, and not being dependent upon the stock that might be collected in the larger towns, the road made peace with the mountains, and was built through the southern part of Pres- ton county, leaving Kingwood some miles to the north. At each stretch of twenty miles, toll gates were to be erected, where the usual tolls were to be collected and the sum so raised to be paid into the State Board of Public Works, and the road to be a public highway forever.
In an old letter, dated September 13, 1835, written to a minister in Philadelphia from the Presbyterian church in Clarksburg, we find the following :
"We have a few days since received a letter from the Rev. Mr. Fairchild, who resides at Smithfield, Fayette county, Penn., in which he states that on the Monday before the third Sabbath of November next, himself and the Rev. Mr. Stonerode, of Uniontown, Penn., will be at this place to hold a four days' meeting and administer the sacra- ment. It would give us much pleasure if you could be here also. If you were to leave Philadelphia on the receipt of this letter and travel by the stage, you might be at this place within three weeks of this time. Your route would be to Baltimore, to Frederick, Hagerstown, Hancock, Cumberland, Uniontown, Smithfield, Morgantown, and then to Clarksburg."
This gives a fair idea of the time it took to make the journey, as well as the fortitude of these early ministers. A three weeks' trip, by stage, to attend a four days' meeting, in a small village of "from 600 to 700 inhabitants" in a county of 15,000 !!
In the days when the Northwestern Turnpike was created by leg- islative enactment, railways were only being dreamed of, and the promoters of railways were considered insane when they hinted that the mountains could be conquered by the steam engine.
But the Northwestern Turnpike was the last roadway built from the seaboard to the West in the hope of securing commercial suprem- acy, and its decline and decay marks the end of pioneer road building across the first great American divide. Being started so late in the century, the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, which was completed to Cumberland in 1845, stopped in a large part the busy scenes of the Northwestern Turnpike.
The Baltimore and Ohio depot was established at Clarksburg in 1856 at the East and continued there for forty years, and removed
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to its present location in 1898. It does not take a great stretch of memory to recall the old "bus" driven by Edward Nuzum, which called for passengers to the depot, at any time in either day or night, and the sight of the light of this old vehicle as it came down the "pike" was a sign that the "train was in" and "all's well!"
Development of Salt Works
No great production of salt was undertaken in Harrison county, though it was manufactured in small quantities in almost every county in the state. The first salt well in West Virginia was drilled by Joseph and David Ruffner in 1808 on the bank of the Kanawha river at Charleston. Before that time sale had been made there from water collected in shallow holes. As early as 1753, and no doubt earlier, the Indians manufactured salt on the banks of this river. They boiled the water by collecting it in troughs and dropping hot rocks in it.
When white people first began to make salt at that place they used iron kettles in which to boil it, and in consequence, the iron and other chemicals which it contained, gave the salt a red color. It was good salt, and the belief was that red salt was the best, and buyers often asked for it and bought it in preference to the purified article. The salt manufactures became the largest in the country. It was first sold at ten cents per pound, but in 1808 the price was reduced to four cents. The furnaces were fed with wood during the earlier years, and then coal was discovered and made use of. It was for the salt wells themselves to discover their best fuel, and to be the real discoverers of the greatest fuel yet found in West Virginia.
The first gas well discovered, to which any practical use was made, was bored by salt makers on the banks of the Kanawha in 1845. The borers sought salt-but found gas, and used the fuel thus found to boil the brine. The first use of natural gas in the United States was in West Virginia.
John Haymond and Benjamin Wilson commenced the manufacture of salt in Braxton county in 1809, but discontinued it in 1823, when it became cheaper to buy it than to make it. A great quantity was made during the war with Great Britain.
The First Church
The Rev. James Sutton, a Baptist minister, came to Bridgeport about 1774, and organized the Simpson Creek Baptist church, with five members, and this organization has continued with an unbroken history to the present day, and is probably the oldest church within the state, west of the Allegheny mountains. This church grew, and in June, 1784, it was determined two meeting houses should be built, one at Bridgeport, the other on Elk Creek, (the present Hopewell church.)
From its organization, this church belonged to the Ketocton As- sociation, until 1802, when Union Association, (with this and eight other churches), was organized, and this church has remained a mem- ber of Union Association for more than one hundred and twenty years.
This church is now occupying the fourth church building, and has had twenty-six pastors. From its membership six other churches
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have been organized and eleven men licensed and ordained to preach the gospel.
The Baptists were the first to organize and build a church in Clarksburg. About the same year the town took its name, the Meth- odists organized a church, and this organization has continued and is now known as The First Methodist Episcopal Church of Clarksburg.
Stonewall Jackson
In writing of these early days, we must give especial mention to the greatest of Clarksburg's sons-General Thomas Jonathan Jackson -"Stonewall Jackson," as he is familiarly known.
His father, Jonathan Jackson, was a son of John Jackson and Elizabeth Cummings Jackson, whose names were among that heroic group that blazed the way for those of us who come after, in the dan- gerous and trying days of the Indian wars. John Jackson and his sons bore arms in the War of Independence.
Jonathan Jackson and his wife, Julia Beckwith Neale, began housekeeping in a brick cottage of three rooms, in the village of Clarksburg. It was in this modest cottage that Thomas J. Jackson, one of the greatest military geniuses the world ever saw, was born on January 21, 1824. When his father died three years later, every ves- tige of his property was swept away, and the young widow, left with three small children, two sons and a daughter, became dependent on the assistance of her relatives for a livelihood.
When Thomas was six years old, his mother re-married a Captain Woodson, but she died within a year, leaving the boy a penniless or- phan. To the latest hours of his life he loved to recall her memory, and her influence always remained. After her death the children found a home with their father's brother, Cummings Jackson, who owned a farm in Lewis county. Life on the farm was a difficult one, and edu- cation was hard to obtain, but the boy's ambition was intense to secure an education and "prove himself worthy of his forefathers."
Before he was nineteen his hopes were unexpectedly realized. The Military Academy at West Point not only provided a sound and liberal education, but offered an opening to an honorable career. In 1842 a vacancy occurred which was to be filled by a youth from the district in which Clarksburg was situated, and Jackson resolved to secure the appointment. Many objected saying that he had not suffi- cient education to even enter the Academy, but he replied that he had the necessary application, and he hoped that he had the capacity, and he was resolved to try. Mr. Hayes, the congressman from the district, was so impressed by the courage and earnestness of the young appli- cant that he promised to do all in his power for him.
Not waiting for further word, young Jackson determined to go at once to Washington in order that he might be ready to proceed to West Point without a moment's delay. Packing a few clothes in a pair of saddle bags, he mounted his horse and rode off to catch the coach at Clarksburg. It had already passed, but galloping on, he overtook it at Bridgeport, and arrived in due time at Washington. Mr. Hayes at once introduced him to the secretary of war, and begged indulgence for him, on account of his pluck and determination. So good was the impression that he then and there received the appointment.
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Lord Roberts, commander-in-chief of the British army, said: "In my opinion Stonewall Jackson was one of the greatest natural military geniuses the world ever saw. I will go even further than that-as a campaigner in the field he never had a superior. In some respects I doubt if he ever had an equal."
Although General Jackson's residence in Clarksburg was limited to his early childhood, he was ever deeply attached to the town of his nativity-was always interested in, and in touch with its citizens, and the happenings there. He always counted among his warmest friends so many of Clarksburg's distinguished citizens that it would be a task to enumerate them. Jackson's high character as a man, his sincerity, his honesty, and unswerving truthfulness, entire freedom from the slightest trace of evasion in any form, his utter detestation of hypoc- racy, his absolute devotion to his friends, his unflinching sense of justice toward an enemy, are among the traits for which his home people may well hold him in admiration. While the world honors him as a soldier, the great pride of his own people is in the sending forth from their midst one who developed into such a lofty character.
At the age of 26, Jackson wrote, "Rather than violate the known will of God, I would forfeit my life-such a resolution I have taken, and will abide by it, and mean to live by it."
If General Jackson were living, he would regard as his greatest achievement the number of souls that had been led to the Master through his instrumentality in the example which his soldiers had daily before them, of a considerate, kindly commander, living a spot- less life among them, placing his whole trust in his Creator, leading them from victory to victory, he so endeared himself to them, that they hungered for some of that same kind of religion-they sought after it, and got it, and became invincible. They carried that same brand of religion into their homes; their kindred became imbued with it; their descendants inherited it; and thus the influence of the quiet, godly man is still at work, bearing fruit today.
He loved God first, next his fellowman. He was as modest as a woman, and could be as gentle as a little child. His life was a lesson to the student, and an example for all mankind-an enigma alone to the heedless and thoughtless.
The fame of Stonewall Jackson is no longer the exclusive property of Virginia and the South; it has become the birthright of every man privileged to call himself American.
-MISS EMMA K. DAVIS
Lumbering
On the advent of the first white people into Northwestern Vir- ginia, the greater portion of which lies in the former confines of Harri- son county, nearly the whole land area was covered with primeval for- ests of large trees, with the exception of here and there a small plot of land, which in some manner had been denuded of its trees, and which were called by the early settlers "Old Fields." These old fields may have been caused by fires, originating from camp fires, burning or killing the timber and ere that portion of the land could again grow its trees it probably was seized upon by the Indians or other aborigines
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and planted with Indian corn or other crops, and in that manner pre- vented from reforestation.
On the cold mountain ridges and plateaus, in the deep river gorges, and along the banks of the cool mountain streams were the cone- bearing trees-the hemlock, the pines, the balsam fir and the red spruce. With these, and covering thousands of acres of cove and hill and river bottoms, were the giant oaks, hickories and maples, and the famous yellow poplar, black walnut and wild cherry, intermingled with numerous other broad leaf trees, sought in after years for their valuable lumber and fruits. These trees had grown and flourished and reached maturity, like thousands of their ancestors, undisturbed and unused except by the savage races and the wild animals that then lived in this otherwise uninhabited region.
When our forefathers came into this wilderness country and set themselves to the task of building homes and clearing the lands for their crops of vegetables and grain, they found the forest a great detriment if not almost a menace to their welfare, yet this same forest proved a storehouse for many of the necessities of life.
While some of the trees had to be felled and burned to get them out of the way, many others were used to build their cabins and other out-buildings, yet the earliest method of getting ground for growing crops was to girdle the trees with fire, which killed them but left their giant skeletons standing, through which the sun was enabled to shine and grow and ripen the vegetables and crops required for the suste- nance of the settler and his family. In this manner many millions of feet of timber of the finest grade was entirely destroyed, while many, many trees were felled with the ax and rolled together and burned to get rid of them entirely. However, this timber afforded indispensible material for the construction of dwellings and the manufacture of rude implements and tools. Thus it was that the products of the forest first came to be utilized and forest industries were begun with the earliest settlements.
The story of the gradual but marvelous development of the vari- ous industries directly dependent upon the products of the forest can be traced through years in which farms have grown wide from the first small openings and towns and cities have sprung up throughout the county.
The remarkable evolution of the devices for the manufacture of lumber is one of the best measures of the development of forest and timber industries. The adz, broad axe and frow, with which the pun- cheons and boards were shaped for the first log houses, were the fore- runners of the whip saw and the old-fashioned water saw mill. The rude hand device known as a whip saw was carried easily with other belongings of the pioneers and was used principally in the early days before heavy machinery could be brought in. The contrivance is thus described by Kerchevel's History of the Valley of Virginia:
"The whip saw was about the length of the common mill saw (referring to the saw used in water mills) with a handle at each end and transversely fixed to it. The timber intended to be sawed was first squared with a broad axe, and then raised on a scaffold six or seven feet high. The able-bodied men then took hold of the saw, one
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standing on top of the log and the other under it." The author of this history adds further on, "The labor was excessively fatiguing, and about one hundred feet of plank or scantling was considered a good day's work for two hands." In fact, this saw was very much like the hand cross-cut saw of our present day.
Whip sawing early gave place, in many sections, to the manufac- ture of lumber on water-power saw mills. Two types of mills belong- ing to this class were in existence-the sash saw mill and the muley saw, the latter introduced later was less cumbersome and capable of more rapid work.
The first saw mill built west of the Allegheny mountains was built by John Minear near the town of St. George, in Tucker county, in 1776. This mill was in the original confines of Harrison county. It is not definitely known when or where the first saw mill was built in the present confines of Harrison county.
The next step in the evolution of sawing devices was the introduc- tion of steam-propelled rotary saw mills that were capable of being hauled from place to place. Later on the great band saws were intro- duced, but so far as the writer knows none of them was ever in operation in Harrison county.
During the years when the more primitive types of saw mills were running, the lists of these industries includes the making and taking down the West Fork river flat boats, which boats were made at many points along the West Fork river in Harrison county and were loaded with produce and articles of trade and floated down the river to Pitts- burgh, and from there many of them continued on down the Ohio river and even down the Mississippi river to New Orleans. Rafting logs and running them to Pittsburgh was another and probably one of the lar- gest of the timber industries in Harrison county. After the timber accessible from the river was cut, then large amounts of logs were cut along the smaller streams and floated down to the river during the spring freshets and there rafted into large rafts and run to Pittsburgh and there disposed of. All told, thousands of such rafts were trans- ported by the flood waters of the West Fork in the spring time to a ready market. Many thousands of the finest logs were cut in extra long lengths, hewn on four sides and rafted and floated to market, and sold for steam or ship timber, of which none of higher quality grew than in Harrison county. The last raft of timber known to have been floated down the West Fork river was in the spring of 1898 and was run by Melville B. Bartlett, who formerly lived near the mouth of Robinson's run.
Other branches of the timber industry were the making of staves, the hoop-pole industry, tan bark, shingles, cross ties for railroads, mine props for coal mines and telephone and telegraph poles.
So that the timber and lumber industries-beginning in a small way with the earliest settlements of the county, and increasing to their maximum production-have meant as much in the way of ben- efits to the citizens of Harrison county as any other industry carried on within its borders.
-W. GUY TETRICK
Photo by Sayre Brothers
THE FIRST WHITE SETTLERS
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The Creators of a State
1861-1863
ROTECTED by nature from being overrun by a mighty flood of colonists the country on the western slope of the Alleghanies was won by sturdy, strong hearted pioneers, leaders in thought as well as in strength-'twas from the blood of these that the Creators of our state came. On these mountainous slopes no cotton nor tobacco could be grown profitably so there was little need for slaves, and the very fight for existence that these forefathers of ours had made them appreciate freedom, independence and equality. For years the social, political and economic differences had been forcing the western part of Virginia away from the eastern part and when the Ordinance of Secession was passed and Virginia seceded from the Union, the leaders of the West could not and did not agree.
A mass meeting was held at Clarksburg with many people from all over this part of the country excitedly denouncing the Ordinance of Secession and declaring themselves for the Union. John S. Carlile, later a delegate to the Richmond Convention, was the moving spirit. A preamble was adopted which recited the occurrences to the present time, and a resolution provided for the bold step of a general conven- tion of "five delegates of the wisest, best and discreetest men" from each county to meet in Wheeling on May 13th, 1861, "to consider and determine upon such action as the people of northwestern Virginia should take in the present fearful emergency."
The eleven delegates from Harrison county were Jonn S. Carlile, Thomas L. Moore, John J. Davis, Solomon S. Fleming, Felix S. Sturm, James Lynch, William E. Lyon, Lot Bowen, Dr. Duncan, Waldo P. Goff and B. F. Shuttleworth. A few delegates from nearby counties were W. H. Williams, C. P. Rohrbaugh, Upshur county ; F. M. Chal- fant, A. S. Withers, J. W. Hudson, P. M. Hale, J. Woofter, W. L. Grant, J. A. J. Lightburn, Lewis county ; W. G. Willis, Col. Lee Roy Kramer, Waitman T. Willey, Monongalia county; Alfred Caldwell, An- drew Wilson, Colonel James S. Wheat, Ohio county ; John J. Jackson, Wood county, a distant relative of Andrew Jackson.
Twenty-six counties responded to this call by sending as their representatives men whose names have gone down in history on the Roll of Fame. Delegates marched with banners displayed, on which was inscribed, "New Virginia, Now or Never."
Carlile was determined to adopt a Constitution at once and form a government for the counties represented. Two days were spent in fierce debates, reason finally prevailed and to the honor of the future state plans were laid for another convention and the committee on state and federal relations brought in a report which was a master- piece of diplomacy.
The second convention-the Constitutional Convention-met at Wheeling November 26, 1861, and adopted the following :
"Resolved, That in view of the geographical, social and commer- cial and industrial interests of Northwestern Virginia, this convention
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is constrained in giving expression to the opinion of their constituents to declare that the Virginia Convention in assuming to change the relations of the State of Virginia to the federal government have not only acted unwisely and unconstitutionally but have adopted a policy utterly ruinous to all the material interests of our section, severing all our social ties and drying up all the channels of our trade and pros- perity."
The Constitution was finally ratified and submitted to a vote of the people April 3, 1862. It received 18,862 votes for ratification to 514 for rejection. The Virginia legislature later passed an act giving the consent of that state to the formation and erection of West Vir- ginia, in accordance with the requirements of the federal government. The State of West Virginia was formally approved by President Lin- coln and the legislature New Year's day, 1863, and became the thirty- fifth state in the Union on the twentieth day of June, 1863. -JOHN C. JOHNSON
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The Torches of Education, of Agriculture and of Industry
1864-1900
HE earlier settlers of Harrison county seemingly appreciated the importance of educational advancement and what it would mean toward advancing civilization and good citizenship among its people in this section of the state.
This county ranked high in educational pursuits shortly after it was former by the Virginia Assembly in 1784. It, however, at that time extended over a vast territory, reaching from the Maryland line to the Ohio river, with a front of sixty miles on that stream, and in- cluding the upper waters of that Monongahela river, all of the Little Kanawha and portions of the waters of the Big Kanawha.
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