USA > West Virginia > Upshur County > The history of Upshur county, West Virginia, from its earliest exploration and settlement to the present time > Part 28
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In the southern portion of Washington District a score of intermittent streams give rise to small rivulets which course their way down different vales toward a common valley where they can all unite their waters and proceed toward the
226
EARLY SETTLERS AND INDIAN TROUBLES.
illimitable ocean; from where these streams come together on to its junction with the Buckhannon River the name Middle Fork River is given to these waters. This stream is of most importance to the county in that it makes a natural boundery line between Upshur and Randolph counties for fully one-half of the distance of their contiguity. In the most extreme southern magisterial district on the west side of the county one of the leading rivers of the State has its source. The river alluded to is the Little Kanawha, whose Left Fork and Right Fork and Cherry Fork all have their headsprings in Bank's District.
The West Fork has but two streams worthy of mention arising in Upshur county ; the names of these streams are Straight Fork and Hacker's Creek in the southern and northern portions, respectively.
Of all the affluents of the Buckhannon River the largest is French Creek, which has a total length of sixteen miles, with Bull Run, Grand Camp, Laurel Fork, Bush Run, Slab Camp and Sand Run as its principal tributaries.
SOIL .- The soil of Upshur county is as varied as its surface. Its nature, fertility and depth depend upon geographic and geological conditions that effected their work millions of years ago. It is a well known fact that soil and climate effect more readily the higher life of man than any other animal; therefore, these geographic circumstances have much to do with the vocations of the people living upon any particular division of surface. If a man is a farmer the crops which he cultivates will depend entirely upon the nature of the soil and the character of the climate-the amount of heat the sun sends him and the quantity of rain which falls on his fields. He must raise those grains and vegetables which the heat, the rain, and the nature of the earth around him will grow and produce. The character of this soil and climate, makes the occupation of farming most general among our people. The history of this soil is simple and yet very won- derful. Shaler in his "Story of Our Continent," tells us that soils of North America are of three classes. First, on the northern part that soil which is produced during the period of geology known as the glacial period, in which the pebbles and sand and finer particles are pushed some distance away from the bed rocks from which they came. Second, that soil which is directly derived from the rocks immediately beneath the surface, that is, the fine particles of sand and vegetable matter are washed down from a steep slope and caught and held on a more level surface. With such a soil it is possible for the close observer to readily detect the differences of the underlying rock. Third, that soil which is produced by deposit made on the banks of rivers and oceans at the time of their overflow . or by their incoming tides.
The soil of Upshur county was formed principally according to the second method. The fine pieces of rock, the particles of clay and sand which have been torn and worn from the firm under-rock, by the action of rain, frost, rivers, waves and the roots of plants as well as by the decay which all rock material is heir to, are mingled n one conglomerate mass. Mixed with this fine stony substance are leaves, decayed underbrush, roots and other stems which when finely divided and abundantly distributed, give the soil a dark color. The rain falls on this surface and percolates through it, seizing on its way downward such elements as will combine with it in solution. This solution is food for the plant which springs up and covers the surface. "On the proportion of lime, potash, phosphatic matter, soda, and various materials found in this soil water, depends the fertility of the soil; that is, its fitness to nourish crops; whether those of wild nature or of the tilled fields."
227
EARLY SETTLERS AND INDIAN TROUBLES.
All our rocks were produced on old sea-floors and these sea-floors are of different ages as evidenced by the nature of the rock. In the northern part of the county we have the youngest of these surface rocks and from its nature it forms the richest soil. As we go southward and eastward these surface rocks are older and less fertile, due to the action of the natural elements and their age. The soil of Upshur county on the whole is fertile. Yet, there is a wide difference between one section and another section of the county in the fertility of its respective soils.
The climate of this county is wholesome, ranging in temperature from 20° Fahrenheit below zero to 100° above. The winters are colder and the summers are hotter than localities in the same latitude in the Old World. The contrast of temperature on the same parallel east and west of the Alleghenies is very noticeable. These alternations seem to be helpful to the health of the human body, serving to beget activity and exercise, which strengthen and invigorate the whole system, and resulting in a degree of vital energy and healthful persever- ance that frustrate disease, bestows happiness and gives long life.
Upshur is most suitable to the life of man and the domesticated animals which contribute most to the happiness of man.
The annual precipitation of rain varies between 42 and 52 inches and the distribution of rain as regards the seasons is generally favorable to the needs of the husbandman and stockraiser.
There are but few periods of scorching drought and so brief is their duration that little permanent damage results. The same is true as respects the excesses of rainfall. So that the average return from the soil, is uniform and not sub- jected to dangerous fluctuations. Our proximity to the mountains and our dense forests, have made us immune from the serious dangers of a famine and the great suffering of a drought. No sterile fields and long-faced farmers need exist in Upshur. The United States Weatherman tells us that one year the average temperature was 49.9, precipitation 48.63.
The wide range of climate has the advantage of producing manifold variety of crops. It also determines the kind, and number of animals which inhabit the air, the land and the water. Our fields have but one product that enter into the economics of the world; our live stock is sufficient to produce a tiny ripple on the great export markets of New York and Liverpool. The possibilities of small fruits, orchards and dairy products entering into finter-state commerce, are great.
The principal productions of the soil in Upshur county consists of the great variety of grasses which are converted into hay and pasture, and when properly and judiciously fed to cattle and sheep, make those animals fat. The county is peculiarly adapted to grazing purposes. Upon the clearing away of the forests and the breaking of the wooded turf and even without this last process there will spring up voluntarily and luxuriantly grasses most nutritious and most valuable.
Nature advises the limitations of grain growing. Without consulting the forces of nature which conduce to the growth of grains, such as the altitude above the sea level and propitious climate, the grain grower is liable to meet with failure. Government statistics inform us that 60 per cent of the grain grown in the United States is produced on the soil below the level of 1,000 feet and 90 per cent of grain of the United States is grown on land below 1,500 feet. So that being the case, the altitude of the surface of Upshur county can never be made to contribute very much to the grain products of the country. With 1,500 feet
228
EARLY SETTLERS AND INDIAN TROUBLES.
elevation above the sea as the line of demarcation of profitable grain growing the labor of the husbandman who attempts and expects good returns for his labor, must confine himself to that section of the county which is north of the mouth of Grassy Run. While the 1,500 foot contour line extends up the Buck- hannon River and over to the mouth of Grassy Run, it must also be observed that the portion of the county which lies below this level to any important degree is very small; and therefore the topography of Upshur county is decidedly unfa- vorable to the production of grain.
Apples, pears and peaches thrive in this upland country and more attention and consideration should be given to their growing and product.
The facts clearly indicate that Upshur county has not a tilable soil and that farming operation must be very limited whatever may have been the results of former days when the soil was newer and the prospects more promising. The business of this county for a score of years past and for time to come has been and will be reduced to four principal pursuits: grazing, forestry, mining and fruit growing.
The forests of Upshur county are only a section and small part of that great Appalachian woodland whose timber has been the source of a profitable income to land owners for the past half-century. Every acre of territory in this county was once covered with valuable trees which, had they been left growing until the present time, would have yielded the handsome price of at least $80 per acre on the average. So dense were these forests that the pioneers regarded them as a serious obstacle in the establishment of settlements. The ground upon which they grew and flourished, had to be cleared for agricultural pur- poses ; and so thick and so high were the trees that it was utterly impossible and impracticable for the pioneer soil-tiller to remove, as did his English brother, all the stumps and roots from the soil before he tilled it. So the Indian custom of taking out the underbrush and girding the trees to deaden them, was adopted. Later those girdled trees were felled to the ground and destroyed by the consum- ing flame. Yet the roots were in the way of the plow, and however fertile the soil, it was often a life-time before the farmer had smooth fields.
The natural use of the wood is to store up the rainfall in the decaying vege- up and held in abeyance, yielding slowly to the stream, thus diminishing the force table matter which lay around the roots of the giant trees. This water is taken of the winter torrents and maintaining a constant flow through the summer season. The forests are most important to man when the population is dense and many and varied buildings are needed. Then it is that a general demand for lumber makes timber valuable and profitable to both the forest owner and the manufacturer.
The great majority of trees comprising the forests of this county are the broad leaf deciduous tree, such as the beech, the giant oak, the hickory, the wal- nut, the magnolia and the noble tulip tree, or more commonly known as the pop- lar. The lumber manufactured from these trees is very valuable for building purposes for furniture and for finishing. In addition to the broad leaf trees we have the pine, hemlock, spruce, and other narrow leaf growths which mingle their towering tops with those of the broad leaf, making the general appearance of the forests one of beauty and attraction. This latter class of trees is also valuable for the lumber which they produce. The mills which have operated and are now operating in the limits of Upshur county are numerous and varied in the capacity of their production. Among the saw-mills worthy of notice
229
EARLY SETTLERS AND INDIAN TROUBLES.
which have manufactured lumber of priceless value and general usefulness are the following,
The Buckhannon River Lumber Company, whose chief mill was located in the town of Buckhannon and began operations under that noted lumberman, A. H. Winchester, in the early eighties.
The Alexander Company, whose magnitude of forest acreage and lumber operations the past sixteen years on the Buckhannon river some twenty-five miles south of the county seat, is yet attracting the attention of lumbermen all over the country, and the Stockert Lumber Company whose plant was built on a the country, and the Stockert Lumber Company, whose plant was built on the branch of the Buckhannon river east of Alton ten years ago, put out a quality and quantity of lumber that made its promoter and builder, G. F. Stockert, a man of means and affluence.
Besides these large saw-mills before mentioned there is a multitude of porta- ble mills which have done and are still doing manufacturing business of good quality and great value. The lumber interests of this county for the past twenty years transcend in their value and worth all other business combined.
POPULATION.
1900.
1890.
I880.
1870.
1860
Upshur county
14,696 12,714
8,498
7,292
Banks district.
3,201
2,577
1,272
Buckhannon district.
Including Buckhannon town.
3,489
2,542
Buckhannon town.
1,589
1,403
473
Meade district.
2,316
2,124
1,284
Union district.
2,115
1,94I
1,176
Warren district.
1,239
1,418
1,601
Washington district.
2,336
2,112
1,016
DIVISION OF POPULATION.
1900.
1890.
I880.
1870.
1860
Males.
7,433
6,412
5,194
4,027
Females.
7,263
6,302
5,055
3,996
7,22I
Foreign born.
107
138
127
91
White.
14,473 12,458 10,048
7,851
7,064
Negroes.
22I
256
201
172
*212
*16 free colored ; 212 slaves.
1900.
Native born-Males.
7,368
Natve born-Females.
7,221
Foreign born-Males.
65
Foreign born-Females.
42
Native parents-Males.
7,III
Total white in 1870
8,279
Foreign parents.
284
Males.
152
Females.
I32
1,674
Native Born-Females
230
EARLY SETTLERS AND INDIAN TROUBLES.
Foreign white. 106
Males. 64
Females .. 42
Total colored in 1870. 219
Males. 106
Females. II7
From the above table two strong inferences are drawn, first, that the in- crease of population from one decade to another has been constant, uniform and about the same rate as the national increase ; second, that the native born portion of the population in comparison with the foreign born bears the ratio of 99 to I.
A third lesson can be drawn from this table in the fact that the whites con- stitute 98 per cent of the population and the negroes about 2 per cent. This rela- tion has existed ever since the importation of the first negro into this county with the per cent decreasing the further we go back into the annals and records of local population.
The people of Upshur county are frugal, industrious and honest. No where in West Virginia and mayhap, no where in the United States on 360 square miles of farming and agricultural lands, can there be found a population in which these characteristics are so uniformly marked. While this poeple lack the desperate energy and killing activity of the western promoter, business man and farmer, they are blessed with an abiding desire for that uniformity of labor and continuance of quietude that lengthen their lives and insures earthly peace and contentment.
This people is abstemious in all things, yet possessed of such foresight as enable them to struggle continually to lay up such treasures on earth as to meet the accidents of climate and the exigencies of health. And when these purposes are filled their ambitions run toward higher, nobler, and grander attainments such as the acquisition of knowledge, the experimentation with natural forces and the contemplation of states of mind and conditions of heart that reap their reward in telling to others the glad story of how contentment maybe secured and must be attained, whether in a hut or in a palace. For such people the glitter of gold itself stimulates not to action.
In a previous paragraph the general elevation of the county was given, and now more specific places of elevation throughout the county are given. Bob Peak, or Mt. Bob, near Rock Cave, above the sea 2161 feet; Beverage Knob, near Stillman, 1,675 feet; Willson Knob, near Frenchton, 1,609 feet; Church Knob, near Queens, 2,222 feet; Buckhannon town, 1,405 feet; Lorentz, 1,435 feet ; Mick Hill, 1,810 feet; Rural Dale, 1,122 feet; Peck's Run, 1,419 feet; Hinkle, 1,431 feet ; Swamp Run, 1,721 feet; Hemlock, 2,461 feet ; Palace Valley, 2,506 feet ; Alexander, 1,817 feet; Alton, 1,809 feet; Sago, 1,422 feet ; mouth of French creek, 1,412 feet; Overhill 1,432 feet; Newlonton, 1,910 feet; Kanawha Head, 1,903 feet ; Pickens, 2,672 feet.
These elevations when studied closely and comparatively, impress upon the mind the conviction that the topography of the county was that of a plain or plateau at some time in the past; that this land stood at a much lower altitude than now, in fact was sea-bottom for ages. It has since been raised gradually to its present elevation. The high hills which are noted in the list of elevations preserved because of the fact that the rocks forming them were unusually hard, and therefore, they were protected from erosion. The uneven surface was produced by the uneven density and hardness of the rocks.
ASH CAMP ROCK, ON BUCKHANNON RIVER.
TANBARK SHED, at the William Flaccus Oak and Leather Tannery.
REGER MILL ON SPRUCE RUN.
CRITES MILL AT SELBYVILLE.
CHAPTER XIX.
- :0 :-
FORMATION OF UPSHUR COUNTY.
"The whole is equal to the sum of all its parts." Within thirty years after the founding of Jamestown, Virginia was divided into eight counties and shires. These were the first counties organized in the New World and were similar in all respects, except size, to the counties or shires of England. They were named James City, Henrico, Elizabeth City, Warwick River, Warrosquiyoake (Isle of Wight, Charles River and Acomack. Charles City and Warwick River, North- ampton, Gloucester, Northumberland, Sussex, New Kent, Stafford, Middlesex, Norfolk, Princess Anne, King, Queen, Richmond, King William, Prince George, Spottsylvania, King George, Hanover, Brunswick, Goochland, Caroline, Amelia, Orange, Frederick and Augusta were formed during the next hundred years at different times, for the one purpose to make provision for good civil and police government for the daring pioneers.
Of Frederick and Augusta counties, Henning's statutes say that all that territory and tract of land at present (1738- deemed to be part of the county of Orange, lying on the northwest side of the top of the said Blue Ridge moun- tains), extending from thence northerly westerly and southerly beyond the said mountains, to the utmost limits of Virginia, be separated from the rest of said county, and erected into two district counties and parishes ; to be divided by a line to be run from the head spring of Hedgman river to the headspring of the 11ver Potomac, and that all that part of said territory lying to the northeast of the said line beyond the top of the said Blue Ridge, shall be one district, count and parish, to be calld Fredrick, and the other side to be one district, county and parish, to be called Augusta.
Note the limitable boundary of these two counties-northerly, westerly and southerly. A glance at your map will show that these counties embrace the plateau valley of the Shenandoah, commonly styled the Valley of Virginia, and all that portion of country known as the Northwest territory, including Kentucky on the south.
An examination of historical maps will show the reader about what por- tions of West Virginia were embraced in the above mentioned counties.
Before proceeding to the further history of the divisions and sub-divisions of counties, till we reach the formation of Upshur, it is very proper that we should explain the term "District of West Augusta."
232
FORMATION OF UPSHUR COUNTY.
This term was used in contradistinction to East Auguta or that part of Augusta County between the Blue Ridge and Allegheny mountain ranges. Boun- dries for this Western county or district were given in 1776, when the Virginia Assembly said "Beginning on the Allegheny mountains between the heads of Potowmack, Cheat and Greenbrier rivers, thence along the ridge of mountains which divides the waters of Cheat river from those of Greenbrier, and that branch of the Monongahela river called Tygarts Valley river, to the Monongahela river ; thence up the said river and the West Fork thereof to Bingamon's creek, on the northeast of the said West Fork, thence up the said creek to the head thereof; thence in a direct course to the head of Middle Island creek, a branch of the Ohio, and thence to the Ohio, including all the waters of the aforesaid creek in the aforesaid District of West Augusta, all that territory lying to the northward of the aforesaid boundary and to the westward of the states of Pennsylvania and Maryland, shall be deemed and is hereby declared to be within the District of West Augusta."
The boundaries of the District of West Augusta would be about as follows : Beginning on the top of the Alleghenies at the northeast corner of Pocahontas county and running thence southwesterly to Mingo Flats in Randolph county ; thence, from source to mouth of the Tygarts Valley river; thence up the West Fork river to mouth of Bingamons Creek to the head waters of Middle Island creek in Doddridge county ; thence with said stream northwesterly to Central Tyler county ; thence west to the Ohio river ; thence up said Ohio river to Pitts- burgh ; thence up the Monongahela river to the Cheat river mouth and up Cheat river to the beginning.
Ohio, Yohogania and Monongalia .- After October, 1776, this District of "West Augusta" disappears, being distributed among the three counties, Ohio, Yohogania and Monongalia. The first and last of these three counties we still have, though greatly diminished and limited in their boundaries. The greater part of Yohogania, after the westward extension of the Mason and Dixon line in 1784. fell to Pennsylvania, and whatever residue remained was, by act of as- sembly in 1785, added to Ohio county. Thus Yohogania went off the map by substitution and displacement.
The boundaries of Monongalia established by this act of 1776 were defined as follows: "All that part of the said district lying to the northward of the county of Augusta, to the westward of the meridian of the fountain of the Potomack, to the southward of the county of Yohogania and to the eastward of the county of Ohio, shall be one other district county, and shall be called and known by the name of Monongalia."
In May of 1784 Harrison county was formed from Monongalia, with boun- daries delineated as follows: From and after the 20th day of July next the county of Monongalia shall be divided into two distinct counties by a line begin- ning on the Maryland line at the Fork Ford on the land of John Goff ; thence down the said creek to Tygarts Valley Fork of the Monongahela river; thence down the same to the mouth of the Bingamons creek; thence up said creek to the line of Ohio county ; and that part of the said county lying south of the said line shall be called and known by the name of Harrison. The territory now embraced in Upshur county must be included in this new county of Harrison, for the crea- tive act provides that the first court of Harrison county should be held at the house of George Jackson at Bush's Fort, on Buckhannon river. So the present county
233
FORMATION OF UPSHUR COUNTY.
seat of Upshur was county seat of Harrison county for at least one year after its formation.
Randolph county was formed in October, 1786, the act stating "that from and after the first day of May, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, the county of Harrison shall be divided into two distinct counties, that is to say, so much of said county lying on the southeast of the following lines beginning at the mouth of Sandy creek; thence up Tygarts Valley river to the mouth of Buckhannon river ; thence up the said river, including all the waters thereof ; thence down Elk river, including the waters thereof, to the Greenbrier line, shall be one distinct county, to be called and known by the name of Ran- dolph; and the residue of the said county shall retain the name of Harrison. This act is additional proof that this (Upshur- territory was a part of Harrison, and that part east of the Buckhannon river was included in Randolph on its for- mation, and it was even thought that Buckhannon settlement or the territory in and around the present site of Buckhannon was included in Randolph county. To substantiate that contention we quote a subsequent act of the assembly. The act was styled "Addition to Harrison"; that all that part of the county of Ran- dolph called Buckhannon settlement,
Beginning on the dividing ridge at the head of Stone Cole; thence running down Bull Run to French creek: thence with said creek to Buckhannon river; thence down the same to the lines of Christopher Strader's survey; thence with the same reversed to John Jackson's lines and with the same to a fourteen-hun- dred-acre survey of George Jackson's; thence down Buckhannon river to the line of Harrison county and with said line to the beginning. This act passed January 2nd, 1802.
A new factor now enters into our boundary question, and we are made to ask what becomes of Buckhannon settlement. December 18, 1816, the Virginia Assembly passed the act forming the county of Lewis and defining its boundaries as follows, viz: Beginning at the head of the left hand fork of Jesse's Run; thence a straight line to the mouth of Kinchloes creek; thence up said creek to the dividing ridge ; thence a west course to the Wood county line; thence to in- clude all the south part of Harrison down to the mouth of Buckhannon river; thence a straight line to the beginning. It is evident from this act that the por- tion of Upshur west of Buckhannon river was in Lewis county. We proceed now to give the boundaries of Barbour county, which was formed by act of Assembly March 3, 1843, and the limits were delineated as follows: Beginning opposite the mouth of Sandy creek on the east side of the Valley river, in the now county of Randolph ; thence down said Valley river with the several meanderings thereof to M. Daniel's ferry ; thence a straight line to the dividing ridge on the waters of Simpson creek and Bartlett's Run (so as to include Reuben Davisson) ; thence a straight line to the old farm now occupied by Samuel Bartlett; thence to the head of Goodwin's Run; thence a straight line to the mouth of Matthew's Camp Run on Elk creek; thence a straight line to William Bean's on Gnatty creek; thence a straight line to the head of Peck's Run; thence with the dividing ridge between the head of Peck's Run; thence with the dividing ridge between the head of Peck's Run and Hacker's creek to the gap of said ridge where the road crosses leading down to Hacker's creek; thence a straight line to Samuel Black's residence (including him) on Buckhannon river; thence a straight line to the mouth of Sarvis Run on the Middle Fork of the Valley river; thence a straight line to the gap of Laurel Hill mountain, where the Widow Corley's corner
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