USA > West Virginia > Randolph County > The history of Randolph County, West Virginia. From its earliest settlement to the present, embracing records of all the leading families, reminiscences and traditions > Part 36
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MOUNTAINS AND VALLEYS OF RANDOLPH.
The flint ledge on the head of Elkwater was discovered by Claude W. Max- well, of Tucker County, while collecting material for this History of Ran- dolph.
RANDOLPH SALT SULPHUR SPRINGS. .
Sixteen miles south of Beverly are the Salt Sulphur Springs. When the country was first settled, deer, buffalo and elk frequented the place for the salt. In 1841 Peter and Currence Conrad began the boring of a well there for the purpose of making salt. They went down 572 feet, but the sulphur in the water injured the salt. They tried to shut out the sulphur water by casing, but the Civil War put a stop to operations. A vein of copper ore 18 inches thick was passed through in boring the well. In 1872 the property was bought by J. N. C. Bell. In 1890 the mineral water began to attract attention. In 1895 a stock company was formed for the purpose of devel- oping the property, and a town was surveyed called Havana. An hotel has been built for the accommodation of visitors. The officers of the company are Wirt C. Ward, president; Perry Bosworth, secretary; L. C. Conrad, treasurer.
INDIAN "LEAD MINES."
There are traditions in Randolph County, the same as in nearly every other county of West Virginia, that Indians had lead mines where they pro- cured metal for bullets, and that they frequently resorted to them, usually tying their prisoners (the traditions always speak of a prisoner) some dis- tance away to prevent them from seeing the mines. There is not a particle of truth in any of these traditions. Indians did not mine lead. They bought it of white traders. They could not have mined it, for they did not possess the means or the knowledge. Lead is very different from coal, which is ready for use when taken from the mine. Lead must pass through a pro- cess of smelting and refining, and that process was unknown to the Indians, and an impossibility with them. All stories of Indian lead mines may be dismissed as pure fiction, so far as West Virginia is concerned. About the only metal found in a pure state and made use of by Indians was copper, and none of that has ever existed in West Virginia, so far as known.
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CHAPTER XXII,
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MISCELLANEOUS HISTORY.
The present chapter deals with odds and ends of local history, together with individual affairs and the social and intellectual growth of the county. It presents facts and details which could not properly be included in former chapters.
THE WEST VIRGINIA CENTRAL AND PITTSBURG RAILWAY.
Randolph County has nearly as large area as the State of Rhode Island, nearly one-half the population of the State of Nevada, and is the largest county in the State of West Virginia. It is a noticeble fact, therefore, that it has remained until very recently without railroad facilities. The build- ing of a railroad from Piedmont up the North Branch of the Potomac River was discussed from time to time many years before it was accomplished. The great resources of the region were known, and the development of them was an incentive to construct a road up and over the mountains. All during the period from 1861 to 1880 the tide of investment and immigration was running so strongly to the far West that it passed by this portion of the country, so near the Eastern market and containing such possibilities of development, and it was not until 1881 that serious efforts were made to reach the coal and timber which were there in so great abundance.
In 1866 an Act was passed by the Legislature incorporating the Poto- mac & Piedmont Coal & Railroad Company, but some years passed before any progress was made by the company. About April 20th, 1880, work was commenced on the grading of a road from Piedmont up the Potomac, and on October 19th, 1881, it was opened to traffic to Elk Garden, a distance of eighteen miles. In the meantime, the legislature was asked to enlarge the company's franchise, and on the 21st of February, 1881, the charter was re-enacted with additional powers and privileges, and the name of the com- pany was changed to that of the West Virginia Central & Pittsburg Railroad Company. Hon. Henry G. Davis, who had been for twelve years in the United States Senate from West Virginia, was the moving spirit in the enterprise. He had declined being a candidate for re-election in order to give his whole time and attention to the subject. He interested a number of his former collegues in the Senate in the undertaking, and many of the stations along the road are named in their honor. The West Virginia Central & Pittsburg Railway Company was organized under the new charter, June 25th, 1881, with H. G. Davis, President. Among the direc- tors were James G. Blaine, Augustus Schell, J. N. Camden, William Keyser and S. B. Elkins. Over 37,000 acres of valuable coal, iron and timber lands were acquired by the company; among them being the field contain-
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ing the now celebrated Elk Garden mines, from which over 5,000,000 tons of the highest grade of bituminous coal have since been taken. The first object of the promoters of the road was to reach this property, which was only thirteen miles from Piedmont, and by October 19th, 1881, as stated, the road was constructed to that place, the mines were opened, and trains running.
Leaving Elk Garden, the road was continued up the Potomac, crossing the river into Maryland, at a point twenty-seven miles from Piedmont, and returning again eight miles beyond. In August, 1883, the road was opened to a point thirty-two miles from Piedmont, and on the 1st of November, 1884, track-laying was completed to where the towns of Thomas and Davis now stand, the latter at a junction of the Blackwater and Beaver Rivers, fifty-seven and one-half miles from Piedmont, and seven miles from Thomas. The road had now reached the summit of the Alleghany Mountains. It had traversed many miles of coal lands, and was in the heart of the forest containing the largest and finest of hardwood timber. Here mines were located, coke ovens built, saw-mills erected. Since then towns have rapidly occupied the places which, until the coming of the railroad, were visited only by occasional sportsmen. The beautiful valleys, the rich grazing, agricultural and timber lands of the western slope of the mountains, together with a desire to connect to the north and west with the lines of railroad communication there, offered inducements to the company to push on beyond. Starting from Thomas, and going down the waters which flow into the Cheat, on grades sustained high on the mountain sides, the road was continued fourteen miles to Parsons, which it reached early in 1889, and soon after entered Randolph County. On the 18th of August, 1889, trains began running regularly to Elkins, which had formerly been known as Leadsville. The valley here through which the Tygart's Valley River runs, is beautifully situated, containing perhaps a thousand acres of com- paratively level land, with gentle grades to the river, and encompassed by mountains, rising one above another in the distance, until four or five ranges complete the framing of the picture. It was an ideal place for a settlement, and the road halted there. Streets and avenues were laid out, ample grounds being retained for the use of the railroad, and the town of Elkins was established, named for Hon. S. B. Elkins, the Vice President of the company. Engine houses and shops were built, and all the facilities acquired necessary for terminal purposes. The officers of the company at the time named, 1890, were as follows: H. G. Davis, President; S. B. Elkins, Vice President; E. W. S. Moore, Secretary and Treasurer. The directors were: H. G. Davis, West Virginia; S. B. Elkins, West Virginia; T. B. Davis, West Virginia; Wm. W. Taylor, Maryland; John A. Hamble- ton, Maryland; Wm. H. Gorman, Maryland; R. C. Kerens, Missouri.
The president and vice president both selected Elkins as their future permanent places of residence, and in a short time thereafter erected and occupied handsome homes there. One of the directors, Mr. Kerens, also built a fine residence there, which he and his family occupy during the summer months.
On May 1st, 1891, the company had completed and had trains run- ning on extensions from Elkins to Beverly, seven miles, and from Elkins to Belington, Barbour County, seventeen and a half miles. At the latter place connection is made with the Grafton & Greenbrier branch of the B. &. O. Road, which follows Tygart's Valley River to Grafton, and
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there connects east and west with the main line of the B. & O. Railroad. The West Virginia Central & Pittsburg Railway, therefore, runs from the county line of Barbour in a southerly direction, in the County of Randolph, to Beverly, and from Elkins to the county line of Tucker, and affords di- rect connection to the East via Cumberland, and the West by way of Grafton to the people of Randolph County. Until this road was built many of the citizens of the county were living sixty miles or, more from a railroad, and it was not unusual for them to drive their cattle a hundred miles to market. Their mail deliveries were infrequent, and communications with the larger cities and more densely populated portions of the country were few and ir- regular. The railroad has wrought a wonderful change in this respect. Valleys and mountains have been brought into closer association; values have become better understood; markets opened for the quick reception of products of the forest and the field, and the wants of the farmer and the mountaineer have been supplied from a nearer, broader and cheaper field of competition.
By the time, or before, this book is in the hands of the reader, the road will have been extended to Huttonsville, eleven miles south of Beverly. The length of the road will then be forty-two miles within Randolph County. It is estimated that the introduction of this railroad has up to the present time, added 5000 people to the permanent population of the county.
THE "RANDOLPH ENTERPRISE."
The first newspaper in Randolph, The Enterprise, was founded 1874 by George P. Sargeant, who sold it to T. Irvine Wells, who sold it to V. B. Trimble and Bernard L. Butcher. They sold the paper to Drs. John and A. S. Bosworth. They sold it to John Hutton, and he sold it to E. D. Tal- bott and Dr. John Bosworth. Mr. Talbott sold his interest to Floyd Trip- lett, and Triplett sold it to Dr. A. S. Bosworth. The Bosworth brothers conducted in eight years and sold it to a stock company which still owns it. After the company came into ownership, the editors were George W. Lewis and Stark A. Rowan until January, 1894, when J. Ed Kildow became editor and still holds the position.
THE "RANDOLPH REVEILLE."
The second paper in Randolph, The Reveille, was founded by Drs. John and A. S. Bosworth about ten years after the founding of the Enterprise. They conducted it six months and merged it into the Enterprise, which they had bought. They sold the plant to Buckey Canfield, who moved it to Pocahontas and started the first paper in that county.
THE "INTER MOUNTAIN."
In 1892 the Inter-Mountain, Republican in politics, was founded in Elk- ins under the management of a company. The editorship of the paper was assumed by Prot. N. G. Keim, who remained in charge until 1894. when Marshall S. Cornwell, of Hampshire County, became editor. In 1896 he re- signed on account of failing health, and the editorial mantle fell upon Will- iam S. Ryan, who managed the paper for some months and was succeeded by Charles E. Beans, in November, 1896. He remained its editor till in August, 1898, when he was succeeded by Herman G. Johnson. The office
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and nearly all the outfit of the paper were burned in March, 1897, but the publication was not discontinued, although for a short time it was printed under difficulties.
THE "TYGART'S VALLEY NEWS."
This Democratic newspaper printed at Elkins, began its existence Sep- tember 13, 1889, under the ownership and management of James A. Bent and Floyd Triplett. It was published in the third building erected in the town of Elkins, sixteen by twenty-four feet, one story high and located on an alley. It was not known at that time that it was on an alley, for the world expanded in unbroken meadows on all sides; but the subsequent building of the town developed the fact that it was located on an alley. That, however, did not stunt the newspaper's growth, and today it is located in the finest brick block of the town. Before the first issue was published the paper had 500 subscribers. The circulation has grown stead- ily until it now is 1280. In January, 1891, Mr. Triplett, who had been elected County Clerk of Randolph, retired temporarily from the newspaper business, and the paper was then taken charge of by Zan F. Collett and John J. Ferguson. Later Mr. Triplett again entered the journalistic field, and he and Mr. Collett conducted the paper until May, 1898, when Mr. Col- lett, who had been elected captain of volunteers and had gone to the Spall- ish War, retired from the business and Mr. Triplett assumed sole manage- ment. One cause of the paper's steady growth and constant success has been the industrial letters written for it by Claude Phillips of Womelsdorff. He has contributed constantly to its columns for years, and many of the letters have been copied by industrial papers in other parts of the country.
BEVERLY.
The original name of Beverly was Edmondton, in honor, as is supposed, of Edmond Randolph, after whom the county was named. On December 16, 1790, the Virginia Legislature changed the name to Beverly, in honor of Beverly Randolph. The town occupied 20 acres, laid out on the land of James Westfall, in lots of one-half acre each. They were originally sold at five pounds ($16.663) each, and the purchaser bound himself to build a house sixteen feet square, with stone or brick chimney, on the lot within five years from the date of purchase. If he failed to do so, the lot was to be sold by the town trustees and the proceeds were to "go to the inhabitants." The purchaser was also bound to pay a perpetual annual rent to James West- fall, or his heirs, 36 cents. But there is no record that this rent was ever paid. The trustees of the town in 1790 were John Wilson, Jacob Westfall, Sylvester Ward, Thomas Phillips, Hezekiah Rosecrantz, William Wamsley, Valentine Stalnaker. On January 17, 1848, the Virginia Legislature granted a new charter to the "Borough of Beverly," and on February 10, 1871, the West Virginia Legislature chartered the "Town of Beverly," and in 1882 the Legislature amended the charter to make it conform to the charters of all other towns of the State of less than 1000 inhabitants.
HUTTONSVILLE.
The town of Huttonsville, named from the Hutton family, is noted from the fact that it was the only point west of the Alleghanies at which Gov. ernor Letcher's proclamation to the people of West Virginia was published in 1861. The town is at present the terminus of the W. Va. C. & P. R. R. It is situated in the finest part of Tygart's Valley.
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MISCELLANEOUS HISTORY.
WOMELSDORFF.
The town of Womelsdorff, named from O. C. Womelsdorff, elected its first officers June 10, 1894; J. D. Marstiller, mayor, and also postmaster from that time till December 1, 1897, when he was succeeded by George Scott. On May 6, 1894, the first train pulled out of Womelsdorff, consisting of eight cars of coal, bound for Elkins, which place it reached after collid- ing with a passenger train. On November 3, 1894, a strike of 500 Italians occurred, stopping all public work till Christmas. Outside of the Railroad Company's store, the first was opened by G. E. Talbott. One of the first business men was Stephen Joyce. The first school was taught in 1894, by Miss Alice Durkin; the first school house was built in 1897, and the first school in the new building was taught by C. W. Walden, with Miss Camp- bell as assistant. The oldest house in the town was built by Milton Curtis, and is now occupied by O. C. Womelsdorff, the founder of the town .- The second oldest house was built by Thomas Williams. The first house built after the town was laid out into streets and blocks was built by James Matz; it is now occupied by "Daddy " Holtzman, the oldest man in the town. Mrs. Schwartz kept the first boarding house, and Pat Burke the first saloon. The first fire occurred September 8. 1898, burning George Shipman's build- ing. Church and Sunday School were held in Talbott's Hall till June, 1898, after which they were held in the school house. The town now (1898) con- tains 67 houses, 156 voters and about 500 people. The Himmelrich saw- mill and the mines give employment to all. There are now two hotels, an opera house, one boarding house and three saloons.
THE TOWN OF ELKINS.
In the year 1889 the town of Elkins was begun by the laying off of lots. Building commenced at once, and in a short time it was the largest village in the county. It was named from Hon. Stephen B. Elkins, who built on a neighboring hill the finest residence in the State. Hon. H. G. Davis and Hon. R. C. Kerens also erected palatial residences on adjacent eminences. The town is situated at the intersection of the Leading Creek Valley and Tygart's Valley, and the surroundings are picturesque, and the view de- lightful. Rich Mountain sweeps twenty miles along the western side of the valley, and its rounded knobs and long, sloping spurs, wooded from base to summit, form a picture that is restful and pleasing. The growth of the town has been steady. The railroad company has built machine shops and a car factory, and thus the village has a constant source of wealth, added to and supplemented by the rich agricultural country on all sides. The proximity of the Roaring Creek coal fields, with their almost exhaustless wealth, the development of which has only commenced, makes Elkins a natural center for supplies and a point for wholesale trade. The town has a population of 3000; fine schools, excellent churches of all the leading denominations; progressive and successful business men, and all the ele- ments on which to found a prediction of a great future.
WEST HUTTONSVILLE.
This village, located on the Middle Fork, was founded in 1880 by Claude Goff, Alfred Hutton, Elihu Hutton, Charles E. Lutz and others. Many of the settlers were Swiss, who came under the leadership of Mr. Lutz, among them being Jacob Rothenbuhler, Jacob Pfeister, John Rush, A. Brenwalt and many others. Some remained but a short time, others made their homes
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there, in a region surrounded by fine timber, and with an excellent soil. The lumber business was profitable, and a little railroad, only one and a half miles long, was built there, called the "Pleasant Valley Railroad." Other railroads, one from Alexander, the other from Womelsdorff, have surveys toward West Huttonsville. Among the early settlers in that vicin- ity were John Fincham, of Loudoun County, Va .; Michael Shannon and Squire B. Kittle.
CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS OF RANDOLPH.
Few counties of the South have complete records of their Confederate soldiers; but many of them long ago undertook to compile such lists. Ran- dolph began late, and some names may be lost forever. What follows is believed to be correct so far as it goes.
THIRTY-FIRST VIRGINIA INFANTRY .*
James Anthony, Joseph H. Anthony, killed at Fort Steadman; Jack Apperson, Jefferson Arbogast, killed at the "Bloody Angle;"+ Moses Ben- nett, John W. Bosworth (Lieut.), S. N. Bosworth (Sergeant), Joseph H Chenoweth (Major), killed at Port Republic; Z. T. Currence, Eli Currence, Emmet Crawford, Burns Crawford, died of wounds, 1863; Jacob Currence (Capt.) resigned 1861. N. S. Channel, Cyrus Crouch, killed at Fredericks- burg; Milton Crouch, killed at Cold Harbor; Garland Cox, died in prison; Peter Couger, Henson Douglass, killed at the "Bloody Angle;" William Daft; Edward Daft; Adam E. Folks, (Corporal); John Folks, killed at the Wilder- ness; George Gainor, Eugene Hutton, killed at Bunker Hill, Va .; George E. Hogan, Levi Hebener, Adam Hebener, killed at Spotsylvania; Andrew Hebener, scout for Lee, killed at Elkwater; J. F. Harding (Captain, after- wards Major of cavalry) Marion Harding, killed at Elkwater, Oct., 1862; George Harding, died in camp; Thomas Heron, Edward Kittle, killed at the "Bloody Angle;" Marshall Kittle, killed in Beverly at the Hill raid, 1864; Asa Kelly, died of wounds at McDowell, Charles Kelly, John Logan, G. W. Louk, John Louk, Claud Louk, Dudley Long (3d Lieut), killed at Peters- burg; J. H. Long (Corporal), killed at Port Republic; Thomas Long, died in hospital ;¿ O. H. P. Lewis, (Lieut), § Walter Lewis, died in hospital; Thomas Lewis, killed at Fort Steadman; Stephen D. Lewis, John Lewis, Jr. killed at Cedar Mountain; John Lewis, Sr .; | William Lemmon, died of wounds at McDowell; Jacob Lemmon, died in hospital; James W. Lemmon, John D. Moore, died in hospital, Andrew C. Mace, Elisha McCloud, John B. Pritt, Homan Pritt, Newton Potts, B. F. Potts, John Quick, died from wounds; Claud Raider, George W. Rowan (Corporal), Jacob Riggleman, Washington Riggleman, Joshua Ramsay, died of wounds; Thomas Ramsay, Branch Robinson, George Salisbury (Lieut.), Hiram Smith, Chesley Sim- mons, David Simmons, Joseph Simmons, Franklin Stalnaker, died in hospi-
*This list was compiled from records and gathered from the recollections of the living by G. W. Printz, of Beverly, W. Va.
+This place was at Spotsylvania Court-House. In the battle of May 12, 1864, General Hancock broke General Lee's line by a charge. The Confederates under General Gordon, retook the works after one of the most desperate battles of the war. The trenches where the hardest fighting occurred were called the "Bloody Angle."
#The last three named were brothers.
¿This man was one of the prisoners placed under fire of his comrades at Charleston, S. C., in reply to a threat made by the Confederates that they would expose Federal pris- oners to the Federal fire unless the Union batteries ceased firing into the city.
"This man was the father, and the five preceeding were his sons.
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tal; Absalom Shiflett, D. H. Summers, John C. Swecker, John M. Swecker, Thomas Shelton, David Shelton, Joseph Stipes, killed at the "Bloody Angle;" William Stipes, Josiah Vandeventer, Adam Vandeventer, Wil- liam H. Wilson (Lieut), David O. Wilson, James R. Wilson, James D. Wilson (Coporal), James W. Wilson, W. H. Wamsley, Enoch Wamsley, L. D. West- fall, John M. Wood, Joseph Wood, Randolph Wise, lost arm at Chantilly.
EIGHTEENTH VIRGINIA CAVALRY.
L. D. Adams, John Bennett, Jacob Chenoweth. Judson Goddin(Sergeant), Charles Myers, L. G. Potts, William Powers, George Powers, Thomas, Powers, killed; Adam C. Stalnaker, Eli Taylor, Jetson Taylor, Haman Taylor (Capt.), killed at Winchester, 1864; Elam Taylor (Lieut.), H. H. Taylor, F. M. Taylor, Perry Taylor, J. W. Triplett, Oliver Triplett, Frank Triplett, killed on Gandy Creek; James Duncan Wilson, George Ward, Perry Wees, Duncan Wees, Haymond Wees, Lafayette Ward.
TWENTIETH VIRGINIA CAVALRY.
J. N. C. Bell, William H. Coberly, A. C. Crouch, John H. Dewitt, Claude Goff, Elihu Hutton (Colonel), John Heron, Eugenus Isner, Mor- gan Kittle, John Killingsworth, M. P. H. Potts, Jacob Salisbury, killed at Winchester, Sheldon Salisbury, Adam Stalnaker, Harrison Westfall, Fred White.
NINETEENTH VIRGINIA CAVALRY.
John Baker, J. H. Currence, Adam C. Currence, Archibald Earle, Si- mon Fowler, Nathan Fowler, Ira Kittle, John Kinney, Thomas G. Lindsay, James A. Logan, Thomas Logan, David H. Lilly, John Manly, James Mor- rison, killed at Droop Mountain; Adam Propst, jr; Jesse W. Simmons, Jonas Simmons, Nimrod Shiflett, J. S. Wamsley (Capt.), Randolph Wams- ley, Samuel B. Wamsley, Adam H. Wamsley, George F. Wamnsley, George Ware, John Ware, Allen Ware, Elihu B. Ward, Jacob G. Ward (Lieut.), R. S. Ward, L. M. Ward, Jacob Wilmoth, David J. Wilmoth.
M'CLANAHAN'S BATTERY.
Andrew Chenoweth, Adam C. Caplinger, C. L. Caplinger, John Cap- linger, Parkinson C. Collett (Lieut.), Andrew J. Collett (Sergeant), Hoy Clark, James Daniels (bugler), Harper Daniels, Calvin C. Clark, John C. Clark, C. B. Clark, John Marstiller, died at Bridgewater; David B. Mar- stiller, Blackman Rummell, died in prison; Jacob Wees, Andrew C. Wees.
SIXTY-SECOND VIRGINIA INFANTRY.
A. Canfield, S. B. Kittle*, William Keasey, Cyrus Myers, Randolph Phillips, Moses Philips, George Phillips.
CHURCHVILLE CAVALRY.
Andrew C. Goddin (Lieut).
TWENTY-FIFTH VIRGINIA INFANTRY.
Jacob Heator, Dock Heator, Herbert Murphy, Jacob Mathews (Capt), Charles Mathews, James Shannon, Michael Shannon, Martin Shannon, Curtis Taylor, W. T. Ware, Sturms Gainer, Andrew J. Murphy.
SCOUTS.
William Nelson, killed on Dry Fork; Thomas Wood.
*There were five Kittle brothers in the service, George, Marshall, Ira, Edward and S. B.
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FEDERAL SOLDIERS FROM RANDOLPH.
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